It didn’t take long before Talon pointed to the door, dismissing the group from the bar. The two girls took off like their asses were on fire, leaving the two boys behind to get what was obviously an ass chewing from the local alpha.
After the boys left, Talon returned to his barstool, releasing a deep breath before sitting down and picking up his hamburger.
“They are not old enough to be in here,” he stated, taking another bite of his food.
“The boys just turned twenty-one,” she retorted. “Were those girls part of your pride?”
“Yes,” he huffed. “They are only eighteen.”
“Well,” she laughed. “You saved me from jail time and the loss of my liquor license. Thank you.”
“Anytime,” he said, a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. God, she wanted to bite his lip. He did things to her mind and body just by entering the room.
Liberty mumbled a quick goodbye and hurried back to the kitchen. Moe was just setting another order in the window. “That man get enough grub?” Moe asked, grinning.
“I think so,” she said, before taking a tray from the stack to her left.
She made her rounds, refilling drinks and picking up some plates that had been left on an empty table. It wasn’t long before Nova came rushing in, pulling her hair up into a messy ponytail. She held up a finger, indicating that she’d be back to take over.
The heavy sound of a pair of boots coming in the door had Liberty tensing. When she turned around, Sheriff Garrett Lynch stood at the entrance, his eyes zeroing in on Talon sitting at the bar.
“Hey, Sheriff,” Liberty announced, grabbing a menu. “Just you tonight?”
“Yes,” he said with a smile. It didn’t go unnoticed how his eyes warmed as he looked at her. She’d been friends with him for years, but that was all she was ever interested in. The sheriff had other wishes.
He was just over six feet tall, and well built. He was older than Liberty by a couple of years, but he looked to be much older. He wore his uniform with pride and had helped her family keep an eye on the bar after her father had died. They’d had to shut down for a few months before the transfer of title had been completed. She was grateful for all of his help, but that didn’t mean she would marry him and start having his babies.
“I’ll grab you some tea,” she said, placing the menu on the table. Before she could turn away, a heavy hand landed on her wrist.
“Libby,” he growled, low and without warning.
Liberty hissed, not from his use of the nickname she hated, but from the feeling she got from his hand touching her wrist. The skin on her arm crawled and her stomach flipped. Snatching it back, she held it to her chest and rubbed it vigorously.
“Garrett,” she warned.
“Is the pride giving you problems?” he asked snidely, his eyes cutting toward Talon. She didn’t miss the way he emphasized the word pride, the jerk. When she looked over her shoulder, Talon had turned around on his barstool. He was glaring at her and the sheriff. She tried to give him a pleading look, but his features didn’t change. When his eyes moved to where she still held her wrist to her chest, his eyes sparked amber and he started to stand. She shook her head slightly, hoping and praying he got the hint and didn’t come over to investigate.
“No, they are not,” she replied. “I’ve already made an announcement in here once, and I sure as hell don’t want to have to do it again. They are welcome here and as far as I’m concerned, this is neutral territory. There will be no problems in my bar.”
“Good,” he nodded. “Glad you have that under control.” Even though he said it to appease her, Liberty was sure he was being a bit sarcastic.
“Hey, sis,” Nova interrupted. “I’ll take care of this so you can get on out of here. Ms. Beatrice is waiting for you.” Liberty started to ask what she was talking about. She didn’t need to go over to her neighbor’s house, but Nova threw her a wink and nudged her out of the way. She really owed her sister for that little move.
Nova would probably cash in that favor before the week was out.
God, she had to get out of that bar. Maybe if she hid in her office for an hour, the sheriff would leave and she’d be able to head home without him asking questions or being a genuine pain in her ass. Oh, he meant well, but even as he was a fair man, he still thought there was a chance between them. There never was and there wouldn’t ever be a chance. He wasn’t her type.
A knock on her office door had Liberty groaning, afraid to open it to see who was standing on the other side. Setting the letter opener aside, she stood up and walked to the door, pulling it open to find Talon towering over her. His body was so large that he took up the entire space of the door frame…and then some.
“Shut the door,” he ordered, eliciting a shocked response from Liberty.
“What?” she asked, confused at the look on his face.
“You never open a door without knowing who is on the other side,” he stated. “Now…close the door, Liberty.”
She smirked at him and slammed the door in his face, only to hear two quick raps on the wooden frame.
“Um, who is it?” she sang out.
“It’s Talon,” he replied. “May I speak with you?”
She cracked the door to see him standing in the same position he’d been in only a few seconds ago. The thought of letting him into her office sent a thrill and about a million dirty thoughts through her mind. Clearing her throat, she stepped aside and drew her arm out to the side in a silent invitation to enter the room.
“What did you want to talk about?” she asked.
“Our date,” he said, his voice rumbling with its deep richness. She had to fight to keep from closing her eyes in bliss just from the sound.
“Is that all?” she asked with a smile. She remembered the flower delivery and grinned some more.
“No,” he said, apparently not a man of many words.
“And?” she pushed.
“Is the sheriff your mate?” he asked, frowning.
“Hell, no,” she bit out. “Never.”
“Good,” he replied, his tone completely changing. “May I see your hand?”
“Why?” she asked, narrowing her eyes. In fact, her hand still tingled with the creepy-crawly feeling and she found herself rubbing it against the material of her jeans.
“Does it burn?” he asked, almost in a whisper. When she looked up into his eyes, they’d turned amber again and she found it fascinating. It wasn’t like anything she’d ever seen before. His ice blue eyes were still that color, but parts of the blue were now amber and they seemed to glow. The amber parts were just little pin pricks of color.
“It feels weird,” she admitted. When he held out his hand, she automatically raised hers for him to take into his warm grasp. The moment his fingers came in contact with her wrist that was now a little pink from her rubbing it, the feeling diminished. Her eyes shot up to his and then she saw it…his canines had descended. “Talon?”
“I could kill him for touching you,” he hissed, still caressing her wrist. “In my world, a male doesn’t touch someone else’s mate…ever.”
“Why?” she asked breathlessly. He continued to stare at her wrist, not into her eyes.
“When our kind finds their mate,” he began, raising his eyes to meet hers. “If an unmated male touches her, it will cause the female pain. I don’t know why this is. It has been said that it was nature’s way of protecting the mates. They are precious to the males.”
“But we are not mated,” she whispered, watching his eyes return to their natural color. When his canines receded, she felt like asking him if he could make them reappear. It was incredible to her how these people changed into an animal; and seeing his body transform, even slightly, interested her. She thought back to the book of Nova’s, and shook her head to keep from going all glassy-eyed remembering one of the intimate scenes she’d read before coming to work.
“Not yet.” He sighed. “If you are touched by a male and it is
unbearable, I need you to tell me. It’s very important that you have my touch to heal you.”
“Even if the man has no intentions to mate me?” She snorted. “So I’ll never be able to touch a man again? What about here at the bar? What if someone grabs me?”
“No man should ever grab a woman,” he roared. “And if a man ever grabs you, I want to know his name.”
“You can’t go around killing men for touching me,” she said, looking down at her wrist, seeing how the skin had returned to its normal color. The icky feeling had disappeared. How weird was that?
Instead of a reply, Talon growled and turned for the door. “Winter and his men have been at your home since nightfall. If you need anything, call me, or just yell for Winter. We have excellent hearing.” The door closed and she was left staring at the door.
With Talon gone from the room, she felt more alone than she ever had before. His presence didn’t linger, and she immediately wished he’d stayed.
The thought of this mate stuff didn’t bother her as much as it should, and that scared the hell out of her.
Chapter Six
“I’ll pick you up at six,” Talon said as soon as she picked up the phone. Liberty had just finished the lunch shift on Wednesday afternoon. It’d been two days since she’d seen him. With the government breathing down his throat for answers about his kind, Talon had been at City Hall for hours every day, answering questions. They’d spoken on the phone for a few minutes at night before he had to go take care of things for his pride. He sounded so tired, and Liberty shook her head as she leaned back in her office chair.
“You must be tired, Talon,” she said. “We don’t have to do this tonight.”
“Yes,” he growled, the vibration of his vocal cords could be heard clearly through the line. Liberty had to clench her knees together from the sound. It heated her core anytime he did that. Maybe it was a mating thing? “We are having this date. You are off work tonight and I’m in the mood for a big…juicy…steak.”
“Okay,” she giggled as a warmth washed over her at his sexy talk. “I’ll be at the house.”
“No problems today?” he asked, just like he’d asked every time they’d spoken this week. Whoever the shifter was that had been on her property was long gone, but Talon refused to pull the security detail he had watching her house around the clock.
“None,” she replied. “The guys did a great job last night, just like they’ve done every night.”
“By the way, my Guardians are there to do a job, not to have home cooked meals made for them,” he scolded.
“Well,” she chuckled. “I can’t just ignore them. It’s getting colder outside at night and they are there so much.”
“They are panthers, Liberty,” he sighed. “They don’t get cold.”
“But,” she began, then paused when someone knocked on the door. “Hold on.”
Luke, her bartender, stuck his head in the door, rattling off several names of liquors they needed to reorder. She made a quick note of them and brought the phone back up to her ear.
“Anyway,” she continued, “If they are hungry, I will feed them. And there is nothing you can do about it.”
“Don’t spoil them,” he warned.
“I won’t,” she lied, knowing good and well that she would keep feeding the Guardians. Besides, Winter really liked her fried chicken. “Now, let me head home so I can get ready for our date.”
“Be careful,” he replied.
“See you at six,” she said, ending the phone call before she begged him to come over and eat her for dinner.
It was well after three when she arrived home. A panther she recognized as Dane, because he had an old injury to his left ear, walked the perimeter of her yard just beyond the trees. She chuckled when he stopped and tilted his head to the side, possibly wondering why she was home from the bar so early in the day. She gave him a thumbs up and unlocked the door to the house.
She busied herself with a few loads of laundry and a quick clean of her bedroom and bathroom. After folding clothes, she ran the hottest bath known to man in her old claw foot tub, sinking down slowly into the almost neck deep water. Starting with her shoulders, she lathered up her pink sponge with the bar of almond and oatmeal soap Ms. Beatrice had brought to her a few weeks ago. She loved the smell and feel it left on her skin. A little voice in the back of her mind wondered if Talon would like the way it smelled, too.
It was six on the dot when there was a knock on the door. Liberty quickly stood from her chair at the table and walked slowly to the front door. She ran her hands down the front of her black dress, straightening the hem just above her knees. Each step closer to the door sent her heart fluttering with nervousness. When her hand closed around the knob, she heard a slight rumble coming from Talon. It was that strange purring sound he made whenever she was close.
As soon as the door opened, she sucked in a breath. He was standing there in black dress pants and a sexy blue button down dress shirt that matched his eyes. He wore a slim black tie and she had to plant her feet to the ground to keep from jumping him there on the spot.
“You’re beautiful,” he said, holding out his hand. The moment their fingers touched, Talon pulled her tightly against his chest, his lips crashing down on hers. The kiss ended as quickly as it had begun, and Liberty would’ve asked that he just come in and forget the date, but this was important…to both of them.
“You clean up nice yourself, big guy,” she winked, reaching behind the door for her purse.
“I should blister your ass for answering the door without asking who was on the other side,” he stated.
“I knew it was you,” she teased, ignoring his threat. “I could hear you purring from the hallway.”
“Are you ready?” he asked, not replying to her comment.
“Yes,” she smirked, closing the door behind her.
His truck was parked next to the house and she frowned at her feet when she realized she’d have to walk through the grass to get to the passenger side. She didn’t have to worry for long because Talon scooped her up into his arms and marched forward as if he’d done it a hundred times before.
“I can’t keep my hands off of you,” he purred. He stopped halfway to the truck and pressed his lips to hers. Liberty let out a moan as he devoured her mouth.
“Let’s go eat,” he whispered after he’d pulled away.
“Yes, let’s eat,” she blushed, her voice sounding huskier than it should.
The interior of his truck smelled just like him; it had a wild, woodsy scent that she found calming. She wasn’t sure if it was his mating scent or if it was Talon himself. As she watched him walk around the front of the truck, she tried to calm her breathing as best as she could. This man…this panther set her body on fire anytime he was near.
“Are you ready?” he smiled, turning the key over. The engine roared to life and she felt the vibrations through the seat.
“I’m ready,” she replied, realizing that her statement meant more than what he was asking. He reached over and took her hand, stroking the back of her knuckles. Liberty shivered and squeezed his hand as he pulled out of her driveway.
It took twenty minutes to get to the steakhouse in town. The parking lot was only half filled when they arrived. She noticed how he parked up against the building and actually backed his truck into the closest spot to the door. She didn’t say anything to him, but she had a feeling it was for his own peace of mind.
He held the door open for her as they entered the dimly lit establishment. Several people stared, but Talon mearly placed a warm hand on her lower back and ushered her toward the awaiting hostess.
“Mr. Shaw,” the lady greeted. “Your table is ready. Please follow me.”
She noticed how the woman’s eyes traveled up his body slowly, and for some reason, Liberty wanted to claw those eyes from the little blonde’s head, but she refrained from doing so. It probably wouldn’t look good on him or his pride.
She had to keep r
eminding herself that Talon had asked her on this date. Well, that wasn’t true. Liberty had almost demanded a date when he’d claimed her in the bar.
A waiter appeared as soon as they were seated. He was about Liberty’s age, and asked for their drink order. Talon ordered a bottle of wine and sat back in his seat.
They’d been escorted to a little alcove in the back of the restaurant. There were three other areas just like that one and she was happy for the privacy. The walk through the peanut gallery was stressful enough.
“I get looks everywhere I go,” Talon said, clearing his throat. “Don’t let them get to you.”
“It’s rude,” she replied.
“It’s the way of my world.” He frowned. “This night is for us to get to know each other better. For you to get to know me. Ignore everyone else.”
“What about you getting to know me?” she questioned.
“My panther has already claimed you.” He chuckled when she scowled. “I’m sorry. If you could understand my people, you wouldn’t have to ask that. It’s our nature. Our animals rule us. There is only one true mate for a panther. When we find our mate, Liberty…it’s for life.”
“That’s what I’ve heard,” she said, but quickly looked at her lap, realizing she’d just spoken about something from that book of Nova’s.
“Who have you been talking to about us?” he growled, leaning forward.
“No one,” she backpedaled, holding up her hands in defense. “It’s Nova…well, it’s one of her books.”
“Book?” he asked, his head tilting slightly.
“This is embarrassing,” she mumbled.
“Tell me,” he encouraged her, reaching out to take her hand.
“Well, my sister reads these paranormal romance books,” she started, then shrugged. “She kept telling me about what her books had said about shifters. I…I know it’s fiction, but I wondered.”
“If it was true?” he asked, continuing on her nod. “Well, is it?”
“I’m not sure,” she mumbled, feeling heat creep up her cheeks.
Talon (Rise of the Pride, Book 1) Page 7
