by Cecilia Lane
Now was not the time to get teenage girly about it.
The engine bay stood open when she arrived. She peeked inside and saw a flurry of activity. Men were opening and closing compartments on the fire engine. Clipboards were being checked off. One by one, they noticed her and went quiet.
One of them reached underneath the engine and yanked on the feet of someone checking the undercarriage.
“The fuck!” Gray yelped.
No one answered him. A jerked chin directed his attention toward Meghan.
He froze. His nostrils flared with a deep inhale. She could almost see the air working its way into his bloodstream and through his body. Tension eked out of his limbs. “You’re here,” he said quietly and pushed to his feet.
Tawny had been right. He didn’t look like he’d slept since the street fair. Dark bags marred his eyes.
“Is that okay? Can we talk?”
He swung his head and found the other man she remembered seeing at the scene of her abduction. Something passed between them and Gray didn’t move until the other man nodded.
“Come on. I know a place we can go.”
He reached for her hand and the contact shocked her like she’d been rubbing her feet against carpet. But instead of pain or surprise, the jolt was pure pleasure. Her gasp was hidden by the sound of something clattering to the floor behind her.
But Gray heard. He swiveled his head and his eyes caught hers. Gold slowly ate up the blue of his irises and a bit of brightness returned.
He didn’t let go of her hand once they reached the sidewalk behind the firehouse. “This way. It’s not far from here.”
They walked in silence until her nerves forced words out of her mouth. “Your sister says you’re in trouble because of me. I’m sorry. I didn’t think— You didn’t start anything.”
He muttered a curse under his breath that sounded suspiciously like ‘dammit, Tawny’ and raised a shoulder in a shrug. “It’s fine. Nothing has been determined yet. It’s all still under investigation.”
“Still,” she insisted. “Nothing would have happened if I’d gone somewhere else. This is all my fault.”
He stopped her. “Don’t think that. Anyone would have done the same. I don’t regret my actions. I just wish I hadn’t scared you.”
“You didn’t scare me,” she denied.
He cocked his head and his nostrils flared again. “Lie.”
She looked away. She didn’t know they could smell lies. That was a hidden superpower she wished she possessed. “Okay, maybe a little. But you have to understand,” she said in a rush, “I’ve never been in a fight before. Never even seen one. And then there you are all…”
“Big and scary?”
“And fearless and powerful and acting like nothing in the world would stop you from getting my purse back. I didn’t even need anything in there. It was just stuff that can be replaced.”
“It was yours and someone took it.” He rubbed his chest, just over his heart. “My bear wouldn’t allow it to happen.”
She opened her mouth to ask what exactly that meant, but he charged on. She hurried after him and after a moment he slowed his long strides to match her shorter ones. He led her past a stop sign and then turned away from the town hall building.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“We’re almost there. Trust me.”
And strangely, she did.
She followed him onto a maintained walking path. Trees rose up around them, but no branches hung low enough to touch even his head. Then the path opened up and she could hear the sound of rushing water. A couple benches were positioned to face the river, and all of them were empty. They were the only ones there.
“This is really nice.” The scenery pulled at her and she took a seat on one of the benches just to take it in a little bit more. Flowers perfumed the air, but not enough to overpower. Birds sang high in the trees and she caught sight of a few squirrels dashing from branch to branch.
“We have places like this all over the enclave,” Gray said from behind her. He watched her carefully as he stepped around the side and sat next to her. “If you like this, you should see the waterfall upriver. There’s even a bridge going across, about halfway up the falls.”
She stopped herself from asking if he’d be the one to take her. She had no claim to his time or friendship. She was there to apologize and fix the wrongs she caused by stepping into his life. The silence stretched between them and she wanted to reach out with both hands to stop him from pulling away. “So what happens now?”
“Well, they have your statement from the abduction, Judah says they’re questioning those bastards and the one who stole the purse. Just a whole lot of waiting for the SEA to finish up their paperwork.” He brushed his hair out of his eyes. “I’m not worried about them. Anyone with eyes can see it was all in defense. I didn’t go out of my way to attack anyone. I’m not vicious.”
“And Bentley’s involvement? Do you need a lawyer? I could pay for one.”
He stopped her with a raised hand. “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. You have nothing to apologize for. I, however, just need to keep my nose clean. No more fuckups or they put me in a special shifter lockup run by the SEA.”
“That’s outrageous. What happened to innocent until proven guilty?”
Gray snorted and eyed her without turning his head. “I’m a shifter. I’m already guilty.”
“That can’t be legal.” She chewed on her lip and wrestled with feeling decidedly self-involved. There was a whole world of danger and complication that she didn’t understand. The revelation of the enclaves and supernatural residents had been splashed all over the news, but the subsequent rules and regulations had barely been a blip on her radar.
The faint buzzing of a phone distracted her. Gray growled low in his throat and then glared at the words that appeared on the screen.
“Fuck it,” he murmured and stuck the phone back into a pocket. He stood and brushed hands through his hair. “I have to get back to work. Do you want to get coffee or a beer sometime?”
“Yes,” she said without hesitation. “I’m free…,” a small laugh escaped her, “Anytime. I’m free anytime.”
“Anytime? All right. Five-thirty morning beers, it is.”
“Five-thirty? Oh, my God.” Her eyes went wide with shock, then narrowed at his poorly concealed smirk. “You’re joking.”
“About morning beers? I would never joke about such a serious matter. Okay, if morning beers are too early for you how about you meet me at The Roost tomorrow night?”
“It’s a date,” she said before she could think about the words that tumbled out of her mouth. She bit down on her lower lip before she could further embarrass herself.
Gray’s eyebrows rose, but he didn’t say anything. He gave her a tiny salute and then turned toward the trail leading back to the firehouse.
Meghan watched him leave, cheeks heating. The butterflies returned to her stomach. Reluctantly, she stood and started to follow. She still had some groceries to grab and then a long day and a half before she would see Gray again.
He surprised her by turning on his heel and marching right back to her. There was no build up of teasing looks. His hands caught her cheeks and tilted her head just in time for his lips to crash down on hers.
He quickly took the lead and she didn’t fight his dominance. He delved between her lips, tongue stroking against hers with more passion than she’d ever experienced. She’d been kissed before, slept with men, but kissing Gray was unlike anything she’d felt. He tasted hot and male and sent heat whipping through her with every tangle and stroke and bite.
She balled her fists in his shirt and swayed on her feet. One of his hands skimmed down her arm and gripped her hip to hold her steady. Fire followed the touch and she wanted more. More of his hands, more of the scratch of his beard, more of the tiny growls of pleasure that she devoured.
He eased out of the kiss almost as quickly as it started. “Now it�
�s a date,” he said and pressed a smaller kiss on her lips before stepping back. He winked and gave her a dirty, delicious smirk. “See you tomorrow, Hollywood.”
Chapter 12
Gray gripped the steering wheel and tried not to break it. Nolan has been clever to leave before he had. Clever and sneaky. Maybe it was his sneaky little fox mate the urged them both out of bed before Gray woke.
His night of surprisingly uninterrupted sleep was ruined by a call from the police. Tawny had been picked up with a couple of tourists. She’d been too ashamed to call their parents to bail her out, so she phoned him.
The memory of his baby sister’s sobs filled him with renewed rage. His knuckles turned white and the steering wheel protested under his grip. He ripped the keys from the ignition as soon as he parked and was out of the truck in a flash.
Holding back Tawny’s hair all night wasn’t what he needed the night before his date with Meghan. The one night his bear didn’t steal his control, the few precious hours of restful sleep he’d gotten without exhausting himself, and it was disturbed by fucking tourists.
His inner animal had gone quiet the moment he spun back around and decided to kiss Meghan. That peace flew out the damn window at the first quaver in Tawny’s voice.
“Becca!” he roared as he ripped open the door to the firehouse.
Nolan’s mate scrambled off the chair she occupied. Her hands supported her growing belly and she waddled quickly towards the open engine bay. “Got to go, see you, bye,” she called over her shoulder.
“No, you don’t.” Gray jogged and cut her off before she could get far. “Tawny got tossed into the drunk tank last night because of you.”
Becca’s avoidance quickly turned to anger. She planted her hands on her hips and glared at him. “You’re not blaming me for that.”
“She wasn’t forced to register only to have her face splashed all over and get hit up by every drunk tourist you allow into this enclave.”
Tawny had been the soberest of them, Gray gave her that. But she’d also been tossed out of The Roost with three human tourists, and then caught continuing their party up at the falls.
He was no stranger to partying. But fuck, they were three humans. Three male humans with one shifter female. No one else had been around until the cops swung by on patrol. If they’d been determined to hurt her, he doubted she could have fought them off in her state. Or if they’d been smart and brought silver? By the Broken, it wasn’t like they were strangers to humans attacking shifters within the territory. His nightmares relived that exact situation practically every fucking night.
Leah pushed between them and poked him hard in the chest. “Back off.”
A growl tumbled out of his chest. Tawny could have been hurt. Meghan had almost been snatched. Leah and Hudson took tranquilizers at the hands of humans. Even Becca had her own brush with human hunters.
He’d been helpless to stop the tragedies that hurt his friends. This was something he could control. He’d make damn sure the tourists learned to behave themselves.
“They need rules,” Gray insisted.
“And what would you have me do? Tuck them all into bed at six sharp? Make sure all the good little boys and girls don’t ever go out to the bar? She’s an adult, Gray. Sometimes that comes with making poor decisions. She doesn’t need a babysitter.”
“She doesn’t need a group of guys hassling her,” he growled. “How about you defend your own kind instead of the tourists here to fuck shit up?”
They were crawling all over the enclave. In their bars, in their stores, taking up room by the lake. More fights and more tensions were building with each added number and it wasn’t going to go well for the enclave when something boiled over. They needed to go before more supernaturals were hurt.
“This is my business, Gray. You think I’m going to let some drunk frat boys ruin everything I’ve built? I have clans and prides working together to drag money out of the tourists that would have shown up anyways. How is getting cut off at the bar and told to move on any different from some of the shit you’ve pulled? How is it any worse than attacking humans in the middle of the fucking day in a packed street fair?” Becca flicked a dismissive gaze up and down his frame. “I haven’t heard you raise a word of complaint about your human being inside the territory.”
“That’s not up for discussion. I did what I had to do.” And he’d do it again in a heartbeat.
“Lay off my mate.” Nolan materialized at his side with a snarl and shoved at his shoulder.
Hands latched onto his arms. An inhale brought him Hudson’s and Sawyer’s scents.
Gray’s bear pushed forward and he saw red. The need to fight and bleed overrode everything else. He raised his lips and let loose a matching snarl. “Her tourists could have hurt my sister.”
Leah added her own growl to the mix. Her eyes flashed pure silver. “It’s not her fault your sister couldn’t handle her drinks. Place the blame where it belongs.”
“Stop!”
The order came with a wave of power that snapped all of their mouths closed.
Callum surveyed the disaster with a look that said he’d rather deal with anything else than the screaming meltdown of his clan. His eyes bounced over all of them, no doubt trying to parse what exactly had happened. He pinched the bridge of his nose and then cleared his throat.
He jabbed a finger in Leah’s direction. A rumbling growl still emanated from her. “If you don’t quiet down, I’m going to put a baby in you and then order every single one of these guys to ignore you for the next nine months. Becca does not need a bodyguard or for you to fight her battles.”
He rounded on Nolan. “Stop attacking everyone and everything that gives your mate a dirty look.”
Hudson and Sawyer suddenly had something on their shoes that was more interesting than anything else in the room, but Callum dressed them down, too. “Unless the rest of you are looking for more responsibilities, find something else to do. Or don’t, I don’t care. I’m done with all the headaches you cause me. Might as well cull the damn herd.”
The others quickly found other places to be. Even Leah gave in to the pulse of power from Callum and slunk off with Becca. Not surprising, really. The two had been nearly inseparable since Becca announced the cubs.
Finally, his alpha fixed him with a steely gaze. “You know she’s right.” Callum didn’t even look at Becca, but pointed in her direction and said, “Not a damn word.” He continued addressing Gray, “Most of us grew up with Tawny. All of us recognize she’s an adult. You can’t keep treating her like a teenager. Especially when you have your own shit to worry about.”
Gray grunted. “I’m handling it.”
“Are you?” Callum asked in a low voice. “Two marks, Gray, and you’re ready to throw down in the middle of the firehouse because your sister went a little wild. How the fuck is that good for the human?”
“I can’t stay away from her. You can’t ask that of me.” He hated the way his bear twisted inside him at the possibility. He could give up breathing easier than he could walk away from Meghan.
“It’s not about what you want. It’s about what she needs. Can you provide for her? Keep her safe? Keep yourself steady?” Callum raised a hand before Gray could pop off with some insult or curse. “Don’t answer. Think about it. Rub the two brain cells you have together and really figure out what’s best for her. Then be the best damn man you can for her, whatever choice needs to be made.”
Chapter 13
Meghan toyed with her drink and ignored the dusty clock ticking away on the wall. Her fingers twitched to open up her phone and check the time. She resisted with the iron will of someone who’d checked and triple checked within the last two minutes.
Gray was late. Not by a few minutes, though she squirmed through those. A half hour passed without any sign of him.
She didn’t know why it bothered her so much. She was in no position to jump into a relationship with anyone. She wasn’t looking for anything
with Gray. He was simply a friend, and one who came to her aid repeatedly.
And kissed her like his life depended on it.
That kiss had taken over her mind. The errands she ran were in a foggy uncertainty. She grabbed groceries, that was true. Food was in her cabinets when her stomach rumbled. But the acts of putting items in a basket and paying for them were just gone. She’d been far too engrossed with Graham Jennings to file other memories away.
She stopped herself before she touched her lips. She wasn’t going to let her heart ache over a man that was standing her up.
It was understandable, even. He probably had a line of women with fewer complications after him. She was tainted by Bentley’s attitudes. They made no sense together. She had a job outside of Bearden, anyway.
No amount of logic made the hole in her gut fade. She needed a gallon of ice cream and a lot more booze to take away the sting. Neither of which she could or should get in Gray’s regular drinking hole.
At the strike of forty-five minutes, Meghan slurped down the rest of her drink and started to gather herself for the quiet of her cabin when a call came to the bar’s landline. The dark eyes of the bartender passed over her, one of a steadily growing stream of customers, then snapped back.
“You Meghan?” The man smelled like fire and burning wood.
She nodded.
“Gray sends his apologies. They got a late call and just got back to the firehouse. He’s washing up and will be here shortly.” The man frowned as he turned away. His mumbled words still reached her ears. “I’m not a damn answering service.”
Meghan plunked back down in her seat. None of her worries or justifications of being stood up disappeared. In fact, they only made more sense. Bearden was a stop on her life journey. It was Gray’s home.
Still, she didn’t get up to leave and her attention snapped to the door every time it opened. She wanted to see him. She needed her fix. She looked forward to it all night and all day.
The bar grew noisier with every passing second and new arrival stopping in for a drink after work. It was almost too easy to pick out the tourists from those who lived there. They were the quieter ones, the ones who shot furtive looks toward the attractive population of shifters. Her cheeks reddened. She was probably just as obvious to spot.
