"So we'll be washing that along with your hair."
Liam kissed her again. Around them, the Shifters partied, a complete change from the cold resentment in the basement. They could have been at a block party, friends and neighbors coming together to celebrate. Dylan struck up conversation with some of the Shifter men, and Sean had been lured away by a couple of females. Sean and the ladies were flirting pretty fiercely, although Shifters liked to touch a lot, so maybe they were discussing movies or something while hands ran along arms and shoulders and backs.
Questions swam in Kim's brain--she'd thought she'd researched everything about Shifters, but she realized she'd only learned what they'd let humans learn. There was too much she didn't know, too many nuances she needed to understand. She hadn't argued about this "mating" with Liam because she saw that it let Liam walk away from Fergus, and Fergus stop trying to beat up on Connor and Dylan. And she definitely hadn't wanted to do any kind of mating with Fergus.
She'd smile and laugh with them, go along with their pretense that everything was all right, but once they got back to Austin, she and Liam were going to have a long talk.
A shadow fell over her, and Kim looked up to see Fergus looming next to them. "You accept the mating?" he asked Liam.
He asked Liam, not Kim. Asshole.
Liam's expression remained cool. "I do."
"You know what it means, then?" Fergus kept his voice soft, turning away from the other Shifters. "You are responsible for everything she does. She steps a toe out of line, it's you who pays. Your father won't interfere; he knows the rules."
Kim's anger flared. "You--"
She found Liam's fingers over her lips. "Not now," he said. "I know what it means, Fergus. You forgo the claim forever, then?"
"I do, but I have a condition."
"Why does that not surprise me?" Kim muttered behind Liam's fingers.
"Brian goes down," Fergus said. "You, woman, will let him, and Liam, you'll make sure she does it. He pleads guilty and takes the punishment. Those are my terms."
Without waiting for their answer, he turned from them and walked away.
Chapter Twelve
Liam knew that Kim didn't understand. He held her hand as she drove, and sensed the confusion pouring off her. He'd explain everything to her soon, but right now he just wanted to have her pull the car over so he could drag her off and sex her.
He burned with it. When a Shifter claimed a mate, the urge to procreate released. He'd always known that in theory but never realized it would be this much of a flood. It was all he could do to stop at holding Kim's hand. He wanted to slide his fingers under the waistband of her jeans, lean over and press kisses to her neck, unbutton her blouse and dip his hand inside.
The little sweetheart hadn't let him get into the car until she'd dragged a towel and a first-aid kit out of her trunk, demanded a bottle of clean water from one of the Shifters, and doctored Liam's back. She'd rinsed and dried the wounds, then applied antiseptic, which had stung a little.
Liam had tried to tell her he'd heal quickly, but she only clenched her teeth and doctored him anyway. He also couldn't tell her, with Sean and Connor hovering, that her touch fired his longing to open his pants and have a go with her right there.
The others must have sensed his craving, because the teasing had begun.
"So does a mate's touch really heal, Liam?" Sean had asked.
"I don't think he's going to last until we get home." Connor snickered beside him.
"You'll live, son," Dylan had said, clapping Liam on the shoulder. "It's worth it."
Kim hadn't known what the hell they were talking about, but from her blush, she'd suspected.
He squeezed Kim's thigh now, and she responded with a smile, albeit a nervous one. Not disgust, not, "Keep your hands off me, Shifter." Kim liked him. Would she like him after she fully understood what was happening?
"Damnation," Connor said from the backseat.
Liam looked over his shoulder. Connor's nose was buried in a magazine Kim had grabbed for him at the convenience store where they'd stopped for gas. Though Kim had offered to pay for gas, magazine, and cold sodas, Dylan had silently fished out some cash and pressed it into her hand.
It was a sports magazine, because the only thing Connor liked better than cars was sports, football in particular. Not American football with pigskin and pads, but real football, what Americans called soccer. Connor had never been to a true football game, in a stadium overflowing with raving crowds that made American fans look like a pack of knitting grannies. Connor watched it on telly when he could and avidly followed the Republic of Ireland national football team in the sports news.
"Ireland is playing today," Connor mourned. "Tonight for them, but today over here."
"Never on a major network," Sean said. "That would be a bloody miracle."
"Sportz 3." Connor lifted the magazine sideways, studying the grid of sports offerings for the week. "Satellite channel. Game starts in an hour." He sounded glum.
"Never mind, Con," Dylan said. He leaned against the window and closed his eyes. "It's a human game, anyway."
Dylan had never understood Connor's obsession with sports. But then Dylan had grown up two centuries ago, far from human society, while Connor had spent his entire young life immersed in it. Connor was what Shifters were trying to create by taking the Collar, a generation comfortable with human culture. Maybe in a few generations, the Collars could become a thing of the past, forgotten, Shifters fully integrated into human society.
Dylan wanted that. But it didn't mean he understood Connor's addiction.
"Ellison has a friend in Shiftertown North," Sean said. "He can sometimes get satellite channels. Maybe we can get you up there to see it."
"In an hour?" Connor shook his head. "And I've seen that jury-rigged TV. You have to turn off all the lights, tilt your head sideways, and squint. If he's lucky and can get a signal at all."
"There's bound to be a recording somewhere," Sean said. "Me and Liam will look around for it."
Connor threw down the magazine. "Stop babying me, Sean. I'll not see it, and you know it. It's not like the local DVD stores have a huge section on Irish football."
"Or you can watch it at my house," Kim said.
All four Shifters stopped and stared at her. "I have every satellite channel known to man," Kim went on. "Plus a new flat-screen. No beer, though. Sorry."
Connor shoved himself between the seats, eyes alight. "Are you serious? You'd let me watch your telly at your house?"
"Sure, why not?"
Dylan answered. "Because your neighbors might object to you with a houseful of Shifters. Police might be called."
"It's not against the law for a human to invite over Shifters. Unusual, maybe. And anyway, we'll go in through the garage and no one will see us."
"'Twould be an imposition we can't ask," Dylan said, his tone holding finality.
Connor made a frustrated noise. Liam sympathized with his frustration but for a different reason. He'd pictured taking Kim to Shiftertown and locking them both in his bedroom for three days. But he understood that Kim was offering this hospitality to try to make up for Fergus dragging Connor into this mess--a mess she thought she'd caused.
Kim didn't know that the mess with Fergus was ongoing, that the incident today was a drop in the vast ocean of their struggle with the clan leader. Fergus had gotten what he'd wanted--control of Kim and how she managed Brian's case. Or so Fergus believed. Kim hadn't said anything after Fergus had given her his "terms." She'd scowled but kept her lips pressed together, which Liam didn't think boded well. Fergus seriously underestimated Kim if he thought she'd simply fall into line.
However, in theory, now Fergus could threaten Liam and the rest of the Morrisseys if Kim didn't cooperate. Plus Fergus's capitulation had made him look generous to the rest of the clan--he'd been unwilling to stand between a Shifter and his true mate. Wasn't that noble of him?
"But trying to hold me prisoner in
Shiftertown isn't an imposition?" Kim demanded. "I'm driving the car, and we're going to my house so Connor can watch Irish football."
Connor hooted with joy and kissed Kim's cheek. "I love you, Kim. I'm so glad Liam claimed you."
Kim looked startled but said nothing. Connor thumped happily back in his seat, and Dylan made a "Whatever" gesture.
Of course, Liam thought as the Austin exits started to glide by, Kim's house also had a bedroom.
An hour later, Kim had four Shifters in her living room avidly watching guys in shorts running across a soccer field in rainy Ireland.
I could grow to like this game, Kim thought. No helmets or padding, just tight-fitting shirts, enticing glimpses of chest hair, and socks and shorts that emphasized muscular legs.
Not that the Shifters gave a damn what the men looked like. Not five minutes into the game, they were shouting and cheering, cursing or high-fiving. At least Sean and Connor were. Dylan watched with interest if not enthusiasm, and Liam restlessly left the room and followed Kim to the kitchen.
"You made them very happy." Liam leaned on the counter while Kim looked at her mostly empty refrigerator. She wasn't equipped to entertain men, that was certain. No beer, no chips, or whatever men chowed down on when they watched sports. She was pretty sure Abel watched sports, but she'd never caught him doing it.
"They won't be happy when they get hungry."
"They won't care." Liam slid his arms around her from behind. "Now, about that shower?"
"Liam. Your dad's in the living room."
"And likely to stay while the game's going. Your bathroom's upstairs, if I remember." He kissed her neck under her hair.
"It's true I'd like to take a look at your back again."
"Just my back?" Liam nuzzled her cheek. "Damn, woman, have mercy on a poor Shifter."
He licked her neck, his tongue hot and wet. Kim closed her eyes, a shiver traveling from her breastbone to the cleft between her legs.
He wanted sex, and she knew it. Wanted it, craved it, and wasn't ashamed of it. Kim couldn't lie to herself. She wanted Liam back, with her whole body.
The crowd on TV roared, and Sean, Connor, and even Dylan were on their feet, shouting. Through the open door to the living room, Kim saw Sean and Connor slam together in a joyful hug.
Liam nipped Kim's ear. "Let's go upstairs."
"You can't be real. There's sports on TV, and you want to go off with a woman instead."
He slanted her a hot smile. "What you call soccer isn't my thing. Now if it had been Gaelic football..." He laughed. Kim had no idea what the difference was, but she liked the sound of his laughter.
Liam took Kim's hand and led her to the staircase. As they ascended, the others continued to relive the glory moment of the goal.
Kim's main bathroom was huge--when she'd gone through her redecorating frenzy, she'd combined a hall bathroom with the master bath for one giant bathroom fest. She had a two-person tub in the middle, a large stone-tiled shower on one end, and a gigantic vanity on the other.
"You put a refrigerator and a TV in here, and you'd never have to leave," Liam said.
"Funny. Get your shirt off."
Liam skimmed his T-shirt over his head faster than she could blink. His chest rose with his quick breath, strong bone and muscle under tight, smooth skin. Dark hair curled across his chest to his abdomen. His Collar gleamed, the black and silver links moving with his skin. It might be a symbol of his captivity, but Liam standing with bare torso, jeans riding low on his hips, and the chain around his neck was sexier than any male model could ever hope to be.
Kim wanted to touch every one of his muscles, trace them from shoulders to spine, pausing at his backside to spend a little time there.
The stripes Fergus had laid on Liam's back had already closed, though the bruises remained. In a couple of days, Kim guessed, no one would be able to tell he'd been beaten.
She gently touched the closing wounds. "How is this possible?"
"I told you, we heal fast." Liam gave her a smile. "That's not what's hurting me, love."
"What is?"
His pants came off a little slower than his shirt but only because he had to unzip them. His underwear followed in a flash, and then Kim found six feet, six inches of aroused male Shifter in her arms.
"You hurt me," Liam whispered. His skin was hot and satin smooth under her touch, glistening with sweat. "I need you, Kim. It's killing me."
"What's the matter with you?" she asked, worried.
"Mating instinct. It makes me want to fuck or die."
"You smooth-talker, you."
"I can't help it. I claimed you as mate, and my body wants to complete the process."
No kidding. Kim curved into his embrace, not unhappy to flow against his body. He might call it "mating instinct," but Kim called it desire, one so strong there wasn't a cure but to give in to it.
Liam kissed her forehead and dropped kisses in her hair. Kim let her hands rove his shoulders and then his back, down to his fine, firm buttocks.
"You feel good," she murmured.
"You feel good touching me. Your hands are so cool."
She went on stroking his buttocks, the muscles as strong as she thought they'd be. "You have a nice ass."
"So do you." Large hands clasped it.
"I shouldn't be doing this."
"Most natural thing in the world, mating. The Earth goddess and Earth father joining to make the seasons continue. We're a part of that."
She couldn't help laughing. "You know, I think that's the best pick-up line I've ever heard."
Liam licked the side of her neck. "Is it working?"
"Conflict of interest. I could compromise the case."
Liam kissed her, fingers loosening her blouse. He didn't answer, and she remembered Fergus's parting words, that Kim was to drop Brian's defense and leave the poor guy to take the fall.
The fall for what?
Kim had expected Liam to tell Fergus to stuff his terms, but Liam hadn't protested. Did Liam join Fergus in wanting to throw Brian to the wolves?
"Liam, we need to talk about this."
Talk was obviously not on Liam's agenda. He kept up the scalding kisses, hands stroking. Her body became pliant, the space between her legs moist and needy.
His hardness pressed her abdomen, the feel of it making her nipples tight. She slid her hand down before she could stop herself and closed it around his penis.
Damn. He was frigging enormous. The shaft pressed her palm, moving a little with his pulse. His skin was hot, and she'd never felt a man's need so obviously before.
Not a man. A Shifter.
What women speculated about Shifter men was obviously true. They were bigger. And stiffer and hotter. Kim rubbed her thumb over his tip, feeling it slick and needy.
"Why are you doing this to me?" she asked.
Liam didn't appear to hear her. His eyes flicked to slits, cat's eyes, and he growled low in his throat.
"Don't you dare turn into something while I'm holding you." Kim squeezed his shaft, and Liam let out a soft groan. "That would be just too weird."
"Humans." Liam nipped her ear. "Teach me more about kissing." His tongue moved to her mouth, slid briefly between her lips.
Liam might not know how to kiss with finesse, but he did it with fervor. He licked her mouth from corner to corner, hands roving her back. Downstairs, Sean and Connor gave another whoop of victory, and Kim wanted to echo it up here. Liam's teeth scraped her mouth, his kiss clumsy, but his hands were skilled.
He loosened her blouse and brushed the tops of her breasts with callused fingers. Her lacy bra parted.
"Let me see you."
Kim let go of Liam long enough to pull her blouse open, to let her bra fall to the floor. Liam's gaze roved her, his cheeks flushed, eyes dark.
Abel had never looked at Kim like this, as though she were some Greek goddess. Liam cupped her breast almost reverently and slid his thumb across the areola. The nipple rose and tightene
d, and Liam leaned down and tugged it lightly with his teeth.
"You are so beautiful," he whispered into her skin.
Abel had never said that, either. "For a human?"
"For an anything."
"I don't disgust you, then?"
Liam laughed softly. "Stand still and take a compliment, love. Your body is made for loving." He moved his hand down her abdomen and unbuttoned her jeans. "I like that your hips are so curved." The zipper went down, the jeans slid past her butt, cool air touched her thighs.
"Fat-assed, you mean."
"I'm not meaning that, and you know it." Liam's hands eased her jeans to her ankles. "So you wore the thong, then."
His big hand found her bare butt cheek, betraying the truth of the statement. He softly kneaded, and Kim shivered. Here she was, in nothing but a thong in the middle of her bathroom, pressed against the hottest man she'd ever seen in her life.
Liam kissed his way down her neck and licked up between her breasts, and Kim's thoughts ceased being coherent. Liam bit her lip, then her cheek, strong hand moving to her nape and holding her there.
The thought tapped on her brain that even with the Collar, Liam was three times as strong as any man she'd ever been with. He could toss Abel across a room without working up a sweat. He could rip away her clothes in a heartbeat.
As though he read her thoughts, Liam hooked his fingers around the elastic of the thong and twisted it until it broke. His fingers found the moisture between her thighs, and she gasped, arching into his hand.
Liam eased back from the long kiss, both of them breathing faster. He softened his grip on her neck, caressing a little as though in apology.
"I don't want to hurt you." His eyes were still the cat's, narrow, slitted, light blue.
"I'm pretty tough."
"You're such a little bit of a thing." Liam's voice went soft with wonder. "You're so small, so fragile." The caresses on her neck changed to a light touch. "Goddess, what if I hurt you?"
Kim smiled a hot smile. "I've never heard a guy call me 'a little bit of a thing.' Usually it's, 'Are you sure you want to eat that, Kim? You know you're watching your weight.' "
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