Tied to the Barbarian Warrior

by Abella Ward

  Speak of the Dragon… Ian came into the kitchen. He sighed when he saw Lydia lying on the floor. "Did you eat that whole cake?"

  "Whoops, sounds like I should go and let you take your scolding," Amber said. "I'll call you later."

  "Yeah. Bye."

  Lydia hung up the phone and shook her head, peering innocently at Ian. "I didn't eat it all."

  Ian stepped over her and eyed what was left of the cake. "I see. You left me a few crumbs."

  "That's a whole piece left," Lydia protested. "Are you going to stand there crying over a cake or help me to bed? I need my rest, remember."

  "You just want me to carry you."

  Lydia grinned. "Will you?"

  Ian rolled his eyes, but swooped down and gathered her into his arms. He kissed the top of her head. "Of course I will. All you need to do is ask. I'll do anything for my mate."

  Lydia made a face at that. A committed relationship, she could live with. Wildly in love, yes. Common-law partnership, fiancé, girlfriend-boyfriend, all labels that she liked. Mates just made it sound so animalistic, though. Like all there was between them was sex, not this shared history and broken pasts. To Ian, she knew 'mates' was as good as saying that she was his wife, but she still didn't like the word.

  Her Dragon carried her to their shared bedroom where he laid her on the bed and kissed her pregnant belly. A shiver ran down her spine and she wrapped her hands around the back of his neck, digging her fingers into his hair.

  "Hey, now. You said you needed rest," Ian said, his eyes twinkling as he mock-glared at her.

  "I'm not actually that tired. And sex is supposed to help with bringing on labor, right? I'm anxious for our baby to see the world."

  Luckily for her, she was not going to lay an egg. Dragons, just like humans, gave birth to live young. The baby wouldn't even start shifting until he was in his teens. Lydia wasn't really looking forward to a teenager prone to spouting fire from his mouth, but Ian assured her that there would be no accidental setting the drapes on fire.

  "Good point," Ian murmured, his voice husky. "But you just ate a whole cake. I don't want to upset your stomach."

  Lydia pulled him down so his arms were spread to either side of her and their stomachs were brushing against each other. "I didn't actually eat it recently. I'd been lying on that floor for almost two hours."

  Worry flashed into her Dragon's eyes. "You're not supposed to lie on your back for long periods of time, the compression—"

  "I know, I was on my side for most of it," Lydia assured him. "I'm just saying that right now I feel baby-full, not going-to-throw-up full."

  Ian hummed and kissed her again. He rolled her onto her side and settled behind her, his hands coasting over her body. "Are you sure you don't want to wait a little longer?"

  Blood rushed to certain parts of her body, making everything sensitive. His touch was driving her crazy. When he slid a hand over her ass, she moaned. "Nope. Don't want to wait."

  Ian laughed, shaking his head. He teased her a little about it, but Lydia knew he liked how vocal she was about what she wanted. Lydia liked it, too. The lack of self-confidence she'd suffered was a thing of the past, and she loved it. Almost as much as she loved the feel of Ian's hands wrapping around her hips. She moaned, wiggling her ass against him. The effect was instant, and she giggled as she felt him spring to life.

  "You'll be the death of me," Ian whispered, kissing her neck.

  He eased her pants off, massaging her legs as he worked his way back up. The feeling relaxed her, and Lydia smiled as she turned her face towards him. A quick kiss was followed by a long one. She took his hand and guided it to her breast. He could never spend too much time there, in her opinion. That and her neck. She wasn't sure which one she liked best. But when his strong fingers kneaded her breasts and his mouth was on her neck, that shot everything to the sky right away.

  "No fair," she moaned. "I don't know your secrets yet."

  Ian chuckled, continuing to massage her while sucking at her skin. Her core tightened, and Lydia arched herself. Even with her shirt still on, it was enough to send the heat burning hotter through her. She wouldn’t be breathing fire anytime soon, but being with Ian had a lot of advantages.

  She grinned, feeling so close to him it was like they were in the same body. All her life she had held onto a fear she couldn’t name, but with him, it all melted away. Now she wasn't afraid to go for what she wanted. She knew who she was, and had never been happier.

  "I love," Ian whispered as one of his hands slipped between her legs. "Whoa."

  Lydia knew exactly what he meant. She reached behind herself, twisting just enough to reach him while peppering his face with kisses. He huskily told her he loved her, over and over, as she started readying him. It was something he needed, to say the words that he had denied himself for so long. Lydia didn't mind. She would never tire of hearing it.

  When Ian eased into her, shockwaves of pleasure burst through her. She clutched at the blanket, biting into the thin fabric of her shirt. His hands gripped her hips. They cried out, moving in time, splashes of color and pleasure blinding them both. Lydia's skin grew so hot she was afraid she might burst into flames. She didn't last long. Bolts shot up and down her spine and through her legs and arms. All her muscles went slack. Her head fell back and she screamed. Ian grunted in her ear, then stopped breathing altogether as he frantically thrust.

  Lydia ran out of breath before he stopped. When he did, they lay panting. Lydia moaned, searching blindly for him. He kissed the tips of her fingers. Still inside, he pulled her back closer to him. They lay like that for quite some time, both bodies so hot Lydia almost couldn’t stand it. She loved it, though, and as her body became jelly-like, she laughed.

  "What's funny?"

  "Nothing. Everything. I don't know. I'm just so happy. Being here with you. I love it. I love you. And to think, if it weren't for those stupid demons, I'd still be calling you Mr. Asshole under my breath."

  "You still do."

  Lydia shrugged. "I don't mean it anymore. Most of the time, at least. That counts for something, right? Besides, here I am as big as a whale, and you made me like this."

  Ian nuzzled the back of her neck. "Yup. I did. I also cleaned up Maria's restaurant for the second time, took care of the demon bodies, hunted down all the ones that escaped us, and threw enough money at that Scotland hospital that they've forgotten all about us. And as I recall, you were the one who kissed me first."

  "I did not," she protested. "Remember? I said that you wouldn’t dare kiss me, and you did."

  "You dared me, what was I supposed to do?"

  Lydia buried her face into his arm and giggled. "You're lucky I didn't carry pepper spray, or you'd have gotten a face full of it."

  "I love pepper," he whispered, his lips capturing her lobe. "And I love you."

  She settled herself back again, their hands meeting over her belly. She couldn’t wait for their son to be born… to meet his father. To see this beautiful world that they lived in. As her eyes drifted shut, surrounded by her Dragon's love, a smile spread across her face. Maybe they had had to fight hell to claim it, but she had finally found a little piece of heaven right here.

  *****

  THE END

  The Shifter's Detective

  Description

  What is a detective supposed to do when the insanely hot suspect she’s investigating starts kissing her… and more?

  Detective Lucy is over the moon. She just got her first undercover assignment. She’s not going to screw this one up. Until she finds herself naked with the shifter she’s meant to investigate.

  Levi Bennet and his Coyote pack are not your regular shifters. They live in the bad part of the city, where the police have no power and a shifter must flash his canines to get what he wants. Which Levi, by the way, is happy to do.

  But strange things are happening in the city and the Coyotes are being held responsible. And soon Lucy and Levi find themselves entangled in a
web of danger, lies, and murder.

  Can Lucy keep her one-night stand a secret at the police station? What will Levi say when he finds out Lucy’s a cop? And what will Lucy do when she finds out she’s… pregnant with a suspect’s baby?

  Chapter One – Levi

  Levi gnawed on an antler-shaped jawbreaker as he wandered down the hallway of the apartment building he shared with the rest of his Coyote pack. It wasn't great, considering the broken elevator, broken laundromat, and electricity that probably needed to have been upgraded thirty years ago, but it was home. Their only home, in fact.

  After the humans had decided to build a city on pack territory, the Coyotes had just moved in, taking over several abandoned or half-completed projects. It was their territory, after all. If they had been a Wolf pack, the humans wouldn’t dare encroach on their packlands.

  But I guess we Coyotes aren't as sexy as Wolves, Levi thought. He paused to grin at his reflection in a dirty window. He flexed his muscles and shrugged. Sexier. We're far sexier. Humans are dumb.

  With a wide yawn, Levi pushed open the nearest door, striding into the 'office space' his brother Steven did all his Alpha work in. Steven wasn't alone. He was with that man who had started hanging around the pack lately, always smelling like cigarette smoke and gunpowder. Levi stopped in the doorway. What was Steven doing with that dude?

  "Levi, how many times do I have to tell you to knock?" Steven snapped at him.

  "When have you ever told me to knock?"

  Levi narrowed his eyes at the strange man. He was a muscular, short man who was nondescript in a very suspicious way. He wore old clothes, neat but worn, and yet his fingernails were manicured and his teeth had that recently-visited-the-dentist gleam to them. Ever since he arrived, Steven had turned into a stuffy fuss-bucket.

  His brother shook his head and pointed out to the hallway. "I'm busy."

  "What's going on here, Steven?" Levi shut the door behind him. "I'm your brother and your Beta. I deserve to know what you're up to."

  "This is Aaron Knox; he's a realtor. I'm looking at getting the pack better accommodations."

  Levi frowned. "Then why the secrecy?"

  Steven growled low in his throat. Something he rarely did. "Levi, this is none of your business. Get out of here."

  "I don’t think so. Not when you're lying to me." Levi strode over to the desk the two were bent over. Pictures of well-known drug dealers, men Levi had spent months heckling until they moved out of Coyote territory, were strewn over the surface. Levi looked up at his brother in alarm. "Are they coming back?"

  "No. But there will always be more where they came from." Steven shook his head. "The pack is poor. We might not be able to afford to move, and I don't want people getting their hopes up. Now go, so I can discuss the matter with Mr. Knox."

  "We could always sue the city for stealing our land."

  Knox started gathering up some other papers. "If we're not going to discuss these matters, I have other business to attend to."

  "Levi was leaving." Steven narrowed his eyes at his brother. "Now."

  Levi let one of his canines grow into a long, sharp point. He flashed it at Aaron Knox before he turned on his heel and left. His brother was the Alpha, after all, and with the position came a certain amount of respect.

  Still, it stung that Steven didn't trust his own Beta. Sometimes Levi thought that Steven named him his second just because he was his brother and the pack expected it. He certainly was given little to no responsibilities. Even though it was he who had driven away the drug dealers from the pack. Even though he was the one to get the city to start a recycling program in this area. Steven thought his methods were 'too childish'. So what if he collected weeks' worth of garbage and dumped it on the councilmen's lawns? It was effective!

  Levi kicked the wall. Steven was too serious – too determined to use the humans’ diplomatic methods to solve things. The problem was, they didn't actually solve anything. Yet, moving would probably be a helpful thing – if that was what Steven was really planning.

  The neighborhood the pack currently lived in was dirty and unkempt, just like the homeless people who lived in the alleys and behind dumpsters. The roads were full of potholes, the buildings made of crumbling concrete and covered with peeling paint. Trees had once lined the streets, but after one of them caught fire while entangled in the power lines, the city had cut them all down. Now children played on the stumps.

  Levi's hands swung freely as he gazed across the bleak, gray jungle he lived in. The only brightness remained in splashes of graffiti that changed every so often when people got bored.

  "Hey! You!"

  The familiar, harsh call made Levi roll his eyes. This again. He turned towards the two police officers who often scoured the area, looking for people to bully. If they wanted to fight actual crimes, all they'd have to do was go north four or five blocks to where the drug rings ran rampant, but they preferred to harass the Coyotes. Levi smiled pleasantly as they approached.

  "Is it time for our daily frisk, officers?"

  The taller, more ripped one Levi liked to call Moose scowled at him. His hand was on his gun. "Put your hands on the wall, dog."

  "Someone needs some cultural sensitivity training," Levi muttered as he turned to do as the officer said.

  Even though he tried to keep his muscles loose and relaxed, a tight ball of anger simmered in his stomach. If he had his way, he'd bar all of these cops from the part of the city the Coyotes had staked out as their territory. It wasn't like they kept the streets safe. They just harassed people trying to go about their daily lives.

  "So which one of you guys has the Coyote fetish, eh?" Levi asked as the smaller of the two cops, nicknamed Forsythe, began patting him down. "Must be you, eh Forsythe? You're the one who's always patting me down."

  "Shut up. We got intel that you Coyotes are moving drugs, and we know the likes of you," Moose said. "Now spread your legs."

  Levi snickered. "You're not even going to buy me dinner first?"

  Moose showed just how much restraint he had as he stepped forward and punched at the Coyote's kidneys. Levi twisted away just in time for the cop to crack his knuckles on the brick wall instead. He laughed as Forsythe grappled with him, trying to hold him. The Coyote easily removed the cop's gun from its holster, and as Moose started raising his own gun, Levi spun away from Forsythe and grabbed Moose's gun by the barrel. With a yank and twist, it was in his hands.

  "Oops, what happened?" Levi asked as Forsythe reached for his weapon. He smirked at the cops.

  "I'm going to kill you," Moose seethed, coming at him.

  Levi danced back a few steps, waving the guns by their barrels. "This is gonna be a little embarrassing when you get back to the precinct, isn't it?"

  He turned on his heel and dashed off as both of them lunged. They shouted as they chased after him. Levi smirked. This was the kind of thing he enjoyed doing–making the bad guys pay for their villainy. He dodged down an alley and through a culvert to an open sewage line that the city had been promising Steven they'd clean up for months now.

  Levi dropped the two guns into the sludge. Once the police got an 'anonymous' tip describing where the guns were, the city would be forced to clean it up. He made sure that the weapons sank below the stinking surface before he took off again. He couldn't hear any sounds of pursuit, so he briefly stopped to steal a shirt and pants from a laundry line before he headed to the more human-populated part of the city.

  He dirtied his hands in soot and dragged them through his light-colored hair to darken it as he emerged into the street again. He slowed his pace to a walk, wiping his hands off on his old shirt before tossing it into the garbage. Stuffing his hands into his pockets, he whistled as he strode towards a little café on the other side of the street. Just as he entered, he saw Moose and Forsythe turn the corner.

  Hmm. They were harder to shake than usual today. He'd have to find a new escape route. Levi scouted the café out. There had to be somebody
in here who would be willing to help a Coyote out…

  The café was sparsely populated, and Levi's gaze soon locked on a pretty brunette sitting by herself. She had a newspaper up over her face and was tucked into an inconspicuous corner. The woman was all curves, sitting straight and prim. Perfect. He grinned as he strode over to her and sat down.

  "Hello," he said.

  The brunette jumped and looked up. "Um… hello."

  "You look like the kind of girl that likes to help out strangers in need," Levi said, grinning broadly at her.

  He propped his elbows on the table and leaned forward, keeping his eyes locked on hers. She had amazing eyes, perhaps the bluest he had ever seen. The effect with her dark hair and pale features was stunning.

  Outside, Moose and Forsythe were looking in the windows of the shops they passed, faces drawn in scowls. Thinking about it, it was a good thing that they didn't know his name or his position as Beta… It could cause a few problems with the pack. Oh, well. He'd just keep his head down for a while. He focused on the brunette again.

  "I don't have any money on me," she said.

  "I was thinking a different kind of help. And I've got plenty of cash – I'll buy your coffee. Just come with me."

  He gripped her wrist and pulled her up. She looked startled but allowed him to pull her towards the bathroom. She dug her heels just as Moose and Forsythe headed towards the café.

  "What are you doing?" she demanded.

  "What if I gave you a hundred dollars?"

  The woman's brow arched, but allowed him to pull her in. He shut the door–not locking it, and pushed her against the wall. She gasped. He grinned. He pressed his mouth to hers, gripping her hips with his hands.

  Holy crap!

  Levi started in surprise when the woman kissed him back passionately. She threw her arms around his neck, pulling his body tight against hers. He growled, moving his mouth to her neck. She tasted sweet and spicy, stirring something inside of him. He growled again. With one hand gripping her, he pulled her leg up over his hip.