Cougar's Gift: Pacific Northwest Cougars: (Shifter Romance) (4 page)

W
hat the hell just happened
? He’d let his mate walk away from him. Across the damn street, she didn’t even look for traffic! What the fuck was wrong with him. He was asking himself that the same time his cat was clearly expressing his disgust at the situation.

He needed her back. He stood like a statue, his brain cranking away like a rusty wheel. Liberty, Libby. She was young, that he could tell. He was thirty-five but still looked about the same age as her thanks to shifter genetics.

She was so beautiful his brain couldn’t process all of her details at once. They kept seeking out new things to focus on. Her long dark eyelashes, her hazel eyes that were green, then brown depending on the light. The pink blush that stole over her porcelain smooth skin.

Her clothing was baggy so he kept most of his perusal above the neck with only a quick glimpse at the swell of her breasts. They appeared to be a perfect handful. Luckily, he had big hands.

Him on this side of the street and her on the other was not acceptable. His cougar gave a chuffing agreement in his head. Needing information before he went over there and made a jackass out of himself again, he turned and headed toward Bud’s office.

Opening the door without knocking he saw Bud leaning back in his chair, feet up on the desk looking at a girly magazine.

“Libby,” he barked as he walked through the door. Bud’s confused look said it all.

Taking a deep breath he tried again. “Liberty, librarian, what do you know of her?”

“Ahh, you met our town cutie huh? She’s a doll that one. Liberty Berkowitz, born and raised in Port May. Dad’s a doctor, not a real one mind you. One of those new agey, make you drink bad tea and think about your feelings kinda doctor.

Her mom stays at home and is always cooking up some brew. I think some of the town thinks she’s a witch. But Libby, she’s pretty normal considering. Went to school to be a librarian and took over when our old as hell, mean cranky librarian retired.”

At those words Stryker raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, yeah she’s my grandma. Woman is a harridan I tell yah. Libby though, sweet as they come. You aren’t thinking of messing around with her are ya? The town won’t like that much I’ll tell ya right now,” Bud said, trying to come off tough sounding. It didn’t work.

“Not messing with her,” he said gruffly.

“Good then, if you’re looking for a friend she’s always willing to be one. That girl would give you the shirt off her back. If you like that frilly frippery stuff she’s always wearing.”

“She have a boyfriend?”

Bud scratched at his jaw. “Nah, not that I can ever remember. Don’t know about when she went off to college. Since she’s been back it’s just her and that library.”

“Good,” Stryker said then turned and walked back out. He needed a reason to talk to her. A valid reason to walk across the street and see her again without scaring her off.

He looked around the shop like it would give him some kind of clue. It’s not like he could ask for a book on car repair. That wouldn’t be very helpful with his reputation. He could ask about the history of the town. No, he didn’t give a rat’s ass about that. He called out to Bud that he was taking a break and saw Bud’s hand wave through the window of the office.

He walked across the street to Edna’s and went in. He was looking to find something that would help his cause.

“Well, hey there, Stryker. What can I help you with today?” Ms. Edna was behind the counter sitting on her stool. She was of an indeterminate age. If he had to guess he’d say around two hundred, but that was probably a little high.

“What does Libby like?” he blurted out. Shit, nice one asshole. He was like a bull in a china shop.

“Ah, off to woo our sweet Libby. Good thing I like you, young man. See, someone not in the know would bring flowers or write poetry. But I’m gonna give you a road map. You are gonna bring her some macaroni and cheese. I’ll heat it up for you and wrap it so it stays warm. That with a package of chocolate mini-donuts and you’ll be in like Flynn,” the old woman cackled.

“She likes those?”

“Yup, always sneaking them. Ever since she was a little girl walking home from school,” Edna said with a laugh. She managed to heft herself off the stool and Stryker swore he heard her bones crack.

She pointed out the instant mac-n-cheese and donuts and shuffled back to the rear of the store with Stryker in tow.

Her slow pace was causing his cougar to freak out a bit and Stryker had to tell him to back down. His cougar was of the opinion that a growl would make her move faster. Stryker knew this would most likely cause a heart attack.

The cooking of the cheesy goodness took three minutes. It was the longest three minutes of Stryker’s life. He handed Edna a twenty and rushed out the door with her laughter echoing behind him.

He ran, yes ran, the block down to the library. He did stop for a moment to calm himself before opening the door.

The fragrance of old books and wood polish hit him hard. His cougar was sniffing out his mate and she was there, under that overwhelming cacophony of odors. He smelled her but couldn’t see her.

His eyes caught movement coming down the wide wood steps in front of him. At the last step he saw her look up from her feet and stop short. Her arms were full of books and her mouth was open.

Clearly she didn’t think he was going to come over. Or maybe she did, but not so soon. Fuck, he was blowing this. She seemed to shake herself out of her shock and walked the last few steps to the counter of her desk.

“Hi, you came,” she said with a hint of wonder in her voice.

“Here,” he said, holding out the cup of macaroni and the donuts. Her eyes came to his hands for a moment, her brows drawing together in confusion. Then as her gaze came back to his, a huge stunning smile spread across her face.

Fuck him, she was breathtaking. Her eyes were a green color in the middle. The outer ring a dark brown with flecks of gold.

“Is that for me?” she said in awe.

“Yes, here,” he said again, nodding towards the food.

She looked down at the books she was carrying and hefted them onto the counter. She reached for the offered items and their hands brushed together. He froze solid. She gasped.

He was so warm and Libby could swear they had a static shock between them.

“How did you know?” She was looking at the items and thinking it was the most thoughtful gift she had ever received.

“Edna,” he offered.

“You asked her about me? Why?”

Stryker wanted to tell her that she was his and that he was going to take care of her for the rest of his life and hers.

He wanted to wrap her in a blanket or something. His concern for her well-being was racing through his brain. Hot. Cold. Hungry. Tired. His need to ensure her comfort was instinctually driving him.

Lucky for him it was slightly more pressing than the need for his stiff dick to get what it wanted.

His internal dialogue was causing long delays in their conversation. He recognized this but wasn’t sure how to fix it.

He wasn’t a big talker. He never needed to be. Life didn’t require constant commentary in his opinion. But now he needed to talk, needed to convince this human that she was the reason for his continued existence. Yeah, that would be easy to explain he thought.

“I like you. A lot,” he managed. His voice was so gruff when he spoke with her. He needed to keep his cougar back so she wouldn’t be frightened.

“You don’t know me, we just met,” she replied. Libby wasn’t stupid, this was like something out of her dreams. But it didn’t happen in real life. Hot hunky men didn’t stare at you, barely talk to you, then buy you junk food.

“I want to know you, Libby,” he said, his eyes drilling into her.

Again, his ability to say her name in that way that made the goosebumps roll over her skin was a talent.

“I’m not very interesting,” she said. He might as well know now that she was probably not what he was used to.

“Yes, you are. You just don’t know it yet,” he said.

W
ell gee whiz
, that was nice. Totally and completely crazy, but still nice.

Libby had to decide if she was going to chicken out and run away from this sex god or jump headfirst into the unknown. Never having been a very adventuresome person, Libby was having an internal struggle.

“Can you stay for a little while? I’ll share my lunch you so nicely got for me,” she offered. What could a little conversation hurt?

“Yes,” he grunted.

Libby giggled, his one word answers would normally annoy her. On him it was oddly endearing.

Libby motioned to the other side of her desk. The counter was high so when you sat only the top of your head could be seen from the door.

She sat in her chair and pulled out a stool under the desk and offered it to him. He sat down awkwardly on it, his big frame trying to balance on the swiveling surface.

“You’re a mechanic?” she asked, trying to break the ice. She delved into the cheesy noodles as she waited for an answer.

“Sometimes.”

“Sometimes, other times you’re a…?”

“Whatever needs done,” he said quietly.

Libby lifted a spoonful of food into her mouth and tried to think of another question to ask him.

As she pondered she offered the cup to him for a bite. He took it from her and picked up the spoon and stared at it for a moment. Instead of taking a bite, he scooped up another spoonful and offered it to her.

Libby was startled by the offering, but her mouth voluntarily opened so he could feed her the bite.

She saw the corner of his mouth quirk up as her mouth closed over the spoon. He was feeding her! How weird was that? She couldn’t lie, she liked it.

“How old are you?” she said after she finished chewing.

“How old do you think I am?”

“Hmm, twenty-five? I’m twenty-three by the way,” she said.

“Thirty-five,” he said.

“What? Really? You don’t look it. I mean, you look younger. Not like too young just not in your thirties,” she stammered. Wow, that was not the age she would have guessed. He looked like he could still be in college.

He scooped up more noodles and offered it to her. She took the bite and asked, “So are you going to live here now? I mean you left, but now you’re back.”

“I had to visit my brother, he got married. I’m staying here now,” he said.

“Oh wow, that’s nice. Is he your older or younger brother?”

“Twin,” he said.

Libby was taken aback by that. There were matching hotties out there in the world?

“Identical?”

“No,” he answered. Clearing his throat he offered up, “Fraternal.”

He needed to stop barking answers at her. He knew it was a turnoff to most people when he did that. He usually didn’t give a shit.

But he needed her to like him, heck tolerate him would be a good start. Getting her to love him enough to choose him forever was an immeasurable task.

“He was already married, but they wanted a formal wedding with flowers, pictures, all that shit,” he said gruffly.

Libby laughed. “Well yes, flowers and pictures can be important. Life events should be commemorated.”

Stryker filed that away for later. He was forming a catalog of Libby-likes in his mind. Mac-n-cheese, check. Donuts, check. Life events to be celebrated, check.

“More?” he asked, offering up another bite.

“I don’t think I have been spoon fed since I was a kid, Stryker,” she admitted.

As his name rolled off her lips he felt his cougar push to the surface and a low purr came out of his chest.

He watched her eyes widen at the sound and he cleared his throat again trying to cover the noise.

“I like feeding you, you’re too skinny,” he said roughly.

Laughing, she said with embarrassment, “There is a reason I wear big skirts. They hide my child bearing hips as my mother likes to call them.”

Crap, why did she say that? How embarrassing and unnecessary! Argh.

Libby also didn’t miss the fact his eyes flashed down to her lap. Again, embarrassing. He clearly didn’t think her explanation was a negative as he shoved the utensil towards her again.

When she accepted the bite, she watched him put down the cup and rip open the row of little bite size donuts. He offered her one and then grabbed another for himself. They chewed in silence together. Staring at each other, the air was heavy with both of their intense gazes.

Stryker was enjoying the fact that she wasn’t running from him. She was sitting, letting him fed her, which made his animal more than happy.

He almost wanted to hold back the donuts so he could spend more time with her. When she mentioned her hips and the possibility of her being big with child it made his already hard dick grow painfully against his zipper.

Libby was wondering how long Stryker was going to drag out this pseudo lunch/ feeding session. It was beyond odd, but at the same time she was totally enamored with the attention.

He wasn’t doing it in a condescending way, it was thoughtful and dare she say, nurturing?

She let herself soak in just how handsome he was. There was an animal magnetism about him that drew her to him. It wasn’t just how attractive he was, it was his intensity that made her want to know him.

“So, what do you want to know about me?” she asked him.

Stryker thought about this for a moment. “Everything,” he replied honestly.

This caused Libby to laugh again. “That could take a while.”

“I have time,” he said back instantly.

“I need to know where to start. Otherwise, I’ll rattle on and on about my favorite books to my shoe size. You could be here all day. Or until I close at least,” she said with a smile.

“First,” he started, his voice sounding unsure. “Do you like me?”

What made him ask this was clear to him, he and his cat needed to know. Why he chose to blurt it out now, instead of waiting until the time was right, was just from his sheer of lack control over his emotions.

Also, because it didn’t have to do with his dick and his cougar was focused on one thing and one thing only.