Primal Possession (16 page)

“Why not?”

“I don’t want to lead you on.”

He frowned at her words, but she continued. “Just because I agree to spend time with you, I don’t want you to assume this means anything about mating or bonding or a future for us.”

She could say whatever she wanted, but he knew that if they spent enough time together, he could prove to her they had a shot at a long-term relationship. If she had been a shifter, she wouldn’t fight her attraction to him. She’d simply accept that they were suited for each other. He wasn’t sure if the fact that she was human added to his attraction to her. Her constant struggle to pull away from him made him crazy, but it also turned him on in a way he didn’t understand. His inner wolf wanted her submission, but the predator in him also loved the hunt. Something told him that once he’d finally claimed her—and he planned to do that soon—things would never get old between them. The sexy redhead would always keep him on his toes.

Slowly, he moved his hand up her leg a couple inches. “You like horseback riding?”

Her blue eyes glazed over for a moment as he trailed his fingertips higher. Even though she wore jeans, he could feel the heat and energy flowing through her muscles. Her body temperature had risen in the short time since he’d been touching her. While he might not be able to see them, he would bet her nipples were hard and aroused against her bra cups. The thought of what color they’d be made his cock strain against his pants and he had to bite back a groan.

Leaning closer, he started to tell her what he’d like to do to her, but the waitress returned. Sighing, he waited while she ran through the specials. Even after they’d given their order, she lingered for a moment to stare at him. He wanted to growl at her to leave them alone but knew it wouldn’t do him any good to alienate citizens of the town. So he pushed down his impatience and gritted his teeth while she stood there staring at him hungrily.

“We don’t need anything else, Betsy.” December’s annoyed voice sliced through the air and jerked the woman out of her trance.

The blonde mumbled something under her breath and hurried away.

“Seems like you have an admirer.” December inched away from him, closer to the window by their booth.

Instead of giving her space, he moved with her and kept his leg lined up with hers. He just wanted to touch her, maintain that simple connection. “Do you care?”

She shrugged instead of answering. But at least she didn’t deny it.

“So, horseback riding this week?”

“Um…”

“Tomorrow when you get off work.”

“Is that a question?” There was a slight trace of amusement in her voice. That was a good sign.

“Tomorrow?”

December shook her head slightly and sighed. “I can’t tomorrow, but how about Tuesday? And I’m only agreeing because it’s been months since I’ve been riding, so don’t get any ideas.”

“Why can’t you go tomorrow?” It came out harsher than he intended.

Her eyebrows rose at his abrupt question. “I have plans.”

“With who?” he demanded.

“Not that it’s any of your business but I volunteer at the local high school on Monday nights as a literacy tutor.”

He instantly relaxed at her words. “Oh.”

Her pretty mouth pulled into a thin line. “See? This is another reason we’d never work out. You can’t grill me about where I go and what I do.” When he started to respond, she cut him off. “And don’t give me some bullshit line about how you’re worried about my safety. You’re ridiculously territorial, Liam. The only reason I’ve let it slide so far is because of everything that’s been happening.”

His first instinct was to deny her accusation, but he
was
territorial. He was an alpha
and
a warrior, so it was ingrained into the very fiber of his being. Unlike the betas of his pack, who depended on alphas and warriors alike to protect them, he protected what was his, including her. It was the pack way. The animal way. Unfortunately for his inner wolf, she might be beta in the physical sense but she sure as hell wasn’t submissive. If she had been a shifter, she’d be alpha to the bone. Always butting heads with him. She didn’t care about his protective instincts
or understand them and he had no response for her. Anything he said was guaranteed to annoy her, but he couldn’t change who he was. As she stared at him, waiting for a response, her brother walked through the front door of the diner.

Potent relief surged through him at the interruption. Something Liam had never thought would happen at the sheriff’s presence.

Without waiting for an invitation, Parker took off his hat and slid into the seat across from them. “I’m glad you’re together.”

That’s a first.
Liam lifted an eyebrow.

“What’s wrong?” December asked.

The sheriff glanced behind him, presumably to make sure they weren’t being overheard, then looked back at them. “This is all off the record, Liam. I want you to pass this information on to your brother.”

He nodded, all his muscles tensing. “Okay.”

“Found a body early this morning. Male, Caucasian, early thirties. He’d been ripped to shreds by a couple dogs, but that’s not what killed him. A blow to the head did.”

Liam glanced at December, who looked as confused as he felt. “And?”

“The body was moved and dumped at Abel’s Gas Station. There aren’t a lot of reasons to dump a body in plain sight. It’s only a theory, but it’s possible whoever did it wanted this death blamed on shifters.”

“That seems like a stretch.” But it didn’t. Liam just didn’t want December to worry about anything else right now.

Parker shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not. There’s more to it than that, but that’s all I’m willing to tell you.”

“Why
are
you telling me all this?”

Parker’s eyes darkened. “With all the bullshit happening
around here and rumors of the APL, I can’t afford not to. This is a peaceful town and if some assholes think they can start anything here, they’re dead wrong.”

Liam nodded slowly as Parker’s words sank in. If the APL members couldn’t exterminate them all, going after their reputation was a good way to get the rest of the town to hate them. It didn’t take much to get people riled up, and he’d seen firsthand how quickly humans could turn on shifters if they had enough fear in their hearts. Not to him personally, but he watched the news enough and he had friends who’d been driven from towns because of simple human fear. “I’ll tell Connor.”

“Good. And make sure everyone in your pack stays out of trouble.”

Liam bit back a sharp retort, mainly because Parker was December’s brother. It’s not as if his pack had gotten into any trouble since they’d moved to Fontana. Connor was a good Alpha and he looked out for all of them. Anything that was pack business stayed that way. They didn’t involve the humans in anything they didn’t have to. He cleared his throat. “Of course.”

“Listen, I’ve got to work late tonight—”

Liam knew where he was headed, so he cut him off. “I’m staying at her place.”

December cleared her throat. “Excuse me. ‘Her’ is sitting right here.”

“December, not now,” Parker said absently as he grabbed his hat. He kept his attention on Liam and nodded once.

Liam knew Parker hated depending on him for anything. Mild distrust rolled off him in both his scent and his expression. But the man obviously knew Liam would never hurt December and would do anything to keep her safe.

As the sheriff left the diner, December elbowed him in the side. “I hate when you do that. I’m sitting
right
here. I think he’s just as bad as you.”

Under normal circumstances it wouldn’t have hurt, but she hit him directly where he’d been stabbed. He gritted his teeth. For such a small woman she had some serious strength behind her. Or maybe he’d just been stabbed deeper than he realized.

Her gaze narrowed on his face. “Tell me that didn’t hurt.”

“It didn’t.”

“Then why’d you flinch?”

“I didn’t.”

“Don’t lie to me.”

“I didn’t flinch, but…I might have gotten stabbed earlier.”

Immediately her eyes widened and she reached for him. “
Stabbed?
Are you okay? What happened? Why didn’t you go to a hospital?”

As she took his hand in her smaller one, his entire body warmed. Shit, he wasn’t above playing the sympathy card. Not if it made her want to touch him. “There’s nothing anyone at a hospital can do and I’m fine. I’ll be healed completely by tonight.”

Her expression was still worried. “Who stabbed you?”

If he told her, she’d tell her brother there were fae warriors in town, and that was the last thing they needed. More involvement from law enforcement. “It’s not important.”

“Was it one of those APL members?”

“No.”

“Are you going to tell me who it was?”

“No.”

Her ivory cheeks flushed an angry red. Even if he
couldn’t scent the changes in her, he was coming to learn the small nuances of her body and expressions. Plus she wore her emotions right out in the open. Those blue eyes of hers gave away everything. “You just expect me to accept everything you say without asking any questions.” Her voice was heated but at least she hadn’t pulled away.

Slowly, he rubbed his thumb over her open palm. He needed to change the subject. Fast. “Did you wear that sweater to drive me crazy?”

The abrupt switch in topic made her blink. “What?”

He let his gaze travel down over her breasts. She wore a green sweater that wrapped around her waist with some sort of tie thing. All he’d have to do was pull the bow free and it would fall open. Just a hint of cleavage peeked through the V-neck cut. “You know how fast I could take that thing off you?” he whispered.

Her breathing became shallower as he continued rubbing small circles against her skin. “You can’t use sex to distract me.” Her voice came out raspy and sinfully low.

“I’m not doing anything.” He was touching her in a completely nonsexual spot, but it was obviously affecting her.

Her mouth slightly parted and her eyes filled with undeniable heat. When her tongue moistened her lips, it took all his restraint not to crush his mouth over hers.

Slowly, he started to lean closer to her. He was fully aware there were eyes on them, but he didn’t give a shit. Apparently she didn’t either. As she leaned toward him, her eyes started to drift shut. And his cell rang in his jacket pocket. “Son of a bitch.” Even though he wanted to ignore it, when he heard his brother’s unique ring, he simply couldn’t. Brother or not, Connor was his Alpha and he always had to be on call for him.

December’s cheeks flushed a deeper crimson this
time and it was definitely because she was turned on. And embarrassed. She stared at her glass while he fished out his phone.

“Yeah?” he practically barked at Connor.

“Is Jayce with you?” his brother asked.

“No, but he’s not far.”

“Ryan got a hit on a possible address for a Mike Taylor. Could be nothing.” Connor’s voice was cautious.

“But it could be that asshole.” If Liam got the chance to kill the bastard who’d dared to touch December, he was taking it.

“I need you and Jayce to check it out.”

“Text me the info. We’ll head over there now.” At his words December’s head snapped up, but he ignored her curious stare.

As soon as he disconnected, December asked, “What’s going on?”

“I’ve got to take care of some pack business. I’ll have the waitress wrap up your food.”

“Oh, will you?”

Shit, what had he said? Her tone had gone from concerned to annoyed in seconds. “Uh, yes?”

“Just because you’re leaving doesn’t mean I’m not going to stay and finish my meal. And if you give me some line about walking me back to my store for my protection, I swear, I’ll scream.” Her chin jutted out mutinously.

She was right. He knew it. Even if he didn’t want to admit it. The walk back to her bookstore was less than thirty seconds. Barely a block down the road. But his inner wolf didn’t care.
Pick your battles.
His sister-in-law’s voice sounded loudly in his head. This was one of those times he needed to restrain his protective nature. If he didn’t, he was going to drive an even bigger wedge between him and December. “You’re right.” He grabbed a
few bills from his wallet and laid them on the table. “Will you get my food to go and I’ll meet you after work to take you home?”

For a moment, she looked shocked. Then concerned. “Where are you going so suddenly?”

“I…I can’t say.”

“You just got
stabbed
today. What’s the matter with you? Is this something dangerous?”

He couldn’t be sure, but he wasn’t going to tell her that. “No.”

Apparently he paused too long for her liking because she glared at him. “You’re so full of it.”

“Okay, I don’t
know
if this will be dangerous.” He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Answering to someone about his daily business wasn’t something he was sure he could get used to.

“And you’re not going to tell me what ‘this’ is?”

“I’m sorry, December.”

Her lips pursed as she looked away. “Fine, do whatever it is you’re going to do. Just don’t think you can keep pushing me out of your life and think we have a future together.”

“I thought you said we
didn’t
have a future. Are you saying if I open up more, we will?”

She opened her mouth, then snapped it shut. Seeing that combination of confusion and annoyance on her face soothed every part of him. He wasn’t sure why, but it did. Before he could stop himself, he leaned forward and brushed his lips over hers. A soft, almost chaste kiss that made him want to turn off his phone, forget about what he needed to do, and find a secluded place where they wouldn’t come up for air for days.

Without glancing back at her, he hurried from the restaurant and tried to catch his breath. While he wanted to
dominate and make love to her every way possible, the woman had such a stranglehold on him it scared the shit out of him. Mated males could turn into fools because of their females, and he and December weren’t mated or even bondmates yet.

Liam zipped his jacket up higher as he and Jayce strode up the walk to the place his brother had sent him. It was a run-down mobile home in a trailer park on the outskirts of Fontana. The bottom half of the home was rusted and pieces of siding were completely missing. The entire park was quiet and Liam didn’t scent too many people around.