ROMANCE: SHIFTER: Shifter to the Max Collection (Dragon, Bear, Wolf and Panther Shifter Romances) (Paranormal Fantasy Romance Collection) (6 page)

“That’s right, Amber. You should never speak to him again. And I did make you a St. Clements. Officer Asshole put something in it.” Amber blinked at Jody. “You’re talking out loud, Amber. “

Ryder growled again as he stood over Tim’s body – now curled into a fetal position. Tim moaned. Ryder now had on jeans, a t-shirt stretched across his chest, and Vans slipped on his feet. 

Jody reached out to rub warmth into Amber’s arms, and tossed over her shoulder, “I called Adam and Rachel. They’re on their way. Yes, Amber, Ryder is very handsome. Shush now. We’ll get you home.”

Amber wiped her face again and took a deep breath. She had to get a hold of herself. Obviously her every thought was tumbling out of her mouth. Right now her thoughts were focused on getting as close to Ryder and as far from Tim as possible. She was also grateful, oddly, that Tim had parked way off to one side of the lot. The patrons of the bar that were coming and going hadn’t seemed to notice the commotion on this side of the lot.

A police cruiser pulled into the lot and drove right over to where Ryder stood. A tall, light haired man got out of the driver’s side and a beautiful dark haired woman rushed out of the passenger’s. She stepped over to Ryder, looked him up and down, nodded, and then turned to Amber. 

“Rachel…” Amber whispered. The tears started flowing again. She took a few steps toward the dark beauty and suddenly they were hugging and both crying. Talking at the same time, asking and answering questions in the same breaths. Jody stood back and smiled.

“I gotta go back to work. Rach, call me tomorrow?” she muttered as she passed behind them. She continued on toward the bar, pausing only to kiss Ryder’s cheek and shoot Tim a look of daggers. “Thank you, Adam, for coming so quickly. I’m headed inside.”

“Good job calling me, Jody. I’ll deal with the officer here.” Adam’s soft voice carried the full weight of command.

“Who is he?” Amber sniffled at Rachel, her closest friend since they’d met in preschool.

“Adam? He’s my husband.” Rachel smiled at Amber and pushed her hair away from her face. “He’s also the chief of police and Tim’s boss.  Now, we need to go into the bar and have you pee in a cup for me.”

“What? Why?” Amber asked bemusedly.

“Jody made you non-alcoholic drinks, honey. Then you started acting intoxicated. So she called Ryder and us. We’re going to see if Tim drugged you.”

Ryder started growling again. He lunged toward Tim’s prone body; only Adam’s quick reflexes kept him from attacking Tim where he lie.

“No, brother. I got this. The legal way.” Adam pushed Ryder back and said, “Escort your lady inside. “

“Is that me? Am I his lady?” Amber asked Rachel.

Rachel nodded and put her arm around Amber to help support her as they teetered and stumbled back into the bar, “Oh, yes, you are. Always have been; always will be.”

***

Rachel propped Amber on a barstool after their trip to the restroom. Jody brought her a glass of water and nodded over toward a guardian gargoyle near the front door.

“He hasn’t moved. He keeps glaring this way.” Jody smiled. “Rachel, do you want anything?”

“No, thanks, Jody. I’m going to go test this ‘sample’ Amber just gave me.” Rachel shook the little specimen jar in her hand, and strode towards the door. As she passed her brother, she stroked her hand down his face and continued out to her husband.

Amber stared at Ryder who was staring back at her.

“What’s wrong with me?” she asked Jody.

Jody gave her a sympathetic look, “we think Tim slipped some GHB into your drink. It makes you feel tired and drunk. Lowers your inhibitions, so you become tractable, and if you have enough of a dose, you won’t remember the night’s events the next day. So, no credible witness. We think he did it to me, but we can’t prove it. You may be my redemption. And, god, it felt good to see Ryder hit him.” A blaze lit Jody’s eyes for just a moment. She patted Amber’s hands and said, “Stay here. I’ve got to work.”

Amber slumped against the bar, elbow sprawled out and head in hand. Her eyes remained on Ryder, drinking him in. He looked good. Broad shoulders, dark hair, brooding eyes. Those narrow hips, that chiseled jaw. With a curse, Ryder stalked over to where Amber was sitting. She sat up straight.

Ryder’s eyes immediately went to her cleavage.

“I’m taking you home,” he grumbled. “Where are your keys?”

Amber took a deep breath to expand her chest. She swiveled her barstool towards Ryder and crossed her legs so that the vee on her skirt rode up high on her thigh. Ryder glanced down at the leg she was showing. All he wanted to do was run his hand up that skin, but he resisted.

“Your keys, Amber. Where are they?”

She sighed and reached for her clutch. After pawing through it for just a moment, she pulled out her car keys and dangled them in front of him.

“Here. You going to take me now?” Smiling wickedly at her double entendre, Amber flexed her foot up and down, which just happened to run said foot up and down on the outside of Ryder’s thigh.

He snatched the keys from her hand and helped her stand. Waving at Jody, he supported a very friendly Amber up against his side.

They rolled out the door, and towards her car. Off to the side, Ryder could see Adam pulling Tim’s hands behind his back and snapping on handcuffs. This time, Ryder’s growl was one of satisfaction.

“Since when do you growl this often?” Amber pressed herself into Ryder’s side, enjoying the feel of her breasts up against his warmth. She felt like she couldn’t get any heat into her skin, chilled to the bone. Amber refused to even glance over towards where Tim’s car had been parked.

Ryder raised his other arm to wave at his sister and brother-in-law.  He guided Amber to her car and helped her inside. The way she slipped in and tucked her legs into the car while smiling up at Ryder made Ryder’s groin tighten up. Desire flooded through him. He reminded himself that she was drugged and not completely in charge of her facilities. That made his jaw tighten and his fists clench. He wanted to go back over and start pounding Tim into a pulp. Or maybe rip him to shreds. Or both.

With a deep breath, he walked around the car and slid behind the wheel. And cussed a blue streak.

“What the fuck, Amber? How short are you? Where’s the damn lever?” Ryder scrabbled under the seat for the lever to adjust for his height and let him stretch his legs and not bang his knees against the steering wheel. Amber’s laugh was like a chime in his ear. “You’re enjoying this way too much, miss.” He buckled himself in, started the car, and backed out of the parking spot.

Amber felt the haze of the drug still hanging onto her. She wondered how long it would last. Thank goodness she was in Ryder’s strong, lithe, capable hands. She let out a soft moan.

“What? Are you okay? Do you hurt?” Ryder asked worriedly.

“Ohhh. I’m okay.” Amber answered. She reached over and laid her hand on Ryder’s jeans-clad leg. “Thank you for the rescue and the drive home.”

Ryder shook his head. “Shouldn’t have had to do it. That asshole.”

“Did you see the bear?”

“What?”

Amber repeated herself, “Did you see the bear? He was beautiful. Black as sin. Muscles that rippled as he moved. His growl frightened me and reassured me all at the same time. When I spotted you, I lost sight of him. My first rescuer. Gorgeous creature. I hope I see him again.”

“You do?” Ryder asked.

“Who wouldn’t? He was amazing.” Amber’s head lolled back on the headrest of her seat. She was feeling sleepier and sleepier. “All power and grace. When he jumped at Tim, I’ve never felt more… alive. He had me distracted, though. My thoughts are so fuzzy. I thought you were naked! Can you believe that?” She laughed.

Ryder chuckled half-heartedly. “Naked, huh? Why would I be naked in the parking lot of a bar, Amber? Your thoughts are pretty fuzzy. Let’s get you upstairs.”

Ryder parked in Amber’s designated carport on one side of the garage and walked under the eaves to her stairs.

“Ryder…” Amber started.

“Hmmm?”

“Stay with me tonight, please. I’m so cold.” Amber begged.

“Of course I’ll stay.”

Ryder escorted her up the stairs. Amber used
her
key for the very first time and pushed open
her
door.

“Please, come in.”  She gave Ryder a sultry smile and leaned back against the door as he passed. The door eased closed with a click. Her clutch hit the ground with a thunk. She reached up and pulled her blouse out of her waistband. While she kicked out of her shoes, she started unbuttoning her blouse.

Ryder had begun to sit himself down on the sofa when he turned enough to see Amber headed towards him.

“Amber, you’re not yourself right now.” He cautioned her.

“I am very much myself right now, Ryder.” Amber all but purred at him.

Still caught in mid-sit, Ryder’s eyes were hung up on creamy skin and swaying hips. He licked his lips, and dropped fully backwards onto the sofa.

Amber continued to stalk closer to him. She got to her bottom button and pushed her blouse open and then off her shoulders. She led it slide down her arms and puddle on the floor. She raised her hands back to her neck and stroked her hands down her neck to the curve of her breasts. From there, Amber traced her fingers along the edge of her bra, drawing Ryder’s eyes right where she wanted them. When she reached his position, she put one of her knees on either side of his hips. She closed her eyes and let out a moan when she came into contact with his groin.

“Amber, this isn’t a good idea right now.” Ryder barely breathed. The heat straddling his hips felt impossibly good.

“Ryder, this is such a wonderful idea.” Amber wriggled a bit to settle herself more firmly in place. “Please put your hands on me. I’m so cold and have to get that memory of… memory of…off of my skin.” She reached around her back to unhook her bra.

She let the straps slither down her arms, and she shrugged forward to release the cups from underneath her breasts. Ryder’s breath caught. There, in front of him, finally, were the perfect breasts he’d been dreaming about for years. His nobility struggled with his desire for one more second. Then Amber leaned forward and grazed her already hard nipples against his chest.  He wrapped his arms around Amber and crushed her to him. Their mouths locked and tangled. Ryder’s hands wandered over the glorious, soft skin that had haunted his fantasies for eight years. Her skin heated under his touch. He reached down and felt that her skirt had ridden up very high on her legs. When he reached around for her ass, the skirt stopped before her panties began. The skirt’s waistband was a mere hook and eye that was straining at the pressure they were putting on it. He twisted it under his fingers and popped it right open. He reached up under her skirt and tried to whisk it over her head. It caught under her breasts.

That provided him with far too good an opportunity to pass up.  Plattered in front of him, prettily shelved on black lace were two gorgeous, large, round girls. Pink nipples hard and aching for his touch, his kiss, his tongue.  He clasped his lips around her nipple and drew it into his mouth for a gentle suckle. His tongue laved around the hard peak and drew more moans from Amber.

Amber decided to add her own torment. She began to gently move her hips in slow circles pressing her heat, her center, against his hard bulge.  He froze. She chuckled.

He slipped his thumbs up under the edge of her waistband and rubbed them against the undersides of her breasts. He pulled the skirt over those lovely mounds popping them free. Ryder let go of the skirt and ignored Amber’s protests as her arms and face were wrapped up in fabric. He grinned broadly as he took one breast in each hand and started lavishing each one with attention.

She struggled out of the skirt and threw it across the room. “You’re going to pay for that, buddy.”

He didn’t let go of her breasts but did throw a wink her direction.

Suddenly she yawned.

Both of them looked startled.

“Oh, no. Don’t stop,” she said to him.

His chivalric side reared its handsome, but unwanted, head.

“Amber.”

“No, Ryder. Don’t stop.” She yawned again.

“I’ll stay here. We’ll take this up again. I promise.” Ryder rubbed his large, warm hands up and down Amber’s back. “Go to bed.”

“Only if you come with me.”

Ryder didn’t think that was a good idea, but when Amber scooted back off of his lap and walked over to her bedroom area, he followed. It was a great view anyway. Long chestnut hair, creamy soft skin, round butt cheeks with black lacy panties. His mouth watered, and his hands itched to get hold of her.  She pulled a t-shirt out of a drawer and tugged it over her head. From a tray on the dresser, she grabbed a hair band and twisted her hair up into a messy bun.

She smiled sleepily at him as she curled up on one side of the bed and patted the space behind her.

Ryder thought to himself,
this is either heaven or hell. I’m just not sure which.

He climbed in beside the woman he’d loved and wanted for most of his life, draped his arm about her soft curves, and listened to her breathing as she instantly fell into a deep sleep.