Alpha Shifters After Dark (Shapeshifter Paranormal Romance Boxed Set) Page 3

  We have him, she insisted, wrapping her legs around his waist.

  Semantics, the wolf decided, because who cared what you called it when it tasted this good?

  The baby bump got in the way, though, so he cradled her body against his and moved toward the back of the truck. Memories flooded in: their first night together, when he’d laid her out like a feast in the back of that very pickup and licked her until she couldn’t tell if those were stars overhead or shooting lights. Except it was daylight this time, and a dry wind tickled her flesh where her shirt had gotten worked up high.

  She could see it already: how he’d ease her back in the bed of the truck. How his eyes would go dark when she wiggled out of her clothes. He’d give her that molten-lava look before skimming all the way down her torso to where she wanted him most. And then she wouldn’t need sight any more because everything would boil down to his tongue on her sex and the roaring sensation that would consume her body and soul. All he had to do was flip down the tail of the truck and the next ride to ecstasy would begin.

  But one of the grocery bags chose exactly that time to tip and spill its contents onto the dirt. A cascade of glass and aluminum broke into the haze of her mind along with a muted smack: the sound of eggs cracking.

  “Shit,” Ty muttered.

  She clutched his shoulders, wishing the distraction away. Yearning for him to fill her then and there. But a bottle of wine rolled along the ground then reached a little hollow and rolled back, making insistent crunching sounds over dirt as it went. Over and back, over and back. The sound grated on her ears.

  Ty’s body slumped against hers, and the fire raging inside her gave way to a wave of giggles.

  His chest rose then fell in a weary sigh.

  She pulled back and smiled, running a soothing hand over his arm. “Maybe we should get used to this.”

  He raised one perfect eyebrow, a dark line under the brown-black of his thick hair.

  “I mean the baby interrupting us just when things get interesting.”

  He smiled at that, and it was like the sun breaking out from behind a winter storm. He nibbled her ear and slowly lowered her until her feet found the ground.

  “Well, then,” he breathed from close up, “we’ll just make it interesting all over again.”

  “Is that a promise?”

  He smiled one of those thousand-watt smiles he hid from everyone but her, and that alone made up for putting off sex. “Promise.”

  She sealed the promise with a long kiss. Only after another minute of admiring her mate ticked by did she sigh and look at the mess of groceries.

  “I got it,” he blurted and dove in the way.

  She bit back her protest and forced herself to do nothing but watch. She had to wrap her itchy fingers around the hem of her shorts to hold back, but she managed.

  The baby shifted, and Lana couldn’t help picturing a tiny face with an angelic smile cooing then settling into sleep. A baby she hoped would inherit all of his father’s qualities. The size, the strength, the rock-hard principles. Everything, maybe, but that crushing sense of duty, the unreasonably high demands he made of himself. But being loving, loyal, and full of integrity—yeah, the baby could have all that.

  “Baby doing good?” he asked, right on cue.

  She might be the one carrying the baby, but she swore Ty possessed some kind of mental link to the little guy. She ran a hand over her belly and smiled. “Baby’s proud of his dad.”

  He was still crouched over the groceries, and when he turned to glance her way, his eyes shone with joy. “Her dad,” he corrected then quickly glanced down. Not quick enough to hide his blush, though.

  “His dad.” Lana grinned. It was one argument she loved having because she really didn’t care either way.

  “Her dad.”

  “His.”

  “Hers,” he said, straightening with the bag in his hand.

  “His—”

  He cut her off with a kiss then gave her a stern nod in the direction of the cabin. “Hers. Now scoot.”

  She had to smile at that. The man could go from gruff and growly to soft and tender in a flash—secret little flashes reserved just for her.

  The way he stood blocked access to the heaviest bags, so she picked up the two that were only half-full and set off along the path to the cabin. Because maybe carrying bags didn’t prove anything but how stubborn she was. If it made him feel better, then okay, he could carry the heavy bags, and her backpack, too.

  When Ty pushed the cabin door open with a creak and kicked off his boots, the last layers of her work stress sloughed away—layers she didn’t even realize she’d been carrying. Maybe it was the same for Ty. He was so used to shouldering everything, he didn’t even know he did it. She cocked her head, watching him step through the open-plan cabin with the groceries.

  No, it was more like Ty was all too aware of his burdens and just couldn’t let go. Maybe he needed it, in a way: being busy. Being needed. Being useful.

  She let out a long, slow breath. All the vows she’d made to herself lately focused on being a good mother. She’d forgotten to add a couple about being a good mate. Like taking care of her mate and letting him take care of her.

  He shooed her away from the kitchen. “I got this.”

  The man was perfect. She backed up to the bed, sat down, and watched him get even more perfect when he pulled off his shirt in the midday heat and tossed it aside.

  “I bought that cheese you like.” He held the package up.

  “Yum,” she called, though her mind wasn’t on the cheese. It really was time to open those windows—before her heat level soared out of control again.

  “And lots of milk for the baby,” Ty continued as she slid a windowpane up and the shutter out.

  She chuckled. Yeah, she’d been going through gallons of it lately.

  “Your favorite cookies,” Ty added, holding a package in each hand.

  “You are a prince,” she said, “and look at me.” She flopped onto the bed and held her hands up. “Not even lifting a finger.”

  He grinned one of those rare, boyish smiles he only let out when no one else was around, and her heart beat a little faster. Who needed the state lottery? She had her mate.

  She turned on her side to watch him unpack the groceries in jeans, bare feet, and nothing else. When she closed her eyes, everything slowed to the comfortable pace of oozing honey. Ty’s voice was low, the bedding soft, and the homey scent of the cabin covered her like a blanket, pushing everything else far, far away.

  When she let her eyes flutter open, the slanting light told her that hours, not minutes had passed. She blinked and rolled to her side, finding the cabin empty. Where did Ty go?

  Chapter Four

  Lana swung her legs off the bed and stretched to her feet. Maybe Ty was right about easing off work a little, because she hadn’t taken—or needed—a nap in ages.

  The kitchen was spotless, and Ty had left out a plate of cookies and a glass. He’d also laid one of his flannel shirts over a chair. She pulled it on over her T-shirt, flipped the collar high—more for his scent than warmth—and padded outside, cookies and freshly poured milk in hand. The glow that filled her wasn’t just a product of the clean desert air or the last golden rays of sunlight washing over the hills. It was the sight of her mate, sitting on the porch with his long legs extended and his back to the wall. He was so engrossed in whatever he was reading that he didn’t look up until she leaned over him to see.

  You’d think it was a book on nuclear fusion and not parenting by the way his forehead creased. Then she caught sight of the page header and grimaced. Why did he insist on rereading that part about all the things that could go wrong?

  She leaned in to kiss his brow. “Do you have to obsess about that chapter, my love?”

  He lowered the book slowly, eyes still skimming the words. She took it out of his hand and climbed into the vee between his legs to sit as his arms encircled her from behind.

  “Make you a deal,” he said, and the bass notes worked into her back like the massage his fingers started on her shoulders. “I’ll stop reading chapter six if you cut back on work.”

  Not that again. There was no way she could cut back, not with so many unresolved issues hanging in the air. The wolfpack needed her to keep plugging away at those documents. No one else could do it.

  Her stomach twitched at a welcome distraction. “Oh! Junior is jumping.”

  Ty’s hand shot out and touched down before he missed his chance. He put both his broad hands on her taut belly, feeling the baby inside. Apart from a little sound of wonder, he was silent. Reverently so. She put her hands over his and concentrated on burning the memory into her mind. The way his warmth pressed against her back; the way he exhaled in little bursts, like he’d forgotten about breathing for a while. The blazing colors in the sky, the nighttime chorus of the desert starting to warm up; the perfect end to another gorgeous day. The only thing she might have wished for was the chance to shift into her wolf form and run with him in the night. But shifting while pregnant was out of the question; the danger to the baby was too great.

  Anyway, watching the sun set with Ty was enough of a treat. They hadn’t had time for that in far too long.

  “Thank you,” she whispered.

  “For what?” His lips tickled her ear.

  “For bringing me up here. For this.” She squeezed his hands onto her belly. “For everything.”

  He kissed her ear then shook his head. “You got it all wrong, lady. I’m the one doing the thanking.”

  She smiled at the sun just before it slid out of sight and decided to let Ty have the last word. Life was good when the biggest source of friction between two partners was who felt luckier.

  “La
na,” he started up after a few minutes of contemplating the layers of color painting the sky.

  His voice had that I-need-to-talk-to-you tone, and suddenly she remembered their other source of friction.

  “I really think you should cut back on work.”

  Yep, there he went again.

  “Ty, the documentation is a mess, and the water rights…” She pictured the files stacked on her desk, plus the overflow on the extra table under the window of her office. “I hate seeing the paperwork in such a mess, and it won’t get any better if I cut back my hours.”

  “And it won’t get any worse,” he cut in. “The paperwork has been a mess for a century, at least. And no one’s contested the water rights—”

  “But if they do—”

  He put a finger to her lips. “If and when they do, you can get on top of it then.”

  “I promise I’ll cut back after the baby is born.”

  “You need to cut back now.”

  She wanted to glare at him, but all she managed was a sigh. Her mate was doing his best for her. Looking out for her and the baby.

  “I know you can handle anything, Lana, but you don’t have to, not all the time. Right now, you should be kicking back a little, not cleaning up my dad’s mess. You need to…what’s that word?”

  “Rest?” she spit it out like the four-letter word it was.

  “Incubate.”

  A bubble of laughter breached her lips.

  “I’m serious,” he went on, and he looked it. “You deserve it, and the baby does, too.”

  She sighed because the baby was his ace, and they both knew it. “But what am I going to do with myself all day?”

  “Sleep in a little. Kick off work early.”

  She could already picture him, tapping his foot at her office door at three on the dot every afternoon, ready to hustle her out.

  “Maybe take Wednesdays off,” he added.

  “A day off?” What would she do with a whole day off?

  Incubate, her wolf yawned then purred at the image.

  “The next thing I know, you’re going to tell me I need Fridays off, too.”

  “Lana, you take care of everything,” Ty went on. “So how come I can’t take care of you?”

  He sounded so eager, so sad, she had to cave in. “You can take care of me. Just don’t treat me like I’m incapable.”

  “You’re more than capable,” he growled and hugged her tighter from behind.

  “And what about you?”

  “What about me?”

  “If I have to slow down, you have to slow down too, Dad.” Now she was playing her ace, because Ty was a sucker for that. Him, a dad.

  He gulped a little; she could feel it against her shoulder. “Tina’s right, you know,” she went on. “You have to delegate. Let Cody do more.”

  “I already have Cody doing more.”

  “I don’t mean busywork. I mean real responsibility. He’s up for it.”

  Ty made unhappy noises. Getting him to trust anyone—even his own brother—with real responsibility would be an uphill battle all the way.

  “Okay, how’s this,” she tried another tack. “I’ll cut back on work…”

  He nodded in approval.

  “…if you quit reading chapter six.”

  His protest turned into a wry grin she could see out of the corner of her eye, and the grin turned into a sultry smile and finally a kiss. A kiss she was all for, because they’d done enough talking for tonight. Time to make good on that promise of making things interesting all over again.

  His thumbs rolled over her skin, and she leaned back into him.

  “So, what do you think it will be?” she sighed while his hands started to roam, and not just over her stomach.

  He arched an eyebrow. “Uh…a wolf?”

  She play-slapped him, but the light blow just bounced off the solid steel of his forearm. “I mean a girl or a boy? Seriously, I mean.”

  “Girl,” he said without hesitation. “A perfect little girl who takes after you.”

  She snorted. “Then she’ll be far from perfect.”

  He growled next to her ear, and a shot of lust went straight to her sex. “Don’t insult my mate, lady.”

  “Oh, yes?” she teased. “What will the punishment be?”

  “This.” He started exploring her sides, and she went to putty under those insistent fingers. “And this,” he whispered a minute later, sliding his hands around her waist, then lifting toward her breasts.

  She cooed out loud and arched shamelessly into his hands.

  “And this.” He nibbled on her earlobe.

  She was about to turn in his lap and straddle him—somehow, she’d work around the baby bump because the need for him quickly overpowered everything else—when Ty froze. His head popped up, his eyes focused on the downslope of the hill. His nostrils flared; his ears perked at exactly the same moment as hers.

  There was something out there. Something more than the wind, and it was crashing directly toward them at a hammering pace.

  Chapter Five

  Before Lana could react, Ty pulled her to her feet, pushed her behind the protection of his body, and released his inner wolf in a furiously rapid shift. His wolf ripped out of his body as he dropped to four feet, snarling into the hills.

  She wanted to huff and jump to his side. Shift! Fight! Defend!

  But instead of howling a battle cry, her inner wolf whined as she scuttled backward to the cabin door. This wasn’t about pride: it was about the baby. Her wolf part understood; she could lose the baby if she shifted forms. All she could do was shelter behind Ty as the approaching mass grew closer and louder. Something massive and uncompromising was crashing through the scrub. More than one something, and they were big.

  Ty formed a wall in front of her, all canine power and rage. My territory! his snarl announced. My mate!

  The ground drummed with heavy steps as three massive shadows shot out of the brush and skidded to a stop in front of the cabin. Black, crouched, and bristling, they stood in stark contrast to the blood-red sky. Hoofed feet pawed at the ground as a jumble of grunts rang out.

  Lana’s mind spit out one word: javelina.

  Javelina? her wolf countered. When’s the last time you saw wild pigs this big?

  The three creatures snorting and grunting at the foot of the porch were huge—the size of well-fed heifers. A stripe of spiky fur razored down each spine, accenting their size and brute strength.

  Ty bared his teeth right to the pink of his gums and glared so hard, his coal-black eyes seemed to spark with rage. The foremost boar snorted back, and the two of them faced off, swinging their heads left, then right, looking for an opening to attack. Ty’s growl was so low, she could feel the porch rumble with it.

  One step closer and you die. His whole body said it.

  Lana clamped her jaws tight before her wolf canines could come out. She balled her hands into tight fists, fingernails biting into her palms. She should be at his side, on four feet, defending her turf just like her man.

  Ty snarled at the boars, looking twice his normal wolf size. Back away. Now.

  The next moment stretched on for an eternity, tension hanging in the air like a thunderclap about to burst.

  Ty belted out a single, uncompromising bark. An order. Now!

  The three boars edged forward instead, and Ty roared so loud, it echoed off the surrounding slopes. Back off or die!

  Even Lana shook from the force of it, and the three boars scuttled back. The two outer ones swung their heads toward the leader in the middle, who advanced, sniffed, then finally grunted and gave in. All three dipped their heads in a grudging sign of respect, and Lana nearly sagged against the wall in relief. Ty didn’t let up one bit, though; his rumbles reached deep into the shadows of the night, which seemed to rumble back. Alpha wolf, they warned; cross him if you dare.

  When the boar in the center—the obvious leader—straightened, the it became a he as a man took shape out of the beast.

  Lana’s mind raced. A javelina shifter?

  The beast’s slow, awkward shift suggested that he didn’t change forms often. He reared up on two legs, threw his shoulders back, then slowly worked his neck from side to side. The joints cracked, just as his knuckles did when the hooves gave way to fingers that flexed, straightened, and flexed again. Lana kept waiting for the shift to finish—for the points of his curved canines to recede behind his lips, for the tangle of black hair to disappear from his chest and arms. But that appeared to be as far as it went: two steps up from Neanderthal Man.