Highland Shifters: A Paranormal Romance Boxed Set Page 5

  What the hell was he waiting for? The urge to lift her head just a bit and touch her lips to his felt almost overwhelming. Seconds passed into a minute while her belly clenched and she tightened her hands into fists, trying not to touch him.

  Enough. She tilted her chin and caught his mouth with hers.

  As though he’d been waiting for her permission, he grabbed her and hauled her against him, his arms holding her tight while he plundered her mouth. She met him stroke for stroke, her arms around his back, her mouth opening under his. Desire rushed through her, stimulating nerve endings and causing her pussy to grow wet. She squeezed him tighter, trying to get as close as she could to him.

  Lachlan swung her up into his arms and strode for the bed, never releasing her lips. She barely felt it when he laid her down, until his body pressed her into the mattress, his hard legs pushing her thighs open.

  He moved back for the merest breath and she remembered. What the hell was she doing?

  But oh, it felt so good. He kissed her again and she fought with herself. She should make him stop. And she really, really didn’t want to.

  When his hand closed over her breast she knew she had to stop him then or she wouldn’t stop him at all. “Wait.” Her voice sounded dry.

  “Do not say no, lass,” he rumbled in her ear. His lips kissed down her throat to her shoulder.

  She swallowed, trying to remember why this was such a bad...hot, sweaty, pulse-pounding...awful idea. “I never said yes.”

  He moaned deep in his throat and ran his hand up her thigh to the junction of her legs. “Do you think I can’t smell you?”

  “What?” she whispered.

  Lachlan kissed her cheek, moving toward her mouth. His hand cupped her pussy. “Your sweet, heady nectar. I smell you, mate. You’re as ready for me as I am for you.”

  She struggled to adopt her most imperious tone. “Be that as it may--”

  He chuckled, the sound reverberating against her skin where his mouth pressed against her chin. “We’re not in court.” He pressed his lips to hers, his hand gently massaging her pussy.

  She wasn’t ready to give up yet but one more kiss wouldn’t hurt. Right? She wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist and kissed him back as thoroughly as he kissed her.

  In her new position, his hard cock pressed against her even more directly than before. He rocked against her, rubbing her clit with each stroke until she felt a fire growing within her.

  What was he doing to her? She barely knew the man. Sleeping with him would only encourage his ideas and the false sense of intimacy it would create would cloud her judgment too. She might actually start believing him. Which meant she had to stop this. Right. Now.

  Keira got her hands against his shoulders and shoved him until he lay on his back with her over him.

  Lachlan grabbed her waist. “You could have just told me you wanted to be on top.”

  “I don’t.” Keira had to pull to get away from his hands but succeeded in climbing off the bed. “We’re stopping.”

  His groan was heartfelt...and loud. “You must be kidding.”

  She backed up almost to the wall, the temptation of him lying on the bed nearly too much to resist. “Don’t give me any bull about not being able to stop. I know you can.”

  “Of course I can.” He propped up on his elbow, his gaze intense. “I just don’t want to.”

  “Well, you’re going to. We went farther than I wanted.” She laced her fingers through her hair. “I shouldn’t have let you kiss me in the first place.”

  “No, lass. You kissed me. I made sure of that.” He climbed out of the bed. “I’ll take my turn in the bathroom.” He went out of his way to walk past the hallway door, locking and barring it.

  “It locks from the inside,” she said. “Do you think I can’t unlock it?”

  “I think I’ll hear you if you try and I can get back here before you’ve even lifted the bar. It pays to be a werewolf.”

  Damned werewolves. Super hearing, super smelling, super speed. Super sexiness. What the hell was she going to do with him?

  #

  When Lachlan first woke up, he didn’t remember why he was sleeping on the thick rug in front of the fireplace instead of in his bed a few feet away. When he remembered, his cock grew instantly, painfully hard. Keira slept so close and yet he couldn’t get any closer. Not yet.

  The firelight flickered in the dark room; it must still be the middle of the night.

  Her reactions earlier had both encouraged and pained him. To have her respond so eagerly felt amazing. Then to have her pull away hurt that much more. He was ready to mark her but she clearly wasn’t ready.

  Lachlan climbed to his feet and padded over to the foot of his bed. Keira lay curled on her side, her hands near her face. Such an innocent pose for such a deadly woman.

  He hadn’t watched her for more than a minute when her eyes opened. Good reflexes. She gazed back at him for several seconds, then finally spoke. “My, grandmother, what big teeth you have.”

  He grinned, leaning his forearms on the footboard of the bed. “I think you skipped a few steps there. What about my big eyes?”

  “Just cutting right to the chase.”

  That sounded like her.

  Keira pushed to her elbow. “I won’t make a good mate. You should find someone else.”

  Chapter 6

  Lachlan shifted his arms where they rested on the footboard. “There is no one else. Even if you don’t know much about werewolves, you must know that. We get one fated mate. The mating can’t be broken. And if we can’t be with our mates, we go mad. So you see, I’m yours for life. And if you leave me, my life will be short indeed.”

  Lachlan’s friend Darius had just gone through this, having to woo his non-werewolf mate. Darius had it worse, though, because his mate was the daughter of his staunchest enemy. Darius had tried to break the mating and learned the consequences. The thought made Lachlan’s wolf want to howl. “There’s no other way, lass. I’m with you. We’ll make it work somehow.”

  “Dragon slayers roam. We work in pairs, the partnership as tight as any. With Gill and me, it’s even tighter, since we’re not just sisters but twins.”

  He wasn’t sure what made his mate so chatty–maybe the late hour and being half-asleep had loosened her tongue. In any case, he planned to keep her talking until she wouldn’t talk anymore. “Do you have special abilities as twins?”

  “We do. Unfortunately, I’ve never had a sixth sense about where she was or how she was. That would really come in handy right now. Instead, our abilities tend to work best when we’re together. When we’re fighting, I know what she’ll do before she does it. I can throw a weapon in her direction when she has her back turned, not say a word, and she’ll know to turn and catch it. Things like that. But separated like this, we’re...we’re not whole.”

  He could guess how that felt. Probably the way he felt just thinking about Keira leaving him. “We’ll find her. I promise.”

  She sat up all the way. “I know. I won’t rest until I do.” She paused. “What I meant was...Gill and I are a pair. We do everything together.”

  “There’s no room for me, you mean.”

  “That sounds so harsh. It’s more than that, though. We roam. We’re never in one spot for long. We don’t even have a home anymore, just a room at the guild that they grudgingly allow us to keep a few boxes in. You’d want me to stay here, with you. I can’t.”

  He couldn’t imagine not having a home. “You’re right that I want you to stay here. But you’re wrong in thinking there aren’t any solutions. If you decide to stay with me, we can work everything out. Just choose me.”

  She stayed quiet for what felt like a long time, then said, “You’re asking so much.”

  “I’m prepared to give everything. All of me.” His heart felt like it was drumming in his chest, his blood whooshing through his ears. What if she said no? What if she left?

  “I’m not ready to
decide. I need more time.”

  He leaned toward her. “Is that a good sign or a bad one?”

  She crossed her legs and leaned forward on them. Must be pretty flexible to do that and not hurt. “I’m not saying no. That’s got to be a good thing. But I don’t want to encourage you. I might still decide I can’t do this.”

  Not exactly what he wanted to hear, but it could be worse. And he was rushing her; he knew he was.

  In the quiet room, everything felt slow and hushed. He waited a moment before saying, “I’d better get back to my rug. Unless you’d like me to join you?”

  “Still too soon for that, too. Go on back to the rug.”

  As she curled up under the covers, he took one last look and returned to the fireplace. He knew they were coming from different places. The mating urge he felt eclipsed what she felt many times over. Plus, he came from a society that prized their fated mates. He’d always known he’d find his mate and immediately feel a bond, even if love itself grew slowly. But for her, everything was different.

  In the end, he didn’t have any idea how he would do it, but he’d win her. He had to.

  #

  Lachlan’s cell rang just as Keira was getting out of the shower. He’d woken first and gotten himself cleaned up then waited while she got ready, trying desperately not to picture her naked with water streaming down her body.

  He’d called Darius the night before to tell him what Damon had said about the world-walker. He hadn’t had long–just the ten minutes while waiting for Keira–so Darius might still have questions. He could be the one calling now, although it was early hours over in the States.

  When Lachlan answered the phone, Iain immediately said, “Greer didn’t make it.”

  Ice water swept over him. “What?”

  “Aunt Lorna and Moira are here but Greer was captured. We need you.”

  Lachlan remembered to breathe. When Iain said Greer hadn’t made it, Lachlan had thought their sister was dead. “Where?”

  “Front receiving room.”

  Lachlan hung up. He needed to go, but what about Keira? He knocked on the bathroom door. “How close are you to ready?” Getting a guard to come would take time. And no matter how much he protested that she wasn’t a prisoner, he didn’t want to leave her alone. She’d bolt. So if she was close to ready, he’d rather wait for her to finish and take her with him than wait for a guard.

  She cracked the door open. “Almost done.”

  She must be, or she wouldn’t have opened the door. Her scent drifted out to him and he moved away rather than be subject to instant arousal. Again.

  He fidgeted for thirty seconds and then the door opened the rest of the way and Keira emerged, fully dressed. “Hungry?”

  “We’re going to have to make a detour.” Lachlan took her arm and strode for the door. “Something’s happened.”

  She hurried to keep up with his long legs as they left the room and sped down the corridor. “Are the English attacking?”

  “Not in so many words but yes.” He quickly told her about Iain’s phone call. “That’s all I know. We’ll find out more when we get there.”

  Luckily, his room sat not too far from the front of the castle, so they reached their destination in less than two minutes.

  Aunt Lorna stood by the front window, literally wringing her hands. Moira paced while Iain sat on the couch tapping away at his computer, an intent look on his face. Aunt Lorna and Lachlan’s mother might have been best friends but it was Moira who reminded him of their mother, from the long blond hair falling between her shoulder blades to the fierce look on her pretty face. Aunt Lorna had dark hair and brown eyes and a lot of soft curves.

  “Aunt Lorna,” Lachlan said.

  She hurried to him and threw her arms around his neck. “They took her.” She shook.

  Lachlan held her, rubbing her back. “She’ll be all right. They wouldn’t dare hurt her. They just want leverage against us.” He wasn’t sure he believed that himself but he certainly wasn’t going to say any differently to their aunt.

  After a minute or so, she pulled away. “Do something, Lachlan. She sacrificed herself for us.”

  “What?” He needed details and this was as good a place to start as any. While he led Aunt Lorna to the couch, Keira followed behind them.

  Aunt Lorna looked at Keira for the first time. “Who’s this?”

  “Ah…” Lachlan glanced at Keira but found no help there. “This isn’t how I wanted to tell you.” He took Keira’s hand and pulled her forward. “I found my mate.”

  Aunt Lorna’s eyes filled with tears. “How wonderful.” She hugged Keira. “Welcome to the family.”

  His mate kindly didn’t refute him in front of his aunt. “Thank you,” she said. “I’m so sorry it had to happen at a time like this.”

  “No, no,” Aunt Lorna said. “There’s no wrong time to find your mate. And the hard times are when you need the support of your mate the most.”

  Aunt Lorna sat down next to Iain while Lachlan hauled two chairs over to sit directly in front of them. Moira continued to pace.

  “What happened?” Lachlan waited until Keira took a seat before sitting down. He should really wait for Moira too, but if he knew his sister, she wouldn’t sit anytime soon.

  Aunt Lorna crossed her legs delicately and clasped her hands. “As we were getting ready to leave for the train, Greer called us. She told us to leave immediately, even though we hadn’t finished packing. Some of Sebastian’s thugs had arrived at her house just as she was pulling out of the drive and she barely escaped them.”

  Aunt Lorna sucked in a breath. “We grabbed what we could and jumped into the car but before we could back out a couple of SUVs blocked our path. At least six of Sebastian’s wolves got out.”

  How dare Sebastian threaten his family? Lachlan felt his hands curl into fists and slowed his breathing down to keep control of his wolf.

  “We got out too, thinking maybe we could get into the house. Then Greer pulled up. She attacked Sebastian’s wolves while yelling at us to get into her car.” Aunt Lorna paused. “Greer’s always been strong, but six. Lachlan, she fought six wolves at the same time.”

  He reached over and grabbed her hand. “She’s the strongest female wolf I’ve ever known.” He didn’t know what else to say. “Then what?”

  “We got in her car. Moira took the driver seat. All Greer had to do was jump in the back.” Aunt Lorna stopped again, taking another breath. “She couldn’t get away from them. There were too many. Four of them got her onto the ground and sat on top of her and the other two came toward us.” Her voice broke. “She yelled at us, told us to leave. I couldn’t--”

  “I could.” Moira stopped pacing. “Greer was right. There was no reason for all three of us to be taken and Aunt Lorna and I aren’t fighters. We couldn’t have saved her. So I drove off as fast as I could.” As soon as she stopped talking, she started walking again.

  “They gave chase but we had a head start and Moira’s a quick driver. Instead of going to Charing Cross we drove to King’s Cross and took the train from there in case they knew our plans.” Aunt Lorna squeezed Lachlan’s hand. “We made it, but they still have her, Lachlan.”

  “We’ll get her back,” he said. “Iain, have we heard anything?” Sebastian should have contacted them by now with demands.

  “My first thought too,” his brother said. “But no, nothing.”

  An awful thought occurred to Lachlan. “Are you sure they were Sebastian’s wolves?” There couldn’t be a rogue group mucking things up, could there?

  Mother’s fist clenched. “Yes. When we first got out of the car, one of them told us they were taking us into custody for our protection, on Sebastian’s orders.”

  “Just because they said they worked for Sebastian doesn’t mean they do,” Iain said.

  “I recognized at least two of them,” Moira said. “From Sebastian’s parties.”

  Still not conclusive but it was good enough for now. Lachlan s
tood. “I’m going to call Sebastian and find out what the hell he’s thinking. Why don’t the rest of you get some breakfast? I’ll meet you in the dining hall when I’m done.”

  “I want to be there when you call,” Moira said.

  Bad idea. Of all his siblings, Lachlan had the coolest head. Moira, on the other hand, acted on emotion. If Sebastian said something that upset her, she could ruin everything. And in her current state, she would be even quicker to take offense. “It’s better if I do this alone. But I’ll record the call if you want to listen afterward.”

  Moira stared at him for one breath, two breaths, then said, “Fine.”

  She must really be upset if she didn’t fight harder than that. But Lachlan wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. He strode toward the door. “See you soon.”

  And now to find out why Greer had been kidnapped.

  #

  Keira couldn’t quite believe her so-called mate had left her with his family. When he stalked out of the room she tried to follow, but his aunt grabbed her hand and said, “It’s so good to meet you. Lachlan didn’t even tell us your name.”

  And in that moment, Lachlan disappeared around the corner. Lout.

  “Keira Harlow,” she said. “It’s good to meet you, too.”

  Lachlan’s aunt stood. “Call me Lorna.” She slipped her arm through Keira’s and started toward the door, pulling Keira along with her. “Lachlan’s the first of my nieces and nephews to find their mate. I never had children of my own but I was lifelong friends with their mother Rosslyn and helped raise her four. They’re like my own.”

  Aw, hell. Should she let Lachlan’s aunt keep talking like this or let her know this whole mate-thing wasn’t going to stick?

  “You must tell me all about yourself.” Lorna patted her hand. “Please. It’ll keep my mind off of other things.”

  Ah, Gods. She didn’t like talking about herself in the first place and now Lachlan’s aunt wanted her to give a running monologue. Worse, she felt for the woman. She knew exactly what it felt like to have someone she loved stolen away.