Talon (Rise of the Pride, Book 1) (12 page)

“Rumors are going around about him,” Terry
sneered, jerking his head in Talon’s direction. “They rape and
destroy their women, force them into marriage and make them have
their kittens.”

“Watch yourself, human,” Talon warned,
feeling his panther rising to the surface. “You know nothing.”

“Terry,” Liberty roared. The sound shocked
Talon for a moment. Then his chest swelled with pride. His mate had
a temper, and he like it. “Get out of here and don’t be coming
around here anymore, spreading your bullshit.”

“Liberty?” Sheriff Lynch called out as he
approached. “Are you okay?”

A rumble of sound bubbled up from Talon’s
throat the moment the man reached out for Liberty. She quickly saw
that he was about to touch her, so she stepped closer to Talon’s
side. That was exactly what she was supposed to do. As a female
mate, it was instinctual to huddle close to their male when
approached by an unmated male. It warned the other male that the
female was mated and to touch her would be to cause her pain. No
shifter male would ever want harm done to a female, human or
shifter.

“I’m fine,” she said, smiling. Talon didn’t
like the fact that she was smiling for another male, but he knew
why she was doing it. She didn’t want to do anything that would
cause trouble for his kind.

“I’ll make sure Terry sleeps this off,” he
explained. “We will get the judge to order him not to step foot on
the property.”

“That would be nice. Thank you,” she said.
“Just have the papers sent over, please.”

“Sure thing,” he replied, glancing once at
Talon, but not saying anything else.

After the officers left, Liberty sighed again
and turned to face Talon. “I’m so sorry for ruining our night.”

“You didn’t ruin it.” He smiled at her,
reaching up to tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

“Let me go check on the bar, then we can get
out of here,” she said, stepping away.

Once inside, Liberty found her sister drying
glasses behind the bar. She spoke quietly to Nova, ignoring the
looks of worry on the other patron’s faces.

Talon took a seat at the bar, accepting a
beer from one of the bartenders. “It’s on the house,” Cole said,
waving off the money Talon had in his hand. Instead of arguing, he
stuck it in the tip jar to his left.

He sensed a few of his Guardians as soon as
they entered the building. Dane appeared surprised to see Talon,
but didn’t say anything as he took a seat next to him at the
bar.

“Boss.” Dane nodded towards Liberty. “I
thought you were on a date?” His Guardian scanned the bar with his
keen eyes. No one would ever believe that Dane had lost most of the
hearing in his left ear from the time he’d been held in
captivity.

When Talon had rescued him, along with a few
other panthers, Dane had been starved, his ear half eaten off from
months of being forced to fight for a sick alpha who was money
hungry. His panther had been mangled, and his human body still had
scars from the ordeal. No amount of shifting could heal some of the
deeper wounds he’d received as a young panther. It still bothered
Talon that Dane refused to talk about those days.

He’d gotten better at living with the
deafness, and had even bulked up to look like a true Guardian, but
there was always a bit of uncertainty in his eyes whenever he
entered a crowded room. He kept his dark blonde hair a bit longer
so it covered the ear. He’d been through hell, but had bounced back
and had become one of Talon’s strongest Guardians to date. The man
still suffered, but Talon would do it all over again if it meant
saving the man’s life.

“There was some trouble here,” he said,
taking a sip of his beer. He kept one eye on Liberty as she moved
around the bar, helping her sister. If he didn’t get her out of
here soon, she’d end up working on her night off.

“Human? Or one of ours?” Dane asked.

“Human,” Talon replied, not elaborating on
the situation.

“Oh, okay,” Dane replied.

“I’m going to take Liberty home,” Talon
announced, chugging the rest of his beer. “Contact me if
needed.”

Talon walked away, scanning the crowd for any
trouble. Since the excitement from Terry’s outburst, the bar seemed
to have returned to its normal atmosphere. Humans were laughing and
enjoying themselves. A few were playing pool in the back and the
waitresses were smiling as they worked.

He found Liberty sitting at her desk, her
face hidden in her hands. “Why don’t you let me take you home? It’s
getting late.”

“Okay,” she yawned. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” he said. “I totally
understand.”

Taking her hand, Talon escorted Liberty out
to the truck. He opened the door and helped her inside before
closing her door and rounding the truck so he could take her
home.

There was no time for conversation as they
approached her home. It only took them a few minutes to arrive, and
when Talon looked over, he realized why she’d been so quiet.
Liberty had fallen asleep with her head against the window.

He sat there for a moment and watched her
sleep. Her long, brown hair fell delicately around her face. Her
lips were pushed out in an adorable pout. He wanted to wake her up
with his own lips pressed to hers, but he wouldn’t do that…not
tonight. Tonight was for their date, and even though he wanted to
take her to her room and worship her body, he would leave her at
the door like a gentleman.

“Liberty,” he whispered, reaching out to take
her hand. He smiled when she moaned and blinked her eyes, clearing
out the sleep she’d fallen into on the short ride home.

“I didn’t mean to fall asleep,” she
yawned.

“Let’s get you inside,” he said, exiting the
truck. She waited until he opened the door for her before getting
out. He picked her up again and refused to set her down until he
had reached the door.

“Thank you for tonight,” she said, smiling up
at him. “I had a wonderful time.”

“So did I,” he replied, taking her face with
one hand. He pressed his lips to hers and stepped back. “Good
night.”

“Good night,” she echoed, unlocking the
door.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he promised,
watching her enter her home. “Lock the door.”

“Yes, sir,” she giggled, closing the door. He
didn’t leave until he heard the click of the lock.

Chapter Seven

When she pulled into the driveway, her car
lights swung across the property, just as they had every night for
the past week. The only difference was the fact that three pairs of
glowing amber eyes stared out from the edge of the wooded area
beside her house. It’d been Talon’s idea that the panthers keep an
eye on her place. Well…it wasn’t so much an idea, more like an
order. She really thought all of the security was overkill, but she
didn’t argue with him when he puffed out his chest and pushed that
power of his.

She’d always loved this house, because it was
surrounded by trees on all sides except the front. She could sit
out on the back porch for days and watch the wildlife move around
while she sipped coffee in the early morning hours.

The house was quiet as she climbed the steps
to the front door. A small antique lamp cast a yellow glow down the
small hallway by the door. Liberty had never been afraid of being
out there alone. She knew her neighbors well and they all had a
standing agreement to watch out for each other, only calling or
stopping by when necessary.

Mittens meowed insistently to be let outside,
so she cracked the door open and watched as the cat stretched
lazily in the threshold. “Don’t stay out long.”

Liberty thumbed through the bills that Nova
had tossed on the small kitchen table, stacking them neatly, then
sorting them by which ones needed to be paid first. Thankfully, the
bar was thriving since she’d taken over. There was a time when she
didn’t think she’d be able to run the place and keep herself
afloat. She wasn’t making a killing on the business, but she wasn’t
hurting, either.

A strange sound pulled Liberty out of her
thoughts. It sounded like…mewling? She quickly hurried to the
window in the downstairs spare bedroom, drawing the blinds so she
could look out into the yard.

A large panther was growling and walking
backwards while two more were standing off to the side. The panther
that was retreating leaned forward and nudged Mittens with his
nose, his big teeth flashing right near the cat’s neck.

“Oh no you don’t!” she yelled, storming out
the front door. When she rounded the corner, all three cats froze.
“Mittens!”

The little calico ignored her and continued
to walk toward the larger cat. The panther’s eyes had never left
Liberty’s, and she chuckled when she looked down and saw her little
cat rubbing herself on the panther’s front legs.

“She likes you,” Liberty announced, walking
slowly toward the black cats. The two not involved backed away
slowly, sinking just inside the tree line. She had a moment of
panic, wondering how much of their human persona was inside them.
Would they recognize her as a friend? She sure as hell hoped they
didn’t see her as a meal, because that would suck.

The cat huffed impatiently, his eyes going
from Liberty to Mittens and back again. She called Mittens again,
but the damn cat wouldn’t leave the panther alone.

“Really, cat?” she whined, looking toward the
panther with a cheesy smile. “I think Mittens is smitten with you.
Can you mate with other animals?”

That question caused the black panther to
roar his unhappiness at her, sending Liberty back several steps.
She froze up, holding her chest in fear. “That wasn’t nice!”

She quickly scooped up the cat and hurried
inside, locking the deadbolt on the front door as soon as she
could. Dropping the cat on the couch, she went to the kitchen to
get a glass of water and then hurried up to her room.

When she climbed in the bed and closed her
eyes, Talon was there in her mind’s eye, smiling at her and kissing
her. She felt the stirrings of something foreign in her belly. If
she breathed deep enough, she could still smell him. The scent that
drove her wild swirled around inside of her head. What had he kept
calling it? His mating scent?

Flicking the bedside lamp on, she quickly
grabbed Nova’s paperback off of the nightstand, looking around her
room to make sure she was alone. God, she felt like an idiot,
getting her shifter knowledge from a damn fiction book!

Flipping to a passage she’d read earlier in
the day, Liberty went over it again, savoring the words written by
the author. She blushed at the mention of mating. If this book was
anything to go by, Liberty was way more than interested. The
thought of having Talon’s strong arms around her, him pushing deep
inside and bringing her pleasure, sent more odd sensations to her
lower belly. Also knowing that when they mated it was for life, had
Liberty filing that away as one of the pros to being with a
shifter. There would be no chance of infidelity. They went after
what they wanted and they stayed loyal. What girl wouldn’t want
that?

A loud knock on the front door sent Liberty
scrambling from her bed. The book tumbled out of her hand as she
shook from the fright. She quickly pushed her dirty little reading
under the mattress and grabbed a robe. As she hurried down the
stairs, she felt the wetness between her legs and blushed again
from the ideas her mind had conjured up since meeting Talon
Shaw.

“Who is it?” she asked through the door,
remembering her lesson about opening doors when she didn’t know who
was on the other side.

“It’s Talon,” his deep voice announced. “Let
me in.”

As soon as she opened the door, Talon’s
nostrils flared and his eyes flashed a glowing amber. He took one
step inside the door, pushing it closed with his left hand. He used
the other to wrap around her waist, pulling her flush against his
hard chest.

“I hope to hell you are alone,” he growled,
his eyes never leaving hers.

“What?” she breathed out. That scent rolled
around their combined bodies and she wanted nothing more than to
throw Talon onto the floor and wallow all over him so that she
could have it on her skin.

“I can scent your arousal and I don’t want to
have to kill one of my Guardians,” he informed her, gritting his
teeth.

Heat rushed up her neck, painting her cheeks
a bright red. Liberty tried to push away from him, but Talon
wouldn’t let go of his hold. His eyes searched the rooms that were
visible from the small foyer, but he still didn’t move. Liberty
didn’t even know how to answer his question. Or was all of that
alpha posturing a statement?

“No one is here, Talon,” she admitted, unable
to move.

“Good,” he nodded, just as he claimed her
lips with his own in a demanding kiss.

Her tongue traced his bottom lip a moment
before his tongue snaked out, touching hers in a soft dance. He
tasted of wildness and fire and something unfamiliar, but
definitely desired.