Talon (Rise of the Pride, Book 1) (7 page)

“We need to talk with you, Liberty, and it’s
important,” Winter said, all sense of humor gone.

“Can we not do this in the morning?” she
asked, cocking her hip to the side. “And by the way, this is no way
to come for a visit, boys.”

“Boys?” Savage snorted. Savage was younger
than Talon, but only by a few years. His brown hair barely reached
his shoulders and his arms were heavily tattooed.

“Savage,” Talon warned.

“Sorry,” he replied.

“Liberty,” Talon said as he turned to address
her. She suppressed a sigh at hearing her name fall from his lips.
“This is important and not something we need to talk about out
here. May we please come inside?”

“I’ll get you some of my dad’s old sweatpants
and put them on the back porch. You can come inside when you are
decent.” She lowered the gun and tucked it in the back of her
waistband.

“Thank you,” he said, his voice sounding a
bit more normal.

Liberty rushed into the house, trying to keep
as quiet as possible so she didn’t wake up Nova. If her sister had
known there were three naked men at the house, she’d be down there
in an instant. Grabbing the box in the back of the storage room
closet, she tried to not think of her father as she dug out the
pants.

Outside, there was an old wooden swing to the
right of the door. She didn’t say anything, just set the pants on
the seat and turned back to go inside.

Taking a calming breath, she took a seat at
the square table in her tiny kitchen where she could see the back
door. Her hands fidgeted as she bit her lip, trying to think about
why these men were slinking around her yard in the middle of the
night. Whatever it was, she had a feeling she wasn’t going to like
what they had to say.

“Liberty?” Talon called out quietly, pulling
the old wooden screen door open.

“Have a seat,” she said, motioning to the
chairs around the table.

She had to swallow the lump in her throat
when she looked up, seeing the three men duck as they entered her
house. They were not only gorgeous, but extremely muscular. Talon’s
skin was tanned, like he’d spent most of the summer working
outside…shirtless. His chest was smooth except for a thin, dark
trail of hair leading from below his navel down to where it
disappeared into the borrowed pants. Those pants were slung low on
his hips, a defined muscle rose out of the material and made a
thick V leading up from his hips. His nipples were dark brown and
she bit her tongue to keep from licking her lips.

“Why are you on my property?” she demanded,
trying to get her mind to come back on line. Maybe she should’ve
offered them shirts? Not that they would’ve fit any of them. Her
father had been a big man, but nothing compared to these shifters.
All three wooden chairs groaned from their weight as Talon, Winter,
and Savage took a seat, making Liberty feel like a small child.

“Do you know any shifters? Other than us?”
Talon asked, his eyes locked with hers. He was on edge, so much so,
she could feel the tension in the air.

“Me? Um, no,” she replied, confused as to why
they were asking. “Why?”

“We were out on our hunt for the Fall Equinox
and scented a strange cat on your land,” he started explaining. “We
shifted to investigate and found a very large paw print just inside
the tree line at the edge of your yard.”

“What?” she gasped. “Are you sure?”

“We’re sure,” Talon continued. “Winter found
the print. We’d just shifted to human when you pointed your weapon
at us.” He glanced at the gun in question, sitting in front of her
on the table. She didn’t know these guys well and with the kissing,
she wasn’t sure what his intentions were toward her. So, she was
going to play it safe.

“There was something…” She paused, biting her
lip.

“What, Liberty?” he urged, reaching out to
take her hand softly. There was that jolt again. She closed her
eyes and sighed heavily, jerking back in her seat when she realized
what she’d done, but she didn’t let go of his hand, either.

“When we locked up the bar, I thought someone
was out there watching us,” she admitted, taking a deep breath to
steady her nerves. It also helped that Talon’s large hand had
enveloped hers. She had no desire to pull it back. “I didn’t see
anyone, but I could’ve sworn I smelled something.”

“What did you scent, Liberty?” Talon asked,
concern causing a wrinkle to form between his eyes. Liberty wanted
so badly to reach up and smooth it away, but she didn’t want to
touch him. It was hard enough composing sentences when he held her
hand.

“It smelled wild, familiar,” she explained,
glancing at the two other men. They were leaning forward, their
elbows resting on the table. They didn’t appear to have noticed
that Talon had moved his seat closer to hers. He was still holding
her hand.

“Like one of us?” Winter asked. He’d been
quiet up until then, only listening to her and Talon’s
conversation.

“I think so,” she answered hesitantly. “Like
you, but not you. I don’t know. It was a bit breezy. It could’ve
been anything. Maybe it was coming from the dumpster. God knows
that thing stinks on the weekends before it’s picked up on
Monday.”

“What else?” Talon urged, taking his thumb
and rubbing it slowly across the back of her knuckles.

“When we arrived here, I was unlocking the
door and heard a branch snap out in the woods.” She pointed in the
direction where she’d also found the three of them. “I thought
maybe it was you.”

“It wasn’t me,” he cursed. “Liberty, I’m
worried we may have a rogue loose in the area. I don’t know why he
came here. Maybe he was just passing through, but I don’t like this
at all.”

“But I thought your kind weren’t dangerous,”
she stated, looking at each of the men.

“We can be,” Talon replied, his voice
dangerously low. “But we don’t hurt women…ever.”

“Okay,” she said, drawing out the word.
“That’s good to know, I guess.”

“Where’s your phone?” he asked, finally
releasing her hand. She wanted to reach out for his warmth again,
but didn’t. Instead, she stood up to retrieve her phone from her
purse. When she returned, he was frowning at the gun she had left
on the table. “Do you know how to use that thing?”

“Yes,” she chuckled, handing over her phone
so he could enter his phone number into her contacts. “I’ve been
handling firearms since I was six years old. My daddy taught me how
to be safe around guns, and I’m a damn good shot.”

“Do you have no fear, woman?” Winter asked,
shaking his head. “Never go out into a dark area to confront three
men in the woods.”

“I was perfectly fine,” she said through
gritted teeth. “It stopped you, didn’t it?”

“That’s because we were a friend, not an
enemy,” Savage offered, finally speaking up.

“I’m going to send some Guardians to watch
over your property for a few nights,” Talon said, his tone telling
her his decision was final. But Liberty wasn’t one of his pride.
“If you have any problems, you call me immediately.”

“Um, no,” she said, narrowing her eyes. “I
don’t need men around here, walking through my property at
night.”

“I wasn’t asking you,” he argued, leaning
forward. She felt a wave of power emanate from his body, only
freezing her for a moment, before she shook herself and
laughed.

“You can’t use that mystical mojo on me,
buddy,” she replied. “I’m human, remember?”

“That’s the problem, isn’t it?” he muttered.
Liberty tilted her head to the side and narrowed her eyes at
him.

“Excuse me?”

“With all of the excitement of our
announcement,” he started saying, then paused, looking deep into
her eyes. It was as if he was gauging something. Like he was
possibly trying to decide what or how he should say what he needed
to say.

“Out with it, Talon,” she ordered, leaning
forward so they were almost nose to nose. This man thought he’d
come in here and boss her around? That was not happening.

“There are things you do not know about
us…things you have no business knowing,” he snarled, a bit of amber
bleeding into his ice blue eyes. “Can you just let us keep an eye
on the place for a few days?” As soon as Talon started to relax,
Liberty raised an eyebrow, waiting to see if he would continue. He
didn’t, and she was glad because something inside her didn’t want
this man to be angry with her. Hell, she didn’t even know him and
for some reason, she wanted to… please him? She barely contained an
unladylike snort.

“I don’t want men hiding in the woods,
watching my house. That’s a little creepy,” she complained, leaning
back in her chair and folding her arms across her chest. The action
sent Talon’s eyes southward to her breasts. She immediately dropped
her arms and rested her fisted hands in her lap. She really wanted
to punch the jerk.

“They won’t be men,” he admitted, casting a
glance at his two friends. “They’ll be panthers.”

“Oh,” she gasped, her eyes widening.

“I’ll be leading the group,” Winter informed
her, putting her a bit at ease. She liked Talon’s
second-in-command. He had a smile that melted your heart ….not to
mention your panties. Winter Blue looked like he could be the boy
next door, with his blonde hair and ice blue eyes. His defined
muscles seemed to test the strength of the material in the borrowed
sweatpants. He kept a few days growth on his face and it was neatly
trimmed. “We just want to make sure you’re safe.”

“Safe from what?” Nova demanded, standing in
the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest, looking like a
younger version of Liberty.

“Whatever it is that’s been creeping around
our property,” Liberty told her, standing up from her chair.

“Did something happen after I went to bed?”
Nova asked, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. “I heard voices and
decided to come down and see who was here.”

Liberty offered her seat to Nova, and went to
lean against the counter. Talon filled her sister in on everything
that had happened up until Liberty had held a gun on them in the
yard. Nova listened, nodding occasionally.

“I think Talon’s right,” Nova agreed after
she’d been told the entire story. “We have guns, but we don’t have
anyone else out here.” Liberty ground her teeth and hated to admit
that Nova was probably right.

“Our kind are strong and fast,” Talon said,
rising to his full height. He walked over to stand in front of
Liberty. She had to lean her head back to be able to look him in
the eyes. She was an average height of five and a half feet, but
Talon towered over her. He had to have been six foot four or
five.

“I have no doubt that you are strong,” she
snickered. “I’m sorry, but you guys are ginormous.”

“With our…abilities, we also have superhuman
strength,” Winter added, his eyes on Nova, who was grinning like a
fool. “What?”

“Told you my sexy romance books were spot
on,” Nova laughed, looking over her shoulder at Liberty. As Nova
got up from her chair, it was all Liberty could do not to run and
hide from Nova’s embarrassing confession.

“Romance books?” Savage asked, his voice deep
and gravely.

“Nothing,” Liberty bit out, shooing Nova out
of the room. “Go to bed. You have stuff to do tomorrow.”

“No, I don’t,” Nova giggled.

“Yes, you do,” Liberty stammered. “You…you
have to clean the backroom at the bar.”

“What?” Nova gasped, but didn’t get a chance
to say anything else before Liberty placed her hand over her
sister’s lips, stopping any words that were next to fly out of her
dang mouth.

“Go. To. Bed, Nova,” Liberty ordered,
shooting an angry look at her sister. Nova, being the smart one,
took the hint, but laughed all the way back to her room.

“You need your rest, too,” Talon said.

“That I do,” she said, suddenly feeling bone
tired. They’d been in her house for an hour already, and she found
that she liked them there for some strange reason. She’d think
about her feelings tomorrow when she’d had more sleep and time to
figure out everything that had happened tonight.

“Can you give us a moment?” Talon asked his
men. They both nodded, wished Liberty a good night, and walked out
the back door.

“What is it?” Liberty asked, taking a step
closer to Talon. That was one step too many because she could smell
him again, and damn if he didn’t smell amazing.

“My scent attracts you,” he stated.

“Do…what?” she gasped. “Excuse me?”

“It’s the mating scent,” he said, then smiled
at her. She could’ve sworn his chest puffed out a bit, but...well,
maybe it did. Damn, she couldn’t quit staring at his muscles or his
nipples.
Liberty, you tramp! Stop!

“About this mating thing,” she snapped,
remembering all too well what happened at the bar. “I’m not falling
for this mate stuff. If you want to get to know me better, that’s
fine, but you don’t just
claim
me or whatever it is that
your kind does. I’m a woman, and I should be treated as such.
Doesn’t your kind date?”

“Huh?” he asked, confusion written all over
his face. She felt a dreamy sigh billowing up, but pushed it down.
He had to do this right.

“Why don’t you ask your buddies?” she said,
pushing him out of the door. “I’m too damn tired to get into this
conversation tonight, I mean, this morning.” She quickly closed the
door before he could say anything else, but he wasn’t done.

“Liberty,” he growled from the other side of
the door.

“Good night, Talon,” she sweetly responded,
turning off the back porch light and taking the stairs two at a
time so she could finally get some sleep.