Shifters on Fire: A BBW Shifter Romance Boxed Set (22 page)

“It might take some imagination on my part. But I am up for the challenge.”

Someone cleared her throat behind them. Turning within the circle of his arms, she found Asha beaming a few feet away. “We were concerned you got lost.”

The blush started from her toes and worked all the way up her body. “My fault.”

“I figured, from the impressive job you did on him last night.”

“Could you please put on a shirt?” Quinn begged.

“No, they all need to see it,” Asha said. “Every newly mated man goes through this.”

“This embarrassment of showing the world they’ve been marked.”

“This honor of being marked,” he said. “And I can think of no one in this world who I would rather be marked by.”

Hand in hand, they walked into the dining room to find a meal laid out like a celebratory feast and every man, woman, and child got down on one knee in a sign of respect. The orphaned girl who had spent her life alone and wishing for a family to love her discovered the family she never would have expected and one she couldn’t be happier with.

Brutus lifted her knuckles to his lips before placing her hand on his shoulder. “Meet my beta. Quinn, my family.”

As the people in the room rushed to greet her, she only had to hesitate for him to reassure her with a touch or a word. He never left her side, and she recognized she would never be alone again. Her heart filled with love, and she knew as she knew her own soul that he felt the same.

The End

Breathless for Her Bear

Ever Coming

Book two in the steamy Cedarville Shifters series.

Mal knew moving to Cedarville to start a new life and a new career wouldn’t be sunshine and roses, but the last thing she expected was to arrive practically penniless and homeless. Meeting her smexy mate now is the absolute worst--or is it the best--timing ever?

What’s a Little Misdemeanor Between Friends?

“Cedarville or bust,” Mal mumbled to herself as she locked the door to her apartment for what she hoped was the last time. She had agreed to the internship with the hope of getting out of her rut. By “rut,” she meant away from Josh, her ass-hat butt-munch of an ex-boyfriend. By “agree to the internship,” she meant begged and pleaded Luke Russel for a chance to work under him.

Luke had revolutionized the building industry with his software and if Mal was going to get out of her craptastic life, she needed to set herself apart from all the other graduates. Well, set herself aside achievement wise. She was already set aside by being over thirty in a class of barely twenty somethings, and by being the curviest.

Not that Mal minded being curvy. She knew how to work her curves, and even when she was with Ass-hat, as she now not-so-fondly called him, she’d caught the eye of many a man. Mal wasn’t sure why she stayed with Josh all those years. If she were honest, it was probably because they had met so young and he became a bad habit. She grew up and he didn’t.

It was definitely time to cut bait. Josh had actually asked her not to leave. Begged even. Mal had almost reconsidered for the tiniest of moments, but then she over-heard him telling his brother that he was pissed she was leaving because he needed her money for expenses. Yep, total ass-hat.

Cedarville was a good twelve hour drive and Mal had hoped to make it a straight shot. She really didn’t have money for a hotel en route since her funds were limited, and she would already need to stay at the bed and breakfast until she found a more permanent place. She had some meager savings, but paying for school and her half of the household expenses hadn’t left much for savings. Especially when her half over the past year was really more like three quarters.

Mal was really happy with the time she was making. Traffic had been light and the storms that had threatened seemed to be staying south of her. She’d had a few pit stops for gas and coffee. You know, the essentials. Nearing three in the afternoon, however, her stomach was demanding more.

It had been an hour since she passed anything resembling more than a gas station, so when she saw the sign for Town Café, she followed it. Town Café was a cute little old fashioned dinner and looked nothing at all like her vision of a café with foofoo food and high prices. She pulled in, hoping to grab a quick bite and to get back on her way. Her goal was to hit Cedarville before seven and, according to her map, the goal was easily attainable at this point. If she had one of those fancy GPSs or smart phones, she would know the exact timing, but that was one of the expenses she put on her “someday” list.

Mal had a long “someday” list. Someday, she would have a career and not just a job. Someday, she would have the fancy gadgets that made other tech lovers like her drool. Someday, she would find someone to share her life with, and this time she was going to go in with eyes wide open and not be swayed by a handsome face. The
somedays
went on and on, but she had already made so many of her
somedays
come true.

She had graduated from college with honors. It might have taken her years longer than her classmates. Most all of them graduated with student loans tied to them like an albatross, and if taking an extra few years prevented her from that fate, she had zero regrets. Moreover, she had made more of herself than her deadbeat parents ever had.

Mal’s biggest accomplishment was her independence. That one had seemed the least attainable when she first started creating her
somedays
as a teen. She had seen what being trapped looked like. Her mother hated her father, but couldn’t leave because she felt trapped. At the time Mal thought her mom was truly as trapped as she often liked to remind her children. After all, going from a stay at home mom of three to living on your own and supporting everyone was challenging
with
an education, and she’d had none.

It wasn’t until Mal was out of the house and on her own that she realized that her parents actually liked their messed up dysfunctional lives. In a way, though, seeing that only strengthened Mal’s need to truly make it on her own. In a twisted fashion, their messed up way of living helped Mal in the long run. Not that she wanted to think about any of this now. Now, she wanted to eat.

The smell of burgers and other greasy goodness hit her as soon as she opened the door. Yes, this place would do nicely. Walking in, the alluring aromas multiplied. Someone was baking pies. If she was correct, they were blueberry. Her favorite.

There were plenty of places at the counter, but being a shorter gal she opted for a booth. Normally, out of courtesy, she would have left the booths for families and couples, but there were hardly any people so she was able to avoid dangling feet and be polite at the same time. For some silly reason that made her smile.

“Coffee?”

Mal was startled from her menu by the epitome of all dinner waitress stereotypes, right down to the white nurse shoes and gum chewing.

“No thanks. I am a bit coffeed out today.” That might have been the first time those words had ever left her mouth and she held in a giggle. “Maybe just a glass of water.”

“Water it is, love. Today’s special is the Café Burger with fries.” The waitress leaned in conspiratorially. “Basically that is just a burger and fries with a fancy name.”

“That sounds perfect.” Mal closed her menu. “Medium, please, and may I have extra pickles?”

“Absolutely. I’ll put this in and go grab that water for you.” Mal scribbled on her pad and then turned toward the counter.

“Miss?”

“Yes, love?” The waitress turned back around.

“Is that blueberry pie I smell?”

“Blueberry cobbler, actually.” She started scribbling on her pad. Mal had inadvertently ordered the cobbler from the looks of things and she was okay with that. “It will be ready by the time you get your burger. Nothing better than hot blueberry cobbler with ice cream.”

“Fabulous. Thanks …” Mal squinted to read the waitress’s name tag. It was worn away with age.

“April, love. My name is April.”

“Thanks, April.” April looked at her. “Oh sorry, I’m Malory, but people call me Mal.”

“Nice to meet ya, Malory. I’ll get this right in.”

Mal took out her map, notebook, and pen. She had veered off the path a bit to get to the diner and was hoping to find a shortcut back to the main road. It probably wouldn’t actually save her any time, but Mal thought of it as a puzzle of sorts. Since she had to wait anyway, why not?

“Here’s your water, love.” April placed her water on the table. “Can I help ya find where you’re goin’?”

“I’m off to Cedarville and thought I would see if there was a way to get there without back tracking.”

“Huh, I didn’t peg you as a spa gal.” Mal looked up to see an odd look on the woman’s face as if the spa was a sore spot with her.

“Spa? I don’t know anything about a spa there. And yeah, not a spa girl. Although I have been known to do a mean home pedi.” Mal loved pretty toes. Even during the winter when they were hidden in socks, pretty toes made her smile.

“Family?”

Normally Mal was not one for sharing personal information with strangers, but there was something about April she liked. Even though she was the epitome of a dinner waitress, she also seemed like a friend, or possibly a sister. Mal shook off that odd thought. She didn’t even feel like her sister was a sister half the time.

“No, I am going there for work. Or at least I hope for work. It is sort of a test run internship thing.” Mal could see April mulling over what she had said. “Computer stuff,” she added, feeling like she should share all the things, “for Luke Russel.”

April leaned in. At first it looked like she was smelling Mal, but then she pointed to the map. Mal was amused by her own silliness. Of course the woman wasn’t smelling her.

“Here’s Cedarville and here’s us.” April tapped her finger on each place. “Now most people will go back up to the highway and around the mountain. It is an easy ride and takes … almost three hours depending on traffic, and by traffic, love, I mean if there are dawdling trucks. This ain’t no city.”

“That was the way I was headed before I came here. So going back is best?”

“Well, my Al, he lives in Cedarville and he goes this way.” April traced a line on the map. “It cuts an hour off. Most people stay away though because the roads are narrow and there are no street lights.”

“Which way should I go?” Saving an hour would give her added time to decompress at the inn before starting her new life.

“Hmm, well if I were driving your car, I would probably go the back way. You’ll get there before dark, the skies are clear, and your car is small so the narrow roads won’t be too much of a problem.” April grabbed her pen and started drawing on the map. “Yeah, I think that will do.”

April snapped up at the sound of the bell being hit by the chef. Mal’s burger was ready and April immediately went to grab it.

“Here ya go, love.” She placed the amazing looking burger in front of Mal. Not that she was picky at this point in her hunger.

“Thanks, April, and thanks for the mapping help.”

“Welcome, love. Enjoy.” The bell rang again and April turned to leave, hesitating as she did. “May I ask how you know Luke?” It felt like there was so much hidden in the question.

“I don’t. I learned about his software breakthroughs in class and sought out an internship with him.” Saying it out loud, it sounded creeperish, but what was said was said.

“Hmmm,” was all April said as went to get another customer their food.

Mal’s burger was greasy goodness. It was cooked just right and they even gave her extra pickles like she asked. Most places just double them. If a burger normally got one, they gave you two. This place knew what they were doing and had them piled high. Even the fries were five star. If it weren’t two hours from Cedarville, she would probably spend too many nights here for dinner.

She had barely finished when April was walking over with the cobbler. The smell let her know it was coming before she even looked up to April. April plopped it down as a new customer walked in. Before he was fully in the doorway, April bounced over to him and was scooped up into a bear hug.

Mal turned to the cobbler, giving them their moment. She would of course be nosey and check him out after he got all the way in and she could fully see him. She wanted to see the man who had the heart of the gum chewing waitress, whom Mal now considered a friend.

Mal scooped up a spoonful of the cobbler trying not to examine how she could think of a person she had barely a conversation with as a friend. Besides, ever since April had set down the cobbler, the diner had felt like home. Something in the smell must bring Mal back to a happy time in her childhood or something. They say smell is one of the best memory enhancers. Maybe it was a time when she visited her grandmother. She couldn’t quite place it, but smells were always memory sparks for her so she figured that was what it was.

The first bite was magical. The cobbler was foodgasmic. If she were a betting woman, she’d say the ice cream was homemade. Maybe she
would
make the trek here on occasion.

“It’s really good, isn’t it?” She looked up to see a man in the booth with her. She caught his almost blue, almost silver eyes with hers and couldn’t look away. “I think it’s the ice cream that makes it.”

Mal knew she was staring, but couldn’t break away. He held her eyes in his and they sparkled with something she couldn’t quite place. One moment she thought for sure it was mischief and the next it looked more like excitement, like a child on his birthday.

As if on its own accord, her hand moved to the center of the table. He was still talking, but none of the words were registering. She had to touch him.

His hand met hers in the center. She hadn’t looked away from his eyes, so the touch startled her. That startle turned to warmth, which turned to a feeling of belonging.

“Whoa,” Mal mumbled, never breaking their eye contact.

“Whoa indeed,” the man mimicked. His eyes darkened briefly and snapped Mal out of her trance. She pulled her hand away.

“Sorry. I don’t …” She didn’t what? Know why she was feeling all these emotions with one touch? Why she had to look at this man? Why she felt the immediate loss of his touch? None of that even came close to being rational.

“I do.” The man sounded almost reverent.

“No way!” April shouted, breaking the spell. She bounced over, hip checked the man further into the booth, and sat down.

“You and my Al. Who would have …”

Mal froze at the phrase
my Al
. Those two little words had her wanting to draw blood. The room began to cave in around her. The people to the side of her were talking but they sounded distorted to the point of gibberish.
Mine
kept bouncing around in her head and she had to get out. Whatever had just happened kicked her fight or flight reflex in on full throttle.

More accurately, it had her wanting to fight and rip out the woman’s hair for claiming what was hers. The flight mentality was more to stay out of jail than anything else. She had never been a jealous person before and here she was ready to physically attack someone over a man she didn’t actually know.