“Were you this bloodthirsty before your accident?”
Deni hesitated, her chest rising with her breath. “I don’t know.”
Jace put his hands on her arms, which were cold. The night was cooling, and her flesh, bared by the sarong, rose in goose bumps. “You said fighting makes you want to fight,” he said. “But we weren’t fighting in there. Not yet.”
“But you wanted to.” Deni rested her fingers on Jace’s forearms. “I sensed that loud and clear. You were ready to rip out Broderick’s throat. I can take his crap, but you couldn’t. Are you always this bloodthirsty?”
Not until today. He made himself grin. “Everyone at home thinks I’m reasonable and a peacemaker.” Good old Jace. He’ll calm everyone down.
“Yeah? Not sure I’d want to meet your family, then.”
“You would. You’d like my dad, and his mate.” He rubbed her arms. “Too cold out here. Let’s get you home.”
Deni shivered, as though realizing how lightly dressed she was. “Fine. Though I’m not sure about you sleeping on the couch. Liam might have room at his house. Or Spike might.”
She started to turn away. Jace thought about finding space in a dark house that didn’t contain her, and something kicked him in the gut.
Jace dragged her back to him. Deni landed against his chest, her gray eyes going wide. He felt her heart beating rapidly as he scooped her to him, slid his hand to the back of her neck, and pulled her up for a hard kiss.
Chapter Four
Their mouths met in a frenzy. Deni clung to Jace, her breath hot on his lips, her kisses wild, hungry.
Jace wrapped his arms around her. This woman, this delicious female, was awakening something he’d never felt before—need, primal and intense, which all Shifters possessed, but which Jace had only experienced dimly before this. Even the hormonal craziness of his Transition to adulthood hadn’t spiked the intense desire through him that kissing Deni did.
As her strong hands pulled him down to her, Jace realized she needed him in return. Needed him, Jace the man, not Jace the Shifter leader’s son—she hadn’t known who he was when they’d met. Nothing in her behavior, her scent, her voice had told him she cared where he was in the food chain.
She rose on tiptoes, running fingers through his short hair, kissing him as though she couldn’t get enough. Jace felt his frenzy reply—need, mate, don’t let go.
Deni pushed away from him with a suddenness that robbed him of breath. Cold air filled in where she’d been, and Jace felt suddenly empty.
Deni was staring up at him, her chest rising with her agitation. “Sorry. I can’t control—”
Jace’s returning breath hurt him. “It’s not control I’m looking for.”
“I am.”
Because of her accident, she meant, her fear it was making her go feral. “I get that,” Jace said. He clasped her elbows. “But that’s over, Deni. You survived. I won’t let you lose it when you’re with me—I promise.”
She shuddered. “I just wish—”
“Wish what?” Jace drew her closer again, running his hands up her arms to cup her shoulders. “Tell me what you want.”
“To be normal again. A year ago, I would have snatched up someone like you, taken you somewhere private, and not come out until we were done enjoying ourselves.”
Jace grinned down at her. “Me too. With you, I mean.”
“But now.” Deni shuddered but she didn’t pull away. “I’m afraid to let myself go.”
“Yeah,” Jace said, his voice quieter. “Me too.” That’s why they’d sent Jace to Austin to liaise and test the Collar control problem. Jace was trustworthy, dependable. Could keep a secret. Could take pain and not go crazy from it. He didn’t need anyone to hold his hand, never had.
He liked to stay in control, be strong. But tonight . . .
“Come on,” Deni said. She laced her hand through his, tugging him along with her. “Best I get home.”
Jace’s heart still thrummed from the kiss—Deni’s taste, her scent, the warmth of her body imprinted on his. The feral being deep inside him growled in frustration, wanting out.
Keep it together. He was supposed to be helping Deni stay calm. But as Jace walked behind her, watching her hips sway while her hand was hot in his, he wondered which of them would prove to be the stronger.
* * *
Will and Jackson, Deni’s sons, were home. Deni’s heart lightened when she saw their pickup in the driveway and the lights glowing in the house. Home. Safety.
Jace’s scent like wild sage wrapped around her as she led him up onto the porch. Her idea that he could go sleep at Liam’s or Spike’s didn’t seem as good now. Deni didn’t like the thought of him saying good-bye and walking away.
“Sweet ride,” Jace said, gesturing at the motorcycle parked next to the pickup. “Yours?”
Deni nodded, her heart squeezing. “Ellison bought it for me after mine was totaled.” She glanced at it and turned resolutely away.
“And you haven’t ridden it,” Jace said. “Shame.”
“Isn’t it?” Deni jerked open the door to the house. She was not going to let Jace talk her into getting on the motorcycle tonight. She’d done well riding Liam’s bike home, but she still shook from it. Too much too soon.
Jace followed her inside without further word. Deni entered her haven, filled with the scents of her sons, her brother, and his mate. Soon her brother and mate would have their first cub, and more laughter would fill the house.
“Mom.”
Will, her youngest, already twenty-four, came to Deni as she entered the kitchen and wrapped his arms around her. She hugged him back, her beloved son. After a long time, Will lifted his head, looked her up and down, and asked, “What the hell happened to you?”
“Fight,” Deni said. “But I’m okay. I rode, Will. Liam’s bike—all the way from the fight club.”
Will’s eyes widened, but Jackson, two years older than Will, said, “And you were at the fight club why?” He came forward, greeting Deni by giving her a hug from the side. Will hadn’t moved.
Neither son acknowledged Jace standing quietly near the door. Will and Jackson were still technically cubs, though they were in their twenties—adults in human terms. They hadn’t gone through their Transitions yet. They were clinging to Deni as instinctively as they had when they’d been tiny, waiting for her to either tell them the strange Shifter was a friend, or for them to join together to attack him.
Deni also knew they scented Jace on her, and her on him, and known what they’d done. Before the accident, they’d have started teasing her. Now they waited, uncertain.
“This is Jace Warden,” she said. “He’s staying with us tonight.”
“Oh yeah?” Jackson finally eyed Jace, though he didn’t go so far as to pin him with a defiant stare. “Why’s that?”
“Dylan invited him out here,” Deni said. “But Dylan’s been arrested.”
As she’d guessed, the announcement made the boys put aside their nervousness and barrage her with questions, starting with What? Are you serious?
Jace helped Deni fill them in on the story. Once Will and Jackson were more relaxed with Jace, Deni went to her room, washed up, changed her clothes, then returned to the kitchen and started putting together sandwiches. Big ones. She was hungry.
The boys and Jace devoured everything she set down on the table. Deni watched her sons relax even more as Jace talked. He really did have the knack of putting everyone at ease.
The sight of him hulking at the table, shoveling down roast beef, ham, and turkey on three different kinds of bread while Will and Jackson hung on his words made Deni’s heart ache again. This is what she should have had with her mate and cubs—a family, laughing, talking, eating, sharing. Deni’s mate had died of illness long ago, robbing Deni of the life she’d wanted. Being shoveled into a Shiftertown had been even more bewildering. But they’d made it, she, Ellison, Jackson, and Will.
Here they were, and now Jace seemed to
complete the picture.
“Seriously, Mom,” Will said, his mouth full. “Why did you go to the fight club? You know what happens . . .”
Deni reached across the table for the butter and slapped some onto her slab of bread. “Because I was tired of sitting at home huddled up in a shawl. Ronan and Elizabeth offered to give me a lift out to the fight club, and I took them up on it. I thought it would do me good to get out and have fun.”
“You could have gone to the bar,” Jackson said, frowning. “Safer.”
“Not really. Too many human groupies looking for a Shifter to grope. Plus, all my friends were at the fights tonight. I wanted to go.” Deni gave Jackson a motherly glare, and he shrugged.
“Speaking of groping . . .” Jackson trailed off, deliberately not looking at Jace or Deni. Will snorted as he took another bite.
“None of your business,” Deni said.
Jace said nothing at all, only looked amused. He betrayed no shame, no regret for their quick encounter in the darkness.
The boys got their snickering in, but Deni could tell they were relieved. Had they thought their mom was washed-up? Out of life because she sometimes went out of her mind? That maybe no other Shifter would want her?
Jace remained silent, letting them laugh. At one point, he caught Deni’s gaze and winked, and Deni’s blood started to simmer. It really was dangerous to have him here.
Jackson and Will retreated to their room after the meal to watch videos and sleep. Jace came to Deni where she looked out the window across the street, wondering if Dylan would return tonight, and wrapped his arms around her from behind.
“They love you,” he said.
Deni leaned back into his warmth. “They’re my cubs.”
“It’s good to see.” Jace let out his breath, heat tickling her ear. “I never knew my mother. She died bringing me in.”
Deni heard the sorrow in his words. She pressed her hand over his. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s always made me a little touchy, you know?” Jace held her tighter. “Afraid to get too close to anyone. It can happen so fast, losing someone.”
So true. “You have your dad,” she said. “And the rest of your family.” Though she knew no one could ever take the place of a lost loved one.
“I do. And my dad has done some shit that’s scared me to death, trust me.” Jace gave a little chuckle. “But it’s made me careful.”
Careful. Deni had learned to be that as well.
His closeness made her nervous, and not because she didn’t like it. Deni broke his hold and turned around. “Hope the couch is comfortable. Linens are in the closet in the hall.”
His gaze sought hers. “I’m sure it will be.” He touched her throat above her Collar, fingertips caressing. His jade green eyes darkened, but he didn’t speak. Whatever his thoughts were, he kept them to himself.
“Good night, then.” Deni rose on her tiptoes and gently kissed his lips.
Jace slid one arm around her, turning the kiss into something deeper. His mouth was a point of heat in the darkness, their lips meeting in silence.
Jace eased away, taking his hands from Deni and balling them into fists, as though stopping himself from reaching for her again. “Good night,” he said.
Deni swallowed, but didn’t move. “Good night.”
Jace took a step back. “You’d better go.”
Good thinking. If Deni stayed, she’d grab him, and they’d go down right here in the living room. Another chance for them both to lose control.
“Sure,” she said. “If you need anything . . .”
Jace held up one hand, fingers stiff. “Don’t say that. Too dangerous. Good night,” he repeated, firmly.
Deni nodded and made herself turn around, walk down the small hallway, and enter her bedroom. She looked back before she closed the door, seeing Jace standing in the living room, rigid, large, solid.
Shutting the door on him was one of the hardest things she’d ever done.
* * *
In the middle of the night, Collar payback hit Jace.
He opened his eyes in the dark, sweat rolling down his face, pain smacking him in the gut. He stifled his groans—no use waking up the rest of the house.
Payback happened when a Shifter prevented his Collar from going off while he was fighting. Helped a lot during the fight, but afterward there was always a backlash. The systems relaxed, the Shifter’s adrenaline dissipated, and the suppressed pain woke up and said hello.
Jace’s nerves were on fire. The pain started at his throat and poured from there into his body. He doubled up, still on the couch, rolling onto his side and silently fighting the agony.
Smooth, cool hands touched his skin. Jace had stripped down to his jeans to sleep but hadn’t put on anything else—he’d found enough blankets in the linen cupboard to keep his bare torso comfortably warm.
Deni’s touch cut through his pain. She knelt on the floor next to him, the fabric of her long T-shirt brushing his body. She wore a bracelet on her right wrist, a thin gold chain with a small charm that soothed when it touched him. She hadn’t been wearing it earlier tonight, but maybe she hadn’t wanted to risk it getting lost at the fight club.
Jace took a deep breath, trying to still his racing heartbeat. Deni drew her hands up his chest and across his shoulders. A few hours ago, Jace would have found the touch sexual, invigorating. Same hands, same woman, but now she calmed.
He laid his head on the arm of the sofa, forcing his body to open up from its cramped position. Deni moved her hands down his chest and to his abdomen, her touch firm but caressing.
Jace drew in another breath. Deni left swaths of relief as she pulled her hands across him, paths free from pain.
She leaned down and kissed his chest. Jace wound an arm around her and pulled her closer. It felt so natural to hold her to him like this. Maybe he’d known this woman in another life, perhaps they’d had a love for the ages there. Shifters didn’t believe in reincarnation, but Jace’s fogged brain liked the idea.
Deni kept kissing his body, kept stroking with her hands. Her lips were soft points on his hot skin, her hands so beautifully skilled. If Jace weren’t in so much pain he’d be aroused. He’d love to pull her up to straddle him, to hold her while she found pleasure in him.
He let out a whispered groan. Deni kissed his lips, stifling the small sound.
Jace held her, moving his lips to kiss her back. Wonderful, sweet woman. Her touch unclenched the tightness in him, feathering comfort through his body.
She’d risen from her bed, somehow knowing he was in pain, and had come out here, even after the wary good night they’d shared. Jace had made sure he’d been as quiet as possible, but she must have heard him or sensed his pain.
Jace kissed her lips again, stroking her hair. If they had time and freedom, they’d find so much together. He was Feline, she Lupine, he from the Vegas Shiftertown, she from the Austin. Distance, family, and laws kept them apart, but at this moment—who cared?
Deni raised her head. She kissed the tip of Jace’s nose and brushed her hands down his chest once more, the gold chain whispering.
“Better?” she asked.
“Much.”
“Good.” She unfolded to her feet, the hem of her long T-shirt brushing her knees. She leaned down, bathing Jace in her scent, and kissed his lips once more. Then her touch and kiss were gone, Deni moving down the hall to her bedroom.
Jace lay back, the vestiges of his pain fading. “Good night,” he whispered, and fell into a deep, untroubled sleep.
* * *
Jace walked out of the house the next morning with Ellison Rowe, Deni’s brother. He walked out, even though Deni wasn’t up yet, because Ellison escorted him out.
Jace had been sleeping hard after Deni had gone to bed the second time, when he’d been jerked out of slumber by a big Shifter sitting down on him.
Both men had come off the couch with a yell of rage, then they’d faced each other across the living room
rug. Ellison’s pale hair had gleamed in the moonlight, his big fists clenched, his eyes wolf white. Jace stood barefoot in jeans in another Shifter’s house, and for that, this pack leader had a right to tear him up.
Ellison’s mate, a small human woman named Maria, had stepped between them and calmly asked Jace what he was doing here. Jace had met her before—the woman had been rescued from a feral Shifter in Mexico and brought here, and Ellison had fallen on his ass in love with her.
Once Jace explained about his visit, Dylan, and the fight club, Ellison had backed off a little. Ellison had heard about Dylan’s arrest and conceded that Jace could stay. But the look on his face when he scented Deni on Jace was pure fury.
Deni hadn’t woken up during the altercation, but then, they’d conducted most of it after their initial shout in silence, with only a little growling. Jace decided to take a shower, tired of people sniffing him, and by the time he’d come out, the sun was up. Ellison pointedly walked Jace out of the house and started along the street with him.
“My sister,” Ellison said, “is going through some shit.”
“She told me some of it.” Jace hoisted his backpack on his shoulder, reflecting that he’d probably need to find someplace else to stay tonight.
“She’s scared and still healing. She doesn’t need to be confused.”
The pissed-off feral in Jace started rising again. Why did everyone assume he was ready to take advantage of Deni? They all needed to leave her alone, give her some space.
“I’m not here to confuse her.” Jace stopped, forcing Ellison to face him. Ellison had his cowboy hat and boots on—he liked to play the big, bad Texan. “Deni’s a good woman.”
“I know. I’ve lived with her all my life.” Ellison’s gray eyes held worry behind his anger. “Keep it cool. Don’t let her . . .”
He trailed off, as though unable to find the words to describe his gut-wrenching fears.
Jace dared to close the space between them, dared even more to put his hand on Ellison’s shoulder. “I’d never hurt her,” he said. “I can see she’s special.”