One Night with the Shifter

Chapter 3

They barely made it through the front door.

A simple brush of their lips as she’d shoved open the door had transformed into a mind-blowing inferno kiss. The frenzied rush to have more struck like lightning, igniting her senses, burning away any inhibitions and leaving her stunned at the intensity and power of it. Standing in the dark entry hall, Jess yanked his T-shirt out of his jeans and pulled it quickly up and over his torso and head.

Hot, deeply tanned skin spread in a smooth sheet over ridges of hard muscle. There wasn’t an ounce of extra on him. Ty reminded her of a Greek statue, perfectly sculpted, lean and athletic. But Ty wasn’t playboy perfect, he was real. An angry red scar marred his ribs on one side, but Jess didn’t linger too long on it, not when there was a whole buffet of gorgeous guy to explore.

“How—about—that—shower.” She managed to get the words out between heated kisses. His mouth moved in a sensuous slide against hers as she nipped at his bottom lip. She ran her hands along the firm plane of his back and around to the ridges of muscle bisected by a line of dark hair that disappeared at the edge of his jeans.

“Too many clothes.” His low, husky voice rumbled in her ear.

“When you’re right, you’re right.” She pushed back from him long enough to pull her sweater off in a slow, flirty slide and fling it to the floor. She kicked off her flats and ran her fingers through her hair. Raw desire flared fever bright in his eyes as he watched her hands trail down her sides, then lower to unzip her jeans. She shoved them down her hips to pool around her feet.

Heat suffused every inch of her skin, a delicious warm glow that kept her from being cold even as she stood in just her bra and underwear. It didn’t take a doctor to tell that he found her attractive; the evidence was there in his face, in his ferocious heartbeat and in the hard line at the front of his jeans.

“Tag. You’re it.” She smiled, deliberately brushing her lower lip in a seductive slow motion with her finger.

Ty swallowed hard, but didn’t say a word as he shucked off his boots. She couldn’t wait to find out if it was boxers or briefs. Either way, if he was built below the waist like he was above, she was going to enjoy touching him.

The moment he pulled off his jeans, Jess realized that Ty was a man who wore neither.

He stood gloriously naked, his body only marred by a few dark bruises and white scars. The throb at her core thumped harder. Wet heat pooled between her thighs.

She looked up at him through her lashes as she undid the front clasp of her bra and let the dark blue lace and satin slide off her arms to land on the floor behind her. She crooked her finger at him in a slow come-with-me motion. “This way.” Having the run of the house made Jess bold, or perhaps it was the man in front of her. Something about Ty tapped into her deepest fantasies.

He didn’t wait for more invitation. He ate up the space between them in two strides, pulling her close to him with a growl that made her quiver. The hair on his chest rasped against her bare breasts, causing jolts of pleasure. His thick, heated ridge pressed against her belly as he kissed her deeply. Jess reached down, grasping his firm length, letting her fingers test the velvety texture. The tip was as slick and damp as she was.

He pulled back and closed his eyes for a second. “You keep doing that, and we’re not going to make it upstairs.” His voice was raw, a man on the edge. When he opened his eyes, they were predatory, hungry and focused on her. He was breathing hard and his tongue lightly licked his lips. “God, you look good enough to eat.”

He slid his hot hands beneath her bottom, lifting her. Jess straddled him, wrapping her legs around his lean hips and her arms around his neck to balance herself. He ground the hard heat of him against her damp panties, causing bursts of color across her vision. She gasped at the sensation.

He groaned. “Last chance. You sure about this?”

“You always talk this much?” She bit his lip and pressed herself closer until there wasn’t space for even air between them. While it was sweet that he was waiting for her to set the pace, there were times a girl just wanted things hard and fast. Slow could come later.

Jess wriggled, arching up until she could feel the pressure of him pressed against her with only the thin barrier of fabric between them. “You better put something on now, ’cause I’m not waiting,” she told him as a shudder rolled through her.

“Got anything handy?”

“Top drawer in the china cabinet.”

Ty glanced at the antique china cabinet with the leaded-glass side cabinets and big central arched mirror over a slab of dark green marble. “Interesting choice of locations. You’ll have to invite me over to dinner sometime,” he teased as he carried her with him toward the cabinet.

Jess opened the drawer and reached to the back, yanking out a box that promptly spilled the contents all over the floor. Thankfully she caught one foil packet between her fingers.

Ty bent to retrieve the box. “Leave it. We might need more later,” she purred in his ear. His body tightened in response beneath her and he growled, the vibration of it making her breasts ache.

He turned, hooking his finger in the thin elastic of her panties and pulling them off as he set her down on the dining room table. She was shocked by how cold the wood felt against the heated skin of her bottom.

“Lie back.”

“What’re you going to do?”

He gave her a wicked smile. “It’s a dining table, isn’t it?” He kissed a path slowly, deliberately, down her stomach and across her hip, down along the top of her right thigh. Ty’s beard abraded the tender, sensitive skin of her inner thigh as he kissed and laved a path. His fingers parted her damp flesh, making Jess arch. She could only manage incomprehensible sounds deep in the back of her throat as she raked her nails down his muscular shoulders and arms.

He nipped the inside of her thigh as he pushed his fingers inside her, making stars pop in her vision. Jess cried out, trembling, her body clenching hard around him as he moved his fingers inside her and laved at the hard pleasurable knot, ramping her body up all over again. He growled, and the vibration of it shot electrical impulses sparking along every nerve, intensifying her desire to feel him. Hard. Now.

Jess pushed up to a sitting position, her breath ragged. “That’s it. No more foreplay.”

“A woman who knows what she wants—I like it.”

She tore open the package, then grasped the rigid length of him and slid the condom over him as she scooted to the edge of the table, grabbed hold of his hips and pulled him into her.

Jess arched and screamed out his name. Pleasure flooded her system in a white-hot rush, blinding her as he moved within her and her whole body seemed to contract, then blow apart.

He held her against his warm, solid body as she trembled against him, limp and unable to move. His fingers traced a long, lingering slide down the indentations of her spine. He chuckled, the sound warm and husky. “God, you’re beautiful when you do that.”

* * *

Jess smiled against his chest, and it made his heart double thump. He could taste her on his tongue and he was still hard inside her. He’d accommodated her about the condom, but in truth he wasn’t absolutely positive it would work. So he’d used every ounce of willpower he had left to hold himself back until she was satisfied. He was just grateful she wasn’t moving. His whole body was balanced on a razor’s edge, waiting to split into ribbons if she so much as rolled her hips.

Ty buried his face in her soft hair, enjoying the minty fragrance of it. Maybe Jess didn’t know it yet, but she was meant to be his mate. Mesmers weren’t fickle. Weres mated for life. And she was his now, come hell or high water.

“I don’t suppose that table is very comfortable,” he said, his tone almost apologetic.

She pulled back, gazed at him, the sparkle diamond bright in the brilliant blue of her eyes. “A shower should fix that.”

She sauntered up the stairs ahead of him, swaying her hips, driving him out of his mind. Ty couldn’t resist grabbing her soft backside. “Thought we were going to the shower.”

“Oh, we are.”

Jess gave him a sly grin and opened her bedroom door. “Bathroom is to the right.”

He walked by her, unashamedly naked. “You’ve got quite a spectacular ass yourself,” she murmured.

Ty held out a hand to her and she slipped her fingers easily into his. A perfect fit. He turned on the water, letting the spray fill the air in her little bathroom with steam as he drew her close and kissed her skin as it grew heated and damp.

“Let’s hit the shower.”

They climbed in together and kissed, her tongue and teeth playing and dueling with his as the water beat down over them. Ty ran his fingers over the fine, shimmering beads of water that collected on the pale creamy expanse of her breast. The low, vibrating groan in her throat sounded appreciative. Not one to disappoint, he moved lower, teasing and suckling at the tip of her breast until it hardened into a rigid peak. It was only fair. Gods knew she was making him hard as stone.

“Mmm. I like that,” Jess murmured as she wrapped her arms around his neck and lifted her leg to cup his hip, the hot core of her pressing against him.

Ty chuckled. “No need to rush this. I want to take my time and really enjoy you.”

Her eyes widened, the blue getting swallowed by the darker black pupils growing larger.

Ty reached for the shampoo bottle and poured out a blob of the orange goo. “Turn.”

She did as he instructed and he massaged her hair, watching the thick white foam trail down her neck and shoulder blade to follow the seam at the middle of her back and over the sweet curve of her ass. “Lean back.” His words came out husky, far more needy than he intended. But she did as he asked, her bottom pressing up fully against his arousal as he rinsed the lather from her hair.

There was only so much temptation a man could take. Ty bent his knees, letting his erection spring forward, and brought himself up and into the soft, damp seam between her legs. He grabbed the bar of soap and slicked his hands with the stuff, then reached around the front of her and caressed the supple, smooth globes of her breasts. Jess moaned and rocked her hips, playing with the pressure he offered her.

She lifted up on her toes, drawing the length of him fully into her, the muscles tight and hot against his shaft. Ty growled and nipped at her neck and Jess leaned to the side to give him better access.

Ty pulled her into his chest, the slickness of her skin outside matching the amazing slickness of her inner heat. “My gods, you are amazing,” he growled.

Jess’s warm, rich laughter held a raspy, needy edge to it. “The water’s getting cold. How about we finish this elsewhere?”

* * *

They shut off the water and toweled each other off in between a heated exchanged of kisses, which aroused Jess all over again. She’d never had a man like Ty let her be so free and wanton, letting her try anything and everything she pleased. She flipped back the coverlet on her bed and crooked her finger at him. The mattress sank beneath his weight as he climbed over her and nudged apart her thighs with his knee. “Now, where were we?”

Jess lifted her hips, rolling them until she felt the exquisite press of his tip against her channel. “Right about here,” she rumbled, impaling herself on the silky hard length of him. She cried out, the tension escalating as he moved within her, making her skin grow taut and every cell in her body turn to glass ready to shatter. The wave crested, carrying them both far out into a state of bliss.

Ty rolled beside her, tucking her in tightly against him, his body hot and slick behind hers.

“That was...amazing,” she murmured. His fingers gently combed through the strands of her damp hair, then he kissed down her neck, his teeth grazing over her shoulder.

“I don’t know how you do it, but somehow you’re even sweeter than you were before.”

She laughed, husky and low.

Downstairs the front door slammed shut. Jess froze, turning rigid like a rabbit sensing a predator.

Shit.

One of her brothers was home.

Ty didn’t relish the idea of meeting one of Jess’s older brothers without any pants. But considering he’d left them on the floor downstairs, and he didn’t wear underwear, walking out of her bedroom with any sort of dignity was impossible.

His sensitive Were hearing picked up a string of muffled curses before heavy footsteps moved up the wooden staircase in their direction. Ty wasn’t afraid of them, but neither did he want to fight them. His emotions were already jangled up enough by the Mesmer and the outrageous sex he’d enjoyed with Jess. And he was running low on reserves of decency and humanity about now. If he got good and pissed enough, he’d have a hard time not wolfing out.

“Just how pissed off are your brothers going to be if they find me in here with you?” Ty’s philosophy was that it was better to know what to expect and be prepared than go into the situation blindly.

Her pretty face screwed into a disgruntled frown. “It’s really none of their business. I don’t go barging in on them when they bring girls home, so why should I get treated any different?”

A knock sounded on Jess’s bedroom door.

Because she was their little sister, that’s why.

* * *

Jess huffed and gripped the bedcovers in fistfuls, annoyed the boys were home early, ruining her promised evening alone.

“Hey, Jess. You okay?” Edgar. He must have finished up early at the county morgue.

“Fine,” she called out.

“Hey, I, um, brought you some takeout for dinner. You and your friend hungry?”

Jess tried not to snicker at Edgar’s use of the word friend. As a coroner he spent so much time with dead people, maybe he considered anything with a heartbeat friendly. “No, but thanks.”

“Okay. I’ll leave yours in the fridge if you want it later.”

“Thanks,” Ty called out.

Jess slapped him in the chest, waiting until her brother’s footsteps faded down the hallway. “What do you think you’re doing?” she half whispered, half muttered.

Ty gave her a wicked smile, skimming his warm hands under the sheet and around her waist, then pulling her into his chest. “Trust me, he knows I’m in here. Might as well let him know I realize he’s there, too.”

Jess rolled her eyes. “Honestly, is there ever a time you guys don’t get into some kind of pissing match over territory?”

He glanced up at the ceiling, winced a bit, then slowly shook his head, his black hair falling over his eyes making him look even more disreputable. “No. Not really.”

She gave a mock sigh. “I should have known better than to ask.”

“Speaking of asking, I don’t suppose you’ll tell me what your last name is now, and maybe give me your number?”

Jess pretended to think it over for a moment. “Well, I guess you’ve earned it.”

He looked affronted for a moment.

“My last name’s Brierly.”

Ty went oddly still, a flash of something in his eyes setting her on edge. “What? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Just not looking forward to meeting your brothers.”

Jess smothered a laugh against his shoulder. “Me, either.”

“All my clothes are still downstairs.” So are the foil packets littering the floor.

Jess glanced at her dresser. “Well, that leaves pajama bottoms or a bathrobe. Pick your poison.”

“Pajama bottoms.”

“Good pick.”

She rose from the bed, the sheet falling away to reveal her naked body. Ty caught her hand and Jess turned back. “Maybe we should make them wait.”

Jess’s gaze strayed to his growing erection. “Maybe we should get you some pants before you can’t fit into them.”

He gave her a wolfish grin. “Only if you promise to help me take them off later.” He pulled her gently toward him and wrapped his arms around her slender waist, cradling his cheek against the smooth warm skin of her belly, then started kissing her just below her navel, nuzzling the silky hair as he moved lower.

She pushed back on his head, holding it in her hands. “You’ve probably already got me in enough trouble, mister.”

“Me? If anyone’s going to get grilled, it’s going to be me, not you.”

Jess wriggled out of his hold and padded over to the dresser, her feet making a whisper of sound on the hardwood floor. She pulled open a drawer, yanked out a pair of blue-green-and-white-plaid pajama bottoms and tossed them to him. “They might be a bit snug, given, uh, your impressive proportions,” she said, glancing over her shoulder as she opened the door to her closet and pulled out a short fluffy white bathrobe with images of cuddly kittens romping all over it.

* * *

“That was door number two?” Ty asked, the sarcasm undisguised in his voice, and he pulled the plaid pajama bottoms on.

“See? Told you you made a good choice.”

She pulled on the bathrobe.

“Aren’t you going to wear anything underneath that?”

Jess quirked a brow. “Why should I? You don’t wear anything under your pants.”

True. But then imagining her naked beneath that fluffy soft bathrobe was likely to give him a hard-on that wasn’t going away any time soon. Not exactly the accessory he wanted to be wearing when he met her brothers.

“Humor me.”

She sighed and grabbed her panties from the floor and slid them up her long bare legs.

“Who was that at the door?”

“Edgar. Sinclair’s county coroner.”

“A bit of a stiff?”

Jess snorted. “Funny. You come up with that one all by yourself?”

“Who else are we going to run into?”

“Davis is a county sheriff and Paul is mayor. I doubt you’ll see either of them soon. And chances are we won’t see Riley at all.”

“Riley?”

“My little brother, who’s off playing army guy at the moment.” Jess smiled, her eyes brightening. “Do you know him?”

Ty didn’t answer. Riley. The sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach wasn’t a good sign. If Jess was Riley Brierly’s sister, he could only imagine what her other brothers were going to be like.

They headed down the stairs, the wood floor cold on their bare feet. Ty spotted his pants on the floor and his shirt flung over the sofa. Oh, yeah. Big points there with the brothers, he was sure.

The distinct clearing of a male throat stopped him from going to retrieve his jettisoned clothing. He glanced in the kitchen. It appeared Edgar wasn’t the only one home. Three men were lined up at the table, each with an open bottle of beer in front of him. All they missed were the proper weapons to look like a firing squad. One with slicked-back short dark hair had on his dark blue uniform shirt. The one in the middle had a thick head of unruly dark hair similar to his student Riley’s and sported a dark five-o’clock shadow with a pair of dark-rimmed glasses. The last one had removed his suit jacket, but still had on an immaculately tailored shirt and a red power tie that complemented his blue eyes and clean-cut hair the same hue as Jess’s.

It was like a screwy version of the Big Bad Wolf and the Three Little Pigs, only with Goldilocks thrown in.

“Hey, pipsqueak, why don’t you introduce us to your friend,” said the man in the glasses. Ty recognized the graveled quality of his voice.

He reached out a hand to the middle brother. “You must be Edgar. I’m Tyee Grayson.” Edgar gave him a good hard handshake. The man obviously worked with his hands, and to Ty’s sensitive sense of smell he reeked of formaldehyde and strong industrial cleaning solution.

Ty’s gaze flicked to the cop. “You must be Davis.” Davis eyed him, measuring him up, then took his hand. He smelled of gunpowder and paper.

Ty wanted to make sure each brother got his full, undivided attention for a moment, just so he could imprint the man on his mind and never forget his face or his scent. He turned to the best dressed of the three. “Which means you must be Paul.” Ty glanced for a moment between Paul and Jess. “I thought you said he was your older brother, but you two look a lot like twins.”

Jess’s skin colored a delightful pink. “We are. He’s just the older twin.”

Paul gave Ty a brilliant smile as he shook his hand. “And I never let her forget it.”

They all fell into an awkward silence. Wow. Wasn’t this cozy.

“Takeout’s in the fridge, Jess,” Edgar said in monotone, never taking his piercing gaze off Ty. Ty kept his expression as neutral as possible. Make a sudden move and the enemy would attack. Better to find out what their weak spots were.

Jess totally ignored them all and padded past her brothers, grabbed two plates from the cupboard, then opened the fridge and pulled out white takeout cartons. “Hey, did you guys already eat?” She was bent over at the waist, the ridiculous short robe riding up high on her smooth thighs, nearly revealing the curve of her ass. Ty was tempted to touch, but didn’t dare in front of her brothers.

This house was their territory, and he knew it.

“So, how long have you known Jess?” Paul asked as he loosened his tie.

The fridge door rattled as Jess shut it and plunked the plates down on the breakfast bar with a clatter. “You don’t have to answer that,” she told Ty smartly.

She pointed a finger at Paul. “And you promised not to cross-examine any more of my dates.”

“I was trying to be friendly,” Paul muttered under his breath and kicked back a drink of beer. Weakness one: Paul liked to go in guns blazing, and was the kind of opponent who’d smile to your face while knifing you in the back, but the most he’d do when Jess was around was bicker.

Jess picked up a fork and started shoveling out food from the takeout containers, a pile of slick tan noodles mixed with crisp vegetables and thick chunks of chicken, a stack of pale pink pork slices, and something that looked as though it had been breaded, fried and then drowned in a hideously unnaturally orange-colored sauce. One whiff told Ty it shouldn’t be edible by human standards. She pointed her fork at Davis, then Edgar. “How long Ty and I have known each other is none of your business. In fact, you all agreed the house was mine tonight, so why are you home?”

“We only agreed to stay gone until midnight,” Davis said sourly, then took a piece of chicken off her plate and popped it into his mouth. Weakness two: Davis liked to be the leader, but all that went out the window when food or women were involved. He’d probably been the closest of the five kids to their mother.

Jess slapped his hand, then glanced at the clock on the wall behind them. Twelve-thirty. Her brothers were protective and punctual. She gave a sly grin that amped up the testosterone in the room another degree. “I guess I was having too much fun to notice the time.”

Paul snorted. “I’ll bet.” Edgar elbowed him.

“You warm enough, Jess? We could turn up the heat.” Weakness three: Edgar was the linchpin in the family. He liked to make sure everyone got along, and he worried about Jess. Not just about protecting her from unsavory characters, but whether she ate or not, if she was warm enough. If she had brought a stranger home with her.

“I’m fine,” she said as she took a bite. “Mmm,” she hummed as she chewed and swallowed. “Thanks for the late-night snack, Ed. You know the Oriental Buffet is my favorite.”

Edgar’s eyes were soft as he looked at his little sister.

Davis leaned forward, resting his forearms on the counter, cradling the brown beer bottle in one hand and staring pointedly at Ty. “I didn’t see your car parked outside. You do have a car, don’t you?”

Most likely he wanted to run the plates, Ty thought. “Jess wanted to drive.”

“I can take you back to get your car,” he offered. Yeah, likely locked in the back of his patrol car.

“Who said he was ready to leave yet?” Jess said as she glared at her eldest brother.

Davis shrugged. “It’s late.”

“Pfft. If you’re so tired, old man, why don’t you go to bed,” she gibed.

Ty’s chest ached. Watching them interact made him acutely aware of how he missed his pack. The gaping hole in his life seemed to yawn even wider, an impossible breach to cross. But Jess was his key to the future, if she’d agree.

The front door opened with a creak and everyone in the kitchen looked through the doorway to see who’d come in. Riley Brierly strutted in, his clothing rumpled and reeking of beer and cigarettes.

He was all smiles until he saw Ty, then his expression sobered quickly. “Hey, Commander. What are you doing here?”

The four elder Brierlys all turned their gazes to Ty.

“You know him?” Davis asked, jerking his thumb in Ty’s direction.

“You know him?” Jess said, shoving Ty’s arm and pointing at Riley.

“Yes,” both Riley and Ty said in unison.

“It’s supposed to be classified, but Riley is in my current training unit.”

Edgar kept glancing at Ty with suspicion. Apparently dating his little sister was bad enough, but endangering his youngest brother was an even greater sin.

Paul looked relieved and grinned. “You’re that guy with the outdoor survival outfit that started up a few months ago.”

Ty gave him a stiff nod.

“That’s brought a hefty amount of extra business into the local economy,” he said, glancing at his brothers.

The tension in the room seemed to ease slightly. At least the odds were evening up, three Brierlys in his favor against two.

“Are you wearing my sister’s pajamas?” Riley said, his voice squeaking slightly before he burst into laughter that doubled him.

Ty knew a cue to exit when he heard one.