That was the coolest thing anyone had ever done for her, but she was also hella embarrassed that he’d had to come to her rescue at all. Stupid boobs. It had been so dang hot on that plane, but she should’ve left her hoodie on for modesty’s sake.
Well, so far, the vacation away from the shit-storm of her life was going swimmingly. Katy rolled her eyes heavenward and shook water droplets off her hands. Why couldn’t she just be normal like everyone else, not such an awkward mess?
Dejected, she made her way out of the bathroom and followed the signs for baggage claim. On purpose, she didn’t turn her phone back on because she knew what she would find. Texts from Dayton begging her to come back. And honestly, she wasn’t very strong right now. She needed to just let her phone sit in her purse this week.
That would be the hard part, though, to be strong enough to ignore that addiction, especially in the late hours of the night. Her curiosity was dangerous for her. What was he saying? What attention was he throwing her way? Was he changing for her?
Katy squeezed her eyes closed and shook her head. And then ran into carousel nine with her shins.
“Mother…fun is my middle name,” she griped, rubbing her stinging leg. “Well, that’s going to leave a bruise.”
She turned and almost ran smack dab into the iron chest of the hot shifter. With a hideous screech, she errrrked to a stop and looked up into his somber face. The corner of his lip twitched, but she wouldn’t call it a smile.
“Hello,” she said.
He didn’t say anything, just blinked slowly with those bright gold eyes.
The buzzer of the baggage claim startled her, and she jumped like a frightened frog. Her boobs jiggled, but no worries. She had them safe and soundly covered up under the monstrous hoodie she’d snatched in her hurry to leave her apartment this morning.
The man gestured to her chest. Oh, great, here it came.
“Anytime is Wine Time,” he read the logo out loud.
“It’s not my favorite and it’s too big and my friend bought it for me as a joke. It was laundry day,” she squeaked out.
The corner of his lip twitched again. And then he moved right past her, close enough that she accidentally sniffed his collar as he pulled a suitcase off the carousel. Her suitcase.
“Have a good night,” he muttered, settling the threadbare thing beside her.
“How…how did you know that was mine?”
“It’s the same hideous color as your carry-on,” he said over his shoulder as he walked away, dragging a plain black suitcase behind him.
“Oh.” A detective shifter. Nice. “Well,” she called, remembering her manners, “thank you for covering up my boobs!”
Everyone around her stopped and stared except for her hero, who strode directly out a side exit without looking back.
“Nicely done,” the blond lady from the bathroom said through a smirk.
“Shoot me,” Katy muttered as she struggled the suitcase and carry-on luggage behind her toward the car rental counters.
She was pretty sure she’d never blushed so much in a span of ten minutes in her entire life.
Chapter Three
I landed safe, Kannon texted his sister. He’d just spent the week with her and her mate Jaxon. The smartest thing Kristina ever did was run away with Jaxon in the middle of the night as soon as the council was killed. Kannon had given her all of his savings to start a new life, and his sister had thrived. Thank God. He watched the females who had just come over from the Old Tarian Pride, and his heart felt so bleak for them. They’d been treated horribly, and there was a chance that they would never be okay. Kristina though…she was happy and expecting her first cub. And Jaxon seemed completely at ease in the higher ranks of their Bloodwar Pride. Kristina might have been born a Tarian lioness, but she was settling just fine into her new Pride.
Him on the other hand…
I landed safe, he texted his Pride mate, Gray.
Cool, came the immediate response. Hurry home, Terrence keeps asking for a fight. It was boring without you here bleeding everywhere.
Kannon frowned. He, on the other hand, had never felt more out of tune with his Pride.
Glad my pain can bring you all joy. Send.
Me too. And don’t be a pussy. You like fighting just as much as Terrence does.
With a sigh that turned into a growl, Kannon sat on the bench in front of the passenger pick-up zone. Who is coming to pick me up? Send.
Yo momma.
Har har, his momma was long gone, and he was pretty freaking tired of “yo momma” jokes. Wait, but really, who is picking me up? Send.
No one, you fuckin’ diva. Can you pick up a twelve pack on your way in? And a bottle of whiskey? And potato chips and powdered donuts and maybe some of that liquid cheese for nachos? I’m thinking of making a nacho fountain for dinner. One of the queens we stole from Cassius is hot. Cheese fountains make de panties fall off.
Dick. This was why Gray would be forever single. Nachos didn’t get girls into bed. Probably. Wait, did they? God, maybe he needed to make nacho fountains for girls. Kannon opened the Uber app on his phone and shook his head at himself. He wasn’t taking dating tips from the Pride idiot.
It was dark out, and he frowned up at the street light with a million little bugs dive-bombing around it. Bugs had it easy. Just fly around aimlessly, eat and fuck. That was the life.
A bat swooped in and grabbed, like, three of them.
Kannon scrunched up his face. Never mind. He didn’t want to be a bug anymore. Being a predator shifter at the top of the food chain did have its perks, he supposed.
Inside of him, the lion purred his agreeance.
No drivers were nearby. Not surprising. This was small town, and it was late. Okay, he would just wait half an hour and try the app again. It was a long-ass walk to Tarian Pride territory, and he had luggage.
Frustrated, tired, and hungry, Kannon pulled a grey beanie from his backpack and pulled it over his head, low enough that it covered his eyes. A little cat-nap would have him feeling better.
Eeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrk!
The sound of screeching tires and the scent of rubber on asphalt assailed his senses.
Kannon pushed his beanie up just high enough to look out with one eye.
A minivan rocked to a stop in the circular pick-up zone directly in front of him. The passenger side window rolled down with a high-pitched buzzing, exposing the girl with the epic cleavage from the plane.
She was wearing sunglasses, at night, that she pulled down the bridge of her nose just far enough to bat some pretty ice-blue bedroom eyes at him.
“Get in, loser, there’s fuckery to be done,” she said. She laughed with a snort and pulled off her sunglasses. “I saw that on a meme once, and I always wanted to say it.”
Kannon was the king of straight faces. It was something he prided himself on, but this girl was somethin’ else. He chuckled and pushed his beanie back off his eyes completely. “A minivan?”
“It’s all the rental place had,” she murmured, lovingly stroking her hand over the steering wheel. “I’ve named her Bertha.”
“Oh, God, okay, what do you want?”
“To repay you for the use of your jacket.”
Kannon cocked an eyebrow.
“With a ride,” she continued. “To your destination. Wherever that may be. So long as you swear not to turn into a lion and kill me. I’ve never met a shifter before. You make me nervous. I’m rambling. What’s your name? My name’s Katy. My dad used to call me Katydid. Like the bug? It was cute when I was a kid. Now, when he calls me that, it’s kind of weird to be a grown woman being called a bug. He thinks it’s still cute, though, so I allow it. Want to get in my minivan? I swear I won’t kidnap you. I’m too scared to kidnap you. On account of you being a lion and all. Your eyes are scary looking. I have 911 on speed dial, and I’m very good with a phone, so no weird stuff from you, okay? You might be a psychopath. My dad always told me not to get in the car with strangers, but it doesn’t count if I’m the one inviting a stranger into my car, right? I’m still rambling. Stopping in three…two…” She zipped her lips and gave him a bright, closed-mouth smile.
“Are you done?” he asked.
She murmured something unintelligible behind her imaginary zipper. Kannon bit back a smile. She was super weird. He liked it.
He stared off at the dark main road and cracked his knuckles. Well, he didn’t have a ton of options. Having a human up in Tarian Pride land wouldn’t work, though. Too many monsters, and there was a strict no-humans-allowed rule. It had been like that for generations. At least that’s the way it had been in the Old Tarian Pride. They hadn’t really revised many of the rules since the war. She would have to drop him off up the road, but he could walk the rest of the way in.
“It’s half an hour away,” he warned her.
Katy unzipped her lips. “I’m a night owl, and I’ve got no plans until tomorrow. My hotel will let me check in any time I want.” Zip.
Kannon stood and wheeled his luggage to the van. The side door was opening on its own, and Katy was sitting up front wearing a smug smile as she pressed a door button.
He snorted. She looked like she thought she was sooo cool. And really, she was. He found a good sense of humor super-hot. Not that he would ever admit it. To a human. Humans couldn’t handle Pride life. Or him. He had needs, and humans were fragile.
He settled the suitcase in the seat right on top of hers.
“Oh, I like it when the man is on top,” she murmured. But then her eyes got wide and her cheeks turned an instant crimson. She stammered, “Oh…oh, my gosh… I-I-I don’t know why I just said that. Some things I should just keep tucked in my head. Please forget that I said that. I’m not a pervert. I—I’m going to close the door now. In a non-perverted way.” She stared at him with a mortified expression as she held her finger on the door-close button. It closed slowly, and she just kept staring at him.
Kannon was doing his best to bite back his smile so he wouldn’t embarrass her more, but good God, she was about as smooth as a sea urchin.