Boarlander Silverback (Boarlander Bears #3)(11)

“Where is Marcus now?”

“Dead. The good dragon won.”

“The good dragon,” she murmured.

“Yes, Ally.” Kirk shot her a glance, then dragged his eyes back to the gravel road disappearing under his tires. “Damon is good. He sacrificed a lot through the centuries to keep the world safe. More than anyone will ever know. The government fears him, but without him, none of us would be here. And I don’t just mean shifters. I mean none of us.”





Chapter Six


Alison had about a billion things to think about now. Everything Brackeen had constantly ranted about the past two weeks was wrong. It was feelings of anger and fear he’d adopted from outside sources, not an actual personal opinion garnered from time spent with the shifters.

Kirk pulled to a stop in front of her small cabin and put the car in park. “You asked me a question earlier, and I got angry and retaliated by saying things that weren’t true.”

“About wanting a hundred mates?”

His lips curved into a slow smile. “Yeah. That’s not how I feel. I used to want a family group. I wanted to be responsible for the protection of any females I was worthy enough to have placed in my group. But then my friend Kong picked a single mate, and something clicked with me. I started wanted that instead.” He ducked his gaze to the steering wheel, and his hair fell in front of his face. “I want that. My animal wants it, too.”

Her heart was pounding fast. Wearing a slight frown, he cast her chest a glance as if he could hear it. Hell, maybe he could.

“Look, I get it. This is a lot and it’s fast, and just forget it. This ain’t a come-on. It’s just me feeling bad for a lie and coming clean. I’ll see you around, Alison.”

She grimaced at the use of her full name, but okay. He was distancing her again. She didn’t like it, but she understood. She did the same thing all the time. Hot and cold was her specialty, and apparently she and Kirk had been formed from the same misshapen mold.

She got out and shut the door. “Hold on,” she rushed out before he drove away. Ally gripped the open window frame and leaned down. “Damon said I can only go onto his land if you escort me.”

Kirk narrowed his eyes and gripped the stick shift. “Hmm.”

“I told him you have better things to do, but that was the rule he laid down, and I don’t want to be dragon food.”

“I work all day up on the jobsite. I’m a logger, so it’s pretty much from dawn to dusk most days, especially with the season ending in a couple weeks. We’re slammed right now. I got today off as a favor from Harrison. Here, give me your phone.” He held out his large, calloused hand. Long fingers, and damn he could probably make her feel like magic with them. “Ally?”

“What?” she rushed out, busted. “Oh, right. My phone.” As she was fumbling it out of her back pocket, she dropped it on the gravel. With a muttered curse, she picked it up and shoved it through the window. And now Kirk had an obnoxiously wicked grin on his face.

Kirk’s nostrils flared slightly. “You smell like you want to fool around with me.”

“You stop right now. You shouldn’t talk to me like that.”

“Why not?”

“Because…” Well, why the hell not? There hadn’t been any rules stated that she couldn’t talk dirty with one of the shifters. She wasn’t undercover anymore and could spend time with whoever she wanted as long as they didn’t interfere with the job.

“Ally, I would break you. My appetite is too big for a woman like you.”

She made an offended snort. “Like me? What the hell does that mean?”

“I mean you don’t want anything to do with a big rutting gorilla shifter. I’m not gentle, and you need that. We might get along fine, but you and I wouldn’t be compatible in the bedroom.”

“And you just know this? Not like I’m arguing for you to sleep with me, but I’m a little irritated you’re being the judgmental one now. I’m stronger than I look.”

“Yeah? And when I lose control and bite you? When I lose my mind mid-f*ck and give you a claiming mark that is illegal now, what will you do? Your job? Will you arrest me or keep my mark a secret? I want you bad, Ally. It don’t mean I can have you, though.”

Kirk tapped a number and saved it her phone, then shoved it toward her. “Show me where your tattoo ends.”

Surprised, Ally laughed and stood back. “No one sees that part of me.”

Kirk lifted his chin, his eyes dancing. He rested his wrist over his steering wheel, a picture of confident, cocky male. “I’ve banged zero girls in the back of my ride and zero girls against the hood. You were wrong. Now it’s your turn to share. Let me see.”

Ally’s cheeks heated, and she looked around to see if Brackeen’s cruiser was parked in front of his cabin. Nope. No one here but her and Kirk, the sexy, pervy gorilla shifter. She hadn’t gotten the tattoos for sex appeal, but Kirk didn’t seem to care about that. He liked them. Liked her.

Feeling reckless, she turned and lifted the back of her shirt an inch, exposing just a sliver of ink. It didn’t tell him where they ended, but it told him they hadn’t ended at her arm.

Behind her, Kirk murmured, “Fuuuck, that’s sexy.”