Etienne (The Shifters of Shotgun Row Book 1) Page 7

  “What’s wrong?” I asked. The smell of anger tinged with a little fear hung in the air around us.

  “What’s the deal with bears around here?”

  “What do you mean?” A knowing rush of blood sprang to my face and caused my heart to beat overtime.

  “Everyone keeps hinting about bears and beasts or some crud. It’s weird. Are there a lot of bears around here or something?”

  “Yeah. More than you would think. Who has been talking to you about bears?”

  Without warning, that look of spacing out came over her face again. “Um, just people. I can’t remember their names.”

  I took enough steps toward her to close the distance. She was almost shaking. I felt the apprehension all around her. “If you have questions about bears or anything else that goes bump in the night, you come see me. Understood?”

  I hadn’t meant to be so firm, but if anyone was going to tell Tansy about shifters it sure as fuck wasn’t going to be that overgrown honey-eating mu-fucker. It would be me.

  “I-I will,” she stuttered before squaring off her shoulders and starting to walk again. In silence, we reached her home. She let us in, and I watched as she fed the bugs to the little shit lizard one by one, like he was a baby bird.

  “You like him?” I asked.

  “He’s good when he actually stays in his cage.”

  I moved closer to her. “So, you only like beasts when they stay in their cages?”

  “No.” Her heart thrummed over every other noise in the room, making mine keep time with hers. “Just this one. I have a feeling you can be a beast when you want to, though.”

  No. Fucking. Clue.

  “I can. But only when I want to. Only when I need to.”

  The sound of her swallowing made my stomach tighten. She was nervous around me, but nervousness wasn’t what permeated her smell. It was desire, pure and passionate.

  I couldn’t help what happened next.

  And Tansy didn’t want me to.

  Before I could be a gentleman, my animal instincts took over, and I grabbed the back of her thighs and shoved her against the nearest wall. Her thick legs wrapped around my waist while her hips rocked, begging for something I wasn’t ready to give—yet. My mouth covered hers, hot and furious, starving for everything she was willing to give me in that moment. She didn’t hesitate—didn’t shut me out for a second. Her lips were pliant and willing as we allowed the passion to take over.

  She was one hell of a kisser, but I needed to give her something that would make ole Bruno keep his distance.

  Far. The. Fuck. Away.

  I made sure my hands covered every inch of skin revealed when her dress rose, and I made sure my lips covered every part of her neck from her earlobes to her collarbones, wishing like hell I could go further. My scent should be on her enough for the big bear to get the message. She was mine.

  But Tansy had to know who and what I was before this could go any further.

  Tansy

  “The bear is watching you,” the ghost slurred.

  My body froze. One little sentence effectively sucked all of the yummy goodness from the kiss and left me stiff as a board.

  “Too much?” Etienne pulled back slightly while attempting to let me down, something I was far from ready for. I squeezed my legs tight, my arms not loosening.

  “No,” I reassured, kissing him quickly on the cheek as I tried to be all stealth, looking for either the ghost or the bear, oh so grateful the man who was holding me was packing more than the pressure I was feeling pressed against my belly.

  “Then what is it?” he asked, tilting my chin so my eyes were focused back on his. I was messing all things up in a ginormous way. Arggggg.

  “I think I heard a bear.” I heard mention of a bear, and there probably was a bear, so the lie slipped out easily.

  “Tell me the truth, Tansy.”

  Easily, but without effectiveness, it would seem.

  “There’s no one here but you and me, and I can taste your lie. If you don’t tell me what went wrong, it will be bound to happen again.”

  Stinks. I thought it was about him, the kiss. The amazingly perfect, toe-curling, I-want-to-do-it-again-and-again kiss. My head fell back and would’ve hit the wall behind us if not for Etienne’s hand magically appearing behind it. Tough, strong, crass, gentle, smexy man. He was so many things, and I repaid him with what? A lie.

  “Fine. I didn’t hear a bear, but a bear is watching us.” Or was. Why had the ghost drifted away so quickly when I actually needed him?

  “And how would you know this?” He believed me, his words not questioning my truth, but information seeking. He knew something, but could I let him know everything? It’d be easy enough to say I just did, and mosey on my way. Not easy, per se, but I could do it and without lying again. A part of me wanted to, to have more than the dead folks I see and talk to knowing I can do exactly that. Pushing gently on his shoulders, I indicated I needed down, and as I eased to the ground, I grabbed his hand, needing him to know it wasn’t a rejection. That this was somehow more important.

  “I sometimes know things,” I confessed, holding his gaze the entire time.

  “You are precognizant?”

  “Not exactly. More like I hear things.” I was doing it wrong. I knew this, my head anyway, but my heart feared his rejection and blurting out, I see and have convos with dead folk seemed like it would lend itself to exactly that. Rejection. Or a referral to a doctor.

  “But you didn’t hear the bear,” he clarified as his hand cupped my cheek. I automatically leaned into his touch, receiving strength and the confidence to spit it all out. Powerful man. Smexy man.

  “No. But I heard the ghost of someone who knows they are there.”

  His hand dropped and, for a split second, I thought all my fears had been realized.

  Then he did something I will hold onto for the rest of my days. He wrapped his arm around me, pulling me in, accepting me completely. Sure, he probably thought he was just being affectionate or what have ya, but that moment was so much more. It was everything.

  “Let’s go. We can talk somewhere less public.” His lips brushed the top of my head as he waited for me to decide, as if no was an option.

  “You believe me.” It wasn’t a question. His acceptance was undeniable. He believed me and was somehow not put off or even shocked by it.

  “You’re not lying.”

  “No, I’m not.” We just stood there awkwardly before it clicked he was waiting for my response. “Okay let’s go, but not the bakery.”

  “Shit, Marie is still there. That explains a shit ton.”

  We walked silently through town, to Meemaw’s cottage. One day I hoped to go see his place, but, for this, walking distance won. The entire walk I had felt fear of the bear. That might’ve changed if I saw the blasted thing, but probably not much. I thought back to that day with the gator. If anyone other than Etienne had been there, the result would’ve most likely been soiled britches, but with him, Etienne, I knew I was safe.

  As we made our way into my place, my nerves started to kick in. Not about the ghost stuff, not really. He seemed to be less concerned about that than my best-case-scenario Etienne would be. I was nervous about the boy girl gobbledygook. Holy cowzers. I’d made out with him, in public, his desire for me unhidden from the entire town, not that anyone had been out there, but they could’ve, and I hadn’t cared one blessed bit. So now that we were here, were there expectations? No. He wasn’t like that. But, oddly, I kind of was, and all of that hormonal garbage had me jumping into Meemaw mode.

  “Tea? Coffee?” Because when you have a guest over, you offer them a hot beverage, not your body. She didn’t say the last part in her set of rules, but it felt needed in that moment.

  “You just told me you talk to dead folk and you are offering tea?”

  I was all thinking roaming hands and bitey kisses, and there was Etienne thinking about the ghosts, like any other human being on the planet would.
Get a grip, Tansy.

  “Beer?” I teased. Whiskey was probably better for ghost convos, but beer it was, given I had no whiskey.

  “Now that’s more like it.” He winked, and my nerves fell away as if they’d never been there.

  Opening the fridge, I grabbed what I thought was the last remaining beer from the back, only to come out with a handful of steak sauce.

  “I don’t have beer.” I held it out, giving him the proof or the promise of steak, I wasn’t sure which. My cheeks burned.

  “Coffee it is.”

  He plopped onto the couch as I put the percolator on and joined him, sitting practically on his lap, which was pretty much where I wanted to be, but, yeah, there were ghosts to discuss. Not that he seemed too concerned.

  “Why does this not seem to be freckin’ you the heck out?”

  “’Cause I’ve seen crazier than ghosts. And shit.” His eyes widened as if he’d just figured out the solution to a mystery. “This means you weren’t ignoring me but having multiple people come at you at once.”

  The man paid closer attention to me than I’d realized. Why did that feel so good?

  “You caught that.”

  “I was payin’ attention.” He wrapped his arm around me, pulling me onto his lap, my legs across his thighs, his arm, my backrest. Just where I wanted to be.

  “I like it when you pay attention.” More like loved it, but there was no way that was coming outta my mouth even if I’d just told him something far more embarrassing or at least potentially so.

  “I tried not to.” Then he took my lips in a quick hard kiss. That was more like it. “I sucked at it.”

  He sucked at nothing, but that was probably the drunkenness I felt from his kiss talking. For all I knew, there was something he sucked at. Like maybe matching socks or something equally dumb.

  “So, who do you see? Your grandma, the one telling you about the bear, anyone else?”

  “Star’s twin lives at the pet store. It’s how I ended up with Curtis in the first place. She told me to.” Oddest reason ever for getting a pet, but the little bugger was growin’ on me.

  “She’s been gone a long time.” It made sense he’d know her, but the sadness in his eyes reminded me just how small this old town was. “Never found her body, but Star knew she was gone.”

  I had a feeling Star knew a lot of things, her cards feeling too gimmicky for her, possibly a means to hide true talent. Maybe she’d open up to me once she found out about her sister because that wasn’t something I was going to be able to hide for long.

  “I’m hoping to help her.” I placed my hand on his cheek, loving the warmth of it mixed with the roughness of his whiskers. “Gettin’ her alone is the issue.”

  He gave a slight nod and a too-long blink. Time to move past the dead girl. He didn’t need to be on that trip down memory lane. He didn’t appear much older than Star, making the loss one from his childhood. My heart hurt for him, for all of them. Maybe finding her body was my part in it all. Giving them closure, but now was not the time to perseverate on that.

  “Anywho, let’s get back to that bear thing because the ghost keeps talkin’ bears and, not gonna lie, they freak me out.” They so very much did.

  “More than gators?” He smirked.

  “Yeah. I feel like on land, I have an edge up on gators, and with bears, I never do.” I knew they could run or what have ya, but I was so not going there now. Because—just nope.

  “You’ve thought about this, I see.”

  “Glad to amuse you, Mr. Already Has A Gun.”

  “You think a gun will stop a gator?”

  “Slow ’em down at least?” I shrugged, curling up in his arms because in for a penny...

  “Or piss them off. Same with a bear.”

  And that was exactly what I didn’t want to hear. Ghosts I could deal with, animals trying to eat me. Yeah...not so much.

  “Stay in house. Check.” And get a huge gun, but I was leaving that off the table for the moment because arguing over it wasn’t going to lead to more kissing, and I wanted more kissing and a better angle on his lap. I mean, I got it, his gun holster was the reason I was at the angle I was, but I just wanted to be plastered against him because my hormones were all about the plan to forget giving up on men.

  “You gotta do something about that bear. I mean, as a cop and all.”

  “That bear’s not the kind of problem you think he is.” His body tensed, his eyes fell just above mine but not quite meeting them.

  “Explain.” I had a feeling this wasn’t going to be a conversation that led to kisses.

  Etienne

  “As much as I love this position, and I really love this position, I can’t think with you so close to me.” I gave her hips a squeeze for effect. There were buttons on the front of her dress. I would bet anything she would be the most glorious sight if I simply reached forward and popped her dress open, revealing everything beneath it.

  Tansy’s hips kept doing those little bucking movements. I didn’t even think she knew she was doing it. It was a natural reaction to me.

  Which I loved.

  And it had my gator fucking reeling.

  He wanted her. He wanted to make her a nest and stand guard outside it, clamping his teeth down on anyone and anything that tried to get near her.

  Thank the Creator he wasn’t in charge.

  “Why don’t you sit next to me? This might be a little—jarring.”

  “Now you’re scaring me,” she said as she shifted next to me, her leg barely brushing mine.

  “There is nothing for you to be scared of, Tansy. No one will touch you. You’re...you’re safe.”

  You’re mine.

  “You know, I believe you. Tell me about these bears.”

  “Ever heard of the rougarou? Werewolves? Shifters?”

  Her brow furrowed for a second. “American Werewolf in London stuff? Sure. Everyone has.”

  “You believe those things are real?”

  A shrug was my answer.

  “There are creatures in the swamp that can turn from human into animal. Especially around here. These swamps are pretty secluded.”

  I expected her to at least have a small reaction. But she didn’t. Slow and steady.

  “And you’ve seen these bear-men?”

  “Bear-men? They prefer the term bear shifter.”

  She opened and closed her mouth several times but didn’t ask any further questions. I thought I was in the clear until she laced her fingers through mine and gave my hand a tug.

  “Is someone I know a shifter?”

  My ears buzzed, and the air grew thicker around me—choking me. I’d known one day I would have to tell her.

  I just didn’t expect it to be this day.

  “Yes,” I answered quickly like a coward.

  “How can I tell if someone is one of these bears? Wait, are any other animals shifters?”

  I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand. I couldn’t remember the last time anything in my life had made me break out in a sweat.

  I had to tell her. Especially if she really was my mate. There were so many things to explain.

  Plus, I had to give her a good chance to run away while she could. Tell me to go to Hell. Something.

  My phone rang, and we both jumped at the sound.

  “What in the ever-loving fuck do you want?” I growled into the phone.

  I didn’t even know who it was.

  Tansy

  If I could throw his flippin’ phone across the room when it rang, I would’ve. He was just about to tell me he was a bear. A furry, teeth-chomping bear, and what happened? The stupid phone.

  I’d known there was something off about him, different. Not bad, per se, in fact, all kinds of yummy goodness. That said, I was so not ready for our conversation to be interrupted.

  As curses spewed from his mouth, and he slipped into some kind of wanna-be French, I knew that was what had effectively happened. Our conversation was over, and before
I knew it, I stood in the doorway watching him storm outta there like he was being chased by a clown—or at least what I would look like if a clown were on my tail.

  He had managed to sputter an apology before kissing me soundly and stomping away, so at least there was that. But it had happened so quickly, I almost wondered if I had imagined it as I stood there staring.

  I missed him before he was out of sight, which was insane, given he’d almost confessed to me his true nature, something I was sure he would’ve done had his blasted phone not come between us. To be fair, he was a cop, and they had emergencies. It wasn’t like he was a landscaper with an emergency pond to install. Whatever it was had to be important or the cussing decibels wouldn’t have reached such intensity.

  A bear. He was a bear. It made sense. He kissed in a raw animalistic way that never failed to steal my breath. Meemaw had said more than once he was one of the good ones, and she never trusted anyone without some gift, as if that was a barometer of goodness. and most importantly, my gut said he was more than just a man. Bear wasn’t my first thought when I saw him, his body less bulky and far more built than I expected a bear to be, but what the hey did I know. Only a half hour earlier, I hadn’t expected to learn there were bear-men at all.

  After a half hour of pacing, I gave up on him returning in the near future and headed to the one place I could let out all my frustrations, the bakery. The bakery was good and closed by now, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t work off some energy, beating some dough into submission. If I was lucky, I might be able to get in a few words with Meemaw. About time she stopped hiding things from me and treated me as a grown woman.

  I made my way in record time, still uncomfortable about the whole bear-watching-me thing. I’d thought about it far too much along the way, and try as I might, I couldn’t believe the bear the ghost was talking about was Etienne. True, he was watching me, but more in the way a man watched a woman than anything sinister. Also, there was no way I’d have missed him watching me, given I was actively sucking his face with vigor.

  I was on autopilot once I hit my kitchen, my safe haven, the place more like my home than my actual home.