Working with Liam stretched out on her office couch unnerved Kim, especially when he spent the whole time watching her. He didn’t demand her attention or interrupt; he just…watched.
He reminded Kim of lions on the African veldt, sitting under the shade of whatever those trees were, watching herds of gazelles. Maybe the lions wouldn’t be hungry right then, but they’d watch. Heads up, ears pricked, alert. Still. Waiting.
By five-thirty, the gazelle in her was ready to go home.
Kim didn’t bother trying to go to her own house. She drove with Liam straight back to Shiftertown, feeling a strange kind of relief to do so.
When Kim and Liam arrived at the Morrissey house, Sean had a big charcoal-burning barbeque going in the backyard, and beer and ice overflowed from several coolers. A dozen Shifters lounged on the porch and through the yard, talking to Sean and Dylan. Connor kicked a soccer ball around with a few other young men his age, while two teenaged females stood back and assessed them.
Kim’s journalist friend Silas pulled up shortly after. He was tall and very thin, with a prominent Adam’s apple.
“What is this party for?” Silas asked when Kim presented him to Liam. Kim had warned Silas that only Liam knew what he was really doing there, and he promised to be discreet.
“It’s a blessing under the moon, that it is,” Liam answered him. He flashed his teeth in a grin. “It’s after being a very interestin’ ritual.”
Kim rolled her eyes at the exaggerated Irish-isms, but at least he’d quit saying, “Top o’ the morning.”
“You sound like a cartoon leprechaun,” she said to him, after they’d introduced Silas around and left him talking animatedly to Annie from the bar.
“Whist, it’s my feelings you’ll be hurting.”
“Shut it, Liam.”
His brows shot up, and he laughed. “You’re learning, darling.” His laughter was warm, reminding her of him loving her all night, and even now he gave her a look of undisguised hunger. “I haven’t touched you in too long.”
Pleasant shivers ran through her. She agreed. It had been too long since any intimate touching. Hours.
“I’m already wishing the ritual over and everyone gone home,” Liam said in her ear.
“We should probably eat first. Be social.”
“Aye.” Liam slid his hands to her backside and scooped her against him for a kiss. “But I hope this doesn’t take all night.”
They strolled back to the barbeque as more Shifters joined the throng. Everyone Kim had met in Shiftertown was there—the wolf Ellison, Glory, Annie, Sandra, the women on the porches she’d passed the first day, little Michael who’d been proud of his plastic pool.
Kim stiffened when she saw Fergus’s two thugs—the shaved-headed, tattooed guy and military guy with sunglasses. But Sean handed them plates of charred burger with buns, unsurprised.
“They aren’t going to fight anyone, are they?” Kim asked as she took her burger from Sean. The two men had moved off to eat, and she noted the other Shifters gave them a wide berth. “Or bring out a cat-o’-nine-tails and start whaling on people?”
“They’re here to observe the ritual,” Sean told her. “Stand-ins for Fergus. And they’ll be on their best behavior.”
“I could have put Silas off if I’d known they’d be here.”
Liam shook his head. “They won’t disrupt the ritual. Fergus wants this mating done, and he wants to make sure Dad relinquishes power tomorrow.”
Kim nodded glumly. She hadn’t yet found a law that Fergus was bending by asking Dylan to vacate his post, but she would. She’d leave no stone unturned.
She chewed the burger Sean handed her, which was very good, especially with the gooey cheese melted on it. Her diet had gone to hell, but she couldn’t bring herself to care.
Ellison came out of the crowd in his big black Stetson and cowboy boots. He high-fived Liam, and then the two men shared a tight bear hug.
“Kim!” Ellison boomed, his arms opened wide, and before Kim could duck away, Ellison swept off his hat and spun her off her feet. Liam rescued Kim’s plate of half-eaten burger as Ellison swung Kim around. “Congratulations, woman.” Ellison set Kim down and gave her abdomen a gentle pat. “When’s it due?”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
Ellison looked shocked. “Liam, haven’t you touched her yet? What’s the matter with you? You’re already sun-blessed. Are you waiting for Christmas?”
“We’ve done it, trust me.” Liam handed Kim back her meal. “It will be soon.”
Kim’s face went hot. “Not that it’s any of your business.”
“Not my business? Hon, it’s every Shifter’s business whether a Shifter male can do the job. We have to be good at making babies, so we practice a lot.” He balled his fists and thrust his hips in a parody of sex.
“Ignore him, Kim. Lupines are disgusting.”
“Thank you,” Glory said. She stepped past Ellison, tall and sleek in skin-tight black pants and silk top, every blonde hair in place. “Fucking Felines.”
“Gobshite Lupines,” Liam said cheerfully.
Dylan approached. “Kim.”
Kim watched him in trepidation, but Dylan folded his arms around her and squeezed her in a very tight hug. She sensed something different in his hug than she had in the others’. Not happy exuberance—relief. Dylan held her close, and she smelled the damp cotton of his shirt and his shaving soap. But Dylan’s hold wasn’t in any way sexual. He held her as he’d cradle a child, as he might soothe Connor.
Dylan held Kim a long time, and his eyes were wet when he pulled away. He wiped them, unashamed, then turned and wrapped his arms around Liam.
Father and son stood still in the embrace, while Kim took her burger back from Ellison. To stem the tears that insisted on filling her eyes, she reflected that she needed to eat fast, before more people wanted to greet her with hugs.
Kim noticed that Glory didn’t try to hug her—the woman sauntered away to get food with Dylan when Dylan finally released Liam. Kim wondered whether Glory was showing her disapproval for Liam taking a human mate, or whether the woman didn’t feel like she was close enough to the family to join the hug-fest. Glory and Dylan might be hard at it, but sex did not necessarily mean intimacy, Kim knew from experience. The woman was a puzzle.
It took a while for the summer night to darken, but Liam and Dylan seemed in no hurry. Liam introduced Kim to all present, holding her hand or with his arm around her waist as they strolled from group to group. Kim met Lupines and other Felines, and bears.