Boarlander Silverback (Boarlander Bears Book 3) (16 page)

Kirk lifted his chin, then slowly backed off Kong. And when Kong stood, he didn’t charge again like Alison feared. Instead, he tilted his head, exposing his neck to Kirk.

“It’s done. It’s done,” she chanted to Layla in a shaking voice.

Kirk gave a slow, bored blink like he hadn’t just been in a bloody battle, then strode with slow, deliberate steps toward her. Alison froze when he lifted the back of his smooth knuckle to her cheek. His face morphed to a frown as he stared at the drop of moisture there. Afraid she would lose it in front of everyone, Alison grabbed his hand, kissed his knuckles.

And suddenly, Judge was announcing Kirk as the winner, and Bash was lifting Alison over the rail like she weighed nothing at all. Dragging a steadying breath into her lungs, Alison walked beside Kirk as he left the ring, and they were followed closely by Kong and Layla as the crowd went wild and surged toward them.

Everything came in flashes after that.

The fur on Kirk’s shoulder was matted and dripping.

The Ashe Crew and Gray Backs were trying to keep the crowds at bay.

So much yelling.

Cell phone cameras everywhere.

Audrey told her, “Everything is fine.” Was everything fine? She’d never seen a shifter battle on television or the Internet. Especially not while they were in animal form. Alison felt numb.

She stumbled beside Kirk, and he gripped her arm in his massive hand, his eyes concerned. He was worried about her tripping over her own shoes? He’d just gone to war with King Fuckin’ Kong.

Judge handed her money. He was so happy. Alison stared dumbly down at the wad of cash in her palm. “I don’t want this.”

“It’s for Kirk. He earned it.”

“Back off, Judge.” Clinton was there, bloody and bruised. One of his eyes was swollen shut, and he was only talking out of one side of his mouth. “She said she don’t want it.”

With a shake of her head, Alison handed the money to Clinton and wiped her palm on her jeans as if that would remove the grimy feeling of the twenty dollar bills.

Harrison’s eyes were hard as he shoved a man who got too close to Audrey for a picture of the gorillas.

Clinton was yelling. So was Mason, and now Emerson was with them, and Bash was protecting his mate’s stomach as they made their way toward the exit.

So much jostling. Kirk wrapped his massive arm around her back and moved her in front of him, then curled his lips back at the solid wall of onlookers fighting for a closer look and screaming questions at them. She looked back at Layla who was pale in the dim lighting, eyes worried. Beside her, Kong was bleeding. A lot.

Matt from the Gray Backs appeared through the crowd, a first aid kit thrown over his shoulder. Had he stolen it? Such a huge, pristine kit didn’t make sense here in the dirty barn. Chills textured her arms, and Alison rubbed them to try and rid herself of the tingling sensation. Was she in shock? How weak. She’d only been a witness to the battle.

No, that didn’t seem right. She’d felt right there with him, affected blow by blow, hurting alongside her mate.

“It’s the bond,” Layla said from behind, as if she could read her thoughts.

Oh. The bond. More she didn’t know about.

Outside, Kirk cast her a lingering glance over his shoulder, then took off, charging away from the crowd, Kong following directly after him. They disappeared into the woods behind the field where all the cars were parked.

“They have to shake the crowd,” Harrison explained to Alison as he drew Audrey close to his side. “Don’t worry. We’ll find them.”

It took half an hour bouncing around in the back of the Jeep on old dirt roads to track down Kirk.

And by the time Audrey pulled them into a clearing that looked like it was a local hangout for muddin’, Kirk and Kong were Changed back to their human forms and dressing in a couple pair of jeans Matt pulled from a duffle bag, while Willa stood off to the side, eyes a blazing green color Alison had never seen on her. Apparently the boys had riled up her inner bear, and from what Alison had gathered, Willa’s animal was a dominant she-grizzly.

Willa was funny as hell, but Alison made a mental note not to piss her off in the future. Really, after seeing the brutal power with which Kirk and Kong had fought tonight, she was disinclined to piss off any shifter.

The headlights illuminated the silverback shifters who were talking low to each other. Matt was administering first aid to the side of Kong’s neck, but it was Kirk who kept drawing Alison’s attention.

His eyes were still too bright to be human, and the wisps of conversation carried on the wind made his voice sound like a snarly demon’s, but it was his body that drew the gasp from her lips. Harrison and Bash were trying to get the bleeding stopped on his shoulder, and his entire torso was black and green with bruising.

“Oh, my gosh,” Emerson murmured from the front seat.

Alison scrambled down from Audrey’s jeep on shaking legs, then ran across the knee-high grass that stood between her and her mate. Kirk’s gaze, reflecting like an animal’s in the headlights, collided with hers, and he broke away from Bash and Harrison. He was favoring his arm to his ribs, but he strode toward her at a quick clip, his good arm out.

She meant to go in easy so she wouldn’t hurt him, but Kirk pulled her against him hard and rocked them slowly back and forth, his cheek pressed against her hairline. His chest was heaving, and his heart pounded like a drum. He smelled like iron, but he was here. He was whole, alive. Okay.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured.

She laughed in surprised disbelief and eased back. “You’re sorry? Why on earth would you be apologizing to me right now? You did nothing wrong.”

“Disagree,” Harrison barked, eyes narrowed on his glowing phone. “And now excuse me while I get my ass chewed out.” He accepted the call and said, “Hey Cora. Before you give me what for, you should know I couldn’t stop it.” Harrison cocked his head and winced, pulled the phone away from his ear as if Cora Keller was yelling. “Well, you can blame Kirk and Kong for any bad press. Tell me something. Would you send Boone in there to break up two warring silverbacks?” He paused. “Didn’t think so. I wanted to survive. Yeah.” Harrison sighed, rubbed the heel of his hand against his eye as if he was getting a headache. “Yeah. Will do, just give me a call tomorrow and tell me what I can do to clean this up.”

Kirk lowered his lips to her ear and whispered, “I’m sorry you had to see that. I couldn’t stop the Change. My animal didn’t like feeling so out of control when you were that close to the fight. Next time you’ll have to watch from the platforms.”

“Next time?”

Kirk pressed his lips against her forehead. “Kong and I are settled, but like I told you—”

“You’ll have to fight. Because of me.”

When he finished his kiss with a soft smack, he leaned back. He had a sexy, crooked smile. “You’re worth it.”

She sighed and shook her head as she studied his torso.

“Hey,” he murmured, hooking his finger under her chin and lifting her gaze to his. “I’m okay. We’re okay.” Another breathtaking smile. “I got us a crew.”

“Boarlander Crew!” Bash called.

“Boarlander Crew!” Audrey and Emerson said in unison.

Clinton and Mason stood off to the side, but they both murmured, “Boarlander Crew.”

And now Harrison’s scowl lifted in a slow smile as he approached. He clapped Kirk on the good shoulder. “Welcome to my crew.”

“We fit,” Kirk said.

Alison didn’t understand what he meant, but Harrison grabbed him by the back of the head and pressed his forehead to Kirk’s. And for a loaded second, the two behemoth men stayed just like that, sharing air, and then Harrison slapped him roughly on the back again and said, “Damn straight, Slater. You and Ally fit. Boarlander Crew.”

Alison blinked back the burning in her eyes as it dawned on her what had just happened. They were pledged now. Audrey pulled her away from Kirk and into a hug, and Emerson wrapped her arms around both of them.

Kong began a slow clap, and Layla joined him. Willa whistled, and Matt stood from where he was packing away first-aid supplies. Some of the Ashe Crew was standing off in the shadows, and they clapped, too. As Alison was passed around for hugs and congrats, it became harder and harder not to cry as the potency of this moment slid over her shoulders.

She had a place now.

She had people.

Her mate watched her with a proud smile as his body shook from handshakes and back claps.

She had Kirk.

And when Layla pulled her in tight, Alison lifted her gaze to the twinkling stars above them and squeezed her back.

“Take good care of him,” Layla murmured.

“I promise I will.”

“You two come by Sammy’s this weekend, and we’ll celebrate it up right. Drinks will be on me.”

“Thank you,” Alison rasped out past her tightening vocal cords.

And when she let go, her gaze drifted to Kong, who stood tall under a towering spruce. He didn’t look angry or hurt like she’d expected. He looked…relieved.

She approached slow, and after a moment of hesitation, she hugged his waist gently. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

Kong chuckled a deep, reverberating sound and hugged her back. “No loss. I have a baby on the way with the mate I always dreamed of. Kirk deserves the same. If you need anything, you call us. Just because you two aren’t Lowlanders doesn’t mean we won’t be there for you.”

Unable to speak, Alison nodded and released him.

She made to leave, but he said, “Ally?”

God, she loved the sound of her nickname on her friends’ lips. She had
friends
now. The real kind, not the pretend ones she’d made as Ghost.

“Yeah?” she asked, turning.

“What you said in that stall. Telling Kirk you love him in front of everyone?” Kong pursed his lips and nodded. “That means a lot to men like me and Kirk. I’m really glad he picked you.”

She arched her attention to Kirk, who was talking low to Bash as the bear shifter poured a bottle of water over his injured shoulder. He must’ve been in pain, but when he caught her staring at him, Kirk gave her one of those smiles that made everything seem right in the world.

“I’m glad he picked me, too.”

****

Kirk changed gears and hit the gas on a straightaway, then immediately slid his hand over her thigh again. It was the middle of the night, and she should’ve been exhausted, but the adrenaline dump from earlier had done something strange to her. She hadn’t crashed. Instead, she felt jittery.

Kirk cast a slight frown at her leg as she shook it in quick succession. His eyes were still too light, and there was a soft rumble in his chest that hadn’t diminished since they’d left the woods. She suspected his animal was riled up due to pain. She’d watched Bash put his dislocated shoulder back into the socket, and though Kirk rarely showed his hurt, he’d winced hard and grunted under Bash’s none-to-gentle touch.

At least his bruises were healing. Matt had told her Kirk had a few cracked ribs, but already, they seemed to be healed. He wasn’t favoring them or his shoulder anymore. Shifter healing was miraculous.

Kirk’s gaze drifted from the road passing under his headlights to her shaking leg again. He squeezed her thigh gently. “Ally, tell me what’s wrong so I can fix it.”

Deliberately, she stilled. “Sorry. I’m still a little worked up from tonight. I’ve seen a lot, but that was insane.” The memory of Kong and Kirk beating their chests as they charged each other flashed across her mind. “You hide a very powerful animal from the world.”

Kirk snorted. “Not anymore. Kong and I are probably all over the Internet right now. Cora is gonna skin us alive.” He slipped a finger into the ripped hole on the thigh of her jeans, and unintentionally, she rocked her hips.

A wicked smile curved Kirk’s lips. “You worked up, too?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” she lied.

“Fighting does that to me.” He drew her hand against his crotch, and she gasped at how rigid his erection was. “I wanted to take you into the woods and fuck you hard when you showed up. Part of it is instinct. I get possessive and desperate to touch you. And part of it is that tight shirt you’re wearin’ tonight. You look damn good in black, your tats showing down your arm, that sexy as fuck hair, that smoky eye shit you’re wearing that makes your eyes look brighter blue. Tight shirt showing off those perfect tits, and those tight jeans hugging your perfect ass. It’s hard to focus around you.”

“Is that why Harrison kicked me out of the stall? To get your head on straight?”

“Probably.”

Teasingly, she gripped his erection over his jeans and dragged her hand up the length of him. “Only half an hour and we’ll be home.”

Kirk lifted his hips slightly, chasing her touch, and shifted gears to maneuver the winding mountain road. The roar of his Mustang overpowered the rap music on the radio as he shifted again and gunned it on a straightaway. “Too long.”

“I should stop so you don’t drive us off a cliff,” she murmured. She moved to pull away, but he grabbed her hand and pressed it on his dick again, then rolled against her palm with a soft, huffed breath.

Kirk’s hair was flipped over to the opposite side of his face, giving her access to drink in all of him, from his glowing eyes to the slight frown of intensity that furrowed his dark eyebrows. Thick neck, defined pecs, and his arm flexed as he gripped the wheel tighter. His abs were perfect mounds of muscle, rippling as he pushed against her hand again. Big, powerful legs pressed against his hole-riddled blue jeans and damn, Kirk was the sexiest man she’d ever laid eyes on.

Alison unfastened his jeans and pushed them down far enough to release his rigid shaft with its swollen head and silky skin. As she drew a light touch up his long, thick length, his dick throbbed, and a drop of creamy moisture appeared on the tip. She loved how ready he was for her all the time. How affected he was by her touch and by the way she looked. Sexual heat like this hadn’t existed before he’d come into her life.

If she was unsure of what he wanted before, that question was laid to rest the second he wrapped his fingers gently in the back of her hair and pulled her face toward his lap. Good mate, telling her what he wanted. With a private smile, she gripped him and slid her lips over his cock. He tensed under her and let off the sexiest groan, deep in his throat. Alison eased off, then took him in her mouth again. His fingers tightened in her hair, but he didn’t push. She could taste his delicious saltiness and reveled in the fact she could draw this reaction out of a man like Kirk. Powerful, masculine, growly gorilla shifter, and he wasn’t even complaining at the slow pace she set with her mouth.

His body tensed and relaxed with each stroke of her lips and tongue, and now the car was slowing. Downshift, hard right turn, and the road turned uneven.

She was so wet now, so revved up because of those sexy noises her mate was making over the blare of the radio. When Alison slid her hand down her belly and into the front of her jeans, Kirk slammed on the brakes, skidding to a stop. He threw it into park and leaned his seat back, then pulled her onto his lap until she straddled him.

“Want to see you touch yourself,” he said in a gravelly voice, his glowing gold eyes riveted between her legs.

Alison arched her back as he unzipped the front of her jeans. With a soft gasp, she slid her hand into her panties and pushed her finger inside of her. She rolled her hips, barely touching Kirk’s dick with the movement.

He gripped her thighs hard and spread his knees wider.

She let off a soft moan, grabbed the back of his neck with her free hand, and pushed her finger into herself again.

The growl in Kirk’s throat was constant now. So sexy. Feral.
My mate
.

The door opened, and Kirk had them out of his car in an instant. It was all she could do to hold onto him as he rushed them out onto a dirt road in front of his car. The radio was still blaring, and the headlights lit up the woods around them. Kirk laid her down on her back and stripped her jeans off, his movements jerky and desperate. He tucked the loose fabric under her butt, and she spread her legs wide for him, feeling drunk on his touch.

He lifted slightly on his knees and slid his thick shaft into her. As he eased out, he rolled his eyes closed and gritted out a relieved sound.

Alison raked her nails down his chest as he locked his arms on either side of her head. Every muscle of his beautiful body was flexed and cast in soft shadows while the headlights illuminated his striking, powerful shoulders over her.

Kirk shoved her shirt upward and lowered himself onto her belly, kissed her hard, rammed his tongue into her mouth as he pushed into her again, stretching her with his girth. His hard body felt amazing against her as he moved in smooth, commanding thrusts.