ROMANCE: SHIFTER: Shifter to the Max Collection (Dragon, Bear, Wolf and Panther Shifter Romances) (Paranormal Fantasy Romance Collection) (5 page)

Amber pushed open the heavy wooden door to the Prospector’s Den. She stepped inside and allowed her eyes to adjust to the light. Music blared from speakers scattered all over the building but was dulled by the murmur of conversation and clink of glasses.

She glanced around and spotted a couple of empty seats at the bar.  A few clicks of her pumps and a hitch of a hip had her seated where she could see the entire bar with a twist of her seat.  The redheaded bartender strolled over and smiled.

“What can I get you?” she asked.

“Can you make me a St. Clements?” Amber asked.

“I sure can.”

“Wonderful! The name’s Amber. I’d like one, and that’s what I’ll have if any other rounds are ordered, okay?” Amber smiled.

“Sure, Amber! My name is Jody.  Anything you need.”

Amber spun around and checked out the bar. Just as Officer Tim had said, it was just off Highway 79, which ran perpendicular to her own Huckleberry Street, and the woods behind it actually intersected the greenbelt behind her apartment. It seemed as if this was the place to be for a Thursday night. People were everywhere. Standing around chest high tables, seated at small conversation pits. There was even a postage stamp dance floor where couples and groups gyrated to the pounding rhythms to the steady beat of the music coming from the speakers.

A warm, meaty hand suddenly set itself on her exposed knee. She jerked away and prepared a sharp retort when she saw it was Officer Tim himself.

“Hey, honey, it’s just me!”  His hand had not only
not
been removed by her jerk, he had managed to slide it further up her thigh.

Jody came back right then with her drink. Her smile faded as she spotted Amber’s companion.

“Here’s your double whiskey sour, ma’am, splash of orange as you asked.” She said flatly. Amber’s eyes widened. “This first one’s on me. Sir? Did you want anything?”

“Hello, um, Jessica. Long time no see! I’d like a Heineken, please.”

Without a word, she spun on her heel and turned away.

Amber clutched her glass close to her and swirled the straw around.

“A double whiskey sour, huh? Strong drink. Guess you changed your mind about driving home. Which is great! I’ll have this one Heineken, and we can move on to other things.” As he spoke his fingers traced the edge of the vee on her skirt. Amber took a page from Jade’s book and ran her own hand down her leg, pushing his hand down and away. Then she turned her body and legs so they wouldn’t be as accessible to him.

“Oh, it’s not as strong as you’d think. I can handle this easily. You clean up nicely.” He did, indeed, look nice. He wore a pair of slacks and a lightweight sweater the same color as his moss green eyes.

Jody strode up and slid Tim’s Heineken to him. “Would you like to start a tab, sir?”

“Yes, please, Joann.” Tim slid out his wallet and then a credit card. Jody punched a few buttons on a nearby machine and handed the card back without a word to him. He put his wallet away, and turned to lean his elbows on the bar edge. Jody walked away, but threw Amber a ghost of a wink as she did so.

This angle didn’t allow Tim access to Amber’s thigh, but he did now have a great view of a rounded mound of breast and the lace along the edge of her bra. Holding his bottle in one hand, he used his other hand to run one finger up and down her bared arm.

“So, what brings you back to the Ridge?”

“Life, things, circumstances. It was time to come back. Why’d you stay here?”

“I’m traditional. My family has lived here for a couple generations. It’s a pretty good town. When I marry and have my own family, we’ll stay here.” His finger kept up its path up and down her arm.

Amber wished she’d worn long sleeves. And a turtleneck. And sweatpants.

“So about that ticket…”

“Straight to business! No! We’re here to have a good time! You’ve been gone a few years, right? Since around the time your parents died.” Tim didn’t see Amber’s fingers tighten around her glass. “I was a rookie cop then, so about eight years ago.”  Tim’s fingers started playing with the edge of Amber’s sleeve.

Amber closed her eyes and swallowed hard. She was never wearing these clothes again. They were going in the trash as soon as she got back to the apartment.

“Kodi! Another round here!” Tim yelled in Jody’s direction. He completely missed her rolled eyes, but Amber spotted them and smiled to herself.

“Ah, the rookie days. So young. So much to learn.” Tim kept talking.

Amber used the time to study the people milling about in the bar. She continued sipping on her orange juice and lemon juice cocktail, and smiled her gratitude when Jody brought her a second one. She pushed her mostly empty first glass across the bar top and pulled the second glass to its place in front of her.

“Well?” Tim demanded.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“I asked if you wanted to get out of here and go get a bite to eat. You seem distracted. Figured you must be hungry. I don’t mind feeding you.”

“Oh, no. Thank you.” Amber thought his tone sounded a trifle irritated. “But if you’ll excuse me just a moment, I need to use the ladies’ room.”

Tim’s demeanor changed immediately to one of solicitude. “Of course. I’ll be right here.” He grabbed her hand before she could pull it away and pecked a kiss on the back of it.

Amber wondered at his strange behavior, but shrugged. Tim was not a puzzle she wanted to solve. She picked up her clutch and headed toward the back of the bar where a large wooden sign proclaimed Restrooms. Truthfully only needing out of the noise and bustle for a moment, she leaned against the sink and checked out her makeup in the mirror. All was still in place. She applied a fresh coat of shine to her lips.

She came out of the bathroom and spotted Jody at the very end of the bar. Before she could wave or smile, Jody pulled a cell phone from her back pocket and rapidly punched a series of buttons on it and held it up to her ear. Amber thought to herself,
that girl’s going to lose her job if her boss catches her
. Jody turned her body and looked down the long bar towards the other end.
Whatever she sees, she doesn’t like it. It worries her
. Amber shook her head at the oddities of people and braced herself to deal with Tim.

Hip cocked and legs crossed, he gave off an air of bored gentleman. He used both hands to spin his bottle and her glass around in circles. He brightened when she walked back up.

Amber declined his help getting onto the barstool, and reached for her glass. “Now, Officer Fisher, you promised we could talk about that ticket.”

“Relax! Drink your drink! Who did you date in high school? Wasn’t it one of the Anders? Or the Barretts?”

“Barrett. Ryder Barrett.”

“Well, they’re all inter-related somehow. Prick one, and they all bleed and bitch at you for it. Our chief is an Anders. My lieutenant is a Barrett. But there’s a lieutenant exam coming up next month. I’ve been studying for it. I should be promoted soon!”

“That would be wonderful.” Amber took tiny sips of her drink and continued stirring with the straw. She was getting tired, and her drink was beginning to lose its flavor to her.

Tim babbled on about the lieutenant exam. Suddenly he leaned over, “How’s your drink? Care for another? I’m definitely going to have to drive you home.”

“My drink is fine. No more. Water.” Amber wondered why her words felt so hard to get out. How had she gotten so tired so quickly?

“C’mon, Amber. I’ll take you to your sister’s house. You’ve obviously had a long day.” Tim’s voice was soothing and gentle. He took Amber’s elbow and his warm hand felt solid.

“Okay. I’m so tired. Did you know your sweater is the same color as your eyes?” Amber giggled, then slapped a hand over her mouth. What was she saying? She definitely needed to go home. She stood up and wobbled a bit on her high heels. Then stared at her St. Clements. Maybe Jody really had made her a double whiskey sour. She’d have to ask what whiskey that was – it was smooth; she hadn’t tasted it at all. With Tim’s hand on her arm and another one around her waist, she began walking towards the door.

“Wait! My purse. Need my purse.” She lurched to a stop and took several steps to turn back towards the bar. Jody was standing there with Amber’s clutch in her hand.

“Hey, why don’t I call you a cab, Amber? It’ll take you directly to your sister.”

“A cab. I don’t have the cash for a cab. What was in my drink, Jody? Powerful stuff. I thought a St Clements was non-alcoholic. Whew. Right to my head. Thanks for my purse.” Amber received her clutch from Jody who looked more worried than before. Tim once again took her elbow and waist and guided her toward the door. Suddenly, Tim didn’t seem quite so obnoxious as he had earlier. His jokes were funnier.
Lord
, Amber thought,
I’m so tired I’m getting silly
.

They tottered their way out the door and to the far side of the parking lot where Tim had parked his car. He leaned Amber up against the side of the car and pressed his full length against her.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you taking me home?” Amber slurred.

“Oh, I’ll take you, and I’ll get you home. Call this cab fare.” Tim started kissing down Amber’s neck from her ear to where her pulse had begun speeding up. “Hmmm. Your heart’s beating faster. Getting excited? Wanting some Tim?” His mouth plunged down on top of hers, and he pulled her hands from between them to around his neck so her breasts were flattened against his chest. With his other hand, he scooped up the edge of her skirt and planted his palm directly on her hip. His body weight still pinned her in place, but she resisted and tried to push him away.

“No. Quit this.” She turned her head far to one side, so he couldn’t kiss her anymore. He slathered his tongue on the sensitive area behind her ear, and she shuddered in disgust. “Stop.” She pushed harder at his shoulders with her hands. Amber kept trying to push away from him with her feet as well, but her pumps kept slipping in the gravel parking lot; she couldn’t find purchase. One of his hands was up her skirt and massaging her hip and buttock while his body kept her solidly against the car. The other hand slid between their chests and into the deep vee of her neckline. Suddenly, her breast was covered with his warm, sweaty hand. Tears came to her eyes. He wasn’t going to stop. Why wasn’t her body obeying her easily?

“Please don’t do this. Please stop.” Amber said. “I don’t want this.”

“Oh, but you do, honey, you do. You’ll have a good time. And then we’ll go back to my place and have even more of a good time. I’ll take you home in the morning.”

“No.” Amber used as firm a voice as she could manage considering her tears. She’d never been accosted before. “No. Stop and leave me alone!”

A low rumble emerged from the trees just beyond the edge of the parking lot. It grew louder and more vicious every moment.

Tim froze with his thumb up under the edge of Amber’s panties and his mouth nibbling on her ear. He raised his head and turned toward the sound.

Materializing from the trees was the largest bear Amber had ever seen. He was raven black, and his eyes were glowing a golden yellow. He stalked closer and closer.

Tim stepped back from Amber, who slumped back against the car and stared at the animal.  Tim took a few more steps backward, holding his hands up between him and the beast.

“Hey, shaggy. Where did you come from?” His voice wavered and quaked. “How’d you get down this low? God, I didn’t know you were supposed to be awake yet.”

With each word he uttered, the bear’s growls grew more savage. As the bear passed Amber, it seemed to glance her direction. She felt like it was assessing her. She straightened up, tugged her clothes back into place, and wiped at the tears that had streamed down her cheeks. Her hands brushing at her tears seemed to enrage the bear.  A violent snarl erupted from him as he snapped his head back to Tim. Amber watched the muscles in his legs and back bunch up; he suddenly rose up on his hind legs. The bear seemed impossibly tall.  He gave a roar of rage and fell onto Tim. With tears still in her eyes, she thought the image of the bear blurred. Tim screamed as he landed on the rocks and gravel with his arms thrown up over his face. Amber heard a meaty thwack and another.  She blinked her eyes furiously, but couldn’t understand what she was seeing. Instead of a bear, she saw… Ryder straddling Tim’s prone body and pounding his fists one after the other into Tim’s face and body. For some unfathomable reason, Ryder appeared to be naked. The muscles in his back rippled with each blow.

“You son of a bitch!” Ryder growled, punctuating each word with another blow to Tim’s body.

“Ryder! Ryder!” Amber pulled her eyes away from the scene enfolding in front of her to see Jody running up with a bundle in her arms. “Stop, Ryder! You’ll kill him.” When she reached the two, she gave Ryder a push that should have had no effect at all on him, but managed to move him off of Tim’s sobbing form. She shoved the bundle into his arms, and then hurried over to Amber. “Are you okay?” Her eyes ran up and down Amber’s figure, and she searched Amber’s eyes with her own. “Did he hurt you? I called Ryder as soon as I suspected. I’m so sorry. I should’ve called sooner.”

Amber was confused and disoriented. Where had the bear gone? It was beautiful. Why was Jody apologizing for not calling Ryder sooner? She should be apologizing for making those drinks alcoholic instead of non as she’d been asked. Wasn’t Ryder gorgeous? Too bad he was putting on clothes. He was so nice to look at without them.  Tim was such an asshole. She didn’t care if she had to pay the abandoned car ticket; she was never speaking to him again.