Page 20 of Shifter Mate Magic
6
The hardest thing Trevor had ever done in his life was leave Jackie in Kotoyeesinay. It helped that Deputy Sheriff Shiloh, a coyote shifter with permanently pointed teeth, turned out to be competent, garrulous, and true-mated to a suave jaguar shifter named Matteo. Despite her multiple assurances that she would be fine, he didn’t like it. His bear shredded him from the inside for not staying to protect her.
He used his shifter strength to stay awake in the night and make record time to Nebraska. Along the way, he faced up to his own fears that she wouldn’t be there when he got back. To be brutally honest with himself, he had precious little to offer her, not even a home to share. Despite their white-hot attraction, she didn’t feel the mate bond the way he did. She also had a baby to worry about.
Some of that he could remedy. He went over on his cellular phone minutes to call her each night. The sound of her voice and her amusement with the quirky residents of Kotoyeesinay helped keep him sane. He called in favors and made arrangements that would help Jackie and her child, even if she closed her heart to him for being just another shifter who might hurt her. He’d promised he’d do everything so Jackie could keep her daughter, and he planned to deliver.
The morning of the sixth day found him trying to break land speed records for a big rig, barreling hot through the Kotoyeesinay border and racing into town to the high school, where the hearing would be held.
He spotted her immediately, waiting for him in the shade of the roof’s overhang at the loading dock, where she’d arranged for him to park his truck. The need to touch and smell her had him scrambling out of his cab and into her open arms.
“I missed you.” He nuzzled into her neck and drew in the scent of her. His sour, grumpy bear sighed inside him with pleasure.
“Right back at you, cowboy.” She sighed and tightened her arms around his waist.
He nibbled his way along her jaw until he found her lips and lost himself in the taste of her. He slid his hands down to rhythmically caress the beautiful globes of her butt.
She surfaced for air and backed up a little. “Much as I want more of this,” she said, palming the side of his face, “we shouldn’t give the kids something to try at home, if you catch my drift.”
Her radiant smile made him want to lick every inch of her, but he definitely didn’t want an audience for that.
He belatedly noticed she was wearing a nice jacket and blouse, and his nuzzling had mussed part of her contained hairstyle. He straightened her jacket and smoothed down her springy hair with his thumb. “Sorry.”
She laughed. “I’ll fix it when we go in.” She pointed toward the propped-open side door. “Shiloh is waiting to show us to the gym instead of the auditorium, because apparently”—she rolled her eyes—“everyone in Kotoyeesinay is in there.”
“What about Roehm?”
She nodded. “Shiloh said Roehm called up the rest of the pride, so the council had to give them a section of the bleachers.”
“The dude doesn’t do subtle, does he?” He made a rude sound. “Asshole.”
“And then some,” agreed Jackie. “Let’s go in. We’ve got a few minutes before the hearing starts, and I have news.”
She led him to a small classroom that had been set aside for them. The only decent places to sit were the teacher’s desk and chair. Trevor took the chair, then pulled her willingly into his lap. He didn’t even care if she noticed his body’s ready response to her when she settled against his chest.
“News?” he asked, to distract himself from the temptation to start something they definitely couldn’t finish in a rolling chair.
“Shiloh’s mate, Matteo, isn’t just a lawyer, he’s a high-rate corporate lawyer on retainer to the Shifter Tribunal. He tracked down my ex. His real name is Barry Williken, of the Hamptons Willikens. Very old shifter pride, very rich, very conservative. Barry is the son of the pride leader. They have marriage alliance plans for him that don’t include humans.”
Trevor frowned. “What about you and your daughter?”
“Matteo got Barry and the pride to sign a blood oath give up any and all claims to me or Princess.” She smiled. “Seems Barry was supposed to be lying low in Houston, not knocking up his human girlfriend and losing big in Las Vegas. According to Matteo, the scandal would have shattered the business deal. Oh, excuse me, the wedding.”
“Would you have wanted to be a Williken?” He failed to quash the thread of fear that he couldn’t measure up to a rich, powerful family.
“Hell, no.” She gave an exaggerated shudder. “Shoot me now.”
He laughed and tightened his hold on her. “Congratulations, then.”
Shiloh poked his head in. “Showtime.”
Jackie slid off his lap to stand. “Let’s get this over with. I want to move onto the next chapter of my lifebook.” She picked up a messenger bag and slung it on her shoulder.
After a stop at the restroom, and just before they entered the gym, he pulled Jackie into a long hug. He meant it to be reassuring, to tell her he’d always be in her corner, but her fantastic scent and the feel of her skin on his again woke up his ever-hopeful dick, leaving him hard and wanting. He tried to hide it from her, but she’d laughed and kissed him hard and fast. “Save those naughty thoughts, darlin’.” Her whispered Texas drawl made his full-blown erection throb.
Just how he wanted to walk in and be seen by the entire frickin’ town.
On the way in, Shiloh pointed out the witness area, which was ordinarily the basketball free-throw zone painted on the gym floor. Once again, magic made it possible for everyone to hear anything said in the witness box.
