Dark and Damaged: Eight Tortured Heroes of Paranormal Romance: Paranormal Romance Boxed Set by Colleen Gleason Read Free Book Online Page A

though he remained out of sight of the windows. “I’ll go down,” he said quietly to Nadine and Bree. “I don’t want them to hurt you.” Not that he planned to submit without a fight. He’d go, but they’d have to catch him.
    Seamus suited action to word, without waiting for response, heading for the stairs.
    A soft body brushed by, and then Bree was in front of him, blocking his way. “Like hell you’re giving yourself up.” Bree scowled, blue eyes glittering with anger. “They might be Shifters, but they don’t look like they want to hand you a beer and welcome you with open arms.”
    Seamus put his hand on her shoulder.
Damn, damn, damn
. He shouldn’t have done that—one touch, and he didn’t want to let go. He wanted to stay here, sink into Bree’s softness, let her make his troubles melt away. Or at least give him the illusion that his troubles no longer existed. Let him float in pure bliss.
    But if he didn’t leave, Bree might be hurt, and so could others who depended on him. He didn’t know what the Shifters outside would do to Bree and Nadine if they came storming in to grab Seamus. While Shifters were usually careful with humans, they did so mostly to avoid drawing the attention of the human police and Shifter Bureau. They weren’t necessarily kind.
    “I didn’t say I’d give up,” Seamus told Bree, reluctantly lifting his hand away. “I’ll distract them and run. Draw them away from you.”
    At the window, Nadine said, “Oh, I’ll give them a distraction.”
    Not a bad idea. “Wait until I’m ready,” Seamus said. “I’ll signal, you do your thing, and I’ll go.”
    He pushed around Bree and went down the stairs but heard her coming behind him.
    “Seamus.”
Bree grabbed the tail of his shirt. Seamus turned back, caught more by her presence than her hold. “You can’t.”
    “I can,” Seamus said. “I’m fast. I’ll be gone before they realize.”
    “That’s not what I meant. What will they do to you if they catch you?”
    “They’re from the Austin Shiftertown,” Seamus said—no reason for her not to know. “They want to put a Collar on me and sequester me. They’ve been chasing me ... us ... for about a month now.”
    Bree tightened her hand on the T-shirt’s hem. “Where will you go?”
    “Somewhere not here,” Seamus said. “Understand? They’ll chase
me
away from
you
. It’s what I do. You and your mother don’t need a bunch of pain in the ass Shifters giving you grief.”
    Bree’s blue eyes took on a bleak look. Without the makeup, waking up from sleep, Seamus saw that she was a little older than he’d first thought—not that he was an expert on human ages. She was old enough to have a mate and cub of her own, old enough to have had life kick at her.
    Bree took a step closer to him. “What I mean is, will I ever see you again?”
    Seamus studied her for a few beats. In that moment, his body, which had been cooperative up until now, became a massive knot of pain.
    He’d been calmer since he’d been in this house, giving him a crumb of hope that he’d conquered the wildness bubbling inside him. He realized as Bree’s body brushed his, that he’d conquered it because of
her
. As soon as he’d found her, her nearness, her touch had started to quiet him down.
    If he left her, would the pain, the confusion, come rushing back?
    But if Seamus stayed, he’d leave Bree open to danger. No matter what, Seamus had to go.
    Seamus peeled Bree’s hold from his shirt, wrapped his arm around her, and dragged her close. Warmth of woman came to him as Bree’s body curved against his, the thin shirt letting him feel her limbs, her full breasts, the supple bend of her spine.
    Seamus leaned down and kissed her mouth, a full kiss, not preparing her, not going slowly. He needed to kiss her right now, might never have another chance.
    Bree curled her fists on his shoulders but didn’t push away. She opened her lips to him, accepting. Her tongue moved against his,