Fierce Player (Sierra Pride Book 4) by Liza Street Read Free Book Online

he hadn’t taken that big of a sip. “What?”
    “I could tell. You’re hearing is too good, and your eyes flash differently when you’re emotional. Oh, and the purring while you gave me head. That was a dead giveaway.”
    “Holy shit, you know about shapeshifters?”
    She shrugged. “My cousin in Oregon. He’s married to this girl. I think the world of her. When I was ten, my mom sent me up north during one of her big cases because she was worried about the corporation’s thugs, so I spent a lot of time with them. One day, I followed Yvette out into the woods. I was making a game of being a spy, so I climbed a tree and took out my binoculars. Then I saw her change into a bear.”
    “And…you were okay with that?”
    “Yeah. Like I said, she’s really cool, and she explained everything to me, and that I couldn’t say anything to anyone. Except my brother—he knew, of course.”
    Maverick’s heart was beating too fast in his chest. “I—I can’t believe this.”
    Her fingers were soft against his wrist. “Sorry for freaking you out.”
    “No,” he said, shaking his head. “It’s almost too easy. This was the big thing that I was sure was going to scare you away, but, wow. Did she tell you about shifter mates?”
    Kate frowned. “Noooo. But if you tell me you have to marry some shapeshifter woman, I will beat you to death. That’s not the kind of thing I say on a first date, but you seem to bring out my possessive side.”
    “That’s the mate thing. We’re like, a match. I could tell from the very beginning.” He looked at her shocked face. “Now I can tell I’m freaking you out.”
    “No, it’s just a lot of information. Does the mate thing explain why I want to nuzzle against you and never let go?”
    “Either that or my mad sexual prowess.”
    She laughed and hit him. He pulled her close for a tender kiss.
    Then the lights went out.

Chapter Ten
    “Motion sensors?” Kate asked. Her heart was thumping wildly, from a combination of fear and the heady feeling of being so close to Maverick.
    “I don’t think so,” he said. “We haven’t been completely still.”
    Letting go of her, he stood up. She could still see him a little in the light from the windows. His posture had changed—he’d been relaxed before, but now he seemed wound up, his shoulders tight and his head moving as if he was searching for danger.
    “What were you saying about thugs?” he asked in a whisper.
    The hair on the back of her neck stood up. “My mom does, like, Erin Brockovich type stuff,” she whispered back. “One time a corporation resorted to intimidation, hoping to get her to stop.”
    “I bet she pisses off some powerful people,” Maverick said. He leaned down and brushed a kiss against her cheek. “Get up, and go hide in the men’s bathroom.”
    “Why?” She reached for his hand, and he squeezed her fingers. “Maverick, you’re acting weird and growly.”
    He sucked in a breath. “Please, just go. There are three of them, and they have guns.”
    “Guns?” It took effort to keep her voice down. “How do you know?”
    “I can smell and hear things that you can’t. Please, Kate. Get somewhere safe.”
    She took a step away from him, toward the restrooms, before turning back. “What are you going to do?”
    “I’m going to shift so I can chase them off.”
    Kate had seen her cousin’s wife shift more than a few times, on subsequent visits up to Oregon. She wasn’t scared or freaked out about that. She was freaked out that the scary man really had been following her, and now there were others with him.
    And Maverick…whatever he was, some kind of lion or a tiger or something…he was going to shift into his animal form and chase men with guns ? Her cousin’s wife had told Kate about strength and speed and quick healing, but invincibility wasn’t one of the powers she’d listed.
    “You can’t do this,” Kate hissed.
    But he was already walking toward the entrance to the Clark room,