"it's all right," kim said in a hard voice. "he's helping me on the shifter case."

jeanne looked as though she'd melt through her chair. "can i get you coffee?" she offered liam in an eager tone.

"coffee would be grand," he said.

kim grabbed liam's arm, shoved him into her cluttered office, and slammed the door behind them. she pointed at the leather couch wedged between two bookcases.

"if you're staying-sit."

liam grinned, removed his sunglasses, stretched out full length on the couch, and folded his arms behind his head. he looked good enough to eat.

kim slapped her briefcase to her desk and popped it open. "what is this 'top o' the morning' crap?"

"it's how people expect the irish to talk. that and 'faith and begorra!' i'll throw those in later."

"you are so full of shit."

liam chuckled and closed his eyes. he looked prepared to lounge there the rest of the day, reminding her every second of their thorough sexing in her bathroom. she'd dreamed about it all night, the main reason she'd been late. when he'd rolled her over and driven into her, his warm weight on top of her, she'd never felt more connected or intimate with a man in her life. she'd felt...complete.

forget the goopy, romantic stuff. the sex had been damn fantastic.

kim had to stop thinking about it. she had to be professional and do her job. she had other cases to prepare for, a load of witness statements and evidence reports to go through. brian's defense to figure out, the private investigator's weekend reports to read.

once she won brian's case, she'd be finished with shifters. fergus's wishes would be a moot point, liam wouldn't need to guard her anymore, and he'd go back to shiftertown and leave her alone. for good.

why did the world suddenly go colorless at that thought?

kim dumped files back into her briefcase. "i need to talk to brian. i assume you want to come with me? we'll take my car-i'm not riding to the county jail on the back of your motorcycle."

liam didn't move. "you're not going to see brian."

"i need to. i want to ask him about michelle again, whether he planned to mate with her, whether he already did. if brian thought of her as his mate, he'd never have hurt her, right? he'd come over all protective, defend her rather than attack her."

"you might be right about that, but you're still not going to see him."

kim clicked the briefcase shut. "why not? he's in jail. he's not going anywhere."

liam finally came off the couch. "you're not going because fergus told you to drop the case."

he was a tall, solid wall, blocking her way to the door. "we've discussed this. i say screw fergus."

"i wouldn't. i hear it's not good."

kim didn't laugh. "so you agree with him?"

"i didn't say that." liam rested his hands on her shoulders. she'd never get by him, and she knew it. at the same time, she knew he wouldn't hurt her. he'd prevent her from leaving, but not by hurting.

"then what are you saying?" she asked.

"that fergus won't trust me to keep you off the case. i was the one who talked him into letting you come to shiftertown in the first place. so he'll have sent his own men to watch you, to stop you. i'm here to keep them from tangling with you. if you go to the jail, there will be tangling."

kim made a noise of exasperation. "explain how i'm supposed to defend a man i'm not allowed to talk to. i need to ask him questions, important questions."

"ask him some other way."

kim tried to dart around him. liam put one arm out and hauled her back against him.

"liam."

he closed both arms around her and pulled her close. "do this my way, love. don't mess with fergus more than you have to. he'll make you regret it."

kim wanted to succumb to the wonderful, protected feeling of having his arms around her. even her parents hadn't been this protective of her. after mark had died, they'd wavered between being overly paranoid about her safety to backing way off when they realized they were smothering her.

they'd gone on like that until they'd died. she'd found herself alternately on a choke chain or floundering during her parents' "you don't even have to check in with us" moods.

liam's protection was like a soft blanket, not a leash, but the tether was there nonetheless.

"i can't work like this," kim said.

"we'll find a way." liam kissed the crown of her head.

the warm touch of his lips electrified the memories of their lovemaking, reminding her that her throat was still scratchy from all the screaming. she couldn't help putting her hand on his waistband and sliding her fingers downward, her pulse speeding when she found that he was hard and hot behind his zipper.

liam laughed. "vixen." he tilted her head back and kissed her.

liam was still learning how to kiss. which meant he experimented and explored, his tongue sliding all over hers while he gripped her bu**ocks with one firm hand. he tasted like the gum he'd been chewing, minty fresh.

if anyone came in, they'd see his sun-browned hand planted against her gray business skirt, kim letting a shifter put his tongue down her throat. and they wouldn't know the half of it.

"stop," she whispered. "don't do this to me."

a gentle kiss to her forehead. "i'd never hurt you, kim."

"it's not pain i'm worried about." kim rested her head against his chest. his skin was hot through the shirt, his heart pounding at breakneck speed. "it's me."

"you're not making sense."

"i know what i mean. you are seriously damaging my mental health."

liam broke away, but he was smiling. "you mean i make you spare."

"if that means crazy, then yes. that too."

there was a soft knock on the door, and jeanne poked her head in. she carried in a tray of coffee, in real mugs, not styrofoam cups. kim turned from liam, hoping she looked nonchalant.

jeanne set the coffee on the polished side table. "abel is looking for you."

"abel?" for one crazy moment, kim couldn't remember who he was. ah, yes, buttoned-up, executive ex-boyfriend. the man who looked incredibly boring next to liam. "what does he want?"

"to ask you about the judge you had on that indecent exposure case. he's got a similar case before the same judge."

"oh." business. tips on what swayed a judge or pissed him off. kim had won the case, because the man they'd arrested had had erectile dysfunction, verified by a doctor, when the witness had sworn the defendant had been quite, um, pointed. "set up a meeting with abel," kim finished. "i'm busy until tomorrow."

"he's here now."

before kim could answer, abel kane pushed around the door and strode into the office. kim had always thought him good-looking-tall, blond, well-dressed-but he was a lightweight compared to liam. and there was no comparison at all in the sex department.

"can't this wait?" kim asked him.

abel was looking at liam in curiosity. "kind of in a rush."

liar. he couldn't be paid to care about indecent-exposure cases; he'd used the excuse to come in here and eyeball liam.

"why?" kim asked in an annoyed voice. "client can't keep his pants on?"

abel ignored her attempt at humor. "so the collars really do fit all shifters. what neck size would you say he has?"

"he can hear you, abel."

liam gave abel his slow smile. "top o' the morning to you."

"will you stop that?" kim snapped.

"is he irish?" abel said in surprise. "i didn't know shifters could be irish."

"the shifters in my family go back generations in ireland," liam said. "we had a castle on a hill and everything."

abel continued to assess liam like a scientist examining an interesting specimen. "type up a report on him," abel said to kim. "it would be useful if we ever have to defend another shifter."

"abel, will you please stop talking about him like he's not in the room?"

"what's eating you, kim? is it the new guy you met or your time of the month?"

what an idiot. abel hadn't connected kim "meeting someone" with the extremely virile shifter standing in her office. abel couldn't imagine for one second that she'd dump him for a shifter.

liam's grin died. he'd been taking abel for what he really was, a self-centered moron, but liam's eyes narrowed at abel's last statement. the predatory thing liam did so well came out, proving that up until now, he'd been a wolf watching the sheep frolic.

"the lady said she's busy." liam's voice held a hint of growl.

without moving, liam gained the attention of everyone in the room, plus jeanne listening outside the door. a sheen of perspiration glistened on abel's forehead.

"right. i'll call you later, kim. about that judge."

abel couldn't turn around to walk out. liam wouldn't let him. and yet, liam did nothing but stand there, not moving, not touching the man. he hadn't even let his pupils go slitted.

abel had to back to the door, one step at a time, before he finally turned and fled. he ran into jeanne, who was plastered solidly against the crack in the door. they tangled a moment; then abel fled and jeanne slammed the door, leaving kim and liam alone again.

chapter fifteen

kim took liam out for lunch. liam enjoyed riding in her small car, watching her gray businesslike skirt riding up her thighs. as he'd guessed, she wore stockings with lacy tops, held in place by garters. thinking about skimming off the skirt and looking at her in only the garter belt and stockings didn't do his rising erection any favors.

what deflated his arousal was being turned away by the first restaurant they reached. the hostess took one look at liam's collar and got the manager.

kim stormed away, furious, but liam didn't know why she was surprised. shifters hadn't been welcomed in most places for twenty years.

the next two restaurants wouldn't let them in, either. they ended up at a greasy spoon close to the north austin shiftertown, where the owners had figured out that shifters paid for the food and didn't cause trouble, unlike the gang kids that roamed the nearby neighborhoods.

"how can you stand it?" kim fumed as she dumped sugar into her coffee. "i never realized how blatant it was."

liam blew on his coffee to cool it before he sipped. "bans against shifters? if you never witnessed it firsthand, i'm guessing you frequent places shifters don't even bother trying to go to. but it doesn't much matter to me where i go. i don't really want to eat at a place where they don't serve shifters."

"stop being so blase. they treat you like animals."

"we are animals."

"be serious."

"kim, sweetheart, i've lived a hundred years under various and sometimes nasty conditions. this life isn't so bad. there are certain people i keep out of my bar too. i'd ban lupines altogether, except ellison and glory would try to wipe the floor with my butt."

"be serious," she repeated.

"what for?" liam looked straight into her blue eyes, trying to calm her rage. he liked her anger, though, because it meant she cared. "the way people treat shifters can be amusing."