Shelter Me (Sawtooth Shifters, #6) Read Free Page A

can explain!” Dallas chased me out to the parking lot.
    “Like hell you can.” I didn’t turn around, but he was so close his body heat radiated against my skin. I hadn’t thought to grab my jacket. Dallas had me trapped here. I didn’t drive. No need to, I never went anywhere alone. I was totally reliant on other people. I trusted too easily because I had to, and I always got burned.
    It’d been a long time since I’d been humiliated in public. The raw feeling of the whole world laughing ripped me open in the same place, right over my heart. We were starting the New Year off with a bang. And according to my best friend, who got me into this mess in the first place, I could look forward to three hundred and sixty-four more days of this crap. Awesome.
    “She tricked me.” Dallas attempted the explanation thing. “And if you hadn’t walked away from me on Christmas...this wouldn’t be happening right now. We wouldn’t be here. But I figured out something about you tonight. You—“
    Oh, no he didn’t. I whipped around, facing him, and wishing I didn’t. Those blue eyes shone like diamonds in the light of the waning moon. “You figured out something about me tonight? What about the girl sucking your blood like a vampire? Did you have a revelation about her, too? And let me tell you something about Christmas. I made you that sweater.”
    His eyebrows shot up. “You did?”
    “Yeah. I wanted to give you something no one else could. And when I was a kid, my Gram wouldn’t—Oh, never mind, you already have me all figured out.” I stomped off, toward Baron’s truck. Problem was, Dallas knew he had me where he wanted me.
    Dallas leaned on the truck. He was close enough that it felt like we were touching, but we weren’t. I was discouraged and relieved at the same time. It summed up our relationship, if you could call it that. Opposing forces that drew us together. “You do give me something no one else can. Why don’t you see that? There’s so much I don’t know about you, and it frustrates the hell out of me. You spent all that time making something for me, which blows me away. No one’s done anything like that for me before. But after I shifted on Christmas, you rejected me. Why? I needed you so bad that night.”
    “I told you,” I said softly. “I’m afraid of me.” Because I drove people away and I didn’t know how to make it stop.
    “There’s nothing to be afraid of. I like it when you’re feisty. There’s no mistaking what you want. And I told you I don’t want to waste any more time. We’ve been stuck in this place too long, both of us wanting more and being too fucking afraid to do anything about it.” He turned, straddling me, putting one hand on either side of my body but still not touching. Ugh! “Tell me all the things that scare you so I can make them go away. This fire that burns between us... It’s dangerous. But it’s got a power that can’t be denied.”
    And it was about to explode. I grabbed him and pulled him into me for a long, hot kiss. I didn’t want to be the girl that others thought they could intimidate, and I certainly didn’t want anyone else to think they could have Dallas. He was raw power, an animal rippled beneath the surface of his skin, primal and unpredictable. It scared the shit out of me, so far violence had been the only guarantee. Violence that often held hands with loss. Dallas was so much more than his wild side. He was caring, loyal, and the way he looked at me turned my entire body pink. That’s what made me want him.
    I didn’t know what that bite on his neck meant, but I wasn’t about to let some bitch from Montana claim what was mine.
    “Want a ride home?” he asked.
    I wasn’t going to let him off the hook that easily. “No. The girls will be coming out soon. We’re working tomorrow.”
    They’ll leave you here, my brain screamed at me.
    I shivered, wrapping my arms against myself to try to contain it. “On second thought, would