Talon (Rise of the Pride, Book 1) Read Free Page B

Talon sighed, pinching the
bridge of his nose. “I’m not angry at you. What I want to know is,
why did you defend us?”
    “Because this is my bar and I won’t tolerate
disrespect,” she answered, then nodded toward his hand. “Do you
need some ice? He grabbed you pretty hard.”
    “No,” Talon snorted, calming slightly.
“We…um, we heal pretty quickly.” To prove his point, Talon raised
his wrist for her to see.
    Liberty gasped as she watched the bruising
under his skin fade and quickly vanish. “That’s really cool.”
    “Thank you.” Talon smiled. “We believe in
repaying our debts. The Shaw Pride is indebted to you, Ms. Raines.
If you are ever in need of help, please let us know.”
    “Ah, that won’t be necessary,” she blushed,
looking up into Talon’s eyes. He was damn near a foot taller than
she was. His shoulders were wider than a door frame. This man, and
all of the men with him, probably lifted dump trucks just for the
fun of it. “Maybe if I need some manual labor… like moving a house,
I’ll let you know.”
    “Liberty?” Talon called out, just as she had
turned to walk away. When she looked over her shoulder, Talon’s
nostrils had flared slightly and yellow specks had seeped into his
eyes. She felt her body warm from just his look. Oh, this couldn’t
be good.
    “Yeah?” she stuttered.
    “Don’t ever put yourself in a dangerous
position with a drunk human male again,” he ordered, his eyes
completely switched to a glowing yellow.
    “Yes,” she sighed breathlessly. “Um,
okay.”
    Without another glance, Liberty rushed off to
her office, slamming the door behind her. Bending at the waist, she
gasped for air as she tried to calm her heart from thundering in
her chest. If she closed her eyes, she could still see those
beautiful eyes, and she could’ve sworn his scent still lingered
around her body. That scent alone caused a heavy feeling in her
breasts and a dull ache deep in her belly.
    She didn’t know what the hell was going on
with her body. Liberty Raines was a strong, independent woman and
she would have never let a man tell her what to do. So why
in the hell did every part of her mind, body, and soul want to do exactly as Talon Shaw had ordered?
     

     
    “You know that son of a bitch is going to
come back, right?” Noah asked, draining the rest of his beer. His
keen eyesight swept across the bar, looking for any sign of
trouble.
    “He won’t touch her,” Talon vowed. There was
something about the woman that made his protective instincts
awaken. The feeling was so foreign to him that it shocked him
silent for a moment. The feeling was unlike his need to protect his
pride. No, this was different…stronger.
    “Whoa, dude,” Noah drawled, leaning forward
to get a good look at Talon’s face. “Is your panther interested in
the little bar owner?”
    “What?” Talon growled, feeling his panther
close to the surface. He shook himself, trying to silently tell his
cat to back the fuck down. He wasn’t looking for a mate, and that
little human bar owner was not what he needed…ever. Then why in the
hell was he being drawn to her?
    “Uh, yeah, man,” he snickered. “Your kitty
cat is prowling.” Noah laughed and pointed to his own eyes,
alerting Talon to the fact that his were turning amber.
    “Why the fuck do you call it my kitty cat?”
he barked, wanting to strangle his little brother and change the
subject at the same time. The kid was barely twenty two years old,
but he acted like he was still fifteen sometimes. He was built, his
jet black hair styled to perfection. Talon often wondered if there
was something wrong with Noah because he always dressed like a
preppy school boy and not like a man who lived in the backwoods of
Mississippi. “Boy, did momma drop you on your head as a cub? I
can’t remember if she did.”
    The other men at the table, Savage, Dane,
Storm, and Winter, looked everywhere but at their alpha, choosing
to ignore Noah and his stupid