“I do know half the people here. And they’ll see me dancing around like a fool.”
“Not like a fool.” Cormac pressed a kiss to her hair. “Come on. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”
Nell looked up at him, then took on a look of defiance. “All right. See if you can keep up.”
“I love a challenge, darlin’.”
Cormac led her away, walking in front of her—Shifter males always went first to scope out any danger. But he held her hand all the way.
Joe lifted his beer in a silent toast. He hoped they worked it out. They made a good couple.
As they disappeared into the mass of dancers on the floor, Joe’s thoughts returned to his plans to kill Shane. Nell’s story was heartbreaking, but twenty thousand dollars was twenty thousand dollars.
CHAPTER FOUR
Cormac could dance. He could dance, he could kiss, and he had a smile that lit up the room. It wasn’t fair.
The dance was a quick one. But instead of shaking himself around like the humans or the younger Shifters, Cormac kept hold of Nell’s hands, pulled her close, and spun around with her. He swung her out and then back to him, never missing a step.
Nell found herself against his chest again, with his hands on the small of her back. He was a solid wall of male, strong and steady, a rock in a whirling maelstrom.
Raking up her pain about Magnus was breaking something open inside her. It was too long ago—she’d moved on. She’d managed to survive after Magnus’s death because she’d had to. Shane and Brody had needed her.
Once humans had discovered that shape-shifters existed and herded them into Shiftertowns, Nell’s past had receded, becoming a distant world. She’d found a new life, her sons had better chances of finding mates, and she looked forward to settling down and dandling her grandkids on her knees.
Now Cormac was messing with her head. She hated thinking about Magnus lying dead, shot multiple times through the head with the large revolver he’d bought. One shot wasn’t always enough to kill a Shifter. Magnus had shot himself until he’d collapsed, and then he’d bled to death on the bank of a river.
The pain of that was nothing Nell wanted to remember.
Cormac swung her around again in the dance, then she ended up once more against his chest.
He smelled of perspiration and himself, warmth and spice. Nell’s anger wound through her still, and she wanted to lash out at him, claws and all, for causing it.
At the same time, she wanted to sink into his warmth, where nothing mattered but the music and the dance. The noise was a cushion of sound, isolating them, the darkness keeping everyone else in shadow.
Nell risked everything and let her head rest on his shoulder.
Cormac rubbed his hand through her hair, slowing the dance. Nell moved with him, closing her eyes.
Nice to have someone to lean on. Nell had relied on herself alone for too long.
The music faded, segued into another song, and blared again. Faster this time. Shifters yelled and started whirling, including her son Brody, who’d snagged a young Feline for the dance.
It was too much. Too much sound, too many scents, too many bodies.
Bears were meant to live in the quiet of deep woods, near the cool of a mountain river. What the hell was Nell doing in Las Vegas, in the middle of a pile of Shifters, dancing at a club?
“Want to get out of here?” Cormac said, his voice warm in her ear.
“Please,” Nell said breathlessly.
His hand closed over hers, sure and comforting, taking her out of this place into the chill darkness and blessed quiet of the winter night.
“You all right?”
The parking lot outside the club was freezing, and Nell had nothing but the little wrap that came with the dress, but Cormac was beside her, his warmth cutting the cold of the January wind. This was the Mojave desert, blistering in the summer, but it could turn bone-cold in the winter.
“What do you think?” Nell asked.
“I know what you need.”
“Don’t you dare say a good roll in the hay.”
Cormac frowned, as though that had been the last thing on his mind. “No, you need to get away and go for a run. Come on. I know a place.”
“How can you know a place? You just got here.”
He shrugged. “Eric and his mate told me about a place. In case we needed somewhere to be alone.”
“Eric is an interfering pain in the ass.”
“He’s Shiftertown leader. Being an interfering pain in the ass is kind of his job.”
Cormac kept hold of Nell’s hand but walked her on toward his truck, a secondhand F-150 he’d picked up just today. Shane had insisted they all come here in it. They’d looked ridiculous, three large bear Shifters in the cab, Shane lounging in the back. Nell was sure the drivers they’d passed had laughed their asses off.
“How will Shane and Brody get home?” Nell asked as Cormac unlocked the door.
“Somehow, I think your sons will be just fine. Half of Shiftertown is here. They’ll catch a ride.”
Yes, Shane and Brody were pretty good at taking care of themselves. Brody was one of Eric’s trackers—he helped Eric look into problems and acted as a bodyguard if necessary. Shane performed similar tasks for Nell, the highest ranking bear in Shiftertown.
Where would Cormac come into the hierarchy? Dominance shifts were a huge problem when new Shifters moved into Shiftertowns. Things still hadn’t shaken down from the Lupines moving in. The Lupine leader was a big wolf Shifter called Graham, who’d been his Shiftertown leader before that Shiftertown was closed. Graham and Eric had come to an agreement not to battle for dominance, but the tension still ran through Shiftertown.
Cormac didn’t seem worried about dominance, hierarchy, or any other annoyances of Shifter life. He drove confidently away from Coolers and up the Boulder Highway to 95 and north out of town, before turning onto a smaller highway that led toward the mountains.
In January, Mount Charleston and the surrounding peaks would be packed with snow, and Nell was in a close-fitting black party dress with a tiny shawl, and heels. She was already shivering.
“I didn’t bring my skis,” she said as Cormac started winding to higher elevations.
“Bears don’t ski.” Cormac laughed, a warm sound that filled the truck. “But I’d love to see it. Wouldn’t that video go around the Internet?”
“Don’t be stupid.” Nell growled because she wanted to laugh. The vivid picture of Shane, in his bear form, his Collar around his neck, skiing downhill with poles and everything—maybe a little woolly hat on his head—flashed through her thoughts. Knowing Shane, he’d wave a big bear paw at her as he went by. Look at me, Ma! He’d always been such a show-off.
Nell folded her arms over her chest and pretended to be grumpy. “You haven’t told me exactly where we’re going.”
The pickup bumped over ruts, the piles of snow on the side of the plowed road growing larger as they climbed. “Cabin that belongs to Eric’s mate. Iona said if we needed to get away and be alone, I could grab the key from her and come up here anytime. I like her.”
“Yes, Iona is very generous.”
Cormac looked sideways at her. “You know, someday, you’re going to break down and enjoy yourself.”
“I enjoy myself all the time. I’m the queen of enjoying myself. Driving up the mountain in a deep freeze while I’m wearing a small dress isn’t my definition of enjoyment.”
“You’re a bear, Nell. You love the cold. Don’t tell me you don’t miss northern winters.” He let his hands relax on the wheel, head back on the headrest. “Snow like a layer of cloud, unbroken, untracked. Stillness so vast you can hear snow sliding from a tree branch two miles away. Curling up in a den in blissful solitude, warm and safe, while the world falls silent around you. I love hibernation—great time to catch up on reading.”