Primal Bonds

“And then what happens? You laugh maniacally, say ‘I’ve got you now, my pretty’? Maybe you are my father’s enemy trying to fool me in order to get to him.”

Now, he grew annoyed. “God and Goddess, what will it take to convince you?”

“Let me think about it for a while. What you say could be true, but I’m not gullible enough to drop to my knees, throw my arms around your waist, and scream Daddy.”

He gave her an impatient look. “I was right when I said you were just like your mother. She drove me insane before she’d even let me touch her.”

“Good for her. If you really are my father, you’ll be kind enough to give me time to accept what you say.”

Fionn frowned again, obviously not used to people who didn’t simply obey his every command. He was a bit like Dylan in that respect.

“Time is a mutable thing,” he said. “Don’t take too much of it. And while you are thinking, daughter, let me have the Sword of the Guardian.”

Andrea laughed again. “You are amazing. If I steal the sword—and worse, hand it to a Fae—the Shifters will kill me. Why would you want that to happen?”

“If you don’t bring it to me, Shifters will die for it. The stirrings among the Shifters are dangerous, and disaster could come of it. You need to give me the sword.”

His words, especially after what had happened with Callum at the bar, made her nervous, but she kept her voice steady. “I’ll need to think about that one too. Good night, Father.” Andrea turned around and walked away, pretending nonchalance.

Fionn called after her. “You will regret so much if you do not listen to me.”

Andrea gave him a cheery wave and kept walking. Something flashed behind her, and she knew that if she turned around, Fionn would have vanished, the way to Faerie closed again.

She didn’t turn, though. She also wasn’t surprised to find Sean on the back porch of Glory’s house, scanning the darkness for her, ready to start after her. He growled as she came out of the trees, his eyes Feline slits.

“Don’t even ask me where I’ve been,” Andrea said, walking past him and into the house. “Right now, I’m very tired of males expecting me to do everything they say.”

Andrea went into the house and slammed the door behind her, not waiting to see whether Sean would follow her in or not. He did, but he didn’t ask questions. He simply made love to her in fierce silence until they fell asleep, curled together in blissful exhaustion.

Bloody females made him bloody furious. Sean’s legs were cramped from sitting in the booth at the bar, but damned if he was going to leave until Andrea was done working her shift. She was closing tonight, so that meant he had to stay here at least until two.

She hadn’t spoken to him much today, not to tell him why she’d been running around outside near dawn or whether she’d seen the Fae again, although Sean knew damn well she had. He’d smelled the stink of Faerie wafting in from the clearing when she’d come in, like acrid smoke laced with mint.

Sean had spent the day following up on the Callum problem, visiting his clansman Ben to let him know he was taking a personal interest in the situation. The humans were long gone, Spike had told Sean, and Ben had confirmed, headed back east somewhere. Callum’s clan leader wouldn’t let Sean see him but assured Sean that they were taking care of the problem internally. By Shifter law, Sean had to leave it at that, but he and Liam would watch.

Sean had returned home in time to see Andrea getting ready to go to work. He’d objected, and she’d pointed out that the human shooters were gone. Arguments that who knew whether the humans’ friends or one of Callum’s zealous followers would try to take revenge on Sean and Andrea were ignored. Andrea clearly wasn’t going to stay safely at home unless Sean chained her to her bed. He almost did that, except that Kim and Connor intervened when they came over to see what the noise was about.

The compromise Kim forced on them, that neither of them liked, was that Andrea went to work but Sean went with her. Andrea refused to wait on Sean’s table all night but smiled sweetly at the other customers.

Look at her. Sean watched Andrea over the beer Annie had brought him. Swaying her hips in those tight pants, and her top looking like it’s painted on. The shirt bared her shoulders, making even the Collar around her throat sexy. The humans she waited on liked what they saw, if the drool dripping down the sides of their mouths was any indication. If any of them touched her, they’d lose fingers.

Sean’s view of Andrea was cut off as someone stopped in front of his booth. He looked up to find Dylan gazing steadily back at him.

“Dad,” Sean said as Dylan dropped into the seat opposite. Sean reached for Dylan’s hand, squeezed it. “You all right? Where are you staying?”

“At a friend’s.” Dylan didn’t respond to Sean’s touch, and Sean withdrew, troubled.

“I’m hoping you don’t mean a female friend. I don’t need Glory exploding while I’m living in her house. I’m not getting much sleep as it is.”

Dylan looked surprised. “Glory told me to go. Why would she care?”

“She didn’t mean for you to be running to the next woman on your list. You know that.”

Dylan gave him a tight smile. “You flatter me if you think I have a list.” He signaled to Andrea, who nodded and turned to the bartender. “Kim is kindly letting me stay in her house, if you must know.”