Moon Shifter 02 - Primal Possession

thrown out. She lived by herself and ran her own business. Cooking when she got home was not one of her priorities.
    He half turned toward her and she was surprised when his expression softened. “Ah, sorry. I wanted to heat something up for you. I doubt you ate at the restaurant and after what happened, I figured it would do some good if you got something warm in you.”
    Having
him
in her would probably do her good. Her eyes widened as the unexpected thought sliced through her. Embarrassed, she felt her face flush, but thankfully her stomach growled loudly. It sounded like a loud freight train, so she played off her obvious embarrassment at her wayward thoughts. She knew he couldn’t read her mind, but she was a terrible poker player and Liam just seemed to know what she was thinking sometimes. “Guess I am hungry. There’s some pesto pasta salad in there and you don’t even have to heat it up.”
    By his expression it looked as if it was the last thing he wanted to feed her, but he pulled out the containerand filled a bowl. After placing it and a fork in front of her, he proceeded to open a couple cans of soup. The adrenaline that had been racing through her earlier was slowly subsiding and she felt almost sluggish in her movements.
    Her hand trembled slightly as she picked up her fork. Frustration surged through her at the action. She didn’t know what was wrong with her. At the sound of the humming microwave she looked up to find Liam leaning against the counter staring at her.
    And not bothering to cover up his desire.
    “Don’t look at me like that,” she said quietly.
    “Like what?” The question was practically a purr.
    “Like…” He wanted to take her up against the wall. Or on the kitchen table. Or maybe the floor. Hot and hard. She knew he’d be better than anyone she’d ever experienced. The primal pull she felt toward him scared the crap out of her sometimes. Made her feel totally out of her element. “…like, you know what,” she finished lamely.
    When he didn’t respond, she cleared her throat. “Did you call my brother?”
    He stared at her for a long moment, those dark eyes seeing something he liked. Finally he spoke. “Yeah. He should be by soon. He sent someone to check out the car and he’ll be here to pick up the keys. Hopefully he’ll get some prints and we’ll know if that guy is who he said he was.”
    “Is Parker…did he say if he was staying over?” She stared down at her bowl as she asked the question.
    “He can stay over if he wants,” Liam said. Not exactly the answer she was hoping for.
    She tried a different tactic. “You don’t have to stay over if Parker is.”
    He grunted something incomprehensible as he pulled out a bowl of soup. Normally she’d be more aggravated by his stubbornness, but tonight she
wanted
him to stay over. She wouldn’t admit it aloud but the thought of him under her roof made her feel safer than if she had the best security system on the planet.
    Liam placed another bowl in front of her, then sat across from her with a bowl of his own. She inhaled and smiled. Chicken noodle. What her brother had always made for her growing up whenever she was sick. Even though this wasn’t the homemade kind, it still smelled good. After polishing off the pasta, she normally wouldn’t still be hungry, but for some reason she was famished. She felt as if she hadn’t eaten for days. Probably had something to do with her earlier adrenaline rush.
    “Thank you for doing this,” she murmured.
    He grunted again. It was something he seemed to do often, but she couldn’t figure out his moods or what the grunts meant exactly. Liam did it when he was annoyed, but he also did it when she thanked him for anything. As if her gratitude surprised him. She didn’t understand that.
    Silence normally didn’t bother her, but the stillness that stretched between them tonight did. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that she’d been out with another guy when she’d known it would hurt him. While she hated that part, she desperately needed to keep her distance from Liam. When she was around him, it was difficult to think straight. Tonight it was even worse. She felt wildly off-balance and that spicy, earthy scent of his was driving her crazy.
    “Are you sure you can stay away from the ranch tonight?” she finally asked, just to break the tension.
    His dark eyes flashed with something she didn’t recognize.“I’ve been doing it the past few days.