Moon Shifter 02 - Primal Possession

under his not-so-subtle evaluation.
    As he stared at her, she couldn’t help the way her own gaze strayed to his bare chest. His shoulders were impossibly broad and his chest was pure male perfection. All that strength. He wasn’t bulky or overmuscled, like those awful-looking bodybuilders. Just firm, but too broad to be called lean. Her gaze helplessly dipped lower and his stomach muscles tightened in response.
    The slight action jerked her gaze back to his face.
    “Like what you see?” The question was low and sensual and his dark eyes were knowing.
    Her mouth dried up and it took a moment before she could speak. She ignored his question and asked one of her own. “What are you doing on the floor?”
    “I wanted to be close in case anything happened.” Liam moved to his feet with the agility and speed of a jungle animal. Instinctively she stepped back. He didn’t advance on her or make a move, but his mere presence invaded all her personal space.
    Why did he have to make it so hard for her to keep her distance from him? He might be aggravating with his dominant attitude, but he still wanted to protect her. That made it difficult to get mad at him. Even though she wanted himgone—if only to get back some of her sanity—she also wanted to thank him for staying the night.
    “Are you hungry?”
    His dark eyes flashed and she knew what he was thinking before he said a word, so she preemptively cut him off.
    “For
food
,” she continued.
    Grinning, he shrugged. “If that’s all you’re offering, I’ll take it.”
    When he didn’t move, she had to turn sideways to shimmy past him. She ignored his soft chuckle. The frustrating man enjoyed making her uncomfortable. As she headed down the stairs, she could feel his eyes burning into her. Mentally stripping her. “Stop doing that,” she muttered.
    “Doing what?” he asked, his deep voice far too close for comfort.
    She resisted the urge to turn around. If she did, she was afraid of what she’d see on his face and afraid she’d like it too much. “You know exactly what. Quit looking at my butt.”
    “I can’t help it, Red.”
    Changing her mind, she risked a quick glance over her shoulder to find him staring at her appreciatively. The way he looked at her was enough to make any sane woman melt. She definitely shouldn’t have given in to the temptation to look. Sighing, she pushed open the swinging door to the kitchen and propped it open with an oversized antique bronze vase.
    “I don’t have much but I can make scrambled eggs, sausage, and cheese grits if you’d like,” she said as he opened her refrigerator door.
    “Grits?” His eyebrows pulled slightly together.
    “You’ve never had grits?”
    He shook his head.
    “Where’d you live before moving here?” She pulled out a carton of eggs. She knew he was originally from Scotland, but he’d hinted that he’d been living in the States for most of his life. And most of that toe-curling Scottish brogue was all but gone. Occasionally it slipped into his speech patterns and when it did, her entire body heated up.
    Liam started to fill her coffeepot with water. “All over, really. Upstate New York, Montana, all across the West Coast.”
    “Well, grits are a Southern thing, but I think you’ll like them. They’re sort of like polenta but a lot better.”
    He moved around her kitchen, surprisingly at ease. With the exception of her brother she never had anyone over in the morning. Liam made coffee and set the table while she cooked. Though he was silent, it wasn’t an awkward silence. As they moved around the kitchen, it felt familiar. Like they’d done it a thousand times before. A tiny warning bell went off in her head. She wasn’t supposed to feel comfortable around him.
    He even fixed her coffee the way she liked it. She didn’t like that they had the same tastes. As they sat at the table, the doorbell rang. They both froze for an instant, but Liam was quicker than her. She blinked and he was out of the chair and by the kitchen door. “Are you expecting company?” His voice was quiet but there was a deadly edge to it.
    December doubted that someone wanting to break into her house would ring the bell, but she didn’t say that out loud. He looked like he was in battle mode and she didn’t think he’d appreciate the sarcasm. It was barely seven, but her friend Kat had told her she was coming by to pick up a box of books. “I completely forgot my friend was coming by this