AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She was quiet for a little while, and he let her have the silence. “Will you come home with me?” she asked.
The happy purr stuttered in his chest. “Yes.”
“I don’t know what will happen tonight, but I don’t want to be without you.”
“Just being with you is enough. I’m not expecting anything but for us to get to know each other.”
She kissed him and then moved off the bench. “When do you get off work?”
“Normally not until we’re closed, but I’m going to ask Titus to let me take off.”
“He won’t be mad?”
“Nah. I never call out.”
“Good. I wouldn’t mind sticking around, though.”
He stood and took her hand. They walked back into the bar. “I just need to talk to Titus for a minute and get everything squared away and then we can go.”
He left her at the side of the long counter, then gestured for Titus and spoke to him quickly, explaining that Mercy was his heart-match and he needed to spend time with her.
“Heart-match, really? That’s awesome,” Titus said, glancing to where Mercy stood watching the band. “You probably want to leave.”
“I’d like the whole weekend, actually. She doesn’t know anything about shifters, and I want her to understand what it means to be with me.”
Titus’s brow rose. “Do you know what it means to be with her?”
In the back of his mind, Barron had been fully aware of what mating with a human would mean for him. Pride laws were very specific when it came to mating and membership. In the Kedrick pride, like most prides in the States, males and females weren’t allowed to mate out of their own kind. Doing so – choosing to mate with another type of shifter, supernatural creature, or human – meant expulsion. He’d have to vacate his home, and he’d never be able to hunt with the pride again.
“I do,” he said emphatically. His cat wouldn’t allow him to even consider walking away from her simply because she was human. She was his and he was hers, and no matter where they lived, they’d be their own pride and he’d be the happiest male on the planet.
“Okay,” Titus said. “I’m happy for you. I’ll move some people around and cover for you. You can come back to work on Monday.”
“Thanks.”
Barron held out his hand to Mercy and she joined him. “Titus, this is my heart-match, Mercy.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Titus said.
He took her through the bar and out the front door, introducing her to Diesel.
“Some guys have all the luck,” Diesel said, shaking his hand. “Congrats, man. Truly.”
“Thanks. I’m off until Monday.”
“Oh damn, I hope they don’t call Mayhem to fill in. He scares everybody.”
“Mayhem?” Mercy asked.
“One of the pride members,” Barron said. “He’s an anomaly – a black-furred lion. He’s not mean; he just looks pissed off all the time. Makes humans scatter.”
“Fight or flight, huh?” she asked with a smile.
“Exactly. Have a good night, D.”
“You, too.”
They left the bar and headed to the parking lot. “Where’s Ree’s car?”
