Free White Tiger (A Shifter's Unbound Novel) by Jennifer Ashley Page B

a Collar, uncontrolled, unregulated. She should fear him.
    But she’d seen the sadness in his eyes when he’d run the sword through the other Shifter, even though that Shifterhad been doing his best to kill Kendrick and his sons. Addie had witnessed Kendrick’s protectiveness with the cubs, and now with Addie.
    He wasn’t a rampaging, killing beast . . . All right, at least not all the time. He cared about his kids, he’d not let Addie take the blame for the shooting, he’d handed Addie five thousand dollars to help her out, and then shrugged when the police took it away from her. He’d spoken casually about buying this house, which was large, and probably on a lot of land. Not cheap. So somewhere, Kendrick had enough stashed that he didn’t have to be concerned about money.
    Addie spread out her arms and breathed in the silence. She’d regain her equilibrium then check on the boys and get them to bed. No worries about springing up tomorrow morning, with nothing to look forward to but putting on her waitress uniform and heading to the diner for another grueling day on her feet.
    Addie was here by her own choice, lying on a very comfortable bed, while a hot man who didn’t look at her with boredom was running around somewhere, insisting she take it easy while he did all the work.
    Dreams really did come true.
    *   *   *
    K endrick fixed the generator, which was located in a room under the house entered by the outside. A storm cellar, he reflected, built to withstand the tornadoes that sometimes marched across this land.
    Charlie helped him by training the flashlight on the gears and wires while keeping up a stream of talk.
    This had been a pretty famous ranch at one time, Charlie was saying. All the greats came out here in the early days of Hollywood—John Wayne, Clark Gable, Gary Cooper, Audie Murphy, Gene Autry . . . Charlie and his wife hadn’t taken over until the seventies but they’d seen their share of movie stars of that day. Kendrick let him natter on, suspecting the man hadn’t had anyone to talk to in a very long time.
    The generator’s problem was age and lack of lubricant.Kendrick cut out old corroded wires and spliced in good ones, then greased up the contacts. That would help out for a while. The entire generator would have to be overhauled or replaced, but Kendrick’s trackers could do that once the house was his.
    Kendrick nodded at Charlie to start up the machine again, and Charlie flipped a switch then pressed a dirt-encrusted button. The generator coughed once, then clattered to life.
    “Hot damn,” Charlie said. He slapped Kendrick on the back, which felt like a brush from dry twigs. “You did it, son. Will make a huge difference when it gets hot tomorrow. And a better breakfast.”
    Kendrick and Charlie cleaned up, then Kendrick told Charlie he’d go for a walk. He agreed to Charlie’s warning to watch out for the snakes and coyotes—he’d lived in Texas for a while and knew what it was like.
    The challenge of repairing the generator had kept Kendrick’s mind off things for a while but now he needed to explore, to find out where they were and what was out here.
    At least, that’s what he told himself as he walked away into the dark, quietly setting down his flashlight once he was far enough from the house.
    Kendrick did need to roam the bounds and make sure they were truly alone out here, but another reason he needed to leave was Addison.
    She’d gazed wistfully at him as she’d leaned against the bed, her top with its floaty material outlining every soft curve of her. She’d looked worried when she mentioned their sleeping arrangements, but then when he’d touched her hair, she’d closed her eyes, her body relaxing, wanting to move against his.
    Kendrick’s dormant mating frenzy had taken another breath. He’d had to get out of there before he did or said anything stupid—and irreversible.
    I wouldn’t want just sex with you, Addison. Not like your