Free Of Love and Darkness by Tami Lund Page B

from the male species before in her life. She had been flabbergasted, and completely out of her element.
    It was daunting, to say the least, to have so many men all of a sudden vying for her attention. She wasn’t normally the type of girl men noticed with such . . . intensity. She was pretty enough to warrant a casual glance, maybe even an occasional lingering appreciative look, but she was well aware she was no striking beauty.
    Were they shifters? She couldn’t be sure, because she had no idea how to figure it out, without coming right out and asking. That fissure of awareness she had just before Gavin walked into her life, and then again just before the Rakshasa attacked her, hadn’t really happened while she’d been at work. Probably because she stayed in a perpetually heightened state of awareness all day today. She recalled the startling moment when she could have sworn she heard Gavin calling her name, and she frowned.
    “I thought Gavin would pick me up, since he dropped me off earlier.” She hoped her tone sounded light and casual.
    William made a face. “He’s passed out face down on your bed at the moment.”
    “What?”
    William glanced at her and then turned back to the road. “We have a few houseguests. He isn’t handling it very well.”
    “A few?” Sydney repeated, as she stood in the foyer twenty minutes later, surveying the scene in her living room. As a unit, five heads swiveled around and noticed her for the first time. An instant later, five shifters were gathered around her, taking her coat, her purse, offering to slip the boots off her feet, asking if she was hungry or thirsty or tired. Did she need a backrub? Ice cream? Was she free to go out next Tuesday?
    “Next Tuesday?” she asked in confusion.
    The young blond shifter looked apologetic. “We’ve already drawn straws for who gets the first date when. I just wanted to be the first to ask.”
    “You drew straws to see who gets to go out with me?” Sydney’s voice rose with her disbelief.
    She’d been on precious few dates in her life, and she’d had to work at it reasonably hard each time. Never had she imagined she would find herself surrounded by five men, all clamoring for her attention. Make that six, she thought, as she recalled William told her Gavin was passed out on her bed. Of course, he wasn’t clamoring for her attention like the rest of them. He simply assumed he had it.
    “Excuse me,” she said as she pushed her way through the crowd, to get to the hall leading to the bedrooms. “Pardon me. I’m just—I’m going back to my bedroom. I highly value my privacy,” she announced loudly. “No one is allowed anywhere near my bedroom without my express permission. Does everyone understand?”
    All five nodded solemnly.
    “Great. Okay. Well, nice to meet you all.”
    She hurried down the hall, slipped into her bedroom, and quickly closed the door, just in case someone out there wasn’t a very good listener and decided to follow.
    The light of a full moon shone through the windows, sending a pattern of white rectangles across the bed. She could see Gavin, who was indeed sprawled face down on her bed. She sighed and stepped farther into the room.
    His head was buried between two pillows. One hand hung over the side, while the other was curled into his shoulder. His long legs stretched to the foot of the bed.
    He’d changed, she noticed, into his own clothes. She spotted a black duffel bag parked on the dresser. Apparently, Gavin had gone home at some point during the day and gathered a few supplies. He, along with the five men in her living room, intended to stay awhile.
    Gently, so as not to disturb him, Sydney sat on the edge of the bed and lifted the pillow covering his head. He shifted restlessly, turned his head to the side, smacked his lips, and then settled back into sleep. She saw the bottle of whiskey sitting on the bedside table and lifted it. Empty. She returned it to its perch and then allowed herself