Free Shadows of the Past by Brandy L Rivers Page B

your eyes, and behave, because I will hurt you in a very unpleasant way.”
    Pouting, he closed his eyes. “I won’t even look, so I won’t be tempted to put my foot in my mouth.” And somehow, that was kind of sweet.
    She giggled and his breath stuttered. Amethyst kept herself quiet, and just went on with the piercing. He was right, he liked the pain because he was hard before she got the needle through the first nipple, and he groaned in a way that was totally pornographic .
    That was when she shut off her imagination and locked up her libido. She wasn’t ready to explore any naked fun time with anyone just yet.
    Except , she couldn’t help imagining that big sweet sheriff who couldn’t keep his eyes off her the night before. Mmm, so yummy, and she just knew he’d be better without clothes. The fact that he felt he needed to protect her was a total bummer though.
    Right, she needed to pay attention to piercing the really edible werewolf who kept making those delicious noises as she worked . Normally the way his muscles jumped at her touch, and the way he groaned would be enough to make her crave a little attention, but not this time.
    She was too busy craving the attention from Sheriff Eyeball who was probably way too much for little Amethyst to handle.
    By the time she had the second ring in place Clint looked up at her with pure lust. That should have been enough to make her body respond. She was a nymph, it came with the territory and that was usually embarrassing in front of any wereanimal who could smell desire.
    There was no twinge of lust, no hint of need, nothing. What’s wrong with me?
    He probably couldn ’t help his wolfish grin. “I’m behaving.” He sat up, and his muscled abdomen rippled. She turned away as he moved to the mirror while she cleaned up.
    Amethyst looked back and caught him playing his fingers over his nipples, and an aroused gasp left his mouth. That look in his eyes would have made her ache for him any other time.
    Worry crept in. Was she broken after Carl? She forced those questions away.
    “Al l right,” she said. “You’ve had enough fun. Now get going because I don’t want to know what you’re going to do. Really, I don’t.”
    He chuckled . “When I see you at the bar, because I know you’ll be there eventually, I’ll buy you a drink or few. I even promise to behave then.” With a wink, he started for the door. “Good bye, my lovely gem.”
    Clint really was sweet, in a twisted sort of way. She didn’t see why Fallon made him out to be such a bad guy. Well, there was the fact that he was a total masochist. She had always been curious about that scene.
    She smiled back at him . “Bye Clint.”
    He took a step into the hall before he turned back with a wave, and a sexy little grin.
    Her phone rang, and she saw Paavo’s name. “Hey, big brother.”
    “You didn’t call when you got there,” he chided. “I had to call the shop to set up an appointment with you. You’ll be piercing Mathis and me tomorrow.” She squeezed her eyes shut and waited, praying he wouldn’t make her pierce somethin g too intimate. It was her brother and his lover… icky. “Don’t worry, we just want matching earrings. Nothing further south, and it’s a good excuse to see my little sis. So don’t argue.”
    “I won’t, just bring me something sweet. Please.”
    “Of course. And I have a question.”
    “What ?” She sighed.
    “I hear you finally used your gifts to get rid of that piece of shit loser.” There was heat in his words, but only because he probably had a good idea of what she did.
    “Who told you?” she whispered.
    “Gabriel mentioned it. Said you raced out of the shop talking about finally sleeping with Carl to get rid of him, and then he goes and kills himself. Something’s fishy about that.”
    Her guilt rolled back in, and she tugged at her hair. “I just gave him a suggestion to not want to be anywhere near me. That he didn’t want me. Geez, Paavo, he