Free ShiftinDirty-ElizaGayle by Eliza Gayle Page A

perfect?” Nikki laughed. “Trust me they aren’t.”
    “Spoken from the most perfect female specimen I’ve ever seen.”
    Instead of the laugh Sienna expected, Nikki’s mood turned somber, her expression closing down.  
    “I’m sorry. I have the bad habit of blurting out the most inappropriate things at the worst possible times.”
    “It’s not you. It’s me. I’m not a normal shifter. Actually none of us here are. This little twenty mile slice of land is what we call the neutral zone. Or as some like to call it the land of the misfits.”
    Sienna stared at Nikki thinking she must be crazy. All of them were gorgeous and ripped and in Nikki’s case perfect. Even Bhric with his angry scowl made her hormones sit up and take notice.  
    “That makes no sense to me.”  
    “Maybe one day soon we can sit down and I’ll tell you all about it. For now—food. Do you like scrambled eggs? I’m not the best cook but I can usually make those without screwing it up.”
    Ooh a flaw. Finally.  
    Sienna tried to clamp down the glee the thought caused. It wasn’t very nice to be looking for flaws in a hostess who’d so far been nothing but nice.
    “How about I cook then? This kitchen is a dream and I’m dying to make some homemade donuts. I tried earlier, but I kinda got interrupted before I could finish.” Because he distracted her with his wicked tongue. Not that she needed to tell Nikki that part.

    Nikki perked up. “Donuts?”  
    Sienna laughed. “It’s a shifter thing right? Gage seemed pretty excited about them too.”  
    “We are pretty fond of sweets. Can I watch?”
    “Only if you sit on that stool there and relax.” She pointed to one of three stools tucked under the large island that dominated the middle of the room.  
    “Already getting bossy. I’m guessing you’ll fit in here just fine.”
    Sienna’s back stiffened and she turned away to hide her reaction. “I don’t know…” She really didn’t. Things were still happening way too fast. Meet, kiss, find out he’s a shifter, have mind blowing orgasm, run for our lives and meet the family all in one day. That wasn’t fast, it was insane.
    “I take it you aren’t yet comfortable with him claiming you as his mate?”
    She walked over to the pantry and began pulling down the supplies she needed for breakfast. “Would you?” She shook her head. “Sorry, that was probably rude. You’re a shifter with a mate so obviously it was different for you.”
    Nikki snorted. “Well, yes and no. I definitely knew what becoming mated meant in advance, but that didn’t mean I wanted a mate. I made poor Dean chase after me for months before his brother circumvented me and decided to tell him I was pregnant.”  
    Sienna caught her rubbing her belly with reverence from the corner of her eye.
    “You see. I was a loner who wanted nothing to do with packs or clans or their rules. I lived for my work and nothing much else mattered.”
    “Oh? What do you do?”
    “Did. Let’s just say I’m on hiatus for now and as for what, that’s a long story for another day.”
    Sienna wanted to prod her for more about her job, but as a guest in their house she chose to let it go. “So if you didn’t want to mate, how did you end up—”
    “Pregnant? Just lucky I guess. I wasn’t looking for a relationship, but shifters do still get horny like everyone else. So I went looking for a one night stand and well, one thing led to a shifter miracle and bam, I was pregnant.”
    “What were you going to do? Have the baby on your own?” This conversation sounded like something she’d have with best friend Marcy, not someone she just met.
    “I guess I really didn’t think it through. I was too mad. Mad at Dean. Mad at the world and especially mad at myself. It felt like a big cosmic trick from the start.”
    “I met him at a bar and knew almost right away that we might be supernaturally connected.”
    “Good Lord. Does everything with shifters happen at a bar?