Indirect Lines: Halle Shifters, Book 5 Read Online Free PDF Page A

I’m investigating. There are people who will kill you just for having the last name Barnwell. Others will discover you exist and…” He shuddered. “I can’t let anything happen to you. If we’re not mated—”
    “They won’t smell me on you?”
    He nodded soberly.
    Shit. She hated that his reasoning made sense. “Damn it.”
    “It’s the best way to keep your little Hobbit ass safe.”
    Hobbit. That was his nickname for her. It sucked that she only came up to his armpit, but he could have come up with something cuter to call her than Frodo Baggins.
    Still, she always got goosebumps when he called her that. It was his name for her, and she was becoming pretty fond of it. Not that she would ever tell him that.
    “And if the Senate is after your family, then I have to keep them all safe, and not just because you’re cute. If they know I’m mated into the family, they could take not only you but any of them as hostages, and I’d do almost anything to get them back.”
    Goddamn motherfucking shit humpers. How in hell was she supposed to argue with that? “This sucks rocks.”
    “It does.” He put his hand over hers, twining their fingers together. “But not forever.”
    She bit her lip, conflicted by his reasoning and her own desires. The mate dreams were driving her crazy, but she couldn’t find any words to use to argue with him. “Damn it.”
    “I can’t push you away anymore.” He winced. “I can’t see that pain in your eyes. Not again.”
    “You should have told me all of this before, jackass.” But she caressed his hand, hoping to take out some of the sting of her words. “I’m not stupid, you know. I can understand ‘Danger, Will Robinson! Danger!’”
    That earned her a laugh. It might have been the flailing robot arm that did it. He was still holding her other arm hostage. “You’re cute. Like a Pomeranian, only louder.”
    That did it. She glared at him. “One year.”
    “Hmm?” He blinked, looking confused.
    “That’s my time limit.” The burgers were placed in front of them, forcing their hands apart, but Heather’s focus was all on Barney. She shook her finger at him. “If you haven’t claimed me by then, I’ll track you down and give you a bite to remember.” She picked up her burger and held it out. “Deal?”
    He smiled as he clinked burgers with her, like the bun-wrapped meat was the finest crystal champagne flute. “Deal. I figure my Bear won’t hold out longer than that anyway.”
    She blushed brightly. If his Bear was getting as pushy as her Fox, she might just be mated well before the deadline.
    With a contentment she hadn’t felt in quite some time, she bit into her burger, happy just to be in her mate’s company.

Chapter Four
    Barney was packing his overnight bag, but his mind was stuck on the conversation he’d had with Heather the day before. She’d actually understood why he needed to wait, acceded to his wishes and given him a time limit he could live with.
    He was still reeling with surprise. He’d thought she was going to fight harder to mate him after seeing what Chloe and Jim, her cousin’s mate, had gone through. Chloe had waited four years for Jim to claim her, suffering through the mating dreams while struggling with a traumatic brain injury that left her with a serious speech impediment. And while part of him was pleased Heather had understood his need to wait, another part of him, the Bear part, had wanted to yank her over that table and mark her right over her barbecue bacon burger.
    Barney zipped his overnight bag shut. Thinking about Heather wasn’t going to get him any closer to a solution. For that to happen, he had to head to Sedona, Arizona, the current seat of the shifter Senate and home of the Leo, Sebastian Lowe. Sedona was a perfect city for the Senate to make their home, with plenty of open spaces, parks and enough tourism that people visiting from other states wasn’t anything remarkable. Barney showing up with two idiots