Kissing Reno [Brac Village 3] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) by Lynn Hagen (top fiction books of all time txt) 📗

if you do, the coyote won’t be happy with you and mating a shifter is forever. You don’t want to spend your life being resented by the beast your mate carries within him.”

And Baker had thought the only exciting thing that would happen today was getting a chance to watch his recorded shows after work. Now he had a whackjob coming after him with the intent of running him to ground.

Chapter Two

Baker glanced over his shoulder every few seconds as he walked hurriedly toward his apartment. Kenway had sent him home right after their talk, promising that Baker was still going to be paid even though he wasn’t there.

He didn’t want to be hunted. Baker wasn’t even sure how he felt about being a shifter’s mate. Although he had seen Ross and Kenway together, and envied their close relationship, having a coyote coming after him was not his idea of romance and courtship.

Baker jumped when someone rushed past him. It wasn’t his stalker.

The one good thing he could take comfort in was the fact that the stranger who hunted him didn’t know where Baker lived. He threw up a thanks that—

“Wandering the streets alone?”

The deep and taunting voice made Baker stumble, nearly hitting the sidewalk. He caught himself and turned. Standing off to the side was the man he was running from. Baker swallowed as he took a step back, nearly colliding with a trash can that was on the sidewalk near the curb. “Go away.”

One side of the man’s mouth twitched as his espresso-brown eyes raked over Baker in a lurid fashion. He made no moves toward Baker, but his easy stance belied the strength he could see in the guy’s coiled muscles. “Nothing wrong with admiring the view.” The statement was drawn out so lasciviously that Baker felt as if the words were caressing him like a seductive lover.

Baker pivoted on his heel and began to walk again. But he changed direction. He didn’t want the psychotic man to know where he lived. That was the last thing he needed. Kenway had said this was some sort of mating dance, but it felt more like a predator hunting his prey. Baker didn’t understand it, and he didn’t like it.

Moving into the noisy Café, Baker stole a glance over his shoulder. His pursuer was nowhere in sight. He was gone that quickly. It only solidified in his mind how much trouble he was truly in. He had a feeling that the deadly bad boy act wasn’t an act at all, and he would do well to steer clear of the guy.

Nerves frayed, Baker ordered an iced coffee and then took a seat at one of the last empty tables in the place. As he listened to the workers call out orders, and inhaled fresh-brewed coffee and ground beans, he wondered how long he was going to have to sit there before it was safe for him to go home. The stranger couldn’t wait on him forever. Could he?

After an hour of watching people come and go from the shop, Baker tossed his empty cup in the trash and left, hoping his pursuer had better things to do than follow him around. Although he knew that shifters existed, Baker didn’t know that much about them. He had a feeling Reno wasn’t going to be giving up.

Digging his key out of his pocket, Baker quickly let himself into his apartment and then slammed the door behind him. He locked the door, put the chain in place, and leaned his back into the wood, breathing a sigh of relief.

Now all he had to do was avoid Mr. Stalker McCrazy for the rest of his life and he would be fine.

* * * *

Hearing a chain rattle against wood, Reno knew his mate had locked himself in his apartment. The temptation to enter the dwelling and claim the human was nearly maddening, but his coyote wanted to play some more. He wanted to tease and caress, to make his mate so wound up that he was begging Reno to take him.

Maybe coyotes really were deranged. Other breeds thought so. But the mating dance was a part of who his people were. Reno remembered watching as the adult males in his pack would find their mates and then the hunt would be on. The game had always fascinated him.

Now that it was his turn, Reno wasn’t so sure it was more mentally unbalanced than fascinating. He didn’t hold one ounce of regret that he was now consumed with the dance. It was what it was. But he could have done without the look of fear in his mate’s blueberry-colored eyes. Reno had never remembered seeing that when he was younger. The person being chased always looked thrilled, flushed, and happy.

It was damn puzzling to him.

He hadn’t actually been following his mate. Reno was at the feedstore when he walked out and spotted the man. As casually as he could, he had leaned against the wall of the store as his mate passed him by.

What had disturbed him was the fact that his mate had been so busy looking over his shoulder that he hadn’t seen Reno in front of him. No one should walk down a street that distracted. That was dangerous in a town with not only shifters, but vampires, and the occasional rogue. His mate would be a nice snack for any rogue roaming around here, hiding out and waiting.

He had followed the human to make sure he made it home safely. Maybe a talk was needed. The human had to be made aware of his foolishness.

“Baker’s not home,” an elderly woman said as she opened her apartment door to stare at Reno who had been hidden in the shadows of the hallway. “The young man works during the day.”

Was she talking about his mate? Reno hadn’t caught his name. He also didn’t like the fact that this woman was telling a complete stranger about her neighbor’s comings and