The house itself wasn’t terrible, a light, faded blue that could certainly use a fresh coat of paint, with white-shuttered windows and a little wooden porch that was in bad need of a good sanding and lacquering.
As he pulled into the drive, he could feel his annoyance growing at the thought of other people’s laziness creating this mess.
Above him, the morning sun began to crest over the far-off peaks, a warning that today was going to be warm, and he shed his jacket before coming up to the front porch and knocking on the door.
Inside, he heard the shuffling of feet, followed by several excited barks, then more shuffling.
The door opened just a crack as the woman inside peeked out into the sunlight. It then opened all the way, revealing a well-dressed Kate in a tight skirt with a white blouse and matching jacket. She wore soft-looking sandals and held a very strong-smelling cup of coffee in her hands.
“Hi. Liam, right?”
He nodded.
“I’m glad you showed up on time. I was afraid you’d take your time arriving and make me late for work,” she said, pulling an errant strand of her light-brown hair back over her ear, the rest of it tied in a ponytail.
“Yes. And your name is Kate?” Liam replied, trying to sound formal but unsure he was doing it right.
The steel dragon had never been on someone’s doorstep, introducing himself.
“Yes, that’s right. Your boss, um… Aegis, right? He spoke very highly of you,” she said, raising a hand to block the barrage of sunlight bearing down on the front of her house.
Liam instinctively moved a step to the right so he could block the sun’s glare from reaching her face. She smiled at him appreciatively, her full lips curving and her hazel eyes more clearly visible now that the sun wasn’t in them.
Whoever this woman belonged to was a lucky man indeed.
“I’m surprised he had anything to say about me at all,” Liam joked, feeling off kilter with how attractive Kate was.
“Well, regardless, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” she said, reaching out a hand, revealing well-manicured nails with pink color on them.
Not one to mess with human protocol in front of a lady like this, Liam took her hand in his to return the shake.
But the moment his skin touched hers, he felt a rush of energy through him, like pure light, hot and overwhelming, coursing through his entire body from head to toe.
And as the warmth abated, a single word stuck in his mind, uttered by the dragon deep within him.
Mate.
Mate.
And as quickly as the feeling was there, it was gone, leaving Liam confused and shocked. Suddenly, he realized he was still holding Kate’s hand, and he shook it lightly, then returned it.
Kate just glanced at him with a raised eyebrow, lips slightly pursed.
All at once feeling incredibly awkward, Liam looked to the side and said the first thing that came to his mind.
“So what do you want me to do today?” he asked, his throat dry and scratchy and that one word still in his head, pounding like a beating drum.
Following the direction of his gaze, Kate looked out at the yard, walking out in front of him and leaning on railing of the small deck.
“What is there that doesn’t need doing?” she exclaimed in consternation.
It was hard not to be distracted by her curvaceous silhouette outlined by the morning light. That and the fact that he had a single word stuck in his mind like an annoying song on repeat.
But how could she be his mate?
They were interrupted by harsh words coming from nearby down the street.
“Hinton, I’ve had it with this dump of yours.” The man who said it was walking toward them down the sidewalk, probably in his late thirties or early forties, balding head covered by a dirty ball cap, short, sagging body clothed in equally dirty clothing.
Kate whirled around to face the man and then moved to the front of the porch. “Buck, I know you’ve been patient with me, and I’ve actually just hired someone to clear it. Are you happy?”
The so-called neighbor who went by the name Buck stared up at Liam in disgust, then turned his frown back to Kate. “I’m not just talking about your yard. It’s your fence. It’s over my property line, and I want you to tear it down. It’s my right,” Buck said smugly as he crossed his arms, glaring at Kate from the bottom of the steps.
“We’ve been over this before. I’ve even checked with the county. Someone moved the property marker. Though it’s not too hard to wonder who,” she said, standing her ground and returning the glare.
Buck winced at the show of resistance, then doubled down on his attack, ignoring Liam.
“Now look here. It’s on my land. And I have every right to knock down that shit fence of yours today if I want to. Hell, maybe I’ll go do it right now,” Buck said, marching up the steps to come face to face with Kate, who was beginning to shrink a little from the sheer aggressiveness of the bastard.
Liam didn’t even know what came over him. One second he was watching a neighborly dispute; the next he was in front of Kate, grabbing Buck by the front of his jacket and lifting him off the ground like a bag of garbage.
Buck yelped as his feet and arms flailed in the air, followed by a stream of threats and curses.
“Let me down. I’ll sue. I’ll sue!” he cried out.
Liam’s grip tightened around the man’s collar, and Buck made a strained “hork” sound as Liam pulled him closer, face to face so Buck could hear him.
“Now you listen, Buck. If you ever, ever talk to Kate like that again, I’ll tear your house down with my own bare hands. And then I’ll break you in two like a piece of wood. Like a twig,” Liam said under his breath, fire boiling at the back of his throat like a furnace.
Rage was heating his blood like molten metal. The desire to tear a person limb from limb had never been so strong in his entire life.
Kate’s initial shock at the sudden turn of events quickly turned to worry, and she swiftly came up to Liam and grabbed at his arm.
“Liam, let him down!”
Liam didn’t want to. He wanted to keep watching the man in his grasp turn redder. Wanted to make sure he got the picture. No one threatened his mate.
“House, rubble. You, twig. Understood?” Liam growled angrily.
Buck nodded, wide-eyed, and Liam did as Kate asked and put Buck back down.
The man stumbled backward, then practically sprinted back in the direction of his home like a terrified deer.
But as Liam looked down at Kate, pleased with himself, it was very clear she wasn’t so pleased.
“What came over you? That was crazy,” she said, cocking her hip and furrowing her brow.
“He shouldn’t have been so aggressive.”
“Yeah, well, it’s not the first time. And that doesn’t mean you get to just lift him into the air like that,” she said incredulously.
Liam wanted to argue that he’d done the right thing. That Buck’s anger was unacceptable. But the last thing he needed at the start of his first day was to lose his mate’s trust.