Tiger Clause (Shifters At Law Book 3) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Epilogue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Tiger Clause

  Shifters at Law

  Sophie Stern

  Copyright © 2017 by Sophie Stern

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Cover designed by Melody Simmons.

  www.ebookindiecovers.com

  For my mate

  Oliver Lyon loves his town, his job, and his house. He's got a nice car and a nice routine and a nice life.

  What he doesn't have is someone to share it with.

  Then Anna walks into his life. The human is sexy, sleek, and seductive. She's everything a tiger could hope for in a mate, but there's more to Anna than meets the eye. She's in trouble because of an ancient clause that's rarely used in contracts anymore, but one that could potentially change her life.

  Will Oliver be able to help her before it's too late?

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Epilogue

  Author

  The Wolfe City Pack

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 1

  Anna

  The house in front of me is beautiful.

  It’s absolutely, positively, perfectly stunning.

  It’s the most beautiful house I’ve ever seen and there’s no way this is a legitimate law firm. No, it looks like the kind of house you go to if you want to talk with a fortune teller or if you have a ton of money and want to spend it on B&Bs.

  This isn’t the type of place someone like me belongs.

  This isn’t the type of place I should be going to.

  Still, as I look at the card in my hand, I realize there’s no way I have any other choice. This is the place. This is the time. This is the guy. Joyce wouldn’t steer me wrong, and right now, I don’t think anyone else could possibly help me. Time is running out, and I need to figure out a way to make all of this go away.

  I need to figure out a way to make everything okay.

  The Victorian mansion in front of me is enormous. It looms large and dark in the bright sunshine. Everything about it looks like it’s from a fairytale. The paint is perfect and even the attached gardens are blooming with flowers. There shouldn’t still be flowers. It’s autumn.

  Those flowers should be dead by now, but somehow, they’re still fighting.

  Just like me.

  I stand in front of the house, staring, trying to decide if I should go inside. It’s not like this is really an embarrassing problem. I’m not a criminal, after all. I’m not here because I made a poor choice.

  I’m here because I was born into a shitty family.

  And it’s not like that’s something I can help, but it is something I can fight against.

  Maybe.

  Hopefully.

  When I called Joyce yesterday, it was mostly to vent. I knew she worked with lawyers, but I didn’t expect she’d be able to get me an appointment with one of them. I certainly didn’t expect a last minute appointment.

  Still, she pulled through for me and now I owe her. Hardcore. Joyce is the sweetest, fiercest woman I’ve ever met. I wish I was more like her. Hell, right now, I wish I was more like anyone else in the world but myself.

  I can’t believe my mother did this to me.

  Hell, as much as I love my father, I can’t believe he did this to me. I was only 16 when he died. I was just a kid, and I know he had high hopes for me, but he screwed me with this damn clause.

  What screwed me even more was not knowing about the stupid thing until now.

  Now, I’m pretty sure it’s too late. I’m pretty sure it’s too late to do anything but kiss my trust fund goodbye because I know I’m never going to see it. I know I’m never going to be able to access it and that stings. It stings that the one thing my father left me is going to slip through my fingers because of some stupid, outdated clause.

  Fuck.

  “Are you selling something?” I look up and realize there’s a man on the porch. He’s standing there watching me.

  “How long have you been watching me?” I glare at him. Fuck him. Fuck this guy. Fuck this place.

  “Long enough to know you’re being super creepy.”

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I have no real reason to be pissed at this random stranger. For all I know, he’s here for the same reason I am: to get legal help. Still, I find him completely obnoxious, and I don’t like him interrupting my private thoughts. Those are for me.

  And my attorney, I suppose, once I meet the dude.

  “You’re just staring at the building,” he says, completely unbothered that I’m getting irritated with him.

  “I have a meeting,” I tell him.

  “Is that right?”

  “Yes. I’m supposed to be here.”

  “Correct me if I’m wrong,” he says, stretching his arms over his head. “But I don’t think your meeting is in the driveway, or even on the front porch.”

  I should say something snarky back, something mean, but right now, I’m just staring at this guy. He’s a shifter for sure. No one looks that lean, that graceful, without being some sort of cat. He’s a tiger, I bet. Yeah. I absolutely, positively believe this guy is a tiger.

  And he’s a sexy one.

  I’ve been with my share of shifters. Oh, I don’t have a weird kink or anything like that, but growing up in a town like Bradshaw, you get to know people for who they really are, and what they really are is shifters.

  I swallow hard, trying not to think about what it would be like to be on top of him. I shouldn’t be picturing his hard, lean chest beneath my palms. I definitely shouldn’t be thinking about the way I’d sink down onto his cock like it had been mine forever. I should be imagining what this guy whispers when he’s balls deep inside of someone. I shouldn’t be wishing that someone was me.

  Suddenly, his eyebrow lifts, and he looks at me in surprise. Fuck. Yep. He’s definitely a shifter. If he’s smelling my arousal from that far away, he’s definitely a damn cat. Fucking shifters.

  I growl and march up the stairs to the house. I ring the bell, ignoring him completely. I just need to talk to my lawyer and then I can go. I need to figure out what the hell I’m going to do to get out of this mess, and then I’ll leave.

  “It’s an office building, sweetheart,” he’s suddenly right next to me, leaning against the building. His shirt is way too tight for him. It’s showing off all of his muscles, and I can smell his cologne from here. He crosses his arms over his chest, further showing off his hard chest, and it’s all I can do to keep from throwing myself at him.

  “I know,” I say, but my voice comes out in a whisper. Yeah, this guy knows I’m completely horny, completely turned on right now, and he’s going to tease me, taunt me.

  I’
m not letting him get away with that, though.

  Shifter or not, I’m here for legal aid and that’s it. That’s all I came for. Not dick. I definitely didn’t come here for dick. Even though I’m sure he knows how to use his and yeah, I get the feeling that he’s very, very good at it.

  No.

  I shake my head.

  I’m not here for dick.

  The man leans in close to me. His breath is hot on my ear as he whispers to me.

  “You don’t need to ring the doorbell, love.”

  On impulse, I reach down and palm his cock. He’s hard, but his body stills instantly. Yeah, he wasn’t expecting that. Oh, I want to slide my hand up and down his length right now, but I don’t. Instead, I just hold him, gripping him, but I don’t look at him.

  “How else was I supposed to get you over here so I could touch you?” I whisper, and then I let go of him suddenly and walk inside.

  Once I close the door behind me, I let out a deep breath.

  “Stressful morning?” Joyce is walking down the hall toward me. She looks different in her work clothes. Professional. She looks like a woman on a mission and something tells me that when she’s in the office, nobody fucks with Joyce.

  “You could say that,” I say. I want to hug her, but she looks so pretty and put-together. This isn’t the Joyce I know from Saturdays. This isn’t the silly girl I know who likes to drink a little too much and then get binge-watch romantic comedies.

  No, this is a businesswoman, a shark.

  This is Joyce Lawson, and she’s fucking incredible.

  Joyce stops in front of me and smiles.

  “Don’t think you’re getting away without hugging me,” she smirks, and instantly, I’m in her arms. I hold Joyce tightly, like she’s a damn lifeline, and she hugs me back. “Everything is going to be okay, Anna. Oliver Lyon is incredible.”

  “I know,” I say. I read the bio on the law firm’s website. Casa, Fee, and Lyon are three of the best lawyers in town. I’d guess they’re all shifters, too. How else do you explain the “Casa Feline” joke in the name of their firm? I’d bet my money on Joyce coming up with that one. She had to have. She’s too clever. “House of Cat” my foot. I’ll bet the guys don’t even realize the joke.

  “Let’s get you to his office,” she says. “He just stepped out to make a couple of phone calls, but he should be back in soon.”

  “Of course.”

  I follow her down a narrow hallway and past a couple of doors. Then she pushes open the door to the cleanest, most pristine looking office I’ve ever seen in my life.

  “Is this the right place?” I ask.

  “Yeah, I know. He doesn’t do personal. That’s not his style.”

  “Apparently. It looks like he chose a room out of a catalog and just had it installed as-is.”

  “We can’t all be creative types,” a familiar voice says, and suddenly, my stomach drops. I grimace, but force myself to turn around. Sure enough, the man from the porch is standing in the doorway, and he’s looking very, very comfortable with himself.

  It can’t be him.

  “You’re back,” Joyce says with a smile. “Anna, this is Oliver Lyon: your lawyer.”

  Chapter 2

  Oliver

  Anna Donovan is nervous.

  Good.

  She should be.

  I’m not the type of man who gets all caught up in love and romance. I’m not the type of guy who meets a woman and it’s all love-at-first-sight. That’s not my thing, not my deal. Never has been.

  Still, she intrigues me, and it’s not often that this happens. Usually, when I meet a woman, there’s an exchange of sorts. I buy her things, and she doesn’t ask me too many personal questions. I take her to restaurants, and she takes me to the brink of ecstasy. I give her access to powerful people, and she tolerates the fact that I don’t like talking about myself.

  Or anything.

  It’s not that I’m shy. I’m just private. I don’t feel the need to have people up in my business. I don’t feel the need to make small talk where I ask about the person’s mother and they ask about mine and we have this feel-good interaction. That’s not what an attorney does. It’s certainly not what I do.

  But today is the first day a client has ever grabbed my dick before she even told me what she needed, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let this one slip by. Anna Donovan is weird, and quirky, and apparently, she’s completely horny. I like it, and I like her, and for some reason, I actually do want to get to know her.

  “Nice to meet you, Miss Donovan,” I say, holding my hand out. She looks at it warily, as if it’s going to bite her, but Joyce is watching us both, so she eventually decides to try to act normal. Anna takes my hand and shakes it.

  “Mr. Lyon,” she says.

  “Can I get you two anything?” Joyce obviously knows something is up between us, and she’s enjoying the awkwardness happening right now. Nothing gets by Joyce. It’s one of the reasons we hired her. She’s sharp as an arrow, but she’s also as annoying as a kid sister.

  It’s obnoxious.

  “We’re fine,” I say. At the same time, Anna asks for a glass of water.

  “I’m sorry,” she looks at me. “It’s just…really hot in here.”

  Joyce nods and disappears, and I head to my desk. My office is sparse: it’s true. I’m not here to make friends and I’m certainly not here to make sure my clients are super comfortable. I bill by the hour and I round up. My clients hire me because I’m the best: not because I pamper them with fancy chairs.

  “Have a seat,” I motion for Anna to sit in one of the chairs in front of my desk, and she does. I’m not a monster: the seats are comfortable. It’s just that I don’t have top-of-the-line furniture or a lot of decorations or any personal touches. There’s no hand-made quilt hanging over the back of my office sofa and there’s not artwork by my kids on the wall. I don’t have pictures of relatives or friends on my desk.

  It’s just a desk.

  I have a shelf full of books I use regularly and a second shelf of books I just like. There’s a small sofa where clients sometimes sit during lengthier consultations or where my two associates, Casa and Fee, sometimes hang out when we’re not busy.

  Today, I’ve got a mental image of Anna Donovan sitting on that couch wearing nothing but a smile, and in this fantasy, she’s reaching for my cock with her mouth: not her hand.

  She sits down across from me and crosses her legs. Then she uncrosses them. Peculiar.

  “Do I make you uncomfortable?” I ask.

  “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  Before she can answer, Joyce appears with a bottle of cold water. She squeezes Anna’s shoulder and shoots me a glare, as if to tell me not to fuck with her friend. Like I would. I’m seeing Anna as a favor to Joyce. My schedule is packed this week and I really don’t have time for pity cases, but I owe Joyce.

  We all do.

  She’s the backbone of this law firm. Yeah, Casa, Fee, and I are amazing attorneys. We’re incredible, really, but Joyce handles everything. She orders furniture and hires the guy who cuts the grass and orders food and makes sure we’re all drinking enough water. She’s sort of the unofficial mom of the house, and even though Casa and Fee both have wives and children now, Joyce still keeps things under control at the office.

  Joyce leaves the room and closes the door firmly behind her. Now I’m alone with Anna, but I don’t want to start discussing her case. Not just yet. Maybe it’s the cat in me, but I want to play with her a little bit first. I want to toy with her. I want to see what makes her tick.

  She’s sitting with both of her feet firmly on the ground now and her hands are planted in her lap. She’s wearing a tight, long-sleeved shirt and a pair of jeans that show off her ass. Yeah, I was looking. She’s curvy and cute with big, heavy breasts that would feel incredible in my hands and even better on my tongue. She taps the heels of her boots nervously on the floor as she sips the water and stares at me.

&n
bsp; “Why do I make you nervous?” I push her.

  Will the human push back?

  I doubt it.

  When people come to the offices of Casa, Fee, and Lyon, they’re looking for help. They’re scared and they don’t know where else to turn. Maybe they’ve been charged with a crime. Maybe they’re trying to figure out their legal rights. Maybe they need someone to represent them in court. Maybe they just need a will drawn up. It all depends, but one thing is the same: my clients are never where they want to be.

  No one wakes up one day and thinks, “Wow, what a beautiful day! I should get in some legal trouble that requires additional counsel.” That’s not the way the world works. Most people only know what lawyers do from watching crime dramas and that information isn’t exactly accurate.

  “Because I didn’t think you were my lawyer,” Anna says finally. “You’re wearing jeans and a tee shirt,” she motions to me.

  “I’m not in court today. I don’t have to wear a suit. This is my office, you know.”

  In actuality, she’s my only meeting of the morning and I wanted to feel comfortable while I did paperwork. I’ll change into a suit after lunch when I meet with my other, more established, better-paying clients. I wasn’t going to get dressed up for Joyce’s friend. I’m already doing her a favor by meeting with her. I don’t need to do anything else for her. I’m certainly not going out of my way for a human, no matter how delectable she looks.

  “Yes,” she says. “I realize it’s your office. You just caught me off-guard.”

  “Is that why you grabbed my cock outside?”

  She blushes eight shades of red. Her cheeks turn a beautiful rosy crimson, and she shakes her head.

  “I apologize for my behavior. I was out of line.”

  “Because you shouldn’t have grabbed my dick or because you shouldn’t have grabbed your attorney’s dick?”

  “I was irritated you knew I thought you were sexy.”

  Interesting.

  “What makes you think I knew you thought I was sexy?”