“Duncan,” said Liam. “You guid?”
“Aye. I’m more than guid, cousin.”
Catrina stared at Duncan for what felt like forever before putting a hand on her hip. “Have we met before? There is something oddly familiar about you.”
“No,” he said, though the word made his chest tighten as if he was wrong. “I do nae believe we have.”
Liam pulled out his cell phone and grinned before walking around the side of the bar. Duncan had a pretty good idea of who his cousin was phoning.
Their grandmother.
It was on the tip of his tongue to protest Liam’s suggestion that Catrina was something more to him. Instead, he found himself reaching out and touching her cheek tenderly.
She stepped closer to him, and her scent moved over him again.
He was thankful she’d insisted on the hand sanitizer, or his wolf would have gone ape shit once more at the smell of roses and honey.
Catrina’s palm came to his chest, and she looked up at him, searching his face for something. She took a deep breath—and then moved back quickly. “You’re a distraction I don’t need.”
“Aye, I’m sure I am,” he said, dipping his head, his lips finding hers.
He knew the second his mouth connected with hers that kissing her was a really bad idea. Truth be told, he’d known before he did it but couldn’t seem to stop himself. The temptation of her lush lips was simply too great to resist.
Her lips parted, and he took that as an invitation for more. He eased his tongue into her mouth, finding hers there, willing and wanting. The kiss sent jolts of need slamming through him. He wanted to ravish her. To take her to the ground, spread her out, fuck her, and claim her.
Claim her?
The idea of doing something so drastic made him jerk back, breaking the kiss. He touched his lips, his breathing harsh.
She stared up at him, appearing confused. “Duncan?”
“Och, I dinnae mean to do that,” he snapped. “It was a mistake.”
As the words left his mouth, he wanted them back.
Her eyes widened a second before she nodded. “Right then. A mistake. Got it.”
“Lass,” he said, reaching for her hand, only to have her pull away. “I dinnae mean it was a mistake. I meant I should nae have done that.”
“Isn’t that the same thing as being a mistake?” she asked, something off in her voice.
“Aye…och, no,” he said, confused. He wanted to kiss her again. He resisted.
“Did you mean to kiss me or not?” she demanded.
“I meant it,” he said, sighing. “But I should nae have done it.”
“Why?”
“Because now I want to bend you over and fuck you,” he said evenly. “Even more so than I already wanted to do before I kissed you.”
Her jaw dropped then snapped shut. With that, she turned and basically ran into the bar, leaving him standing there.
Liam reappeared from the other side of the bar and was off the phone.
Duncan sighed, knowing he’d gone and fucked things up with Catrina. “What did Grandmother say?”
Liam smiled wide. “Congratulations are in order. It would seem the lass is indeed yer mate, cousin.”
Duncan swayed, and for a second everything around him spun. The next he knew, he was on his knees once again.
Liam neared him and bent, his hair falling partially into his face. He swept it back and grinned. “A position you seem to know well tonight.”
Duncan stared at the bar, knowing if he went back in he’d more than likely do something exceptionally stupid—like claim Catrina in front of everyone. “We should go to the hotel. We can discuss the darkness in the area there. Far from her. And we’ll nae be talking any more of mates. Grandmother is wrong. That could happen, right?”
“Sure. I guess it’s possible she’d be wrong once in over a thousand years.” Liam smirked.
“We should go.”
“If that’s what you want. Do you wish to tell yer sweetie good-bye?”
“Arsehole.” He looked in the direction of the bar. “I need to clear my head.”
“You mean time to wrap yer mind around the fact yer single days are over?”
Duncan nodded and rubbed the back of his neck. “Aye. Liam, what are the odds I’d have dreams of the demon again and return on the anniversary weekend of the death of the couple, and just happen to find my mate?”
Liam’s smile faded. “Cousin, if yer right, and there is something dark afoot here, Catrina’s presence paints a target on her. A huge one. Especially if the demon is holding a grudge against you. I do nae think it’s too pleased you foiled whatever nefarious plan it had for that child you saved years ago. If so, we should see if Grandmother knows how to reach out to the wee one, who would be an adult by now. If the demon is coming for you, it may be coming for her, and now, it will more than likely also come for Catrina.”
He paled, and his stomach tightened at the thought of Catrina being harmed in any way. “What if it lured Catrina here like it did me? What if it pulled her here to kill her and make me watch?”
“Then we need to find it before it finds her. We should start by retracing yer steps from years ago," said Liam. “Where is the first place you came when you arrived in town back then?”
Duncan pointed to the bar.
Liam’s body tensed. “Shite. I do nae think the odds are in yer favor, cousin. And I do nae think we should let yer mate out of our sight.”
“Think she’d let me just steal her away and get her far from here?” asked Duncan, sounding hopeful.
Liam gave him a hard look. “Only if you wish for charges to be filed against you. There are laws against that verra thing.”
“Shite.” He’d have commented further or at least made an attempt to sound as if he could piece together an intelligent response, but his runes flared as evil seemed to swell around them at a rate he’d never felt before.
Liam jerked around, evidently sensing it as well.
Both men focused on the bar, their magiks rising in unison. Instantly, Duncan’s thoughts went to Catrina. She was in the bar with the evil.
He surged forward, his intent to run into the establishment.
Liam caught his arm as the sense of evil died quickly, only to reappear behind them, from the woods that surrounded the bar’s parking lot.
Duncan’s knowledge of the area was limited, but from what he could recall, the woods blended into the state forest and if he was correct, cutting through them could get them back to town far faster than the old highway out front.
The evil increased and when he caught the scent of rotting flesh and sulfur, he knew what the source was.
The very demon he’d been in the area hunting. Without hesitation, he took off running in the direction he sensed the darkness coming from.
His cousin joined but took it one step further, shedding articles of clothing as they ran. Liam leapt high into the air. Fur sprouted over his body a second before he changed forms into a wolf.
Show-off.
If Duncan dared try such a thing with as touchy and suppressed as his wolf had been as of late, he’d either end up stuck in animal form for months or flat out never get a handle on himself again.
No.
He had to stay human and he had to kill the demon before it could hurt his mate.
Chapter Eleven
Catrina wiped her sweaty palms on her jean-clad thighs and swallowed down the lump in her throat. Her pulse sped at a rate that made her worry if a heart attack was on the horizon.
Nervously, she glanced at the back exit and did her best to calm herself. It didn’t work. Especially since there was an incredibly hot Scottish dude on the other side of it. One who wanted her.
Duncan wanted to have sex with her?
No. He wanted to fuck her.
That’s what he’d said.
Bend her over and fuck her.
As her pussy clenched, she understood that was what her body w
anted too. Yet here she was inside the bar, acting like a coward.
“Go out there and talk to him,” she said softly, trying to give herself the pep talk of a lifetime.
She shook her head.
She couldn’t.
Now was the time for hunting the demon that had killed her parents. It wasn’t the time to hand over her virginity to some random guy she’d only just met.
But wow, what a guy he was.
As she managed to gather courage—which she’d had to muster from her toes up—she turned to go out back once more.
“There you are.”
She spun to find one of the fraternity boys there, standing just a few inches from her. She gasped, having not seen or heard him approaching. Yes, Ralph had at some point jacked the sound of the music up even higher, but even so, she should have sensed the newcomer near her.
She hadn’t.
He grinned, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. It seemed disingenuous and it made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end, which was silly as the guy was hardly a threat.
“I was wondering if you wanted to maybe grab a drink with me sometime,” he said. “Maybe even get lunch or dinner tomorrow.”
Her gaze snapped to the small bicycles printed on his outer shirt. He really wasn’t her type of guy in the least. Though, prior to the night starting, she hadn’t even realized she had a type. Seeing Duncan and feeling his lips on hers confirmed she more than had a type.
Tall, dark, and Scottish.
She pressed a small smile to her face. “Um, thanks, but I don’t think so.”
Hurt flashed through his eyes. “Oh. Okay.”
She glanced past him to see his group of friends all watching the back of the bar, no doubt to see if he was successful in his quest for a date.
His shoulders slumped, and he nodded, turning to leave, looking so defeated.
Guilt for being somewhat creeped out by him eased over her. He was clearly harmless, right? Why was she overreacting?
With a sigh, Catrina reached out quickly and touched his upper arm. “Listen, it’s nothing personal. I swear. I’m not really in a position to be having drinks with anyone.”
He stared past her at the exit. “Unless they’re a big Scottish guy?”
She eased back slightly, her gaze narrowing on the guy. “You should go back to your friends now.”
He didn’t budge.
Ralph came walking back, drying his hands on a towel. “Everything all right?”
Seizing the moment, Catrina shot forward, in the direction of her boss. “Yes. I was just about to wash my hands and then check my tables.”
Nodding, Ralph set his sights on the boy in the bicycle shirt. “Something I can help you with?”
“No,” said the boy sharply before he headed in the direction of his friends.
The second he was out of earshot, Ralph leaned close to her. “That one was brave enough to ask you out for drinks?”
“I get you’re more than human, but the music is blaring extra loud now. How did you hear all that?” she questioned. “This place is hardly quiet, and let’s be really honest here, your sound system is crap. My hearing is off the charts and I’m currently having trouble hearing anything behind the crackling from the speakers.”
Laughing, he winked. “Ever think this place isn’t as crappy as it looks and the sound system isn’t as broken as everyone thinks? That there could be a method to my madness?”
She glanced around. “Nope. Pretty sure it is.”
He grinned and strolled off.
Catrina used the moment to head to the restroom and wash her hands. As she caught her reflection in the mirror above the sink, she touched her swollen lips, thinking about kissing Duncan.
Her toes nearly curled.
The man sure could kiss.
With a sigh, she closed her eyes, reflecting on the events behind the bar. If she was ever going to hand her virginity over to someone, Duncan would be it. Not a creeper in a bicycle shirt who didn’t like being told no.
Her thoughts wandered to what it might be like to surrender herself fully to Duncan. To give in to his urge to fuck her.
Her entire body heated all at once and she nearly moaned.
Suddenly, the air around her began to chill at a rapid rate and her magik flared, steeling itself around her like armor. Her gaze snapped open and she found herself looking at her reflection—but she wasn’t alone.
Red glowing eyes looked out from the very demon she feared. The one she’d come home to hunt.
It was there, just behind her, its hand on her shoulder, even though she couldn’t feel it, its long dagger-like claws close to cutting through her skin—watching her watching him, in the mirror.
And like in the nightmares she’d been having, it sniffed her hair deeply, as if savoring her scent. Its hand moved from her shoulder to her ponytail. Lifting her hair, it took another deep breath, staring at her over the top of her head.
She was paralyzed with fear, as often happened in her dreams.
It stood just over seven feet and could have easily touched the overhead fluorescent light that began to flicker rapidly. It had deep dark gray skin that was cracked in areas, the flesh peeling back to reveal muscle and, in some spots, bone.
It opened its mouth, showing off a double row of jagged teeth, and as it had done nineteen years ago—it spoke.
“Ca-trin-a,” it pressed out in a slow hiss-like manner.
All the endless research she’d done, all the years she’d spent preparing to face it head on seemed for nothing as she remained frozen in place, incapacitated by fear.
Remembered pain surfaced, and for a second she could have sworn she heard the same noises she had on the night her parents had been murdered.
The sickening smell of sulfur filled the room and twisted her stomach, nearly making her vomit then and there.
Snap out of it.
Move.
Do something.
Anything.
Her magik burst free and she jerked, looking up and finding she was totally alone in the restroom. There was no smell of sulfur, no red glowing demon eyes, nothing but a sink with rust stains, walls filled with messages about calling various numbers for a good time, and bumper stickers that were worn and faded, containing the numbers of bail bondsmen.
The lights were fine, no longer flickering.
She turned quickly, her breathing rapid, her heart in her throat. Touching her upper chest, she continued to stare around the restroom, looking for any sign that her mind had not snapped. That she’d actually seen the demon, not just imagined it.
As she thought about what it had said, her name, she stiffened and then let out a long, slow, shaky breath when she realized it had never said a name before in the dreams, and it had never appeared to her during her waking hours since she was little.
Had sleep deprivation left her hallucinating?
She’d read an article about the effects on the human mind of going without sleep. The idea she could have imagined the demon there with her was not only plausible, it was highly possibly, seeing as how it would have to have strolled through the bar unnoticed.
Sure, the crowd at the bar tended to mind their own business, but even they’d notice a frigging seven-and-a-half-foot-tall demon making its way through the dump.
It was obvious she’d simply imagined the demon there. “I need sleep. I have demon on the brain.”
After taking a few more minutes to collect herself, Catrina exited the restroom…
And ran smack-dab into the guy in the bicycle shirt. He was holding a coffee-flavored beer in his hand.
Reaching out fast, she caught the beer bottle, steadying it before stepping back. She narrowed her gaze on him. “What are you doing outside of the women’s restroom?”
He lifted a hand. “Sorry. I was waiting for you. I just wanted to apologize. I was rude before and I’m sorry. That’s all. I’ll go.”
“Thank you,” she said with a slight nod.
<
br /> He smiled, and this time it seemed real, not put on for show. “I hope you and Scottish Guy work out.”
“Um, thanks?”
He snorted. “That was weird, wasn’t it? I’m just trying to make up for being a jerk. I’ve had one too many tonight and my buddies put me up to asking you out. Sorry again.”
“No worries,” she said, still unnerved by what had happened in the restroom.
He reached for her.
She flinched.
“Sorry. You have a hair on your shoulder,” he said, retrieving it and holding it up for her to see.
She exhaled and calmed slightly. “T-thanks.”
He lifted a brow. “You okay? You look a little pale.”
Nodding, she wiped her hands on the front of her apron. “Sleep deprived but fine. Thanks. I should get back to my tables.”
He stepped back, letting her pass without incident.
Catrina hurried toward the bar, checking the clock on the wall on the way. In a few hours the bar would close and she could head home, collect her thoughts, and try to get at least a little sleep. If her mind was giving her a warning, she needed to heed it.
She was nearly to the bar when the hair on the back of her neck stood on end once more, causing her to pause in her step and glance over her shoulder. She half expected the demon to be there.
It wasn’t.
No one was there except for the patrons at the bar, going about their business as if they weren’t standing on what she was fast starting to believe was a front door to Hell.
“Catrina, order up,” said Ralph from the kitchen at a level that managed to travel over the still overly loud music.
Her lip curled at the idea of getting anywhere near the food. The scare she’d managed to give herself in the restroom had already done a number on her constitution; adding the smell of Ralph’s food could be her undoing.
“The health department should really close you down,” she said softly.
Ralph’s laugh could be heard throughout the bar, it was that loud and deep from the kitchen area.
Chapter Twelve
Seduced by the Highland Werewolf: An Immortal Highlander Novel Page 7