Playing With Fire

by Adrienne Woods et al.

  Heads were already turned my way; the deep rumble was a dead giveaway for yet another Harley-Davidson. Next to the bikes stood heavily bearded men, most in cut off T-shirts and leather jackets sporting the club colours. Arms crossed over their chests they looked even bigger. The smallest stood at least six feet. Others towered over him. Dark eyes that shone with a slight red glow followed my progress as I expertly turned the big twin and parked it backwards against the curb, its front tire pointing towards the street. I kicked the stand out, turned the engine off and let the bike slant on its stand before I got off and turned to face the bikers.

  I brushed the hair from my face with my right hand and pushed my sun glasses up on top of my head, finally exposing my eyes. There was recognition in the face of one of the big guys, but confusion too. I smiled internally, just letting a hint of it adorn my lips.

  Taking a step away from the bike I mounted the curb and made my way towards the entrance of the dark wooden cabin. The stained logs gave the whole thing a western look; like it had been transported from some third-rate western movie to this spot. The rusty signs and bullet holes in the wood enhanced the image. The pane of glass in the window to the right of the door was shattered and shards were missing. Through the gaps I saw a dark and smoke-filled room. Not very inviting, but hey, I didn’t care.

  Nobody stopped me. They just stood where they were, stoically keeping their position and only moving their heads to follow the movement of my butt in the more than skin-tight pants. The leather was so supple that it hugged every inch of my lower body and gave the impression of being painted on. The bulge in some of the jeans I passed was proof of the effect that I was having on the congregation here. My smile widened. It worked every single time. Human or not, men were men. Their reactions were something I could always rely on.

  Inside the room the atmosphere was dank and depressing. The air smelled rank: sweat, stale beer and BBQ the main ingredients of the sticky stink that assailed my senses. Yech. I guess the place wasn’t a regular on the food and drink gestapo’s check list. Reminder to myself; never eat here.

  I stopped two paces inside the door, letting my eyes acclimatise to the oppressive light and just as much to let the eight bikers take a look at me while I observed them. My in-your-face arrogance wasn’t lost on them. I felt two of the bikers from outside slide into the room behind and to the side of me. Ok, now there were ten. I liked the odds.

  A big burly guy stood up, shoved his barstool away from the bar, hoisted his pants up and smiled crooked teeth at me. He looked at the guy next to him who was still nursing a beer bottle, smiled and stepped my way.

  ‘Well honey. Look at you.’

  I stayed put. Let him come to me. The others in the room waited as I did. Smiles all around. Mine was superficial. Not coming anywhere near my eyes.

  ‘You lost?’ I swear he was starting to drool as his eyes roamed over my breasts and down to the painted-on leather pants.

  I shook my head. ‘Nope.’

  He looked around at his friends and laughed again. ‘Not lost. Well, then there could only be one reason for your coming here.’ He spread his arms out to encompass all that was in the room. I didn’t answer. He moved closer and started to circle me. Like the dog he was, he sniffed at my scent. Confusion showed in his eyes. The scent didn’t match what he expected. Familiar, but no pheromones to indicate I was in heat. He shrugged his shoulders towards his companions and continued his circular movement. His left hand picked up a lock of my hair and let it slip between his fingers. His hand continued down over my jacket back and almost touched my butt. There was a collective sigh from the others as he continued until he stood in front of me once again.

  ‘You looking for a man?’ he asked. ‘Or maybe more than one.’ That elicited more laughter laced with lust. ‘You look like you could take more of us. Maybe I won’t just keep you for myself,’ he continued.

  ‘I didn’t come for you,’ I finally said. ‘I have standards. So why don’t you get out of my way, like a good little pup.’

  He towered head and shoulders over me, had at least a hundred and fifty pounds more muscle and fat than I carried on my frame, which meant that the surprise at my words quickly turned to anger. I made him look bad. My words caused more laughter, now aimed at him.

  I held his eyes. Not wavering at the red that quickly spread over the whites and pupils. The scent of Werewolf emanated from him like a mist. Fur sprouted from his forehead, dark brown and long. To make thing worse I lifted my right hand in a shooing motion to emphasise my request that he moved.

  ‘You bitch.’ How cliché. But hey, I hadn’t expected anymore from this pup. ‘Now you’ve done it. Made me mad. You’re going to hurt for that.’

  ‘Someone might,’ I answered slowly, clearly pronouncing every syllable. ‘If you don’t get the fuck out of my face.’

  Again laughter. More red in his eyes. More fur.

  He looked around, then faced me again. He cracked the knuckles of his right hand in the palm of his left, then brought them up to his lips where he slowly licked them in anticipation of my blood that would soon coat his hands. A wicked smile pulled his lips to the maximum as the red shone bright in his eyes. Pulling back his right fist he prepared to stomp me in the face. The knuckles never made contact with my face, or me at all for that matter. I easily sidestepped and moved under the punch, closing in on him instead of backing off. I raised my knee and in one fluid motion viciously made contact with his groin. The sound of the thud rang loud in the unified silence that followed my invasive move. My would-be assailant’s breath whooshed out of his mouth as a silent scream began to form. It never left his lips. I kicked him in the jaw as he doubled over, his hands grabbing at his wounded groin. He went out for the count.

  The room was silent. You could have heard a pin drop. No one even breathed. The bikers looked at each other, unsure how to proceed. I waited patiently. I stood my ground and looked them in the eye. There were more red-laced eyes now, more fur pushing through. Lust had quickly turned to anger. They finally made up their collective mind and one by one they stood up from their chairs and started to advance towards me. All except one.

  ‘No,’ he said without raising his voice. As one they stopped their advance. OK. This was the guy I had been looking for. The one my small demonstration had singled out. The pack alpha. I smiled again.

  One of the guys was reluctant to stand down. I felt the tension. Felt and read the body language. Would he defy his alpha? Now that would be interesting.

  The alpha stood up and casually left the dark corner where he had been sitting to walk over towards me. He was all I expected, more than I hoped.

  Now it was my turn to be impressed.

  He was almost as tall as the guy I knocked to the ground. His wide shoulders held a mass of muscle that flowed easily into the large biceps of his arms. His broad chest strained at the black T-shirt that stretched to almost breaking point. His waist was tapered. His jeans covering well-muscled thighs that pulled the material when he stepped forward. Tough leather boots finished the picture. Not that my eyes went anywhere that low. I got side-tracked by all the muscle between the neck and the knees. I do love a well-muscled man.

  He stopped about a metre in front of me. Clever. Out of reach of my knees. I smiled, more at the impression I had made than towards him. He smiled back, kind of. His lips stayed closed, just the edges curved up slightly. Most of all, his eyes shone.

  Chapter 30

  The guy was handsome. Even more so up close. His dark features, long black hair and sparkling eyes struck a chord with me. Not so much my heart, I’m not like that, but any other emotion just sky rocketed. Especially the hot ones. This guy pushed my buttons, and he hadn’t even spoken to me yet.

  ‘So what are you doing here?’ His voice was deep, warm, with an edge. ‘If you’re not here for a lay, what then?’

  ‘Never said I wasn’t.’ Maybe not the best reaction, but what the hell. The attraction was clear and present in the
electricity that filled the air between us.

  The smile widened and his stark white teeth showed. Even, solid choppers; the incisors slightly longer than a normal mortal’s. But then. This was no mortal. This was the alpha of the Waisland Werewolf pack. His pack was legendary. They were strong, held their massive territory against rival packs and ruled the woods. Well, most of the woods. The rest and the mountains belonged to the Sabres. Metisse’s clan.

  There was an uneasy truce between the two and I was about to test it to its limits.

  ‘It’s hot out.’ I thought I’d change the subject before I jumped his bones right there and then. ‘The sign said beer and the bikes out front indicated it was my kind of dump.’ I shrugged my shoulders in what I hoped was complete nonchalance. The deepening in his smile belied that. Well, it was worth a try.

  ‘That it is,’ he answered. ‘Hot in here too.’ His gaze travelled down from my face over my breasts, down past my naked bellybutton with the shiny piercing and on to the leather pants. The temperature inside just shot up by more than ten degrees. Thank God I was wearing my leathers. Any jeans would have advertised the arousal that I was feeling right now. And this lot had sensitive noses. As his eyes roamed back up, they lingered on the hard nipples that poked through my shirt. Shit. There was no hiding those.

  ‘Get the lady a drink,’ he called out. ‘Come sit with me.’ He turned and went back to the corner where he had been sitting when I came in. It was darker there, cooler, not that I noticed. His left hand pulled a chair out from under the round wooden table. For me, I guess. Being the good girl that I am, I took the seat.

  The bottle of beer that materialised in front of me was frosted, beads of water painted a trail as they slowly moved down the glass to pool on the table surface. It looked so inviting. I slowly picked it up, unscrewed the cap and put the lip to my mouth. I tilted the neck a little and let the cold liquid slowly flow down my throat. Man, that was good.

  I heard a chuckle to my left and turned my head slightly to observe the alpha. ‘I needed that,’ I said very redundantly.

  ‘Yeah,’ he answered amused. ‘Cause it’s hot outside.’

  We sat in silence for a few minutes. I was thankful for the short reprieve and attempted to get myself back under control.

  ‘When did you arrive in town?’ he finally broke the silence. I turned my head towards him and placed the almost empty bottle back on the table.

  ‘Today.’ Small white lie. But hey, I didn’t see him getting to the “good” side of town any time soon. I guessed I could get away with being less than honest. Besides, the person I was now had just arrived. The one Metisse knew was a totally different me.

  Every now and then his lips twitched ever so slightly as he drew in a deep breath. Still trying to get my pheromones, huh? Well, good luck with that.

  ‘Just passing through?’

  ‘That depends on what I find here.’ I picked the bottle up again and drowned the last of the liquid. He lifted his right hand for a moment and then placed it back on the table. New bottles of beer appeared on the table and he pushed one my way.

  ‘Maybe I can give you a reason to stay,’ he joked.

  ‘And what would that be?’

  ‘You’re looking for your mate.’ He was direct. No beating about the bush here.

  ‘Maybe.’ I drank again, to let it sink in. ‘And what makes you think I’ll find him here?’

  ‘You already have.’ That had to be the shortest courtship ever. Bit too quick for my liking. OK, my body was screaming at me that I could at least try him out and see, but I’d just have to ignore that. Giving in so easily would endanger my plans. It would solidify his position as the alpha, as my pack leader and me as the submissive pack member. Nope. Not going to happen. Didn’t fit in the image I had of the future. I just smiled sweetly.

  ‘Yeah, well then, I’d know, wouldn’t I?’ I alluded to the imprinting that was the bane of the Werewolf. A mind-blowing attraction between a male and female Wolf that pulled them together from the first moment they met. There was no denying the imprint. To try and ignore the attraction would make them physically ill.

  ‘You do.’ He was so sure of himself.

  ‘We’ll see,’ I said drowning the last drop of beer from the bottle and standing up to leave.

  His hand felt hot when he took my arm. I felt tingles up and down my body, mainly down. ‘You can’t fight it,’ he emphasised. I just smiled my answer. I reluctantly disentangled my arm from his heated grip, nodded to him and made my way back out of the small building to my bike. The bright sun and the heat hit me like a two-by-four. I hadn’t realised how cool it was in the bar, nor how dark. My eyes had adapted to the lack of light, another plus for my heritage.

  I blinked and pushed my sun glasses back down over my eyes from the perch they had on top of my head. My gloves were still on the bike’s seat where I’d left them. That’s a fickle thing I have. I always wear gloves when I ride the bike. Whatever the temperature. It has to do with road rash. Sure, I heal a lot quicker than humans, but it’s still painful and highly unpleasant, so why run the risk. Helmets I discard. Too stuffy. And not good for the image. There’s something about long red tresses riding the wind that attracts men. These kinds of men. I put it down to a necessary risk.

  The bike started with a deep rumble. The sound comforted me. Like a massive beast’s heartbeat. I love the power it lets me feel. The strength. It’s a close second to the way I feel after the change. Only more acceptable in the human world.

  I pulled the bike upright, folded the kickstand in with my foot, kicked the bike into first gear and rode off. There was no need to show off any more than I had already done.

  I’d achieved my goal. I stirred feelings in the alpha of the pack. Feelings he would not be able to ignore. I knew it would be him. Who I was, dictated that only the best would be good enough, and he was it. Images of future encounters started to fill my head. I have a lively fantasy and this hunk of a man had truly inspired me. He would be feeling a lot more than attraction. Imprinting was a miracle and a curse to the lupine kind. They risked certain death by ignoring the call. So handy that I wasn’t susceptible to that side of the coin. Only he didn’t know that death was the outcome, whatever he decided.

  Now all I had to do was wait for a few days, until the need within Gabriel reached unmanageable heights. Then I would show my face, and body, again.

  Chapter 31

  I watched from a distance. The parking lot at the bar was full of bikes. Many of the riders lined up outside the doors, milling around. Nervous looks were exchanged. Every now and then I heard a loud crash from inside the bar, just before another unlucky pack member tumbled out of the doorway. Finally, Gabriel stood in the opening. His dark features were haggard. Deep bags under his eyes testified to the lack of sleep. The bright red of his pupils was a dead giveaway that he was fully into the imprint misery.

  It had been three days since my first and memorable visit to the pack. And man, had I turned this lot on their heads. It was all progressing exactly as I planned. It was time to make contact again. I needed him to be desperate, but not in a way that he would do anything really stupid. I had to be careful. Gabriel was extremely volatile now that he was battling the recognition. He had remained quiet for the first day. The pull was there, but it was manageable. Then the full moon threw all his resolve and restraint out the door. I timed my arrival well. The lunar cycle enhanced the imprint’s effect. It was full moon now. Would be for another night. He was losing the fight.

  Gabriel sent his acolytes out to find me. They roamed the south side of town, one daring to move over the boundary in the deep of the night, but only just. A few blocks, no more. That was Metisse’s territory. The pack was not welcome there. Trespassing would be punished with at least a massive beating. Any intrusion into the other’s patch might spark off an unprecedented violent reaction. One that would bring the whole town down with it. Humans and all. That was not in the plans.

  I had t
o diffuse the situation before it got out of hand.

  I retraced my steps through the forest from where I had observed the bar, got into the car and made my way out of the woods. Once at my safe house I changed clothes, started the bike and drove off in the opposite direction to Waisland. I wasn’t ready yet to let anyone know where to find me. A diversion was in order.

  Two hours later the deep rumbling of the bike broke the tranquillity of the church grounds in the south side of the small town. I parked the bike outside the church and sat down on a bench, waiting for what would happen. The distinct sound of the big twin had been heard down the road at the pack’s HQ and it was just a question of time before they came to investigate.

  Sure enough, a chopper appeared at the end of the street, the rider staring in my direction. He took out a mobile and held it to his ear. I couldn’t hear what he said. He replaced the mobile back in his jeans and waited, the bike still idling, probably in case I decided to skedaddle again. Now that would be fun. A high-speed chase. But no, not now. Things were too volatile for fun and games.

  Another bike thundered up to the sentinel. Gabriel. My legs momentarily turned to jelly, just as well I was sitting. I can fight imprinting, no problem. But that didn’t mean that I wasn’t susceptible to the charms this guy has. The heat spread from between my legs up through my body to stiffen my nipples. I tried in vain to control my body. Stop the pheromones from broadcasting what I was feeling. A bit was okay, but not too much. I had to stay in control. Every metre he came closer made it more difficult. I closed my eyes and let my head rest on the back of the ornate carved bench. The sun beat down on me and helped me order my emotions. I was here for a reason, remember.

  The bike pulled up in front of me, the resonance of the big engine travelling up from the street through my legs to my overheated groin. I heard the kick stand being extended and the bike shut off as Gabriel let it slant to park. The sound of his boots on the gravel, and then on the grass filled my ears. His scent attacked my nostrils; heavy musk coming off his tormented body. I finally opened my eyes and let them travel up the beautiful macho man in front of me. From the tight jeans, over the bulge at the fly, past the six-pack and the massive pecs to his dark burning red eyes. The heat in my core almost pushed me over the edge. He had a hell of an effect on me. Lust, pure lust. I wanted to jump his bones, rip his leather jacket, open his jeans to free the erection that was pushing at the zipper and feel him in me.