Published by EVERNIGHT PUBLISHING ® at Smashwords
www.evernightpublishing.com
Copyright© 2018 Serenity Snow
ISBN: 978-1-77339-621-7
Cover Artist: Jay Aheer
Editor: CA Clauson
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
GETTING NAWTY WITH THE COYOTE
Serenity Snow
Copyright © 2018
Chapter One
The elevator was nearly empty tonight as Isa Mann rode it to the ground floor. Eyes focused on the door, which in her mind, was suddenly the wooden wall of a large barn. She turned her head and it was like panning from the wall to the middle of the room where the woman she’d just met stood.
The blood sprayed with each gnash of sharp canines, and the woman’s eyes gleamed with horror as she struggled to get free. She lay on her back in a ripped dress, legs spread wide, as he drove into her. Her face, bruised, scarred, and swollen was contorted in pain.
Then she did get free, and the three men laughed and jeered as she ran for the door on legs spattered with blood and marred by scratches and bites. But hard on her heels was the man who’d been waiting for his turn.
Isa’s heart beat sluggishly as she closed her eyes to escape the last moments of a girl’s life that still haunted her dreams. But there they were inside her mind in vivid detail. Her hands shook, her skin turned cold, flesh pimpling.
The bell dinged and she gasped, the sound catapulting her back to reality. The car emptied out, and Isa punched the disc as silent tears slid down her cheeks to burn her skin.
She’d been a coward. She’d gone there to prove what she’d found was a lie, but all she’d found was truth in shades of red, black, and blue.
She pressed her fingers to her lips and bit back a sob as the car jerked and continued its downward glide.
Isa swallowed convulsively as she quickly wiped at the tears feeling as dirty now as she had every morning for the last two weeks when she woke. None of the men had scented her in the barn that night thanks to the fact she’d bathed with a man’s soap and donned a shirt belonging to one of the men from the party.
The elevator stopped, the bell signaling she’d reached the first floor. Isa climbed off and strode out into the evening. She’d just come off a twelve-hour shift at the small hospital in Mystic where she worked.
As she hurried over the smooth pavement through the deserted lot, she glanced around, the tattoo of her rubber-soled shoes heavy on the concrete. Isa knew someone was watching her and had been since she’d returned from Hartsland.
She’d witnessed three murders and one of them had been someone she’d known well. The others had been strangers, but every detail of that night was burned into her mind, leaving her trapped in a cage she’d never escape from until she did something.
But what?
You didn’t betray pack.
Her phone’s loud ring made her jump, nerves already frayed.
Isa stopped to open her shoulder bag and dig the phone out. “Hello?” she asked tentatively.
“We really need to talk, Isa. You’ve been avoiding me since you returned from Hartsland.”
The voice in her ear was dark and dangerous and that of a man she’d once thought could do no wrong. He’d been the epitome of strength and goodness whose reputation should never be marred, but her whole view of him had shattered with a single picture.
“I don’t really think we have anything to say to each other, Jerry,” she murmured, hand shaking on the sleek device. “Anyway, I have plans tonight.”
“With her? I know what you do with her,” he said.
Isa closed her eyes briefly as the words scraped over her roughly. “It’s none of your business,” Isa said coldly.
“Do you think your mother would be proud of you when she learns you’ve been sneaking off to that club and playing whore for one of those women? Your family will be disgusted by you.”
Isa knew that—that’s why she’d tried so hard not to be a lesbian, not to give in to temptation.
“Somehow, I think that would be overshadowed by the monster that you really are,” she said softly. “Stop calling me, or I’ll go to the police. I’m sure there are laws against stalking.”
The silence told her she’d gone too far, but Isa already knew her days were numbered if she didn’t find someone to trust with the information she had soon.
“You’ll be sorry, Isa.”
“I already am,” she replied, her voice quavering, and she ended the call. She was sorrier for allowing those two girls to die while doing nothing more than filming their deaths as she watched, legs cramped and frozen in icy fear.
She was done keeping his secrets as of tonight. She had a friend who wasn’t without power, though she might not be able to help. She would be able to give her advice on how to proceed and maybe she’d be able to protect her.
****
In the stand of trees across the street from the hospital, he watched out of sight as she climbed into her car. He knew where she’d go. Isa was terrified and alone. Her best friend was still out of town, providing no one else for her to turn to.
He looked down at his phone to type in a message. He’d planned this down to the last detail once he’d realized she might know, not just suspect. Isa would derail his plans if she went to that woman at the club, and he couldn’t allow that to happen.
His phone rang, and he accepted the call immediately. “Yes?”
“Are you sure?” The voice on the other end of the line asked.
“There’s no other choice,” Jerry said coldly. It’s time for us to make our move. Do you have the material?”
“Yes, and it will be handed off to him with instructions on where and how to place it, but it won’t get her out of the way for long,” Bradley said quietly. “Even if it does, that still leaves us with a threat.”
“Sydney won’t be able to take over the pack—she’s no longer part of it,” Jerry said coldly.
“No, but there are at least two other women who can take over, and there’s nothing to say that Summerfield won’t just combine both packs to keep us from getting the lands. This could slice us if it backfires.”
“That’s why they call it Russian Roulette. Are you in or out?” Jerry demanded at the slight hint of reticence in his companion’s tone. There could be no fear or hesitation on either of their parts if they were going to drive those women out of town.
He still had plans for their land. Just because light had been shone on part of his life three weeks ago, didn’t mean he had to give this up. Plus, he just wanted to be free of those damned coyotes.
“I’m in.”
“Then, let’s get this party started.”
Chapter Two
Mica Clawer’s gaze slid slowly around the room from the stage where one of the popular dancers was shaking her moneymaker in the crowded lounge where customers were enjoying the show.
A few dancers circulated along with a couple of waitresses dressed in little to nothing. One of them was the new waitress-bartender who’d blown into town two and a half weeks ago looking for work.
She had an interesting resume of popular strip clubs in four states as a dancer and bartender and it was easy to see why. The cappuccino-brown-skinned beauty wore a short skirt that ba
rely covered her ass, and a cami that bared her shoulders and arms which were covered in blue and silver body glitter that formed a wolf head on the back of her shoulder.
She moved with grace, her inky black hair put up in a couple of Bantu knots tonight. More than one patron was checking her out, but no woman had a right to touch unless the girls invited and desired it.
Kamari Sang gave a little shake of her hips and the three women at the table all tucked bills into the waistband of her skirt before she gave them an engaging smile and moved on. The damned girl was too sexy for her own good and the way she worked it, she could be up on that stage stealing the show.
Their eyes met across the room, and Kamari caught the beat of the music and did a slow roll of her hips and shimmy of her perfect breasts before running the fingers of one hand down her throat, to glide between the valley of her breasts. Her hand flattened on her stomach, and she winked before meeting a customer’s gaze.
The woman tucked a bill into the band of Kamari’s skirt and Mica growled, the coyote inside her enraged at the patron’s presumption. Her hands clenched into fists and her claws tried to slide free.
The animal side of her wanted to challenge the wolf shifters at the table where Kamari was stopped. That’s when Mica tore her gaze away, realizing she was as riveted as ever and in much danger of losing her focus and her head.
She turned her full attention back to the dancers on the floor as she wrestled her coyote back under control.
“That was the always coy, Baby Love,” the husky female voice announced from just behind the stage. “Welcome the sexy Ms. Subline.”
Cheers broke out and music started anew, but Mica barely gave the blonde a glance as her eyes followed the two dancers now on the floor.
“Hey, gorgeous,” Kamari said in a low tone.
Despite the music, Mica heard her fine, but that was one of the first things all dancers and bartenders were taught. Never shout at the security. What the human women who came to work here didn’t know was that that a great deal of Coyote Closet’s patrons and staff were shifters and the club was owned and run by coyote shifters.
Their senses were superior to human ones, allowing them to see with clarity in the dimly lit room and hear even a whisper.
Mica didn’t look away from the room, but she didn’t have to. The soft scent of orchid-rose drifted to her announcing Kamari’s presence. She’d caught that interesting perfume even over the alcohol, sweat, and lust roaming around the club.
The coyote half of her was curious and wanted to track that scent and kiss every part of Kamari’s body the perfume scented. Then Mica wanted to kiss, to lick, and bite each part until Kamari moaned her name.
“What?” Mica asked blandly. She did spare her a look then, the coyote wanting to caress the skin that looked so soft despite the shimmery glow of it. Her black hair was almost straight and the slight tilt to her eyes and high cheekbones gave Kamari a unique exotic quality making it hard to discern her race or ethnic group.
“Candy said you wanted to order a drink.” Kamari’s tone was cool, but her eyes flashed interest that was bright as a neon sign, but it was gone quickly.
“Water.” She didn’t drink on the job, not wanting to dull her senses.
“Yeah. I figured, so I brought it with me,” Kamari murmured and held up the tray she carried.
Mica looked down at her then, taking in the chocolate brown eyes that were as unreadable as ever. Kamari was an enigma because, despite the congenial tone, her eyes were a mysterious well of secrets.
And Mica found herself wanting to delve into those riddles, to find out what gave this woman such intriguing mystique.
“Thank you.” Mica plucked the bottle up, eyes going to Kamari’s lips for a split-second. She throttled a growl of desire.
Kamari gave her a nod and walked away.
What was it about the damned bartender-waitress that had her coyote so curious?
The almost detached manner? The sexy façade that made her animal growl?
Mica twisted the cap from the bottle and took a long drink.
Damn, the woman just made her hot, and she was a sweet distraction, Mica didn’t mind watching.
She couldn’t afford to be distracted by a sexy woman while she was working. Maybe she’d just ask her out. Mica did get the feeling Kamari might be receptive to dinner or even drinks after work one evening … tonight?
There was only one way to find out.
****
“I’m still not sure about her,” Samarra Summerfield said as she studied the bank of cameras in her office.
“I don’t think she’s a threat, Sam,” Mallory Blacklaw, her partner, commented. “We should have hired her to take Baby Love’s place because she certainly has the goods.”
Samarra grunted. Yeah, she had it, and knew it. “So, what the hell is she doing waiting tables and stealing tips from the dancers when she could be making a little more shaking her ass and taking her clothes off?”
Mallory smirked. “She’s even better than your woman,” she said. “Good thing she wasn’t here when Adalyn was dancing.” She wiggled her brows and Samarra growled. Mallory laughed. “She’s hot, though, and Mica seems to be into her.”
“Unfortunately,” Samarra muttered. “It’s going to make it impossible for her to do her job if that woman turns out to be a Jericho plant.”
“You know I’m more worried about the Wolf Coalition becoming a threat. Have they contacted you yet?”
“No.”
Mallory’s lips twisted into a grimace. “I was afraid of this,” she said. “We’ve got to do something with Jericho before he turns the wolves against us. I met with the leaders this morning, and they’re concerned about what happened with the hyenas.”
“What’s bothering them about it?” Samarra asked, frowning.
“They think you and I should have come to them rather than take out Gray Tail’s leader and then the hyenas on our own. The head of the coalition said they were actually considering some sanctions against us.”
“Are you serious?”
“And that’s just the start,” Mallory muttered. “They’re pissed that we haven’t turned Sydney over to the wolves for justice. Apparently, Jericho has sold them a sack of shit that’s hard to repudiate.”
“I’ll call them for a meeting and demand a look at the evidence Jericho has amassed so far and demand a joint inquest,” Samarra said. “Witnesses need to be questioned and evidence gathered, independent of his biased slant.”
“I suggested it,” Mallory said, her gaze sliding back to the bank of cameras that overlooked the main floor of the club. “We need to keep Sydney out of the city as much as possible.”
“Who do you suggest take over her duties here?” Samarra asked. She had no problems keeping Syd in the den. There was still so much to be done to ensure her takeover of the former Gray Tail den went smoothly, which it wasn’t.
“Brynn.”
“She’s moving into her role as your head of security. Why would you want her here?”
“We might need her,” Mallory said.
“I think Mica will be enough with the others. I know your aim is to have a strong shadow here when I’m not,” Samarra said. “But Brynn is your second. She needs to be in the den when you aren’t, that’s why I have no problems keeping Syd at home.”
Mallory sighed. “You’re—” Her cell phone rang and Mallory grabbed it from her desk. “I need to take this.”
Samarra got up and left the room to give her some privacy. But she suspected it was, whatever playmate Mallory was spending a couple of evenings with lately. She didn’t know who the girl was and didn’t care, but she did worry. The girl like that new bartender-waitress might be a problem for them.
Chapter Three
“Kamari, I need you to take these drink orders up to the play floor,” Candy, the bartender, told her and gestured to several bottles of alcohol. “Stock the cart with water, too, if you’re running low.”
; She was a bartender and waitress which didn’t include her minding the cart that was used by the women who handled all orders on the play floor. That was where patrons rented rooms and lived out their wildest fantasies.
“I thought that was Ella’s job,” Kamari said. “I’m due for a break about now. I’ve been working for two hours straight.”
“If you wouldn’t spend so much time shaking your ass, then that wouldn’t be a problem,” Candy said coldly. “You make more tips than I do.”
“I’ll gladly tend bar if you get out there and serve,” Kamari retorted coolly. She didn’t really like the other woman whose dark brown hair was cut short, and her eyes held a marked chill.
“Just take the damned cart up and use the service elevator.” Candy glared at her. “Do you know where that is?”
“Yes,” she retorted and moved around behind the bar and slipped into the small kitchen and lounge. She expected to find Ella back there, feet propped up, but all she found was two of the other waitresses, both of whom were engrossed in something on their phones.
Kamari scowled, wondering why one of them couldn’t make the trek up there and then moved to the drinks cart which was a heavy stainless-steel thing with a cooler for keeping drinks cool and a compartment for hot coffees as well.
Kamari checked it for water, finding there was none. So, she added several bottles and more bags of ice in case anyone wanted it, and then headed to the bar with the cart to add the liquor, napkins, and candies before heading to the service elevator.
She’d quit tonight, but she needed this damned job if she was going to pay her rent. The pay was better than anything else she’d get in this small town, but even that was a step down However, that was okay. She hadn’t come here looking to make a fortune.
Getting Nawty With the Coyote Page 1