“You’re very beautiful,” Mayhem said.
She dropped her gaze to the ground and Mayhem could feel the heat of embarrassment radiating from her. He guessed she was blushing fiercely at his declaration.
“Not as beautiful as the women inside,” she whispered, too low for a mortal to hear, but clear enough for Mayhem’s sensitive ears.
He bristled at the self-deprecation. How could she think she wasn’t as beautiful—no—more beautiful than any of those other women?
With a finger under her chin, he gently tilted her face up. “I didn’t say that to make you uncomfortable.”
She shrugged as she frowned. “I don’t take compliments well.”
“Oh?” He unlatched her arm from his and turned to face her, moving closer, until the length of his body was almost pressed against hers. With a gentle stroke, he brushed his thumb over her bottom lip. “You’re the most beautiful woman here.”
She scoffed lightly, her mouth open as if to retort, when he replaced his thumb with his lips. With a gentle tease of his tongue along her bottom lip and a light press of his lips on hers, he gave a promise of more. She let out a delicious little gasp before pulling away, eyes wide with amazement.
“You kissed me!”
He couldn’t help but smile. “I did, and I’d like to do it again.”
With a hand on his chest she gave a little shake of her head.
He frowned. “Too fast?” He snagged her hand in his, then brought it briefly to his lips before entwining her arm with his again.
Before he could say anything more, she smiled. “I thought you wanted to go for a walk. Why don’t we do that before I have to go home?”
Home? He frowned. “But the night is just beginning. Why do you need to leave so early?” He’d been living the rock star life for so long that midnight seemed like noon. The parties usually didn’t get started until well into the morning hours. “You don’t have to go home! Come on, have a little fun,” he teased.
“I have work to do. You know, bills to pay. Besides, I’m not used to this party lifestyle. It’s not my thing.” Her tone was clipped, like he’d tread on a sensitive subject. She tugged her arm free from his and wrapped it around her waist.
“Hannah, I didn’t mean…” Just as he reached for her, a pair of drunk fangirls stumbled out onto the patio, their eyes alight with mischief as they headed straight for him.
“Mayhem!” A blonde he vaguely remembered giggled, her large breasts almost spilling from her low cut leather dress. “We’ve been looking everywhere for you!” She cut a scathing look in Hannah’s direction. “What are you doing out here?”
Hannah flinched and took another step back, her body practically shrinking in on itself as she put more distance between herself and the other women.
The brunette stepped forward and boldly slid her hand over Mayhem’s crotch. “Come on, May, don’t you remember how much fun the three of us had at the last party?”
Mayhem brushed the woman’s hand from his body and growled, “Enough!” He moved toward Hannah, but it was too late—her body language told him everything he needed to know.
She opened her mouth to say something, her cheeks burning bright with apparent discomfort, but she didn’t get a word in before the brunette did the unthinkable.
“Scat, Red, you’re not wanted here. This is a party of three. Besides, you’re not Mayhem’s type. He likes his women with some meat.” She ran her hands over her breasts and down to her hips.
Where two came the swarm followed, within seconds, Mayhem was enveloped by a crowd of fangirls all craving his attention. Without another glance in his direction, Hannah was gone. All he saw was her long red hair streaming behind her as she ran back into the house and away from him.
Chapter Four
The women’s mocking laughter followed Hannah all the way to the front door of the impossibly huge mansion. Luckily, it had been a direct route from the backdoor to the front with one long foyer connecting the two. Out of breath and with one hand on the doorknob, she quickly pulled out her cell phone and texted Dani. Got to go. Will talk tomorrow.
She knew Dani would want to know all about Hannah’s walk with Mayhem. The walk that never happened. And the kiss that had. She brushed her fingers over her lips as she opened the door and stepped outside, the feel of him still there like a brand on her skin. That kiss had been so unexpected, so tender, so wonderful. And yet, the man obviously had done it to a million women before her.
Don’t fall for that silly romantic stuff, she chided herself. The last thing she needed was to go all gaga over some rock star.
She gave her head a shake and quickly walked down the pathway, then zigzagged through the maze of parked cars until she finally made it to the huge—and thankfully open—cast iron gates that marked the border of the property. She’d come in Dani’s car, but didn’t really want to face her cousin’s disappointment at having to leave all the fun so early. That left her with one of two options: walk all the way out of the gated community—which would probably amount to an hour of hard, and probably painful, trekking since she was wearing dreadfully uncomfortable high heels—or call for a cab and hope that she’d be able to afford the cost of getting herself home.
“Damn it!” She cursed as her heel caught in a crack on the sidewalk twisting her ankle as she tried to catch herself from falling on her face.
A firm hand caught her elbow, preventing her from tumbling. “Careful there. The sidewalks around here can be treacherous.”
Hannah glanced back at her savior and nearly toppled over again, this time with embarrassment. “Mayhem!” She brushed her fingers nervously through her hair. “I thought you…I mean…” She sighed as she gently tugged her arm free from his grasp. “I’m fine now. Thank you.”
“Listen, Hannah…” Mayhem sounded like he was revving up for some kind of apology, and Hannah didn’t want to hear it. What she’d experienced on the patio with those women just confirmed what she already knew. She didn’t belong in his world any more than she belonged in her cousin’s ridiculous clothing.
She raised her hand to stop his next words and started walking down the sidewalk, each step sending a shooting pain through her leg, her ankle injured more than she had thought. “No, it’s okay. Go back to your party. I’m just going to call a cab. It was nice of you to come and check on me, but I’m fine. Really fine.”
With his long strides, Mayhem caught up with her in a second, his hand on her arm halting her a moment after that. “Hannah, those other women…it isn’t what you think.” When she smirked and cocked an eyebrow, he smiled sheepishly and added, “Okay, maybe it is what you think…but I’m not into that kind of thing anymore. I’m not looking for that sort of woman now.”
Hannah frowned. “Mayhem, it was really great to meet you tonight, and I want to thank you for being so nice to me when you clearly have a lot of people who want your time. It’s been an interesting night and very different from what I’m used to.”
“At least let me drive you home.” He nodded behind him, his other hand still gently gripping her arm. “Please. I wouldn’t feel right just letting you walk around here in the middle of the night, and it looks like your ankle hurts a bit.”
Hannah started to laugh, finding it absurd that a man she’d just met—a man who was this super-famous rock star—was claiming to be worried about her well being. But then she saw the look on his face and stopped herself. He was serious.
She frowned. “Um…”
“Mayhem!” Another impossibly huge fellow came racing out of the house, barreling at them like his butt was on fire. He was equal in height and bulk to Mayhem, but sported a short Mohawk and wicked looking tribal tattoo down his arm.
Mayhem turned toward him, scowling like he was about to rip a strip off the guy. “What the hell, Raven?”
Raven came to an abrupt stop, nearly toppling
Hannah over as his momentum carried him forward another two steps. He reached out a hand to stop himself but Mayhem pulled her away, shifting her closer to himself as he laid a firm hand on Raven’s shoulder and gave a push back. “Raven, you’re drunk and I’m not in the mood for this shit right now. Go back to the party.”
Raven took another step back and smiled. “I just wanted to make sure you had these.” He pulled a set of keys from his back pocket and dangled them in front of Mayhem. “I figured you’d need them if you were leaving.”
With a frown, Mayhem snatched the keys away. “How did you…?”
Just then there was a cackle of laughter from the house as a few very drunk women stumbled out of the open doorway. “Look, everyone, Mayhem is outside! The party’s outside!”
Raven winked as he spun on his heel. “I’ll buy you some time,” he called over his shoulder. “But you two better get out of here before the rest of the fangirls get wind of this.” He bee-lined directly for the loudest of the partiers.
Mayhem turned back to Hannah, his eyes beseeching. “Please, let me drive you home, Hannah. You’ll be saving me from the hell that is my life. I’m begging you!”
Hannah smiled, feeling suddenly like saying yes was the best and only available choice. “Okay, sure. A ride would be great. Thank you.”
The smile Mayhem gave her was breathtaking. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a hair elastic and quickly tied back his long locks. “Okay, just wait here. I’ll go get my bike.”
“Your wh-a-a-a-at?” she stuttered as he raced up the driveway and disappeared around the side of the building. Did he say bike?
A second later—in answer to her silent question—the roaring sound of some kind of motorcycle rumbled toward her, and a second after that, a beast of a machine was gunning down the driveway. She wasn’t really one for bikes of any sort, let alone the motorized ones, but she could tell just by looking that this one was special. With its shiny black paint and chrome parts, the thing absolutely thundered with masculinity. And even though it was huge, it suited Mayhem well. His large body melding to the frame like it had been made just for him. As he pulled up next to her, the rumble of the engine vibrated from her scalp to her toes and she stood staring.
“You’re not expecting me to ride that thing, are you?”
In response he held out a helmet and motioned behind him with a sideways nod of his head, obviously not going to take no for an answer. Hesitating, she eyed the offered protection and debated the wisdom of accepting a ride. She’d never been on a motorbike before, and getting on the back of one with a famous rock star seemed doubly bad for some reason.
No, better to play it safe, walk to the main road, catch a cab… Just as she was about to decline, she felt the buzz of her phone vibrate against her thigh. Without taking it from her purse, she knew exactly who was trying to call her.
And what would Dani say? She’d say to get the hell on the bike and live for once. Take a chance. Have some fun. Be reckless.
With a hard gulp, she took the helmet and put it on, then allowed Mayhem to guide her onto the bike behind him. She also accepted his help as she hiked her skirt up her thighs so that she could straddle the seat. She was grateful the helmet hid the blush that burned on her cheeks, especially when he pulled her arms snugly around his waist, her body pressed so close to his back she couldn’t help but feel tantalizing excitement creeping back in—the same feeling she’d had when Mayhem had kissed her.
With her heart pounding furiously she pressed herself even closer and held on for dear life.
“Ready?” he asked as he cocked his head to the side.
When she nodded, he smiled, then twisted the handle and sent them flying into the night on a shriek of tires.
Chapter Five
His need to claim her was all consuming. The feel of her body pressed close to his was almost more than he could bear. Her heart was hammering—he could feel it through his shirt, her fear and excitement rolling over him in waves. She’d obviously never been on a bike before and he took a strange kind of pride in being her first.
Once he was clear of his street, he gunned it for a good few minutes, loving how her arms clenched him tighter as he sped along the twists and turns of the mountainous highway that would take them back into the city. Bracketed on both sides by craggy rocks, whipping past the few cars headed uptown, Mayhem’s wolf roared from within, adrenaline pumping both he and his beast into a frenzy of lust. He delighted in giving Hannah the thrill of all that power between her legs and wished it was his body cradled there. He was loath to actually stop and ask her where home was because he knew what that meant, and he wasn’t quite ready to lose her warmth. With her hands splayed against his abdomen, dangerously close to the huge hard-on he sported, all he wanted was to keep her as close as possible.
But he knew he couldn’t drive forever. Not tonight anyway.
As he came to a rolling stop at a red light, just at the border that separated the hills from downtown, he craned his head to the side. “Where are we going? Where’s home?”
Hannah pointed west.
“You live in Little Italy?”
She nodded.
Little Italy. Okay. Hadn’t been there in at least a decade. It wasn’t exactly the most luxurious of locales, and he’d been so caught up in his rock ’n’ roll lifestyle that places like that were only a blur on the way to somewhere better. Not anymore. Not as long as Hannah lived there anyway.
It didn’t take him long to get to the area and even less time for Hannah to point him toward her little four-story apartment complex. As he pulled up outside and killed the engine, he felt his heart ramp up. He wasn’t ready to let her go, not when there was so much night left.
She unclenched her arms from his waist and pulled herself away, then awkwardly tried to get off the bike while removing the helmet from her head. He pivoted toward her, quickly latching onto her arm as she successfully yanked the helmet off and then, in a move he couldn’t have planned better himself, stumbled and fell directly into his outstretched arms.
“Oh!” She gasped as her breasts crushed against his chest, her lips almost touching his. She made a small move as if to pull away, but Mayhem wouldn’t allow it.
Seizing the moment, he pulled her up onto the bike, sliding her between his body and the bars, her hip pressing into his crotch as he braced his legs on either side. Balancing them both, he dipped his head and captured her lips, making this kiss nothing like their first one. That one had been gentle and sweet—this time, he wanted to leave her breathless.
He teased his tongue along the seam of her mouth, asking permission without ever speaking a word. With a small gasp, she let him in, her tongue instantly tangling with his, stroking him into a frenzy of want. There was nothing tentative about her at that moment, nothing self-conscious or reserved. She was with him, responding to him, her kiss possessing him body and soul.
He pulled her closer, his hand snaking down to cup her gorgeous ass, loving the press of her body against his throbbing cock. He heard the helmet drop to the pavement and then her hands were free to roam his body, sliding up his back, tangling in his hair, playing over the sensitive skin on the back of his neck.
When she pulled away, it was on an explosion of air. Her cheeks were flushed, her breath coming out in short pants. “I don’t think we should be doing this…here.”
Mayhem frowned, certain he was about to get a wave goodbye and sent on his way with the bluest balls a man could ever have.
“Here?” he repeated hopefully.
She ducked her head, her shy nature back with a vengeance. “I mean…well, there are probably people watching.” When he hooked his finger under her chin and titled her face up, she quickly added, “Do you want to come upstairs for a bit?”
Even though it was the question he most wanted to hear, it still floored him and he sat speechless for a second t
oo long.
“I mean.” She pulled her chin away and started to extricate herself from his embrace. “I understand if you want to go. You’ve got people to see back at your place.”
He pulled her toward his body and kissed her forcefully, determined to push those thoughts away. “I’d love to come up to your place.” He quickly glanced up at the moon; he had hours to enjoy until daylight. Hours to get to know Hannah in whatever way she wanted before he’d have to get his tail out of her place or risk discovery. It was only in daylight that his wolf came out to play.
She smiled. “Well. Okay then.”
Mayhem helped her off the bike, or more like, off him, hit the kickstand and let her lead the way.
They hadn’t made it more than two feet into her place when she turned to face him, her expression a roadmap of doubt. “I don’t usually do this…there’s something happening inside me that is making me dizzy. Like I can’t get enough of you…like you’re…”
He didn’t give her another moment to speak, wanting to be all over her, inside and out. Crushing his lips onto hers, he pushed her back until she hit the wall. He ground his cock against her stomach, letting her feel the depth of his arousal. He’d never wanted any woman more than he wanted Hannah. Right here, right now, against the wall if need be—just so long as he got inside her.
Instead of recoiling, the fiery little spirit he’d glimpsed on his bike roared back with a vengeance, and she arched into him, pressing her breasts against him, her nipples hard little nubs begging to be suckled.
He pulled back and stared down at her, his body revving into overdrive. “I want you, Hannah, like I’ve never wanted anything or anyone in my life.”
She smiled up at him, her lips swollen and glistening. “Did I say something to stop you?”
With a wicked grin, he captured her arms, clasping her slender wrists in one of his palms before pulling them above her head. He lowered his lips to hers, wanting, craving another taste of her mouth before he sampled everything she had to offer.
Mayhem: The Order of the Wolf, Book 5 Page 2