Evernight Publishing
www.evernightpublishing.com
Copyright© 2014 Jenika Snow
ISBN: 978-1-77130-713-0
Cover Artist: Sour Cherry Designs
Editor: Karyn White
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.
DEDICATION
I want to thank everyone that has shown their support. It means the world to me. To everyone that asked me about Liam's story, I hope you like it.
A LAMB FOR THE BEAR’S APPETITE
Sweet Water, 4
Jenika Snow
Copyright © 2014
Chapter One
“You have two options, Olive darling.”
Her entire body was tight as she stared at this leopard, one that looked at her like he wanted to devour every single part of her until nothing was left.
“Either work for me, and stay in my home for the next month to pay off the amount your brother owes me, or you can pay his debt with your lives.” Trent Sharp, the big and attractive, yet somehow vile and disgusting, leopard shifter, grinned at her. Olive Brownstone was sure that smile had many females in his bed, but all it managed to conjure inside of her was a sick tightness in her belly that had her inner animal screaming at her to run.
She had lived in Kashton for her entire life, all twenty-two years of it, and anyone who was smart enough to keep their distance knew who Trent was. This might have been a small town, but the leopard ran all of the illegal and illicit activity that went on in their once peaceful community. Despite the very shitty upbringing she had, the town itself had been quiet and clean, and then this male had come in, with money and vile ideas, and now Kashton was known for its full nudity strip club, drug trafficking, and even prostitution, but of course the cops did nothing about it, not when they were on Trent’s payroll. Olive looked at her brother, her poor addict of a brother, who looked far older than his meager twenty-one years. Her brother was also a sheep shifter, with pale clammy looking skin, and his once vibrant blue eyes sunken in from his drug use. He was also not as muscular as he used to be, with a now sickly looking frame that had her grimacing no matter how many times she looked at him.
“Holden, what have you done?” She hadn’t meant to say the whispered words aloud, and although he brother was higher than a kite right now, she scented the regret laced with the alcohol and drug aroma that came through his pores.
“Olive, I need to know how you want to proceed.” Trent sat behind his mahogany desk, and since the male was a real piece of shit, the exquisite style he surrounded himself with was a bit of a surprise. To anyone who didn’t know him he would have looked like a gorgeous and successful businessman, but everyone in Kashton knew him for what he was: the male who had singlehandedly put their town in the shitter. And of course this had come at the time she had been getting ready to leave and start her life someplace new.
Exhaling and feeling defeat, because she knew she wasn’t about to let her brother die, Olive stared into Trent’s eyes. “So, if I understand this correctly, you want me to strip at your club, and stay in your home? And only those things will pay off my brother’s debt in full at the end of that month?”
He leaned back in his seat, the leather creaking from his weight. “That’s correct, unless you want to pay me the full amount your brother owes?” She swallowed roughly and looked at Holden. He was watching her, and although his eyes were unfocused and glossy, he mouthed “I’m sorry”. She sure as hell didn’t have the exorbitant amount of money that her brother owed this criminal.
“You know I can’t pay you that.” She looked at Trent again. “And after doing only those things you’ll let me and my brother leave Kashton, and never bother us again?”
Trent stared at her for several seconds, but then nodded slowly. “That’s correct, but just to make sure you stick to our arrangement I’ll be keeping Holden here as a little collateral.” Trent leaned in and rested his forearms on the dark wood. The two leopard shifters beside him kept stoic expressions, but there was no doubt in Olive’s mind that they would take out anything that was a threat to their boss without any hesitation.
“If you run, or think about getting outside help in any way, I’ll make sure that you watch as I kill your brother nice and slow. And then after his screams of mercy go unfulfilled and you have the image of his blood coating the floor ingrained in your mind, you and I will have a bit of fun before I decide what I want to do with you.” He let his eyes travel up and down her body, and although she was fully clothed, she felt completely bared to him, and not in a good way. A tingle of warning moved up her spine. He didn’t have to elaborate for her to know exactly what he meant, and she knew that he would fully deliver on those threats without batting a lash.
How could she trust him? She didn’t, of course, but what other options did she have? They had no family left, and there was no way she would even attempt to leave her brother at this psycho’s hands, even if Holden had put them in this mess. It wasn’t lost on her that Trent could easily kill her and Holden after that month was up, but if she refused to do what he said that would still be the outcome. She had no other options but to say, “Okay, I’ll do it.”
****
Three weeks later
Liam threw back another shot and watched as his buddy, Striker, got a pretty fucking dirty lap dance from the stripper. She was currently grinding her bare pussy all over his shit, and her tits were bouncing like they were a set of basketballs on a court. Mark, one of their human friends, was having his bachelor party at Sticky’s, a strip joint an hour from Sweet Water. Liam thought it was bullshit they didn’t have a titty bar in his town, but what the fuck ever. Sticky’s was the only legal strip club where the girls were nude from the neck down, but he knew why that was, and he sure as hell didn’t question it. He had no problem driving an hour out just to see a pair of tits and a shaved cunt. The waitress brought them another round of shots, and they all grabbed one off her little tray. Even though Striker had a pair of big breasts jiggling in his face and a pussy causing a wet spot on his jeans, he checked out the waitress. She was all right, what with her G-string and nipple tassels. Aside from Mark, the rest of the bachelor party was shifters of different breeds.
“I feel like some kind of minority in here or some shit.” Bodhe, the tiger shifter, glanced around the club. “Mark, could you have picked a lamer titty bar to throw your bachelor party at? I didn’t even know Kashton was on the map, let alone an hour from Sweet Water.” Bodhe chugged half his beer and tossed the empty can on the table when he was done. Mark glanced around the redhead that was shaking her ass in front of him and grinned.
“Dude, for one thing what guy in their right mind calls a full on nude titty bar lame?”
“One that wants a little mystery to the female body. I mean damn, I get no excitement from watching this shit. I’d much rather watch a Victoria’s Secret lingerie runway show.”
A bleached blonde female sidled up to Bodhe, but he waved her off.
“If I didn’t know any better I would think you were more into dick then cunt.” Mark slapped the redhead’s ass. That was another great thing about Sticky’s: touch all you want as long as the money kept rolling in. “Not that there is anything wrong with that,
but shit, man, I think there is a wiener club in the next town over if you want to hit it up after this?”
Bodhe flipped off Mark and grabbed a beer from a passing waitress. Liam knew what Bodhe meant, and although Liam didn’t mind a little nude T&A in his face, he also liked seeing a female scantily clad much better.
“Besides,” Mark leaned back further in the red velvet couch, and stared at the jiggling ass bent over in front of him, “Sticky’s is like ten minutes from my house, so when one of you assholes drags my drunk ass home it’s just a hop, skip, and a jump away.” Bodhe snarled, but it had no effect on Mark, and not because he was drunker than fuck. They had all been friends since they were fifteen years old, and that was nine years ago. They were young, had the rest of their lives in front of them, but what were they doing with themselves? Getting drunk and watching a bunch of naked chicks shake their shit for a few bucks. A brunette that was far too skinny for Liam’s taste made her way toward him, and when she climbed on his lap and straddled him he didn’t stop her. He may like the females he fucked to be thicker, with more meat to grab onto, but that didn’t mean he was about to turn down pussy either.
She started grinding all over his cock. “Mmm, you’re a big boy.” The scent of the gum she chewed mixing with her nasty as fuck perfume had him gagging. Liam had never been one for artificial scents, and this human female was lathered in it. The song that played overhead was slow and seductive, and she started moving over him, rubbing her pussy on his stiffening dick, and then reaching up and grabbing her tits. With expert fingers she had the miniscule triangle of her bikini top pushed down her breasts, and started pulling on her nipples. “How about we go to one of the VIP rooms, big boy?” She moved the lower half of her body back and forth, creating a good friction, but not getting his shaft harder than half-mast. She was good at what she did, but he wasn’t in the mood, not for her at least. But again, Liam wasn’t really one to turn a female down, so he’d get his rocks off with her and move onto the next. He never said he was the chivalrous kind.
“How about I take you back there, and give you a lap dance you will never forget?” She leaned in closer and whispered in his ear, “and suck your cock in a way that will have you coming harder than you ever have.” She reached between them and rubbed his dick through his jeans. Clearly this wasn’t how strip clubs rolled, not legally at least, but Liam was good with how she wanted to play. He lifted her easily off of him and set her on the ground. He stood, and grinned at his buddies all sitting around in a circle getting dry fucked by females who called themselves “Candy” and “Bubble Gum”. The female took hold of his hand, but he shook her off. This wasn’t what this was about. He had to give her credit, though. She didn’t make a big fucking deal about it, which told him she wanted his cock as much as he wanted to give it to her. She just turned on her high stilettos, her boney ass shaking like it was trying to knock people over, and led him toward the back. The room grew dim, and a bright spotlight landed on the center of the stripper stage. The silver pole gleamed, and for some inexplicable reason he slowed his steps and stared at that stage. Liam couldn’t understand why, but his polar bear rose up almost violently, his heart started pounding, and adrenalin rushed through his veins. The music that started playing was filled with deep bass, and then the red velvet curtain slowly parted and that beam of light slid up and covered a big, round, and juicy looking ass. The black barely there thong that went right between the cheeks of her bottom had his mouth watering. She wasn’t thin like the rest of the females in the club, but had flared hips, thighs that were meant to grip a male around the waist, and he knew as soon as she turned around her tits would be just as large and mouthwatering as the rest of what he was looking at.
Liam was transfixed by the sight of the way she swayed her hips back and forth, and of the way the flesh of her bottom shook like a bowl of Jell-O. His dick punched forward with so much force he nearly pulled his cock out and stroked himself right then and there just to relieve the pressure. The glare of the stripper he had been following wasn’t lost on him, and when he turned and looked at her, the childish foot tapping and pissed off attitude were like spoiled meat in his nose. He flicked his hand in her direction, telling her without words to move along, and that he wasn’t interested anymore. She huffed out some dig about him and his manhood.
What the hell ever.
He turned back toward the female on stage. He hadn’t even seen the front half of her yet, but there was something about her that called to not only his human side, but his polar bear as well. The motherfucker was on some kind of frenzy inside of him, wanting to tear shit up and jump on that stage and take her right there. Liam ran a hand over his mouth and breathed out. His reaction to this faceless chick wasn’t normal, but just when he was about to turn and head back to his friends she turned around and faced the crowd. The spotlight illuminated her, and everything inside of him stilled. Her eyes were closed, and her scantily clad body was what wet dreams were made of. She wasn’t nude, but she might as well have been, because the top she wore was transparent as fuck, and the fact he could easily see her nipples and areolas through the material had his dick getting harder still. She continued to away her hips, and only when she reached the pole did she stop. She wrapped her hand along the gleaming silver, started running her hand up and down its length, that Liam’s heart started pounding and the blood rushed back to his brain. All he could think about, and see in his head, was her doing that to him until he came all over her chest.
Mine.
The bear in him roared out, and he felt himself start to shift uncontrollably. Lowering his head, but keeping his eyes trained on the sexy as fuck sheep shifter on stage, all Liam could think about was pulling her down and into his arms, and taking her in a back room to fuck the shit out of her. He should claim her, put his mark on her peaches and cream colored body so everyone knew that she belonged to him, but her hypnotizing moves held him transfixed. To Liam there was no one else in the club, and he could picture her dancing just for him. His chest started to rise and fall ferociously as he watched her work the pole like she was seducing the damn thing, making it hard for her, and then teasing the shit out of it. That thought had his bear slightly breaking through the surface. His claws stabbed through the tips of his fingers, and he felt his muscles start to grow and his body become bigger with the need to shift into his inner beast. She was Liam’s, and no one else’s. These males were looking at his female, at his mate.
Mine. Claim her. Mark her. And make sure every fucking asshole that sees her knows she is mine.
Shit, his polar bear was a demanding and insane animal. But the truth was, she really was his mate, and she was working in a strip club of all places. She had since let down the messy knot of platinum hair at the top of her head, and it was now a cascade of shimmery waves down the middle of her back. His blood pressure rose when he looked around and saw the men staring at her. He didn’t have to be a mind reader to know what they were thinking. Hell, he could smell their arousal coming off of them. His rage grew tenfold, and it took all of his strength to keep his human side reigning supreme.
When the music faded into the distance, and she straightened and moved away from the pole, there was a chorus of shouts and hollers for more from this little sheep. A low, menacing growl left him. Liam needed to go to her, to place his claim and take her out of this fucking club. He didn’t know what he was going to do with a mate, had never even felt this kind of raw intensity before, but none of that mattered. All he could focus on was getting her back to Sweet Water and between his sheets.
She descended the stairs off to the side, and he tracked her every movement. He took one step, and then another, but when a big male stepped up to her everything in him stilled. The asshole was a big fucker, and a leopard shifter at that. Despite the scent of suffocating perfume, spilled alcohol, and sex that filled the air, the most overpowering one of all was the fact this leopard wanted what was Liam’s. His mate might not realize that she was his, bu
t she was about to learn that. Liam saw red when the other male lifted his hand and brushed a strand of hair from his female’s face, as if he had some kind of proprietary claim on her. It did please him that she slapped his hand away, but that still didn’t stop the low, deep rumble that left him, one that had the leopard snapping his head toward Liam and baring his teeth. His mate looked over at him as well, and her eyes widened as her animal recognized the bear in him instantly. And that she. Was. His.
****
Olive’s mouth grew dry, and her throat closed when she saw the polar bear shifter charging forward. Oh, hell no. Her inner animal had instantly recognized him as her mate as soon as their eyes had locked. He was no doubt a gorgeous male, with short black hair, bright green eyes, and a body that was quite possibly the biggest she had ever seen, and that was saying something since Trent, the leopard shifter that stood a foot from her and whom she loathed, was a big asshole. But this polar bear, who had murder in his eyes, which were trained right at Trent, could have crushed him with one hand. There was no doubt about that. As much as she would have loved this hot stranger to annihilate Trent, she couldn’t let that happen, because Trent had already told her if he was out of the equation, there was someone waiting to take his place and finish off her brother. When he was only a few feet away she moved just as quickly as the bear, and placed herself between him and Trent. The sudden surprise that crossed the bear’s face had his steps faltering, but he regained his composure instantly.
When he was close enough to hear her she said between clenched teeth, “Just wait one damn minute.” She held her hand up, and right when she thought he would tear through her just to get to Trent, he halted when her hand landed right on the center of his impossibly hard, wide, and muscular chest. The shockwave that went through her at that simple contact had her already tight throat closing even further. He seemed to have the same electrically charged reaction to her as she had to him, because the scent of his shock filled her nose. His eyes widened only slightly, but his nostrils flared and his chest expanded even further. When a mate found its other half the reaction was intense, encompassing, and there was nothing else like it in the world. It made no sense and frankly pissed Olive the fuck off. This was a complication she did not need in her life, not now, and not ever.
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