* * * * *
As they stepped into the Crescent Moon Bar, Lauren was consciously aware of Max’s large hand on the small of her back. It should have been a casual move, but she felt as if he was branding her in some way. The heat generating from him was unmistakable but she was doing her best to cover the scent of her attraction and her expressions. So far she was pretty sure it was working. He seemed to be able to smell her natural scent but nothing beyond that. Of course she was concentrating really hard on masking her attraction to him. She didn’t want him using it against her and she really didn’t want to do something she’d regret. But if he kept touching her, she didn’t know how long she could keep it up.
In addition to her gift to cover her scent, as the youngest of the Hayes sisters, she’d learned how to school her expressions at an early age thanks to her older sisters. With her father being the alpha, she’d needed to keep a few things from him if she’d ever wanted to have any fun as a teenager.
Which was why her father didn’t actually know she was here in Gulf Shores. He thought she was on vacation.
Man, he was going to be so pissed when he found out. Two of her sisters knew that she and a handful of her cousins had decided to come after the brooch so they could give it as a gift to her oldest sister, Stacia. They wouldn’t say anything to her father though.
Lauren inwardly sighed. Stacia would be angry at that risk they’d taken but it was going to work out now and no one was getting hurt. Grant had a reputation for being honest and if Max said she’d get the jewels, she would. If at the end of the week he lied, however, then there would be an all out war between her pride and the Kincaid pack. She knew no one wanted that.
Well, no one in their right mind. Shifters didn’t like to attract attention to themselves so while yes, she was taking a risk by staying here a week and walking away with nothing, something bone deep told her that Max wasn’t lying.
Two steps inside the bar, Lauren realized the place was in chaos. There was no other word for it. In college she’d waited tables—something that had driven her parents crazy since they hadn’t wanted her to work—and from what she could see there were only two women on the floor and one woman behind the bar. Clearly they were overwhelmed.
“Shit,” Max muttered next to her. Then taking her by surprise, he grabbed her hand and headed for a swinging door she knew would lead to a kitchen.
Inside was one woman lifting up a large oval tray filled with plates of hamburgers and other grill style meals. She gave Max a frazzled look and didn’t even bother glancing at Lauren. “We need help at the bar!” she growled before hurrying toward the swinging doors.
Two males were behind the grill line and one of them jerked a thumb behind him. “In the office.”
Lauren didn’t know what that meant, but Max just growled under his breath. Seconds later she stood with him in the entryway to a small office that had a computer, a small desk, and stacks of papers. Jeez, they were unorganized. A tall woman with blond hair was on the phone shouting at someone ‘to get their asses over here’ but she slammed the phone down when she saw Max. “Almost everyone is out with some bullshit excuse. It’s fucking madness and I can’t get anyone to come in here because they’re already working at one of the other restaurants or the hotel. I’ve been helping man the grill line but we need someone helping behind the bar and someone taking the drinks for the servers. If it wasn’t for the alcoholic drinks the girls would be fine but they keep having—”
“I can serve the drinks,” Lauren said quickly, interrupting the woman’s frantic machine-gun fire of words. There was no reason not to help. Not when the Kincaid pack had been so nice to her—after she’d broken into their alpha’s home. Yeah, she needed to show some goodwill to this pack and had no problem pitching in.
Max turned to look at her then, his expression stunned.
“What?” she demanded, unnerved by his intense stare.
“Why are you offering?” His suspicious tone pissed her off.
Lauren reined in her temper. She shrugged, not wanting to admit that 1) she simply wanted to help his pack out because she felt freaking guilty and 2) it would put some distance between the two of them. “It’s not like I have anything better to do to. But if you don’t want the help, fine,” she gritted out.
His gaze swept over her attire then landed back at her face. She could tell he didn’t want her to, but she wasn’t sure why. The women she’d seen working had on black pants, black tops and black aprons. Right now Lauren wore a corset-style lace up black top and jeans. With an apron covering her jeans, she’d fit in well enough. Before he could open his mouth to argue or make another rude comment, the woman behind him smacked his arm.
“Do you have any experience in restaurants?” she asked, the tension rolling off her almost palpable.
Reaching in her back pocket to grab a hair band, Lauren said, “I waited tables in college. Just let me see a layout of the restaurant so I know how each table section is labeled. I’ll start with delivering all the bar drinks and if you need me to deliver food to tables once they get that under control, I will.” She swept her hair up into a ponytail so it would be out of her face.
The blond woman grabbed Max’s arm and yanked him so he had to look back at her. “What are you waiting for? We’re drowning out there!”
Cringing, Lauren wondered if the woman’s only volume setting was loud.
Max let out a curse and gave Lauren another suspicious look. “Fine. I’ll help at the bar and she can serve the drinks. But see if you can get her a T-shirt or something.”
“My top is fine,” Lauren snapped. What the hell was wrong with him? She was a jaguar and wasn’t going to put on someone else’s top. Their scent would be all over her and drive her insane.
The blonde ignored Max and practically shoved past the giant wolf and dragged Lauren away. After introducing herself as Sapphire—yes, freaking Sapphire—she shoved an apron at Lauren then dragged her to the bar to introduce her to the bartender, a female named Charlie.
The bartender had long, brown hair and was moving around with the speed of only a supernatural but it was clear she was still behind on her orders. The thick pile of tickets next to the cash register was proof enough. After tying her apron on, Lauren quickly scanned the laminated layout Sapphire practically threw at her before she’d darted away.
Lauren looked at the layout of the restaurant and bar area, then back at the printout one more time. She had a knack for being able to look at something once or twice and remember most of the details. “Leave the ticket with the drinks and I’ll figure out where they’re going.” There was no way she’d have time to learn the computer system so waiting tables and taking orders was out of the question. But this she could easily do. And it soothed her conscience to help out Max this way. Even if the brooch belonged to her family she still felt guilty after seeing how nice this pack truly was.
Charlie nodded at her, her expression grateful. “Thanks,” she said before turning back to where she was three-deep at the bar.
Damn, the woman really needed help. Lauren poked her head back into the kitchen, ready to tell Max to hurry up and help the woman out when she stopped dead in her tracks.
A tall, lithe woman with black hair and wearing a skimpy black dress—clearly not waitstaff—was plastered up against Max, her arms wrapped around him and her lips crushing his.
It was like Lauren had been punched in the stomach. All the air rushed out of her lungs and the noisy surroundings faded to nothing as a buzz filled her ears. Something dark inside her flared to life, her inner jaguar wanting to claw the unknown woman to shreds. And Max for that matter. The reaction was ridiculous but so primal, so visceral it took her by surprise.
Though it felt like an eternity, only seconds had passed before Max stepped back. In that instant he found her watching him, his expression one of surprise and another emotion she couldn’t define. Lauren didn’t care what it was. She schooled her expression. “If you can tear you
rself away, your help is needed at the bar,” she said coldly before turning on her heel and letting the door swing closed behind her.
Unsure what was wrong with her, why she felt almost betrayed, Lauren picked up a large tray next to the end of the bar and started loading three separate orders on them. She picked table numbers that were clustered together so she could make the least trips possible and get things out as fast as she could. As she started to lift the tray, Max came up beside her and lifted the hatch to the bar.
“Lauren, that woman isn’t—”
“What you do is none of my business.” She wasn’t sure what he’d been about to say, but all she knew was, she didn’t want to hear it. She didn’t want to hear anything out of his stupid mouth right now.
Chapter 4
“Damn, Max, give the girl a break,” Charlie muttered next him as she loaded another glass into a bin, getting it ready to take to one of the dishwashers in the back.
“What the hell are you talking about?” he growled, unable to hide his annoyance as he wiped down one of the liquor bottles. It was close to two in the morning and most of the restaurant was cleared out except a few tables. The actual bar was already closed and while he wanted nothing more than to throw Lauren over his shoulder and get the hell out of there, he wouldn’t leave his packmate Charlie alone to clean up the bar. Not when Sapphire and the other servers were already busting ass to clean the back of the house and tables.
Lauren had offered to help, but Sapphire had told her not to worry about it because of all her help tonight. Yeah, she’d been helpful but she’d also flirted with every single guy she’d waited on. Maybe that was a bit of a stretch but it sure felt like it. So now she was sitting at a table with some of his male packmates laughing and looking too gorgeous for her own good. And for his sanity.
Her hair was still pulled up into a ponytail, revealing her long neck and with how low her top was cut, she was baring too much skin. Shoulders shouldn’t be sexy, but hers were. He wanted to rake his teeth over all her exposed skin then follow up with kisses. He wanted to mark her so all other males would know she was off limits.
“You’re staring at her as if she’s the enemy. What she did was fucked up but…Grant should have given those damn jewels back to her pride. We all know it and it’s not like our pack needs the money.” Before Max could interrupt Charlie continued. “Besides, she gave us all her tips from tonight to split. She’s okay in my book. By the way, whatever happened to that skank human you hook up with sometimes?” Charlie asked in disgust, not bothering to hide her annoyance. “Thought I saw her in here earlier.”
Max sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. “She’s not a…don’t talk about her like that. And we’re through.” They had been for over six months. Or so he’d assumed. Things between him and Darcie had fizzled over six months ago and she stopped coming around right before he’d met Lauren for the first time. After getting her scent into his system neither he nor his wolf wanted anyone else so it had worked out perfect for him that the human female was out of the picture. It wasn’t like they’d ever been a couple and that had worked fine for both of them. It only made sense things had ended between them with no drama.
Then she’d showed up tonight drunk, angry at her new boyfriend for some reason, so she’d thrown herself at Max. Of course Lauren had seen her kissing him. She’d been hard to read but for a fraction of a second, she’d looked raging pissed at him. His primal side had been glad she actually cared, but he hadn’t wanted to hurt her even inadvertently.
“Good,” Charlie muttered. “Why don’t you get out of here? I know you’ve been dealing with all of Grant’s duties and we’ve got this covered. Get some rest.”
Under normal circumstances he would have argued, but one of his packmates, Derrick, had just handed Lauren a folded up piece of paper. Likely with his number on it. Max’s inner wolf went crazy when she tucked it into the front of her jeans pocket and smiled at the other wolf. “Thanks, see ya later,” he muttered before ducking out from behind the bar.
He covered the distance between the bar and the table to Lauren in seconds. Derrick glanced up at him, an easy smile on his face. “Hey, man, we’re—”
Max ignored him, keeping his focus on Lauren. “We’re leaving.”
She blinked, probably surprised by his harsh tone.
He hadn’t meant to demand it, but his inner wolf needed her away from these other males. The most primal part of him was feeling edgy and possessive. His canines ached, begging to be released. He wanted to flash them at his packmates as a warning to back the fuck off but he kept himself in check. Barely.
“Come on man, hang out for a little longer.” Derrick, one of the part-time bouncers at the bar, was a good guy. Hell, one of the most decent packmates Max had, but right now, he didn’t give a shit.
He knew his wolf was in his eyes because Lauren just stood, pushing her chair back and moving to his side with a fluid grace that turned him on even as he was annoyed with her. Her nearness soothed him somewhat, but not nearly enough. Moving lightning fast, he reached into the front of her pocket and pulled out the paper Derrick had given her.
He let his claws extend, shredding the paper into confetti. She gasped and the entire table—and the waitstaff—went silent. The pieces silently fell to the floor. “She’s not going to be calling you.” Even though he spoke to Derrick, he kept his gaze on her.
Fire erupted in Lauren’s eyes, her inner jaguar peeking through as they transformed into straight feline, amber and glowing with anger. “I’ll call whoever I want.”
“You want to do this right here?” he asked, his voice silky smooth.
For a long moment she didn’t answer, as if she was weighing her options. Then without glancing at the table or anyone else in the bar, she strode for the exit, her head held high and that perfect ass of hers swaying in such an erotic rhythm that he wasn’t able to contain the growl he let out.
“Listen Max, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you two—” Derrick started, but Max cut him off.
“It’s fine. But she’s taken.” There was no other explanation needed and right now he was going after her. Whether she wanted to hear him out or not, he was going to explain what had happened with Darcie.
Lauren had been cold to him all night and he knew it was because of the human female. So even if he couldn’t scent Lauren’s attraction, he knew she felt something.
And he planned to take full advantage of that.
Once outside, he frowned when Lauren wasn’t waiting like he’d expected. Following her scent trail that still didn’t give him a hint of her emotions, he headed east down a quiet street that lead straight to the beach. Crescent Moon Bar wasn’t directly on the beach but it was close. His annoyance grew as he jogged over the only cross-street and continued until he ran into a deck that led to the sandy shore and calm ocean. As he reached the end of it, he saw Lauren’s clothes in a neat pile. Including a very skimpy black thong. Sexual hunger slammed into him, as if he’d been physically tackled. The thought of her wearing it—or nothing at all—consumed him.
She’d likely assumed it was late enough that she wouldn’t run into any humans when she shifted to her jaguar form and could come back for her clothes later. On the off chance there were humans out now, Lauren would be able to blend in using the shadows.
That knowledge still didn’t soothe him any. Picking up her clothes, he followed her scent trail down the beach all the way to his condo. The anger grew inside him with each step he’d taken that she’d left like that. Without a word. He didn’t want to admit it, but he’d feared she’d actually left for good.
He knew he didn’t have any claim on her, but she was still under his jurisdiction. The thought was bitter though. He didn’t want her here because she was serving a sentence he meted out. He wanted her here because she wanted to be with him.
That knowledge scared the shit out of him. He’d been trying to deny it but all day he’d been hungry, almost crazed to get back to
her. Deep down he knew what it meant even if he couldn’t bring himself to admit it. If he made himself vulnerable to her and he was wrong—Max shut that thought down before it finished.
Shoving those thoughts aside, he reined his wolf in as he shut and locked the door behind him. Trailing after her amber and vanilla scent wasn’t necessary since he could hear the shower running in one of the guest bathrooms. He told himself to stop, to wait until she was out, but his need to see her overrode his rational brain. He wanted her to acknowledge the desire between them. And like a randy cub, he wanted her to stop ignoring him.
The door to her bedroom was shut, but he opened it and headed straight for the one that led to the bathroom, which was cracked open. Wisps of steam billowed out from the opening. Using all his stealth and quickness—before he could change his mind—he fully opened the door, crossed the tile floor in a few quick strides and dragged the shower curtain back with a loud jangle.
Standing under the powerful showerhead, Lauren’s eyes snapped open in shock. She stood there frozen before her hands went to cover her naked breasts. But not before he saw the light brown color of her tightly beaded nipples. Instantly his cock hardened to the point it was almost painful. He wanted to drag her hands away, to look his fill of her luscious body.
In a delayed realization, it hit him that she’d had one of her hands between her legs. Had she been stroking herself? The thought of that was insanely hot. Before he could dwell on that mental image, she blindly grabbed for a washcloth and slapped it at him, hitting his shoulder with a wet snap. She dropped it when she realized she’d left one of her breasts exposed to hit him.
“What the hell are you doing?” Her voice was a screech of panic. “Get out of here now!”
He crossed his arms over his chest as he struggled to keep his eyes on her face instead of roving over her body like he craved. He shouldn’t have come in here like this but he didn’t care. He needed her to see him, to acknowledge the heat burning between them. Needed her to want him as much as he wanted her. “Why the fuck did you leave like that?”
Claiming His Mate (A Werewolf Romance) Page 3