by E A Price
She thought he was underestimating her. It was cute. He knew she’d be out of those cuffs within seconds. He wouldn’t have left her in them if he weren’t sure how easily she would escape and follow him.
Losing her had been easy enough. He had his friend Drew take his truck and drive around in circles running errands for hours. The two males looked the same from the back. Same hair color, same haircut, same square head.
He glanced at his phone as another message from Drew appeared. Now he was going through a Hola Sunshine drive through. He imagined his little witch would be mightily pissed off by now. He smiled as he imagined the scowl on her flawless face. Those big red lips pulled down in disagreement as those hazel eyes sparkled maliciously. Just the thought of her was enough for a week-long boner. The last six months had been virtually interminable.
He didn’t want to put her at risk – and his family situation was risky at that moment – but it didn’t make it any easier to swallow. She’d stomped into his heart with her combat boots, and lord she was there to stay.
Holt tried calling his brother again. No answer. Shit. He typed another text asking him where the hell he was, except he wasn’t that polite.
He didn’t exactly blame his brother. He might have done the same thing if he was in the situation, but how was he supposed to help him if the moron ignored all his calls? He needed to find him before Zara did. She wouldn’t be distracted forever and he wasn’t kidding about his brother potentially being dangerous. If he didn’t want to be dragged back to the cops, he wouldn’t put up with Zara trying anything.
His gorilla growled as the seconds ticked by and no response turned up. He clutched his phone so tightly it made a worrying cracking noise. He banged a meaty fist on the bar and Eric the bartender handed him a cold one. He wrapped his fingers around it, resisting the urge to hurl it at someone.
“Seen my brother recently?” he rumbled at Eric.
The crocodile shifter rolled a shoulder unconcernedly. “Not for a couple of days.”
His eyes flickered back to the girls on stage, before turning away in disinterest and making his way over to a new customer.
Holt kind of hoped Sean might be at the club, but no. He could talk to the girls; he knew Sean was sweet on one of them – Taffy or Daffy or Glitter or Bubbles or something. They all had cute stage names, and he could never remember them. Their real names sure, but not the nicknames. Whoever she was, maybe she would know what was going on.
The club was quiet during the day. Sure they had some patrons, but things would not pick up until nighttime.
Fuck, Sean where are you?
They agreed Sean should go to the trial. The evidence the cops had was paper-thin. They were confident he would get off, but running like this certainly didn’t help his case.
He better have a damn good…
His gorilla grumbled. Zara.
The air seemed to shift. Interest in the club picked up. The lazy feeling disappeared, and everyone was reinvigorated. There were shouts of ‘yeah, baby!’ and whistles.
What the…
His gorilla exploded in fury as he spotted Zara shaking her ass on the stage.
*
Two months ago
“Should you really be at a place like this?”
Zara sighed. Why was she even surprised? She could barely go to see her gynecologist without him turning up to give her doctor the third degree. Holt gave her a censorious look as he slipped onto the stool next to her.
“I’m working, buzz off.”
She didn’t want to lose sight of the cobra shifter she was currently tracking. Credit card fraud. The female was bold Zara would give her that. She was racking up charges on fake credit cards even though she was on trial for that very thing. Zara was planning on picking her up when she wasn’t surrounded by quite so many huge male shifters. The cobra she could take, half a dozen enormous wild shifters, not so much.
“This place is a dive,” murmured a voice in her ear.
She tensed trying not to shiver as his hot breath fanned over her skin.
“Bit rich coming from you,” she muttered. “Given the place you own.”
“Nicer than this.”
“Would you rather I was there then? Dancing on stage, taking my clothes off.”
“No,” he growled immediately.
Zara had to admit she was a little hurt by that. She was glad he could not see the look of disappointment on her face. Okay, so she wasn’t as curvy as the girls she had seen on his stage, but she had a decent body. She liked running, so she was trim and toned. He didn’t complain the last time he saw her naked that was for sure.
“Humph, well I’m sure plenty of men would like to see me jiggling my ass around.”
“Yeah, that’s the problem,” he muttered.
Zara considered probing that further, but her cobra was on the move.
“Always a pleasure, jerkwad,” she said, punctuating it with an elbow to his stomach.
“Pleasure’s all mine, cherry pie,” he replied, not even having the decency to be a little bit winded.
“Yes, I remember that was true during the night we spent together.”
She turned and took a moment to enjoy his affronted expression before darting after her cobra.
*
Present day
Obviously, Holt thought she was an idiot. As if she wouldn’t spot the decoy in a heartbeat. He was similar to Holt, but there was no way the decoy’s ass could pass for Holt’s – not nearly juicy enough.
She stayed with him for a little while - to make it look like she had fallen for it - and made some phone calls to a few friends for help and then split.
Sean Holt was proving elusive so far, but she had barely been at it for a full day. She tried a couple of finder spells using a t-shirt she found at Sean’s apartment, and they led right here – to the family business. Sean was part owner with his brother.
She hadn’t been in there since six months ago. Thankfully, none of her recent skips had decided to skip on in there since her last foray. But, if Sean was in there, she was going to get him and drag him out… somehow. She hadn’t exactly thought ahead to how she could subdue a huge gorilla shifter. Maybe he’d just be decent and nice and do as he was told… maybe. Besides, she bet Holt – her Holt – was in there already and, well, she doubted he would let Sean hurt her. Holt wouldn’t hurt her – not physically anyway.
Zara found herself faced with a mountain of a bouncer and against every urge in her body, she smiled at him. The last bouncer they had on the door had been human and after making a few unsavory remarks had easily been quelled with a boot to his family jewels. This bouncer was even bigger than Holt and looked like his jewels were made of steel. So, a lighter approach was needed.
His stony expression looked her up and down, and he softened marginally. The wonders of a simple smile.
“Do you know if Sean Holt is in tonight?”
“Not here,” he rumbled and then stepped aside slightly. She took that as an invitation to go in and check it out for herself.
She giggled and winked at him, and he let out a grunt and let her pass. Flirting was not something that came easily to her, but she had learned when she first started chasing skips that sometimes that approach was better than just yelling to get her own way.
Course, the moment she found herself in the club, her eyes found him. Not the gorilla she was tasked with finding, but the gorilla who played a starring role in all her dreams. The huge male was propping up the bar; one hand firmly clutched around a beer, a grim expression on his face. Good to see him at a strip club drinking while he thought she was back in his bedroom tied up.
Jackass.
Well, her spell brought her here, so there was a good chance Sean Holt was here or had been here recently. She was inclined to believe the bouncer about Sean not being there. Time to find where he had gone.
There were a few women weaving in and out of the small crowd of men and a couple dancing on stage. Had
n’t Holt said something about his brother being involved with one of the dancers at the club?
She chewed her lip, considering where to start when her gaze zeroed in on a woman on stage with red-rimmed eyes.
Zara sidled up to the stage as if approaching a shy deer.
“Ah, Miss…”
The woman ignored her and continued gyrating stiffly. Not many of the patrons were paying her much mind. Probably because she wasn’t making much of an effort - she was clearly upset.
“It’s about Sean Holt,” said Zara a little more forcefully.
The woman stopped wiggling for a couple of seconds, and a worried expression passed over her features before she quickly smothered it.
Bingo.
“Miss…”
The woman danced away, and with a groan, Zara made her way onto the stage to try and follow her. She didn’t get very far. Once she got both boots up there, someone grabbed hold of her belt.
“What the hell?” she grumbled, spinning around to see a half-drunk guy pushing a dollar bill into her pants.
“C’mon baby, dance around,” he said encouragingly with a slight slur.
“Take your shirt off!” called another.
“Well, I, ah…”
“Either dance or get off the stage,” complained a third.
“Ah…”
Holt was starting to get interested, and Zara considered her options, getting off the stage or shaking her booty. Maybe he didn’t want to see her dance, but others sure did. Well, she was already up there…
Chapter Five
Holt snarled as he hauled another two men out of his way. The hell was she thinking?! The scent of other males’ arousal was driving his beast wild.
He leaped up on stage, and ignoring the people shouting boo at him, he tossed his errant witch over his shoulder and stalked back to his office. He planted her in the middle of the floor and roughly grabbed one of his sweaters, pulling it over her head.
“What are you doing?” she mumbled through a mouth full of sweater material.
True, she hadn’t actually taken off any of her clothes, but the shirt she was wearing was pretty tight – the horny dicks in the club could easily see the shape of her gorgeous body. A baggy oversized sweater was a good look for her.
“What the hell were you thinking?” he demanded as his gorilla prowled unhappily. “All those men were… looking at you.”
“So?”
“So, they were looking.”
He threw up his arms as if trying to make a point. Okay, maybe it sounded feeble even to his ears. But he didn’t like anyone looking at her. Only he should be allowed to look at her.
“Men look at me all the time. Well, some of the time. Occasionally.”
No, he reckoned she was right about all the time. He couldn’t take his eyes off her whenever she was near.
“Besides,” she added, “all those guys out there were drunk; they probably would have cheered my great grandmother if she got up there. That’s not fair she’s still pretty for her age.”
“I don’t like it.”
He moved slowly towards her, and she moved away from him, her breasts rising and falling as her breaths came out in pants. He crowded her against his desk. He knew he affected her. She was his mate; of course she was hot for him. But it was sweet that she tried to deny it.
“I don’t care whether you like it,” she murmured, trying to remain aloof and failing spectacularly. “Why should I care?”
You’re our mate howled his gorilla. Yes, that was the obvious reason, but not one that he could admit to her yet. Apart from that, he struggled to come up with a viable reason, so instead, he did the thing he had been dying to do for the last six months. Well, one of the things. He slipped an arm around her waist and kissed her. His lips crashed against hers. It was supposed to be gentle and tender, but he couldn’t hold back his beast. He wanted to taste her, touch and bury himself inside of her for days on end. Zara moaned against him as her fingers curled into his shirt. Yes, this is how it should be. Her whimpers of delight made him feel ten feet tall. When he took her as his mate, he would kiss her like this every day. Well, that and other things.
He didn’t want it to end, but he knew it had to. If he let it go on for longer, he wouldn’t be able to stop himself.
With a wrench, he pulled his lips away from her. Her eyelids fluttered as he left her slightly dazed. Finally, she seemed to focus on him, and despite his smile, or maybe because of it, she pushed at his shoulders, trying to get him away from her. He didn’t budge.
“You are unbelievable,” she snapped hotly.
“Yeah, I recall you said something like that the first time we met.”
His gorilla preened while Zara looked like she was going to explode. Instead, she seemed to calm and actually smiled – he should have perhaps taken that as a warning sign.
“Umm-hmm. Right before you kicked me out of your kitchen and your little girlfriend turned up.”
Holt almost choked at the thought of Rachel being his girlfriend. She was virtually the annoying little sister he never wanted. But with that mental image firmly vanquished, he looked at Zara curiously.
“Are you jealous?”
“Pshaw!” The noise came out damn near like a screech, and even his gorilla winced a little.
“There’s nothing to be jealous of,” he added quickly.
“You’re right there,” she muttered.
He grasped her arms and tried to force her to look at him, but either out of stubbornness or hurt she refused. His gorilla grunted in annoyance.
“There is nothing like that between her and me and never could be.”
He just couldn’t tell her what Rachel had been doing there that day. He couldn’t risk it getting back to his uncle.
Finally, Zara looked at him, and she was as belligerent as a five-year-old who had been told there would be no dessert until she ate all her broccoli and all her peas.
“Oh boy, I have no reason not to trust you now, do I?”
“No, you don’t,” he insisted, wanting her to believe him, wanting her to trust him. “I haven’t lied to you.”
Her eyes dipped again. “All men lie.”
“I wouldn’t lie to you; I just wouldn’t tell you something if I thought it could hurt you.”
“Spare me.” She sounded defeated, and boy did he hate himself at that moment. He wasn’t alone. His gorilla hated him too. “Look, this isn’t about you; I actually have a job to do.”
“And you’re sure this job has nothing to do with me?” He did wonder if she took the bounty to annoy him, or dare he hope because she wanted to be near him. Hey, would another bounty hunter break into his apartment and jump on him while he was sleeping? Seriously, would they?
“I had no idea it was your brother when I agreed to take it.”
“Hmmm.” He sensed that was true but judging by the mildly guilty look on her face, he imagined when she found out it strengthened her resolve.
“Because you don’t have to do it to get my attention, you already have it.”
He took a moment to sniff her hair, trying to inhale as much of her as he could. Trying to remember it for later when he likely went to bed alone. Bah, it wasn’t the same as sleeping next to her. He tried to take another sniff and got a pen up one of his nostrils for his troubles.
He staggered back and snorted out the pen - his pen that she had taken off his desk, too.
“Oh my god, the size of your ego is unbearable!”
“We both know I’m big in all areas,” he teased pressing his nose back into shape.
Zara stamped her foot. “Ugh, I…”
There was a knock at the door followed by Pete - one of the bouncers - shouting, “Hey boss, the girls are switching over now. You told me to remind you.”
“Okay, thanks.”
Zara opened her mouth, and he hushed her, waiting a few more moments until Pete walked away.
“What was that about?” she asked folding her arms.
“He was waiting to see if we were going to have sex.”
“What?”
He rolled a shoulder. “Guy’s a perv.”
“You often have girls in here to do that?” she asked coldly.
“I never do that,” he replied with equal frostiness, “but my brother’s another matter and we share this office.”
“Whatever, I need to speak to one of your dancers.”
“What for?” Though, he already knew the answer. He probably shouldn’t have mentioned the fact that his brother was sweet on one of the girls. But in the heat of the moment, his beast had been a little jealous. Humph. Fine, a lot jealous.
“What do you think, dummy? Judging by the look on your face when I arrived, you haven’t found your brother either. I did a spell, and it led me here.”
“He’s not hiding in the walls if that’s what you’re thinking. Nor on my person, though you are welcome to search.” He raised his arms and spread his legs, waiting and hoping to feel her hands all over him.
She declined him with a glare.
“I know he isn’t here,” she said patiently. “I used one of his t-shirts to do a finder spell, and it led me here. At first I thought it might be because he had been here recently, but actually, I think it’s likely that the dancer with red-rimmed eyes was the last to wear his t-shirt. Plus, his apartment stank of her perfume. So, maybe she has some idea where he is.”
For a moment he felt a burst of pride for his mate. “That’s my girl.”
“I am not your girl.”
“Pooky…”
“Up yours!”
“Which dancer?” he asked, feeling perhaps he should have noticed about the eyes too.
“The one in silver.”
“Bubbles.”
“Bubbles?”
“Real name’s Cora.”
“Fine, I need to go talk to her.”
Holt held up an arm, blocking her way. He would be the one to talk to her. Zara should go home and stay safe added his beast.
“I wasn’t kidding about everything I said in my apartment. My brother doesn’t know who you are. You go after him; he may not hold back. He’s not sweet and cuddly like me.”