by Jane Jamison
“Jackson knows everything about everyone,” chimed in Cort.
“True enough. But that doesn’t mean he tells everything he knows.” Emma squatted down to get eye level with Kate. “If you ever need anything, you just give us a call.”
“Us?”
“Yeah, us. Like most of the folks around here, I live with more than one man.” She smiled at Kate’s reaction. “I know it’s hard to understand, but it works well for our kind. Again, don’t hesitate to call, okay?”
Our kind? Yet before Kate could ask Emma what she’d meant, she was up and moving back to her table and her three men. Instead, she turned to Travis for the answer.
“Come on, Kate. They’re playing our song.” Travis grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet.
“That’s our song?” She recognized the tune about a farmer and his old dog from the iPod music they’d left for her in her bathroom. “I hope you’re not inferring that I’m the old dog.”
“What’d you say?” Travis pulled her into a swing and twirled her around the dance floor.
Kate laughed as Travis pulled her into yet another quick spin. She wasn’t the best dancer in the world, but she could hold her own, especially with a good-looking man taking the lead. The music ended too soon, but another quick song came right behind it.
Tucker and Cort joined them on the floor, and, like so many of the other dancers, they fell into a line dance. Every woman dancing seemed to have at least two men dancing with her, making Kate feel right at home with her three partners.
She danced another dance, then another, sometimes with one of them but more often than not with all three men. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had so much fun and been showered with so much attention. If life with them was anything like tonight, she couldn’t imagine ever leaving.
As the last song ended, she begged off and fell into her chair. “Guys, I need to catch my breath.”
“Okay, but the next dance is with me.”
“Like hell it is, Travis. It’s my turn next.”
“Both of you are wrong. I’m Kate’s partner for the next dance, especially if it’s a slow one.” Cort downed his beer and refilled his glass.
“Right now, I need to use the ladies’ room. Can you point me in the right direction?”
Travis inclined his head to the right toward the large neon light over the door at the far side of the room. “Want me to go with you?”
“To the ladies’ room?” She shot him an amused look. “Thanks, but I think I can handle things on my own.”
She stood as Tucker and Cort started teasing Travis about his feminine side. Working her way through the crowd, she made it to the door marked Fillies and pushed it open. She glanced down the row of stalls. It’s sure empty for a ladies’ room in a bar. But I guess that means no waiting.
After doing what she had to do, she checked her makeup in the mirror and caught herself smiling. She studied the young woman staring back at her and liked what she saw. For whatever reason, she couldn’t remember feeling as happy as she did at this moment in a long, long time. Maybe having three men adore you makes you more attractive. Happier.
She hummed the tune the band was playing and pushed open the door. A large hand covered her mouth as she was slammed against the wall. Brad Litton’s cold glare sent chills down her, and she struggled to free herself.
“Hey, pretty lady. I was hoping you’d show up tonight.” He leaned closer and slid his tongue along her cheek. “How about you and me go out back and you can show me how good you are with that mouth of yours.”
She tried to scream, but the sound was blocked by his huge palm. She scanned the area around her, but she doubted anyone could see her hidden behind the brute of a man.
Another scream clogged in her throat as he grabbed her breast and squeezed. Pain seared into her and she tried to kick, tried to move at all.
“You’ve got some nice titties, and I bet they’re nice and perky. I’ll let you show them to me outside. Hey, let’s play the game where you make them bounce and I try to catch your nipple with my teeth. I’ll try not to bite it off. Oh, yeah. Be sure to tell that fucker Tucker that I’ll keep thinking of ways he can repay me.”
Fear rid her of any rational thought. Where are the men? Can’t anyone else see us? She prayed another woman would want to use the ladies’ room.
“Okay, now. Let’s take it nice and easy. The back door’s just a few feet away.”
She went limp, making her body a dead weight. The stench of his breath, made worse with the smell of beer, burned her eyes. She closed her eyes and prayed.
In the next second, she was sitting on her butt and watching Litton’s body fall to the floor several feet away. Tucker took her under the arms and pulled her to her feet. “Did he hurt you?”
She shook her head as relief swamped her.
“Good. But stay here and out of the way.” He spun around and ran toward Litton, who was only now getting to his feet.
But Litton wasn’t alone. Two dark shapes about the size of Litton came rushing out of the shadows. She shouted to Tucker to watch out for the two men charging him, but he didn’t hear her.
Pandemonium broke out as Travis and Cort met the two other men seconds before they would’ve hit Tucker. Roars reverberated around the room, and chairs and glasses started flying. The band quit playing and joined in the fray. Before long, she couldn’t see Tucker or Litton any longer as the crowd surged around her and fighters took over the dance floor.
Kate scooted around the edge, trying to find her men. But all she could see was a blur of arms, legs, chairs, and tables. Like a bar fight from an old Western movie, the men pounded each other.
She yelped as one of Litton’s friends skidded on his back to her feet. She gaped down at the man. Or at least she thought he was a man.
He opened his mouth, exposing sharp fangs at least four inches in length. Dark, coarse fur spread over the sides of his face and sprouted from under his shirt. Saliva dripped from the corner of his mouth to mix with the blood oozing from a cut on his lip. He reached for her with huge hands that appeared more paw-like than human. Kate gaped down at the half man, half beast and screamed.
Just as he was about to wrap his paw around her ankle, he jerked his hand away and snarled as Travis grabbed his foot and yanked him back into the mix of the fight. Travis’s eyes glowed with amber flecks, and, for a moment, Kate thought she saw the tips of fangs sneaking over his lower lip. The fangs vanished, replaced by a big grin a second before he dropped his body onto the animal-man.
“Kate.” Emma took her arm and yanked, but Kate couldn’t take her eyes off Travis. “Kate. Move!”
Possessing more strength than any woman she’d ever known, Emma jerked her away from the dance floor. Hanging onto her arm, Emma dragged her across the room toward the front door. The night air hit Kate in the face, and she dragged in much-needed fresh air.
“Kate, are you all right?” Emma took her by both arms and made Kate face her.
Kate stared at her, trying to get her whirling mind under control, then brought her attention back to the front door. “Did you see him? Did you see that man?”
Chapter Eight
“Answer me, Kate. Are you hurt?” Emma scanned her for injuries.
“Yes. I mean, no. I’m okay. Other than a few bruises.” Kate broke Emma’s hold on her, paced toward the door, and pointed at it. “Did you see him?”
“I saw a lot of everything and most of nothing. I don’t know who you’re talking about.”
She wasn’t sure, but Emma didn’t act like someone telling the truth. Or closer to the point, she acted like someone hiding the truth.
“What do you mean? A lot of everything and most of nothing? That doesn’t make sense.” Kate hurried to her and grabbed Emma’s arms much the same way she’d taken hold of hers. “He had fangs. Real, live, sharp-as-knives fangs.”
Emma blinked, but her expression showed nothing. “Kate, you’re probably in shock. I know I
would be if Litton had treated me like he did you. He’s a horrible man, and I wish he’d stayed in Shatland where he belongs.”
“No. I’m not talking about Litton. I’m talking about one of his friends.”
Emma stepped away from her and turned around, putting her back to her. “I don’t know what you mean. I wasn’t sure who was on whose side.” She pivoted and confronted Kate. “You should’ve seen your men, Kate. They were magnificent. When Tucker saw Litton hounding you, he snagged the big jerk by the back of his shirt and flung him away from you.”
Kate whirled around and started for the door. “I’ve got to see if they’re all right.”
Emma rushed past her and blocked her way. “Uh-uh. You’re not going back inside. Both your men and mine would have my head if I let you back inside.”
“But what about the other people? Why aren’t they coming outside? Is everyone trapped in there?”
“No, they’re fine. It’s not the first time a brawl’s broken out. They stay to see who ends up on top.”
“Then why can’t I go back in and see?” She tried to fake a run to the right and go around Emma, but the woman had incredibly fast reflexes.
“Stop it, Kate. You’re not going back inside.”
Kate narrowed her eyes at Emma, determined to get an answer. “You know what I’m talking about, don’t you? Tell me. How did he have fangs and claws? I know I didn’t imagine it.”
Emma opened her mouth to speak then closed it. A myriad of emotions flashed across the woman’s face. Kate waited, giving her the time to change her mind.
“I—I don’t know how…I mean, I don’t know what…” Emma threw up her hands and shook her head.
“Kate, are you all right?”
Kate spun around to see Travis, Tucker, and Cort striding toward her. Blood covered their arms and faces, but they were on their feet and living. She almost cried with relief. “Oh, thank God. I wanted to come back inside, but Emma wouldn’t let me.”
Jackson Carr and his brothers nodded at her as they walked past her and drew Emma into a group hug. Promising to talk to them soon, Emma and her men walked toward the outskirts of the parking lot.
“Are you okay?” Travis’s worried gaze raked over her.
“I’m fine. But are you guys?”
“Sure. This is mainly Litton and his buddies’ blood, not ours.” Cort wiped his mouth with the back of his arm.
“Let’s go home and clean up. Trent Tarrow and his partners will throw Litton and his friends out with the rest of the trash.” Tucker slung an arm around Travis and one around Kate’s waist. “Sorry this had to happen on your first visit to the Moonstone. But, hey, at least you’ll remember tonight.”
She slipped out of Tucker’s arm and stepped in front of them. “Sure. We’ll get you guys home and cleaned up. But after that, you’re going to tell me how a man can grow fangs and claws.”
The “oh, shit” expressions on the men’s faces told her everything. What she’d seen was real.
* * * *
“Tucker, you’re first out of bed this morning, so I guess that makes you the one who’s going to tell me what I want to know.”
For a second, Tucker froze and knew he looked like a deer in headlights, but he recovered quickly. She didn’t recover as fast. “Naw. They’re already outside.”
They’d managed to dodge her questions last night, begging off because of their injuries. He had to do something to take her mind off what she’d seen, and he knew just how to do it.
He could see the flash of desire on her face. She hadn’t expected to catch him half-naked, his body glistening with the water that lingered on his upper torso. Her attention slid to where his jeans rode his hips then down. A dark line of hair led her gaze toward the button of his jeans. She stalled, her mouth moving before any sound came out. She swallowed, and he kept the smugness from showing on his face.
“Tell you what you want to know about what?” Tucker was on her, putting her back against the hallway wall without touching her. He placed his hands on either side of her head and his face an inch from hers. Slowly, deliberately, he inhaled, bringing in her scent.
“Do you know how sexy you are? It takes every bit of my willpower not to throw you down and fuck your brains out.”
Her mouth parted, and he saw her pulse quicken in the vein in her neck. The vein that would one day course with werewolf blood.
“Tucker.”
“Yes,” he whispered, drawing the word out, his tone laden with want.
“The man at the bar.” Her gaze fell to his mouth. “He had fangs. And claws.”
She was breathing faster now, almost panting with her need to have him between her legs. “What man?”
She blinked, her eyes growing heavy-lidded. “I don’t know his name.”
“Kate, why do you care about any other man when I’m right here in front of you?” He grew even closer but still hadn’t touched her. “Can you feel it? Can you sense the bond between us?”
He almost didn’t catch her slight movement, the nod acknowledging their connection. “You know this is more than mere sex, don’t you? You know we were meant to be.”
“Yes.” She peeked her tongue between her full lips.
“Then what’s stopping us?” He slipped his tongue out and skimmed it over the seam of her lips. “I know what we said about waiting for all of us, but I have to have you.”
“But what about your wounds?”
He met her gaze with his and drew her in. “What wounds?”
She blinked again, under the spell of his inner werewolf. “Where’d they go? You had to have gotten injured last night, but now I don’t even see any bruises. I don’t know what’s going on.”
“But you do know what I want to do to you. Tell me you want me, too.” He ignored her confusion. Instead, he concentrated on the desire raging inside him, and he knew she felt the same. He could see it in her eyes, in her parted lips and her aroused scent.
“Y–yes.”
Growling deep in his throat, he picked her up, never letting his gaze drift from her eyes. Pushing in her bedroom door, he carried her to her bed then laid her on top of the covers. “I’m going to make you understand how special you are. Not with my words but with my touch.”
She started to take off her skirt, but he stopped her. “Do you trust me, Kate?” She didn’t say a word, but he saw her silent response in her eyes. “Don’t be afraid. Whatever happens, promise me you trust me, and you won’t be afraid.”
“I will.”
His inner wolf howled. “Good.” Bending over her, he reached for her neckline then wrapped his hands around the thin material and yanked. The material ripped down the middle to expose the nude bra she wore. Her mouth opened, a silent gasp, but she didn’t move. Instead she waited for whatever he would do next.
He fingered her bra, sliding the tip of his finger along the rim of it. As he’d hoped, her body responded, her nipples pebbling without his touching them. He bent lower, keeping his eyes to hers, and sucked on her nipple through the bra.
She let out a soft huh and arched her back. But when she closed her eyes, he stopped. “Don’t close your eyes. I want you to watch everything I do to you.”
She did as he told her, her green eyes sparkling with lust. “Good girl.”
Holding himself up with one hand, he slid his hand under her skirt to the thong beneath it. “When you walked into the bar last night, every man in the place wanted to be me. They wanted to do this.”
She sucked in a quick gasp as he slipped his fingers under the material, over her smooth mons then between her folds. She was already so wet she soaked his fingers. His cock strained against his jeans, pushing at the boundaries between them.
“You’re so hot, so wet.” He flicked a tongue over her nipple, making her arch her back again. “I don’t know which bud I want to suck on the most. Your tit or your clit. Which do you want me to suck, Kate?”
She exhaled as though she’d waited for that very
question. “Clit.”
“Ah, good choice. You’re going to cream on my face when I lick you there.” He thrust a finger into her pussy. “And when I kiss you there, too.”
He took his hand from her pussy, quick, and saw the disappointment on her face. “But I think I want to make you wait a while longer.” Hooking his finger under the hem of her bra, he pulled, tearing it off her. He tossed it aside and took in her breasts.
“They’re even better than I thought they’d be.” Lowering his head, he flicked his tongue over one nipple then slid his tongue over her breast to the hollow between. Taking his time, he moved on to the other nipple. She clutched at his hair and spread her legs.
He moved away from her, leaving her reaching for him. “You’re as horny as I am, but you’re going to have to wait.” He watched her as he undid the button of his jeans then the zipper. His jeans fell to his feet, exposing his erect shaft. Her eyes grew bigger as she swept her tongue over her lips.
“Fuck me.”
He smiled, loving the hoarseness of her tone. “In time, baby. In time.”
He crawled over her, careful to keep his body off hers. Their eyes met again. “Tell me again. What did you want me to do?”
“Please. Fuck me.”
He pushed her skirt higher, fingered her thong, and then tore it off her. Slipping a finger between her folds, he spread his fingers on either side of her clit and massaged the wings of her desire. Her breathing turned to panting as she grabbed his hair, groaned, and tried to pull him closer.
“Easy, baby.” Bringing his fingers together, he captured the tender flesh of her clit between them and squeezed. She bucked, her breasts a bouncing temptation. He ground his teeth together, knowing he couldn’t tease her, hell, tease himself much longer. He’d already waited far too long for her.
Driving his finger into her pussy, he pushed into her as far as he could. She cried out, a sound consumed with passion, and he eased his cock against the front of her skirt. Yet when she moved to take her skirt off, he wouldn’t let her. “Keep it on.”
She was hotter than he could remember any woman being. Tighter than he could’ve dreamed. Her vaginal walls swallowed his finger, closing around it, holding it like she’d never let go.