Adored by her nieces and nephews, Angeline was as kind and loving and encouraging as she was beautiful. And she deserved to be at home being loved by a mate instead of pawed and drooled over by horny males merely looking for a full-moon hookup. Lincoln included.
He’d wanted Angeline from the moment he’d met her in the flesh. And had hoped she would be the one he bedded on the full moon. But he had trouble reconciling the growing feelings complicating what should be nothing more than pure, unadulterated sex.
“Earth to Lincoln.” Reed snapped his fingers in front of Lincoln’s face.
He cut his eyes toward the younger man. “Do that again and I’ll bite them off.”
Reed smiled good-naturedly. “Coming from you, I’d believe it.” He turned to the other sentinels gathered at the table. “On our first run together, I saw him catch a rattlesnake midstrike and chomp off its head.”
Though there had been snow on the ground, the sun had been out, bright and warm. Likely the snake had surfaced from its den to bask in the sunshine and they had accidentally disturbed him. Normally, Lincoln left forest critters alone. But they’d been in the woods behind the Co-op’s housing community and he hadn’t wanted to risk a child getting bit.
“Good reflexes, huh?” one of the younger sentinels asked.
“Yeah,” Lincoln said rather than going into detail about the extensive training he’d received to be able to dispatch a deadly threat with nothing more than his teeth.
The table buzzed with comparison stories, each trying to top the last.
“Are you all right? For a full moon night, you’re awfully tense.” Reed leaned across the table and lowered his voice. “There are a lot of single she-wolves here tonight. I can introduce you.”
“Thanks, I’m good for now.”
Angeline squeezed through the crowd and made her way to their table. “Hey, fellas. I’ll be taking care of you tonight. Everyone want the usual?”
“Isn’t this Tessa’s section?” Reed asked.
“Trust me.” She gave him a pointed look. “You don’t want her near your food. She’s still mad at you.”
Conflicting emotions flashed across his face. He nodded but said nothing.
Everyone agreed to have the usual and Angeline jotted down their drink orders.
Reaching Lincoln, she looked up from her pad and smiled. “How about you? The usual or something else?”
“I haven’t been around enough to know what the usual is.”
“For these guys, it’s a plate of ribs.” Angeline leaned down and whispered in Lincoln’s ear, “So messy, so not sexy.”
“I’ll have a burger, medium rare.”
“Excellent choice.” Her laugh zipped through him like a jolt of electricity. She leaned even closer. “See those ladies at the bar?”
Lincoln glanced at the trio of she-wolves wearing short skirts, spiked heels and low-cut tops. They were beautiful, maybe even sexy, but they didn’t charge his senses the way Angeline did.
“They’re dying for you to buy them drinks.”
“I don’t mind paying, but tell them they’re from someone else.”
“Not interested?”
“Not in them.” He held Angeline’s gaze and the wall holding back the blatant desire he had for her crumbled.
Satisfaction flickered in her eyes. “Good to know, Dogman.”
She walked off, and Lincoln swore she put an extra dose of sass in the swing of her hips.
“You’ve got a thing for Angeline, don’t you?” Reed’s eyes narrowed on Lincoln.
“What’s it to you?”
“Nothing.” Using his thumb, Reed wiped the condensation beaded on the side of his beer bottle. “But she gets a lot of attention. Especially on a full moon.”
“I’ve noticed.”
“And I’ve noticed that you noticed.” Reed shook his head. “Look, man. She doesn’t do relationships.”
“I’m not looking for one.”
“You sure about that? Because you gotta look in your eyes and it’s not the kind a wolfan gets when all he’s after is a good time.”
“Yeah?” Lincoln stared straight into Reed’s eyes. “What’s that look telling you now?”
Reed held up his hands. “Just offering a friendly piece of advice.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Reed rejoined the table conversation, and Lincoln kept up with it, as well. But he remained cognizant of Angeline’s whereabouts. And it seemed whenever she sensed him watching, she’d lift her gaze and smile.
Never coy about sex or selecting partners, he could only guess that the hesitant gnaw in his gut had to do with Tanner. The man had entrusted him with his final words, yet Lincoln had not offered them to Angeline.
He needed to come clean about the man linked to both their pasts, but Lincoln didn’t want to risk a chasm opening between them.
“Damn you, Tanner.” Lincoln chugged his beer.
“Who’s Tanner?” Reed asked.
“The first man to die in my arms.”
The table fell silent.
“On my first deployment.” Lincoln slammed the empty bottle on the table. “You never forget your first, boys.” Or any of the ones who came after, and there were quite a few. Including Lila.
Lincoln left the table and headed into the men’s room. After relieving himself, he bumped aside a few males preening at the sinks to wash his hands. One took issue, but one look from Lincoln and a clearly threatening growl, and the man backed away. Drying his hands, he suddenly had a sense of Angeline. Startled. Hurt. Angry.
Darting out of the restroom, he visually searched for her but the crowd obscured his view. He did, however, see Reed and two more sentinels making their way toward the bar.
“Excuse me,” Lincoln said once, shouldering his way through the crowd to see Angeline bring her knee up sharply between a man’s legs then smash her fist into his face.
Atta girl!
Another man stepped up. “You bitch!”
“Touch her and I’ll rip off your arm and shoved it up your ass,” Lincoln said, walking up behind the man.
“You and whose army?” The human male turned. His bloodshot eyes were filled with deadly anger and he reeked of liquor.
“Mister, I am an army.”
“That bitch needs to pay for what she did to my brother.”
“Looks like he needed to be taught some manners. Be thankful she served up the lesson and not me.” Grabbing the man’s shirt instead of his throat, Lincoln shoved him at Reed. Then he reached for the other guy, still doubled over.
“I’m going to make this simple for you.” Lincoln smacked his palm against the man’s forehead and tilted back his head to look him in the eyes. “She’s off-limits. This establishment is off-limits. If you don’t stay away, I’ll snatch your balls off and feed them to the birds.”
Fear flooded the man’s eyes. Sometimes a healthy dose of it cured future problems.
Lincoln handed the man off to the sentinels.
“The show is over, folks. Go back to minding your own business.” He turned to Angeline. “Are you hurt?”
“You can’t go around threatening a man because he got a little handsy.” The anger in her voice didn’t quite reach her eyes.
“That’s not an answer to my question. And for the record, I don’t threaten. I explained the principle of action and reaction in terms he’d understand.”
Angeline rolled her eyes. “I can handle myself. I don’t need you to interfere.”
She bumped past him and headed into the kitchen.
Lincoln rubbed his jaw. If she thought that was the end of it, she was oh, so wrong.
* * *
“Angeline?”
Coming through the kitchen doors, she narrowly avoided colliding with her uncle.
“What’s wrong?” Jimmy’s large hand gently cupped her shoulder.
“A couple of customers got rowdy when I refused to serve them liquor.” Obviously intoxicated, they’d probably been cut off at the last stop on their bar hop and decided to come to Taylor’s. “They’re gone now.” After giving his wrist a gentle squeeze, she headed to the ice machine.
“Are you all right?” Jimmy asked.
“I’m still waiting for an answer to that question, too.” The double doors closed behind Lincoln.
“I’m fine.” Angeline pushed up her long sleeve. Marks from the man’s tight grip reddened her skin. She scooped a small amount of ice into a clean bar rag and pressed it against her arm. More to cool the notions running rampant inside her than to soothe her skin.
Lincoln’s essence wrapped around Angeline seconds before his actual touch. “I should’ve kept a closer watch.”
No, he shouldn’t have. His searing gaze following her every move had kept Angeline distracted. Otherwise she would’ve been more alert and better able to defuse or deflect the drunk men’s actions.
“I don’t need a bodyguard. I’ve been handling drunks long before you came to town.”
“You shouldn’t have to,” Jimmy said. “That’s why we have sentinels here every night.”
“Is it usually like this?” Lincoln coaxed the makeshift icepack from her fingers and gently inspected the bruises.
“No.” Angeline closed her eyes, trying to ignoring the wild fluttering in her belly that his touch had sparked. “But it’s Friday night and a full moon.”
“It’s also Valentine’s Day,” Jimmy added. “A triple whammy.”
Lincoln’s gaze caressed her face and raw passion heated his eyes. “She needs a break,” he said to Jimmy.
“No, I don’t.” Angeline pulled down her sleeve.
“Got a place I can take her?” Lincoln continued. “Somewhere private?”
“The office. Miriam is in there, but she won’t mind.”
“I don’t have time for a break. We’re packed.” Angeline looked hard at her uncle. “I’m fine, really.”
Lincoln’s low, soft growl grated her nerves as much as it stimulated.
“He’s the one you need to convince,” Jimmy said. “Besides, you haven’t taken a break all shift and the others have had two each.”
“Fine,” she said, because Lincoln blocking the doorway would slow service and then they really would have a problem on their hands.
Angeline sensed rather than heard his steps behind her. Awareness tingled her skin. Gritting her teeth, she knocked on the door of the office before opening it.
“Hi, Aunt Miriam. Mind if we use the office for a few minutes?”
“Everything all right, dear?” Miriam pulled off her glasses, her gaze shuttering between Angeline and Lincoln.
“Yes. Uncle Jimmy insisted that I take a break and Lincoln is making sure that I do.”
The way Miriam looked at them made Angeline wonder if her aunt could see the energy bouncing between them. The full moon wasn’t to blame. The current connecting them had begun well in advance of the lunar phase.
“Take all the time you need.” Miriam turned the computer monitor off and pushed away from the desk. “I’ll help with the hostess station for a while.”
Lincoln closed the door behind Miriam as she left.
“How long do I have to—” she used air quotes “—rest?” Angeline perched on the edge of the desk. “I’m losing tips, you know.”
Lincoln eased closer and she didn’t stop him from entering her personal space.
“I know you are okay,” he said quietly. “But I’m not sure that I am.”
A storm raged in his eyes and a nearly imperceptible tremble shook his hands. “When I saw that guy’s hands on you...” Lincoln’s nostrils flared and his nose twitched. “I really did want to kill him.”
“He was just drunk.” A mean one, apparently.
“That’s no excuse. For him or me.” Lincoln cradled her cheek. The warmth of his palm sent a wave of heat through her body. “May I?”
Instinctively, Angeline knew he wanted to scent her. Warily, she nodded consent against her brain’s instruction to the contrary.
Leaning in, Lincoln carefully planted his hands on top of the desk, caging her between his strong arms. His eyelids closed and he lightly grazed his stubbled cheek along her jaw. Goose bumps scattered across her skin, and she shivered.
He moved closer, drawing his hands up her hips.
Working her fingers up his chest to his shoulder, Angeline cozied into Lincoln as he nuzzled her neck on the way to the sweet spot behind her ear.
“God, you smell good.” His hot breath puffed against her skin.
“So do you.” She breathed in the heady scent of wolfan male musk. Desire threaded through her body like wisps of steam rising from a cup of hot chocolate.
If he was anything other than a Dogman, she wouldn’t resist the pull between them. But tonight’s full moon weakened her resolve and with his scent invading her being, she couldn’t think of anything except coupling with him.
“Lincoln,” she whispered against his ear.
He shifted ever so slightly to look at her. His masculine lips parted with a soft breath.
She kissed him and found his soft, firm mouth welcoming, drawing her in for a long, deep kiss. The taste of beer on his tongue wasn’t overwhelming and she relaxed, knowing that he had full command of his senses. And so did she.
Her hands fell to Lincoln’s waist and fumbled with his belt.
He broke the kiss. His eyes brilliant and branding her with their intensity, he cupped her face. “Are you sure I’m the one you want tonight?” he asked hoarsely.
“I wouldn’t be unzipping your pants if I had any doubts.” She wrapped her hand around his shaft. The hot, velvety hardness had her clenching with need.
Biology overrode any warning her brain may have signaled. She pulled off her shirt and slid off her bra.
Lincoln’s soft growl of appreciation gave her a rush of feminine power. He yanked off his sweatshirt and pulled her tightly against him.
He dotted kisses down her throat, and she arched, allowing him more access. Gently, he kneaded her breasts. When he strummed his thumbs over her nipples, tiny bites of electricity sparked.
She grabbed his face, kissed him hard and insistently.
His hands palmed her back and slipped inside the waistband of her jeans. He slid them off her hips as she did the same to him.
Wet and wanting, she turned around. Lincoln wrapped her in his strength and warmth.
Closing her eyes, she luxuriated in the feel of his fingers sliding through her feminine folds.
He kissed her temple, gently bent her over the desk and nudged her legs apart. He entered her in a swift, deep thrust. The delicious shock caused a throaty rumble to erupt from within. His hands tightened on her hips, holding her steady as he rocked against her, harder and faster.
She loved the feel of him inside her and had no worries of pregnancy or disease. She-wolves could not get pregnant unless a male claimed her with his bite during intercourse. And her sharpened sense of smell would have warned her of sickness the moment she’d scented him.
Maddening tension balled in her lower belly, priming her entire body for climactic release, and Lincoln drove her right over the edge. Waves of pleasure buoyed her.
Behind her, Lincoln groaned in release and then stilled.
“You okay, Angel?” He eased out of her.
“Better than all right.” She turned in his arms and he kissed her sweetly.
Normally she didn’t engage in postcoital affection with her full-moon partners. But the way Lincoln held her tight and rested his chin on her head felt nice.
A knock fell at the door.
“Angeline?” Jimmy
called. “Everything all right, hon?”
“Couldn’t be better.” Angeline and Lincoln scrambled for their clothes and began dressing.
“If you need the rest of the night off—” Jimmy laughed.
“No. We’ll, um, be out in a minute.”
“Your shirt is on wrong,” Lincoln whispered.
Groaning, Angeline readjusted her top. “How’s this?” She held out her arms.
“I liked it better on the floor.”
“You would.” Angeline headed out of the office, her body humming. She glanced over her shoulder at Lincoln, one step behind her. He winked and the hope that now the itch had been scratched, the attraction between them would wane went up in flames.
Chapter 12
Lincoln stared at the shadows beneath his eyes and the lines feathering out from the corners. His brown skin had weathered from years of exposure, responsibility and the weight of the things he’d done. And he could use a good shave and haircut.
He didn’t look quite like a vagabond, but neither would his face grace the cover of GQ magazine. Not that he cared.
Before joining the Program, he’d been popular with the ladies. They’d said he had a devilish smile and was easy on the eyes.
In recent years he hadn’t had a lot to smile about and his once charming manner had become more than a little rough around the edges. After all he’d seen and done, who could blame him?
Well, Angeline did. Or had when they’d first met.
He wondered how she now saw him. As a man or Dogman?
Foregoing the shave, he reached for the crutches and turned from the bathroom mirror to make his way into the bedroom. He’d left the prosthetic on the bed, his stump slightly sore from the friction caused by the sexcapade with Angeline a few hours ago.
Given the chance, he’d do it again.
And again...
Despite a good, long run in the woods behind the apartments and a cold shower, he couldn’t shake the desire for more.
Vivacious and independent, for Angeline their encounter had been all in good fun. However, it would’ve been damn impossible for him to have stayed at Taylor’s without his fist connecting with a face whenever someone got too friendly with her. He felt far too protective and possessive of her for their own good.
Tamed by the She-Wolf Page 10