I let her sit down in the booth first, but, instead of taking the seat across from her, I slid in beside her. If she asked, I’d just tell her it was for her protection.
“Oh,” she said in surprise, and then scooted over to make room for me.
“Your server will be right with you,” the hostess said.
“Thank you,” Andra said, and the hostess smiled sweetly again before walking away.
My left hand fell to Andra’s leg, and I rubbed my thumb over her knee as I studied the menu. I ignored the way she stiffened under my touch. She relaxed after only a few seconds. I wasn’t sure if it was because of our connection or that she had come to the conclusion I wasn’t going to let my fingers travel any higher up her leg. The only thing that mattered was that she hadn’t made me remove it. I’d had a lot of favorites in my life: favorite movies, favorite drinks, favorite animals, favorite women, but touching Andra trumped them all. I was convinced nothing could ever top my new favorite thing.
“How are we this evening?”
A guy in maybe his mid-twenties and dressed in a restaurant-style, white button-up and black slacks stood by our table, interrupting my inner thoughts. I instantly hated him. I don’t think it had anything to do with the way his eyes glistened when they fell on Andra or the dimple that appeared in his left cheek when he smiled at my girl, but I could be wrong. I’ve been wrong before. He’d probably had a dream to move out here and get rich quick or become the next theater star, but ended up waiting tables because he didn’t have the money to move anywhere else after he’d failed. I may be wrong about that, too, but that’s where my mood was at the moment, judging someone else because Andra had said that asshole’s name.
“Welcome to Bonefish Grill. My name is Chase, and I’ll be your server. What sort of refreshment can I bring you, ma’am? We have the Fresh Watermelon Icicle Aphrodisiac Martini if you’re craving something sweet with a kick. We also have the Cosmopolitan or your choice of several delectable white and red wines.”
“Uh…” Andra shrugged as she studied the menu. “… I’ll have a glass of Moscato, thanks.”
Chase nodded, and then looked at me, but before he could ramble off a long spill of adult beverages, I beat him to the punch.
“I’ll have a Stella.”
“And we want the oysters for our appetizer, please,” Andra said.
My head did a whip around. “Seriously?” She nodded as she beamed at me. “That’s it. I’m not kissing you tonight,” I said playfully.
“Oh, hush. You have to try them at least once. After all that training you put me through today, I deserve a little pampering.”
“Oysters are also an aphrodisiac,” Chase said, and I turned my head slowly to glare up at him. If he mentioned aphrodisiac one more time while smiling at her, he was going to get kicked. Of course, she was oblivious to the fact that he had his bedroom eyes locked on her, because her attention was back on the menu. That dimple was begging to be introduced to my fist.
“You can leave now,” I said, and let the threat ring through in the tone of my voice. He didn’t waste any time leaving. Does he think I am her fucking brother or something? Does he not see me sitting right beside her? I need a distraction before I hurt myself. Maybe I’m overreacting.
“What are you ordering?” Andra said as she glanced over at my menu, as if it was different from hers.
“Not the salmon,” I said, and she laughed. “Probably steak. What are you going to get?” I said, and looked over at her menu, making a point to lean closer to her.
I could feel her eyes on me as a giggle bubbled up her throat. “The salmon.”
I didn’t move away as my eyes flicked up to meet hers. We were only a few inches apart, and I knew my invasion of her personal space was making her a bit uncomfortable, but I liked making her uncomfortable. Feeling that emotion through her was a little like when she was irritated. It was new to me, so I tested the waters of those particular emotions frequently. The only emotion I didn’t like her feeling was sadness. It made me sad when she was sad. I hated being fucking sad. It sucked worse than anything I had ever felt before in my life. Well, there was one other I wasn’t too fond of: heartbreak. Believe it or not, that one physically hurt. It felt like someone was ripping the beating heart from my chest when Phoenix’s sorry attempt at dumping her had almost succeeded. But uncomfortable… I kinda liked that one. It let me know where she drew the line I wasn’t supposed to cross. I liked to walk that line with a tightrope balancing pole.
My eyes dropped to look at her lips. “I was lying,” I whispered.
Andra swallowed. “About what exactly?”
“About not kissing you tonight,” I said. “I am definitely going to kiss you tonight.”
Chapter 5
Wednesday, February 4th 2015 8:51 p.m. PST
Las Vegas, Nevada
Slade
“I need cuffs!” Slade shouted to Rogan when he finally managed to pin the small woman to the ground, but Rogan had his own fight with one of the guys who had been watching Andra and Ace back in the casino. Kai had given chase to the other one and hadn’t returned yet.
He cursed under his heavy breath at his stupidity of underestimating this one just because she was a female. In his moronic state, she had managed to disarm him of two daggers, a pistol and his handcuffs. The damn things were scattered amongst the trash and shadows of the alley.
The girl couldn’t have been any taller than five-two, and he’d be damn surprised if she weighed more than a buck-oh-nine soaking wet, but she had put up more of a fight than any male he’d wrestled with in the past year. That was saying something, considering she wasn’t even of vamp or shifter blood.
She squirmed under the knee on her back, and Slade’s fingers wrapped around the backside of her neck, pushing the side of her face into the pavement to keep her still. She cried out, but it wasn’t because she was in pain. She was pissed that he’d finally gotten the upper hand.
It wasn’t over yet, though. He knew if he took any pressure off her, she would be up and swinging those silver blades at him again. For the moment, those blades were tucked under the weight of her body, gripped in her hands that were currently unable to move.
With the blood pounding against his ears, he couldn’t think straight. His lion wanted out, but the alley they were in was too damn close to human population. Plus, Ace would want at least one of them alive so he could get their story. If they weren’t shifter then who or what the hell were they? And why were they carrying silver daggers? Craziest shit he had ever seen.
“Kill me,” she said in a low voice. “If you don’t, he will.”
“Who will?” Slade demanded. “Did Justice send you?”
She didn’t respond.
A ferocious growl had Slade’s head popping up in alarm. The man screamed when Rogan shifted and went straight for his throat, but that wasn’t what had Slade’s blood running cold. The black hilt of a dagger was sticking out of the lion’s side, and he was rasping for breath even as his jaws were locking down on the man’s lifeline.
“Rogan!” Slade bellowed as he fought with the decision to help his friend and let the girl go or make sure Ace had answers at the end of the night.
“What’s going on?” the girl said, and, for the first time since Slade had been in contact with her, she sounded afraid. “Jason! Blake!” she screamed. “Jason, answer me!”
Slade looked down at the girl’s face. A single tear rolled over her nose as she squeezed her eyes tightly shut when there was no answer from her friends.
The guy’s legs twitched one last time, and then Rogan’s human form collapsed atop the dead shell of the man.
No! This did not just fucking happen! “No!” Slade screamed. “Rogan!”
He jumped to his feet, hauling her up with him, not caring if she had any fight left in her or not. He took advantage of the confused state she was in to grab her weapons, and then he turned her toward the two bodies lying on the ground, neither of whic
h were breathing. She gasped at the sight of them, and then her black shoes began to back track quickly. Slade was there to stop her from running. “Is that what you wanted to happen? You did this!” he screamed as he shoved her closer to their fallen friends. She shook her head as a sob ripped up her throat, but he had zero sympathy for her as he pushed her to her knees beside Rogan. Slade fisted his hand in her hair and forced her down until her face was touching Rogan’s face. “Do you see him? Open your fucking eyes, you piece of shit!” When she did, he jerked her hair until she was looking up at him. Slade swallowed as he stared down into frightened deep-blue eyes. “You will see his face every time you close your eyes until I am allowed to extinguish your worthless life from this Earth.”
He didn’t know for certain if she actually would see Rogan’s face every time she closed her eyes, but with so much rage and grief pouring out of him, he could only hope some of it tangled with his words enough to curse her. He needed the sight of his dead friend’s eyes to haunt her until Ace gave him permission to kill her.
Wednesday, February 4th 2015 9:09 p.m. PST
Las Vegas, Nevada
Ace
I stared at the oyster in disgust, my mouth watering as my stomach threatened to kick back all the steak and potatoes I’d just eaten.
Andra had begged me all through our meal to eat just one. Maybe I was a pussy, but I couldn’t do it. Just the thought of that slimy piece of gray matter sliding down my throat made me want to hurl.
“Please, Ace…” She poked out her bottom lip. Shit. I was done for. It looked like we were about to get kicked out of the restaurant, because I was almost certain I was about to puke everywhere. I couldn’t say no to her when she was this damn cute.
“How about dessert instead?” I suggested, tearing my eyes away from her pleading ones to grab the dessert menu.
She crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head. “Huh-uh. I don’t want dessert. I want you to try oysters. It’s not going to kill you. I ate five of them.”
I pressed my lips together as I looked back at the little half-shell and mollusk, and an idea came to me. A fucking brilliant idea! Rubbing a finger over my chin, I grinned as I glanced at her. “I will eat that thing under one condition.” Either way I was going to win. If it didn’t work in my favor, I wouldn’t have to eat that disgusting thing. I considered that a win.
She raised an eyebrow. “And that one condition would be?”
“You have to kiss me tonight—”
“No,” she said shortly.
“No kiss, no deal.” I shrugged as if it didn’t really matter to me, but I had actually been hoping she would have taken me up on the deal, even if it meant that I had to eat something nasty. Being this close to her and being denied those sweet lips was a torture I wasn’t used to, and I didn’t like it one little bit. No woman had ever rejected me.
Chase decided that was the perfect moment to interrupt again. “How was everything?”
“It was great, thanks,” I said. “We’re ready for the check.”
“Absolutely,” Chase said. “Let me get some of these plates out of your way and I’ll—”
Andra grabbed the dish with the one oyster in it and pulled it away when he reached to pick it up. “We’re not finished with this one. You can take the others.”
After the server left, I turned to look at her. She was looking at the oyster, and she was nervous. I could feel it rippling under my skin, causing the hairs on my arms to rise. “Are you still hungry?” I said. She didn’t respond. “Andra?”
She huffed, then blurted out, “One kiss, with our mouths closed, for one second. That’s it.”
I feigned boredom. “If that’s all I get, then I’m only sniffing that thing.”
She growled. I smiled. “Fine. One kiss, with our mouths open, for three seconds. No tongue.”
“How about you just admit out loud that this is our second date and let me handle the kissing part?” I held my hands up. “You can stop me whenever you want. I won’t object. I promise. I already told you that you’re getting kissed. That wasn’t a lie. But if you’ll admit that this is our second date, I’ll eat the damn clam.”
She covered her face with her hands as she shook her head. It was a good ten seconds before she removed them and looked at me. I knew she was thinking about Phoenix. I also knew that she wouldn’t have had this much trouble agreeing to this if that asshole wasn’t in the picture. I needed to come up with another break-up strategy. It was a good thing Andra reminded me that Clay was in town. The guy could definitely help me out with a little bribery tool. It may not work to end her relationship with the vamp, but it could damn sure get me something I wanted from her.
“This is our second date,” she finally whispered.
Victory!
My cell started ringing from my pocket, and I reached to grab it as she squirted lemon juice on the oyster.
Slade’s name appeared on my phone’s screen. Hoping they had found out where Andra’s stalkers were staying, I accepted the call. She handed me the shell as I put the phone to my ear, but before I could get out anything more than a hey, Slade’s trembling voice was booming in my ear.
“Ace! God, something happened, and we need you to come pick us up!” I jumped out of the booth and looked down at Andra as I listened to my Beta. She was staring at me with wide eyes. “We’re in an alley off Winnick Avenue. Kai will be waiting where you can see him. Fucking hurry, man,” he said. I could hear Kai shouting in the background before the call dropped.
“Shit!” I said as I shoved the phone back in my pocket and took out my wallet. The oyster was still in my left hand, and I brought it up to my mouth and tossed it back without even thinking. The sharp tang of the lemon juice and sea water were all that was left in my mouth as I grabbed a Benjamin from my wallet, tossed it to the table, took Andra’s hand and ran out of the restaurant.
Chapter 6
Wednesday, February 4th 2015 11:20 p.m. CST
Montgomery, Alabama
Roel
“Where are you?” Roel said into the cell phone as he sat behind the wheel of his ‘67 Mustang and turned the key in the ignition.
“At Hellhound, doing paperwork and searching for a witch smart enough to reverse the bond,” Phoenix’s bored reply came back through the receiver. “I’m failing miserably at both. What do you need?”
“I’m on my way to pick up Peanut. We’ll be there in twenty. Heath will more than likely beat us there.”
“See you then,” Phoenix said, and the call ended.
As Roel drove across town, his thoughts were on the call that had come in less than a half hour earlier. There had been signs of a moonrising wolf in their jurisdiction. There being a moonrising wolf on the loose was always a concern, but what bothered him most was the fact that someone had bit the person without telling them the specifics of being a shifter. Lord help the dumb fucker if he or she was from his pack.
As he merged onto the interstate, he pulled up Mena’s number and hit send. He knew she had left him in charge of the pack while she was away, training with her lion, but he wanted to keep her up to date on what was going on here at home, too.
After several rings, the recording letting him know that the person he was trying to reach wasn’t available played through his ear canal.
He swore as he ended the call. He hadn’t heard from her at all. Neither had any of the others. That worried him. It was true that it hadn’t even been a full day and night since she’d left, but he figured she would at least call or send a text to let him know she’d made it okay.
Thinking the worst, Roel scrolled through his contacts until he saw Ace’s name, and then he clicked it.
Ace picked up on the third ring. “Call back later.”
Roel blinked a couple of times, his hackles rising. “What?”
Ace huffed, but other than that, Roel couldn’t hear any other noises around the guy. “I’m driving, and we’ve had a bit of an emergency—”
&nb
sp; Roel’s heart began to pound as he whipped his car across two lanes, cutting off one car and nearly side-swiping another before he made it to a full stop on the shoulder. “Is Mena okay?” he shouted into the phone. He hadn’t wanted her to go, and this was why. That damned lion had done something to her.
“Who is that?” he heard Mena say.
She sounded fine. He breathed out a sigh of relief. If she was with Ace and fine, then why in the hell did he have to call back later? It didn’t take two people to drive a vehicle.
“Let me talk to Mena,” Roel demanded, wanting—no, needing—to get to the bottom of this. He was about to lose his damn mind.
“This line needs to stay clear, Roel—”
He’d had enough. “Put her on the phone or I’m getting on the next plane to Vegas and kicking your big ass when I get there!”
There was a beat of silence, and then Mena giggled into the phone. “I wasn’t aware my ass was getting big. I’ll have to work on that part of my anatomy more in my workouts.”
“Mena,” Roel sighed. “Your lion is a dick. He about gave me a damn heart attack.”
“Sorry. It took me a second to get the phone away from him,” she said.
“Where’s your phone?”
She huffed in annoyance. “At the house. Ace says I can’t stay focused on training and what the bigger purpose of being here is if I’m not all here—whatever that means. In other words, he doesn’t want me communicating with Phoenix.”
“He does realize that you are Alpha of a pack of wereshifters in Montgomery, Alabama, doesn’t he? It’s not possible for you to be all there for four weeks. I’m going to need to communicate with you. I know you left me in charge while you’re away, but you still need to approve decisions I make on big stuff. The asshole already knows that. He’s just trying to control you.”
“I meant to call, but I got distracted and remembered my phone was on the charger when we got in the vehicle to leave. I was on my way back in to get it, but Ace asked me to leave it just for tonight. You’re right. I have a duty there, too, and should have gone back in for it anyway, but he said I could use his phone to call home after we finished with our first casino. Something happened and I never got the chance. I’m really sorry.”
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