All I cared about was the insane smile and sporadic laughter of Violet as she sipped her Old Fashioned and watched the other two arguing.
I was so entranced by Violet, sweeping my hand up under her fall of silky hair to wrap around her neck, that I didn’t catch the scent or shift in electrical currents in the air right away. It was actually Violet who stiffened first, her gaze moving from the bar to a booth in the back, a line creasing between her brows.
I followed her gaze, tensing immediately at the sight of Shane and two new guys to the pack who I hadn’t liked before I left. Kyle and Rick, I think. Evie wound her way to the booth and started chatting, taking their order like any other customers.
“What the hell are they doing here?” asked Violet.
Then Mateo sauntered out from the area of the bathrooms and froze.
“Oh, fuck.” Before I could do anything, his head had snapped to the booth, already zoning in on the enemy. “Shit. Stay here.” I tore away and started to cross the bar, but he was too fast.
Mateo was there in a millisecond, pulling Evie away from them and jabbing a finger in Shane’s face, his voice guttural as he threw some nasty warnings their way.
Shane held his hands up in surrender, but the smirk on his face not doing him any favors. Evie seemed to be trying to calm Mateo with a hand on his chest, but suddenly he turned, tossed her over his shoulder like a caveman, and stormed off toward the kitchen, one hand possessively on her ass.
As we passed, I caught the fire-gold of his eyes. He didn’t say a word, just bared his teeth and growled as Evie said rather calmly, her ponytail swinging, “Alpha, just put me down. I won’t go near them. Promise.”
I made my way to them, much calmer than Mateo, but that was probably because Violet had stayed next to the bar like I’d asked. If she moved any closer to them, I likely wouldn’t be able to think clearly anymore, reverting to neanderthal status like Mateo, solely because of who she was to me.
“What are you doing here?” I asked Shane.
“Just having a beer.” He glanced beyond me. “If I can get some service, that is.”
“There are lots of bars in New Orleans, Shane. What do you want?”
“Nothing,” he said innocently. “From you, anyway.” He’d zoned in on Violet at the bar, and I distinctly felt my blood pressure rise, a flame of rage percolating just beneath the surface.
“Look, I’m not sure what you think the spelled tattoos will do, but it doesn’t work like a regular spell. So if you’re trying to bulk up with magic or something to make your pack stronger”—and more violent—“then Violet can’t help you.”
“You don’t know a fucking thing about what we want.” He gave me a condescending huff. “Or maybe you do since you fucked Ty up then abandoned the pack.”
I ground my teeth together, forcing my anger back, reasoning through his words. Frowning, I said, “If you’re looking for help to control the wolf, Violet is working on it. When she has the spell, I’ll let you know. Just go back to Austin. I know how to reach you.”
“Yeah, I’m sure you’ll be reaching out with open arms, won’t you, brother?”
Fuck, he was raging under the surface.
He sneered. “Witches are always so eager to help werewolves, aren’t they?”
A shared memory of me and Shane popped into my mind. When one of the pack members had a nasty curse put on him that had made him violently sick, we’d gone to a Hex-breaker in Austin. One look at us, and she’d hissed, Like I’d help a goddamned werewolf. If he’s cursed, then he deserves it. Then she slammed the door in our faces. It wasn’t the first or the last time we’d been subjected to that kind of treatment, merely because we were born as werewolves.
“I can see that you and Mateo are the golden boys. The special snowflakes around here. But I’m well aware of how all these witches see us.” He gestured to the guys in the booth. “Why else would you be trying so fucking hard to get us out of your city? It’s a free fucking country, Nico. We aren’t hurting anyone. We don’t have to leave.”
He was right. They hadn’t hurt anyone. But I was very sure he was in a volatile state, his wolf making more of the decisions for the pack than the man. That made him dangerous.
“We know how it is,” Kyle butted in. “Your witch won’t do what we want. But she might help you because you’re fucking that pretty pussy. Maybe if—”
Red rage hazed my vision a split second before I reached across the table, claws out, gripped him by the leather jacket, and dragged him over the table and out of the booth. Dropping him on his back, I put a knee on his chest, my hand around his throat. He didn’t resist because he knew I’d slice through his jugular if he did. This was the way of werewolves in the midst of aggressive contact. If he wanted to keep his blood inside his body where it belonged, he needed to submit and deal with my fury right now.
I leaned close, not wanting to terrify the few customers gawking and looking on. I warned him in a low but lethal whisper, “Listen, motherfucker. If you touch a hair on her head, I’ll eviscerate you. They’ll never find the body.”
Kyle didn’t seem prone to fear, a young, cocky douchebag who didn’t know when to keep his fucking mouth shut, but he glanced over at Shane for help.
“Nico,” said Shane behind me. “We’ll leave. No need for violence.” He laughed as if it was a joke. He seemed to rather enjoy violence when we ran together. But he stood slowly from the booth, Rick with him.
I released Kyle but not before I swiped a claw under his chin, just enough to break the skin and draw blood. A small warning. I stood and glared at Shane, knowing good and well my beast shone through my eyes. “You need to get the fuck out of town,” I told him.
Shane’s reaction wasn’t one of fear, but wary. Especially when Mateo strode back across the bar alongside JJ. Evie was nowhere to be seen. Violet still sat at the bar with the others, watching.
He didn’t agree or disagree. Instead, he said something altogether worse. “Your new girl is pretty, Nico. Better watch her close.”
When I took a step toward him, Mateo caught me with a fist in my shirt. Yeah, they were baiting us, but Shane knew right where to hit to send my wolf into a maddening spiral.
With that, he chuckled and sauntered slowly for the door, his lackeys right behind him. Once they were gone, I strode back to the bar and took Violet’s hand. “Let’s go.”
Rather than argue, she nodded.
“Should we close early?” asked JJ.
“Nah. They won’t be back.”
Mateo was in front of me before I could haul Violet through the kitchen door toward the back exit, my chest heaving.
“Are they leaving town?” he asked.
“I hope so,” was all I could manage as I practically dragged Violet toward. “But that fucker was right.”
“About what?” Mateo scowled.
“They haven’t broken any law. If we’re running them out of town for no reason, then we’re no better than the other supernaturals who hate werewolves just for breathing the same air.”
Mateo stared at me, considering. “That may be. But it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t keep an eye out. Packs are dangerous by nature, and he well fucking knows that.”
“I’ll report it to Jules and Ruben, but legally we can’t do anything. Or we shouldn’t do anything. I’m not going to discriminate against my own kind, but I sure as fuck will keep an eye on them.”
Mateo nodded, then I hauled Violet behind me through the kitchen, needing to get her somewhere private. Immediately. Jules glanced up from a pot on one stove, frowning.
Evie was leaning against a counter, her arms crossed. “Can I come out now?”
I nodded, then kept marching out the back door. “Your place or mine?” I asked.
“Mine.”
Their house was only half a block around the corner. By the time we made it to the stairs of the carriage house where she shared the loft with her sister, my labored breathing had escalated to near hyperventilation. I
scooped her in my arms and charged up the stairs. As soon as I entered, I glanced around the small apartment.
“Where’s your room?”
“That way,” she pointed down a short hall past the kitchen, arms linked at my neck, staring intently. “What’s going on?”
“I need you.” A terse, gruff reply and nowhere close to matching the driving force propelling me toward her bed.
I slammed the door shut with my foot and spread her out on the white comforter, my mouth on hers with ferocity. Something about that encounter in the pub sparked a raging need for me to kiss and claim.
She moaned into my mouth before pulling back and stripping her shirt over her head. I paused, staring down at her red bra against milk-pale skin. My vision hazed for a second before sharpening to wicked clarity. My wolf was trying to come right out of my skin. Literally.
“Fuck, Violet,” I murmured, mounding one breast with my hand before curling my fingers over the top of the cup and giving it a good yank. “So fucking beautiful.”
She gasped when I leaned down and sucked her tight nipple into my mouth.
“God.” She sunk her nails into my biceps. “Clothes. Get your fucking clothes off.”
We tore and jerked and stripped till we were naked. I climbed on top of her, bracing my weight on one forearm. Holding her green-eyed gaze, I slid my fingers down her flat stomach then between her legs. She spread her thighs on a breathy sound, arching her neck a little, eyes half closed in pleasure.
“How sore are you?” I murmured, finding her so wet and slick, my cock jerked.
She shook her head. “I saw Isadora today. Asked her to feed me a little healing energy.”
Grinning, I swept my lips against hers, gliding gently over her folds and slipping one finger inside her then back out. “Did you tell her why?”
She had her nails on the rounded part of my shoulders, clenching and releasing as I stroked with little to no pressure, teasing.
“I told her we fucked each other’s brains out, and I needed to heal fast so we could do it again.”
I belted out a laugh, still sliding two fingers up and down her slit. When she rocked up to try and get more friction, I lifted away.
“Damn you, Nico. No more gentle.”
“No?”
She must’ve seen a flash of wolf in my eyes because her eyes widened with excitement.
I bit her bottom lip. “You like him, don’t you?”
“What’s not to like?”
I flipped her over and shoved the pillows off the bed so that she was flat on the mattress. “Reach up and hold onto the headboard.”
There were slats in her antique frame.
“That headboard is perfect for fucking your brains out.”
She laughed, turning her head to the side, breathing quicker. “Then get to it.” She lifted her ass tauntingly.
“So pushy.” I smacked her ass with a resounding thwack.
She laughed and moaned at the same time, then I bit and licked a trail down her spine. She wasn’t laughing anymore. She whimpered when I reached her ass and licked the crease between thigh and cheeks.
“Mmm. Nico,” she breathed on a slow exhale. “What are you doing to me?”
I spread her with my thumbs and licked her slit on a groan. Her scent was so necessary to life now, I wasn’t sure how I was going to leave her alone for one second of the day.
I whispered against her cunt. “Can I just stay right here forever?”
She laughed but then stopped suddenly, sucking in a breath when I entered her with my tongue, mimicking what I’d be doing with my dick in short order.
“Be my guest,” she mumbled into the mattress.
I gripped her thighs and opened her legs wider, continuing to fuck her with my tongue. When I slid one hand underneath her and rubbed her clit with insistent pressure, she came with a sharp cry. I lapped up her intoxicating juices before I opened and strapped on the condom I’d thought to toss on the bed before my jeans flew across the room earlier.
I crawled up her body, biting as I went. She shivered, still panting when I settled on top of her and used my knees to spread her legs wide for me.
Rather than pushing right in, I slid my dick along her slick folds then along the crease of her ass, back and forth, while sucking on her neck. When she kept trying to push back with her ass to get me in, I chuckled.
“You’re a total pussy-tease,” she gritted out.
“You’re so impatient.”
“Fine then. I’ll go find someone else who—”
I clamped down hard on her body, biting into her shoulder, and slammed into her with one hard thrust, jolting her body beneath me.
“Ah!” she cried out as I held myself deep, unmoving.
“You were saying?”
“Nothing. I wasn’t saying anything.”
“That’s what I thought.”
She laughed, knowing good and well she was just pushing my buttons till she got what she wanted.
I started to stroke, pulling almost all the way out, then pounding back in with a steady, slower tempo.
“Tell me you want no one else,” I demanded in a silken whisper.
“No one else,” she groaned as I pounded deep again.
“Tell me I’m the only one who can touch your body. Fuck this pussy.”
She was getting lost in the sensations, gasping and moaning, her sex sucking me in deeper each time. I combed my fingers into her hair and tightened my grip to get her attention.
“Tell me, Violet.” A primal demand I couldn’t keep myself from making.
If I’d been able to think straight, I never would’ve said it. It was overly possessive and could’ve pushed her away. We might be monogamous, but she also wasn’t the kind of woman to let herself be owned by anyone. Not yet anyway.
Still, the wolf needed it, choking on his desire to claim her as his own. My only hope was that Violet would think this all dirty talk and bed play because the next thing that came out of my mouth as I pounded her harder wasn’t me at all. Pure wolf. My voice had gone Lycan-dark.
“This body. This mouth. This pussy is mine. Only mine. Fucking say it.”
Yield to me, the wolf growled in my subconscious.
“Only yours,” she whispered through panting breaths.
“Fucking right,” I groaned.
I opened her thighs even wider with my knees and angled to go deeper, pounding with relentless force, flesh slapping and wet sex combined with the erotic sounds coming out of her mouth.
When her moans came closer together, and I knew she was going to come, I was suddenly desperate to see her face. I pulled out, almost smiling at her harsh protest, then flipped her over and slid back home with hardly a breath between.
“Yes,” she crooned against my lips. “You even make vanilla sex feel good.”
Grinning, I pinned her hands above her head, lacing our fingers together then pumped in a steady rhythm, circling my pelvis at the end of each drive to give her clit some attention. She skated her heels up the backs of my thighs till she dug them into my ass and started rocking up to meet my thrusts.
When her mouth fell open, signaling her spiraling climax, and her sex clenched around my cock, the sight and sensation catapulted me toward my own release. There was something soft and tender in her eyes this time. An emotion I had caught only a glimpse of last time.
“Yes, baby,” I murmured, feeling that intimate connection, too, that intangible emotion tying our hearts together with invisible, barely there thread.
My head fell forward, my mouth against her neck as I came hard, groaning deep and pumping through it with desperate strokes for more of her. Always more.
When my breathing started to even out, I finally lifted up onto my forearms to look at her beautiful, post-sex expression.
She was always beautiful, but something about her sated smile and the dreamy glimmer and wistful emotion in her eyes, knowing I was the one who put it there, made the wolf very happy. And the man.<
br />
She tilted her head to the side, tracing a finger across one of my eyebrows then over my cheek, down my jaw, an over my lips. There was a quiet, knowing expression on her face that made my pulse skip a beat. I was sure she was going to say something about what had just happened in that final climactic moment. Because it wasn’t just an orgasm that put that tender expression on her face.
She opened her mouth but closed it. I waited. Then she finally said lightly, “You’re super dominant in bed.”
No, she wasn’t brave enough yet to say it. But, hell, neither was I, so I shrugged a shoulder and said, “It’s the same for a lot of men.”
And honestly, I’d been staid today compared to our first couple of rounds.
“True. But there’s something more there. Is it because of those other werewolves? Or is it just your wolf?”
I stiffened, glancing down to her kiss-swollen lips. “A little of both.” Then I met her dark-eyed gaze again. “Does it bother you?”
She had no idea that she could cut me in two with the wrong response right now. She may not know what the wolf wanted. But I did. And her denial, in any way, would crush me. Break me.
She simply shrugged a shoulder, mimicking my movement a minute ago and nonchalantly replied, “Your wolf likes me.”
My wolf more than liked her. There were probably no words for what he felt. There were definite words for what I felt, but I couldn’t say them yet. I had barely glimpsed the look in Violet’s eyes that told me this was mutual, but I needed to be sure.
I was in so deep. My chest ached with all the words I wanted to say and couldn’t. She must’ve seen some flicker of it across my face because her smile melted away.
“What is it?”
Rather than answer, I leaned down and pressed a lingering kiss to her lips, sliding my tongue inside for a gentle taste of her sweetness, but more to distract her. When I was able to withdraw my emotions and keep them off my face, I pulled back and gave her a smile.
“Be right back. Gotta take care of the condom.”
I pulled out quickly. She hissed, and I felt her watching me walk into her bathroom.
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