Chapter Four
Anton parked the bike inside the secure employee parking lot behind the bar. He killed the engine, grateful that none of the staff stood outside the back door smoking. The arms around him loosened and the warmth snuggled against his back jerked away. He refrained from cursing when he realized he didn’t like it one bit when Shannon separated their bodies.
He reached back, offering his hand. “Your legs may be sore so move slowly when you stand.”
Irritation rose when she totally ignored his offer to steady her, avoided touching him, and climbed off the bike, careful not to flash him as she gripped her skirt. She took a few steps and then nearly fell on her ass after her legs buckled a little. He shook his head as he watched her sway before she caught her balance and turned to face him.
“I warned you. You said you’ve never ridden before.”
“Did you have to hit every pothole and speed bump on your way here?” Her eyes flashed with anger.
Guilty, he thought, and hid the grin that threatened to curve his lips. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he lied. He’d never admit that he’d enjoyed her lush little body clutching him or how perverted he felt when he’d discovered that her hands lowered precariously close to his erection when he’d had to drive over a speed bump on her residential street. It had taken hitting at least a dozen of them to put her hold where he’d wanted itˉover his aching cock. It had been torture feeling her rub against him when the bike jostled them but he’d enjoyed every second of it.
“I swear, you gunned for every single one. I drive a lot and I’ve never had to go over so many of them.”
He looked away before she could see his face, worried she’d guess he’d had ulterior motives. He braced a boot and stood, swung a leg over the seat, and refrained from adjusting his cock when the hard length pressed uncomfortably against his zipper.
“I took back alleys to avoid traffic.” The lame excuse came easy. He held out his hand. “Take it. We’re going inside and you’re going to run into more of my pack.”
Fear etched her delicate features and his protective instincts roared to life. It left Anton alarmed at his swift reactions to her emotions. He’d been reared to protect females but he admitted something was off. His response to her terror had his beast fighting to come out to defend her.
“Trust me.”
He really wanted that from her and worse, he needed it. He sensed it as vibrantly as he did the wolf living under his skin. He watched and waited for her to place her smaller hand inside his. The tension rose between them until she stepped closer, looking undecided still, but then her palm brushed across his. His fingers wrapped firmly around hers and he tried to ignore how soft he found her skin.
“Do you want me to carry you? The last thing we need is you trying to climb the walls. I’d rather you just hang tight to me.”
“No.” Her chin lifted bravely and determination shone in her beautiful blue eyes. “I can do this.”
He admired her courage but she’d admitted her control over her instincts weren’t the greatest. His hold on her tightened enough that he knew she couldn’t jerk away from him. He headed toward the back entrance door. He silently hoped he’d be able to get her into his apartment without coming into contact with anyone.
Shannon tried hard to ignore the clawing terror that had her itching to run. She’d never had to face such strong instincts before and guessed the blame for it rested squarely on the broad shoulders of the sexy shifter who led her into his den. Her blood may have been diluted of shifter genes but fearing dogs, werewolves especially, seemed to be ingrained in her DNA.
The second he touched the handle of the door, she had to fight down pure panic that struck hard enough to make breathing impossible. Her hand tightened in his and he turned his head, giving her a concerned look.
“Are you okay?”
“What is wrong with me?”
He spun, released her hand, and an instant later she gasped when her feet left the ground and two strong, big arms came around her. Her back gently bumped the wall next to the door when he turned them, effectively pinning her with his body. He lifted her higher up on his chest until their eyes were level.
“Hold on to me,” he ordered.
She didn’t resist since her arms and legs wrapped around him faster than she could think. It helped but not much. She stared wide eyed at him and a soft growl came from deep within his throat. Shivers ran down her spine and a soft hiss escaped her parted lips. At the same time, she realized her fingernails bit into his shirt where her hands had slid under his jacket.
“Easy with the claws, kitten. I’ve got you and what you’re experiencing is normal. The scent of pack is very strong here. You may not realize you can smell it but you obviously can. You should see your eyes.” He stared into them. “Damn.”
Alarm gripped her. “My eyes? What’s wrong?”
He studied the depths of her eyes and softly growled again. “Your body may not be able to shift but your eyes do slightly. You’ve got cat eyes now, bright blue ones with a hell of a lot of exotic yellow, and they are the prettiest things I’ve ever seen.”
She glanced over his shoulder, gauged her vision for any changes, but didn’t notice any. She looked back, staring into dark, intense werewolf eyes that seemed to have turned nearly black.
“Your eyes,” she whispered.
“Yeah.” He cleared his throat. “My voice is going to get deeper too.”
She didn’t need to be told that as she shivered again at his rough, slightly altered tone. “Why?”
“You are terrified but it’s something else entirely for me.”
“What?”
He softly growled again. “I want to f*ck you so bad it hurts.”
Mute, she gaped at him, never expecting him to say that to her. He closed his eyes and turned his head enough to expose his throat to her. She found her voice again.
“Are you offering foreplay? I remember what you said about sniffing your neck. I don’t thinkˉ”
“If you brush your nose against my skin, I’ll tear your clothes off and take you where we stand. I’m trying to get a grip on my wolf and not looking at you helps.”
“Put me down.”
A louder snarl vibrated his chest against hers. “Don’t fight me. You do and you’re f*cked in every sense.”
She held very still, breathing softly, and watched his tight expression closely. His jaw clenched, flexing muscles along his jawline, and then his generous lips parted as he took deep breaths, which rubbed his chest against her breasts. To her shock they responded, the nipples hardened and a sound came out of her that she’d never heard before.
Anton’s head snapped in her direction as his eyes flew open to stare at her with an intense, smoldering look. “You purr.”
“I don’t,” she denied, despite the soft noise that she had emitted resembled exactly that.
“Youˉ”
The back door next to them suddenly exploded outward when a tall woman barged from the interior of the bar, cursing a blue streak, interrupting whatever Anton had been about to say. Shannon’s eyes widened in stunned dismay when she realized the red stains on the white shirt and tight jeans the woman sported had to be fresh blood. It also marred the woman’s hands.
“What happened, Glenda?” Anton snarled the words.
The woman spun, startled, and then bent, reaching for a hose attached to the side of the building. “Those stupid pups got in a fight while trying to play badasses for a few bitches. It’s days away but shit has already started for the pairing up.” Her dark gaze shifted to Shannon and her eyebrows shot up. “Wow. Is that the bitch from up north? I thought she wouldn’t arrive until tonight.” The water turned on.
“Um…” Anton hesitated.
The muscled, at least six-foot-tall woman laughed. “What are they crossbreeding with up there? She’s tiny. She part Chihuahua or something? It’s insulting that a pack sent that for you test out. They have to be desperate to hook up with a stronger breed. You’re going to break her before the fun starts.”
“F*ck,” Anton grumbled. “Anyone dead inside?”
Glenda washed down her arms and hands with the hose to remove the blood. “Nope. We broke it up before it got that far. Von is making them pay for the shit they busted up though. They took out five tables and dented a wall pretty bad but nothing a little drywall and paint won’t fix.”
Shannon gaped at the scary-looking woman. Thick muscles corded the woman’s arms as she turned off the hose and straightened. Tattoos adorned both curves of her broad shoulders and peeked out from where her low-cut top dipped between her breasts. Shannon had no doubt that this was her first sighting of a female werewolf, and if they all looked like this one, they could be pretty darn vicious.
“Ban their asses. They know I don’t tolerate that shit inside my bar.”
“I already told them, Anton.” Dark eyes lit on Shannon again and the woman moved closer. “Want me to get rid of that runt for you?” A cold smile formed on her lips. “Send a message that we’re insulted at what they consider their best?”
Anton’s body tensed. “Back off now, Glenda.”
The woman froze and then made a strange face, her nose scrunching, and then a snarl tore from her parted lips. Pure rage transformed her features. “Puma. The fresh blood on me from the fight masked her scent at first.”
If looks could kill, Shannon had no doubt she’d have died in that instant. The woman lunged forward, ignoring Anton’s command. He cursed and released Shannon with one arm, his open palm hitting the advancing woman hard in the chest. The push sent her staggering back and she landed on her ass.
“I said, back off,” Anton roared.
A snarl came from the downed woman and she never took her hateful glare from Shannon. “Let me kill her. Please?”
Anton gripped Shannon with both hands again, his arms feeling similar to steel bands around her waist, and growled low and deep, from his chest. “She’s a guest here. You don’t touch her. No one does.”
Glenda turned her rage on Anton. “A what?”
“Guest. I’ve extended my protection to her.”
The woman’s mouth moved but no sound came out at first. Anger turned to amazement, then to confusion. “Why? She’s a stinking cat. She obviously came to play in our trash bins and you caught her. You have no stomach for hurting a female, even if it is one of those, do you? I’d be happy to take her ass out.”
“I said she’s under my protection and no one is going to harm her.”
Glenda gingerly climbed to her feet, used both hands to brush off the backside of her jeans, and gaped at Anton. “What the hell is up?”
He took a deep breath, his massive chest pressing tightly against Shannon’s smaller one, pinned between his body and the wall. “Notice how faint the scent of her is? She’s mostly human. Some of the pups decided to hunt her in the woods but I intercepted.”
“She’s the enemy. Of course they wanted to make her a chew toy.”
“I don’t allow aggression without provocation.” Anton’s features darkened with anger.
“She’s breathing and reeks of her puma blood. That’s enough provocation for me.” Glenda shot Shannon a dirty look before meeting Anton’s cool stare again. “I know you have a soft spot for women though, so hand her over to me. I won’t kill her but I’ll at least dump her out of our territory.”
“No.”
Disbelief flashed on the female werewolf’s face. “What are you going to do with her? Call her pride and have them meet up with you to return her?”
“No. She’s going to stay inside my apartment until I make certain she will be safe in our territory. I’m giving her permission to stay. She lives on the outer edge and I’m granting her permission to stay there after I deal with the current threats against her.”
A deep, vicious growl tore from Glenda before she spun away, marching toward the door. “I’m calling your father.”
“Shit,” Anton sighed, turning his head to stare at Shannon as the door slammed closed after the departing woman.
“You should just let me go stay with my mom.”
Shannon studied his beautiful eyes. Her breath caught. He looked sexy to her, handsome. She noticed his strong, masculine scent, which she inhaled with each drag of air into her lungs, and her hands gripped him a little tighter. Heat flashed through her body until she squirmed, her thighs gripping his hips a little more firmly.
Anton softly growled and Shannon’s breasts hardened at the vibrations it caused. The heat turned scorching hot until she realized her breathing had turned into a borderline pant. They stared at each other for what seemed forever until he shifted his hips, snugly resting the front of his jeans against her panties. Hard, aroused male rubbed against the core of her pleasure. A soft moan passed her lips, shocking Shannon.
“Damn,” Anton rasped. “I’m too close to the heat and I think you are too.”
“You are really warm.”
His gaze lowered to her breasts, smashed against his chest. “You don’t know what I’m talking about, do you?”
“Your body temperature is hotter than normal and you have me pinned. Of course I’m hot. I’m going to start sweating if you don’t put me down.”
That hot, sexy gaze of his lifted. “Don’t you go into heat? I’m talking about sex.”
Stunned, Shannon swallowed hard. “No.”
“You don’t ache for sex sometimes more than other times?”
She shook her head. “No.”
“Cats are different. You should go into sexual heat at least once a month if my intel is accurate.”
“I am not going to talk about this with you.” She blushed, embarrassed that he’d bring up something that personal. “But no, I don’t. I owned a female cat and that didn’t happen to me.”
“Werewolves have a time of year where we go into mating heat and it starts in a few days. It usually lasts anywhere from about ten to fifteen days. It all depends on the year.”
That stunned her. “I thought dogs were always horny.” The moment the words were out of her mouth, she wished she could take them back, not wanting to offend him.
A grin spread across Anton’s lips. “We are but this gets much worse. Nature’s little sick joke on us to make sure we don’t end up on the extinct list.”
Questions flooded her brain but she didn’t dare ask him. She bit her lip instead and lowered her gaze to stare at his tan neck. “I don’t go into heat.”
“I do and that’s why I’m going to drop you off inside my apartment now. You’ll be safe if I leave you alone. The faster I can handle this mess, the better. You can’t be here when mating heat starts.”
He sighed, withdrawing the tight press of his hips from her. She refused to ask but she knew he had to have read her curious expression when he spoke.
“The urge to have sex is excruciating if you attempt to deny it. You don’t want to be sleeping in my bed when it hits.” He arched his eyebrows. “Understand what I’m hinting at?”
Oh yeah. Sweat broke out all over her body, imagining him super horny and determined to have sex with her. The idea didn’t horrify her. The astonishment of that revelation cooled her down a little. He’s a scary werewolf, a full-on shifter, and in line to be a brutal alpha, she reminded herself. In other words, the last man I ever need to hook up with. It would be suicidal. “You should put me down.”
“I should but I’m not. I’m going to carry you into my apartment and then I’m going to go hunt down some of my pups. They are going to give me the names of their friends who broke into your apartment. Hopefully, by the end of the night, I’ll have nipped this thing in the bud.”
Anton ached to the point of pain from wanting to f*ck the woman in his arms. He could take his pulse by the beat of it in his dick, throbbing painfully against his jeans. He pulled away from the wall, adjusted her weight, and fought a groan when her arms and legs tightened around his neck and hips. He knew what the term “like a second skin” meant now. Shannon would actually have to be a part of him if they were any closer.
He released her with one arm, jerked open the door, and stepped into the back area of the bar. The smell of his pack grew stronger along with beer, cigarette smoke, and food. It helped drown out Shannon’s arousing scent. He breathed deeply, walked quickly, and held her in a way that kept them from rubbing together too much. He took the back stairs two at a time up to his apartment. He paused, keyed in his alarm code, and the door popped open. He grinned, loving the new technology he’d installed recently.
He stepped through the open doorway and kicked it closed. He examined the small apartment with a quick glance, something he always did when he came home, and he sniffed the air.
“What are you doing?”
The soft voice made him smile at her pretty, upturned face. Her eyes made him want to groan. They were exotic-shaped but the bright, brilliant blue with yellow flakes were colors he could get lost in. Fear made the yellow stand out more, nearly overtaking the blue. He found them entrancing.
“Making sure nobody trespassed while I was gone.”
“You have a security system.”
“I do but I can’t be too careful. I have a lot of enemies as the son of an alpha.” He cleared his throat. “Let go and I’ll put you down. You’re safe here.”
He hated it when her arms and legs eased from around his body and he had to stop holding her. He liked the feel of her in his arms a little too much. She backed up the second her feet touched the floor and spun away from him to study his apartment with unabashed curiosity. He followed her gaze, hoping she didn’t hate his bachelor pad. It looked a lot better now than when he’d taken it over from Grady.
“My brother lived here before me but he kept it pretty standard. I upgraded the kitchen and enclosed the bathroom. I’m planning on putting up a wall to separate the bedroom area from the rest of it.”
“It’s nice. I actually love the open floor plan.”
She had a great voice. Soft but a little husky. His dick throbbed harder. Mating heat couldn’t arrive at a worse time. He could feel the need rising and his beast pressed hard against his skin, wanting to take the woman before him. It didn’t care if she was the enemy. Her scent called to both sides of him.
“Help yourself to anything inside the fridge, and whatever you do, don’t open that door. Nobody has the code to get inside but me.”
She turned to face him and he took a step back. He fought the urge to lunge at her, pick her up, and storm across the room to his four-poster bed and pin her under him. He glanced at her clothes, noting how easy it would be to tear them from her body to get them out of his way. He wanted to go skin to skin with her, rub his body over hers, and learn how she’d taste. F*ck!
“Don’t open the door. I have to go. Make yourself at home. Use anything you want.”
He spun around, guessed she probably thought he had lost his mind, or was just rude. He jerked open the door and slammed it behind him. He paused, touched the pad, and locked her in. Better to be safe than sorry. He took a few deep breaths until her scent no longer tormented him and then forced himself to descend the stairs. He turned at the bottom and entered the business area of the building.
Noise and the scent of pack swamped his senses. He walked to the bar and nodded at Misty, the waitress behind the bar. She grinned as she approached him with a welcoming smile. The vibes she put off when she locked gazes with him made him softly groan. He hated receiving green signals from women looking to attract his sexual interest.
“Hey, boss. You want something?” Misty leaned over the bar far enough to flash him cleavage.
“Knock it off,” Glenda growled from his left. “He’s not hooking up with you during the heat.” She bumped his shoulder with hers. “What the hell are you doing?”
Anton sighed, turned his head, and met her gaze, which was about level with his. “Nobody goes upstairs. I’m holding you personally responsible for her safety. You got me?”
“Yeah. I didn’t call your dad.”
“I didn’t figure you would. You enjoy running the bar too much and you know I’d fire you in a heartbeat for being a tattletale.”
“Who is upstairs?” Misty leaned over farther, revealing that she’d forgotten to wear a bra.
Glenda growled. “I don’t want to see your tits and neither does Anton.”
He glanced at her shirt and shook his head. “Not happening. I don’t do employees.”
“Damn. Then what do you want?” Misty straightened. “You’re totally missing out.”
“I have a dinner guest so tell Ryan I’ll be calling him in a bit to start cooking steaks for two. I’ll be back in about three hours so let him know to save a few if we run low. I wantˉ”
“You’ve lost your mind,” Glenda cut in. “You should let me get her out of our territory.”
Anton growled at his longtime friend. “Stay out of this and do as I’ve ordered. Don’t forget who is in charge around here. She’s under my protection.”
“The pack from up north already sent their offering? I thought she wouldn’t arrive until after dark.” Misty snorted. “I don’t know why you even allow them to send their best women to make you sniff at them. You’d never accept one for a mate.”
Frustration filled Anton. “I don’t need this crap now.” He reached into his jeans pocket, yanked out his cell phone and scrolled through the numbers. He selected one and listened to the phone ring. His brother picked up after the fourth one.
“I need a favor, Rave.”
“What’s up?”
“The Mortell Pack is sending this year’s beauty queen for me to check out today. I want you to play me this time. I need you to cover.”
“Oh hell no,” his brother’s deep voice gasped. “No way.”
“You owe me.” Anton paused. “I got you out of that mess last summer.”
“Damn. Is she just really annoying or is she so hot you’re afraid you’ll end up mated to this one? Is it just for tonight?”
He hesitated and then sighed. “No. I want you to totally cover for me. I’ll email you my schedule. I already have a woman who will be in my bed.”
“Anyone I know?”
“No and it had better stay that way. She’s off-limits. Will you do it?”
“Sure. I haven’t hooked up with anyone yet. I’m free to fill in for you but you’ll owe me for this one. There’s mating heat and then there’s need-a-back-brace overindulgence after it’s over. Women really try to impress the future alpha of our pack with vigorous…seduction.”
“Thanks. Come down to the bar so you can head her off before she reaches the stairs.”
“I can be there in ten minutes.”
Anton hung up and ignored the smirk Glenda directed his way. “I’m going out hunting. Protect her. No one, and I mean that, goes near her.”
“Fine.” Glenda shrugged. “You’re the boss.”