Authors: Katie Reus
a lot of tourists in the winter months and
judging the amount of cars in the parking
lot, the place was packed tonight.
He rolled his shoulders as he stepped
off his bike. Being around too many
people—humans or supernatural beings—
always put him on edge. All those scents
were overwhelming. He much rather
preferred to be outdoors, far from
civilization.
As he stepped inside, Kat’s scent grew
stronger. Even among the stench of
perfumes, booze, and other body odors,
her sweet rose aroma tickled his nose and
wrapped around him. Embracing him like
a gentle caress.
“Would you like to be seated in our
dining area or would you prefer to find a
seat at the bar?” A bubbly blond female
wearing black pants and a black T-shirt
held a menu in her hand as she looked at
him.
“Bar’s fine,” he said as he brushed past
her.
A burst of annoyance rolled off the
human, but right now all he cared about
was tracking down Kat. After a quick lap
around the place, he followed her trail out
a side exit door.
Once outside in the crisp night air, the
strong scent of roses entwined around him.
She was close. Frowning, he looked
around the gravelly area of the back of the
restaurant. A Dumpster was to his left,
which gave him cover as he scanned the
small area. There were a few cars on the
makeshift gravel parking lot. Employee
vehicles, he guessed.
And that’s when he spotted Kat.
She leaned against the passenger side of
an extended cab truck with her back to
him. Tall, lean, drop dead gorgeous. Her
long, dark hair was pulled up into a
ponytail that hung halfway down her back.
She wore form fitting jeans and a skintight
long-sleeved black T-shirt. If she’d still
been human she’d have needed a coat, but
thanks to her transformation from human to
shifter she had a higher body temperature.
Sticking to the shadows, he moved
behind the Dumpster and slid along the
wall of the restaurant until he was at the
edge of the building and twenty yards
away from where Kat stood talking to
some human male.
A growl rose inside him but he tamped
it back down and listened to their
conversation. As the human talked about
heading back to his place to “party,” Jayce
nearly lost control of his beast. His inner
wolf clawed at him with razor sharp
aggression, tearing and stripping away his
insides, begging for freedom.
When the human opened the passenger
door for Kat and she actually got inside,
Jayce’s claws extended and dug into his
palms. The tearing of his flesh
accompanied with the slight discomfort,
jerked him back to reality. Ducking back
behind the Dumpster, he somehow
managed to keep himself under control as
the vehicle pulled out of the parking lot.
Just barely.
As they pulled around the left side of
the restaurant, Jayce raced back around
the right side and headed straight for his
bike in the front.
Whatever Kat thought she was doing
with that guy tonight, she’d better think
again.
* * *
with the buzz cut next to her. He shot her a
quick look and winked as he steered his
truck out of the parking lot of Kelly’s Bar
and Grill. She wasn’t sure what she was
doing with him and was tempted to tell
him to stop, but something held her back.
He was one of the bartenders at Kelly’s
and had been getting off work right as
she’d walked in. From the moment she’d
sat down he’d started flirting with her and
buying her drinks. Too bad the alcohol
couldn’t numb the pain inside her.
Nothing could do that. For the past
month it had festered inside her, growing
like an out of control vine. It twisted and
expanded with no regard for anything in
its wake, least of all her heart or
emotions. If she dwelled on the ways
she’d been tortured a month ago she
tensed up and her inner wolf wanted out.
Aiden, her friend and the wolf who’d
changed her into a shifter, had explained it
was a protective thing. Her inner wolf
didn’t want her to suffer so it tried to take
over whether she wanted it to or not.
Some kind of coping mechanism.
Taking a deep breath, she forced those
thoughts from her mind. Tonight she was
taking control of her life again. Maybe
sleeping with a stranger wasn’t the
smartest way to go about it, but she
needed to be in charge of
something
. It’s not as if the guy next to her could hurt her.
He was human, and sure, he had a sexy
edge to him, but she was still a hundred
times stronger. He couldn’t hurt her
physically or sexually.
That was something she kept reminding
herself.
She
was the one in control tonight.
“Surprised I haven’t seen you in
Kelly’s before,” the guy, Scott . . .
something, said.
She’d been there before a few times
when she’d been human. But usually she’d
hung out at the bars at the ski lodge where
she used to work up until a month ago.
Shrugging, she smiled and shifted in her
seat, crossing her legs in his direction.
She didn’t want to make bullshit small
talk. That wasn’t what tonight was about.
The man’s dark gaze drifted down to
her covered legs, then back up to her
chest. Even though she was clothed, the
way he looked at her made her feel
practically naked. That should have been a
good thing, she told herself. She needed to
be exposed in front of another person and
hadn’t been since that awful night. Maybe
this would help with her nightmares.
Anything to help her get rid of the nausea
inducing memories she couldn’t seem to
outrun.
So why did she feel so guilty being out
with someone else? She and Jayce had
broken up nearly a year ago. He’d made it
perfectly clear she wasn’t good enough for
him. Oh, sure he’d loved her in the
bedroom, but that was all he’d been
willing to give her. He hadn’t been
willing to make her his bondmate when
she’d been human and she sure as hell
wasn’t going to give him a second chance
now that she was like him. Not that he’d
actually asked for one. He’d just been
calling a lot since her attack.
Acting all concerned.
Well he could take his concern and
shove it. She didn’t need him or his help.
She’d take care of her own problems the
way she always had. By herself.
Unfortunately she couldn’t seem to keep
her head on straight. For a brief moment
back in the parking lot she thought she’d
scented Jayce, but knew it had to be a
figment of her imagination.
“So how far from your place are we?”
Self-loathing bubbled up inside her as she
asked the question.
Scott’s dark eyes glanced her way and
he grinned before averting his gaze back
to the road in front of him. “Not far, baby.
Not far.”
Baby?
She hated that term. Before she
could dwell on it she sniffed the air.
Something sensual rolled off him and it
took her a moment to realize it was lust.
She was still getting used to tapping into
her extrasensory abilities and deciphering
one smell from another. This was like a
sweet wine, clean and refreshing.
It reminded her that even though she
might not care about this guy or plan to see
him again, he wasn’t a bad person. It was
the reason she’d chosen him tonight.
Before she’d been turned into a shifter
she’d been a human but also a seer. Just
like her mom. Back then she’d only been
able to see the true faces of supernatural
beings. She’d been able to see the wolves
or jaguars or whatever kind of animal
lurked beneath the surface of shifters. And
with vamps, she’d been able to see their
teeth and hunger for blood. After being
turned into a shifter she could also see the
truth of humans’ nature. It was a weird
addition to her psychic abilities. With the
ability to see the truth about people, she
could see Scott’s ‘real’ face and he was
just a horny guy looking to get laid. No
darker intentions or freaky sexual
proclivities.
As they pulled in to the driveway of a
cottage style house in a normal-looking
middle class neighborhood, she took
another deep breath. She could do this.
Couldn’t she?
When he put the truck in park, she
fought the growing dread inside her. It
moved with molasses like speed,
weighing her down and making it hard to
breathe. With a numb hand she opened the
door and slid out of the vehicle. The
second her boots hit the pavement of the
driveway she knew she couldn’t go
through with this. Not if she wanted to
look at herself in the mirror in the
morning. One night stands weren’t her
style, and while she desperately needed
control in her life, the thought of this guy’s
hands on her body made her nauseous. Not
because he was bad looking or gave her
bad vibes, but because she didn’t want
this from a stranger. Not truly. As she
started to walk around the truck to Scott’s
side, she turned at the sound of a
motorcycle pulling into the driveway
behind them.
Fury popped inside her at the sight of
Jayce. Well, fury and something else she
refused to define. It might be relief but she
wasn’t going to go there. Not tonight. Not
when anger was so much easier.
Stalking toward Jayce, she tried to keep
her eyes from trailing down to those
incredibly muscular legs as he slid off the
bike. Didn’t matter that he was wearing
jeans, she’d seen every inch of his naked
body and the image was seared into her
brain. He moved with such fluidity it had
always amazed her.
Even now, when she wanted to pummel
him for having the audacity to follow her,
she still had to admire the strength and
power he radiated. He’d never be called
handsome or even good looking, but there
was something dangerous about Jayce that
was incredibly sexy. Without even trying,
he exuded a raw sexuality that made
women stand up and take notice. With his
shaved head and a scar that crisscrossed
over his left eye, he had . . . a presence
that refused to be ignored. The scar only
added to that edginess. And he was
directing all of that at her with a
very
heated stare.
“What the hell are you doing here?” she
practically shouted.
Before he could answer, Scott was next
to her, in front of her actually, partially
blocking her from Jayce. “Can I help you,
buddy?”
Kat smiled haughtily at Jayce. At least
Scott wasn’t a total wimp.
But then Jayce trained his gaze on the
other man. Jayce was scary when he
wanted to be, and as she watched his
normally gunmetal gray eyes turn to black,
she actually had to force herself to stand
her ground. He growled low in his throat.
“You can go inside your fucking house and
leave us alone.”
Scott cleared his throat nervously, then
looked at her. “You, uh, know this guy?”
She could smell the pungent fear on
him. Bitter and acidic, it stung her nostrils.
So much for not being a wimp. Ignoring
Scott, she turned back to Jayce and placed
her hands on her hips. “Did you
follow
me here?”
“What do you think?” he practically
purred as he took a step closer.
Now she scented something dark and
rich, like chocolate.
Lust.
As a human
she’d never had a clue that lust or desire
actually had a smell, but this . . . was
addictive. She inhaled and for a moment
she felt lightheaded. But when she saw the
knowing look in Jayce’s eyes, she
snapped. “I think it’s pathetic that you’re
following me around like a little puppy
dog.” She knew he still wanted her and the
knowledge gave her power. Even if she
was playing with fire by taunting him, it
gave her perverse pleasure to see the
anger flare in that newly darkened gaze.
“Puppy dog?” His voice was low, a
soft, menacing growl that made the hair on
her arms stand straight up.
Next to her Scott actually took a step
back, using her body to block his own. Oh
yeah, total wimp. “Should I, uh, call the
cops?” His voice was a little higher
pitched than it had been earlier.
“No. Just go inside and forget you met
me.” She didn’t look at him and he didn’t
question her directive. She just heard him
shuffle away then fumble for his keys.