Allure of the Wolf (Seraphine Thomas Book 2) (8 page)

Mine seemed to be distracting him though.

We danced and loosened up as Vlad backed away and I tuned out the cheering. I saw the guy go to ring the bell out of the corner of my eye and took the chance Tristan had made me think of. Relying fully on my wolf and I being one, all my mad balance and newfound speed, the
instant
the bell sounded, I popped Noah right in the nose and mouth as fast but as
hard
as I could.

And then I got the
fuck
out of his range.

“Really, Sera?” he growled, narrowing his eyes at me. “Are you fighting the local bully or—”

“Blood!” I shouted as a drop fell from his nose, even going so far as pointing to it as if Vlad couldn’t see it. “Can I go home now?” Vlad’s jaw fell open as Noah reached up and wiped his face with the back of his hand, gaping as the small smear of blood left there.

It was then that I realized the
entire
casino had fallen quiet.

“Jesus, Sera, that’s
not
what I meant,” Tristan hissed from behind me.

“What?” I bitched, spinning on him. “All I needed was blood and you said I got to go home and
this
was over.” I gestured around with my arms to the spectacle, bright lights, and camera flashes all focused on
me
. “I said I’d fight him for help for my team, not a three-ring circus with press, in the middle of a case when I’ve barely slept, haven’t eaten, and
hate
being the center of attention!”

“Technically she does win,” Vlad muttered. I turned back to him and Noah, both of them frowning at me and
pissed
.

“Shit,” I grumbled, trudging over to them for a conference. “Time-out.” I think
everyone
on the FBI side and anyone who knew me professionally burst out laughing which at least made me feel a little bit better like someone was rooting for me instead of just being there to see me get my ass handed to me. It was then I actually looked out at the crowd and saw people were holding banners and signs with
my
name on them. “People are cheering for
me
?”

“Yes, Noah’s odds to win aren’t that much better than yours, my dear,” Vlad drawled. I gaped at the crowd and he sighed. “Sera, why didn’t you tell us you didn’t want to do this?”

“Right, nothing says sophisticated like admitting I’ve been puking out my guts in the bathroom the past half an hour,” I mumbled, knowing way too many people could hear us. “I don’t like spectacles and I don’t have any friends.” I looked back to my whole cheering
section
. “I didn’t think I did at least.”

“You do now,” he assured me as he reached out and squeezed my shoulder. “Since you know this isn’t a
Sera roast
, can we say you won your side bet and have a real fight for everyone who gathered here tonight?”

“What are we talking, tap-out rules?” I glanced at Noah who shrugged. I sighed and nodded. “Yeah, okay fine.” Then I gasped when Noah took the opportunity of my being distracted to kiss me. Without thinking, I pushed him away and really slugged him.

“Time-in,” Vlad chuckled loudly, darting out of range so he wasn’t dragged into our brawl.

“Double or nothing on the side bet?” Noah taunted, wiping his mouth again, as we danced around.

“I already get my follow-up training so what are you offering?” I asked before letting my hot wolf skills take over and jumping off on one hand to kick him in the chest with both feet. I sent him
flying
into the ropes, and when he bounced back, he found himself walking directly into my right hook.

“What do you want besides apparently my pain?” he drawled, wiping his face with the back of his hand
again
.

“You
asked
for this,” I reminded him, ducking one blow and then blocking a kick to my ribs. Still hurt my forearms. Damn he was strong. I needed my wolf to not get my ass handed to me.

I kicked him in the side, but when I went to land another blow, he caught my leg and followed me to the ring, trying to pin me. I growled as I felt something poking me. I scissored my legs around and rolled us so I was on top.

“You’re
hard
?” I popped him in the face before flipping off him, making sure I got in a nice shot to his ribs in the process.

He shrugged as he easily jumped to his feet. “Your breasts jiggle every time you move. Yeah, I’m hard
and
horny. Sue me.”

“Dick.” I frowned even as the knowledge did something to me south of my waist I didn’t want to admit.

“Yes, a big one.” He shot me a fangy smile, and Vlad called a time-out until Noah put them away. I retreated to my corner where Riley handed me more blue drink.

“He’s hard,” I bitched, looking for support and wanting to be distracted from anything other than what was outside the ring.

“I would be too,” Riley purred as his eyes raked over my body. “You’re badass and sexy as hell out there. If you weren’t so focused, you’d smell the lust coming off the crowd in droves.”

“Don’t tell me shit like that if you want me to
win
,” I snapped. I tried to take my time with my drink, but I had been dehydrated, and now that I wasn’t nauseous, I was just plain thirsty.

“Yeah, please do. I bet a whole paycheck on you,” he mumbled. My eyes went wide, and I choked on my drink, finally swallowing it down the wrong pipe when Tristan smacked me on the back. Shit, I didn’t need my throat hurting during a fight.

“Riley!”
I shoved the empty bottle into his hands after I downed it. Why was everyone putting
more
pressure on me when they kept saying I needed less stress? Anyone else see the contradiction there?

The fight resumed, and Noah and I met back in the center of the ring. “Have an answer for me yet?”

He shot me a wide smirk and I braced myself. Either it was going to be really good or really dirty for him to be that confident. “Once I get my temporary FBI clearance, I’ll go over those files and label every known preternatural criminal I know in your systems.”

Apparently the first.

My jaw fell open and unfortunately that left me open for a clean shot to my face. I went down hard but got right back up. “Time-out!”

“Sera, you can’t just call
time-out
because you got hit,” Vlad argued.

“Vlad,
time-out
,” I snarled and jogged over to the ropes closest to the FBI side, scanning the crowed. “Chief Monroe and Chief Havers, here,
now
!” I saw them both stand and come jogging down the stairs. Riley came around the ring and handed me a towel and another bottle of blue sports drink.

“You are never boring, Thomas,” Chief Monroe drawled when they joined us.

“Would Noah’s temporary FBI clearance allow him to scan our criminal database and label
all
known paranormals?”

“Did he just offer that?” Monroe asked, his eyes going wide.

“Yeah,” I chuckled, wiping my face when I got more of the drink down my chin than in my mouth in my rush to drink. It just tasted so damn good when I was sweating buckets. I mean sugary, yummy, hydrating goodness
wonderful
.

“So? So what?” Brian Havers snapped. “So what if Noah labeled the database?”

“He’s
eight hundred
years old, Brian,” I mumbled, meeting his gaze. “He’s trained special ops, has contacts all around the world, knows tons of contacts. Did you ever think I would agree to a circus like this without there being one hell of a reason?”

“No, not really,” he hedged, glancing at Noah. “Yeah, temporary clearance could get him that.”

“I can’t believe Noah would agree to give up any sources like that,” Monroe mumbled.

“He’s not—only
labeling
what we have as paranormal and what species, nothing more,” I clarified, not willing to ever let Noah get the rap of snitch or something. This wasn’t in the same league of being an informant to most or even us. It was more
clerical
in a way.

Yes, that was going to be my story, and I would stick to it to protect Noah’s reputation and keep him as an asset.

“Still, Noah’s
very
tight-lipped.” He raised an eyebrow and studied me closely. “What are
you
offering if you lose?”

“Nothing I’m not okay with giving up,” I answered firmly, letting them know that was the end of the discussion. They both nodded and stepped away. I tossed Riley the towel and drink before meeting Noah back in the ring. “You
really
want to fuck me.”

“I do,” he agreed, his eyes shining. “Do you accept?”

“Yeah, I cleared it with the brass that you can take a look. But you know you have to keep what you see quiet and Monroe assures me you will.”

“You have my word.” He dipped his head and the fight was back on.

We had to take another time-out when my teeth changed when my wolf was getting tired. The bell rang, and we took a proper break, actually sitting and the whole thing.

“I really need to win now,” I panted in between sips of my drink. “We need the information he has.”

“Sera, Noah would give you whatever you wanted just for being his
friend
,” Tristan promised me.

“It’s not about that anymore. I told my boss I had a chance to get this. We need the win in front of the regular FBI,” I explained, glancing at him and begging him with my eyes to understand.

He sighed and nodded. “He’s favoring his left. He’s right-handed though. I think his right shoulder is hurt.” Tristan leaned in and kissed me. “Kick his ass.”

“Thanks.” The bell rang again and I handed everything back to Riley.

We danced around some more, trading blows and I realized Noah knew I was on empty. Time to bet the house. I dove for him, grabbing his right arm and flipping him over me. I winced internally when there was a loud
snap
and his shoulder dislocated. Noah landed about five feet away from me in a heap and started to get up but fell right back down. There was a slight pause before his left hand slapped the ground three times.

“Holy
shit
,” I whispered as I blinked at him. Vlad rushed over to me and raised my hand in the air as I slowly stood from my crouched position, declaring me the victor. I pulled my hand away and booked it over to Noah, yanking off my gloves as I gently rolled him over. “Riley!”

“I’m here,” he mumbled, sliding up onto the mats.

“I’m fine,” Noah bitched, trying to wave him off. “Cheap shot, Sera.”

It felt hard to breathe as Riley got him to sit up and folded Noah’s arm, preparing the vampire for what had to come. “I know, but I was out of juice. I haven’t kept anything down in hours and—”

“You fought like a
warrior
,” he praised. Then he groaned as Riley popped back in his shoulder. Someone handed him a dark-colored thermos that I guessed had blood in it. Sure enough my nose perked up at the smell as he drank it down. Then we helped him under the ropes and Noah moved his good arm over my shoulders.

“I got him,” I assured Riley.

“I’m fine,” Noah argued.

“You are, but let’s get you into the locker room and away from the crazy.” I glanced around at all the people taking pictures and starting to swarm.

“You mean
you
away from it,” he muttered in my ear. I nodded and in an instant Noah got worse. I wasn’t sure what was going on until we were in the locker room where no one else was supposed to be and he stood up straight and stretched out. “You
really
don’t like being the center of attention.”

I forgot everything outside the doors for a moment as it hit me what Noah had been up to. “You were faking? For
me
?” I blanched, eyeing him closely.

He nodded as he finished his thermos and set it down. “I could tell you were uncomfortable.”

“Thanks.” I winced as I saw some pretty nasty cuts on his face. “Let me take a look at those.”

“I asked for this, remember?”

“Still doesn’t mean I wanted to hurt you.” I walked over to the pristine sink—thinking it was out of place in a
locker
room, but it was a nicer casino after all—and wet one of the towels before turning back to him. He was sitting on the bench in between the rows of lockers now. I leaned over and wiped up his face, smiling when it healed right before my eyes. “Well talk about instant guilt erasing.”

“The only thing bruised is my ego, Sera,” he chuckled, his eyes darker than normal.

I wrinkled my nose at the old smell of sweat, focusing on Noah’s fresher scent. His was sexy. It was from sparring with me. No, I didn’t know why that was such a turn-on. “I don’t see why. You were awesome. I thought I was going to lose. That’s why I popped you and wanted to run right back home. I was freaked out all week, Noah. I never thought I had a chance in hell.”