Before she could respond, he’d backed up and was across the room in seconds. She had to blink, he’d moved so fast. It almost seemed like the man moved with a supernatural grace and speed. Blinking, she shook her head. He palmed his keys and fixed those dark eyes on her again. “I’ll see you at the bar tonight.”
Then he was gone.
Her heart pounded erratically long after he’d left. She wasn’t sure what to make of his last couple comments. She hadn’t wanted to go to that bondage club last night and while it had been fun and something new, she had no desire to go again. Unless of course, she was with Grant. Then things might get interesting.
But what the hell did he mean he’d see her at the bar tonight? She bartended Saturdays but he rarely came in. He had too many places to oversee. Yet something about his tone put her on edge. He’d sounded like he planned to hang out there but that had to be wrong.
Or at least she hoped it was. Right now she felt so off-kilter the thought of being under that watchful gaze all night was too much to deal with.
* * * * *
Grant wasn’t looking directly at the bar Talia was working behind but he could see her in his peripheral vision. And he didn’t like what he saw. Sometimes he came in to see her on the weekends but it usually served a dual purpose. He liked checking up on all his businesses even though he trusted his various managers.
When he and Talia had gotten involved he’d promised he wouldn’t bug her at work. Mainly for his own sanity. Even when they hadn’t been sleeping together he’d avoided visiting where she worked too much because watching her was addictive. He didn’t like the way men stared at her and his inner wolf always threatened to take over when he witnessed it.
Normally she engaged in light flirting—which she denied and instead called being friendly to customers—but tonight, she was definitely flirting. Outrageously. With everyone. Because she damn well knew he was watching.
“You and Talia have a fight or something?” Max, the manager, and one of his oldest friends, came to stand next to Grant as he lounged at one of the high-top tables near the main bar.
He flicked a glance at him. “Is it that obvious?”
A smile tugged at the corner of Max’s normally grim lips. “You’ve been glaring holes into the backs of anyone who gets too close to her all night. And she’s been effectively ignoring you—
all night
. Normally she can’t keep her eyes off you when you’re in here. Even before you guys started sleeping together she used to stare at you when she thought you weren’t looking.”
“We’re more than just sleeping together.” He took a quick swig of the beer that had turned warm well over twenty minutes ago. Cringing, he slammed it down with more force than necessary.
“Are you?”
He glared at his friend. “What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”
Max shrugged in that maddeningly calm way of his. “Women, regardless of species, like to know they matter for more than just sex.”
What the fuck?
“I don’t need advice from you.” He clenched and unclenched his fists as he stared out at the people gyrating across the dance floor. It didn’t matter that he tried to use the sight of their writhing bodies as a distraction; he could still see Talia moving around behind the bar. And all he wanted to do was go over and talk to her. Apologize for being an ass and make things right between them. But the thought of her rejection pierced him in a way he didn’t fully understand.
Max snorted then glanced at his watch. “I’m going to send Talia to the cooler to grab a case of beer.”
Immediately Grant turned. “Get one of the bouncers to do it.” Max might be the manager but Grant owned the place. He didn’t care if it was part of her job description and he didn’t care if it was totally archaic. He just wanted to take care of her. She shouldn’t be lifting heavy shit from the back.
“If I send her I can have one of the guys cover the bar for a
while
.” He lifted a dark eyebrow and looked at Grant pointedly.
Grant kept his face impassive and shrugged even though inside his inner wolf howled in approval. He needed to talk to Talia and if he had to corner her in the cooler to do it, he would. Whatever was going on with them was definitely his fault, but if he could remind her how good things had been between them he had a chance to make it up to her and convince her to give them another shot.
Somehow he kept his attention away from the bar while Max walked over and inspected the mini coolers beneath it. Even with the noise of the crowd and a loud Garth Brooks song playing in the background he could hear Max ask Talia to head to the cooler in the back.
The moment he saw her disappear through the swinging doors toward the kitchen, he was off his seat and making a beeline for the back. One of the employees said hi and tried to stop him but he ignored everyone as he shoved through the doors.
The silver cooler door was slightly propped open so he slipped inside and silently pulled it shut behind him. For a moment all he could do was stare at Talia’s beautiful round ass as she bent over. She wore black, body-hugging pants and a skintight black tank top tonight. Her long midnight hair was tied in a ponytail that fell down her back in a soft, shiny waterfall that almost touched her ass.
She grunted as she started to pull out one of the cases on the bottom shelf and he couldn’t help it.
He groaned.
Immediately she swiveled and stood up. Her green eyes briefly flashed with lust before she masked it. Well, her face became a mask, but the sweet scent of desire she emanated wrapped around him like a soft caress. “What are you going in here?” Her voice was a husky whisper.
Despite the heat and need racing through him, he casually leaned against one of the metal shelves lining the enclosed space. “I wanted to see you.”
“Oh.” She bit her bottom lip and compared to this morning, she seemed almost nervous.
“Remember our first kiss?” He dropped his own voice a couple octaves.
Nodding slowly, she wrapped her arms around herself as her cheeks tinged bright pink.
Their first kiss had been in
this
cooler of all places. After dancing around their attraction to each other for almost a full year he’d decided to stake his claim on her. She’d been getting something from the back and he’d come in here under the guise of doing the same. He still wasn’t sure who’d made the first move. One instant she’d been staring at him with those big green eyes and for the first time since he’d met her, the scent of her lust had nearly bowled him over.
Then they were all over each other. Touching, kissing, groping like two teenagers. That night had been the first night they’d had sex too. After she’d made him promise that whatever was going on between them wouldn’t affect her job if things ended. She’d made him swear and when he’d given his word, the trust he’d seen in her eyes had nearly undone him.
After he’d tasted her, he’d known she was it for him. He wasn’t sure how he knew, but his inner wolf and his human side had been in full agreement. Talia was the only one for him.
He hadn’t realized he’d covered the distance between them but suddenly he was standing directly in front of her. Reaching out, he cupped her smooth cheek and thankfully she didn’t pull away.
Her arms dropped from their defensive stance but nervousness filled her gaze. “I can’t do this with you.” There was a desperation in her voice that shredded his insides.
God, had he treated her so bad this past month? But deep down he knew he needed to make some changes and actually show her how much she meant to him. “I can smell your desire.”
For a fraction of a second she looked confused, then she shook her head. Her lips pulled up in slight amusement. “You so cannot,” she whispered, but she didn’t pull away when he leaned even closer.
Oh, but he could. It made his canines ache with the need to take her hard and fast and sink his canines into the soft flesh of her neck and mark her as his. That need had been building inside him from the moment they’d met. He’d always held off, kept his control. Until now. Now he was barely hanging on.
Knowing Talia might walk away from him, something dark inside him told him to claim her, mark her. Take what he wanted before it was too late. But he couldn’t. Not if he wanted to live with himself.
Wordlessly, he kept moving until his lips touched hers. When she moaned into his mouth and wrapped her arms around his neck, something primal inside him calmed. At least she still wanted him physically. If he had to use that to his advantage, so be it.
Her tongue dipped inside his mouth frantically as their bodies meshed and his own tongue fervently stroked against hers. As her fingers dug into his shoulders, he blindly reached for the hem of her top. “I need to see you,” he rasped out.
Now probably wasn’t the time or place but he hoped Max had enough sense to deter anyone from coming to the cooler. If he didn’t, Grant would be kicking some serious ass later.
In seconds he had her tank top pulled over her head. Sucking in a breath, he stared at the lace cups covering her small breasts. It didn’t matter that he’d seen them too many times to count, every time she bared herself to him, his entire body flared to life. He wanted to take all she had to offer, then give her the pleasure she deserved.
“We can’t do this in here.” Talia’s urgent whisper brought his gaze back up to her face. Her green eyes were wide but he could see the lie in her eyes. She wanted this as much as he did.
Keeping his eyes on her, he reached behind her and unclasped the bra. Sliding it down her arms, he sucked in another breath once those perfect pink nipples were revealed to him. They were rock hard, probably partially from the cold, but the hitch in her breathing and the increase in her heartbeat told him how turned on she was. And she didn’t make a move to cover herself as he tossed the bra away.
“I own this place, sweetheart. We can do whatever the hell we want.” In his lust-clouded brain he figured those were the most words he was going to get out tonight.
Letting out a low moan, he lowered his head to her breast. Without pause, she arched her back giving him better access. As he licked and teased her nipple, her grip on his shoulders increased.
She dug her nails into him harder and when he sharply tugged on the hardened bud, a shiver rolled through her entire body. He could feel it straight through to his core, as if it had gone directly through him.
With one hand he reached up and palmed her free breast. In small circles he began lightly rubbing her nipple in time with the strokes of his tongue on her other breast.
“Grant…Yes…” She mumbled something else under her breath he couldn’t quite catch, but he understood the reactions of her body.
All he’d have to do was strum her clit a few times if he wanted to get her off. He’d never met a woman so reactive to his touch. She was like a package of dynamite. Ready to explode once he found the right rhythm.
Though he hated to draw his hand away, he pulled back from one of her breasts and reached for the button at the top of her pants. As he pulled her zipper down and started working her pants down her legs, her fingers dug into his shoulders once again.
“What if someone comes in?” Her whisper was mildly frantic.
Pulling his head back, he stared up at her for a moment and his breath caught. She looked so vulnerable, so full of need for him. How could he have been so blind? He should have been taking care of her the way she deserved the past month. And now he was going to take her again in a cooler at work. His inner wolf didn’t give a shit, but his human side did. Way too much. She deserved better than this.
He started to tell her he’d stop when she smiled softly. “I’m not saying I want to stop, I’m just making sure we won’t get caught.”
A sharp burst of relief surged through him. “Trust me. No one will interrupt us.” Unless they wanted their heads handed to them on a platter.
Relief instantly filled her expression. “It’s not fair that I’m practically naked and you’re not.” The way her eyes flashed with need as her gaze roved over his clothed body made him ache all over.
His cock pressed insistently at his pants, begging to be freed, but he restrained himself. He wasn’t going to fuck her on pallet of beers no matter how much he wanted her, but he was going to make sure she left this cooler with a smile on her face.
Without pause he stripped off his shirt and stretched it out on one of the stacked cases. “Sit.”
She paused for a moment. He wasn’t sure if it was because of the command in his voice or because she was nervous.
So he said it again, softer this time. “Sit.”
Her cheeks turned pink as she finally sat her perfect ass on the edge of the stacked cases. Kneeling between her open legs, he quickly stripped her boots and socks off then pulled her pants the rest of the way down her smooth legs.
As he reached for the thin straps of her bikini-cut lace black panties, an unexpected growl built in his throat. Her sweet scent grew even stronger as he began to pull them off. It took all his restraint not to dive right in but he wanted to tease her, draw this out just a little longer. He knew she loved it that way, and he loved making her need him.
Once she was naked, he nipped one of her inner thighs. The moment he did, she scooted closer to the edge of her seat, as if trying to force him to go faster. He smiled against her skin but continued kissing and licking the soft skin of her legs.