by Dannika Dark
“I don’t think he plays bass.”
“Maybe you should ask,” I said.
Jericho pulled out his phone and dialed a number, stepping away from the table with his finger in his other ear.
“We’re really fucked now,” Joker said with a sniff. “I may need one of those pink ones.”
I slapped his hand and closed the box when he reached for a donut. “How is it that you have diabetes? I’ve never heard of that with a Shifter.”
“I’m a human.”
I blinked in surprise. “Really?”
Joker laughed and flipped his sandy-blond hair out of his face. It was wavy and past his ears. “Jericho’s an equal-opportunity kind of guy. They kept it a secret from me for almost a year before filling me in. I’m tighter with these two guys than my human friends. I guess I’ll stick with the band until I become an old dog or they get sick of me.”
“We’re the old dogs,” Ren said. “You’re the old human. Get it straight.”
“Shut up, Lord of the Lip Rings.”
Jericho filled the space beside me and spun his phone on the table. “Looks like we have someone to fill in.”
“Trevor knows how to play bass?” I asked in surprise.
“No. They’re swinging by a pawnshop on the way and he’s going to practice in the car.”
A slow laugh began to build in Joker and he wiped his eyes. “This should be fucking magical. Why don’t you call him up and hum the bass line for Another One Bites the Dust? We’ll open and close with that one.”
Chapter 15
After stuffing my face with five donuts, I napped in Jericho’s truck while he drove us to the music event. It reminded me of old times, before he’d formed a band. Now he was a talented rocker who could take on the world if he chose to. I knew he could have rocketed to superstardom because he was smart, talented, and wrote his own music. But that kind of fame puts a target on the backs of men who don’t age at the same speed as humans.
I moaned and stretched, nestling my head against something soft.
Then hard.
My eyes widened when I realized my head was in Jericho’s lap. I bolted upright. “Very funny.”
“You’re the one who laid down, Isabelle. I tried to wake you up, but you bit my arm.”
“I did not.”
He held up his arm and showed me the teeth marks. “I know you don’t like being forced awake, so I let you snooze.”
“Thanks.” I rubbed my eyes and saw people walking everywhere.
Jericho sighed. “Hope this goes well. If not, we can probably wing it without a bass player.”
“So Chaz has been a problem?”
Jericho honked the horn, and a few people moved off the road and out of our way. “You could say that. He’s a junkie. It’s been getting worse, and the rest of the guys don’t want that shit around. We party, smoke a little weed, girls—you know. But Chaz started in with some of that hard-core shit. I let it slide at first because who am I to talk? But he’s been rolling in late to shows and not pulling his weight. That’s bringing us all down.”
“He’ll be back. He’s just throwing a tantrum so you’ll be stuck in a bind.”
Jericho tucked a cigarette behind his ear. “He’s the one who’s going to be stuck in a bind, because we’re replacing him. I have two good men I don’t want influenced by his bad habits. Come on.”
He reached behind the seat, unzipped a bag, and handed me a pair of comfortable shoes.
I walked a pace behind him as we worked our way through the crowd. I’d never seen so many Breeds in one place. Vampires watched me with their onyx eyes, and I saw a few Sensors transferring emotions with their hands to someone’s chest. I could always tell by the red glow.
Jericho peered at me over his shoulder and gripped my hand.
Onstage, a singer was winding up a cover of an Elton John song. When the music stopped, laughter and loud talking erupted from all directions. A sea of different Breeds filled the grounds, and I couldn’t begin to guess how many there were. Some wore glow sticks around their necks. Two blond Chitahs were racing each other by a thicket of trees. Chitahs were tall, fair-haired, and built for speed. They weren’t a Breed you messed around with because of their deadly instincts. Shifters were easy to spot because they stood in large huddles, and Packmasters usually marked themselves with special tattoos. I recognized a few regulars from the bar and waved.
Jericho let go of my hand and approached a vendor. He returned with two packages and ripped them open with his teeth. “Here. She said there weren’t very many in this color.”
He slipped a pink glow necklace around my neck and twisted two around my wrists as bracelets.
“This way I can spot you easily in the crowd if we get separated.”
“Does this normally go on in Austin?”
“Nope. First time. Hopefully nobody gets killed and we can do it again.”
A new band came on, and as the rhythmic beat thumped, Jericho tugged my hand and led me to the edge of the woods.
The pink glow from my stick illuminated his face, and he closed in on me with a carnal look in his hypnotic eyes.
Slow.
Steady.
Watching my lips.
I couldn’t breathe. I licked my lips nervously as the energy pulsed between us.
He curved his right hand around the back of my neck and grazed his callused fingers across my nape. I shivered, and a rush of desire moved through me like strong alcohol.
Jericho closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath through his nose. He licked his lips and leaned in close, whispering against my ear.
“You’re going into heat soon, aren’t you?”
I nodded and his fingers curled in, sending a thrill through my body.
“Maybe you shouldn’t be here,” he breathed.
The music swelled, and laser lights beamed through the crowd, briefly passing over us.
Jericho moved closer, and I placed my hands on his bare chest. My fingers explored his firm abs and dared to move lower until they slipped inside his jeans. He sucked in his stomach and hissed through his teeth.
“Is it that obvious?” I asked.
His mouth moved away and paused on my cheek. “My brothers can’t tell—not even Austin, and he’s an alpha. Otherwise they would have mentioned it. He must not have a strong nose like he claims.”
“Then how is it you know?”
“You have that look. I’ve seen that look. I remember that look.” His left hand traveled to my hip and tightened.
In the past whenever I’d gone into heat, Jericho would leave me locked in his motel room. He protected me from everyone, including himself. He also slept outside the door to keep me from leaving. Only once had I begged him to let me take a man into my bed for relief, but he didn’t budge. It was common knowledge among Shifters that sex would lessen the length of time a woman was in heat versus taking matters into her own hands. Most of the time it lasted for three days, but once it went on for almost two weeks. It’s an uncomfortable feeling, like hunger pangs. Except a different kind of hunger.
I wasn’t feeling it now. All I felt was Jericho’s mouth against my cheek, sliding closer to my lips.
When he reached my mouth, he hesitated. A soft glow illuminated our bodies from the pink necklace, and as I stared intensely into his eyes, the flame of arousal lit between us.
The harder and deeper I stared into Jericho’s soulful eyes, the more I wanted him to take me. I imagined him unbuckling his pants and pulling down my shorts, pinning me against that tree. My breathing became erratic, and my eyes hooded as I allowed the fantasy to overcome me.
Jericho lightly bit my bottom lip and pulled back—a claiming gesture. He let go and stroked the back of my neck with experienced fingers.
“Turn around, Isabelle.”
I didn’t want to break eye contact; I didn’t want to lose the sexual energy that was becoming a dull ache.
When he stepped back, I turned around and held
my hands against the bark of the tree.
Without hesitation, Jericho swept my hair off my shoulder and put his mouth on the nape of my neck. I cried out at the rapturous feel of his tongue, the soft and hard sucking he alternated between, and the scrape of his teeth. He blew a warm breath on my sensitive skin and suddenly cupped his hand between my legs.
When I moaned, he covered my mouth with his left hand.
“Shhh, baby. Not so loud.”
His fingers began moving and working me over until all I wanted was Jericho.
He drew his hand up and slipped it inside my shorts. I was so close, and having my back to him felt so right—it was the way among Shifter wolves.
His fingers sank into my panties, and he slipped one inside me.
“So wet,” he whispered in a shaky breath.
My cheeks flushed with heat—I couldn’t take it anymore. Pleasure intensified with every stroke, lick, and kiss against my neck. When he growled, low and provocative, I reached around and unzipped his pants.
“Isabelle,” he said in a silken voice. “Don’t.”
“Yes,” I whispered against his hand, which had loosened from my mouth.
It became a race. The more I tried to unlatch his button in the struggle to free him, the more his fingers worked inside me. I felt a tightening sensation and finally his button popped free.
Jericho moaned against my neck, moving his mouth to my shoulder. “Stop, Isabelle. Don’t touch me. I want to make you come. No sex has ever compared to making you come with one touch. Let me touch you, baby.”
His fingers went deeper, and I moaned with so much need and lust that I pulled down his underwear and stroked him behind my back. I reached up to wiggled out of my shorts when something stilled the both of us.
“Izzy Monroe!”
The crowd roared.
Jericho backed up. “Shit. We’re on.”
I slowly turned around, leaning against the bark of the tree with my shorts pulled halfway down my hips.
Jericho bit his lip. “I don’t know if I can go up onstage with you looking at me like that, Sexybelle.”
I tugged my shorts up and smiled at him. “I told you all those donuts would be nothing but trouble. Get up onstage. I want to watch you perform.”
He stalked forward and kissed me hard, his tongue crashing against mine and igniting those feelings once again. “The first song is for you,” he said.
Jericho zipped up his pants and headed toward the stage, the edges of his blazer flapping with his rapid pace. I pulled myself together and laughed quietly. “Jericho Sexton Cole, you’re going to get me into so much trouble,” I whispered, watching him climb onto the stage and swing his guitar over his shoulder.
The stars were magnificent overhead, and I slowly made my way toward the stage, hypnotized by his voice that called out to me in a song. It wasn’t a song I’d heard before. He began the show with a bluesy acoustic melody—a ballad.
The audience was captivated.
I battled the demons that darkened my soul,
I broke into pieces but you made me whole.
I promise to make you a home in my heart,
we’ll rebuild our lives, and we’ll make a new start.
Mmm. My Isabelle, I can tell… by the look in your eyes…
My breath caught. The crowd vanished, and I gravitated toward a man who sang into a microphone that connected to my soul. His eyes roamed through the crowd and then found me. I lifted my bracelets and smiled. Jericho winked and finished singing the song he’d written for me.
On the spot.
I kissed the palm of my hand and raised it up in the air. He reached out as if to grab something and then held his closed fist to his chest. All the girls around me screamed and someone threw her panties at his feet.
I laughed and wondered how I’d gotten myself into this. Was I really standing here falling in love with Jericho Sexton Cole beneath a starry night? I’d always loved him, but this was something entirely different.
Maybe it was just seeing his sexy eyes searching for me in the crowd. Could have been his bare chest beneath his jacket, or the way his mouth caressed each word he sang into the microphone. It might have been the roar of tingles I felt between my legs when I thought about the way he’d gently handled me not five minutes ago and how I needed him.
More of him.
When the song ended, the band huddled together.
“Hey, Izzy!”
I blinked into reality and turned my head.
April approached in a white cutoff shirt and had about seven blue glow sticks tied around her neck. “Isn’t Trevor amazing?”
I laughed quietly. “He hasn’t played yet.”
She brushed her blond bangs to the side. “You just wait. Trevor can do anything he puts his mind to, and he’s going to knock their socks off. Plus, look at him! He looks so charismatic up there.”
“Trying to make me jealous?” Reno said in a gravelly voice, holding her from behind. She leaned her head back and kissed him feverishly.
“Is anyone else here?” I asked.
“Everyone! Somewhere,” she said with a laugh. “Except for Denver, and he’s pissed about it.”
Joker began a beat on the drums, and Trevor stepped forward and ran a bass line. Women screamed in unison, and April was one of them. Jericho laughed and shook his head, watching Trevor with disbelief.
The cocoa began working its way through me. “You guys have fun! Maybe we’ll bump into each other again,” I yelled over the music.
Jericho owned the stage, hammering out a rock song that had everyone throwing their fists into the air. I couldn’t hear my own thoughts as I made my way to the portable toilets. That was one memory I didn’t miss from our heyday.
After executing what I liked to call the “hovercraft pee,” I used the sanitizer on one of the tables to wash my hands and found myself bobbing my head along with Jericho’s band. As much as I loved hearing his covers of popular songs, I melted to his original stuff.
I bristled when a set of arms wrapped around me from behind.
“I’m so glad you’re okay,” I heard Ivy say.
I blew out a sigh of relief and turned around. “You scared me.”
She looked stunning in a turquoise dress with a matching necklace. “I hope you don’t think I’ve been avoiding you, Izzy. I keep to myself a lot, and you’ve been through a difficult situation,” she said, reaching for my hand. “I know you don’t want to talk about it, so I’ve been giving you space.”
“Thanks, Ivy. I really am fine.”
Her mouth twisted. “I don’t believe that’s true and I certainly hope you don’t either. But it’s okay not to be fine.” She smiled warmly and squeezed my hand. “Have you eaten?”
“Jericho bought me a dozen donuts.”
Her mouth parted as if she might say something, but her eyes were drawn to a few people in the crowd dancing.
“I love it here,” she said. “I’ve never been anywhere like Austin, and the Shifters here are so different. Look at this.” She waved her arm toward the crowd. “Have you ever seen so many Breeds in one place? We’re stars, you know. Different, distant, young and old, but we’re all made of the same stuff. We all shine just as bright as the next.”
“Hey there, lovely ladies.” A man greeted us in a jovial voice. The first thing I noticed was he didn’t have a shirt on, and the second thing was that the zipper on his knee-length shorts was wide open, unbeknownst to him. His eyes were glazed over, his speech slurred. “You need a drink?”
“We’re good,” I said with a short laugh. “Is there a food vendor around here? You should grab something to eat before you miss all the fun.”
He lifted both hands and squeezed invisible balls in the air. “Oh, I’ll grab something all right.” Then he snorted and threw his head back, looking down his nose at us. “I’m—”
“Just leaving,” another person cut in.
A handsome Native American man with chiseled bone structu
re and dark eyes approached from behind. He was tall, formidable, and dressed down in a black tank top and dark cargo pants.
I felt the familiar prickle on my skin that told me our new friend was an alpha. He folded his arms in a tough stance with his chin low, and I shivered from the power rolling off him.
“Just talking to these pretty ladies,” the drunk said. “There ain’t no law against it, and this is a party.”
Jericho’s song ended, and the crowd went nuts screaming.
“It’s fine,” I said. “He’s just had too much to drink.” Nothing I hadn’t seen a million times at work.
The shirtless drunk wiped his chest. “I’m nowhere near intoxicated. I could drink another six-pack and balance an egg on my nose.”
“I take it back. He’s a drunk asshole. But we’re okay here,” I said, trying to defuse the situation.
“Hear that? We’re fine,” the man parroted.
The Native American took a step forward, dropping his arms to his sides. “You’re not a Shifter.”
“Bravo!” he cheered, clapping his hands. “Fuckin’ genius.”
My shoulders sagged. It could have been a perfectly normal conversation, but there always had to be one alpha who wanted to bare his teeth. I much preferred the tail-waggers.
“Leave,” the alpha insisted.
The drunk pulled in his lips in a cartoonish fashion. “Make me.”
I stepped between the two men, lowering my voice. “Wait. If he’s a Mage, this won’t end well for you. Let it go.”
He glanced over my shoulder, and his eyes went wild. I pivoted around and saw the drunk had crept up behind Ivy and gripped her shoulders, giving them a squeeze and taunting the alpha with mischievous eyes.
Ivy was no fighter. She glanced over her shoulder at the man. “Please let me go, or you will be hurt.”
Too late. The alpha clamped his left hand around the man’s throat and walked him backward.
The drunk wasn’t a Mage, or he would have attacked. I’d be willing to bet he was a Relic or Sensor, because his eyes were wide with fear.
“Let him go,” Ivy said in a commanding voice. “He’s not thinking clearly with all the spirits in him, but you have no excuse. Consider what your violent reaction will instigate in this public place. Eyes are already on you. Will you choose to be a man of control or a man without?”
