by Dannika Dark
The alpha’s long black hair swished around as he looked between the man he was close to choking and Ivy.
“What’s your name?” she asked him.
The alpha blinked. “Church. Lorenzo Church.”
“Mr. Church, will you let him go? A child may be bigger and stronger than an ant, but he is weak when he presses his thumb on the little creature to show off his power.”
Ivy had no plans to watch this altercation. She spun around so fast her long braid snapped behind her. She hurried past me and vanished in a crowd of spectators.
I smiled and looked up at Lorenzo, curious as to whether he would succumb to his alpha instincts and give the man a lashing or allow a woman’s words to nestle in his head like a seed of conscience.
Lorenzo shoved the man backward until he stumbled and fell on his ass. “You’re fortunate this evening. If I see you again, you won’t be so lucky.”
He turned around and bowed his head curtly to me before walking off. I was impressed with the level of control he showed, but it also told me how dangerous he was. Lorenzo Church wasn’t a man who suffered fools, and I’d seen his kind before.
I strolled through the crowd and noticed a few verbal arguments as alcohol and testosterone began to affect some like a poison. Ivy was smart for breaking up the fight. Humans might have cheered them on, but in this environment, some spectators were eager to become participants. Breeds were divided because of a history that couldn’t be erased as long as the ancients were still around to remember it. The younger generations merely sought opportunities to fight, perhaps trying to prove they were a superior Breed.
What surprised me was how a woman with such strong words could be so physically passive. She looked like a trembling flower, and I wondered if her wolf was the same. If so, it would be hard for her to find a mate.
Shifters revered strong women, not demure wallflowers.
Chapter 16
“Izzy! Izzy!”
I spun around and scanned the crowd. This place was bazonkers! It was nothing like the human concerts I’d been to. There were activities going on that were specific to Breed. Sensors were selling their wares, Vampires were showing off their strength, but sadly, Shifters weren’t allowed to roam around in animal form.
“Izzy!”
“Who’s calling me?” I yelled out with a laugh.
I kept looking around and suddenly got the chills. No one approached me, and the voice quit calling. It was a voice I didn’t recognize—a man’s voice. I swallowed hard and pushed my way forward as Jericho wrapped up a song by Pearl Jam. I cupped my elbows and made it to the end of the stage, scoping out every face around me.
Strangers.
It just felt off. Maybe there was another Izzy. Then I laughed and shook my head. Of course. They were yelling for Jericho’s band.
He pressed his lips against the microphone and made every woman within proximity wish that his mic was her breast. At the end of the song, cheers erupted and Trevor strutted to the front of the stage and took a bow.
Jericho smiled against the mic. “Trevor, ladies and gentlemen. Give a hand for the newest member of Izzy Monroe.”
Trevor looked stunned as Jericho patted him on the shoulder. “You did good,” he said, away from the mic. “If you want in, you’re in.”
Jericho peeled off his blazer, and his chest glistened with sweat. Two girls pushed by me toward the side steps. They quickly glossed up their lips and pulled their skirts higher. One of them was a knockout with never-ending legs and blond tresses that cascaded down her back to her tailbone. I glanced down at my knees that still had faded marks and frowned.
Naturally, the one with the big breasts wanted Jericho to sign her chest. Jericho held the pen cap between his teeth and signed where she asked. The blonde turned around and bent over, pointing at her ass. I focused on his crotch, searching for an erection. Shifter men could hardly control their animal instincts when a woman turned her back like that. He scribbled his name, and to my relief—and confusion—he wasn’t aroused. Then she stood on her tiptoes and whispered something in his ear, tucking a slip of paper in his hand.
As they walked away, the blonde pointed to the left, signaling where to go. He looked at the paper and wadded it up, flicking it onto the grass.
I wanted to do a victory dance.
“Get me in on some of that action,” Ren said, hustling down the steps with his guitar in hand.
Jericho slicked his hair back. “They’re waiting over by the parking lot in front of the pretzel stand. By the yellow car.”
“You coming?”
I inched back a little, hiding behind a man who was texting on his phone.
“Hell no.”
“Not your type? I know you dig the blondes.”
Jericho scratched his ear and glanced around. “Not anymore. I’m all about red. Have you seen Isabelle?”
Wow. A thrill moved through me, and I could have hugged the stranger who was still between us, texting away.
Until I saw Jericho’s entire body lean dramatically to the right, peering around at me. “You’re glowing over there,” he said with a restrained smile.
I stepped into his line of vision and touched one of the pink necklaces, which was beginning to fade. “You were really good out there,” I said, a blush rising to my cheek.
The rest of the show didn’t matter, only those first five minutes when he’d opened his heart and wrote me a song. He knew it, and I knew it.
Jericho swaggered forward in his sexy pants, wiping away loose strands of hair that were stuck to his face.
“It’s hot out here,” he said conversationally.
I wiped a finger across his slick chest. “It sure looks like it.”
A bucket of ice water splashed over his head and doused the front of my clothes. A few people standing nearby laughed and clapped. Joker swung the bucket a few times before tossing it aside. “Thought you could use a little… cooling off.”
“Sonofamother!” Jericho yelled, flipping back his wet hair and glaring at Joker. “You just wait. What goes around and all that.”
“You suck at paybacks, just so you know.” Joker rocked with laughter and walked off.
“I like him,” I said.
Jericho smirked and snaked his arm around me as we took a stroll. “You would. He’s a good guy, all jokes aside. After our last show, he put a skunk in the back seat of Ren’s car.”
“How did you know he was the one who did it?”
“The skunk sprayed him in the process. He’s lucky he didn’t get rabies,” Jericho said with a straight face.
I laughed, reminded of how wonderful it felt to have that old connection back. Not only that, but it was stronger than ever before. I remembered the one-way conversations I’d held with Jericho on the television screen in Hawk’s bedroom—words of comfort that had never reached his ears while he battled vicious demons in that room. Those words formed an invisible thread that stitched his heart to mine.
Jericho slowed his pace until we stopped amidst a crowd. His eyes were stuck on me like peanut butter, and I thought he might kiss me. My heart pounded in anticipation as he touched my locks of red hair and smiled.
“What?” I asked.
His eyes sparkled. “Nothing.”
“Say it.”
“Sexybelle, you don’t have a clue what you do to men.”
“I serve them beer and hamburgers.”
He pinched my nose and I wiggled free as we kept walking. Several people we passed looked at him twice. Unlike humans, most Shifters weren’t into autographs unless it was on their body, for obvious reasons. One girl wanted her lower back signed, and I stood aside with my arms folded. Male Shifters usually responded to a female who turned her back, and this one was ass-up in his face with her low-rise pants.
He gave her a quick scribble without touching her and I watched his face closely. Jericho wasn’t into it.
“Mind if I smoke?” he asked.
We reached a set of l
awn chairs, and I sat down with him facing me. “You know I don’t care.”
“Trying to quit,” he admitted. “When you went missing, I couldn’t light up.”
He popped open his lighter and a flame touched the tip. Jericho narrowed his eyes and regarded me with a curious expression. I pulled my feet up into the chair and hugged my legs.
“Are you cold?” he asked, widening his legs.
“Not yet.”
“I brought your sweats. Just say the word and I’ll grab ’em.”
“Don’t leave me alone.”
Jericho’s eyes slimmed, and he flicked the ashes from his smoke. “Why did you say it like that?”
I turned my mouth down and shrugged, looking around at the crowd in the distance.
“Isabelle…”
“It’s nothing.”
“No, it’s something.”
I traced my finger over a mark on my knee. “Can you change the name of your band?”
He took another drag from his smoke and flicked it on the ground. “Why do you want me to do that?”
“Because earlier someone was yelling Izzy, and I thought they were calling for me, but then I remembered that’s the name of your band. It’s just unsettling to watch you perform and hear people yelling my name. I don’t know—after what I just went through, I’m a little edgy.”
“Done deal. What do you want to name us?”
I barked out a laugh and stretched my long legs. Jericho lifted my feet onto his lap. He slipped off my shoes and began massaging the soles of my feet with his skilled hands. If it’s one thing a guitarist knows, it’s how to use his fingers. I relaxed and something intense flared up between us as he hit all those pressure points that connected to other places in my body. I scooted down, gripping the arms of my chair and resting my left foot on his stomach.
“I can’t name your band.”
“Why not? I’ve run out of names. It doesn’t matter what we’re called; people will eventually figure out who we are and buy up tickets.”
“How about the Douche Bags?”
“All right!” he shouted with an enthusiastic nod.
“No! You better not.”
He laughed softly and stroked the top of my foot. Jericho had callused fingers on his left hand from playing the guitar, so when he touched me, he pressed harder than he did with his right hand because his sense of touch wasn’t as acute. The rough stroke made me feel like his guitar, and I wanted him to tune me up. He sexily bit his lower lip and leaned forward, lifting his chair and dragging it closer. It caused me to bend my knees, turning my foot massage into a leg massage.
“Give us a name, Isabelle.”
“I’m not good at names.”
“You need practice. Someday you’ll have to name your children, so go on and give us a name.”
I drew in a sharp breath and held it, as if to speak.
“Say it,” he said.
“No,” I said in an uncertain tone.
His fingers moved up my leg, and all I could feel were his warm hands caressing my inner thigh. He inched his way toward the one place I needed him the most.
“Say it,” he whispered, his knuckles brushing against my sex and making me shudder.
I watched him with heavy-lidded eyes. “Heat.”
He leaned forward and kissed my knee, giving it some rock-star consideration. “I like it. Heat.”
“Speaking of, Jericho. I can’t stay at your house if I’m going into heat soon. I need to go to somewhere private.”
Jericho leaned back in his chair with a pensive expression. His wet hair had begun to dry, slicked away from his face and revealing his intense features. He had heavy brows that drew attention to his milky-green eyes.
“It’s not that I don’t trust my pack, but you’re unmated and that would create a stir. Austin wouldn’t agree to it. I can put you up in a hotel,” he offered. “Sound good?”
“I’ll pay you—”
“Bullshit, Isabelle. We’re friends, and there are no paybacks. You just named my band so now we’re even. How long do you have?”
“About a week.”
“Do you want me to stay with you in the hotel?”
I laughed. Hell’s bells would that be a royally bad idea. When I went into heat, I usually slept in the nude. Alone. Even my past lovers knew the drill. The pregnancy risk was too high. Human contraception? Forget it. Those who tried it learned the hard way how useless it was among our kind. Maybe humans didn’t care about pregnancy, but Shifters took children seriously, so it was uncommon to see babies born from unmated couples.
I thought about Jericho’s suggestion to stay with me in the hotel. My body would be primed—my sexual appetite off the charts. Males can scent a woman during her cycle, and from what I’d been told, it was like aromatic crack. I guess that’s just nature’s way of speeding things along, and it happens among humans too. Only they slap scientific words on it, like ovulation and pheromones. It’s almost laughable how they try so hard to deny that they also have instincts and sometimes succumb to them.
“No, I don’t think it’s a good idea if you’re sleeping five feet from me while I’m naked and writhing in the bed.”
His eyes darkened a little. “On the contrary, I think it’s an excellent idea.”
“I’m serious.”
“This city is filled with Shifters, Isabelle. This isn’t like those small towns we used to live in. They might scent you out in that room.”
“Jericho,” I said with a heat in my cheeks. “I don’t want to put you in that position.”
He stood up and kicked his chair back. I clutched my chest as he dropped to his knees, gripping the armrests of my chair.
“I think it’s about time I clear the air and tell you that I want to be in that position. I want to be in a whole lot of positions with you. If you need to take it slow, we’ll take it slow. I’ve given you space this week because of what that asshole did to you.”
His face was so close to mine that I could see the intensity flaring in his eyes.
“I sang that song tonight because I want you to know how I feel—how I’ve always felt about you. I wasn’t good enough for you back then and if you’d hooked up with a guy like me, it would have messed you up. We’ve had good times and bad, sickness and health—so I think we’ve covered all the vows humans share. I love you, baby.” He lifted his hand and cupped my cheek, brushing his thumb across my lips. “You’re my sexy redhead. I love that you walked off after the first song because you’re not just another groupie trying to get in my pants.”
I reached out and stroked his temple with the tips of my fingers. “That’s because I know the real guy beneath it all who’s terrible at miniature golf. I know the man who spent every dollar in his pocket to buy a pair of new shoes for the little boy in the motel room next to ours whose mother was so cracked out she didn’t care what happened to him. I love your voice and your music, but I love when you’re just yourself around me.”
He smiled, and his jade eyes simmered. “Anything else you love?”
“Hey, you two,” Lexi said, excitedly running in our direction. “Jericho, stand up.”
He glanced up at Lexi and rose to his feet.
She wrapped her arms around him. “Thanks for giving Trevor a chance. He’s over the moon about it.”
Jericho chuckled and patted her back as Austin strolled up. “He’s awesome. Didn’t know he’d been holding back on me.”
Lexi backed up and landed in Austin’s arms. He lazily dipped her for a kiss.
Jericho held the arms of my chair and bent down. “I’m making a food run. What do you feel like eating?”
“Lobster would be fabulous.”
He rubbed his nose playfully against mine. “Typical fair food.”
“If you see hot dogs, grab me one of those. You know what I like.”
His face soured. “Yeah, that kraut.”
“So what’s wrong with sauerkraut?”
“I can’t kiss you if
you’ve been eating that stuff.”
I tried to suppress my smile, but he was right there in my face. “Who says you’re going to kiss me?”
“Oh, I’m going to kiss you, baby. And I want you to sit here, thinking about the lipgasm I’m going to give to you. I don’t kiss other women, Isabelle. I’ve been saving my lips for you, so hang tight, and I’ll be back with those hot dogs.”
When he swaggered off, I felt like I needed a cold shower and a beer. Jericho found the switch that turned me on, and he didn’t even need to touch me.
“Wow,” Lexi remarked, plopping down in the chair beside me. “I’ve never seen Jericho acting this way before. So you two go way back, huh?”
“Eons. We lived, breathed, and ate together for five years on the road. He changed my life.”
“For the better, I hope. Austin, honey, can you get me a funnel cake?”
Austin was jingling change in his pocket, his eyes alert and watchful. “Not sure I want to leave you alone with this crowd.”
“It’s a party. We’re staying here, and if anyone tries anything funny, bad Lexi comes out to play.”
His brows arched. “Bad wolf Lexi, or bad girl Lexi? Let me know if I need to go home and get my gloves,” he said suggestively.
She extended her leg and tried to kick him as he chuckled and disappeared into the crowd.
“You two are great together,” I said.
“He’s my first love.” Lexi smiled and tied her straight hair into a ponytail. “I didn’t think he liked me back then, but I found out he’d been in love with me since high school. Boys just have a stupid way of showing it. Then they grow up into men who have a really stupid way of showing it.”
I laughed. “That sounds right. So you’ve been together that long?”
Her brown eyes locked on mine. “No. We were apart for seven years. Sometimes you need time away to realize how you really feel about someone, you know?”
I removed my plastic bracelets and necklace since the lights had died out. Lexi had a point. I thought I’d known how I’d felt about Jericho years ago, but I was uncertain. I’d convinced myself it was just one of those infatuations. I was wrong. Seeing Jericho again was like finding the other half of me that had been missing.
