Cut to the Chase (City Shifters: the Pride Book 4)

by Layla Nash

  Ruby eyed him as she refilled his beer yet again, and Carter wondered for a split second if she wanted to get him drunk. Her septum piercing flashed as she leaned on the bar, giving him a peek at her generous cleavage. "Like what kinds of changes?"

  He refused to look anywhere but her face, though the effort not to stare at her breasts probably took a year off his life. "Get a better chef to start, and expand the menu. Consider lunch and dinner hours and specials, as well as happy hour and after hours deals. Book live music as many nights as you can. Expand your beer selection, run some cocktail specials. Advertise more. Fancy up the décor, and replace some of the broken chairs. Move the pool table so you've got more room for tables and a dance floor."

  "You trying to class this place up, Chase?" Rafe rubbed the back of his neck, already shaking his head. "That's not us. The O'Shea's are not classy. BloodMoon is a tough pack, not some fancy ass lion pride like you and your brothers. Blue collar."

  "That's where we started," Ruby said under her breath, elbowing her brother. "That's not where we want to stay. Right?"

  "Yeah, but come on. Bee, we won't even recognize this place if we change it that much."

  Bee? Carter bit back a smile as Ruby gave him a sharp look, and he knew Rafe would get an earful for letting that cute nickname into the wild. Carter wanted to call her Bee. Make her buzz a little. He snorted to himself, and stared into his beer glass. Best not let that show on his face.

  "That's the point," she said, tone dry. The bar towel swiped dangerously close to his glass and Carter bit the inside of his cheek. Ruby gestured at the rest of the bar. "If we want to make more, we have to do more, Rafe."

  "Let's start with the kitchen," he said. "The menu can definitely use some improvement."

  "What I would recommend," Carter said, tapping the bar near the other man's elbow. "Is to do it all and have a grand re-opening. Advertise across the city. Maybe run a special with Nat's restaurant – they have dinner at her place, then a free drink at yours. Start fresh without some of the old baggage."

  "We don't have baggage." Rafe sounded indignant, sitting up and squaring his shoulders.

  "We have a little baggage," Ruby said, and once again Carter snorted. She scowled and reached over the bar to poke him in the chest. "Quiet in the peanut gallery, Chase."

  He held up his hands. "I'm just a disinterested third party. Unless you want me to be more."

  She froze, eyes wide, a panicked look on her face. Like he would propose to her in the middle of her bar, and right in front of her brother. Carter wanted to laugh so badly, he had to gouge his thumbnail into his leg to keep a straight face. Rafe remained oblivious, shuffling through the papers. "What, you want to invest or something?"

  "That would be part of it." He let the silence hang, just to torment Ruby a little more, then handed them the second business proposal. "And I would be your business manager, as well. I have some personal funds I would like to invest, and if you're willing to make some changes to the bar and follow these recommendations, I'd be happy to be your business partner."

  Rafe grunted, scanning the new paperwork, and Ruby gave Carter the most evil look he could remember receiving. And he'd almost been paralyzed by Benedict's half-Medusa mate, Eloise. Turned out, she had some competition when Ruby got mad. Carter rubbed his mouth to hide the rest of his smile, not wanting to antagonize her any further. "Read it over, think it over, let me know. A grand re-opening ahead of the holidays would be best, so we'd need to get moving if you're interested in what I've proposed."

  "Funny how you're going around proposing things," Ruby said, moving down the bar to pull pints for a couple of other customers. When she finished, she tossed the towel across her shoulder and eyed Carter askance. "I told you we didn't want to take out a loan."

  "This isn't a loan." Carter half-turned on the stool as a commotion grew around the door, and a few newcomers entered the bar with a blast of cold air. "It's an investment."

  Rafe's attention shifted to the newcomers as they hustled up the bar, and a frown drew down his substantial eyebrows. "What's going on?"

  The skinny kid eyed Carter but answered the wolf alpha without hesitation. "Just heard something from one of Evershaw's guys."

  Ruby went still, a gold sheen washing over her eyes.

  The kid's throat bobbed as he gulped under the full weight of alpha attention. "SilverLine plans to petition the Council to mandate only one wolf pack in the city. All other packs would have to live outside the city limits, or petition Evershaw to remain in his territory."

  A strangled noise escaped from Ruby, and her features twisted as she bared her teeth. "He what?"

  The kid cowered and shuffled a little to half-hide behind Carter, talking faster. "He's already contacted some members of the Council and requested an emergency session. Evershaw claims it will help clarify territory and maintain order. He wants to implement it immediately."

  "That son of a bitch," Rafe said. The white edges of his teeth showed as he stared across the bar with a distant look, his hands clenched into fists. Then his gold gaze shifted to Carter. "Did you hear about this?"

  "Evershaw didn't call us." Carter refused to cower or look away from the thunder brewing in Rafe's expression, or the lightning already sparking from Ruby. "We heard from the bears this morning that Evershaw called around to all the alphas to request the emergency session."

  "You didn't tell me," Ruby said. As if Carter betrayed her.

  Carter took a deep breath, shaking his head. "Edgar was working on more details. There wasn't much to say."

  Rafe growled and smashed his fist on the bar. "I'll fucking kill Evershaw. We've been here longer than he has, the piece of shit."

  Ruby looked at the messenger kid and said, "You can go." She waited until he retreated, every line in the kid's body radiating relief, then leaned closer to her brother. "And you're not going to fight Evershaw. I am."

  Carter wanted to lurch forward, grab her, and drag her away to the mansion until she forgot about having anything to do with Miles Evershaw. He stared at the polished surface of the bar until he thought for sure smoke wisped out of it, but couldn't look at Ruby. He wasn't going to interfere. This was just part of her role as alpha. As much as the idea of her fighting anyone made his skin crawl and his lion roar, he had to keep his cool.

  Rafe shook his head immediately. "No way. No way in hell."

  "Evershaw can beat you." Ruby shot Carter a warning look and returned to the nearly-inaudible conference with her brother. "And we both know it. No ego, Rafe. I can beat Evershaw. I can. And he knows it."

  "There's no way he'll face you in the ring to decide this."

  Ruby shook her head, arms crossed. "He'll have to. We're both alpha. We decide who fights. If we decide I fight him, then I fight him."

  "What if he refuses?" Rafe still looked on the verge of a shift, ready to run into the night to hunt down Miles Evershaw. "He'll claim he won't fight a woman. You know he will."

  "We'll tell the Council he forfeits. If they want to go forward with this stupidity, they can't dictate all the rules."

  Carter dug his fingers into his arm to keep from tackling her to protect her from even the implied threat of the other wolf pack. Maybe Logan could have a word with Evershaw and impress upon the asshole why games like these were the whole reason the Council existed. Every shifter in the city had enough of bullshit rank games. There was no reason two or even three wolf packs couldn't exist within the city limits. Except when one had an asshole for an alpha.

  Rafe rubbed his jaw. "I don't like it, Bee. Especially with…what else he talked about earlier. What if this is just a ploy to get you to agree to that?"

  "I will never mate with Evershaw," Ruby said, enunciating every syllable. "Ever. If this is some lame attempt to get my attention, then great. He's got my attention, and it's not the good kind. We are not running away from this."

  "Of course we aren't." Rafe grumbled, then shot Carter a dark look. "Can we expect the Pride's sup

port?"

  "I can only speak for myself," Carter said. He hated to play the politics, and while he couldn't imagine Logan ever voting against the O'Shea pack in favor of Evershaw, he couldn't speak for Logan. "But of course I'm with your pack. And with how Natalia feels about Ruby, I'm guessing Logan will also side with you if he values his life."

  Rafe snorted, then shoved to his feet. "I need to go for a run. Are you good to run the place tonight, Bee?"

  "Yeah. Get out of here before I kill you for calling me 'Bee.'" Ruby threw the dirty towel at him.

  Rafe strode to the back office and disappeared, leaving Ruby to eye Carter. He tried to look relaxed and calm, not as though his guts seethed with the desperate need to protect her. Ruby handed him another beer, her eyebrow arched. "You okay over there, Chase?"

  "I've been better, Bee."

  A hint of a smile touched her face and disappeared. "Then why have you gouged my bar?"

  Carter looked down to see where his nails created rents in the smooth wood, and cleared his throat as he gingerly picked up the beer instead. "Because sometimes that's the only thing that keeps the lion inside, particularly when someone important is threatened."

  She picked up another bar towel and snapped it in his direction. "Watch yourself. But good job. I didn't think you'd make it through that conversation."

  "I'm serious." Carter shrugged and focused on the beer. "It's pack business, it's your business. As much as I would like to find Miles Evershaw, rip his heart out, and throw him into a wood-chipper feet-first, I acknowledge that type of reaction is not helpful for your pack relationships."

  Ruby laughed. "Good job. You hungry?"

  "I already ate." And the beer filled him up as well, the dark beer that was practically a meal in and of itself. "But thank you."

  She leaned on the bar under the guise of examining the scratches, and her breath warmed his cheek as she murmured, "If you want to stick around, we can head back to my place after last call?"

  "Sure." Carter concentrated on gathering his papers and putting them back in the folio. "I'll work on my homework."

  Another smile flashed before she put on her serious face and handed him a towel. "Or I'll put you to work back here. Can you pull pints?"

  He pushed to his feet, the lion content because he would be close to their mate, and slid around her into the narrow space behind the massive wooden bar. "I can do anything you need me to do."

  "Don't let your mouth write checks your ass can't cash," she said under her breath, and he laughed.

  He cracked his knuckles and started lining up pint glasses. She had no idea how much her mouth owed him, and he meant to collect.

  Chapter 13

  By last call every one of my muscles ached, my knees hurt, my back hurt, and a headache pounded behind my eyes from the cigarette smoke and music and shouting and trying to convince my wolf not to fuck Carter right there behind the bar. He drove me home and even opened my door, and everything was warm and dizzy and perfect. Comforting. I liked having him in my den. I liked coming home to his scent on my pillows and in my kitchen.

  Carter arched an eyebrow at me. "You look exhausted."

  "I am exhausted." I tried to laugh as I rubbed my temples. "Sorry. I thought I would be more fun."

  "More fun?" His purr rumbled in his chest and he eased closer to slide his arms around me and draw me into a tight hug. "This is fun. But there's something else I had in mind."

  My stomach tightened at the thought of another night of marathon sex, but I had to be up early to meet Natalia and then start lining up interviews for a new chef. When I hesitated, Carter chuckled. He rubbed his cheek against my head and patted me gently on the butt before he turned me toward the bedroom and gave me a little push. "Go put on your robe while I get your surprise ready."

  "Do I need to take some aspirin before we get started?"

  "It probably wouldn't hurt." He winked as he said it, so I wasn't entirely sure whether I should believe him. But I took a handful of painkillers anyway as he headed into the bathroom and I retreated to the bedroom.

  By the time I stripped off my clothes and wore only my ratty old bathrobe, the apartment was quiet once more. And dark. I frowned as I stepped into the hell, then blinked as Carter stuck his head out of the bathroom. "Are you ready?"

  "Yes," I said, though a little warily. No telling what kind of surprise the lion had in store for me.

  From his expression, he knew perfectly well what I was thinking. His cheek dimpled as he grinned. And then he led me into the bathroom, lit only by candles, where the tub was filled with bubbles and water and a few rose petals. I blinked. Blinked again. But no, my eyes remained blurry and then overflowed. A hot bath. Seriously.

  He chuckled and rubbed my back, not commenting as I dashed the tears off my cheeks, and he helped me take off the robe. It didn't escape my notice that he wore only a towel, and that did nothing at all to hide how excited he was to see me. Carter eased into the water first, settling into the wide tub, and I stepped in after him to sit between his legs. I almost moaned as the hot water surrounded me, rushed to relax all the tension and anger from my muscles.

  Carter made the grumbly noise that got my wolf all excited, and his thighs tightened around my hips as he rubbed my shoulders. "Relax, baby."

  I let my head fall back against his shoulder as Carter continued to knead the tension out of my muscles, down my arms, across my lower back. His magic hands turned me boneless and weightless in a couple of minutes, and the soft scent of lavender and honeysuckle did the rest. He lathered body wash between his hands and began to wash every inch of me. With particular attention to a few specific areas. I floated, feeling sleek and smooth and pampered, as his fingers dipped between my legs.

  Carter kissed the side of my neck as his knee lifted and eased my leg open a little more. With the rush of hot water against my slit came more heat and his skillful hands. There was no rush to his efforts. He didn't want to finish me off just so he could fuck me. It felt caring and simple — a lion taking care of his mate. Loving her.

  My hips moved to meet his hand as his thumb pressed against my clit and his fingers slid inside me, and I gripped his wrist in desperation. His free hand squeezed my breast and I moaned, undulating until water splashed out of the tub and my head tossed on his shoulder. I rode the wave of passion, eyes half-closed, as Carter continued to move his fingers through the clenching muscles at my core. When I finally relaxed against him, no longer frozen in ecstasy, Carter smoothed my hair out of his face and kissed my shoulder.

  His voice was husky and deep. "There. That's better."

  I sighed and managed to lift one arm to rub the back of his neck. "Good job, Chase."

  "Be careful with all that sweet talk or I'll start to think you've gone soft."

  It made me smile, but I still couldn't open my eyes. I felt languid and slow, perfectly content to float there in the bathtub as aftershocks trembled through me. "I'll keep that in mind."

  Carter kissed behind my ear and down my shoulder, his palm flat on my stomach. "I want to get you a nicer den."

  "Hmm?" I could hardly keep myself awake with the warmth of his body and the water all around.

  "You need a better apartment." His arm tightened around me briefly, as if to reassure himself I was still there, then he adjusted his legs. "A nicer apartment, bigger. In a better part of town."

  I forced my eyes open. "Why?"

  "Because this neighborhood isn't safe." Carter yawned. "And for me to do half the things I want to do to you, we need more room."

  "We'll see," I managed to say. "At the end of two weeks. Right?"

  He made an irritated noise. "Then I'll rent an apartment and you can stay with me."

  I closed my eyes again and reached up to pat his cheek. "We're not arguing about this in a bathtub, Chase."

  He didn't speak but it wasn't quite as comfortable a silence as before. I took a deep breath before I maneuvered a little in the water and managed to get his hard cock standing up between my legs instead of digging into my back. "I was proud of how you handled yourself today, at the bar. You could have said something to Rafe, and you didn't. Thank you."

  "You're welcome," he said, though his voice sounded odd.

  I wiggled in his lap and watched the pink head of his cock appear next to my clit before I lifted and it slid back once more. Carter held my waist tightly, lifting me up, and I reached down to stroke his cock before positioning the head against the slippery flesh at my entrance. He said something under his breath that I couldn't hear or understand as he thrust up and pulled me down, and he filled me. I gripped the side of the tub as I moved and he moved and water splashed everywhere. Carter held me tightly as his hips jerked up and up and up, and his hand pressed once more between my legs to find my clit. I cried out and writhed in his grip as he grunted and came in a sudden rush, sinking his teeth in to my shoulder. Stars dotted my vision and my breathing grew ragged as I collapsed back against him.

  Carter took a moment to catch his breath, then he kissed my shoulder and stood me up. "I'm too old to fuck in a bathtub, I'll be black and blue for weeks. Get your ass to the bed."

  I didn't immediately follow directions but instead turned and hugged him, letting my head rest against his chest so I could hear the comforting thump of his heartbeat. I closed my eyes and reveled in the security of his arms. "Thank you for the bath, Carter."

  He squeezed me tight and kissed the top of my head. "You're welcome, Bee."

  As I gingerly stepped onto the tile floor and the small lake of bath water we'd splashed out, he snapped a hand towel at my butt and arched his eyebrows. "You've got to the count of three."

  I didn't make it, maybe a little bit on purpose.

  Chapter 14

  Carter concentrated on hitting the heavy bag with all his strength. He'd slacked off on his workouts in the past week, too consumed with Ruby to do much other than work and fuck. She'd even called him in the middle of the afternoon, and he met her at her apartment without blinking. He missed a meeting with Logan and some investors, and it didn't even occur to him to check his schedule. As soon as he heard her voice, he was hooked. He knew he was addicted to her – touching her, tasting her, smelling her. Waking up with her all naked and warm, pressed against him.

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