by Susan Bliler
“A bottle of Bud Light!”
The bartender grinned, nodded, and stopped mid mixed drink to fetch her a beer. He’d just slammed the cooler door when a deep voice boomed over her shoulder, “Make it two!”
Cersi’s head whipped around, and her eyes landed on a muscled chest. Eyes tracking up, her breath caught a moment when her eyes locked on the behemoth standing behind her.
He didn’t look at her, his eyes were focused over her head, and that gave her a quick minute to take him in. She didn’t see men the way other women did. No, she read a man from her experience as a Bounty Huntress. She took in shirts first, always looking for any employment logo or intel that would give her insight into the person. Harley shirts on guys let her know they were into bikes maybe even MC’s, while sports shirts told of jocks or gamblers. Shoes were big with her too. Lots of men who wanted women to believe they were well off tended to wear newer shirts or jeans on nights out but their old footwear always gave them away. Rich guys always had on nice shoes…always.
Eyes dipping down, she noted the guy’s black leather boots. They looked newish, so that didn’t tell her much. Eyes tracking slowly back up, she took in the low hung jeans that hugged impossibly thick thighs. The guy was a gym rat. Typically, she didn’t go for gym rats because they tended toward the conceited side. She got it though. If you spent that much time on your physique, it made sense to check it out all the time, but spending the evening with a guy who had his eyes on the mirror behind the bar all night wasn’t in her plans.
This guy was wearing a form-fitting black t-shirt that clung to thickly corded muscle and showed tattooed sleeves on both arms. Cersi liked tattoos, they held a lot of information about a person. She took in as much ink as she could, catching glimpses of forest scenes and wolves, doves and angels, and there were even a few roses, which didn’t seem to suit the giant. She was staring inconspicuously at his ink when a bottle of beer was shoved in her face.
“Here ya go.”
Grabbing the bottle, she looked up until her eyes collided with a pair of bright green eyes that were so intense words completely abandoned her for a moment.
“Th-thank you,” she recovered.
The guy was devastatingly handsome and one hundred percent her type.
Fuck!
He was tall. His expression was severe. Dark brows were speared down as he stared at her a little too intently with those eyes. Even from here she could make out the vibrant green that was such a stark contrast to the darkness of his hair that was close cut on the sides and longer on top with a mop of inky black bangs hanging into his eyes. Dark scruff covered his jaw and even with just seconds of staring, she knew he was dangerous. It didn’t just pour off of him in waves; it pulsed out from him like the bass from the speakers. It had her shooting him a quick grin before she turned away abruptly and started weaving her way through the crowd of people filling the bar. Walking away from the guy she could have sworn that even over the bumping bass of the music, she’d heard him make an angry sound deep in his throat. It blasted goose bumps up her arms and had her looking over her shoulder and yep, he was following her.
Fuck, fuck, fffffuck!
Who was he? A friend of Josh’s? No. Sick fucks like Josh didn’t have friends. For a moment she considered that he might actually be interested in her, but she quickly discarded the thought. Men like him didn’t chase women like her. She’d learned the hard way over the years that men of her color were scarce in the towns she frequented and the other men who did approach her saw her as some sort of conquest that they could brag about to their friends like they’d tried a new exotic flavor. Disgusting! It’s why she didn’t date. Well, …it was one of the reasons she didn’t date. The main reason was that she didn’t have time, just like she didn’t have time for gorgeous green eyes right now either. She was searching for Vesa and couldn’t afford to be distracted.
Eyeing a booth filled with guys huddle over a tabletop of beers, she made her way toward them, casting another quick glance over her shoulder. The guy was still following her. She felt chills blast up her spine when she considered that he might be somehow associated with the men who had taken Vesa. Perhaps they knew she was digging around. Perhaps they’d come to put a stop to that.
Plastering on a forced smile, she walked up to the table and slid her ass onto the barely there space on the edge of the vinyl bench seat. “Hey guys,” she began. She had planned to strike up a conversation, pretend interest in one of their party so that her sexy stalker would think she was with the group and leave her alone.
That didn’t happen.
“Leave.”
Her eyes whipped around the faces at the table at the harsh command, but all eyes were looking up. Following the men’s gazes, she found Green Eyes towering over her, powerful legs splayed, and thick arms crossed over an equally impressive chest.
Holy hell! His command did something funny to her insides, but it wasn’t the reaction it should have been. Her brain was screaming for her to make like the chicken shits at the table and scramble up and out of the booth. She didn’t. Glued to her seat, it wasn’t until the last guy tripped out of the other end of the booth and hurried away that she finally moved to shove up out of her seat.
“Mind if I sit?”
The guy’s deep baritone had her stalling halfway up.
***
What in the fuck am I doing? Tyson swallowed down his internal self-recrimination with a swig of beer, but his eyes never left Cersi. He thought she was beautiful before, but up close…well, he was having a hard time dragging his eyes away from her. Her face was so damn expressive that he literally saw her transition from shock, to an instant of fear before those delicate brows of hers speared down. She’d been shoving up out of her seat and had stopped halfway, but as he watched, she pushed herself the rest of the way up. Her eyes narrowed on him, and one hand slid behind her back. He remembered she’d tucked one of her tasers there, and the thought of her whipping it out and frying his nuts had him striding in front of the table and sliding into the booth.
He’d only just settled when Cersi pursed her lips a moment before she said, “Not interested.” She turned and walked away and goddamn if her running from him didn’t evoke some primal need to give chase.
Inside, Monster was demanding he hunt her down and do…something, but that couldn’t happen. Hell, he shouldn’t have even approached her. He was acting like a damn fool, and it was out of character. Chugging the rest of his beer, he watched with narrowed eyes as Cersi exited the front door. Reaching across the table, he snagged her full bottle of beer and drank it down too as he warred with what do to. In his pocket, his phone vibrated. He knew it was Haddix again. He didn’t bother checking the text message just like he hadn’t answered any of Haddix’s calls or listened to any of his voicemail. No, he wanted to get a firm hold on Cersi before he reported back and Haddix bugging him every damn hour would only distract him and have him making dumb-shit mistakes like the one he’d just made. Shaking his head, he snorted. “What in the fuck am I doing?”
Chapter 3
Cersi’s heart was racing as she shoved her way out of the bar and onto the street. A long blacked-out bus pulled up, and for a moment her heart stalled as the doors swished open directly in front of her. Hand on her taser, she braced for an attack but was flooded with relief when a line of squealing women, decked out in fake tiara’s and short skirts and high-heels made their way off the bus. She used the distraction of the bachelorette party to melt into the group, stepping off with a few of the girls who headed away from the bar and down the sidewalk to smoke cigarettes on the curb. Her Jeep Wrangler was parked near that end of the block, so when the group of women she was following stopped and pulled out their smokes, she cut right through them, keys already in hand and took one last glance over her shoulder to make sure she wasn’t being followed. With no sign of Green Eyes, she scrambled into her jeep and locked the doors once she was inside. Keys jammed into the ignition, she fired her jeep
to life and whipped out of her spot so damn fast that the group of ladies smoking their cigarettes quieted instantly to watch her zip by.
Holy shit! Eyes jerking to the rearview mirror, she half expected to see Green Eyes running down the street after her. Holy shit! Eyes back on the road, she swallowed hard and cursed herself inwardly for just standing there like an idiot when he’d approached her at the table. It wasn’t like her to stand idly by and let a predator get that close, and there was no question, Green Eyes was a predator! Everything about him screamed danger, and she’d learned a long time ago to trust her instincts when it came to the vibes people exuded. Green Eyes was trouble, and she’d let him get close. Shaking her head, she exhaled a long breath. She was tired. She’d been searching for Vesa for days now, and she’d barely slept or eaten. That’s it. She consoled herself by creating an excuse as to why Green Eyes had caught her with her guard down.
One last glance in the rearview mirror had her relaxing. It didn’t matter now who he was or what he wanted. She wouldn’t be back in this area again, and there was no way anyone could track her because even she didn’t know where she was headed. Yeah, that sick fuck Josh had given her a lead, but she’d need to do some research and call in some favors before she knew exactly where she was going next.
Turning onto the highway that would lead her out of the seedy neighborhood, Cersi actually felt a little eager at the thought of finding a hotel room and getting a hot meal and good night’s sleep. Her contact with the Sheriff’s department would be asleep by now, and there was no way she was calling him and asking him to drag his ass to the office on a Friday night just to do her a solid. No, she’d wait until morning and contact him once he was on shift.
Stomach rumbling, she pulled onto the exit that led into the business district. Even at ten, the place was lit up like Fort Knox, and the presence of so many people still milling about the busy streets had her relaxing.
Eyeing the numerous restaurants and bars that lined the street, she debated on what she wanted to have for dinner. The plan was food and then finding a nice clean room. In her pocket, her phone pinged which had her brows furrowing. Literally, three people had her number. None of them should be contacting her now.
Quickly pulling her jeep into a parking spot on the side of the road, she whipped out her phone, praying it was Vesa.
It wasn’t. The lone text read:
Want to know where your sister is? Meet me at 1255 Emory Pier.
Fuck! Heart racing, Cersi pounded the address in Google Maps and waited for it to pull up. The place wasn’t far, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to go. It felt too much like a trap.
She hesitated only a minute before whipping her jeep out of the parking spot and making a u-turn.
Vesa would come for me. So, she’d risk herself to go to Vesa too.
The entire drive, her thoughts were distracted by what was to come even as she pulled the knife she kept hidden her pocket and tucked it into her bra. Her taser guns were shoved under the seat before she pulled her pink, pearl-handled, thirty-eight special from the glove box. It was a revolver, which had her wincing as she checked to make sure it was fully loaded. She’d only have five shots before she’d have to reload. Shaking her head, she made a mental note to get herself a Glock as she shoved her thirty-eight into the waistband of her jeans and pulled the hem of her sweater over it.
Arriving at the pier took less time than she’d hoped, and pulling onto the darkened wharf felt just like one of those movies, the ones where the hero made a dumb-ass decision like meeting the bad guy on his terms in some unknown dark place. This was a move she’d surely regret, but what else could she do? Vesa needed her.
Killing her headlights, she drove slowly between several abandoned looking warehouses while squinting into the darkness and searching for any hint as to where she was supposed to go.
A dim light drew her attention. She followed it until she was parked just outside of small outbuilding. The door was wide open, and light was filtering out from inside.
Killing her engine, she exited her jeep quietly and surveyed her surroundings looking for potential escape routes before giving her attention back to the opened door. Steeling herself, she walked slowly toward the building. When no attack came, she stepped inside.
The space was dimly lit by one swinging bulb that hung from a wire that looked like it’d ignite the building into an inferno at any second. Exposed wires hung down from the ceiling, and the place smelled musty like the door hadn’t been opened in a long time.
Her heels clicked on the concrete floor, and she cursed herself for not wearing sneakers.
Nearly to the center of the room, she slammed to a halt when chills blasted up her spine. Someone was behind her.
Spinning as fast as she could, she jerked her pistol free and had it centered on the form that stalled halfway out of the shadows.
“Step into the light,” she demanded.
The hulking form moved, and she swallowed hard when she realized it was Green Eyes.
“Why…why are you following me?”
***
Tyson stood stock still. Hands in the air, heart hammering in his chest as he tried to restrain The Monster, he stared down the barrel of the pistol aimed right at his face by the raven-haired beauty who was Vesa’s sister.
“I asked, why in the fuck you’re following me!”
He couldn’t stop the growl that rattled its way up his chest if he’d wanted to.
Cersi narrowed her eyes on him. “Did you just growl at me?”
Hell yeah, he’d just growled. This crazy, sexy, trouble-maker had no idea the strength it was taking to keep Monster from ripping out of him. Monster didn’t like guns and liked staring down the barrel of one even less.
Cersi took a step closer and had to lift her arm to keep her pistol pointed at his head. “Why are you following me?”
She was putting on a brave show, but he could scent her fear. Sifting through several excuses, he shirked them all and shot straight to the heart of the matter. “I have your sister.”
Cersi’s reaction was instantaneous. Eyes rounding, grim line of her luscious red lips going lax, the hand holding the pistol started to tremble. Her shock only lasted a minute before her perfectly manicured brows snapped down and she gritted through clenched teeth. “If you hurt her, I’ll make your fucking death last a thousand years.”
Why that threat had his balls drawing up tight and his dick going hard, Tyson had no idea. He chalked it up to the fact that he harbored the last known dire wolf inside him. Poor bastard had gone mad from lack of a true pack. Yeah, he had the guys, but they weren’t dire wolves and being alone like that in the world did terrible shit to a pack animal.
“Are…are you smiling?”
Was he? Forcing a frown, he kept his hands up but relaxed his posture some. Monster was still shredding him trying to get free, but he knew the beast wasn’t gonna harm the woman. She was too damn sexy and sassy and snarly. Just their type. Rich caramel skin, dark chocolate eyes, lips like plump red cherries, and hair curled like ropes of black licorice, she looked good enough to eat.
“Where is my sister, you fuck?”
You fuck? Well, that wasn’t nice.
Lights from outside flashed in the darkened building and had Cersi making the mistake he’d been waiting for. Her eyes sliced in the direction of the door and he moved. It took Cersi a mili-second to realize her mistake and pull the trigger, but by then he was already on her. He heard the bullet ricochet off a concrete pillar somewhere behind him. Thank fuck for shifter speed.
One arm wrapped around Cersi’s throat from behind while his free hand captured the wrist of the hand holding her pistol. He pulled that hand toward them until the gun was pointed at Cersi’s own chest. At her ear, he growled, “Easy.”
But Cersi wasn’t an easy woman. No, she was absolute, certified, fucking trouble!
She struggled in his hold, and honestly, if he’d been a human male, she might have gotten away
. She was tough, he’d give her that, but he was a beast.
His arm around her throat tightened. He knew he’d have to render her unconscious to get her out of the building quietly because yeah, he could tell from two minutes of interaction that Cersi didn’t do shit she didn’t want to do.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” he snarled at her ear, pissed that she was painting him into a corner.
“Fffuck you!” she grunted as she tried to pull the arm with the pistol away from her chest. She kicked him in the shin, hard, and even though he’d been expecting it, it still pissed him off. With no other option, he sunk in his choke hold opting to put her out now.
He wasn’t even paying any attention to her hand holding the pistol because he still had it pointed at her chest. It’s why he startled hard, releasing Cersi and staggering back when the gun went off. Cersi hit the ground but recovered at the same time he did. One hand clamped over the blood pouring from her shoulder, she glared up at him, and that fucking pistol was centered on his chest again. A chest that was already bleeding. He didn’t bother trying to stop the wound from seeping. It was already starting to heal, but still…holy hell! She’d shot through herself to get him!
Inside, Monster had gone eerily silent, looking from Cersi to Tyson in absolute fucking shock.
Cersi made a noise which drew his attention back to her. She wasn’t coughing, wasn’t wheezing. Nope. She was…laughing?
Tossing her head back, hand still clamped to her shoulder, her laughter filled the room, and the gun wavered.
Tyson moved so fast he blurred. Crazy ass woman couldn’t be trusted with weapons, so he ripped it out of her hand and tossed it across the room.
Her laughter dying, she glared up at him. Her eyes were blinking much slower than they should have been.
“Where’s my sister, asshole?”
