“Okay. I just wanted to know if you were… that wolf.”
That wolf.
Lucas didn’t think of himself as that wolf, he was the wolf. The wolf that would protect Leah tonight and the wolf that wanted to taste her skin and had passion to protect her beyond tomorrow.
For the third time that night, Lucas ignored Leah’s question. He started the bike and let Leah put on the helmet. She climbed the bike, her hands quickly around his waist and holding tight. Lucas rode from the parking lot.
He took Leah to the club, parking in the back lot reserved only for club members. The bikes were organized and parked in an angled row. It made Lucas smile as he imagined the sweet growling sound of those engines coming to life, not to mention the possibility of all those who ride with Full Moon Mercy could also shift into a beast that much greater than a motorcycle.
Lucas took Leah by the hand and walked her to the back door.
“Come along and don’t answer questions,” Lucas said.
“Are you going to get in trouble for this?” Leah asked.
“I don’t get into trouble,” Lucas said. He then smiled. “I make trouble.”
He opened the door and climbed the stairs with Leah behind him. When he entered the main part of the club, he saw a few of the guys sitting at tables and at the bar, enjoying a drink or three. Lucas made sure to keep his hand tight around Leah’s hand and kept her close to him. As Lucas looked around, he tried to put himself into Leah’s shoes for a second. The look of the large, strong men around her. The leather. The smoke. The booze. The guns everywhere, all needed for protection because sometimes it was easier to just use a gun to control humans than become beasts. There were urges to control when man turned beast. A man with a gun had a trigger, a finger, and a desire. That was the lesser of two evils.
“Hey, there’s Lucas!” Cooper cried out from the bar. He spun and stood.
“Cooper,” Lucas said.
He let go of Leah’s hand and hugged Cooper. Lucas picked up the subtle smell of smoke… charred flesh and bone.
“All good?” Lucas asked.
“Perfect.”
“Good.” Lucas patted Cooper’s back.
“Hey, Lucas. Vince is looking for you. Just tossing that out there.”
“Got it,” Lucas said. “Where’s Ian and Zayne?”
“They were in the meeting already.” Cooper’s eyes shifted to Leah.
“Yeah,” Lucas said. “This is Leah. Friend of mine.”
“Friend,” Cooper smiled. “I’ll drink to that.”
Lucas took a few more steps and then knocked his knuckles on the bar. “Give me two cold bottles.”
“Yes, sir,” a young man said and hurried to take care of Lucas’s order.
These guys were grunts, those who wanted to work near bikers to think they were cool and protected. Some were complete morons. Some did get protection from the club if they deserved it.
Lucas took the two bottles when they were presented to him. He continued down past the bar to a hallway that was lit with dim lights. There were several doors throughout the hall and the second floor of the club, all of which had their purpose. The last door on the left was Lucas’s room. He had an apartment too, about ten minutes from the club, but on most nights, Lucas crashed at the club. It was a hideaway spot for him. The back corner room was all his.
He opened the door and ushered Leah inside. He put the beer bottles on the dresser and pointed to the bed.
“Relax,” he said. “We’re here for the night.”
Leah walked slowly to the messy bed and touched it. Lucas figured she was wondering the last time he had a woman in the bed. He wouldn’t lie to her if she asked, but that didn’t mean he would answer the question either.
Hanging across the walls were pictures that meant everything to Lucas. A lot of the pictures were symbols and handwritten scribbled notes. There were pictures of Lucas and plenty of the crew, enjoying good times, either on their motorcycles or in the woods, for obvious reasons.
Lucas twisted the tops off the bottles and handed one to Leah. She thanked him and took a drink. Lucas leaned against his dresser and watched Leah. He studied every feature on her face. The way she held the bottle. The way she sat on his bed. How her eyes tried to subtly scan the room.
“Do you have work tomorrow?” Lucas asked.
Leah nodded. “Yes. I have to be there by nine.”
“I’ll make sure you get there on time.”
“I can’t go like this,” Leah said and smiled.
Lucas figured Leah could do anything she wanted in those jeans. If she looked that beautiful in a hoodie and jeans, what did she look like in other clothing?
“You’ll get to your place first then,” Lucas said. He pushed from the dresser and moved to the bed. He stood before Leah, looking down at her. “Thank you for trusting me tonight.”
“I’m not sure I had much of a choice,” Leah said.
“True. But remember, there is always at least one choice in life.”
“Death?”
“Exactly.”
“I don’t want to die,” Leah said. “I watch enough of that every day of my life.”
Lucas just stared. He felt close to Leah. He felt connected to her. Lucas spent a lot of his days watching people die. Living as somewhat of an immortal man and creature, death sometimes appealed to Lucas. He wondered what it was like to have a bullet tear through flesh and organ, ending life.
“I shouldn’t have brought you here,” Lucas whispered. “I want you to know that.”
“Am I in danger?” Leah asked.
“Not at all. Not with me. I just want you to know I don’t do this. Normally, I would have just checked on things and either scared them away or let them work themselves out.”
“You would have let Richie kill me?”
“Yes,” Lucas said. “It’s not my job to get involved in someone else’s problems.”
“Then… why me?”
Lucas touched Leah’s face. Her skin was silk to his rough touch. “I’m not sure yet. But I know the moment I saw you, I wasn’t going to let anyone hurt you. That’s why you’re here with me tonight.”
Leah put her beer down to the floor. The way she bent had her head down for a few seconds, leaving Lucas with some wild thoughts. If he wanted it, all he needed to do was speak it. His command would be the ultimate command for Leah. When she looked back up at Lucas, that look in her eyes had returned. She touched Lucas’s legs, her small hands not even coming to close to gripping all the muscle in his legs. And these were his human muscles. Imagine if Leah dared to touch his beast muscles?
Her hands ran up his legs, her thumbs grazing gently between his legs for a second. It was enough that Lucas felt pressure against his body, making him pulse as he grew hard. Leah’s fingers gently curled around the top of Lucas’s jeans. She pulled, teasing that she wanted them down. Lucas didn’t make a move. He just wanted enjoyment. Leah opened her hands and slid them under Lucas’s shirt to his bare body. She moved up and lifted his shirt, exposing skin.
Lucas placed a hand on top of Leah’s hair. His fingers sank into her thick hair as he moved his fingers through it, releasing the clean, fruity scent of her shampoo. He took a deep breath, controlling himself to not just lift Leah from the bed and begin to tear the clothing right from her body. He wanted her to feel sexy and beautiful right now.
Leah moved forward and pressed her lips just below Lucas’s navel. He felt her lips and he throbbed. He wanted to be inside her, opening her, loving her. Leah opened her mouth and kissed again. She brought her lips together and pulled back, making a moist kissing sound. She kissed again, this time the tip of her tongue touching Lucas’s stomach. He moved his foot and accidentally kicked Leah’s beer bottle over.
“Shit,” he growled.
Leah pulled back and reached for the bottle, lifting it and putting it on the nightstand. She looked up at Lucas and started to laugh. Lucas made fists, frustrated. He took Leah by the arms
and lifted her from the bed. Her eyes widened at his strength. He stood her up and then moved his hands to her face.
“You need another drink,” he said.
“Not that much spilled,” Leah said. “I was happy… right where I was.”
Leah’s hands touched the bottom of Lucas’s shirt. She tugged at it, hinting what she wanted. As Lucas stared at her he knew a one night stand would never exist between him and Leah. The look in her eyes and the connection between them wouldn’t allow it.
Lucas reached for the bottle on the nightstand and put it to his lips. He put his head back and drank what was left in the bottle in one big gulp. He let out an ahhh and shook the bottle.
“Now it’s empty,” he said. “Let me go get you another one.”
Leah nodded.
Lucas took his bottle and the empty one to the door. He opened it and looked back at Leah. He didn’t need to tell her to stay put. She understood it.
Back at the bar, Lucas ordered another beer. The bar had almost filled up with the guys. They were talking, laughing, arguing, drinking, and placing bets. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary. Cooper eyed Lucas and gave a playful nod. Lucas knew what could only be running through Cooper’s mind.
Before Lucas could get the fresh beer for Leah, a hand clamped down on his shoulder. He turned and was face to face with Vincent. He looked tired and annoyed. The entire aura of the room seemed to change when Vincent walked in. Nobody knew what to expect.
“Vince,” Lucas said.
“Ordering a beer?”
“Yup.”
Vince flicked the beer bottle in Lucas’s hand. “Still got some in there.”
“Never hurts to be well prepared,” Lucas said and smiled.
Vince’s lip curled. He looked past Lucas and pointed to the bartender as he stood with a fresh bottle in his hand.
“Keep that on ice for Lucas,” Vince said. “He and I have a meeting to attend to.”
Vince slid his hand around Lucas’s shoulder. He motioned for the conference room and Lucas started to walk. He took a big drink from his beer and hoped Leah would stay safe.
8
Debbie clutched her stomach and bent over, trying to relieve the intense pressure and pain. What had started as a running joke of Debbie being a stripper with gas now felt very serious and very dangerous. The music thumped and played, Debbie knowing exactly when the song would end and her song would begin. She took deep breaths and tried to calm herself, keeping her eyes shut, wishing the pain away. She had just two more dances and then she could sneak out early. Most nights she stuck around late night, for drunken lap dances that would often yield a hell of a lot more cash than just dancing. But not tonight. Tonight she needed to skip the lap dances, the drinks, the drugs, and just get home and into her bed. She needed to crash, hard, and sleep this thing off.
“Hey girl, what’s wrong?”
Debbie opened her eyes, turned her head, and saw Becky crouching down next to her. Becky had the biggest, natural breasts any of them had ever seen. Her dance was one of the hottest in the club because Becky taunted every person in the strip club into following and playing along before taking her top off at the last minute of her set. By doing this she got a ton of money, but the one minute glimpse of her huge breasts kept a lot of people around, waiting for the next dance. And a lot of the time, women were just as interested as the men.
“I’m okay,” Debbie lied. The pain made her voice whispery.
“No, you’re not,” Becky said. Becky hurried away and came back with a shirt. She slid the shirt over her head, covering her immaculate chest. “Can you stand up?”
“I don’t think so,” Debbie whispered. “It… hurts.”
“Okay, baby,” Becky said. “Here, take a couple steps back and sit down. Take a few deep breaths.”
Debbie allowed Becky to help her to a seat. When Debbie sat, she hoped to feel relief but there wasn’t any at all. It was just pain and a deep uncomfortable feeling. Becky rubbed Debbie’s back. The song out on the stage was starting to come to an end.
“Fuck,” Debbie said. “I’m up next.”
Becky fell to her knees and put her hands to Debbie’s face. “Hey, look at me, baby. Go home. I’ll dance for you tonight, okay?”
“No,” Debbie said. “No.”
“Yes,” Becky said. “I’ll cover for you, baby. I won’t take your money either. Whatever I make, it’s yours.”
“Becky, you can’t do that.”
“I can. Come on. You need to get home and relax.”
Debbie nodded. She closed her eyes again and took a deep breath through the pain. It came and went in waves. It almost felt like cramps from her period, but severely intense. She touched her stomach and let out a long breath. The pain began to subside, allowing Debbie to sit back up. When she did, she felt a head rush for a few seconds. The room spun and then stopped.
Everything felt normal again.
“This is starting to scare me,” Debbie said.
“Girl, it’s just a bug or something,” Becky said. “You know how those things go. If you get everyone else sick, Jerry will be pissed at you.”
“I can finish tonight out,” Debbie said.
“No. Why don’t you go home, take a rest. Maybe call your boy toy.”
Debbie smiled. “I haven’t seen him in a couple weeks. Not since that wild night I told you about…”
“When he growled at you?” Becky asked with a vixen smile.
“Yeah.”
“Damn girl, I wish someone would growl at me when they fuck me,” Becky said. “Most of the time they just want to watch my tits bounce, or hold onto them for dear life.”
“Lucky woman,” Debbie said. She touched her own chest. “I wish mine were bigger.”
“You’ve got the body that matches your tits,” Becky said. “Don’t change a thing.”
The music came to an end. A woman named Scarlett came to the back, glistening with glitter and sweat. Her breasts bounced as she walked, looking annoyed. It must have been a slow night out there.
“Girl, go home,” Becky said.
“Are you sure?” Debbie asked.
“I got it. And like I said, it’s your money.”
Becky leaned forward and kissed Debbie’s forehead. She then rushed away and grabbed a pair of scissors. She hurried to cut the t-shirt she put on, cutting it right up to the bottom of her breasts. She tore the cloth off the shirt and dropped it. As Becky strutted away, she looked deadly and erotic.
Debbie let out a breath and sighed. She felt bloated and sick.
She drove home, suffering through three more attacks of pain. The third one was so bad that she had to pull over and stop. Tears flooded her eyes and her muscles stiffened so hard she thought she would either speed through a red light and kill someone or just drive off the road and die.
When she did finally make it to her apartment, she stumbled inside and locked the door behind her. She fell to her couch and let out a long cry of pain. No matter how hard she tried to tell herself it was just a stomach sickness, she knew better. This was something much more. In her mind she began to replay the past month or so. How many guys had she been with? None really came to mind except one. Someone she had fooled around with here and there. It was more or less a last minute call kind of thing. She’d gone into a nightclub once and ended up in his bedroom, having the greatest sex of her life. After that, it was more of a use me kind of thing. Debbie didn’t mind being used, especially if it was by him.
By Lucas.
The thought of his leather jacket, the sound of his motorcycle, the subtle smell of smoke and man, it was enough to make her body desperate and ache for him. The last time they were together though, it was sex Debbie never knew could exist. It the most intense sex of Debbie’s life. So rough and passionate that she couldn’t get out of bed the next day. But that next day when she woke she found her bed empty and hadn’t heard from Lucas since. She figured he would come around again, he always did. It bothered h
er to imagine never being able to have him inside her again.
Debbie fell asleep but it was short lived. She woke to a pain in her stomach again. This time the pain seemed to travel from her stomach to her lower stomach, almost down near her most private area. She sat up and touched herself between her legs, adding pressure over her panties and pants, seeking relief. She even started to move her fingers, wondering if maybe she was just excited. But that did nothing. The pain slowly went away again and Debbie sighed in relief. Her eyes began to shut again, but then she felt something move. It was something touching her stomach, moving down and in all directions. Debbie opened her eyes and expected to see someone touching her belly. Nobody else was there with her. She slowly lifted her shirt and looked at her stomach. She watched intently and then she saw it, the movement…
It was from the inside of her belly.
Debbie opened her mouth to cry out, but no sound came. Instead, she lost her sight and balance and passed out on her couch. Her mind went back to one thing… to she and Lucas together. What they’d done that night. The way he looked. The way he growled at her. How hard he thrust at her. And then his warning… I shouldn’t be doing this tonight… I shouldn’t be doing this tonight… I shouldn’t be doing this tonight…
9
“Why you drinking that shit for?” Vince asked and nodded to the bottle of beer in front of Lucas. “Why not drink something with some balls?”
Lucas eyed the bottle of beer in front of Vince. It was some kind of import, a black labeled bottle that poured like syrup and had the appeal of gasoline and piss. Sadly, Lucas knew what those both tasted like.
“Yeah? What’s got balls?” Lucas asked. He took a fresh lit cigarette out of his mouth and blew the smoke in the general direction of Vince.
Vince reached under the long table and produced a black bottle. Tall and skinny. He twisted the cap off with one hand and held the bottle out for Lucas’s taking.
Lucas took the bottle and sipped it. It made his eyes water. Vince let out a long bellow laugh. He took out a thick cigar and put into his mouth. He lit it, taking almost a good minute to get the entire thing to catch the way he liked it.
The Secret Wolf (A Full Moon Mercy Novel) (shifter / MC romance) Page 4
