by Beverly Rae
He froze. The voice, the one he’d heard repeated in his mind so many times since meeting her in the restaurant, was loud and clear—and only a foot from him. Daniel closed his eyes, heard the stool squeak to a stop beside him, then heard her sharp gasp.
“Oh, no, it’s you.”
I can not believe that jerk is sitting in my chair. Lauren scowled at him, willing him to open his eyes. When he did, she pointed all her irritation directly at him and iced her voice with sarcasm. “Hmm, imagine meeting you again. I was at your place of business and now you’re at mine. Just goes to show you what a small world this is.”
“You can’t be the dentist. Tell me you only work here, then get the other assistant back.” There was no love lost in his tone, either.
Lauren’s sneer grew. “Sorry, bub. I am the dentist. Trust me, you wouldn’t have made it to the chair if Bobbie hadn’t talked me into it. Of course, I could still decide to refuse you service.” She enjoyed his annoyed expression even more than her sneer. “You know how it is. I have the right to refuse service to anyone I don’t like. And I definitely don’t like you.” She started to pull off the latex gloves, then paused. Could she let him walk out without at least trying to help him? What kind of dentist was she if she did that?
“Hey, that’s okay by me. I wouldn’t let you touch my teeth if you paid me.” Daniel tried to unhook the dental bib. “Ow!” He clapped a hand over his jaw, scrunched his face and squeezed his eyes shut. “Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!”
She had no doubt searing pain traveled the length of his jaw and into his head. Lauren leapt off the stool and pushed him back in his seat. “Hush up. I have a child in the next room and I doubt his mother would appreciate his hearing you cuss a blue streak.”
“I don’t give a crap. Besides, he can’t hear us anyway with his music blaring in his ears. Take this damn thing off me.” He tugged at the chain around his neck but only managed to tear the paper covering his chest. “Damn it. How does this stupid thing work?”
She slapped her hand over his mouth, effectively silencing him. Yet she was unprepared for the sizzle that sliced through the glove, into her fingers and into her hand. Jerking her hand away, she peered at her fingers, expecting to see scorch marks on the latex. “Holy shit.”
“Uh-uh-uh, doc. No cussing. Remember?” He started to grin, but the grin quickly warped into a grimace with his next howl of pain.
“Ha, ha. Nice to see your agony hasn’t squelched your sense of humor.” Sheesh, she hated to see someone like this. But if anyone deserved a little pain to put him in his place, it was this guy. Still, if she denied him help, wasn’t she acting like a jerk, too?
“Stay in the chair. You’re definitely hurting so why not let me take care of it for you?” She arched an eyebrow at the suspicion in his eyes. “Hey, it’s no biggie to me. Do what you want. But as a dentist, I feel it’s my duty to at least offer to help someone in pain. Even a jerk in pain.”
She waited, ready to let him make the decision. The next round of pain made the decision.
“Okay, get to work. But only because I don’t have any other options.”
Lauren thought of all the things she could do to him while he was in her care. She could pull the wrong tooth. Or tell him he needed dentures. Or drill into more than one tooth. Oh, she could be such a bad, bad girl.
Chuckling, she bit back a retort, picked up her instruments and motioned for him to open wide. She sighed. Too bad she wasn’t really a bad girl. Instead, she was a damn fine dentist who wouldn’t think of risking her reputation. Not even for some well-deserved fun. Not even for some super-duper good fun. She studied his teeth, unusual in their size and appearance, and quickly found the tooth giving him trouble. “I’ll have my assistant get some X-rays and I’ll be back after I’ve taken a look at them.”
He groaned and this time, she didn’t fight to stifle her grin. “Man up, Mr. Cannon. And stay put. I’ll try to make this as painless as possible.”
Cannon? Where had she heard that name before? She tore the gloves off and forced herself to walk—not run—from the room. After giving Marla directions, she slipped down the hall and into her office. Closing the door quietly behind her, she concentrated on breathing deeply and evenly.
What was it about this guy? Sure, he was infuriating, but it had to be something else. And why did his name sound familiar? He was devilishly handsome with movie-star charisma about him, but that wasn’t it, either. Lauren dropped into her desk chair, her brow furrowed. No, he had a special quality about him that unsettled her but in a good way. A way she hadn’t experienced in a long time. Not only did he ooze charisma, but his smell was familiar, too. Where had she smelled that scent before? Was it his aftershave? Accidentally, her hand bumped her mouse and her monitor lit up with today’s emails. The first on the list was an email from John telling her when the next hunt was.
She froze, then inhaled as though trying to retrieve Mr. Cannon’s scent to confirm her suspicion. That was it. He smelled like a shifter. She probably wouldn’t have noticed it if she hadn’t gotten so close to him, but that’s what it was. She bolted out of her chair, her legs automatically taking her back to him. Thoughts exploded, tumbling around her brain, fighting for her attention.
Oh, my God, I have a shifter in my chair. Does he know I’m a hunter? If so, is he here to cause trouble? Should I get him out of here? Or do I pretend I don’t know and treat him like I would anyone else?
She slammed to a stop outside the cubicle. He was still in the chair, moaning and groaning.
“Lauren?”
She jumped at the same time he did. “Oh!”
He twisted in the chair to glare at her.
Marla gave her a questioning look, then handed her an X-ray. “Here it is. I don’t see anything wrong. Do you?” The young girl lowered her voice. “But they’re awfully big. Don’t you think?”
“Big?” Mr. Cannon lifted a cocky eyebrow, glanced at his crotch, then back to her with a twinkle in his eyes. “And the answer’s yes.”
Lauren plastered on a smile and answered both their questions. “No, I don’t think so.” She gave her assistant more instructions that sent her to the lab, then took her time returning to the stool beside him. She supposed shifters needed dental care like everyone else, right? So all she had to do was handle him like she would any other patient. Well, almost like any other patient.
“Mr. Cannon, I’ve looked at your films and I have to say that, from the way you were behaving, I thought you’d probably need a root canal. But that’s not the case. You need to have a filling. A very small filling, at that. Overall, however, your teeth are in remarkable shape.” For a human. But for a werewolf? Who knew?
“I know who—and what—you are.”
Her mouth grew drier than a beach on the Fourth of July at the fierceness in his tone. “I, uh, figured you’d remember me from the restaurant. But don’t worry. I’ll help you anyway.”
He sniffed and deepened his scowl. “You’re a hunter.”
She froze, an instrument poised in her hand. “You’re a shifter?”
“As if you didn’t know.”
“I didn’t then, but I do now.” The man may be one fine-looking piece of manhood, er, shifterhood, but he was also a major headache.
“I can’t believe I’m letting a hunter touch me.” His scowl deepened until he gritted his jaw, then groaned in pain.
“Touch you?” She couldn’t help lowering her gaze to his crotch. Her imagination took over, leaving her wishing she had him behind doors and not in her dental chair. That wasn’t helping her. Better to keep her eyes on his gloriously masculine face. “Don’t flatter yourself, Mr. Cannon.”
“Okay, that did it. Pain or no pain, I’m out of here.” He started to slide out of the chair, then stiffened and let out a yowl of agony. “Holy shit, that hurts!”
“Again. Knock off the obscenities and sit back down.” She pushed on his shoulders, flattening him against the back of the chair. Then, with
a look that told him not to argue, she pulled his chin down to open his mouth and swabbed the inflamed gum with a numbing agent. His eyes grew wide, then he relaxed and let out a sigh.
“Oh, yeah. That’s better.”
“I’m glad. But that’s not going to last long and unless you want to have another flare-up, you’ll stay where you are, Mr. Cannon. And trust me. The only thing I’ll touch is your teeth.” At his snarl, she dropped her instrument on the tray and toed the rolling stool, sliding away from him. “Of course, if you don’t want my help, then all you have to do is leave. Either way, quit wasting my time and make up your mind.”
He opened his mouth, probably ready to slam her again, and she prepared for a barrage of snide remarks. However, the howl he let out unnerved her more than anything he could have said. She lurched forward, half in an attempt to help him and half to get him to quiet down.
Pressing both hands to his chest—muscles and muscles and more, oh, my—to force him back in the seat, she saw something that was beyond comprehension. She had to be hallucinating. Or daydreaming again. Lowering her voice, she placed a palm on his cheek and whispered, “Is that a tear?”
For a second she thought he hadn’t heard her. His eyes held her, amber flakes making them irresistible. His chest heaved under her hand, matching the quickened pace of her heart. Gently, he took her hand and covered it with his, then lifted his head to whisper in her ear.
“Get the hell off me.”
She blinked, thrown by his soft tone with such harsh words, then yanked her hand away.
“Look, you’re hurting and I can help.” Crossing her arms over her chest, she tilted her head. “Will you let me help you or not?”
A clash of emotions warred across his face. “If this pain weren’t so terrible, I wouldn’t be anywhere near you.”
“You already told me that.” She closed her eyes, sighed, then shot him another exasperated look. “Let’s be reasonable about this. You don’t like me and I don’t like you. But as a professional, I’m here to solve your problem.” He had to be the most bullheaded man she’d ever met. “Come on, Mr. Cannon. Say it. Say you want my help.”
His growl was more animal than man. “No, I don’t want your help. But, damn it, I need your help. And it’s Daniel.”
“Want, need, it’s all the same to me. So we’re a go then?”
He gave a curt nod.
“Fine. Then sit back, refrain from howling or cursing, and let me do my job.”
She turned her back on him, pretending to rearrange the instruments on the tray but mainly wanting to hide her grin.
Thirty minutes later, Daniel heaved a sigh of relief, not caring if Lauren and her assistant heard him. How had one small filling caused so much pain? Since it was his first filling, he hadn’t known what a toothache felt like. Then to end up with a dentist who doubled as a hunter just made the whole thing that more painful. He opened wider, giving Marla more room to finish whatever the hell she was doing inside his mouth. Once again, she asked him to “Close tight, Mr. C” over the suction tube. His eyes, however, always came back to Lauren.
Damn, but she was beautiful. And sexy without being overtly sexy. Her curls fell forward to caress her cheek as she worked and he almost answered the impulse to twirl a strand around his finger. Her big soft eyes, hidden behind the ridiculous-looking safety glasses, highlighted her intelligence while giving her an innocent, almost doe-like appearance. That was enough to worry him, afraid his growing desire would soon attract attention. But then when she leaned closer and her breast brushed against his arm, he had to close his eyes and think about cauliflower to keep from grabbing her and placing her on top of his shaft. Thank God he hated cauliflower.
“I think that should do it. Take it easy with that tooth for an hour, okay?” Her stool squeaked as she rose.
Lauren’s voice, now that it wasn’t dripping with sarcasm or anger, was melodic, flowing. A voice any man would love to hear every morning for the rest of his life.
“Got it.”
Damn it. Why did she have to be a hunter?
She hunched over the adjacent counter to write and his gaze fell to her plentiful backside filling out the white dentist coat. If she were pack, he wouldn’t hesitate to take her. Fantasies of how he’d spank that lovely bottom, her pink flesh turning rosy, set his heart racing. Although the assistant took off the dental bib and muttered something about his leaving, he stayed where he was, enjoying the way Lauren eased from one foot to another, causing a corresponding sway of her ass. Damn, she was hot. Nicely curved in all the right places. And her scent was intoxicating.
He frowned, suddenly aware of a change. Although the smell had been faint, he remembered a hunter smell on her in the alley. Yet he couldn’t detect the usual underlying stench of gun metal and sweat any longer. Now she smelled like flowers. Like lavender. He liked lavender.
“The numbness will wear off soon, Mr. Cannon. Bobbie at the front desk will check you out.”
He had to force his eyes off Lauren to squint at Marla. “Okay. But I think the doctor and I need to have a private conversation first.”
The curious assistant exchanged a look with Lauren who waved her off. “I’m not sure why you think so, but go ahead and take his chart to the front, Marla. I’ll be ready for Mrs. Halloran in a minute.”
Daniel hadn’t planned it. In fact, he’d intended to tell her off, to warn her to stop hunting shifters, but the words never materialized. Instead, an intense heat ripped through him and he reached out, hooked the front of her blouse in his fingers and tugged her on top of him. Grabbing her by the back of the neck, he brought her mouth to his. Her hands clutched the front of his shirt, but she didn’t push away. Hungry with the desire coursing through him, he thrust his tongue past her lips and found her delicious taste. She straddled him, her skirt hiking up to the vee between her legs. He ran his hand along her silky length until his fingertips pushed at the lacy thong under her professional attire. Groaning, he ripped the material aside and fondled the tender swell of her ass. She wiggled her bottom and he took that as a sign that she needed more.
Slipping his hand between her legs, he found her wet pussy and pinched her already hot nub between two of his fingers. Her wetness washed over his fingers, giving them the lubrication to plunge into her cave. His cock twitched in anticipation, making him yearn to replace fingers with shaft. Plunging in and out, he finger-fucked her, letting her choose the speed by how fast she moved her hips against his hand.
He’d known she was hot, but she was tight, too. Beyond tight. His dick strained against his slacks, wanting to dive deep inside her. Letting go of her neck, he waited for her to pull away, but she stayed. She wanted this as much as he did.
Lauren moaned into Daniel’s mouth, then settled on top of him, her hot pussy pressing against the hard bulge in his pants. Her hands worked apart the buttons on his shirt, then swept under the fabric to rest on his pecs. Hating to do so, but wanting to get his pants undone, he let go of her and unzipped.
She arched her back, bringing her breasts to his face. His shaft free, he grabbed her breast and kneaded it, urging her to unbutton her blouse. “Come on, Lauren. I’m ready for you. Fuck me, hunter.” His whisper was filled with lust.
Lauren moaned and tore off her jacket. Her breasts rubbed up and down against his face, driving him near the edge. He wanted to taste every inch of her, to rub her wetness on him. He yearned to slide his shaft deep inside her, to strain against her clenching walls, to feel his come shooting inside her. God, how he had to have this woman. Not as a plaything like the others and not as a diversion. She was more than a diversion. He sensed she could become an obsession. Warnings went off in the logical side of his mind, urging him to stay away, but his libido nixed those ideas, giving pure instinct control. He pulled her mouth to his again.
“Oh, my goodness. Lauren, what are you doing?”
“Wow, if that’s how she fixes teeth, then let me hop in the chair.”
Lauren st
iffened, then scrambled off Daniel, clutching the lapels of her white coat together. She let out a small cry, her attention riveted to the hallway. He hurriedly zipped up, covering his protesting cock, and twisted around to find Tucker and Bobbie. Bobbie’s gaping mouth hung open and Tucker’s grin was wider than Daniel thought a mouth could stretch.
“Oh, my God, I-I—” Lauren tucked her head and put her back to the onlookers. “I can’t believe you did that to me.”
“To you? Like you couldn’t have stopped me? Sweetheart, trust me, you were a willing participant. A very willing participant.” Daniel raised a finger to Tucker, silencing him from making a snarky remark.
Lauren, her skin a mottled pink color, finally met his gaze. “You are a pig. No, a dog.”
He couldn’t help it. Lowering his eyebrows, he gave as good as he got. “No way, lady. I am no dog. I’m a wolf.”
A mortified Lauren remained silent. Had she heard him? Bobbie, however, managed a quick recovery and, scooting past Daniel, took the distraught Lauren’s hand. “Don’t worry. The only people who know, who saw you, were me and Tucker.” Leading the stunned dentist out of the room, Bobbie made a “phone me” gesture to Tucker, then blew him a kiss. Tucker pretended to catch the kiss.
His friend had apparently enjoyed their time together, much to Daniel’s dismay. With his clothes straightened and his cock nearly back to normal pre-aroused size, Daniel trudged past him toward the reception area. “Not a word, man. Not a damn word.” But Tucker’s chuckle and question chased after him.
“Hey, wait a sec, Daniel. Did you call her a hunter?”
“This is not what I need after the day I’ve had.” Lauren cradled her rifle in the crook of her arm and trudged alongside the other hunters. “I’d rather have curled up on my sofa with a good book.”
John wrapped his arm around her. “Are you kidding me? A hunt always turns the day around for me. Besides, you’re your own boss. You can do what you want. What could have made your day so bad?”
