He grabbed a handful of nuts from the fresh stash she’d just supplied and threw back a couple.
“Thank you, Mr. Wylde,” she offered, half of her attention moving to the people.
Smoke from cigars and the occasional cigarette trapped the soft light of the bar blocking a clear view into the darker corners.
She closed the tap after filling three more mugs, the feel of eyes on her coming from somewhere in the deepest corner as if someone watched from the shadows. Tables of people laughing and enjoying the shared time with friends filled every inch to the back wall but still she couldn’t find the source of the unease.
“Pop. What can I get ya?”
She turned a half ear on what the men were saying while cleaning a few mugs for the rack.
“Same old, your momma wants to head home soon and set up a room for you.” He motioned his glass toward Sabine, and she turned her full attention on him.
“Me? Nah, don’t worry about me, Mr. Wylde. There’s no need for the extra work.” She didn’t do sleepovers and family feely times. Period. The hotel she saw down the road would do just fine for the three days she would be in town.
Intense eyes swiveled her way. “I’ll just grab a room at the hotel. I’m only staying a few days anyway.”
“Nonsense.” Big beefy hands clasped hers over the polished wood, and Sabine nearly choked on her own shock. “You’re family, girlie. Can’t leave you in some dingy hotel room.”
He patted her hands a couple of times as if his word was law. They probably were. For family. She wasn’t family.
What the hell did she say to him? She busied herself with the newly filled mug Rone poured and replaced her trapped hand with the frothy goodness instead. The Elder was a king in his own right. Lord over the members of his den and the protector of his people. She didn’t understand how the hierarchy of the supernaturals worked, but she understood he was in charge of it all from conversations with her sister. So essentially she’d just been offered—and refused—a room in the king’s home. Surreal. Though she was probably the only one that viewed it that way.
Two days ago she was filling out legal paperwork on the death of a patient under her care. She took a long breath and one more to calm her nerves and steady her pouring hand. Today she was slinging beers in freaking Alaska of all places and speaking with a king. Couldn’t contrast her life anymore if she tried. That had to count for something on her bucket list.
Rone inhaled deeply beside her, and she cast a glance at him from beneath a few strands of hair that slipped from their hold to brush the side of her face. If his father was king, that made Rone a prince?
A prince for Christmas. Her glasses slid a bit, and she took her time pushing them back into place. She needed to find her contacts because the damn things drove her crazy.
“You look like something is on your mind. Everything okay?” Rone placed a light touch on her lower back, his lips close to her ear and the roughness of his voice the last temptation she needed.
Unable to resist, Sabine reached out and pressed a finger in the slight dip in his chin. Was it bad she wanted to melt into the tender touch and find out what his high-on-sex voice sounded like?
“Yep.” She dodged his questioning look by moving away to clean a spotless area of the counter. Breathe, girl, breathe. In and out.
Music carried over the clink of glasses, and the lively two-stepping music from earlier died down to a romantic jingle of “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” and everyone with a loved one grabbed their partner for a slow groping session in the middle of the dance floor.
Slowly she wrestled control over her breathing and tuned into what the guys were talking about.
“Either Rone can bring you out or you can catch a ride with your sister when you’re ready, but you have a home as long as you are in town.”
Before arriving in Claw Ridge, the only family she had was her sister. Now everyone she ran into offered a place in their home. Her senses recognized the tickle of nervousness that wanted to swell to the size of a bloated toad in the middle of her throat. “Thank you, Mr. Wylde.”
He nodded and watched over the crowd, like a shepherd caring for his flock.
For the next several hours Sabine and Rone worked side by side until the last of the customers slipped out the door and headed home, leaving only her sister in the back wiping off tables and collecting trash in a bag. Sabine tsked. That woman would work up until the time the baby was ready to pop out.
Rone flicked the open sign off but didn’t bother with the lock.
“In Houston you leave the front door open like that and you’re basically inviting someone to rob you.” She rose on her tiptoes and slid various colored bottles into their slots on the back shelf. At least she hoped she was putting things where they belonged. In all the bars she had worked in, the owners always organized by strengths of the alcohol.
“Good thing we’re not in Houston.” Rone leaned on the bar for a brief second with both of his palms splayed out and his eyes bright with a tease. “Everyone is welcomed here, no matter the time.”
Really? She glanced across the bar top at him. “But aren’t you worried about rowdy teenagers out for a good time?” Beyond the double windows lining the front of the bar, the only thing that moved was angry amounts of snow flurries. Everyone had cleared out. Even the stores nestled close on either side of the bar and across the deserted main street stood dark except for the occasional lit Christmas displays.
Okay. So he had a point.
“Besides,” he tapped the side of his nose. “Come morning I would sniff out the troublemakers and they know it.”
Hmm. Good to know. “You could make a business with that.” She pointed at her own nose. “The inner city crime rate is so high we can’t leave the windows open on the fire escapes anymore.”
“Sounds like the cops there could use some shifters on their force. A few years back I would be up for the task.” He started turning chairs over for the cleaning crew and picking up random bottles, plastic plates and trash from the merrymaking.
“You were a cop?”
“Special unit of shifters.”
She wrestled back a yawn as a couple of faint chimes rang out to signal the early or late hour depending on perspective. Since her day had started out with a red-eye from Houston, it was one hell of a long day either way.
Rone came up beside her and leaned against the bar, his sleeves rolled to reveal thick forearms and the hint of a tattoo peeking out from the cuff on his left arm. Another from the V collar of his shirt that she remembered looked Russian. “You did good tonight. I would have drowned without your help and the mob would have left me on the floor while sloshing back the booze.”
“I doubt that, but glad I could help.”
Her body grew warm standing this close, and her lips pulsed with a dull echo from the feel of his pressed against them. She busied herself with rinsing the last of the shot glass and then set to work on storing the blender.
“Don’t let these small town folks fool you. They’re wily and will crush you in a heartbeat on cold winter nights like these.”
No doubt. “Cowboys down in Texas can get rowdy but your boys can hold their own.”
“That surprise you?”
Her nose wrinkled up and caused her glasses to slip.
“Sabine.” He pressed a finger under her chin until she could look into his eyes. What was it about him that drew her into his orbit? She was genuinely puzzled and couldn’t understand why. The second their gazes locked her guard slipped a fraction.
“Nah. Rowdy and Texas go hand in hand like tequila and sandy beaches or ice bears and snow,” she offered, but the grimace that crossed his face said he didn’t appreciate the comparison.
Could she want him so quickly after meeting him? No doubt about it. But was it a good idea? Pine filled her nostrils as Rone faded to a version of himself naked, lowering his hard body over hers on the top of the bar. So real the heat of his body warmed hers, the f
eel of his thighs pressing her apart and his shaft long and thick against her center...
She gasped as polished glass slipped from hers, the vision, connection, whatever it was snapped like a broken signal and dissolved as fast as it took over.
She cracked an eye then the other. Breathy, she said, “What did I just see?”
He stood next to her now with a hand pressed to her shoulder. So close, every fiber of his shirt came into view and the hairs on his chest tempted her fingers. Sabine barely had enough room to pivot much less back away from the effects he pulled from her with a simple touch. Like a mass of knotted anchors, her gut sank, constricted around the steel ball of knots and left her in desperate need of fresh air. She looked up and caught him looking at her as though undressing her one inch at a time.
Rone tore his hand away and snarled out a fierce growl that brought her around fast. She lost her balance and pitched forward. She knew it would happen a split second before bands of steel and muscles met with her face and pressed against her breasts.
“You okay?” His expression turned pained and his body stiffened.
Hell no. She’d just face-planted and her nose was plastered between two mountains for pecs. “What’s happening to me? Why can’t I seem to focus and why the hell do I keep seeing images of you and me having, you know, sex?” She dipped her voice low and made sure no one else could hear. Not that anyone was in the joint, but still. Her sister had disappeared in the back and left her alone with him.
“What the hell is going on here, Rone?”
“Mating I am guessing. But it’s nothing to worry about there.”
She didn’t know how to take that. Did he mean that as an insult or not? Her eyes went wide. “Say that again.”
“I said—”
“I know what you said,” she cut in, slashing a hand between them. “But what? Why?”
He raised his hands before him and clenched his fingers several times before leaning on the counter.
“No clue. But again, nothing to worry about.” She heard the lie on his lips as he said the words but let it go at that when he pressed his lips into a thin line.
“You’ve done this before.” He signaled the change of topic as he pointed to the empty glasses and beer bottles.
Her mouth twitched. “Uh, yeah.” She shook her head, reeling with a hundred questions, but let the subject drop. “College isn’t free.” It took everything she had not to lean in the foot of space separating them and inhale a lungful of his scent. She was off in the head. Had to be. She hated the way he affected her. Purely masculine and so damn handsome it hurt to be near him and not reach out to caress the line of his jaw. Brush her hand with his.
Sabine shook her head as the blissful fantasies played in her mind. The second she closed her eyes and inhaled, the buzzing in her ears disappeared.
Damn man. What was she—an animal in heat? She couldn’t help herself, though. He drank in the sight of her from her black boots, tight jeans and the way her sweater hugged her breasts.
“When I’m off rotation I pick up odd hours at some local bars. The tips alone can amount to a nice sum.”
“No doubt. Double when you flash any guy that smile.”
“Triple when I fall for smooth pickup lines with grace and a cute giggle.”
He pushed up to his full height, easily a head and a half taller than herself, and everything that made her want to forget her rules filled her senses, but she couldn’t sideline the whole ‘mate’ thing. He might be able to shuck it and say never mind, but she couldn’t.
“That I believe, Ms. Kennedy.”
She was meant to be finding a way to sit her sister down for a talk so she could get back to Houston and do whatever came after walking away from four years of med school.
One more thing on her to-do list, but maybe it was for the best she couldn’t get her sister alone just yet. Having an answer to that question would make the reality of her dropping out go over a little smoother.
“You ready to go?” Cherry hadn’t disappeared, after all. She made her way toward them, her blue eyes red and puffy with sleep. “Lorne and Kohl went to pull the truck around. We’re going to head back to the house. Mrs. Wylde has a room all set up for you. We can drop you off and then I can swing by in the morning if you’d like to go to the doctors with me.” Since Cherry’s cabin met its match with an arsonist several months back, the apartment her sister shared with her two mates wouldn’t fit a guest.
“Actually, I have an idea.” Rone’s expression went serious as he shifted Sabine’s way to lean a hip on the bar. She echoed his movement as if drawn to his raw masculine allure.
“Stay with me.” His pupils dilated and the crease of his jaw ticked. Everything about him was a complete contradiction to what came out of his mouth.
Should she? One person was a hell of a lot better than two or more people she didn’t know. Unease tightened her shoulders. Them under one roof, possibly in the same room as him? That would be like dangling honey in front of a starving bear. And everyone knew what happened to the honey.
When she didn’t say anything he continued. “I have the empty apartment your sister ditched when she hooked up with my brother and Kohl. You can stay there and in exchange, you can help me out here in your spare time.”
He pushed off the bar, grabbed a set of keys and tossed them to her. “It’s yours. Come and go as you please. Door’s around the corner outside.”
She wrapped her fingers around the cold metal. “I’ll only be in town through Christmas day. Are you sure?”
“As I can be.” He placed both palms down on the bar, causing the muscles in his arms to bulge against the confines of his shirt. “I can’t handle this crowd all by myself. And tonight was only the first of many holiday parties.”
Him not handle a crowd? He could probably wrangle an entire bar full of half drunk people with one hand tied behind his back. But she took the white flag he offered and ran with it.
Sabine slid her eyes over to her sister, who stood there with a silly grin on her face and way too much cheer for the two in the morning. “Works for me, too.”
“Ooookay then,” she agreed, hesitantly. “Thank you.” No one had ever offered her anything for free and she wouldn’t start now. “Afternoon or evening work okay?”
“Yep. Whenever works for me.” His lips parted in a wide grin like he’d won the lottery. Damn him. He made it hard to look away.
“Ready?” Lorne came to the door, and after kissing her goodbye, Cherry joined him. “Rone has the number for the house and you have my cell. I’ll be by tomorrow to pick you up.”
She bit her inner lip and nodded. Tomorrow it was then. She’d tell her sister the news and play it by ear afterward. Rone may not get his helping hand for the holidays, after all.
“Yes, now go. Rest before your husbands blame me for keeping you up past your bedtime.”
“Oh, they do that enough on their own.”
Sabine chuckled. “Too much information, woman, now go. Sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
With her sister gone she turned to Rone, who hadn’t moved from his spot at the bar.
His mesmerizing eyes examined her as she’d done to him earlier that day while he sported a loin cloth. He unhooked his arms and made his way around the bar.
“Let me show you to your new home.” He led her to the door and killed the lights on the way out. “Tomorrow is going to be a very long day.”
Calm darkness fell over their spot on the sidewalk. Slowly her eyes adjusted as the soft glow from the street lights rushed in to fill the shadows.
To the right of the bar entrance was a metal door, and she moved to the side to allow Rone access. Instead, he turned her by the shoulders and pointed to the sky.
Ribbons of emerald and sapphire with slashes of red and yellow cut through the night sky as the snow cleared. Diamonds scattered across the midnight blue richer than crushed velvet. She mentally gave a check beside a bucket list wish.
�
�The Northern Lights, as humans call it. To us, it’s the ley lines. You could say it’s like magick.”
He smiled and it hit her. He was the worst idea she ever thought about tackling head on without a care for the consequences. God, she sounded like a moron even in her own head. Three days gave her plenty of time to fuck up like she did every other thing in her life. Throw a package of temptation like him at her and how could anyone expect her not to rip open the pretty paper to find out what was underneath?
She cleared her throat. “Magick doesn’t exist.”
She knew it as a fact.
CHAPTER FOUR
He was so stupid.
Rone stepped off the back step and relished the bite of the cold on his bare chest and feet.
He gnashed his teeth and worked through the last twenty-four hours in his head. One minute he was preparing to kick ass on the Rum Run, have a little fun beating his brother at his own game and then enjoy some family time. The next, he was in a wrestling match with his bear, fighting against everything instinct tore at him to do.
Claim.
Mark.
He shoved way from those two words. Roared through the anger and spit out the nasty taste left behind the second they ripped across his mind. They meant nothing to him anymore. His bear didn’t want to listen, so too damn bad. He tore away his sweats and let the rush of his shift take over him.
He felt sorry for his sparing student standing opposite of him. The boy’s shift was a little slower given his young age. The boy had a lot to learn to become a cop in the shifter forces like his father and Rone, and today’s lesson would be hell.
Rone reared his head back and snarled, dodging a slash of claws to the snout then countered with his own sending the charging teenager head first into a snow bank.
Careless.
He knew better. Was trained better.
While his older brother Adam went into the marines, he devoted six years of his life to the police force. Three of those to uncover work infiltrating the Russian drug organization.
Snowbound With Her Christmas Bear: Wylde Den #4 (Alaskan Den Men Book 16) Page 5
