The bar was packed at this point and a DJ was doing his best to please the hodgepodge crowd. She’d always catered to an R&B and soul happy crowd when she’d been the one choosing the music to serenade late-night lovers. She couldn’t imagine what it must be like trying to satisfy a loud, drunken, mixed up group who seemed to like everything from 80s hair bands to cheesy 90s rap to modern rock. She wasn’t sure if her song choice would resonate with the crowd, but she decided to go with it anyway and asked the man in the booth to play two songs back to back that she knew would get her body swaying even if Cobalt remained gargoyle-like. Her songs of choice? ‘Let me love you’ by Mario and ‘Peaches and Cream’ by 112. She hadn’t thought about the common theme between those two songs when she’d requested them, but once they boomed through the speakers, Mario’s smooth voice said the words she’d been thinking all night. “Loosen up, you cold hearted bastard. Let me love you.”
The first song played, and Sylvia’s liquid courage forced her to ignore everyone else in the bar. She was here for one reason and that was to show this man that she liked him and that meant more than a casual fuck. She loved lying in bed with him, his body pounding her into the mattress like a hammer trying to eradicate some nails, but she wanted more than that. At least she thought she did. Of course, Kalina had made it clear that he wasn’t her only option. That if she stayed around long enough, they could find her another man, but somehow, she knew this one was the one meant for her. He needed her as much as she needed him.
“Coby,” she said as she dangled her hands loosely behind his neck and looked up into his eyes. “You need a strong woman by your side to tell you when you’re acting like an asshole. Believe it or not, you need someone to keep you in check.”
He smirked.
“Well you’re acting like an asshole now,” she told him. “Treat me like nobody else is in this bar. Treat me like we’re out on the ocean and it’s me you want.”
She realized after saying it that he might misunderstand her and try to fuck her right there in the crowded bar. That seemed to be his way of showing his feelings. Coby surprised her when he grabbed her strongly around the waist and pushed his fingertips into her, hurting her a little, but she loved it. His aggressiveness made her instantly wet. He was all man.
“Yes,” she moaned into his ear.
Her body moved to the music while his remained much like a statue, but it didn’t matter. If strippers could dance on poles, she could manage with the hot body in front of her. She was moving enough for the both of them, and she knew she was making them both look good. Her hands drifted down his body, sliding down his back, fondling his ass before making their way back up to his ribcage. She was feeling the music and the alcohol had her limbs loose. She turned her back to him and threw her hands back up around his neck. Mario crooned, and Coby’s head fell down and moaned in her ear as she pushed her ass back and rolled it around against him. Her dress did little to stop the pressure of his gigantic cock threatening to burst through his pants and rip a hole in her thin dress. She loved it. He was responding to her. She continued to enjoy the moment.
A few other people made their way out to the dancefloor and Sylvia felt even more at ease. All eyes were no longer on her. She could blend in with the crowd and focus more on her man.
“You…you are…” Coby started and then stopped.
“What?” she asked him, never letting up on the pressure of her body grinding against him.
“You…you’re perfect, Sylvia,” he said.
He hadn’t said beautiful and he hadn’t said stunning or even gorgeous. He hadn’t told her he wanted to fuck her like he had back at the island. This was different. She was perfect. Coming from him, there couldn’t be a better word.
She turned around to face him again, gripped the back of his head, and kissed him hard. His mouth opened and greedily took the lead, pinning her tongue down and lashing it with a feverish passion that her head swimming in seconds. She gasped for air but found little in the pressure of his mouth. He sucked it all from her and held her body tight against his, ignoring the music and pouring all of his attention into her. She felt lightheaded and nearly fainted, but his heavy arms were there waiting for her, scooping her up and holding her as his lips continued to press against hers and his tongue swirled inside her, lighting her insides up with cold, hard, wanting. When he finally pulled back a little, it was her decision to leave the bar.
“Take me home,” she said.
“I don’t have a home,” he said.
“Take me to our cabin,” she said. “That’s home.”
He grabbed her hand and cupped it tightly in his, his large fingers and knuckles covering hers completely. Everything was going great until they passed the bar on the way to the door and saw Rafe sitting with his boss, Keelan Kane. As soon as Coby saw him, he tensed up.
“You lost my boat?” Kane asked in his thick Aussie accent. “What do you mean you lost my boat?”
“I lost one of them,” Rafe said. “You still have alpha, bravo, and delta out on the docks. We’ll find charlie. I’m sure you’ve got a tracker on it, right?”
Kane didn’t answer right away and then finally responded with, “You lost my fucking boat.”
“In all fairness,” Rafe said, “I did lose it in the process of practically getting my ass ripped in half by that bitch, Evelyn, and her new hammerhead friends. If it weren’t for Kalina, I’d be dead.”
“So, the shark bitch isn’t dead?” Kane asked. “And another shark bitch saved your life.”
“Don’t talk about Kalina like that,” Rafe said.
Kalina walked out of the bathroom and reached them in time to hear her boyfriend speaking up for her. Sylvia wanted to reach out and slap the man herself for calling her new friend a bitch.
“Hey babe,” Kalina said to Sylvia. “Great dancing out there. That was hot. And you?”
Kalina spun and pointed a finger at Kane.
“What’s your problem?” she asked.
“It’s nothing,” Rafe assured her.
“It’s something alright,” Sylvia said.
Coby stepped closer to Kane and when Sylvia looked up into his face, she saw his intense stare. Was he simply ready to protect her if need be or was it something else? Kane noticed it too and stood from his barstool.
“What are you looking at, friend?” Kane asked.
“Oh,” Rafe jumped off his barstool. “Kane this my friend Cobalt. And of course, Kalina, and I’m not sure if you’ve met Sylvia.”
“Lots of newcomers to our shore,” Kane said, not quite extending a hand to welcome them.
“I don’t plan to stay for long,” Coby replied. “I’m here because someone killed my brother. Maybe you knew him? Poet.”
“Poet,” Kane said, turning the word over in his head.
He thought on it for a moment and then a lightbulb went off in his head and he slammed a shot glass down against the bar.
“Ahhh Poet!” Kane said. “The great white guy.”
Sylvia felt Coby’s chest flex against the hand she had rested there and saw his jaw tighten. She gripped his forearm and dug her nails into it, trying to bring his attention to something other than the man sitting in front of them. She knew it was only a matter of seconds before he got angry. She’d seen what happened when he exploded. He’d damn near beat the shit out of Thane and Thane was a fucking shark. This guy was merely a human.
“Our friend,” Kalina corrected Kane. “Poet was our friend.”
“Maybe we should go,” Rafe said. “This place is kind of boring anyway.”
“By a great white with a scar on his face,” Coby said, ignoring Rafe. “Nice scar you’ve got there on your face, Cop.”
Kane shrugged and smirked as he tilted his head slightly to the side as if to say it was a hell of a coincidence. He didn’t seem afraid of Coby. Sylvia couldn’t believe her eyes. How could anyone not be afraid of her man?
“You got something you want to say to me?” Kane aske
d. “You might want to think carefully about your answer, Shark Boy.”
“Coby, please, can we go?” Sylvia begged.
“You know a lot about sharks,” Coby replied.
“It’s my business to know about ‘em,” Kane said. “Just like it’s my business to kill any of ‘em I see fit.”
“On second thought,” Coby said, “Maybe it wasn’t you who killed my brother. I heard that shark wasn’t a pussy.”
Kane’s hand began to shake around the shot glass he gripped so tightly in his hand his knuckles had turned white.
“Sylvia,” Rafe said with a nod of his head toward the door.
She got the hint and tugged on Coby’s arm.
“You were taking me home, remember?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said. “And then I will go find this shark, the one who killed my brother. And I’ll snap it’s fucking neck…in the water…where real alphas play. I’ll leave the bar stools to the pussies in uniform.”
“That so?” Kane asked, his teeth clenched so tight Sylvia thought she might hear them shatter.
Coby only nodded and walked away with Sylvia on his arm.
Chapter 17 – Rafe
“Stop!” Rafe ordered, not that he had any right to order Kane to do anything. “What do you think you’re going to accomplish following him out there? You’re a human fucking being, dude. He’s a great white shark! You gonna chase him around in a boat and hope you get the chance to shoot him? This isn’t fucking Jaws, man!”
Kane had bloodied his hand on the bar after slamming his shot glass against it so many times it shattered, the glass splintering and stabbing into him as he continued to slam it three more times. The man seemed to feel no pain. After that, he’d walked out of the bar and was now halfway through the parking lot with Rafe and Kalina following close behind.
“Kane,” Kalina said. “He’s dangerous.”
“I’m dangerous,” Kane replied.
“He’s hurt and angry and…he lost his brother,” Kalina said.
“Like I lost my sister?” Kane asked, spinning on his heels to jab a finger in the air at Rafe’s girlfriend.
“Calm down,” Rafe said.
“Fuck you,” Kane shot back.
“You’ve had too much to drink and you need to sleep it off,” Rafe said. “If you’re still this mad in the morning, I’ll go with you to find him. We can all talk it over.”
“In what?” Kane asked. “The boat you lost?”
Rafe threw up his hands. He couldn’t say much in his own defense.
“I’ve known for years there was a great white out there. I told you what happened to my sister. She was eight fucking years old, Rafe. Eight years old. That fucker could be the one who…who…”
Kane turned and kept walking. Rafe wouldn’t be able to do anything to stop him other than maybe hitting him over the head and knocking him out. Not the best way to handle the boss. Not if a guy wants to keep his job.
“Cobalt will rip him to shreds,” Kalina said.
The words came from her mouth, but she seemed to be in a daze.
“You okay?” Rafe asked her.
“Yeah,” she said. “We have to stop him.”
“How are we going to do that?” Rafe asked.
“I hate this son of a bitch,” Kalina whispered to Rafe, “but we don’t need any more blood in our water.”
“So, what do we do?” Rafe asked.
“Tell me about your sister!” Kalina shouted.
Kane stopped in his tracks and froze in place, staring out toward the ocean in the distance.
“More importantly!” Kalina added, “Tell us how you became a great white yourself. And tell us why you killed Poet!”
Chapter 18 – Kalina
Kalina had always suspected Keelan Kane was the great white who’d killed Poet. She’d told Thane of her suspicions once, and he didn’t deny that it was possible. The man’s scar ran right across his face the same way as the shark’s. Yet, Thane didn’t think it was likely given the man’s hatred of their kind. How could a shark shifter be so hell-bent on killing every shark in his vicinity? Then again, many of their kind ate each other. Great whites ate tiger sharks, hammerheads ate great whites whenever they could manage it, and tiger sharks ate just about everything they could get their jaws on. Still, she’d been reaching when she suddenly blurted out the accusation. Only the muffled sound of music blasted from inside the bar could be heard, and the silence in the otherwise quiet parking lot seemed much louder.
Kalina’s nerves were going crazy. The man was as dangerous as any human could be, and if she were right, he might be one of the most monstrous sharks in the ocean too. If her accusation stood correct, he was a predator in two worlds and it occurred to her that she might have just teased a lion. If he had no secrets, he might snap and go after everyone and everything. A beast pushed to its breaking point is a demon straight from hell. This one might have two legs and fins.
“You think Kane is a shifter?” Rafe asked.
The wince on his face told her he found it not only unbelievable, but painful to hear. He was, after all, Rafe’s boss and mentor when it came to safeguarding the Queensland beaches.
“Don’t go after him,” Kalina finally spoke again, ignoring Rafe.
She could have this conversation with him later. Right now, she needed to confront the man who’d turned around to face her with fire in his eyes.
“Even if you think you can beat him, it would be a bloody war,” she added. “It’ll be a mess and you’ll both get hurt.”
Keelan Kane stalked toward her, and if he could spout steam from his nostrils, he clearly would. He hissed through clenched teeth, his beet red face looking like it might explode any second.
“Even if he was the one who attacked your sister…” she started to say, searching for words to calm him down.
The thought she’d had earlier revisited her mind, and she couldn’t help thinking about her own childhood. She would have been around the age of eight when Thane’s father had pushed her to safety. A great white had been in the water, at least she thought it had. The memories never flowed so freely as they were now, and she thought she could see the gigantic beast swimming around her as she frantically fought to keep water out of her mouth. The taste of salt was so strong. She treaded water and swatted at the surface, her life preserver vest making her like a bobber dangling at the ocean’s surface, food waiting for a shark to swallow it whole. But then the tiger shark, Thane’s father, had nudged her with its snout, pushing her along the water so fast that she’d gone under. Then, as carefully as she supposed a shark could gnaw, it had her in its teeth, swimming away quickly. Immense pain had shot up her right arm and leg as its razor-sharp teeth pushed against her flesh. She’d been taken to the other side of the island and left with the old man, Horace. The wise old man she’d found out later was a sea turtle shifter. He’d been the one to make her one of them. Her family was dead, as she’d been told, and it was the only way for her to survive. She would be a part of their family. That, or be an orphan in the human world. She’d been too young to make a choice, but even if she could, she would have stayed with her new family. Her young, fragile mind had broken a little back then. Hearing of her father, mother, and brother’s deaths had been too much for her to handle. At least that’s the only thing that made sense now. How could she have forgotten all this?
It can’t be. He can’t be… my brother.
“You have no idea what I’m capable of!” Kane shouted at them.
Rafe stepped in between her and Kane, her brave knight coming to the rescue.
“Rafe, no,” she said.
“Back off,” Kane said as he shoved Rafe’s chest, pushing her boyfriend back a few steps.
Kalina looked back at Rafe who was staring down at his own chest, puzzled.
“You don’t know anything about me,” Kane said, turning his attention back to Kalina. “If you did, you’d know the only thing that drives me to the bottle at night and pul
ls me back to my feet in the morning is knowing the monster who took my sister is out there somewhere. And I think that motherfucker is the one.”
Kane jabbed a finger toward the ocean with his last sentence. After that, he turned and walked toward the beach. Kalina was stunned. She didn’t know what to do. She could have told him what she suspected, about being the little girl he’d lost so long ago in the ocean, but she couldn’t bring herself to say the words. What if she were wrong? Giving him false hope after all these years…
Keelan and Kalina. But that wasn’t my name when the sharks found me. What was it?
For the life of her, she couldn’t remember her name. Kalina had been a nickname handed down to her during her studies. Of course, she’d had a name before that, but it evaded her memory.
How can I not remember my own name?
“Rafe,” she said. “You need to stay here. This could get bad. Please stay here.”
“I go where you go,” he insisted. “If you turn me, you won’t have to worry about me being a lousy human unable to protect you.”
“We’ve talked about this,” she said. “I want to. I really do. But…you don’t understand what you’re asking for. There’s no going back.”
“I get that,” Rafe said. “But you have no idea what it’s like to be stuck on dry land when you’d gladly spend every waking moment in the water. I sit on the beach and envy every creature fortunate enough to escape my world by being in yours.”
What a stubborn boy.
“We’ll talk more about this later,” she said. “Now’s not the time.”
When they reached the beach, three people stood on the sandy shore. Only the light from the moon and the soft orange glow of a lifeguard stand illuminated them.
“What’s your name again, doll?” Kane asked Sylvia.
“You really want to do this, Cop?” Cobalt asked.
As Kalina and Rafe reached them, Cobalt was pulling off his shirt and dropping it to the ground.
“Really?” Kane asked. “You’re going to take off your shirt for this?”
Bite Me Harder (a paranormal shifter novel) (Guardians of the Deep Book 2) Page 19
