Wicked Cravings

CHAPTER FOUR

During the baby shower, Dante observed Jaime through narrowed eyes. All night he had thought about the way she had yelled at him in the parking lot, the way her eyes had flashed wolf, and the way she’d managed to put him on his ass. Now sure, submissive wolves experienced anger just like everyone else; they had tantrums and brawls, they slammed doors, and they could do some seriously good combat moves. But they did not stare a pissed dominant wolf in the eye. They did not feel challenged by a dominant wolf’s anger or behavior. What they definitely, definitely, definitely didn’t do was release dominant vibes.

So he could form only one logical conclusion: Jaime wasn’t a submissive wolf at all, she was a dominant. And a very strong one at that. He wasn’t just a dominant wolf. He was her Beta. And yet Jaime had borne the weight of that and disabled him.

There was really no other explanation. But what he couldn’t understand was why she was hiding the truth. If it had been anyone else, Dante would probably have solved the puzzle by now, but his intuition gave him no help where Jaime was concerned. Maybe her magnetic scent messed with his mental processes, or maybe his need to be inside her was too great for him to pick up much else.

He didn’t know, in which case he was highly frustrated with this female for whom he had a lot of questions. At the same time, he was feeling rather smug. He’d been right; there was much more to Jaime Farrow than she let anyone see. He would soon find out what exactly “much more” was.

Also irking him was that Jaime was pretty much ignoring his existence. She had to know that he was now more than suspicious of her, and yet she didn’t appear to be the slightest bit nervous. Nor was she showing any signs that their little encounter last night had affected her. No, she was standing by the table with Dominic, laughing about God-knows-what. The clown was basking in the attention, though, surprisingly, he wasn’t being flirtatious today, as if he suspected that Dante wouldn’t handle it well right now.

Dominic would be right to think that. Dante could acknowledge—begrudgingly—that this was all about more than just an ego blow. But he’d already known that, hadn’t he? The truth was that he had never wanted a woman as much as he wanted Jaime Farrow. He wanted to watch her come again, wanted to know what it felt like to be inside her, wanted to see this rebellious female submit to him.

But he couldn’t have any of those things. Even if she wasn’t off limits as part of his pack, he would have been sure to steer clear of her. His past had taught him that getting involved with a female he craved that strongly could only bring trouble. Of course none of these facts helped the situation, because forbidden fruit was so much more tempting.

As his gaze again roamed over her body, Dante’s cock twitched. He couldn’t help remembering how well they fit; she was almost as tall as he was, which meant that her body was aligned nicely with his, chest to chest, hips to hips. He remembered how hot and wet she had felt around his fingers. And when she’d come apart all over his hand…Fuck.

He still couldn’t believe that he’d marked her. His wolf had been enraged at the time, knowing she was going off to meet another male, and had had a primal urge to bite her, to place his mark on her to warn off the other male. Never before had Dante lost his self-control like that. The female was dangerous to him.

He’d noticed that Jaime had covered the mark with makeup this morning. Clearly, she wasn’t wearing it with pride. There was no denying that she was justifiably angry with him. Hell, he was angry with him. But the fact that she’d concealed the mark nettled him and his wolf. Dante should have been relieved—it meant that the pack wouldn’t see it and then start launching questions. Instead, he wanted to wipe away the concealer. Wanted to see his bite on her flesh. His gaze repeatedly traveled to that spot on her neck, as if drawn to it. This was messed up.

The ideal thing would be to stay away from her, but he had questions that needed answering.

This time she was going to answer him honestly or, by God, he’d blister her perfect ass with the palm of his hand.

Jaime had never been to a baby shower before, so she hadn’t really known what to expect. Okay, yeah, she knew that they were little parties thrown for expectant moms, but that was pretty much the extent of her knowledge. What she hadn’t expected was to enjoy herself. Jaime wasn’t much for parties, but she was actually having a great time.

Earlier, while Taryn was having her afternoon nap, Jaime, Shaya, Grace, Lydia, and Hope had hung up all the decorations. The Winnie the Pooh theme matched the baby’s nursery, though the Alphas planned to keep their baby in their room with them for the first few months.

Taryn had been so delighted that she’d cried. Not that it took much to make Taryn cry these days. Every time Trey tried to comfort her she hit him, which was fun to watch. The buffet was fabulous, particularly the cake—most of which had been eaten by Marcus—and the games that Shaya organized were fun.

When it came time for Taryn to open the gifts, there were more tears. It was clear that it wasn’t just the hormones; she had been genuinely touched and grateful. Possibly the best gift had been the one that Shaya had given her. It was a photo frame that held three photographs. The space in the center was empty, but on either side were photographs of Taryn and Trey as kids.

“You can put a picture of the baby in the middle so you can see the resemblances between you,” Shaya told her Alphas. Unsurprisingly, Taryn cried again.

Possibly the worst gift was Greta’s. The old dragon actually gave Taryn a maternity dress that she’d made out of an old tablecloth. What kind of messed-up shit was that?

“She’s a dysfunctional woman,” Gabe commented as Dominic rushed over to steer Greta away from a murderous-looking Taryn. “Um…is there a reason why our Beta has been staring at you throughout the entire party? He looks…suspicious, I guess you could say.” She couldn’t really expect anything else, could she? Undoubtedly he’d have plenty of questions —none of which she had any intention of answering. She knew why Dante hadn’t approached her to begin his quiz yet; he would never risk spoiling Taryn’s baby shower. Why did he have to have a sweet side? Jerk.

She felt an urge to touch the bite on her neck, just as she had at least a hundred times today.

Like those times, she ignored it. She hated that he’d done it. She liked that he’d done it. Her wolf was just as torn about the whole thing; she was infuriated with him for the possessive act, but she also liked the depth of his dominant streak.

“So what happened?”

“I sort of, um…I yelled at him last night. And growled. And hurt him.”

“Oh.” He sounded amused. “So then he’s probably wondering how a submissive wolf could challenge his dominance like that.”

Yes, particularly since there was no way he wouldn’t have picked up her wolf’s dominant vibes. She was surprised that he hadn’t told Trey and Taryn. Surely the fact that one of their wolves had been lying to them was something worth mentioning to their Alphas. For whatever reason, he appeared to be keeping the information to himself. She had to wonder if it was to make her nervous, to keep her on her toes. If so, it was working. “What do I say?” she whispered.

“How about the truth?”

“You know what will happen if I do that.”

Gabe shrugged. “It’s not for sure that they’ll ask you to leave.”

“I can’t risk it. I won’t.”

He raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. “Okay.”

Seeing that he was glancing at Hope, who was smiling at him and blushing like crazy, Jaime asked, “Something going on between you two?”

“Not yet. But hopefully there will be.”

“If she can resist you, there’s something wrong with her.”

“You have to say stuff like that, you’re my big sister.” He cocked his head, giving her an odd look. “Thank you.”

She frowned. “What for?”

“After what happened with Mom and Dad…Our aunt and uncle might have housed us, but it was you who did the rest, you who did the parenting. And you had your own problems to deal with. I don’t think I ever thanked you.”

“You don’t have to.”

He rolled his eyes. “Will you just accept the thanks? I’ll probably never say it again, so you should really take advantage of this moment.”

“Fine. Thank you for the thank you.”

“So how are things going between you and Shawn?”

She grimaced. “They’re not. He’s still hung up on his ex-girlfriend, though he won’t admit it, so we haven’t even been doing the dirty.”

“Just like you’re still hung up on Dante.” At the sound of her growl, he held up his hands.

“Hey, I’m not judging. I just wish you guys would get your acts together and stop pretending you don’t want each other.”

“If he wanted me, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. It’s not like I played hard to get.”

“Sometimes people need to have something moved from their reach before they realize how much they want it.”

She loved her brother, but sometimes he made no sense to her. She knew Dante well enough to know that when he wanted something, he didn’t dance around it, he took it. “Whatfreakingever.” Gabe simply laughed.

As the party continued and Dante didn’t show any signs of slackening his stakeout, Jaime began to get restless. Having his total attention should have made her feel uncomfortable, but it heated her blood. Like her blood needed heating up any further! Good thing she, Ivy, and Riley were going to the club tomorrow night. Operation Calm Libido couldn’t come soon enough.

Eventually the party ended, and to Jaime’s surprise, Dante didn’t take the opportunity to corner her. That made her nervous, but she took advantage of that and scampered to her room. Not to hide.

No, of course she wasn’t hiding. Okay, she was hiding. But considering that she was about to be interrogated by someone who was not only an ace at it but who primed her body with his mere presence, was it really any wonder?

A few minutes later, there was a soft knock on her door. Bracing herself, she took a deep, calming breath. Opening it, she was surprised to find Shaya. She was even more surprised when Shaya pushed her way inside and quickly closed the door.

“I need a favor.”

Seeing her stand there with her hands clasped as if in prayer, Jaime tensed. “What’s wrong?”

“I need to get out of here for a little while. I was thinking of going to the Rouge Bar. Will you come? I just need to get away.”

“Why, what is it?”

After a long sigh, she spoke. “Someone’s coming to visit, and I don’t want to be here when he does. Bring Gabe and Hope if you want, and we’ll make a night of it. Just, please, I need to get out of here.”

“Shaya, you have me totally confused and worried. If you want me to come with you somewhere then fine, I will. But, please, tell me what’s wrong.” Shaya bit her bottom lip hard. “Not here. Once we’re off pack territory, I’ll tell you, okay?” Impatient to know but not wanting to push, Jaime nodded. “Okay. Just give me ten minutes to get ready.”

“I’ll be waiting in my room.”

Eager to get Shaya out of their territory before this mystery person arrived and Shaya hyperventilated, Jaime began swiftly searching through her pine triple wardrobe for something to change into that, unlike what she was currently wearing, wasn’t stained with chocolate—her favorite food group. It was while she was stripping off her clothes that there was a heavy rhythmic knock that almost made her jump.

“Open up, Jaime.” Dante’s tone was implacable, totally unyielding.

Well, hell. Not one to procrastinate, she quickly slipped on her white silk robe over her underwear and opened the door. She’d expected to find a very hostile-looking wolf staring back at her. Instead, Dante was wearing one of his cocky grins—a grin that had her body instantly heating.

“We need to talk, Jaime.” Dante swallowed hard at the sight of her. She had to be wearing a slinky robe, didn’t she? “Aren’t you going to invite me in?” So that I can have inexhaustible, carnal sex with you, he refrained from adding.

And have the cocky jerk sense the overwhelming effect he had on her libido? Jaime snorted inwardly. Not freaking likely. As pathetic as it was, Jaime wanted more of what he’d given her last night, wanted his hands and mouth on her again, even as she knew that the lust was one-way. Come on, how fucked up was that? As such, it so wouldn’t be a good idea to have the object of her lust standing in her bedroom. Lying down in it, sure. She mentally slapped herself for that thought.

Dante arched a brow. “Well?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“I’m a bitch like that.”

He persisted, “Let me in, Jaime.”

Ignoring the tug in his voice, she brought her index finger to her chin. “Now let me think…I’ve fed the cat, been to work, done my laundry, attended the baby shower…Sorry, but it seems that my schedule doesn’t include talking to you. Bummer.”

A huge grin spread across Dante’s face. He shouldn’t like her attitude, but he did. “Don’t make me push my way in, baby. You know I will.”

The stubborn set of his smooth jaw told her that he meant every word. Releasing an exasperated sigh, she turned and walked inside, leaving him to close the door behind him. Jaime watched in bemusement as he wandered around the room like he owned it. Typical dominant male.

Oddly, her wolf liked having him in her personal space. Well that’s new . Her wolf was usually too territorial over her space to be okay with that kind of thing. All shifters were territorial, but not as bad as Jaime’s wolf.

“I like it,” said Dante as he took in the rustic look of the room and the warm feel created by the natural, woodsy colors. Jaime was clearly a messy person—something he would imagine drove Grace crazy when she came inside to clean—but the room was somehow inviting, calming. The white canopy bed caused a series of erotic images to flick through his brain. Not helpful.

“So you wanted to talk.”

He turned back to Jaime and was momentarily distracted by the way she was biting on her lower lip. Christ, that mouth. He wanted it again. He remembered how soft it was, how—

Enough. “Yes. It was an interesting conversation we had last night. I hadn’t been expecting to end up flat on my back. That’s some strength you have. What was it you said after calling me a son of a bitch? Oh yeah, that’s it. You said that if you want to fuck someone that you goddamn motherfucking will. Huh.” His wolf growled at the memory. “You even punctuated that by slamming the car door.” As he took a step toward her, a stifling sensual need assailed Jaime, twisting her insides.

Crap. Her body was now officially in “Must Have Dante” mode, and it would only be a matter of minutes before he sensed it. Damn it, why did his voice have to be so sexily gruff? And did he have to be so incredibly masculine? And why, oh why, couldn’t his self-assuredness piss her off instead of causing fluttering sensations in her stomach?

This whole thing sucked. Didn’t every girl imagine that she would one day manage indifference around the guy with whom she had been infatuated? Frustratingly, Jaime’s body was not on the same wavelength as her mind; her nipples had tightened painfully, her breasts were aching, her clit was throbbing, and she was so damn wet it wasn’t even funny. It was almost as though her body was submissively readying itself for him.

“Nothing to say to that?”

“What can I say?” she said meekly as she lowered her eyes. “PMS is a bitch.”

“The submissive act isn’t going to work with me any longer. Dominant vibes were washing off you in waves last night. Yet now I can barely sense your wolf. Maybe you could explain to me just why that is.”

“Maybe you could just go home to Olive Oyll and eat some more spinach.” There was that cocky grin again that tickled her in all the right places.

“Why can I barely sense your wolf, Jaime?”

She had to refrain from backing up as he continued to move toward her. The predatory look on his face and the stealth in his slow steps made her feel like she was being stalked. Her wolf liked the way he prowled toward her, liked being the sole focus of his attention.

“Jaime,” he drawled warningly, continuing to close in on her. “Answer me.” Again she ignored the pull in his voice, but it proved impossible to ignore the carnal hunger circulating through her system. And he was standing oh so close to her bed…She imagined herself on her hands and knees, clinging to the silk sheets, while he took her forcefully from behind.

“Don’t look away from me.”

She snapped her eyes back to his. “Why, are you going to do a trick?” He didn’t want to smile, but he couldn’t help it, damn it. He gave the smart-ass a look that swore reprisal. “Oh, baby, if you—” Catching a faint hint of her arousal in the air, he halted. Fuck.

He couldn’t help inhaling deeply; the mix of the pure, tantalizing smell of her arousal together with her own unique scent was like a punch. A low growl rumbled out of him. It was definitely a mistake taking her scent inside him like that; knowing she was so wet and primed for him had his painfully hard cock throbbing.

His wolf strained toward her, wanting at her again. Hell, he wasn’t the only one. Calling on every ounce of control he had, Dante remained where he was. He couldn’t pounce on her; he couldn’t let himself have her, no matter how badly he wanted her. He had enough reasons to ignore his hunger for her, and he silently recited each one of them to himself.

As she watched Dante sense her arousal, Jaime inwardly cursed herself. She would have expected him to be wearing one of his cocky grins. To her surprise, there was no grin, no smugness.

Instead, pure male need blazed from his eyes. Not that she could take it as a compliment—the scent of a mature female wolf’s arousal would have undoubtedly stirred his wolf and interested his body whether Dante wanted it to or not. Still, his reaction thrilled her wolf; the animal wasn’t interested in the facts surrounding the situation, she saw only a strong, dominant, aroused male who would take care of her own arousal quite nicely.

Yeah, well, her wolf would have to be disappointed, because Jaime herself was interested in the facts surrounding the situation. This was a male who had made it quite clear that he didn’t want her. This same male had not only been shoving his nose into her business, he had actually marked her when he had no goddamn right or reason. Possibly worse than all that, Jaime wanted him regardless.

“Answer my question.” His voice was taut with the feverish lust that was pounding through him.

“I don’t have to tell you a fucking thing.”

Of course the word fucking had Dante’s brain going back to its favorite subject—the idea of fucking Jaime. More fantasies began playing around in his head, making his balls ache. “Why are you being so secretive about this? Just answer the damn question!”

“Or what? You’ll tell Trey? Go ahead.” She waved a hand at the door. “Go on, go tell him.” He probably should. No, he definitely should. But Dante knew that Trey would decide to banish her purely for lying about her wolf’s dominant nature—there was no room for deception in a pack. While Dante understood that, he wasn’t comfortable with the idea of Jaime being banished. Not until he knew exactly why she had lied. Jaime wasn’t a vindictive, disloyal person. If she was trying to keep her wolf’s true status a secret, there had to be a very good reason. “I can’t help you unless you’re honest with me.” He growled when she arched an imperious brow at him.

“Did I ask for your help, Popeye?”

In two strides, he’d covered the space between them. “Stop being so fucking stubborn and tell me,” he ordered, all Beta now. The scent of her arousal swirled around him, blending with his own, making him close to drunk. The obstinate, challenging, hotheaded female was actually able to shrug off his order, and God help him, he found it sexy as fucking hell. All he could think about was stripping her naked and fucking her raw, fucking her into submission. His usually iron control was now papery thin, all because of this woman. “You don’t even know that you’re doing it, do you?” She double-blinked, confused—fully proving his point. She had absolutely no clue what she did to him, no clue just how hard he had to fight not to pounce on her and ravish her. If he didn’t leave this room right now, she soon would.

Reminding himself of all the reasons why he couldn’t have her, he stepped back. “Don’t think this is the end of this, Jaime. I told you yesterday that I won’t stop harassing you until I get answers.” He thought about apologizing for what had happened last night, but he wasn’t sorry—not even about marking her, oddly enough. So he turned on his heel and forced himself to leave before he dove on her again.

Deciding that she had definitely never met a male stranger than Dante, she stared after him as he waltzed out. His natural cocky swagger should have annoyed her, but damn if it didn’t have her stomach clenching in need again. Jerk.

Although Jaime was eager to know what had Shaya in such a state that she was chugging down a glass of vodka like it was ice water, she didn’t prod her for answers. She simply sat on the bar stool, waiting patiently for her to speak. Sensing that she and Shaya had needed a little alone time, Gabe had taken Hope onto the dance floor. He was good like that.

“I know I said I’d tell you, but I’m not sure I want to talk about it,” Shaya eventually said.

“I think you do. I think this is eating at you.”

Shaya offered a sad smile. “That’s almost the exact same thing that Marcus said.”

“Marcus is the one who has you upset?”

“No, no, definitely not. The shameless flirt guessed there was something upsetting me, and he wouldn’t stop hounding me until I told him.”

Jaime recalled seeing the two of them going on private strolls around pack territory together.

She had wondered if maybe they scratched each other’s itch occasionally, but apparently, it was something much more important.

“I’m glad I did tell him. Without having him to talk to, I’d have lost it. He’s the only one who knows. If I tell you, you have to keep it to yourself. I mean you keep it from Gabe, and Dante, and even Taryn and Trey. I know that’s not a fair thing to ask, so if you’re not comfortable with it, we won’t talk about it.”

Jaime wasn’t in a position to judge anybody for keeping secrets from their Alphas. Even if the idea had made her feel uncomfortable, she still wouldn’t be okay with leaving Shaya to deal with whatever this was alone. Sure, Shaya had Marcus, but sometimes a woman needed to talk to another woman. “You have my word that I won’t repeat a single thing you tell me.” Shaya slumped over the bar. “I know who my true mate is.”

That had Jaime raising her eyebrows. “Is he in the pack?”

“No. None of those guys would ever walk away from their true mate.”

“So he knows who you are? I mean, he knows you’re his mate?”

“He knows.” She took another swig of vodka. “I know it’s really unusual for someone to pick up on it within minutes of meeting someone, but I just knew. Maybe it’s because I was so eager to find him after seeing Taryn so happy with Trey that I was open enough to sense it. I saw a flash of recognition and then shock cross his face. I saw the way he watched me like a hawk. There’s no way I’ll believe he doesn’t know.”

“You didn’t try to talk to him?”

Her chuckle was humorless. “Oh I tried. You should have seen the way he looked at me. Or should I say, he looked through me. He’s made it obvious that he doesn’t want me.”

“He said that?” Jaime was ready to kill the guy already.

“That’s the thing, he said nothing. He doesn’t talk to me. Whenever he comes to our territory, he pretty much overlooks my presence. I don’t even stick around when he’s there anymore. I figure there’s no point if he’s only going to ignore me. It hurts, you know. It really fucking hurts.” Jaime could only imagine. “Why not tell Taryn?”

“She’d demand to know who he is, break his nose, and then force him to claim me. I want him to claim me because he wants to.”

“Maybe there’s a good reason why he hasn’t claimed you. Maybe you could try to talk to him again.”

“Give him a chance to dismiss me again like I’m a piece of shit on his shoe? No thanks. I’ve got a pretty good idea why he doesn’t want me. He looks down on me.” A surge of protectiveness shot through Jaime. “Why would he look down on you?”

“Because I’m submissive, and he’s so not.”

“Why should that be an issue? Just because you’re a submissive doesn’t mean your mate can’t be an alpha male.”

Another humorless chuckle. “He’s not just an alpha male. He’s an Alpha of a pack.” Shock made Jaime’s eyes widen. “You’re kidding.”

“Nope. So you see the problem.”

Yes, she saw the problem. Alpha pairs of a pack were exactly that—a pair of Alphas. A submissive wolf could never hold the position of Alpha female and would be constantly challenged if she tried. Trey’s mother had been an exception, because no one had envied her position as Rick Coleman’s mate, but she had never had the respect and support of the pack as every Alpha female should. Jaime wanted to say something comforting, but unlike her brother, she was so bad at this. “Oh God, Shaya, if I knew what to say, I’d say it.”

“Thanks. The whole thing would be a lot easier if he didn’t visit the pack.”

“Why does he visit?”

She shrugged before taking another gulp of vodka. “I’m guessing it’s to talk business stuff with Trey.”

“He can do that over the phone. Not many packs socialize with other packs. You don’t think that maybe the reason he goes is to see you?”

“If it is, he’ll be disappointed, won’t he? I’ll never be there when he is. Not ever. There was one time when he showed up out of the blue. I hid in my room.” After a short pause, she added, “I’m thinking of leaving the pack.”

Jaime twisted fully in her seat, gawking unattractively. “What?”

“Believe me when I say that I love it there, I really do. It’s so different from my old pack—

tight and family oriented and supportive. But it’s not a safe haven for me, because he goes there. He can invade my home whenever he likes, and that taints it. If things get too hard…I don’t see what other choice I’d have. No matter how bad things get, I’d never leave Taryn while she’s pregnant. I want to be there for the birth. But after that…Well, we’ll see.”

“Where would you go? Back to your old pack?”

“I’d go where I’d never have any chance of bumping into him. I’d make a place for myself in the human world.”

Jaime gawked again. “You can’t be serious. Shaya, the lone-wolf lifestyle is no joke.”

“No, it’s not, but there’s no room for me in the shifter world if I can’t have my mate, is there? I can’t exactly have a real relationship with another shifter. Even those who aren’t yet ready to find their true mate still want to find them eventually.”

“It doesn’t mean you can’t find a shifter who cares for you enough to imprint on you.” Shaya placed her empty glass on the bar and turned in her seat so that she was fully facing Jaime. “Let me ask you this: My mate might not want me, but do you think he’s going to let anyone else have me?”

“Hell.” No male would be okay watching his mate with someone else. An Alpha male? There was a pretty good chance he would kill any male who touched her, whether he wanted her for himself or not.

“My only chance of finding any kind of happiness with someone would be to leave the shifter community behind, leave him behind. Find a nice human guy who doesn’t come with baggage like Alpha shit and true mate bonds.”

“I hate to say this—really, really hate to say this—but you’re right, getting out of here does sound like the best option for you. I gotta say, though…Running from him wouldn’t be a good thing.

Running from a predator is like waving a red flag at a bull.”

“Yeah,” allowed Shaya, her voice so small and sad, “but if I told him I was leaving my pack, he’d try to stop me because it would suit him to know where I am and that I’m not with anyone else.”

“You’re probably right. Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure.”

“Is it Nick Axton?” she asked cautiously. It wasn’t such a hard guess, since he was one of the very few Alphas who visited.

Shaya’s expression morphed into one of sheer, unadulterated pain. She sighed heavily.

“Yeah.”

“Can I kill him?”

“I’ve been tempted to do it myself plenty of times. Oh God, listen to me whining. I’m letting him depress me. I promised myself that I wouldn’t.” She jumped to her feet. “Come on, time to dance.”

“Dance?”

“Yes. You know how much I love to dance. Besides, if I don’t stop dwelling, I’ll end up crying. Now come on.”

Nodding, Jaime simply followed Shaya to the dance floor. Then, like Shaya, she gave herself over completely to the music, letting it invade her body, charge her soul, and steal all other thoughts from her mind.

Dante had just sunk two balls, leaving only the eight ball, when Marcus came inside the game room eating a bag of chips. Glancing around, Marcus asked, “You guys haven’t seen Gabe, have you?” Like Dante, Trey, Trick, Tao, Nick, and his bodyguard, Derren, all shook their heads. Dante leaned down, getting himself in position to pot the black.

“He went out with the girls,” revealed Dominic.

Distracted, Dante missed the black completely. “Which girls?” Delighted that he now had the chance to pot the black first, Dominic smiled widely and bent over the pool table. He took his shot and then scowled at Dante when he scooped up the black, holding it hostage. “Hey!”

“Which. Girls?”

Dominic rolled his eyes. “Jaime, Shaya, and Hope.”

“Shaya?” echoed Nick, earning curious looks from everyone.

Dante demanded, “Where are they, Dominic?”

“Why, what’s the big deal?” But Dominic knew exactly what the big deal was. Dante wasn’t in the mood for his little “let’s see how far I can push my Beta” games right now.

“Where are they?”

Dominic sighed. “The Rouge Bar.”

Twenty minutes later, with Nick, Derren, Tao, Marcus, and Trick close behind, Dante edged through a mass of gyrating bodies. His eyes scanned the bar intently, searching diligently for the reason he was in this damn place. He didn’t much like it here. It seemed that there was always trouble at some point between packs.

When he reached the far corner of the dance floor, he stopped dead as a sight captivated every muscle in his body. A female moving so in sync with the music, like her entire self, right down to her soul, was attuned to the rhythm. Jaime. Her slender figure was sensual, graceful, and spellbinding. As usual, the temptation to have her slithered over every inch of his skin, taunting him. No, haunting him.

And now his dick was getting hard.

“She’s hot, isn’t she?” said Marcus, following Dante’s gaze.

Trick frowned at Marcus. “You don’t do tall women.”

“I’d do her.”

“No one’s doing her.” Dante almost cringed at the command in his voice. It wasn’t as if he didn’t know that the guys did this just to needle him; it was a regular thing. But damn if he could help reacting.

Tao’s lips curled in amusement. “You finally ready to stake a temporary claim, Dante? Come on, it’s obvious that you want her.”

“How about we just order our drinks?”

“So you’re telling me that we came all the way here and you’re not even going to approach her?”

“I’m just here to keep an eye on our females, that’s all. It’s my job. Gabe’s a submissive wolf; he can’t exactly protect them all.”

Each one of his enforcers gave him looks that said, “Do you really expect us to believe that?”

“Have you all forgotten about the Glory situation? Her brothers could be here, and if they are, they might feel happy to use our females to get to me.”

Trick cleared his throat. “D, sorry to disappoint, but it seems like the point’s moot anyway. It looks like a claim has already been staked on Jaime.”

At those words, Dante’s head snapped around and his eyes zoomed in on the broad male who was now pressing his chest against Jaime’s back with his hands settled on her hips. She turned her head, smiled, and settled herself more firmly against him. A menacing growl escaped Dante. Every cell in his body wanted nothing more than to charge over there and snatch her away. Only one thing stopped him, only one thing kept his infamous self-control from failing him—if he went over there now and did that, he would, in fact, be staking a temporary claim. He couldn’t do that. He couldn’t get involved with any female from his pack. He wouldn’t.

But he could watch her, could make sure the dance was nothing more than that—a dance. He admitted to himself that if it looked as though things were getting more serious than that, there wasn’t much chance of him restraining himself from interfering.

As if Jaime sensed his heated gaze, her eyes landed on Dante. For a second they widened, and then she gave him a smile. It wasn’t a flirtatious smile or one filled with sexual promise, though. It was one of recognition, the kind you would give to someone you knew but didn’t bother your ass with; it was polite and warm, but quick to disappear. Motherfucker.

Trick blew out a rough breath. “Looks like you lost your chance there, D.”

“Nah,” Tao disagreed. “I’d say if he went over there and broke them up before things got too heated between them, he might have a shot. Of course we know he’ll never do that.” Dante didn’t even spare the guys a glance. He knew they were playing with him, knew they were trying to make him act on what he wanted. He also knew that if that prick’s hand crept any nearer to her breast, he’d snap the damn thing off.

What the hell was Popeye doing here? Jaime knew he didn’t like this bar, so she had to conclude that the others had urged him to go along. She didn’t dare look over at him, not wanting to see some female slinking all over him. And that was exactly what she would see. It was what always happened.

It made her sick to her stomach every time.

Ignoring his eyes on her—and she knew without even looking that they were still on her, she could feel the weight of his gaze—she continued to dance with the jaguar shifter behind her. He was easily a foot taller than she was, which was evident by the fact that his erection was level with her back rather than her ass. From her peripheral vision, she could tell he was a good-looking guy.

Rugged. She liked that. She threaded her fingers through his ruffled dark hair, and yes, it was as incredibly soft as it looked.

He trailed his free hand up her outer thigh, skimming ever so slightly underneath her silky turquoise strapless dress. “You ever been with a jaguar before, wolf girl?” She shook her head. Jaguar shifters came highly recommended by Riley, she suddenly recalled.

“Good. You up for having some fun tonight?”

Was she ever. True, she’d rather it was with Dante, but the cocky ass didn’t want her, and if he wasn’t going to scratch her itch, somebody else would have to do it. Pining over him was just pathetic. If she carried on that way, she’d have nine cats before long. She was already on her way to spinsterhood if she counted Hunk.

“Jaime?” called Shaya.

The jag hissed loudly, warning away the female.

Moving out of his hold, Jaime snapped, “No, bad kitty cat.” Turning to Shaya, she asked, “What is it?”

“I need to pee.”

It was an unspoken rule that none of the girls ever walked off alone. “I’ll be right back,” Jaime told the jag, who gave her a very carnal smile that promised all kinds of things.

It was as she washing her hands in the sink after using the toilet that she heard an irritating voice behind her.

“You must be Jaime.”