The reality of what I was about to do kicks in like a suckerpunch. I can’t betray my mate. Not like this. Not when there is still a small chance to find her, even if my days are numbered. I can still fucking find her, dammit. I may not have dreamed about her in over two months, no matter how hard I’ve tried, but she still has to be out there. I feel it in the very fabric of my being.
I let this woman go immediately, earning a deep, menacing snarl from my wolf. I need to put as much distance between us as possible. Her scent and the feel of her skin on mine muddles my brain.
In an attempt to clear my mind, I shake my head hard. But then she sways in front of me, not being able to withstand her weight. My hand shoots out and grabs her elbow, the heat of her skin burning through mine. Her nipples are taut, pointing at me through the thin material of the shirt she is wearing, and all I want to do is bend and suck on the tiny buds until she melts in my arms and begs for my cock like a good girl.
I clear my throat loudly, trying to stay in the present. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” she breathes in a sexy, low, raspy voice that makes my dick twitch in my pants as if I’m still a hormonal teenager.
Down boy!When the fuck did I become so pathetic?
“Thank you,” she says, looking at me with those doe-like eyes, and I almost get lost in them again.
Giving a jerky nod in response, I let go of her elbow abruptly because if I keep touching her, I will lose my fucking mind. My wolf is not happy, and my muscles are straining as he’s trying to take control of my body, warring with the rational part of my mind. I somehow manage to turn on my heel and reach the back of the bar, where I know the others are waiting for me. Every single step I have to take away from her is physically painful. Sweat drips down my spine with the sheer effort.
10
Ava
Afew minutes pass before Tony slides onto the bar stool Marnie vacated. He heaves out a deep sigh and places his tray on top of the bar. “Thank God you got the job. I don’t know how much more Rita and I could take,” he says, referring to the other server, a woman in her late forties whose blond ponytail swishes against her back as she walks out of a door.
“Okay, so the kitchen is through that door Rita came from. Marnie’s husband, Dave, is the cook. The food menu is limited. We only serve bar grub, French fries, wings, and stuff like that. You’ll learn it in no time.” He lifts his hand in the air, catching Emily’s eye. She comes over after a few seconds. “Em, can you pour two glasses of that fancy whiskey you keep only for your brother’s friends?”
“Logan’s here too?” she asks as she takes a bottle from the shelf behind her. Dumping some ice into two whiskey tumblers, she pours the spirit over it.
So now I have a name to go with the mysterious stranger…Logan. Even his name is hot, and it definitely suits him.
“Yeah, and all of his delicious-looking friends,” Tony replies, fanning himself with a dreamy look in his eyes. “What I would let those men do to me. Too bad none of them are gay,” he sighs while he stands, takes two beers from the fridge, and places them on top of another tray.
“Look alive, buttercup. Prepare yourself because we’re going to serve the hottest men alive. You’ll take the beers, and I’ll take the whiskey,” Tony tells me as he lifts the tumblers, positions them on top of his tray, and saunters toward the private booths in the back, expertly slicing through the crowd. I follow closely while holding the tray with the beer bottles.
As we approach their table, my stomach constricts, and my hands suddenly become clammy and start trembling. I almost drop the tray.Pull it together, Ava!Tony is taller than me, and I can’t see much besides the back of his head. But, when he moves a little to the side, I swallow hard, not prepared to be hit full force with the raw, sexual energy every single one of them exudes.
Is there something in the water here? How can all of them be this level of hot?
My heart flip-flops inside my chest the moment my eyes land on Logan. All of them are tall and built like some sort of Greek gods, but Logan is the tallest and the Zeus of the group. His big frame dwarfs the others, which is saying a lot because none of them are small men. My eyebrows shoot up in surprise when I realize the guy with blue-green eyes, the one dressed in the expensive-looking suit who threatened the frat boys earlier, is sitting beside Logan at his right, near the wall.
Across suit guy is another ridiculously attractive man with dark eyes and inky black hair that is pulled in a short ponytail, a few strands framing his face. He is decked in black jeans and a black tee, intricate tattoos covering every inch of available skin on his arms. Even his throat and knuckles are tattooed. He wears his arrogance like a dark cloak. But there is also something else about him…something dark and dangerous, sending a shiver down my spine in awareness.
Next to him, in front of Logan, is a guy with such exotic features I can’t quite place from where he is. He has high cheekbones and upturned eyes that look almost cat-like. A septum piercing dangles from his nose, and his long hair, the color of lively silver, reminds me of moonlight slanting through a window.
They are all talking low with grim expressions on their faces. Only the tattooed guy, who seems the most dangerous, keeps stealing furtive glances toward the bar as his white-knuckled fingers tighten on the empty whiskey tumbler, anger flashing in his eyes like lightning. His grip is so strong I’m afraid he will shatter the glass any second. They all stop talking the moment we reach their table. Not like I could even decipher what they were saying, which is weird since I can hear much better now after the surgery.
“Here you go, gentlemen,” Tony says with a flourish, replacing suit guy and tattooed guy’s two empty glasses of whiskey with the full ones. He steps to the side so I can come closer to the table.
Immediately, I feel Logan’s gaze on me like a hot brand to the face, but I can’t look his way. I’m afraid I’m going to drop the tray if I do.
“Ava, you work here?” Suit guy asks as I bend to place the beer in front of the silver-haired guy. A glint of animalistic hunger shines in his eyes as they slowly rake over my face and landon my neck. They stop on the fluttering vein on the side of my throat for a few seconds before his gaze snaps back to mine. “If I knew, I would have come here more often,” he says charmingly with a wink.
I clear my throat loudly, feeling flustered at the attention he is showing me. “I just started tonight. I’m sorry I didn’t quite catch your name earlier,” I reply with a smile.
“It’s Dominic,” Silver hair answers for his friend with a shit-eating grin as he looks at Logan. “I’m Malik; that right there is Kaiden,” he says, pointing with his thumb at the tattooed guy who isn’t paying any attention. His gaze is still fixated on one of the tables near the bar with flared nostrils. Silver hair juts his chin in front of him. “And this angry furball here is Logan.”
“Nice to meet you guys. I’m Ava,” I murmur.
Tony is standing next to me, a big smile on his face, his eyes volleying between us. He looks like all he misses now is a big bowl of popcorn. Turning toward Logan, I finally let my hungry gaze rake over him. There’s a stiffness in his shoulders. Even weirder, anger radiates from him in waves as a muscle ticks along his jaw.
I lift the beer bottle from the tray with trembling fingers, but as I bend to place it in front of Logan on the table, my high heel gets trapped in between the floorboards. In the next second, I fly forward into the side of the table and hit my pelvic bone, spilling the beer all over Logan’s lap.
