Feral Magnetism (4 page)

“Oh, God.” Eve slid back down to the floor. “Do you know what he planned to do with her once she got here?”

Brad laughed. “Yeah. He planned to fuck her senseless.”

Eve gaped at him. “He planned to
rape
her?”

Brad’s laughter died on his lips. He frowned and knelt before her. When he spoke, his voice was low and indulgent, as if speaking to a child. “No. He planned to tell her he loved her. By the end of the evening, he figured he’d have her convinced.”

That sounded almost as preposterous to Eve as her misunderstanding of the situation. “He stole her formula and abandoned her. Right. That has love written all over it.”

“And what makes you such an expert?” J.C. asked, pausing briefly while buttoning a navy shirt over his flawless chest.

Eve licked her lips. “I never said I was. But I’m no fool, either. There has to be more to this plan of Griffin’s than he’s told Brad.”

“Believe what you will.” Brad rose and crossed the distance to the window. “But I know Griffin, and he loves that woman as much as I’ve ever seen a man love someone else.” There was a touch of wistful yearning in his voice when he spoke, and it sent a wave of answering longing to Eve’s stomach. Before she could analyze her emotions any further, she got to her feet and headed for the door.

She gripped the doorknob and turned back to J.C. “I’m going to find my friend.” Lifting her chin in a silent challenge, she dared him to stop her.

That’s when J.C. lunged.

Chapter Four

“Let go of me this instant.” Eve’s voice was surprisingly level, considering the apparent anger roiling just beneath the surface of her sapphire eyes. “Angelina’s in danger. I know she is.”

J.C. tightened his grip on her arm and watched her grimace. “You’re not calling the shots, little girl. You don’t think I’m fierce? You’re not scared of me? I’ll give you a reason to be.”

She peered at him intently, as though trying to memorize his face. “This isn’t you.”

His gut churned as if she’d hit him. He tried to feign nonchalance, but his words came out low and sullen. “What isn’t me?”

“This.” She waved a hand in the air, the gesture encompassing all of him. “The threats and the viciousness. It’s not you.”

“And you know me so well, do you?”

She shrugged. “Perhaps better than you think.”

He released her arm. “This is ridiculous. I’m not just going to let you walk out of here.”

Eve rubbed at the spot where his fingers had gripped her arm. Angry red imprints stood out vividly against her flawless ivory skin. “What do you want me to do? Cry? Beg? Plead?”

Shame washed over him and he averted his gaze. “Of course not.”

“Good. Then you have no reason to keep me here another minute.”

He scowled. Couldn’t she be just a little afraid? It wasn’t every day that a werewolf showed himself to a human. He liked her first reaction better, when she’d fainted instantly at the sight of him. The more he thought about it, though, the more he realized she’d probably fainted at the sight of two men fucking and not because one of them was in mid-shift. He didn’t want to ask and have that theory confirmed. It would be much too embarrassing.

Behind him, Brad cleared his throat. “Let the girl go. She didn’t see anything.”

“What?” J.C. and Eve asked in unison, turning to gape at him.

Brad grinned, showing a dimple in his right cheek. “You didn’t see anything as silly as a werewolf, did you, darlin’?”

Great
. Brad’s deep south accent only came out when he was trying to impress someone. J.C. himself had fallen for it more than once. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and waited.
This ought to be good
.

“Uhh…” Eve hesitated. “No?”

“Of course not.” Brad took a step forward to emphasize his words. “Because werewolves don’t exist. And no one would believe you if you started spouting off about them anyway. Isn’t that right?”

Eve cleared her throat. “Yes. Yes, of course it is.” She turned to J.C. and quirked an eyebrow at him. Her lips twitched upward. “The only thing I saw here were two men having a good time.”

Her smile grated on his nerves. She’d seen a hell of a lot more than that, and the fact that she could be so nonchalant about it irked him on a fundamental level. He was going to show her what it meant to be a pack alpha werewolf; what it meant to be afraid of one.

He matched her expression with an arrogant grin of his own. “Then you won’t mind if I escort you around the park.”

Her face turned serious. “Suit yourself. Though I doubt I’m in any danger from the men here. Their tastes don’t seem to run to skinny blondes.”

But J.C.’s did. The constant stirring in his groin was permanent proof of that.

He gritted his teeth and yanked on the doorknob, determined not to let her know the effect she had on him. Her bizarre mix of arrogance and naiveté had to be an act. A game. It just had to be.

Thin channels of moonlight flittered through the trees bordering the park, and J.C. took great care to avoid stepping in the path of any direct beams. The last thing he needed was for the shift to hit while he strolled past the candy apple booth. He had enough trouble with one woman knowing about his true appearance. If he started shifting in front of a few hundred people… well, it would be a whole lot harder to convince all of them to pretend they hadn’t seen anything.

He took Eve’s hand and stalked beside her, keeping her close to his side as they wove through the throng of men. Laughter and the sounds of passion permeated the air, giving the night a surreal, sensual feel. Or maybe that was just the woman beside him. Her hair smelled like apple shampoo, fruity and natural. It drove him crazy.

“Where are you taking me?” she asked at last as they neared the edge of the park.

“Why? Are you afraid I’m going to lead you somewhere away from prying eyes and take advantage of you?”

She gave an almost inaudible snort. “Of course not.”

Of course not
. J.C. tightened his grip on Eve’s hand and clenched his jaw firmly shut. Oh, how her flippant words grated! Didn’t she think him capable of taking her, whenever and wherever he pleased?

He stopped behind a cotton candy stand and yanked her to him, pressing her body to his. He gripped her head in both his hands, keeping her lips inches away from his own. Eve’s mouth parted slightly and her eyes widened in surprise. Her pupils stood out, large and dark against the backdrop of her blue eyes.

“Maybe you’re wrong,” he murmured.

She started to shake her head, but he wouldn’t even allow that much motion. He had only to lower his mouth a fraction of an inch and he’d be able to kiss her. A tempting thought, but one that would be much too easy.

There was nothing
easy
about Eve. Every line and curve of her scrumptious body, every tempting word promised a challenge. He wanted to give her one.

He pressed harder against her, knowing his erection would be firm against her belly. Her gaze flickered down to his belt, then back up to meet his eyes. “I could scream, you know.”

J.C. tilted his head, listening to the sounds of the park. He’d spent at least one night a week here for the past three years. He knew every one of them. The moans of passion, the cries of orgasm, the buzz of excitement. A woman’s scream might cause a few raised eyebrows, but not much else.

He stroked her temples with his thumbs while he ground his hips against hers. Eve’s lips parted, a sigh escaping on a flutter of warm breath. It caressed his mouth, made his cock harden so powerfully he thought it might explode.

Abruptly, he released her and turned to his right. He was not going to let her get to him like this. He wasn’t going to lose control. And there was no way he was going to have sex with a woman -- not with
any
woman, even one as… delectable as Eve. Not as long as the elders were pushing him to mate.

He gestured in the direction of a row of trees in the distance. “Come on.”

They were still a few minutes away, but he knew the trees bordered a large parking lot on three sides, keeping prying eyes away from the nightly festivities. It was normally used to park trailers and other park necessities, but tonight it would be mostly empty.

Eve hurried to catch up to him. Her ragged breathing rang in his ears and he had to fist his hands at his sides to keep from touching her again.

“Do you really know where Angelina is?”

“If she’s still here, there’s only one place she would be.”

“The fireworks display,” Eve murmured as they made their way into the lot. A large flatbed truck that had housed the firework shells earlier sat silently silhouetted against the dark sky. Behind it, an expensive-looking trailer had been set up, but no lights glowed in the windows to indicate it was occupied.

The spotlights that had been set up around the parking lot earlier had been turned off, but the neon glow from Hard Delights glittered through the foliage behind J.C.

It was impossible to find shade out here. J.C. glanced up warily, thankfully to find that the bright silver moon had ducked out of sight behind an imposing cloud.

“That’s our best bet. She came here for the fireworks, didn’t she?”

Eve nodded. “Maybe I can reach her now.”

She dipped two fingers into the valley between her breasts. J.C. swallowed hard, his dick stirring against the hard material of his jeans. His mouth went dry as she fidgeted inside her cleavage and pulled out a black cord. A microphone, J.C. realized with a start. Apprehension snaked up his spine.

“Has that thing been on all this time?”

“What?” Eve glanced at the small object. “Oh, this? Yeah. But don’t worry, no one heard us.” She gnawed on her lower lip, her eyebrows furrowing. “At least, I don’t think anyone heard us. I haven’t been able to reach Angelina since minutes after she stepped through the park gates.”

J.C. threw his hands up in the air. “That’s great. Next you’ll tell me you have our entire conversation on tape.”

She shot him a look that could melt steel. It almost worked, too. His cock twitched, softening slightly under her withering glare. “Are you always this paranoid, or is it a trait I bring out in you?”

“Oh, it’s definitely just you,” he assured her. Since he’d met her, his emotions had swerved wildly from the urge to throttle her, to the urge to fuck her senseless. He hadn’t been anywhere near this wound up before she strolled through the door of the “Blow Me Away” mechanical shed.

“Angelina?” Eve murmured into the microphone. “Can you hear me, hon?”

A hollow, plastic sound echoed nearby. J.C. slowed his pace, scanning the area. Here, so far away from the center of the park, the sounds of merriment and male groans echoed with no more than a dim buzz.

“If you’re there, please say something. I’m worried about you.”

The fuzzy white noise sounded closer now. Something crunched under J.C.’s foot. He stopped and peered at the smooth dark asphalt. There, barely visible in the dark lay another microphone identical to the one Eve held close to her lips.

He knelt and picked up the broken pieces. “I don’t think she’ll be able to answer you.”

Eve’s face drained of color. She snatched the object from his hand, her lips hardening into a thin line. “I told you she was in danger. If only you’d let me get to her sooner I might have been able to --”

A cascade of giggles, loud and crystalline, cut off the rest of Eve’s words. A sharp gasp and a moan followed in quick succession.

Eve dropped both microphones and ran toward the sound, J.C. close on her heels. They careened around the side of the flatbed and stopped beside the open door of the truck.

“Well, I’ll be damned.” J.C. ran both his hands through his hair and peered inside the cab. The smell of sweat and thick, eager arousal assaulted his senses. “Looks like your friend was in danger after all. The imminent danger of impending orgasm.”

* * *

Eve was almost at the park gate before J.C. caught up to her. Another few minutes and she’d have been able to leave this place, and him, behind. The van she and Angelina had arrived in waited on a side road not too far from the Hard Delights’ entrance. She could have hopped in, driven away, and called Angelina in the morning.

Angelina… who obviously hadn’t needed her help.

“Slow down a second, will you?”

J.C.’s gruff voice was laced with amusement. Anger rolled up into Eve’s gut. A slow burn scorched her cheeks at the memory of Griffin flat on his back in the cab of the fireworks truck, Angelina riding his cock with the same fervor she might have ridden a mechanical bull at their favorite hangout.

Eve kept walking, elbowing through people as she made her way toward the front gate. It loomed ahead, dark and ominous against the cloudy night sky. “Why? I found what I came for. I’m out of here.”

He gripped her shoulder, hard enough to make her halt in mid-step. “You know I can’t let you leave.”

Eve gritted her teeth and spun around to face him. Neon light from a nearby streetlamp spilled over his features, bathing him in brilliant white light. “Are we having that discussion again? You can’t keep me prisoner here. As Brad said, I didn’t see anything.”

“You’ll forgive me if I find that hard to believe.” He hadn’t released her shoulder, but his grip loosened and he slid his hand down the length of her arm, pausing when he came to her wrist. His touch sent a shiver down her spine. An answering longing thrummed deep in her pussy.

Despite her earlier assurances to the contrary, she believed he was dangerous. Oh, he wouldn’t hurt her, she was sure of that. But the smoldering blue eyes and the way he watched her, as though prepared to devour her whole, frightened her. Her body responded to his on a primal level. Her nipples tightened, rubbing against the fabric of her dress.

“I didn’t come here to spy on you, if that’s what you were thinking.”

“Right. You came for your friend.”

Eve searched his voice for a hint of skepticism or irony, but found neither, so she nodded. She had no illusions about J.C.’s motives for helping her find Angelina. It had been obvious he’d needed to keep an eye on her while she wandered through the park, but how long could he keep this up? Was he going to follow her to her apartment? To work the next morning? The prospect was absurd.

A flutter of apprehension rose in her belly along with an image of J.C. strolling into her bedroom, shedding his clothes and curling up on her king-sized bed. Her breath quickened and she shook her head to dislodge the image, but it seemed to have settled behind her eyes. She could see him every time she blinked, the perfect length of his hard body, the magnificent cock jutting out from the thick patch of curls.

“I’m not going to keep having the same argument with you,” Eve insisted when she could finally trust her voice. “It’s late, and I have to work tomorrow. I need to get home.”

J.C.’s eyes crinkled at the edges. It was the closest she’d come to seeing him smile, she realized with a start.

“You have to work on a Saturday?”

Eve swore inwardly. She didn’t have to go to the lab on the weekend, but she would if it meant getting away from here as quickly as possible. She nodded, not trusting her voice to utter yet another lie.

“It’s already almost 2 AM.” The hand on her arm slid to her hip. She stiffened while energy coursed through her veins, making her fingers tingle with the need to reach out and touch him in return. “Why not stay just a little bit longer?”

A man with skin the color of dark ebony pushed past J.C. His muscles screamed for attention, encased in a white tee shirt that showed them off to their full advantage. Just a few hours ago, Eve would have turned her head to follow the man’s progress through the crowd, mentally undressing him as he walked. Yet now her gaze remained fixed on J.C., whose angular features and mass of wavy hair falling almost to his broad shoulders held her interest like a set of raw muscles could never do.
Damn
. This wasn’t good. Not good at all.