Kara's Wolves (2 page)

Ryan whispered close to Justin’s ear, “Are you just going to stand there and stare at her all night? Ask her to dance.”

“I’m … observing her. Patience, man. She’s a human. She’s … not expecting this,”

Justin muttered under his breath, his lips barely moving, as if she would somehow hear him over the constant bass beat surrounding them.

“Others have mated with humans. They got over it. This woman will, too.” Were those words supposed to make Justin feel better? He was about to rock the world off its axis for this sexy vixen. He took a long slow breath deep into his lungs. She smelled so … innocent. It had certainly been a while since she’d been with a man. There was no trace of another mixed with her scent. She deserved a little … respect.
Right, keep telling
yourself that, asshole. She doesn’t even know about your sorry ass yet. You are just plain
chickenshit.

Justin made a quick about face and headed to the bar, Ryan hot on his heels. “What are you doing, man?”

“What does it look like I’m doing? Getting a drink, okay? Do I need your permission to get a drink?”
Cut me some slack
.

Ryan resumed chuckling. “You’re
scared
…
Ha
… You
are
.” This was way too funny for Ryan and it was beginning to wear on Justin’s nerves.

“Look, let me handle this. My way. Back off. Go … go find someone to dance with or something.” Justin glared over his shoulder at Ryan. Apparently his look was sufficiently harsh, because Ryan held up both hands in surrender and slowly backed away toward the dance floor. His low laugh did not, however, disappear for several seconds.

“Give me a shot of Jack and a Budweiser,” Justin nearly shouted at the bartender.
I
can’t even hear myself think in this room
. He tugged at the collar of his western shirt.

Was it not stiflingly hot in here?

He didn’t have to turn around to know the gorgeous little fairy behind him had not moved an inch. His nose would keep him updated on her whereabouts. When the bartender returned, Justin slapped a ten on the bar, chugged the whisky and turned to lean his back against the rail, tipping his beer back with one hand to chase the burning liquor down his throat.

Hopefully the drink would help control both his raging hard on as well as his shaking anxiety. It didn’t work. When he brought his vision back to center, he paused dead in his tracks. When had she gotten closer? There she was, staring straight at him.

“Excuse me? Could you um…” She was pointing at the bar behind him.

Justin was still as a statue, holding his breath.
What a fox. My God. Thank you, Lord
.

Her face turned up toward him and she sucked in a breath. Her brows shot upward and then settled back into place. Her dainty finger pointed to his right, but he couldn’t take his gaze off her angelic face. Her full mouth curved at a questioning angle. Wide, bright blue eyes like the ocean. Staring into them would surely make him seasick. Her blond curls fell over her shoulders in a cascade of silk. He had to hold himself in check to keep from reaching out to take a lock in his hand and bury his face in it.

Shit. Move, man. Say something. You look like a fool
. Justin exhaled. “Sorry. Sorry.”

Maybe she wants to order a drink?
Right, of course.
This is a bar after all. People
walk up to the counter and they order beverages. You’re blocking the front line
. “Can I … um … get you something?” He looked at her expression of apprehension and decided to take a different angle. “I mean … it’s hard to get the bartender’s attention in all this confusion. I’d be happy to wave him down and order for you… If you’d like?”
Please
say yes
.

Justin automatically reached for her slender arm, pulling her away from the line of drunk bastards about to stumble into her. Too late. They managed to slam her forward anyway and she squished gloriously flat against him, awakening every nerve ending in his body. Sparks lit up his system.

“
Oh
.” She gasped in shock and jumped back a step as though he had just poked her with a hot iron.

Justin still had a hold of her amazingly firm biceps, unwilling to release her. “Are you okay? I was trying to pull you out of the way in time, but I guess I failed.” He tried to flash her a playful smile, but doubted the intent would be obvious.

“I’m fine. No… I mean yes… I’m fine… Thanks.” She looked down at the floor a moment before once again raising her sky blue gaze back to his. She had to tip her head way back to stare up at his face. He was more than a foot taller than her.

Everything lines up in bed
… With Trevor at her back and…
Shit
. He needed to lose that line of thinking fast. Matings between three people were almost unheard of, and a threesome was surely the furthest thing from her mind.

She was aroused though, and shocked by it, if the look on her face was anything to go by. He could smell it on her. She surely knew nothing about bonding with wolves or matings; but, he realized, she would not be able to avoid the pull of her body to his. In a matter of days, she would be unable to deny him. Her body would crave the bonding, even without understanding. It was fated. They would be together.

“What can I get you?” Justin leaned in closer to her and breathed in the most glorious fragrance of floral shampoo and her personal essence—honeysuckle with a faint edge of … chalk?
Is she a teacher?
Did they even use chalkboards anymore?

“Huh?” She seemed momentarily disoriented. That was a good sign. Hopefully she was focused so much on her attraction to him, she couldn’t even remember what she’d come over here for in the first place. “Oh, right. A drink. Can you order me a mineral water please?” She smiled.

A mineral water?
“Um, sure…” Justin relaxed the grip he still had on her arm just a fraction, with no intention of letting go altogether. Keeping one eye trained on her, he angled his head toward the bar and waited a beat to get the man’s attention.

“Can you get me a … mineral water?”

Without a glance in his direction, the waiter placed a green bottle in front of Justin.

“It’s on the house.”

Justin reached behind himself with his free hand and grasped the cold drink, sweat dripping off the label to coat his heated palm.

Sparks once again tingled up Justin’s arm when their fingers met to pass off the beverage. He didn’t want to stop touching her. In fact, he wanted to pull her closer again.

Flatten her against his chest. Tuck her head against him and run his hands through her golden hair…

“Thanks.” She pulled away from him. Before he could even form a sentence, she had retreated toward her friends, her back to him, her fantastic ass swaying enticingly.

Justin smiled from his perch at the bar. Thank God the sturdy edge was there to hold him up. The sweet scent of her arousal stirred his senses. He grinned. She was just as turned on as he. His skin heated. He would need to run miles in the woods tonight to work off the sexual tension building in his body. There was no way in hell he was going to be able to take her tonight. No. It would take some gentle courting to steer her in the right direction. His earlier stress had faded however. His fate was sealed. She was his.

Kara sauntered back to her friends with a grin on her face, her head held a little higher than before. Whoever that guy was, he was hot. And, he found
her
attractive. The thought made her pulse race and gave her a little more pep in her step, perhaps a slight sway to her hips as she walked.

There was no way to tell if the cowboy get-up was just for tonight, or if he woke up every day to pull his boots on under his Levi’s. Whatever the case may be, the result was one hunk of sexy manhood. Heat crept up her cheeks with the memory of his firm erection pressed into her stomach when she fell into him.
Did I do that?

Lindsey eyed her suspiciously. “What happened to you? It took forever and—” She paused. “Why are you smiling?” Her perfectly arched eyebrows rose.

What?
Did her friends not think her capable of luring a man? Kara was feeling far too smug to be slighted by either of their shocked expressions.

“Did you just flirt with that guy at the bar?” Jessica’s jaw dropped at the question.

She glanced back and forth between Kara and the bar behind her.

“What guy?” Surely they hadn’t seen her or even paid attention.

“The one still staring at your ass with drool running down his chin,” Lindsey continued.

Kara jerked her head around to confirm he was indeed still ogling her like a piece of candy. She gave a flirtatious smile in his direction and turned back to face her roommates. “I guess I did.”

Heat radiated from her toes to her cheeks, probably making embarrassing splotchy patterns on her face and neck. Her pale skin always had that reaction at the first sign of stress.

“Well, see? I rest my case. I told you. You need to get out more often. The men in here are itching to get a chance. And we just got here.” Jess gave a cute little fake pout.

Kara would have sworn she heard the faint sound of jealousy in her friend’s voice.

Jess was the most outgoing of the three women. She lived life much closer to the edge than Kara ever dreamed. Her stylish hair was cropped short and spiked with blond highlights tipping the ends. Several earrings dangled from the piercings in both ears. Her flirtatious laugh always managed to draw men close to her.

Lindsey, on the other hand, was more like Kara. Her long straight brown hair reached midway down her back and her big brown eyes could lure anyone in, but she was softer spoken than Jess, a perfect balance.

“I dare you to go dance with him.” Jess bubbled over with excitement.

“No way. We just got here. I don’t even know how to two-step.” Kara was shaking her head, unable to stop the motion. Her ears heated at the forward thought.

“Double dare you.” Now Lindsey was ganging up on her, too.

“How about…” Jess paused, her fingers tapping her chin, to ponder the ceiling. “I’ve got it. How about a bet? If you can get him to dance with you, which is a shoo-in by the way, we’ll do all the household chores for a week.”
Oh, she looks so proud of herself.

“Seriously? You two would clean the bathroom and the kitchen for an entire week just to get me to ask a guy to dance?” It sounded crazy, but then again, these two knew the likelihood of Kara being so bold was slim to none. On the flip side, this was the last week of school. A few less duties would free her up to study for finals.

They both nodded in unison and folded their arms across their chests.

What harm could it do? What was the worst that could happen?

Kara slowly turned her gaze in the direction of the man still perched against the bar to find him staring straight at her with a smile on his face. His stance looked stiff. He was trying too hard. She smiled to herself and couldn’t help the slow perusal of his body her eyes seemed to insist upon. His face was shaded from this angle with his suede cowboy hat leaning over his forehead. He had surely just picked up his pressed charcoal shirt from the drycleaners. As her gaze moved south, she found his jeans hugged him to perfection. And what perfection. A shiver ran through her as she remembered having been plastered to him only moments before. Kara tried to shake the image by continuing her meandering gaze to his boots. Worn. Not brand-new, purchased-today, stiff and shiny, like her own.

Could she go through with this?
Shit. Why not?
An entire week of rest and relaxation from apartment duties for just one dance with a hot hunk? Who wouldn’t?

“Fine.” Without turning back to face her friends, Kara set her bottle on the edge of the table and traipsed back in the direction of the hottest guy in the bar. Did he have to be such a stud? It would have been so much easier if he had been just a regular patron.

*

Damn
. The little pixie was heading back his way with a slightly hesitant look on her face, her sexy, full bottom lip between her teeth. Justin’s dick jumped to attention. He wanted to pull that soft lip into his mouth and worry it a little with his own teeth.

When she stood before him, she began to stammer. “Um… I can’t… I mean, I can’t dance…”

Why is she telling me this?

“What I mean is… You see…” She began to chew on her bottom lip.

He loved the flustered look on her face and had no intention whatsoever of putting her out of her misery, even if he could decipher what she was trying desperately to communicate.

A sudden spark of electricity raised the hairs on his arms. His skin crawled with the need to touch her again; to verify the sparks had not been his imagination.
Patience,
Justin. You’re going to need a bucket full of patience for the next several days
.

She was going to gnaw a hole in her lip if she kept that up.

Justin smiled at her and waited.

“My friends,” she turned to point in the direction she had clearly come from, “bet me I couldn’t get you to dance with me.”

Justin chuckled.
Really? How convenient
. They had no idea what was about to happen to their sweet, innocent friend and they had bet her to dance with him? Nice.

“I mean… You don’t have to … of course.” She rolled her eyes toward the ceiling, clearly flustered. “Are you waiting on someone?” She glanced around the bar as it dawned on her that perhaps he wasn’t alone.

Time to put her out of her misery. “I would be honored, ma’am.” Justin gave a short bow and reached out to grasp the dainty fingers of the woman he was going to spend the rest of his life loving. The sparks kept flying.

Without further preamble, Justin whispered a prayer of gratitude to whatever gods were hanging around the dance floor tonight and gently pulled his sweet little mate toward the circle of two-steppers.

“I um … don’t actually … know how to dance,” she mumbled behind him as they reached the edge of the wood floor.

“You mentioned that.” Pulling her in front of him, he tucked one finger under her chin and tilted her face up to stare directly into her glorious eyes. “Don’t worry.
I
do.”