His gaze moved across the crowd and he caught sight of her again. She was playing a video game with some guy. It was one of those fighting ones. He and Zach had to stop playing those because they kept getting into real fistfights over them. Whatever Miki had done, she clearly won because she threw the game controller on the ground, brought both her arms up, and screamed “In your face!” Then she did a sad, but hilarious little victory dance.
Conall sighed. “Sure, Conall. Why go for a normal girl?”
He was about to hit the food table again when he smelled it. Cutting through the throng of people. It was a she and she was moving fast. He caught sight of her dark spiky hair as she pushed through the crowded living room.
He glanced over at Miki. Craig had pulled out a karaoke machine and they were dragging Miki up to the front. She’d be fine. She had her dangerously psychotic friends protecting her. He followed the spiky head outside and around the side of the house.
He grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and lifted her off the ground. “Where do you think you’re going?”
She fought back, her claws coming out. He tossed her fifteen feet before she could slash him. She hit the ground and slid. Then she flipped herself over and stared at him. She was young. She’d dyed her golden hair black. But she couldn’t hide those gold eyes or that Pride smell.
She hissed like a house cat and backed away from him. Conall frowned and slowed his pursuit. Any other Pride female would have gone for his throat by now. This one was running from him.
“Stay away from me!”
Conall stared at her and, for a moment, he thought she might burst into tears.
“I was just here for the party. I…I don’t want to fight you.”
“Why aren’t you with your Pride?” He looked around, expecting them to suddenly appear. Females attacking from every side.
“I’m not part of the Pride anymore.”
“Why not?”
“That’s none of your business.” She scrambled to her feet. He sized her up. She was the alternative queen. All black clothes, silver jewelry, and deathly pale skin. And, of course, black eyeliner and shadow. A Goth chick. He could bet she didn’t get along too well with some of the other Pride females.
Conall nodded. “Sorry about that. I thought—”
“I know. You thought I was going to fuck with you because you’re Pack. No offense, but I could give a shit. That’s not my life anymore.” She wrapped her arms protectively around her body. “And maybe you shouldn’t attack people without being sure they’re actually trying to kill you. Asshole.”
Then she headed up the street.
Miki went to the food table and grabbed some carrots. She’d tried to go for a brownie earlier, but Conall had nearly broken her wrist getting her to drop it. That’s when she knew they were Craig’s “special” brownies. Having Conall around was kind of like having a drug-sniffing dog at her disposal.
Miki ate her carrots and looked around the room. At first she didn’t see Conall. She felt a moment of annoyance at his absence. Then she felt a moment of annoyance at her moment of annoyance. And was even more annoyed at herself when she felt relief at seeing him come back in the room.
He walked over to her and took a carrot out of her hand. “Well, I’ve hit a new low.”
“What happened?”
“I just beat up a little girl.”
“Compared to you everyone’s a little girl.”
“She was Pride.”
“Oh, yeah. The Goth chick with the gold eyes, right?”
“Yeah. Her. You saw her?”
“Yeah.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
Miki shrugged. “I didn’t think about it. She’s one of Amy’s teaching assistants.”
“You think and obsess about everything else but that doesn’t seem like something you should tell me about?”
Miki was about to get good and pissed off, but then she realized he was right. “You’re right.”
Conall choked on his carrot. “What?”
She shrugged. “You’re right. I should have said something.”
“All right. What are you setting me up for?”
“Nothing.” She would have been hurt if she hadn’t drugged him once.
His eyes narrowed and she felt kind of guilty for making him so paranoid. “Really. I’m just telling you that you’re right. I swear.”
“You been eatin’ the brownies?”
Miki rolled her eyes. “No.”
“Drug the carrots?”
“No.”
“Drug or eaten the Jell-O shots?”
“No. I didn’t drug anybody or anything.”
Conall backed slowly away from her. His eyes never leaving her face. “I’m watching you, Kendrick.”
She stared at his body as he walked across the room to talk to a bunch of snowboarders.
He was watching her. She liked the sound of that.
A sloppy round of “Video Killed the Radio Star” with some guys who actually made money playing video games for a living, and Miki was ready for a break from the people and the heat of the room. She headed to the back of the house and went out on the stoop. Surprisingly dead in the back but, not surprising in Seattle, it was raining a bit. There were several couples in the trees behind Craig’s house. She stared in their direction but she wasn’t really paying attention. Watching other people fool around had never been very interesting for her.
She felt a presence next to her and turned with a smile to see…Troy. And just like that, her smile faded. “Oh. Hey, Troy.”
“Hey, Miki.” He sat down next to her on the stoop. She scooted over because he sat a little too close. “Where’s your pit bull?”
It took her a moment to realize he meant Conall. “Inside. He seems to get along well with the skateboarders.”
“I’m glad you’re back, Miki.”
She frowned at him. “Really?” She never thought the man even noticed her.
“Yes. I’m really hoping you’ll take the job Conridge offers you.”
“She hasn’t offered me anything yet.”
“She will.”
Miki shrugged. “Whatever.”
She stared at her boots. She had nothing to say to this man. In fact, she wanted him to go away.
“You know, Miki,” his hand landed on her knee, “I’ve been thinking about you all day.”
Miki turned to look at him and, suddenly, Troy’s lips were on hers. She could taste the liquid courage he’d been guzzling to make this move, but he took her by surprise and that was always a mistake with her. She shoved him so hard he flipped off the stoop and landed in a heap.
Miki leaned over. “You okay, Troy?”
He lifted his arm. “I’m fine.” But it was muffled since he went face first in the dirt. “I’m just going to lie here for awhile. Don’t mind me.”
Christ, how did she ever think this guy was cute or sexy? Just the touch of his lips against hers made her want to spit.
As she wiped the back of her hand across her mouth, a bottle of water appeared in front of her.
This time she didn’t even have to look to know it was Conall. He’d been taking very good care of her all night. Making sure she ate, stayed away from any cleverly hidden drugs, and that she was always hydrated. She grabbed the bottle and made room on the stoop so he could sit down beside her. She realized she didn’t mind him sitting close. Of course, with Conall she really had no choice. He took up a lot of space on the stoop. At least his shoulders did.
“Feel better now?” she asked as she opened the bottle.
“Yeah. I’ve recovered from my random act of violence.” He looked at her. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m fine. I almost killed a man, though.”
“What?”
She pointed and Conall leaned over her to see. As soon as his body touched hers, she had that same damn reaction. Hard nipples. Wet pussy. It was getting ridiculous.
“What happened?”
She had to force herself to focus. “He kissed me. But it took me by surprise.”
She felt the growl before she heard it. Miki dropped her water bottle, accidentally hitting Troy in the back of the head, and grabbed Conall’s shoulders before he could leap off the stoop and tear Troy apart.
“Don’t you dare! Sara will kill me if you go to prison.”
He let her pull him back. His arm brushed her breasts and the gasp was out of her mouth before she could even think about stopping it. His eyes locked with hers. She still had her hands on his shoulders. On a whim, she slid them up his neck, cupping his chin. He was so gorgeous. She felt the strength of him under her hands. The power of the wolf just inside his skin.
He was a piece of ass and he was interested in her.
Maybe she’d been looking at this the wrong way. Maybe she should go to what she knew. Science. How did attraction work? Why could one man force her to knock him on his ass, while another made her want to drop to her knees? Well, there was only one way to find out.
She took a deep breath and pulled him toward her.
Conall stared at her mouth and it didn’t seem like he was breathing at all. “Miki…”
“Shhh. I’m testing a theory.” And then her mouth was on his. And, yeah, this was definitely different from when Troy kissed her. She’d felt nothing but panic and the slightest trace of revulsion with Troy. But when her tongue connected with Conall’s all she wanted was for him to crawl inside her. She leaned back against the stoop, Conall right there with her. Over her. His hands sliding around her back. His arms wrapping around her. She realized he was keeping her back off the hard stone stoop. And every time his tongue stroked hers, she felt it all the way to her clit. She wanted this man. In fact, she had to have him. Preferably now.
She pulled her mouth away from his. She needed to say something sexy and romantic with a mere hint of her vast intelligence. Something that would entice him into bed.
But what came out was, “I wanna fuck.”
Conall groaned and buried his face in her neck. “You’re killing me, Mik,” he finally managed. “Don’t do this if you’re just messing with my head ‘cause you’re still pissed or…”
She rubbed her cheek against his silky hair and decided to just go for it. So what if he probably wouldn’t want her after all this was over? At least she could say she had a good time. And she knew Conall would be a good time. A really good time. She was tired of being respectable and normal. It was boring, and she did need to get laid.
So what would Miki the Bartender do here? Easy. She’d be honest. “Do you know what one of the wolves protecting my house back in Texas told me?” she whispered in his ear and she felt his entire body vibrate against hers. “He told me I moaned your name in my sleep. And I realized my hand smelled like I’d been masturbating all night long. No one’s ever done that to me before you. No one but you.”
Conall slowly untangled himself from her. He didn’t look at her. Instead, he pulled away and sat on one of the lower stoops. He dragged his big hands through his hair and she watched him stretch out his big shoulders. Miki sat up and reached her hand out to touch him.
“Don’t. Touch. Me.”
Miki frowned, a little bit hurt. “Why?”
“Because I’m doing my best to control myself. And if you touch me I’ll fuck you right on this stoop, and I don’t want to do that to you in front of your friends. So, don’t touch me right now.”
“I see.” She scratched her neck. “But you know, we can go back to the hotel and then you can fuck me anywhere or any way you want.”
Yeah. That was clear. The next move was his.
Miki stood up and walked back into the house. She got as far as the coffee pot before she felt herself lifted off her feet and thrown over Conall’s shoulder. The entire room cheered as they left. She waved at Amy who drunkenly gave her a thumbs-up.
Conall arrived at the SUV in what seemed like seconds, then he opened the door, dumped her in, and stopped only long enough to say, “Not another word from you. Not one.”
She watched as he went around the SUV to get in. She was almost positive he had no idea his fangs were out.
Chapter Thirteen
Surprisingly, he wasn’t pulled over. He used to ride sportsbikes that could hit two hundred miles per hour and he was pretty sure he’d never gone as fast on one of them as he did in the SUV. But Miki finally pushed him over the edge. He prayed she didn’t back down now. He wasn’t sure he could take it. He’d almost dragged her into Craig’s bathroom and took her there, but he forced himself to get under some kind of control. Although the wolf was having a full-on fistfight with the man in him.
Tires squealed as he turned into the hotel parking lot and took the first spot he saw. He got out, went around to the passenger side, and dragged Miki out. She didn’t say a word as he tossed her over his shoulder and went into the hotel. The hotel staff watched him quietly. He knew they wanted to say something to him about carrying a woman into their four-star hotel as if he were a caveman. But he knew none of them had the guts to say a word. He could only imagine the expression on his face.
But Miki was torturing him. Whether she meant to or not, she was torturing him. And until he was buried deep inside of her there would be no rest for him. No solace. No peace.
He didn’t even wait for the elevator. He took the stairs up ten flights and wasn’t even out of breath by the time he got to his door. He swiped his keycard, went in and tossed Miki on the bed.
She seemed unfazed by it all as she watched him with those inquisitive brown eyes. He didn’t want to make the same mistake he’d almost made that morning. So he went to his bag, dug through the few clothes he had packed, and grabbed the brown paper bag of condoms Sara had shoved in it as he walked out the den door. At the time he thought she was simply being hopeful.
He tossed the bag on the floor by the bed. Miki started to say something but he cut her off.
“Not a word.”
She surprisingly fell silent, watching him move to the bed. Her gaze dragged along the length of his body as he dropped to his knees in front of her.
“Lay back.”
She shook her head. “I wanna watch you.”
He growled and slid his hands under her skirt. He dragged her lace panties off, but left the garters and Docs on. He’d been thinking about going down on her dressed like that since she’d come out of the bathroom. He leaned forward and licked the inside of her thigh just above the stocking. She remained quiet until he pushed her thighs farther apart and his tongue skimmed along the folds of her sex. That’s when she gave a low moan and her head fell back. She used one arm to keep herself propped up while the other grabbed the back of his head and pushed him forward.
He pulled back a bit. “Miki.” Her eyes focused on him. “You said you wanted to watch me. So watch me.”
From the way her breathing changed and the expression on her face, he had a feeling he’d pushed her that much closer to coming. Which was good, because he wasn’t sure how much longer he could hold out. He needed to be inside this woman before he lost his mind.
His tongue slid inside her tight pussy. It was wet and hot and tasted so good. Miki’s hand tightened in his hair, pulling him close as his hands slid under her to cup her ass. He dragged her to him, his hands gripping her tight. She moaned in response, one leg over his shoulder, the other propped up on the bed.
Limber girl, he thought happily.
He licked her slowly, enjoying the sweet taste of her. The smell. He felt her body begin to shake when her orgasm broke around him. She made low, guttural sounds from the back of her throat as he used his tongue to stretch out her climax as long as he could.
When she tugged on his hair, trying to pull him up, he knew she was ready for him. He leaned back on his haunches, and stared at her. He needed her to make this move. He needed to know this was what she really wanted.
She ran her small hand across his jaw and down his neck. Then, slowly,
leaned forward and began to lick her juices off his mouth and chin.
I’ll take that as a yes. He slid his hands to her waist and lifted her shirt up, lifting it over her head and tossing it across the room. She pulled away from him, backing up on the bed to yank off her skirt, the stockings, the Docs, all of it. Which was good. He wanted her completely naked. And completely his.
Miki tossed her Docs across the room as Conall yanked his T-shirt over his head, then he tackled his jeans. She’d never been this horny for anybody before in her life. She felt almost…desperate. Which was good because when he dropped his pants and she saw the size of his raging hard-on, she knew she was in for quite the workout.
But something inside her had changed. Here she was kneeling on the bed, completely naked, and she didn’t care. For the first time in her life, she really couldn’t give a flying fuck about anything or anyone except Conall and his huge dick.
She smiled and crooked her index finger at him. He didn’t need any more prompting than that. Whipping on a condom, he was in her arms within seconds. They both fell back on the bed, his hot mouth sucking at her breast. Every time his tongue swiped across her nipple, she felt it all the way down to her clit.
She heard growling, but it wasn’t Conall. It was her.
When she growled, he thought he would finally snap. He wanted to wait a bit. Make it all special and romantic, but who the hell was he kidding? He was wolf and she was fucking hot. He rose over her, his arms on either side of her shoulders. Miki’s body arched to meet his as he thrust inside of her, embedding himself deep.
She seemed so small under him. Small and beautiful. Miki looked up and gasped in surprise. Her hand reached up and touched his forehead. “Wolf eyes,” she whispered. His eyes must have shifted, but she wasn’t frightened. She leaned up and, unable to reach his mouth, she kissed his chest and neck. He trembled, holding his body rigid. His cock still buried in her tight pussy. He wanted to stay this way forever.
Her legs wrapped around his waist, her ankles locking at the base of his spine. Her fingers digging into his ass, keeping him deep inside her. When he couldn’t wait any longer, he began to stroke in and out. She felt so good, he thought he’d come any second. But he held on for her. Of course, it didn’t help when she began moving her hips and moaning his name. Yup. The woman was definitely trying to kill him.