Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 137004 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 685(@200wpm)___ 548(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137004 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 685(@200wpm)___ 548(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
“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.