Alpha Wolf: Black Mesa Wolves #2 (Werewolf Shifter Paranormal Romance) (12 page)

“What.” Rafe heard the flatness of his own voice and
grimaced at himself. He'd been slipping more and more in his usually unyielding
self control lately. His brother, though, could take it.

“I said,” Caleb drew out in exaggerated slow motion, “did
you see who just walked in and is looking for trouble?”

Rafe shrugged. He wasn't interested in his brother's fights.
All he wanted tonight was a stiff drink to get that one sexy, vexing she-wolf
off his mind. Just for one night, it would be nice.

“You might want to take a look at the dance floor.” Caleb's
gravelly voice barely contained laughter. “Clearly your nose isn't working
right now. She's broadcasting her needs like nobody's business.”

An odd challenge underlay Caleb's words and nudged Rafe's
interest. He glanced over at the crowded dance floor, where bodies flailed and
bopped and ground together. Girls flaunted their assets beneath barely-there
clothing. Men pumped their hips behind women in drink-fueled imitations of back
door fantasies.

And one outrageously sexy Sara Kenyon gyrated just to the
side of the dancing mass, surrounded by several men with lust clear on their
faces and in every motion of their bodies. Rafe's mouth dried in an instant as
he took in the scene. She wore a postage stamp excuse for a skirt that revealed
miles of leg, flashing as she spun around and shook her booty. Red high heels
gave her both height and a clear message of “do me, baby.” How she managed to
stay up on those, let alone bust out some provocative moves, was beyond Rafe.
Those sweet little breasts he'd been allowed to touch and stroke and fondle
bounced under the revealing peach-colored top that dipped dangerously low between
them, accentuating their gorgeousness and sheer availability.

His wolf sat up and snarled.
Mine.

“Yeah, there's a girl who's gonna get some tonight,” Caleb
said. He reached over and hit Rafe's shoulder with a slightly less than
brotherly punch. “Wonder which one will be the lucky guy? You think all of
them?”

“Shut the hell up, Caleb.” Rafe's voice ground out like
rocks pounding through a crusher. “She's not like that.”

Caleb shot back, “You mean she wouldn't be acting like that
right this very second if you'd go over there and get her, Rafe. As in, take
her. You want to be her Alpha? Then show her you can do it.” His voice held no
softness when he added, “She's already yours, bro. You're the one who needs to
act on it.”

Rafe glared at the men grinding away by his mate. Already on
his feet, he was headed in her direction before he realized it. He might have
heard his brother shout out, “Finally, ya dumbass!” behind him, but he was too
focused on Sara to care.

It felt so freaking good to be dancing. Sara reveled in her
body. She let it move, shake, and shimmy to the music pounding out. She'd
pulled in all her senses to filter out the overwhelming aroma of sweaty humans,
skyrocketing pheromones, spilled beer, and questionable smells drifting over
from the bathrooms. By simply grounding herself into her own body, she lost
herself in her own sweet, freeing movements. This was exactly what she needed.

Her wolf still remained silent on the matter.

This wasn't her usual bar of choice, but she was sure to
find some hot guy who just wanted a quick tumble and nothing more. Cowboys
around here worked hard, and they played harder when it was quitting time.
She'd already noticed a few in here she'd played with once or twice before. But
tonight was all about meeting someone she'd never seen before and would never
talk to again afterward.

The one guy who'd moved in closest to her come-hither smile
and little finger wave would be just the ticket. Dark hair, dark eyes, a young
guy just itching for a good time. He'd already given her that knowing grin, the
one that promised some yee-hawing later on.

Perfect. She moved a little closer, flashing him her best
sultry smile as she let his hand circle over her waist. She ignored the fact he
didn't remotely turn her on, cute as he was. This wasn't about being turned on.
It was just about forgetting, pure and simple.

“Hey, cowboy,” she said into his ear as she let his hips
grind closer to hers. “Wanna have a good time?”

“No, he doesn't,” a familiar voice flooded with dangerous
fury snarled over her shoulder. “Get the hell off my woman.”

“Rafe!” was all Sara got out before the dark-haired cowboy
flew through the air to the chorus of a few screams and several goading cries.
He slammed into a few other drunk guys, who shoved him back with encouraging
yells of, “Fight! Fight!”

“Hell, yeah!” another deep voice hollered over the melee.
Caleb Bardou leapt into the fray and started pummeling random cowboys left and
right. The dance floor immediately became a free-for-all of bodies either scrambling
to escape or struggling through to get in on the down and dirty action.

Rafe tugged at Sara's arm, then grabbed her full body and
literally swung her out of the way when two guys began landing punches on one
another about an inch away from where her nose had been seconds earlier.
Kicking and spitting indignant words at her would-be rescuer, she saw the
bouncers moving like enormous Mack trucks toward the fray, boredom evident on
their faces as they began a familiar chain of Friday night events at their
raucous little watering hole.

Rafe firmly set her down in front of him. Keeping his arms
around her like a protective shield, one hand circling her upper left arm and
causing no small amount of ridiculous tingling over her body, he steered them
out of the crowd and toward the door.

“Rafe, let me go! What the hell are you doing here?”

“Saving you from your idiotic self, it seems,” he snapped as
he continued to march her through the throngs of people. “And finally taking
what's mine.”

“What?” she said, twisting her head to look at him. She
tripped over someone's foot and yelped as she started to go down. Rafe righted
her and held on tight until they reached the door. He shouldered through it and
maneuvered them outside into the cool night spring air.

Sara wrenched away from him. He immediately let her go and
she stumbled again. He reached out again to catch her before she tripped once
more over large, heavy ashtray pots just outside the door. This time, she let
herself laugh a little, though there was a somewhat desperate edge to it.

“We have to stop dancing like this.” She kept her tone light
to cover the way her hormones had sprung to life the moment she'd heard his
voice rumble by her ear.

Her wolf danced in her mind as well.

Rafe steadied her once more, this time making sure there was
nothing else she could gracefully stumble over. When he released her, his hand
lingered on her arm, sending more tantalizing shudders through her. Something
dark and feral lurked in his eyes. She had seen that look before. Each time, it
meant she was about to get naked and howl in ecstasy with this man.

The deep forest green button down he wore complemented his
eyes and the chest she longed to run her fingers over. The sexy five-o-clock
shadow still dusted his face. She wondered what it would feel like to have it
scratch over her sensitive skin as he kissed his way across her body.

She must have started to breathe more rapidly at the
thought, because his eyes darkened even more. The intoxicating scent of an
aroused wolf engulfed her. Swallowing hard, Sara let the shivers consume her
body with their languid thrill as Rafe stepped toward her.

Rafe almost swallowed his own tongue at the look Sara gave
him. The way she was dressed was already enough to make him hard. The yards of
bare skin became all the more inviting when framed in peekaboo manner by the
slight amount of clothing she wore.

Seeing that guy in there putting his hands on Sara had
pushed Rafe over the edge. Hard. After the long day—year—of tension between
them, the futile search for the unknown wolves, and his own internal
questioning whether or not he'd completely messed up any chance with her, he
finally, spectacularly, lost his famous even temper.

Now, he moved toward with a stalking grace that came
directly from his wolf, who prowled just beneath the surface.

“What were you doing back in there, Sara?” he asked in a
silken growl. Sara's eyes widened. The pulse at her neck jumped and his eyes
shot to it. Sliding his tongue between his teeth and lips, he could almost
taste her there. Sweet salt on her skin would explode through his mouth as he
traced the blood throbbing underneath, traveling heated through her veins
because of him.

“Wh-what?”

“Did you dress up for the
boys,”
he said with some disdain,
“in there, or for the wolf you knew would come for you?”

Sara's mouth opened a bit. The pulse in her neck raced and
her chest made the most intriguing things happen to the scrap of material
covering it as she began breathing faster. She shook her head as if slightly
dazed. There was no fooling Rafe's sense of smell now he was focused so
immediately on her. Knee-knocking desire radiated from every centimeter of her
luscious little body. She knew exactly what she wanted, and it was him.

 “You're coming with me,” he said, and shot his arm out
to grab her hand. She held on as he closed his grasp on her and pulled her with
him down the street. He strode past small bus benches, potted flowers set out
by the town, and other businesses, all shut for the night. The low thumping
from the bar they'd just exited spilled out behind them, along with the whoops
of the crowd inside, clearly still amped up. He wondered for a split second how
many guys Caleb had taken out by now. Then he wiped all thought from his mind
but that about the delectable woman at his side.

“Where are we going?” she asked, half running to keep up
with his long, determined strides. Excitement thrilled beneath her words.
Wherever he took her, she was in. All the way.

He turned left at the next street corner, tugging her
willing body along. His wolf stayed alert, focused on the moment.

Abruptly, he stopped. Sara collided with him, all softness
and spicy vanilla scent. He took a deep whiff of her and said, “Here.”

Sara stared into the blackness toward which he pointed.

“There?”

He turned her so she faced the dark alley completely,
nestling himself behind her. The gasp that escaped her lips soothed his wolf.
Rafe's cock throbbed against her backside as he nodded into her bright hair.

“Yes,” he breathed into her ear as he pushed against her.
“Right there. Right now.”

Chapter
9

Sara stared wide-eyed into the very dark alleyway behind
Main Street's cute little commercial storefronts. She wasn't sure if her mini
bout of hyperventilating came from the apprehensive expectation she felt at the
sight of the looming darkness before them...or from Rafe's hardness pressing
demandingly into her ass, letting her know in no uncertain terms just what he
meant to do to her in there.

“Oh,” she whispered. Rafe brushed his fingers from her wrist
to shoulder. Chills bumped out along her arms.

“Back in there, sweetheart.” His voice rasped over her. It
held an edge she'd only ever heard when he looked at her with the expression
that promised immediate gratification. The one that said his wolf was in
charge, ready to claim her in every way possible.

He nudged her, pressing his entire body length into hers.
The ridge of hardness against her ass drew a soft groan from her. Rafe
chuckled, the sound rumbling through her. She allowed him to propel her
forward, letting her sharp night vision adjust to make out shapes.

The short alleyway was remarkably clear of trash. Fire
escapes clutched the brick sides, a few large wooden crates lay neatly stacked
in a corner, and a metal grate hunkered down beside one wall halfway through.
No doorways opened up into it, which accounted for the lack of any trash. The
sometimes haphazard design of downtown had obviously left this random corner
awkwardly stuck between buildings.

Despite its cleanliness, the thought of what was about to
happen in a dark alley made Sara feel very dirty, in a very turned on way.

Her breath caught again as Rafe moved to her side, still
walking them both forward. After a quick glance around, he led them directly to
the crates and let her go. With quick movements, he unbuttoned his shirt,
pulled it over his head, and carefully laid it out over the top and front side
of the crate facing them. Without warning, he reached forward, took hold of Sara,
and swiveled her around to face him. His teeth gleamed for a split second in
warning before he suddenly hoisted her into the air.

She squeaked in surprise as her butt gently hit the shirt
covering the crate. The smooth wood below scraped gently at her bare calves.
The sensation only aroused her more, and her squeak ended on a tiny gasp. Rafe
pushed her legs apart and positioned himself between them. Cupping his hands
around her hips, he pulled her forward until her heated center pressed directly
into his very hard cock.

Completely unintelligible sounds left her mouth. Sparks
seemed to shoot out from the intensely aroused nerve endings right between her
legs as Rafe demanded closer contact. All too willing, she spread her legs more
so he could get even closer. She reached her hands around his strong, broad
back to pull him closer.

Rafe grabbed her hands before they could get there, tsk-ing
under his breath. “No way. I'm in charge now,” he said.

Liquid fire roared through her as he put her hands behind her
back and caught her wrists together in one hand. Supporting her body with his
one arm wrapped around it, he leaned her back just a little, still pressing
into her from the front.

“Tilt your head back, Sara. More,” he said in rough voice.
Shivering with anticipation, she tipped her head more deeply to the left. His
mouth came down on her throat. He licked from her collarbone to her ear, his
tongue trailing fire along the way.