“Stop flirting with my mate, asshole, or I’ll rearrange that smile for you,” Hunter warns, but there is a tone of camaraderie in his voice. “Dakota, this is Dixon, and as you can tell, he’s not just vain but an impatient cad who doesn’t wait to be introduced.”
So, this is Dixon. From what I remember, he’s the one who people confess their secrets to. I now understand why. He has an open, friendly face that makes you want to smile and trust him.
“Hi, nice to meet you.”
“The pleasure is all mine.” I guess it’s not just Hunter with the sweet talking. Seems like Dixon is just as bad.
“Come, darling, let’s go inside. I will show you around later. For now, I want to introduce you to King and then all the guys,” Hunter says as he takes my much-smaller hand in his one. I hadn’t noticed before how much bigger Hunter is to me, but now looking down at our hands, I see how his hand engulfs mine. Everything about him speaks of danger, but I have seen his caring side when he spoke of the MC and all the men who now surround us.
My mind is so focused on Hunter that I didn’t realize we had come to a stop just inside the door. Before us is a group of men. If I thought Hunter radiated danger, then the man standing before the group of men is positively danger personified. His midnight-black hair, unlike most of the other men, is shorter and just touches his neck. His green eyes seem to penetrate my soul as he looks at me. I know without being introduced that I’m about to meet King.
“King, this is my mate, Dakota,” Hunter introduces. He lets go of my hand and places his on the small of my back. I feel his thumb start to stroke soothingly.
“Dakota, do you know what we are?” His voice is low, a quality of authority there. I don’t think anyone would dare not follow this man’s command.
“Yes.”
“As Hunter’s mate, you will abide by our rules. You will live here with us, and you will never disclose anything about us to anyone. Do you understand?”
I look up at Hunter and see that he is looking over at me. When our eyes meet, he nods, his thumb still stroking soothingly, a soft look in his eyes. I know that Hunter and I will fight throughout this strange relationship of ours, but no matter how I fight it, I know that what he says is true. There is a bond between us that I can’t ignore. I have a need to be close to him. When he doesn’t touch me, I crave his touch. Whatever this bond is that he talks about between us, it’s real.
“Yes,” I answer, and King nods, and then his whole demeanour changes as he smiles. Damn, the man is hot. Looking behind him, I realize that what that client said about them all being to die for is true. They radiate an aura of danger as they stand here looking at me, tough men, fighting men. Some with clear signs that they are fighters and not just lovers, because one thing I’m sure of as I look at these men is that they are lovers, and if anything like Hunter, good lovers at that.
I can feel myself blush as I’m scrutinized by all these men, but then King takes a step towards me and I freeze. He might look more relaxed and not as foreboding as earlier, but I still feel wary in his presence. “Welcome to the Wolverine MC and to our pack, Dakota. You are now one of us.” The way he states those words, it sounds like a decree.
“Thank you,” I say, and then jump in surprise when he leans down and kisses my forehead. What a strange thing for a biker to do. Kissing someone’s forehead is a sign of respect, something that I would never have expected a dangerous-looking biker like King to do.
He steps to my side and then punches Hunter in the arm. “You did well,” he states, which has Hunter smiling like a loon and nodding.
“She’s a bomb, isn’t she?” he says.
“I’m right here,” I mutter, which has the men laughing, and then a big mountain of a man steps before me.
“That’s right, Hunter,” King says as he pushes him playfully. “Have some manners.” And then he looks at me and smiles disarmingly. “Let’s ignore Hunter for a minute now, shall we, darling? I’ll introduce you to the rest of the men.” I hear Hunter mutter good-naturedly, which has me smiling at their camaraderie.
“Standing before you is Goliath. Don’t be overwhelmed by his size. He’s a softy.” At King’s presentation, the men start chuckling. One of them starts to purr, which has me grinning as I see Goliath’s scowl.
“Wow, thanks, King. Make me sound like a fucking pussy,” he grunts, but there is a twinkle in his hazel eyes that tells me he is enjoying the teasing. His long brown hair is tied back in a man bun, which enhances his masculine features. Goliath definitely fits his name; the man is a giant. Not only is he taller than all the men here besides King, but he’s brawnier than all of them. His biceps are enhanced by the way his arms are crossed over his chest.
“Don’t worry, no one would ever mistake you for a softy,” I state, which has his eyes returning to mine, and then he grins. These men definitely have sex appeal. I’ll vouch for that. Darn, it’s like I fell into every woman’s dream.
“Well, honey, it looks like you are definitely the diplomat in your bond. One thing about Hunter is that he doesn’t think before he speaks.” At Goliath’s comment, the other men agree.
“Wow, thanks,” Hunter mumbles behind me, which has me grinning.
“Next we have Dash over there.” I look towards where King is pointing and find a green-eyed devil smiling at me. His copper-coloured hair is windblown, his light-green eyes roving over my body as if I’m dinner. His grin is as mischievous as he is as he looks behind me.
“I think it was a mistake when you were paired, dude. She is way too much for you. I think she is way better suited for me,” he quips, which has Hunter stepping next to me. Looking up, I see a scowl on his face, The cheerful-go-lucky Hunter gone, and in his place, the dangerous Hunter I know is under that easy façade.
“Easy, asshole, just checking that your balls are still in place, as I couldn’t see you hiding there behind your mate,” Dash quips, his smile still in place.
“Fuck you,” Hunter mutters, but I clearly see him relaxing. “There is no problem here.” His arm slides around my waist, and he draws me closer to his side.
“Now that that is out of the way, let’s introduce you to Frost,” King states as he points at the guy standing next to Dash. There is a scowl on this one’s face, as if a dark cloud is hanging over him. A scar is evident from across his forehead and down to his eyebrow. If it weren’t for his mean demeanour, he would be very handsome, but his angry image has me wanting to stay away from him. His dark-brown eyes seem to look right through me, his dark-brown hair not as long as most of the men’s here, but still slightly longer than King’s.
“Hi,” I say to see if he will smile, but he just nods. I wonder what it would take for him to crack a smile.
“Don’t mind him. He’s always cranky,” another guy says from just behind Frost, which has Frost lifting his hand and showing him the finger. The others grin.