“I need to know the name of the man at the end of the bar and whatever else you can tell me about him. I’m a big believer in having information at my fingertips. Holly has spoken quite fondly about you. She tells me you know everything that goes on around here. That is a taste of what you can earn,” I teased her with the possibility of a huge payoff and her eyes lit up like the fourth of July at the possibility of more of the same coming into her greedy hands.
“His name is Haven and he has become quite the regular in the last few weeks. He’s basically a mercenary for hire with a reputation to get the job done. He stays at the motel down the street but he’s never alone. Somebody with deep pockets is footing the bill for everything, including the liquor tab for him and his friends.” I had been skeptical about her ability to overhear conversations but she was proving to be a font of information.
Rough around the edges, was exactly how I would describe her, with those tattoos in various colors and designs adorning her skin. Her dark hair was shaved bald on one side with the rest combed over the other side. The nose and tongue ring had her blending into her environment. She had on a similar leather vest, but the nude cleavage was a good indication she wasn’t wearing anything under it.
“I’m going to need you to keep your eyes and ears open when he’s around. What I’m looking for is who hired him and whether or not he’s guarded. I see one man but I have this funny feeling there are others lurking in the near vicinity.” I surveyed the crowd, pinpointing one disinterested bystander nursing a beer, much the same way that Wesley was doing. I smiled knowingly, when I saw Wesley inching his way closer to the man.
“I can be persuaded to stay a little closer. Offering a free shot out of my navel will loosen his lips a little bit more. We need to stick together.” I had a
feeling she would probably only agree to one thing and that revolved around the almighty dollar.
It wasn’t long before she was lying on top of the bar with her belly button exposed. Haven took the bait and used only his mouth to suck up the shot with a look of guilty pleasure on his face. He, most likely, had been watching her for quite some time, debating on whether or not to make an approach. This would open up an avenue of conversation, essentially breaking the ice.
I grabbed Crosby from a gaggle of girls and dragged him onto the dance floor. I still hadn’t told them about my suspicion regarding a family connection to Natalie. She had played it perfectly with Wesley and somehow he hadn’t gotten a whiff of anything being out of the ordinary. He was rather trusting and believed there was good in everybody. I didn’t want to be the one to bust his bubble, when I really didn’t know anything for certain.
The birthmark could’ve been a coincidence and I was making too much of it. Crosby was a tactician and relied on his instincts to make those tough decisions. It was necessary to bring him into my confidence without alerting the others. There was no way to know how he was going to respond to a secret we shared.
I moved with him on the dance floor and he was remarkably quick on his feet. His hands on my hips made my legs quiver and the inside of my legs twitched with the obvious sexual heat emanating between us. I thought I was going to burst into flames with the combustible elements. He made me sigh, with his hands staying exactly where they were on my hips to guide my movements.
“You have this raw sensuality that’s hard to tame. There’s an animal inside of you. Don’t be scared of its influence. It’s doubtful you will become a full-fledged wolf but I’ve seen stranger things happen after the bite. Your other senses have been enhanced. Having the third eye can be a gift and a curse. Dreams like yours can’t be easily explained. I don’t want to put too much emphasis on this, but I get the feeling you’re not telling us everything.” Crosby was approaching the topic of secrets, without really knowing all the details of what was going on in my head.
His hands slithered to grab hold of my ass cheeks with my eyes widening. There was a small gasp of arousal escaping my lips. I could’ve easily pulled him into a darkened corner and mauled his body, with my fingernails leaving their mark. The idea was an intoxicating moment of indecision.
I swallowed hard, licking my lips and stealing glances at his crotch, the head on his shoulders was no longer doing the talking for him. It was rather blatant when he flexed that certain organ stretching the confines of his pants. I made my way down into the waistband, touching the bloated head, getting something sticky on my fingertips.
I brought it to my lips and moved my finger around the shape of my mouth, to apply a cream coating, before sucking on the tip. I never lost eye contact with Crosby and he didn’t try to stop me when I reached all the way in to wrap my hand around the base of his hot equipment. It was merely a teasing gesture and nobody noticed, with the crowd around us in their own little world.
“I have been keeping something from you. It’s not easy to tell you this but your fathers weren’t the heroes you made them out to be. In my dream, they demanded obedience from your mother and she had no choice but to obey. They killed her lover to make an example out of him. I know this is rather shocking to hear but that’s not the whole story,” I mentioned and waited for him to ask the poignant question on the tip of his tongue.
Distracting him with jerking motions of my fist inside his pants was a good way to keep him from getting overheated, with most of the blood running to his lower extremities. It was hard for him to think straight when he was melting under my touch.
“I really didn’t know them well enough to tout their virtues. I’m probably going to regret asking this but I need to know the whole story. Tell me everything and don’t leave anything out. I know you are doing this on purpose and I appreciate the effort but it’s not necessary.” It wasn’t just to distract him, I was having fun feeling him thrust in the enclosed space of my hands.
He was leaking profusely all over my fingers and I purposely took them out of his pants to lick each one individually. His excitement touched me deeply and I stared into his eyes with silent words of encouragement.
A heated argument broke out and I glanced over my shoulder to see Callan brandishing a pool stick.
Chapter Twenty-one
There was no escape from reality and it became quite obvious things were going to turn ugly in a hurry. Callan had gotten a little too carried away with fleecing his marks. They didn’t take kindly to being the butt of his joke and had taken it personally with hostilities inevitable. He was smiling and swinging the pool stick in a fashion that made those approaching less likely to walk straight into the onslaught.
They were biding their time and I could tell that Wesley was itching to lend a hand. Haven had become interested and with careful deliberation made his way over with a beer bottle in his hand. He got a ringside seat, sitting not more than a few feet from where they were currently hashing things out without the need for words.
The crash of broken glass perked my ears and a man stepped into the lion’s den with Callan, grinning from ear to ear. He was a biker with long gray hair and a beard to match. A tattoo of a flaming skull with blood dripping from its eyes was on his shoulder and there was something written on the back of his leather vest but I couldn’t make it out from where I was standing on the dance floor.
Suddenly, without warning, my eyes focused on the emblem on the back of his leather vest and it became vividly clear. He was part of a chapter of Hell’s Angels and they were known to have their finger in many criminal enterprises including drugs and prostitution. Prosecutors had been trying for years to rid their communities of this scourge but they always managed to show up in another chapter in a different part of the continent.
“I don’t like to be cheated. You made a grave error by coming in here tonight. I thought you were just lucky but nobody is that lucky. You played me for a fool and I can’t stand here and let you get away with it. It would show weakness in front of my brothers. No offense, but you need to be taken care of with extreme prejudice.” I could tell the biker gang member was trying to save face but couldn’t think of any other solution than showing off his skills with the broken beer bottle as his only means of a weapon.
“I would say it was beginners luck but I don’t think you would believe me. The only thing that makes you look weak is trying to puff out your chest when you lose. This isn’t going to end well for you. I’m willing to turn the other cheek and we can forget this ever happened,” Callan offered but I had a feeling there was a method to his madness and it became quite apparent when Haven shuffled forward in his chair.
“The only way this ends is with one of us not walking out of here tonight. Let’s not make this any more difficult than it has to be. I’m going to cut you and send you to the emergency room.” His toothy grin was going to be his downfall and he was already choreographing his moves, with Callan simply standing there waiting for him to strike.
It was an interesting talent to make a tense situation. The beer bottle swung and Callan took a step back to avoid the shards of broken glass cutting into his skin. Even a small nick could cause an arterial spray and he would be dead within seconds.
He thrust the back end of the pool stick into the biker’s stomach and swung it around to crack it against his ear in one fluid motion. It was a blur not seen with the naked eye but somehow I could slow it down to slow motion.
This was a brave new world for me and I was walking the path less traveled. My men had my undivided attention but they were blind to what was right in front of their eyes. They didn’t want to see it until it was too late and it was up to me to shield them from the truth. What gave me the right to protect them when they were considered Alpha? I had broken the cardinal rule of getting too close but I couldn’t help it and felt no regret for walking into this unusual relationship with both eyes wide open.