CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Miss Devereaux?”

Looking up from where she’d been cleaning her station, Mila took in the lean, balding, slickly dressed male walking toward her. His scent reached her first. Human. That meant he’d believe that she, too, was human. His smile was open and polite, but her gut told her he was as sneaky as a cockroach in a Michelin-star restaurant. “That’s me.”

His smile widened, flashing a set of gleaming white veneers. “My name is Emmet Pierson. I’m an attorney.”

Well, fuck. This was just what she damn needed. Someone had snapped photos of her and Dominic together when they were walking down the street yesterday, and those photos were uploaded to the internet. Dominic—who was currently at the deli across the street getting them lunch—hadn’t been happy about it, concerned that Pierson would see the pictures and then target her in some way. She didn’t care that the bastard had approached her; she cared that Dominic would feel responsible.

Picking up on Mila’s agitation, her cat sat up straight. Hopefully he didn’t start talking smack about Dominic, because the feline wouldn’t handle it well. The last thing Mila needed was her eyes flashing cat, giving away that she wasn’t human.

Feigning ignorance, Mila echoed, “Attorney? Am I being served papers or something?”

“No, nothing like that,” he assured her. “This isn’t a legal matter. I was hoping you and I could talk. There’s a coffeehouse just across the street.”

Like she’d go anywhere with this asshole. “That’s not possible, I’m afraid. My next client will be arriving soon. Why don’t you tell me what this is about?”

He cast a glance at Evander, who was stacking shelves and looking for all the world like he wasn’t paying them a lick of attention, but she knew the male cat would be listening to every word. She also knew he’d leap on the fucker if Pierson proved to be a physical threat. Well, Evander would try. Mila would get there first.

“It’s regarding my daughter, Rosemary. She is a latent shifter; her inner wolf has been in a deep sleep all her life.”

Mila tilted her head. “I didn’t realize latent animals slept. I thought they were just unable to surface.”

Pierson’s smile went a little hard around the edges. “That is only in some instances.” He smoothed a hand down his black suit jacket. “Two articles were recently posted online about her devastating circumstances. Have you not read or heard of them?”

“I don’t keep up with the news. It’s all sad and depressing.”

“True enough. I will give you a quick rundown of the situation. Rosemary’s husband divorced her when she was unable to conceive a child, so she was already in a fragile emotional state when she came across her true mate. He could have made her so much better. Instead, he made her worse. Rejected her for being unable to shift. She tried to commit suicide.” His breath hitched just a little too dramatically. “She’s doing better. She started talking again, although she doesn’t say much and still spends long periods of time simply staring at the wall.”

Struggling to keep her tone even, Mila said, “While I sympathize, I’m not sure how this relates to me.”

Pierson took a deep breath and straightened the lapels of his jacket. “It has come to my attention that you are involved with a male shifter from the Phoenix Pack.”

“Dominic, yeah.”

“He is Rosemary’s true mate.” He threw out the sentence like it was a bomb, and her cat predictably rumbled a menacing growl, lashing out with her claws. “He didn’t just reject her, Miss Devereaux. No, he swept her off her feet and formed a true-mate bond with her. Then he threw her away. Perhaps it was all a game to him, or perhaps he couldn’t stand the weakness that she possesses as a latent shifter.”

It was becoming harder and harder not to pop this guy right in the face. Silently encouraging her cat to stay hidden, Mila said, “It doesn’t make sense that Dominic would ever hold prejudice against latent shifters. His Alpha female was once latent.”

“Then it was simply a game for him. He hasn’t even visited Rosemary since she tried to kill herself. Hasn’t expressed an ounce of remorse and refuses to admit that she’s his true mate.”

“And you’re sure that she is?”

Pierson’s eyes hardened. “Rosemary recognized him as hers.”

Mila shrugged. “It’s not uncommon for people to make that kind of mistake. They can confuse infatuation with—”

“It was no mistake,” he clipped, his tone leaving no room for argument. But Mila got the feeling that he very simply needed to be right. Needed to have someone to blame other than himself for what had happened to Rosemary.

Lifting her chin, Mila said, “I’m sorry, but I find it difficult to believe that Dominic would ever do the cruel things you’re accusing him of. Plus, if his animal was truly mated to another, I doubt it would accept my presence in his life.”

Pierson took a step toward her. “I came here to give you a friendly warning. This is not a man—if you could even call him a man—that you should want in your life. To him, women are objects. Toys. He has no respect for them. And he’ll hurt you just as he’s hurt others. If you have any sense, you’ll get rid of him.”

“I appreciate the warning.” Mila tipped her head toward the door, gesturing for him to go.

Nostrils flaring, he said, “Be smart, Miss Devereaux. Don’t let this creature ruin your life.”

Baring a fang, her cat lashed her tail like a whip. “You’re not really concerned for me. There’s another reason you want me to separate from him. What is it?” But Mila already knew. Pierson had decided that if his daughter couldn’t have Dominic, nobody could. Not just as revenge for Rosemary, but because he didn’t want Dominic to be happy. She also had the feeling that Pierson would carry on this hate campaign for years if he wasn’t somehow stopped.

“There are plenty of reasons why you should cut him from your life. Only one of those pathetic shifter groupies wouldn’t see that.”

Mila’s gaze snapped to the door as it swung open, letting in a stream of traffic noise and the scents of hot bread, meat, and peppers as Dominic stepped inside, deli bag in hand. His blue gaze was hard and intent on Pierson, who went tense as a guitar string the moment he noticed the newcomer.

Sensing her male’s anger, Mila’s cat became even more agitated. Dominic’s body language was casual and relaxed, but he was spilling a dark, ominous energy that almost clotted the air. It was like being in the same space as a jungle animal while it lazed in the grass, watchful and alert—you were acutely aware of the threat they presented and knew that their cool composure could change at any given moment. It was intense enough to make anyone feel like prey, even a female as dominant as Mila.

Settling his focus on her, Dominic prowled toward her, each step slow and predatory. Any anger had been swiftly buried and, God, she seriously envied his ability to be so emotionally unreactive in shitty situations.

“You’re back,” said Mila with a smile. “Good, I’m starving.” Knowing she needed to get him away from the human before he could provoke Dominic into doing something notable for his next bullshit article, she grabbed Dominic’s arm, intending to lead him to the break room. Evander would get rid of—

“I guess you are a shifter groupie after all,” Pierson sneered at her.

Just like that, Dominic’s posture went from deceptively casual to blatantly menacing. Mila closed her eyes. Shit.

With an overwhelming drive to protect and defend buzzing through his veins, Dominic placed his body between Mila and Pierson. His wolf’s chest rattled with a guttural growl as he stood snarling at the human, the animal’s legs quivering with the need to lunge. Dominic could have ignored practically anything the human tossed out, but not an insult to his woman. Never that. “You need to be gone,” he said, his tone cool and calm.

The bastard really didn’t get how much of a fuckup he’d made. It was one thing for the human to play games with Dominic; it was a whole other thing to involve Mila. Coming to her place of work and breathing her air was going too far for Dominic and his wolf.

If Pierson was a shifter, he’d have understood that. He’d have understood just how hard he was pushing by paying a visit to Dominic’s woman and letting this shit touch her. Shifters had killed for less.

“It’s you who doesn’t belong here,” sniped Pierson, his voice shaky with an apprehension he was striving to hide. “This isn’t shifter territory. You’ve got enough of your own species chasing after you—you don’t need to be polluting the lives of humans.”

Dominic took an aggressive step toward him but kept his voice low as he said, “Hear me, Pierson. You. Need. To. Go.”

“I second that,” said Evander, moving closer.

Mila fisted the back of Dominic’s shirt. “Don’t let him provoke you. He wants you to lay your hands on him. He wants you to throw him out.”

“I know that, baby.”

Maybe it was simply Dominic’s use of the endearment, maybe it was the way his voice had softened—Dominic wasn’t sure. But Pierson’s spine snapped straight, his hands balled into fists, and his face turned red and mottled.

“Damn you, you have a mate lying in a fucking hospital bed!” Pierson burst out. “Can you really be so heartless as to—”

“Your daughter knows she’s not my true mate,” Dominic clipped. “She spun you a tale, and you bought it. You bought it because you wanted to.”

Pierson’s nostrils flared like a bull’s. “I have—”

“You wanted there to be something or someone that could stop her mental state from deteriorating,” said Dominic. “But by buying into her fantasies, you made them more real for her. You see that now. You feel you’re partially to blame for her attempt at suicide, but you can’t face that, so you’re displacing the blame.” Mila had pointed that out, and she’d been right.

“All you had to do was mate with her!” Pierson snapped. “That’s it!”

Dominic flexed his hands, fighting the urge to grab the bastard by the throat. His wolf wanted to mangle and maim the human. “You’re still not hearing me.”

Mila smoothed her hand up Dominic’s back. “He’s hearing you. He just doesn’t want to hear you. Like his daughter, he finds life more comfortable if he only believes what he wants to believe.”

In one slow stride, Dominic covered the space between him and the human. “You’re done here, Pierson. You’re going to leave now. You’re going to leave, and you’re going to stay away. You won’t come near Mila again.”

“Or what?” challenged Pierson, his eyes flickering with anxiety.

“Or you’ll make yourself a lot of enemies.” Dominic’s pack, a pride of pallas cats, a bunch of wolverines—people whom the human didn’t have a hope in hell of taking on. People who would make Pierson pay one way or another, and not necessarily with violence. His life would be worth shit. And since cats were notorious for holding grudges, the pride would make him pay for a while.

Pierson jutted out his chin. “I’m sure the public will enjoy hearing how I came here in peace only to be threatened and forcibly thrown out.”

“We have CCTV footage,” said Evander, looking mildly bored. He whipped his phone out of his pocket. “I also took the liberty of recording the entire conversation. I’d think twice before you make things worse than you already have, if I were you.”

Clamping his lips shut, Pierson cast a glare at all three of them. And Dominic saw the warning there—he wasn’t done. The human stormed out of the barbershop before anyone could say another word.

“I texted Tate to give him a heads-up about Pierson,” said Evander. “He’ll follow the asshole to his car and make sure he leaves without any delay.”

“You really recorded the conversation?” Mila asked.

Evander nodded. “When he introduced himself as Emmet Pierson, I figured there was a good chance he’d later twist whatever happened here, so I took precautions.” With that, Evander turned back to the shelves.

Stroking his hand over Mila’s hair, Dominic dropped a kiss on her mouth. His wolf pushed up against her, needing her scent to calm him. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” She sighed. “I knew he’d turn up eventually and try to talk to me, ‘one human to another.’”

“How’s your cat?”

“She’ll be calmer when you are.”

Dominic brushed his nose against hers. “I wanted to kill the fucker. He had no right to come here. No right to drag you into this. I should have—”

“Don’t even start with the ‘I should have stayed away from you’ shit. It’s not your fault. Pierson chose to up his level of asshole-ness. Besides, you would have pined without me. A grown man pining is not attractive.”

Lips quirking, Dominic echoed, “Pining? I don’t pine.”

“Hmm.”

He curled his hand around her chin. “You sure you’re all right?”

“Yep,” she said. “Just supremely hungry. Feed me.”

He held up the deli bag. “What do I get in return?”

She snatched it out of his hand. “Duh. My stimulating company.”

Sitting across from Jesse in the Velvet Lounge that evening, Dominic waited impatiently for Mila to come onstage. The VIP area was much less crowded than the main floor, featuring only a handful of booths and tables. Aside from the two solo drinkers at the small bar, the VIP patrons were talking, laughing, snapping photos, and bobbing their heads to the music. It wasn’t so loud that people had to shout into each other’s ears to be heard, but it was enough for Dominic to feel the beat of the bass beneath his shoes.

Jesse sighed as one of his pack mates led a skimpily dressed female away from the stage after she tried climbing onto it. “Someone always gives it a shot, without fail.”

It made Dominic feel better to know that anyone who attempted to hop up there while Mila was performing would be swiftly dealt with.

Jesse’s gaze dropped to the neckline of Dominic’s shirt. “You know, if you hadn’t tugged your collar aside and given me a look at Mila’s brand earlier, I’d find it hard to believe you were wearing one. It’s even weirder knowing you marked Mila too. I saw her mark—it’s pretty distinctive, not to mention highly visible. Which makes me think that your branding her wasn’t just possessiveness; it was a declaration of intent.”

“She’s mine, she needs to know it. Other people need to know it.”

“I’m glad you followed my advice and persevered when she turned you down.”

Dominic frowned. “You told me to give up.”

“I was using reverse psychology, so technically, I was encouraging you.”

Mouth curving, Dominic snorted. “Whatever.” Picking up his bottle, he took a long swig, letting the cold beer slide down his throat.

“Do you think you might imprint on each other?”

“Honestly, I’m not a person who thinks too much about what the future holds. I try to enjoy the now.” Like he’d told Mila, they’d let this play out and see where it took them.

“Just be aware that imprinting can begin without any prompting from you or Mila. It might take you by surprise.”

Dominic tilted his head. “Did it take you and Harley by surprise?”

“Not at all. From the time I was a juvenile, I knew she’d be mine one day. I wasn’t ready back then—in fact, I was a fucking mess.” Idly spinning a cardboard coaster that was stained by a condensation ring, Jesse sighed. “Even though we had history and a good foundation to build on, imprinting didn’t start straightaway. I’d hoped that the claiming bite would be enough to trigger it, but it wasn’t.”

“You put a claiming mark on her before you’d imprinted?”

Jesse winced. “Yeah. It was shitty, I know, since claiming bites don’t fade. If we’d parted ways, she’d have had to look at it in the mirror every day for the rest of her life. But I had no intention of letting her go. I’d have done whatever it took to keep her.”

“How long did it take for imprinting to begin?”

“A few months, but it’s not the same for every couple. Imprinting can happen fast, slow . . . can even take years. The females of my pack believe that for the couple to fully imprint, they need to have the building blocks of a lasting relationship—trust, respect, loyalty, acceptance, love—but that the process can start before all those emotions come into play. The first sign is when you find you’re wearing each other’s scent. Then you start to feel small echoes of each other’s emotions. But it’s so much stronger when the bond fully forms.”

The DJ said Mila’s name over the loudspeaker, and the crowd immediately started hooting. Dominic’s body tightened as, mic in hand, she breezed onto the stage in that catlike way she had. His wolf perked up, no longer brooding that she wasn’t close by. She flicked a brief look at Dominic and gave him an enigmatic smile just before she launched into a song.

“Seriously, she’s got an amazing voice,” said Jesse. “It’s just effortless for her. She’s also got a strong stage presence.”

“And she’s all mine.” The satisfaction of that went bone deep.

Jesse chuckled. “Never thought I’d see the day when you said those words.”

Silence fell as they watched her perform. As usual, Dominic found himself absolutely blown away by her innate talent and those smoky, scratchy vocals that drove him crazy. He wanted nothing more than to drag her off that stage and shove his cock inside her, to drown himself in all that passion, and reassert his claim on her. His wolf was all for that idea.

“Is it true that Mila has already met her predestined mate?”

His eyes snapping back to Jesse, Dominic stilled. “Where did you hear that?”

“Taryn told Shaya, who then told Harley, who then told me. They don’t know the details, though. Taryn said you just hinted at it.”

He should have remembered that Taryn, being best friends with Shaya, told the woman everything. “Yes, she has. I’ve met him.”

Jesse blinked. “You met him?”

“He joined her pride after he imprinted on one of her cousins.” Dominic slid his gaze back to Mila as he continued. “He has a subconscious draw to be close to Mila and protect her, so he hangs around her a little too much.”

“Fuck, that’s got to be hard on her.”

“It is. Her cat loathes the fucker.”

“Imprinting bonds can fade, though,” Jesse pointed out. “That’s why they’re a double-edged sword. Yeah, it means you have a way out if you need one. But it also means she has a way out. If Mila’s true mate ever splits from her cousin, he might then sense that Mila’s his—the imprinting bond won’t be there to block the frequency of the true-mate bond anymore. He could try claiming her.”

Like Dominic would let that happen. “Wouldn’t make any difference to Mila or her cat. They don’t want him. Mila doesn’t hate him, but she doesn’t pine for him either. He broke something in her cat, and she’ll never forgive him for that. Plus, I think she’d feel he’d regard her as second best, since he initially chose Adele—Mila wouldn’t do second best.”

“So his presence doesn’t make you or your wolf feel threatened?”

“No. You’d think it would, wouldn’t you? But it doesn’t. Maybe it’s because Mila’s not someone who’d tolerate possessiveness from just anyone. And she admitted she’s never marked anyone before.” He drained the last of his bottle. “I hate that Joel has rights to her—it doesn’t matter that he can’t claim them, they’re still there—but maybe I don’t feel threatened by him because she chose me. She didn’t leave this mark on me because she felt compelled to do it by the mating urge. She did it because I’m her choice.”

“I get what you mean,” said Jesse. “It gives you a sense of security. And it’s good that you’re not letting jealousy be a factor or that you feel like you’re somehow competing with him because of what he could have been to her. Harley sometimes got hung up on the fact that she’s not my other half. And she’s not. But she’s my center. Mila can be that for you, if you let her.”

The Mercury enforcer held up a hand and added, “I’m not saying you should, nor am I trying to push you. If you want to take it one day at a time, fine. But that might change, so I’m going to share with you the advice that Nick gave me. He said that if I wanted to imprint on Harley, I’d have to drop all my protective walls and give her all of me, said I’d have to be sure I could do that before I demanded anything from her or gave her any promises.”

Which couldn’t possibly be as simple as it sounded. “Was it hard?”

“Damn right, it was. I didn’t think I’d struggle so much to open up to her. I didn’t even realize I was still holding a part of myself back until she almost died right in front of me. In the long run, emotionally protecting myself made her physically vulnerable.”

Pausing, Jesse gave him a searching look. “You’re open in a lot of ways, but you’re closed off in others. If you ever find yourself wanting to imprint on Mila, you can’t give her only the parts you choose to give her. You can’t hide behind walls or masks. You have to expose your vulnerabilities, fears, secrets, and personal pain. She’ll be someone who knows you inside out, and that’s something you have to be comfortable with or an imprinting bond won’t form.

“A partial imprint won’t be enough for your animal or hers, which means both will eventually withdraw from the relationship. Then you’d be forced to end it whether you wanted to or not. In other words, there’s a lot riding on whether you have what it takes to imprint on her.”

At that moment, the song came to an end. But, encouraged by the crowd, Mila quickly launched into another. Pride flooded Dominic at how much raw talent she possessed, watching the dancers react so crazily to her. An instrumental break started, and, like last time, Harley stepped forward with her electric violin.

Charlene appeared and placed two fresh bottles of beer on the table. “Here you go, boys.” She looked down at Dominic, her brow creased. “I haven’t heard from you since you hung up on me the other day. Everything all right?”

“Fine,” he replied, his voice a little curt. He’d originally planned to immediately confront Charlene about her attempts to warn Mila away from him when he got to the club, but she hadn’t been there when he arrived. Looking at her now, he decided to play dumb instead, interested in what she’d say and do.

She glanced at the stage, and her lips thinned. “I don’t need to ask what’s brought you back here. I saw that you were photographed with her recently, so I’m guessing you haven’t given up trying to seduce her yet. She’s wearing someone’s mark, sweetie.”

“I know.” It clearly hadn’t occurred to Charlene that Dominic had been the one to put the mark there. He let his gaze drift back to Mila. It was impossible for him to look away from her for long. He loved watching her, loved knowing he owned that talented creature up there.

“And I see that you’re not going to let the mark bother you.” Charlene huffed. “Well, she’s a fool for turning you down over and over. You don’t think she’s playing some kind of game, do you? Trying to push you into chasing her, which would give her the upper hand?” There was the slightest note of distaste in her voice as she spoke of Mila, and it made his wolf snarl.

“Mila doesn’t play games.”

“I agree she doesn’t seem like someone who would. I just can’t see why she’d reject that pretty face of yours.”

“When she has people warning her that I won’t give her a happily-ever-after, it’s no wonder she didn’t tumble straight into my arms, is it?”

The fox’s eyes flickered.

“Who’s been saying that shit to her?” demanded Jesse.

“People with too much time on their hands,” said Dominic.

Charlene danced her fingertips over his nape. “To be fair to them, you’re not a relationship kind of guy.”

Dominic nudged her hand away from his neck, making her brow pucker. Neither he nor his wolf wanted her touching him. “You once said the same thing about yourself, Charlene. Now you’re mated. People change.”

“Yes, they do,” she said, putting his and Jesse’s empty bottles on her tray. “I keep telling you that you’re too old to be chasing skirts. You should let me set you up with a friend of mine.”

“Don’t need your help, Charlene.”

“You don’t need my help to score, no, but you do need help convincing nice girls that you’re not a player. Pierson’s articles certainly didn’t aid your case. Have you had any more trouble from him?”

He cast her a hard look. “That’s pack business.”

She rolled her eyes. “Fine, don’t tell me. At least let me introduce you to my friend.”

“Like I said, I don’t need your help.”

“Yes, but what you want—”

“Is standing right there on that stage.”

Oh, that seemed to piss the fox off. “Surely you’re not still holding out hope that she’ll throw some crumbs your way,” Charlene snarked. “I never had you down as a sucker for punishment. Where’s your pride?”

A growl rumbled out of him that took her off guard. “Careful.”

Jesse’s eyes turned cold and flinty. “Charlene, I know you have a job to do. I’m confused as to why you’re not doing it.”

Cheeks reddening with what was probably a mix of embarrassment and irritation, the fox stalked off.

“What is her problem?” Jesse asked him.

“Don’t know, don’t care.”

“Why didn’t you tell her that you’re with Mila?”

“Because I don’t have to explain myself to her.”

“You’re pissed at Charlene for something,” Jesse sensed. “What did she do?”

“She was the person who warned Mila away from me.” Shaking off his anger, Dominic clapped along with everyone else as the song reached its end and both female performers took a bow.

“Did you ever pursue Charlene?” asked Jesse, his gaze speculative.

“Didn’t need to,” replied Dominic, picking up his fresh beer bottle.

“Okay, I’ll put it another way. Have you pursued anyone other than Mila?”

“No.”

“Maybe that’s Charlene’s problem,” Jesse mused. “She’s happily mated, but her ego will have a problem with seeing you go after Mila when you didn’t invest any time or energy in pursuing her. Foxes can be pretty vindictive, and they’re highly competitive.”

Dominic took a swig of his beer. “I doubt it’s that.”

“Don’t forget, Charlene is known as the female you had the longest fling with. She takes a certain pride in that, especially since so many females set out to tame you and consistently fail. There’s a rumor that you won’t commit to anyone because Charlene broke your heart when she dumped you and later mated with Lennie. Charlene obviously hasn’t disabused anyone of that belief because it remains a rumor. It’s something else she’d probably get a kick out of.”

“She just offered to set me up with one of her friends.”

“And if it worked out, she could—in a roundabout way—take credit for ‘taming’ you, since she set the whole thing up. On the other hand, she might purposely match you with someone you wouldn’t gel with. Who knows?” His eyes snapped to something over Dominic’s shoulder, and he smiled. “Ah, here are our girls.”

Our girls.Dominic liked the sound of that. Having put down their bottles, both he and Jesse stood as their “girls” hopped up the small set of steps leading to the VIP area. Dominic spared only a brief smile for Harley, who went straight to her mate. His attention was on the feline behind her, whose eyes were as bright as her smile—she always looked drunk on adrenaline after a performance.

Dominic hauled Mila close and kissed her, licking into her mouth, devouring her. Was it weird that he’d missed her? Probably. They hadn’t been apart long, but she centered him somehow. He didn’t care to overthink it. “Flawless performance, as always. Gotta say, baby, every time I see you up there, all I can think about is fucking you.”

“Classy feedback,” said Mila, smoothing her hands up his arms.

He chuckled, splaying a possessive hand on the small of her back. “Isn’t it, though?” He kissed her again, so fucking greedy for her he almost shook with it. His wolf drank in her scent and touch. “Love your taste.” He brushed her hair over her shoulder, baring her neck, and pressed a kiss to the bite there. Yeah, he wanted all the people he could feel watching them to understand it was his mark.

Mila’s mouth twitched. “I think you made your point to all the gawkers.”

Sitting, he pulled her onto his lap. “Just wanted to be sure there’d be no misunderstandings.”

Jesse caught his eye and slid his gaze toward the bar. In the reflection of the mirrored wall behind the bar, Dominic could make out the sour look on Charlene’s face as she plonked down the tray. She started talking in angry whispers to one of the lone drinkers at the bar, as if she knew him well. Dominic frowned. He recognized the male. Thought maybe he’d seen him at the barber—

“You’ve caught quite a bit of attention, Dominic,” said Harley, her eyes twinkling.

Mila hummed. “I’ll bet plenty of tongues are wagging right now.”

Dominic nipped Mila’s ear. “There’s only one tongue I’m interested in. It’s a very talented tongue. I know it wants to lick my cock—I don’t know why you won’t let it. That’s just mean.”

She shrugged, giving him a look of mock sympathy. “I’m a pallas cat, sweetie. We’re all mean.”

“What if I give my cock the most thorough wash it’s ever had and make sure it’s really clean?”

“It wouldn’t make a difference.”

He grinned. “Ah, I see, my baby likes to suck dirty cocks.”

Shaking her head at his idiocy, she grabbed his beer. “Like I’ve said before: hopeless.”

“Hey, I’m here to fulfill your every fantasy. If what you want is to suck—” He cut off with a groan as she swirled her tongue around the neck of his bottle. “Ah, that’s not fair.”

“As my mother would say, ‘Fair? What is fair? I not know this word.’”

Jesus, his cock throbbed at her smoky voice speaking in that thick Russian accent. Dominic crushed her to him. “Say that again.”

Laughing, she nipped his ear. “I want to dance. You coming?”

“Coming? Later. Hopefully a couple of times.”

Rolling her eyes, she slid off his lap. “Always have sex on the brain, don’t you?”

“Around you, yeah.”

With his front pressed against her back and one arm looped around her, he steered her through the club. As they were nearing the dance floor, Mila picked up a flash of red in her peripheral vision just as someone called out in delight, “Dominic!”

He twisted quickly, keeping Mila in front of him so that she stood between him and the other female, who came to an abrupt halt. “Eden,” he greeted simply.

Mila felt her scalp prickle. The brunette didn’t even look at her in spite of the fact that he was wrapped around Mila like a freaking victory flag. No, Eden just eyed him like he was candy while smoothing a hand down her red dress. Going by her lustful, nostalgic smile, she knew him biblically. Ugh.

Intellectually, Mila understood why the female wasn’t deterred by her presence. It wasn’t disrespect on Eden’s part; it was that it would simply never occur to her that Dominic thought of Mila as more than tonight’s entertainment. Still, she was pissed. Dammit, he was hers. Her cat bared a fang, wanting to peel off the bitch’s flesh. “How are you?” Eden purred.

“Fine,” he said, his tone even. “Have you met my Mila?”

The brunette stilled, and then her brows shot up so high, they almost hit her hairline. “Your Mila?” Her gaze dropped to Mila, and her smile faltered. “No, I haven’t. Although you do look familiar.” Her gaze then cut to where Dominic’s fingertip was circling the bite on Mila’s neck. Lips parting in shock, Eden blinked at him. “So, wow, I did not see this coming. Like ever.” She moved closer, reaching out to touch his shoulder. “I mean—”

“Lower your fucking hand,” said Mila, her voice cold as frost. “Hey, I get it. Dominic didn’t do commitment before now. It’s hard to believe he’s suddenly changed. Hard to truly respect that mark on my neck when you’re not convinced it has any real meaning. Well, it has meaning to me. And unless you want me to jam a chair leg so far up your skinny ass that you’ll be forced to choke on your own shit, you need to back the fuck up . . . fast.”

Shuffling ever so slightly backward, Eden lowered her hand and swallowed nervously. “I remember you now. You’re the one who hurt my pride mate, Randal, a few weeks back at Enigma. You smashed a barstool so hard over his head, you fractured his skull. He’s doing okay now, in case you were wondering.”

“I wasn’t.” The male tiger had tried slipping a drug into Mila’s drink—he’d had it coming. “You can go now.”

Eden looked from Dominic to Mila. “Enjoy your evening.” She sashayed away, but Mila’s cat didn’t relax.

He put his mouth to her ear. “Did you really hit her pride mate over the head with a barstool?”

Her mouth quirked at the mix of pride and humor in his voice. “Twice,” she replied.

Chuckling, he patted her ass. “Get moving.”

On the dance floor, the mass of bodies bopped, gyrated, and swayed as they laughed, kissed, and hooted. He caught Mila’s nape and pulled her flush against him, splaying his free hand on her ass. His cock, hard and full, dug into her stomach, reminding her what it felt like to have him inside her.

She hooked her arms around his neck as they swayed. Writhed. Grinded. His mouth alternated between devouring hers and ravishing her neck. Each nip was like a whip of pleasure to her clit.

He thumbed her nipple as he sucked the hollow beneath her ear. “Are you wet for me?”

“You know I am.”

“Shame we’re not somewhere like Enigma right now.” The nightclub was exclusive to shifters and allowed full sexual contact—even on the dance floor itself. “I could take you in front of everybody, so they’d know who you belonged to.”

She slanted her head. “I wouldn’t have thought your wolf would like the idea of you making me come in front of other people.”

“He wouldn’t be too happy about that part, but he likes that others would get the message that you’re taken.”

She frowned. “I really don’t think that your fucking me on the dance floor would seem at all territorial.” She doubted he was new at that activity.

“No, but anyone watching would see me bite you.” Her pupils swallowed the color in her eyes, and Dominic smiled. “You like that idea.”

She just shrugged one shoulder, nonchalant.

“Hmm. Maybe I should bite you right here and now. Just because.”

“That’s really not—” She hissed as his teeth sank down on her neck. There wasn’t just territorialism in that move. There was an assertion of dominance that made her cat buck. His teeth bit harder, as if to hold her still, and he ground his cock against her.

Gasping, Mila pricked his nape with her claws. And as a mix of possessiveness, defiance, and pleasure whipped through her, she involuntarily raked his nape hard enough to draw blood—hard enough to leave a permanent mark. Oh shit.

As he pulled back to meet her gaze, Mila said, “I am so, so sorry. I didn’t mean—”

Snapping his hand on her throat, he took her mouth with a growl. The kiss was hard and hungry and out of control. “Now we leave. I need to be in you.”

She licked her lips. “Yeah, now we leave.”