Unfortunately, she didn’t spot Shane. He had to be here somewhere though, since his truck was outside. Loosening her scarf, she approached the bar. The pair of werewolves dressed in matching flannel to the left of her sniffed the air in an appreciative way that made the short hairs on the nape of her neck stand on end.
Ignoring her prickling nerves, she flagged down the bartender. The kid gave her a suspicious glance before moseying over. “Yeah?”
She decided to momentarily overlook his rudeness. “Would you know if Shane Morgan is around?”
“No idea.”
“I could have sworn that’s his truck outside.”
“Could be.”
Apparently the kid was under the impression he’d be charged for overusage of words. Biting back her frustrated retort before it could fully form, she turned on her heel and strode toward the bank of windows separating the bar from the bowling alley. The windows offered her an unimpeded view of the lanes. There were only a handful of people in there, and none of them were Shane. She pivoted—and gasped in surprise as she almost collided with the flannel twins from the bar.
The werewolf standing directly in front of her licked his chops. “You smell good.”
His dark-haired companion grinned lewdly. “Yeah, and your lips are real purty too. Bet you’re mighty talented with them.”
Despite her flicker of apprehension, she couldn’t temper her innate sarcasm. “No more so than your boyfriend Bubba, I’m sure.”
The blond werewolf frowned. “Who the hell is Bubba?”
His friend elbowed him in the ribs. “I think that was supposed to be an insult.”
“Yeah?” Blondie scowled.
Clearly these two skipped school the day they were passing out brains. “Fun as it’s been chatting with you, I’m supposed to be meeting someone.”
“Who?”
She glared at the dark-haired werewolf. “That’s none of your damn business.”
Unmistakable menace flashed in the other wolf’s eyes. “We’re making it our business.”
She tamped down her instinctual fear. These two bullies couldn’t do anything to her here without bringing trouble down on themselves. Squaring her shoulders, she attempted to push past the blond werewolf, and squeaked when he shoved her back toward the wall of windows. She opened her mouth to cry out for help just as Blondie went flying sideways.
Blinking, she stared at Dante’s tight, enraged features. He wasn’t looking at her, but rather the werewolf he’d flattened to the grungy, threadbare carpet. Dante’s lips pulled back, putting his sharp incisors on fierce display. “Touch her again and I’ll rip your fucking head off.”
The werewolf on the floor gaped at Dante stupidly. Unfortunately, his companion seemed a little faster on the uptake. He swung a meaty fist at Dante, connecting with his jaw. Unprepared for the blow, Dante staggered sideways. He shook his head before breaking from his momentary befuddlement and lunging at his attacker. For a few seconds, the soundtrack of smacks, thumps and grunts as the two of them whaled on each other competed with the Bluegrass music blaring from the jukebox. It was like watching a weird outtake from The Dukes of Hazzard.
Mystified, Lilly shot a desperate glance toward the nearby bar patrons. Everyone seemed more interested in the episode of The Price Is Right playing on the big screen than the fight breaking out in their midst.
Freaking rednecks. Her grumble turned into a yelp when the other werewolf wobbled to his feet and made a swipe at her. Dante stopped in mid-punch and directed his fist at Blondie instead. From the corner of her eye, Lilly spied Shane stepping from the hallway that led to the restrooms. Unlike the others in the room, his gaze immediately trekked to them. His eyes widened briefly as he gaped at Dante. The next instant, Shane charged in their direction and collided with the dark-haired werewolf in a flying tackle. Lilly quickly ducked out of the danger zone, flattening herself against the edge of a nearby table.
For several minutes all she could do was stand by helplessly while Dante, Shane and the two other werewolves continued pounding on each other. And to think, she’d only stopped in here because she wanted to get her damn driveway plowed. Yet one more reason for her to eternally hate snow.
After a few more exchanged blows, Dante picked up one of the chairs and knocked out his opponent with a well-placed swing. Shane employed the same trick on his guy before shooting a grin toward Dante. “Damn, been a while since you and I took care of the riffraff.” Using the back of his hand to swipe away a trickle of blood that seeped from a small gash on his forehead, Shane observed the fallen werewolves with obvious disdain. “So, what’d the Gifford brothers do this time?”
The murder hadn’t entirely abandoned Dante’s expression. “They messed with my woman.”
Shane’s dark eyebrows winged upward. “Your woman? Since when the hell have you had a…?” His voice slowly trailing off, Shane slashed his stare in her direction. Good thing there were no flies buzzing around with the way his mouth was gaping. Just when she became convinced that he’d been struck permanently mute, he belted out a laugh and slapped Dante on the back. “Good one, coz. But you know it’s a little early for April Fools’.”
“It’s not a joke.” The fierce possessiveness once again brewing in his eyes, Dante tugged her into his arms. “Lilly is mine.” Giving her no time to respond to that predatory claim, he slammed his mouth over hers.
Chapter Nine
“Was that absolutely necessary?”
Dante waited for the Bowl ’N’ Brew’s front door to completely close behind them before glancing at Lilly. The pink tinge to her cheeks matched the rosiness of her mouth. “Me kissing you? Hell yeah.”
“No. Calling me yours.”
“It made a believer out of Shane, didn’t it?” To be honest, the primal hunger that’d swept through him speaking those three words had almost made him a believer. As it was, his body still thrummed with the strong urge to bend Lilly over the tailgate of his truck and bury his cock inside her. Her intoxicating scent didn’t help matters. Unable to resist the lure of her pheromones, he hoisted her into his arms and snuffled the side of her neck.
“That tickles.” Her giggle made his balls tighten.
Damn pathetic. Suddenly recalling her injured ankle, he gentled his grip on her. “What are you doing here, anyway? You’re supposed to be staying off your leg.”
“I’m fine. If you’d set me down, I could show you firsthand.”
“Nope. I like you right where you are.” Squeezing her ass, he sucked on her earlobe.
The door to the Bowl ’N’ Brew swung open behind them, and Frank Hopkins, one of the resident old timers, walked out. His scowl adequately censorious, Frank stalked toward his beat-up station wagon.
Lilly wiggled, attempting to escape Dante’s grasp. “I don’t care how authentic you want this to look, I’m still not letting you do me doggie style in front of your pack. Or grumpy old men.”
It took a sec for his head to clear enough to remember his speech about the mate-bond ceremony. Of course she would think this was about their arrangement. After all, it was the reason for their whole charade, right? His dick was only getting caught up in the moment. Grunting at that weird thought, he let her slide back down his body.
She nibbled her lip as she looked up at him. “That’s not to say I wouldn’t let you do me doggie style someplace more private.”
His cock bobbed against the fly of his jeans. “That so?”
“Mm hmm.”
Hot damn. Act or not, there was no way in hell he’d pass that up. Lacing their fingers, he led her toward his truck. She shot a glance toward her SUV, and he gave her a squeeze. “We’ll come back for it.”