But Zach stopped her. “Sonofabitch!”
Casey didn’t move, but she was clearly rattled. Her eyes were wide as she watched Sara. And Sara seemed enough of a threat that Yates stepped between them.
Zach luckily had a good grip on her, because she was losing it, “You fucking whore! Break me in?! FUCK YOU!”
Zach pulled her back. He wrapped his arms around her body. She was shaking, but it wasn’t from fear. “Easy,” he whispered in her ear. “Easy.”
His voice seemed to soothe her. He thought he might just be able to get her out of there without any more problems. But Casey, not wanting to show weakness to her females, continued to stare at Sara.
Sara pulled away from Zach and went for Casey again. He caught her on the bar and dragged her back. He tossed the woman over his shoulder and headed to the exit. Sara was still screaming and banging her fists against his back demanding to be let go so that she could “…finish the little bitch!”
He motioned to Conall who tossed the truck keys to him. He caught them in mid-air, went outside to the truck, threw Sara in, got in after her, and tore out of the parking lot.
Sara wasn’t exactly sure when she turned feral, but she was curious to see where this would lead. She’d never actually “lost it” before. Miki lost it all the time. She popped off continually, like a little firecracker. Angelina seemed like the most rational of the three, but everyone in town knew she had a temper that had caused some men to actually move out of Texas. No, it was a well-known fact that Sara was the rational one. She was the one people came to for sage-like advice. She was the one that people knew they could rely on since Miki might forget and Angelina just wouldn’t care. She was Golden Retriever Sara.
Until tonight. Tonight she was Drunk-Sara without the liquor. And she finally had to admit, Drunk-Sara was fucking scary.
When the pickup truck pulled up to her house, Sara was immediately disappointed. She wanted to hit another club. Go to Austin and scare some city-folk. She sure didn’t want to slip into her comfy clothes and watch TV for the rest of the night.
Now, if Zach wanted to keep her busy for a few hours… well that was completely different. But by the look on his face when he stopped the truck, his staying might be a remote possibility.
She sighed and waited to see his next move.
Chapter Nine
TOC
Zach turned off the motor and pulled the keys out of the ignition. Clearly the woman wanted him dead. She’d thrown him under the proverbial bus two times in the last half hour. And she knew it too.
Now what to do? Simple. Dump her ass and go. If he took her tonight, he was going to keep her. He knew that as securely as he knew she was crazy. And he didn’t want a mate. He especially didn’t want her as a mate. His whole life would be spent trying to keep her pretty ass out of trouble. He had much bigger plans than that.
He pushed open the truck door and stepped out. He reached back in and dragged her out, ignoring her plaintive “Hey!”
He tossed Sara over his shoulder again and walked up the porch steps to her house. He was tempted to drop her on her head, but he carefully lowered her to the ground instead. “Keys,” he ordered. She pulled them out of her pants pocket and handed them over. He unlocked her front door and pushed her inside. He followed behind her and while she stood in the middle of her living room, he double checked the house to make sure they were the only ones there. He wasn’t worried anyone was really there; he would have smelled any Pride members before he even walked in. But it kept him from thinking about how good she smelled or hot she looked in those khaki pants that were clearly too big for her. They kept slipping off her waist and she kept hiking them back up.
“Everything looks safe.”
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
This was probably not a good time to tell her that there was a whole Pride that wanted to see her dead. The mood she was in right now, she’d go looking for them.
“Never hurts to check.” He headed toward the door, making sure not to touch her as he left.
“You want a drink or something before you go? I think I have tequila around here somewhere.” She kicked off her sneakers and disappeared into her kitchen.
Zach slammed the door and quickly followed, “NO!”
Sara turned around startled.
“And you don’t want any either.” The last thing the woman needed was tequila.
“I don’t?”
“No. No drinking. And don’t go anywhere tonight. Just stay here. Be quiet. Watch TV.”
“I see.” Sara, using only her legs, hopped up on to the counter. Zach was amazed how fast she was changing. Every second she seemed to be getting stronger. “You don’t want me to drink. You don’t want me to go out. You just want me to sit here quietly. Like a good little girl.”
Zach swallowed, “Right.”
“Interesting.” Sara leaned back, her palms resting on the counter top behind her. Her back slightly arched, her breasts pushing against her white T-shirt. She kicked her legs out, the heels of her feet banging against the wood cupboard. “You know, my friends think you did something to me.”
“I did do something to you.” She actually blushed at that.
“Something other than that. Something bad.”
“What do you think?”
“Me? Oh, I think I’m dying.”
Absolutely psychotic. “You’re not dying.” Zach couldn’t help but laugh. “Why would you even think that?”
“My mother died when I was a baby. My father died in an actual animal attack when I was 8. My grandmother was a very unpleasant woman. And I’ve been limping around this town for the last 20 years. Do you really think I believe in good fortune?”
She did have a point. “But how do you feel? Do you feel like you’re dying?”
She was quiet for several moments, and when she spoke her voice was low. “No. I feel strong. Powerful. I feel amazing.”
“You are amazing.” Okay. Where did that come from? How did those words just leave his mouth? And she looked as surprised as he felt.
“Why, thank you tall, dark, stranger.”
“You forgot handsome.”
“No I didn’t.”
He looked into those beautiful brown eyes and realized that he could see his future in those eyes. Everything he’d ever wanted to be or wanted to have were in those eyes.
I gotta get outta here. “I better go.”
“That’s not fair.”
Uh-oh. “What’s not fair?”
“I’m bored. I’m anxious. And you say I can’t leave and I can’t drink.” She looked at him. “So I’m thinking you better come up with a way to keep me occupied or who knows what kind of shit I’ll get in to.”
Zach had no response for that, although his dick certainly did. But he ignored it. “I better go.” That was feeble, he thought desperately.
“Then go.” She didn’t sound hurt or disappointed. In fact, she sounded rather smug.
Zach got as far as the kitchen door that led into the dining room.
He turned and looked at her. “If I go, you’re out the door, aren’t you?”
“Well, you’re not giving me a reason to stay, now are you?”
He growled. He couldn’t help himself. This woman was bringing out every base instinct he had. And she knew it too. When he growled; she smiled. She was playing with him. She was playing with the beast and on some subconscious level, she knew it.
So maybe it was time to show her this was not a game she was ready for. Maybe it was time to show her what it meant to touch the beast within.