Pushing open the door to the club, I tried not to think about what Jake had said to me earlier.

I reject you, Tillie Mason.

I mean, who breaks up with someone like that? Now if he had said something like the normal, ‘I think we should see other people’ or even ‘it’s not you, it’s me.’ I wouldn’t have thought anything of it. But just the way that Jake had said it. Like it was all formal, I didn’t get it. I supposed that I had dodged a bullet with him. I mean, sure, things had been great for the past few months with him and sure he spent way too much time with his friends.

They all but lived in his apartment and he loved to spend time hiking and doing outdoors, which wasn’t something that I enjoyed. At least, I didn’t enjoy spending that time with his friends. I wouldn’t have minded camping with Jake or even going on a romantic hike with him. They always seemed to tag along.

Today, things had changed. I had dressed up and headed over to his apartment. Expecting to ask him to go out for drinks and dinner. When a woman had opened the door. Her bright pink hair hung in messy curls that framed her heart-shaped face.

“Who are you?” She asked.

“I’m Jake’s girlfriend,” I answered and she stepped back, letting the door open a little more for me to walk past her.

The apartment had been strangely quiet. Normally it was chaos in the afternoons, with Jake and his friends gaming on the console in the living room. The big television that dominated the room was dark and the controllers were scattered over the floor. The big denim couch that sat in front of the tv was pushed at an odd angle and a blanket was thrown over it. The door clicked closed and I turned back to look at the woman, finally taking in her appearance. She had a black concert t-shirt. The logo of a wolf devouring the moon was one that I knew well.

Cannibal Moon was one of my favorite bands and that was the shirt that Jake had gotten when we had seen them in concert. There was a bleach stain on the left sleeve from when I’d had my first sleepover with Jake. We had been cleaning the kitchen when he’d accidentally caught me on the arm with a bleach rag.

Tilting my head to the side, I looked down her body where the shirt stopped just above her thighs. Thighs which were toned and fit and covered in fingerprints from a rough, wild night.

“Who are you?”

“I’m Jake’s.” She answered, tilting her head to the side to mirror me. Her eyes moved over my straight auburn hair and the short purple dress that hugged my full figure. I knew that look. She was writing me off as less than her. She shook her hair back away from her face and neck, exposing an angry looking bite mark on the side of her neck. “Well, I’m more than his girlfriend.”

I swallowed hard. It wasn’t like I was in love with him but her words hurt. I cared about him. He was my boyfriend, even if things had been a little tense between us lately. The door to the bathroom swung open and steam swirled in the sunlit hallway. He had a towel wrapped low on his hips. His muscular chest was covered in scratches and there was a strange bite mark on the side of his neck that matched the one on her neck.

“Hey, little mate, are you ready for round-“ He trailed off when he caught sight of me. His brown eyes went wide for just a moment before he started walking towards me. “Tillie.”

I looked away from him. It felt like the air was sucked out of me. I opened my mouth, trying to think of something that I could say to him. Some way to hurt him like he had hurt me, but nothing came. It was like my mind went blank. I glanced over at Jake’s more than a girlfriend. Her cherry colored lips slid into a slow smirk and she crossed her arms beneath her breasts, making Jake’s shirt ride up her thighs and her breasts look bigger.

“Hey baby, I was just talking to your girlfriend.”

“Tillie,” Jake said, stopping in front of me. “I’m sorry. This wasn’t how I wanted you to find out.”

“Find out what, that you’re a cheater?” I asked. My eyes burned and I looked away from him. How could he be so calm about me catching him cheating?

“Tillie, it’s complicated.” Jake said, bringing his hands up and resting them on the tops of my arms. The more than a girlfriend let out a growl and my eyes widened. Jake tensed for just a moment, letting his hands fall to his sides. He tilted his head down to look at me. “Tillie Mason, I reject you.”

“Wh, what?” I stammered, wondering if I had heard him right.

“He rejects you, human.” More than a girlfriend snarled. “Get out.”

“Nicole.” Jake chided her. Before turning back to me. “Tillie, I’m sorry.”

I turned away from him, making my way to the door. I wasn’t going to give Jake and his more than a girlfriend any more time, they weren’t worth it. Hurrying down the stairs from his apartment building, I stomped over to my car, pressing the button on my key fob as I went. The lights flashed on my jeep and I made my way to the door. Opening it and slipping inside. I dragged my fingers through my hair. What an ass. If he had wanted to see other people, he could have told me, I would have let him go. I wasn’t the type of person that holds onto someone who doesn’t want me.

Maybe if I had actually loved Jake, but I didn’t. I knew that he wasn’t my endgame. He was just a distraction until I found my happily ever after.

My phone buzzed from inside my bag. I pulled it out, looking at the screen. I had a new text message. Swiping the screen open, I looked down at the message my best friend had sent me.

Charity: Drinks at Savage are half off. Come look at hot guys with me.

I nodded to myself. Drinks with my best friend sounded like a great plan. I texted her back, letting her know that I was on my way. I would tell her about what had happened with Jake and we could spend the night drinking and looking at pretty guys at the bar. That sounded better than my original plan, anyway.

chapter 2.

Pulling up the location of Savage on my phone, I pulled out of the parking lot and navigated my jeep onto the paved road. I headed into the city, navigating my way through the streets until I arrived at Savage. Finding a parking spot, I parked my Jeep a few blocks away from the club.

Locking my car, I grabbed my purse. Tucking my keys into it, before slipping out and closing the door behind me. I slung my purse onto my shoulder and walked down the sidewalk towards the club. Savage was a new one for me, so I took my time. Taking in the tall, dark brick building. A full moon was painted above the front door and the neon green sign had the name of the club proudly displayed.

The door swung open and I could hear the loud rock music spilling out into the crisp night air. I dragged my fingers through my hair, trying to smooth out my curls before I stopped in front of the large, heavy looking doors. I pushed the door open, stepping inside of the club. The lights were dim and I stood for a moment, letting my eyes adjust to the darkness.

The smell of alcohol permeated the air around me and I wrinkled my nose. It was the normal bar smell, but underneath that was something else. Something almost woodsy. I frowned before stepping forward out of the way of the door as more people came in.

There was a set of stairs leading down to a bar and beyond that was a stage with a live band playing. The dance floor was packed with people dancing to the loud music, people crowded around the stage in small groups, watching the handsome singer play up to the crowd. The drummer behind him twirled his drumsticks in the air before he started banging away again. My eyes were drawn to him. The way that he seemed to lose himself in the way that he was playing appealed to me.

Would he be like that in bed?

I could only imagine what it would be like to have someone so focused on me. I shook my head before making my way to the bar. It was best to get those kinds of thoughts out of my head. I didn’t need a rebound. Right now all I needed was a drink and to find Charity.

Stopping in front of the bar, I leaned over the gleaming wood countertop. The bartender was finishing up with another person before he looked over my way. A slow smile spread across his full lips as he noticed me. It made me feel good to have someone look at me like that. He walked, well sauntered, over to me. This man was sexy and he knew it.

My gaze traveled up the long lines of his body, taking in the tight ripped jeans that hugged his muscular legs, giving me brief glimpses of pale tattooed flesh. A black t-shirt with the club’s logo was stretched across his broad chest. His arms were covered in tattoos, that if the lighting were better, I would have loved to study them. His black hair was pulled back away from his face. The flashing lights glinted off the thin silver hoop in his nose and the one on his eyebrow.

I sucked in a deep breath as he stopped in front of me. It had to be a trick of the lights. For a moment, his eyes seemed to almost glow a deep shade of green. His smile turned into a smirk as he ran his eyes over my face and down to my breasts. I was glad that I had chosen this little black dress, just from the way that he was looking at me.

“What can I get you, sweetheart?” He asked, his voice had a southern twang to it.

“Jack and Coke,” I said, feeling my cheeks heat up. I leaned back from the bar, wondering if all the men that were here tonight were going to be this gorgeous. I wasn’t sure how Charity had found it, but I wished we had come here sooner. The eye candy was worth the drive here.

“Mmm, good choice. Something sweet.” His lips curled into a smirk. He turned back to grab the liquor bottle and a tumbler from the back of the bar. I watched him fix my drink before he held it out to me. His fingers brushed against mine and I felt sparks move along my skin at the brief touch. I looked at our hands and then back up to meet his dark emerald eyes. “This one is on the house. What’s your name?”

My blush deepened, heat moved along my neck and down my chest. I pulled my hand away, setting my drink onto the counter. “Matilda, but everyone calls me Tillie.” I said, not knowing why I told him my real name. No one called me Matilda.

“I like it. I’m Travis.”

“Thanks, Travis, and thank you for the drink,” I said, lifting up my glass and taking a sip.

“Anytime, sweetheart.” He bit his lower lip and I had the feeling that he wanted to say something else but he wasn’t able to as another person came up to the bar. His lips twitched as he turned away from me and I shook my head. I didn’t understand why his touch had felt like that. I couldn’t help but wonder what it would feel like to have his hands on my body.

I turned away from the bar, moving over to the tables that looked over the dance floor. I scanned the tables for my friend. When I didn’t see her, I walked over to the tables that looked out over the dance floor. Climbing up onto one of the tall bar stools, I smoothed my dress down. Wishing that maybe I had chosen something a little different to wear than the dress that Charity and I had gotten a few weeks ago.

It wasn’t something I would normally wear and I had gotten a few looks from different people around the bar and I was beginning to feel a little self conscious. I was a bigger girl. My hips would never be slim like a lot of the women here and my stomach was never going to be flat.

Normally it didn’t bother me, but being in a club filled with people who looked like they could be on the cover of a romance novel had me feeling a little nervous. I picked up my drink, taking a sip. Letting the liquor warm me up as I looked at all of the people dancing. The band started another song and I couldn’t help but look at the drummer again.

chapter 3.

His hair was dark even in the lights that hit the stage, but I could see bright flashes of blues and greens as he moved. He had a square jaw line that made me wonder what it would be like to nibble on his jaw if I ever got the chance to. I shiver went down my spine as I realized that I wanted to kiss him, well I wanted more than that. It was a more relaxed part of the song for him, so he sat steadily, hitting the drums. His head tilted to the side and he looked out into the crowd. Scanning it like he was searching for something. His eyes landed on me and I felt the strangest sensation. Movies and books talked about this feeling. I never thought it would be something that I would experience.

It was like when our eyes met; the air was sucked from the room. My stomach tightened up and I had to fight down the urge to go to him. He tilted his head down towards the snare and a small smile ghosted across his full lips. He looked up at me again and that’s when a soft, womanly arm draped itself around my shoulder.

“Tillie, isn’t this place amazing?” Charity asked, giving me a squeeze before she moved to sit on the bar stool beside me. I looked away from the hot drummer over to my friend. She had on a silver sequin dress that stopped at the top of her thighs, showing off her long tanned legs made longer by her spiky black heels. Her blonde hair was pin straight and she was rocking a smoky eye shadow with a deep plum color on her full, pouty lips.

“It is, the guys are-“

“So hot right?” She finished off my sentence, giving me a wide grin before looking over at the band that was playing on stage. Her eyes landed on the singer and I knew that look in her eyes. Charity had spotted her prey for the night. “Was Jake cool with you coming out with me tonight?”

“I should hope he was, considering how I found him...” I answered, picking up my tumbler and finishing off my drink. “We broke up.”

“What?” she asked, looking away from the stage.

“There was some girl at his apartment wearing one of his shirts. She called herself more than his girlfriend.” I finished off my drink, setting it down onto the glass tabletop. Leaning over, I rested my elbow on to the table and let my chin fall into my palm. “He told me that he rejected me. It was super weird.”

“Rejected you?” Charity asked, her head whipping away from the stage to look at me. Her lip was pulled back, showing me her perfectly straight white teeth. “Like rejected? What an asshole.”

“Yeah, it was strange. I mean all, like formal. Then she growled at me.” I said with a shrug.“I know we weren’t in love with each other, but it still hurt.”

“That’s...” she said, her lips twisting up and her nose crinkled. “Different. But you know the best way to get over him is to drink and dance the night away with some smoking hot guy.”

“Right, I thought it was weird, too. Is it really?” I asked, smirking at my best friend.

“Yes, it is. It’s just what the doctor ordered.” She said, reaching over and grabbing my hand. “Let’s go dance.”

“Charity, you’re not a doctor yet.” I giggled.

“But I will be.” She squeezed my hand before pulling me out onto the dance floor. We weaved through the crowd until she stopped in the middle of the dance floor. I looked over at my friend. She had her head tilted to the side with the strangest look in her eyes as she looked up at the singer.

His eyes were locked on her and I watched her lips move, but the word was too low for me to hear.

“Charity, you okay?” I shouted, trying to be heard over the loud music.

Her shoulders shook for just a second and she pulled her gaze away from him. “Yeah, I just, I’m going to meet him.”

“Okay.” I laughed before letting her pull me closer. The two of us started dancing, but I could tell my friend only had eyes for the man on stage. We danced until both of us were laughing and a little sweaty. Jake was the last thing on my mind as I spent time having fun with my friend. My eyes moved to the stage, back to the hot drummer. He was watching me with a look of hunger in his eyes that made my eyes widen and my pulse race.

“I think you may have found your guy for the night.” Charity laughed beside me, bumping her shoulder with mine. “He’s been watching you since we came out here.”

“I don’t know how you could tell. You can’t keep your eyes off the singer.” I giggled as the music faded into the next song.

“A girl knows.” She pointed to her nose and then back to the stage.

“Maybe, but I see that singer making eyes at you.” I said, bumping my shoulder against hers.

“He’s lickable.”

I looked over at the singer on stage, taking him in. He was tall and lean, his black leather vest was tight against his chest accentuating how thin he was. Leather pants looked painted onto his legs, silver chains completed the look, making him look every bit the hungry artist. His dark brown hair was slicked back away from his face, which was all hard lines and high cheeks bones.

All in all, he was exactly Charity’s type.

“Not my type.” I said.

“But the sexy drummer man is, I think you’re his type.”

“Nah, he’s probably not watching me.” I said, feeling the tops of my ears heat up.

“I think he is.” Charity chuckled.

“Mind if I cut in, ladies?” A man asked from behind us, his hand resting on my hip.

Charity looked at me, lifting an eyebrow before we turned to face him. He was tall and blond, his white shirt stretched tightly across his muscular chest. It looked like he had never skipped out on going to the gym in his life. His hair had blonde highlights in it and he looked every bit the surfer.

“We don’t.” Charity said, smirking up at him.

He looked down at me, his hazel eyes bright. “I was wondering if you would like to dance.”

“Oh, um, sure.” I said, glancing away from him to Charity. “If you don’t mind?”

“Not at all. Have fun.” She smiled at me, turning back to look at the band on stage. “I’m going to keep watching that hottie drummer and singer.”

“You mean Ryan and Aaron?”

“You know him?” I asked, biting my lower lip.

“Yeah, when they go on break, I’ll introduce you guys.”

“Nice, thanks.” Charity said, then turned to look back at me before waving us off. “Go dance.”

chapter 4.

Ryan

My wolf was on edge, he had been all night. We had been into our fourth song of the night when something had shifted. I could practically feel the beast beneath my skin, ready to come out. At first, when the sweet candy-like smell had hit me, I had not understood it. It had taken everything in me to keep playing. I’d had to focus only on the music and keeping the beat for Aaron and the others.

He wanted to run, to find out where that delicious smell was coming from. Who it was coming from. Then I had spotted her sitting at the tables that overlooked the dance floor and it was like everything clicked into place.

Her dark red hair fell around her shoulders in soft, loose curls. I wanted to run my fingers through her hair. I bet it felt just as soft as it looked. My eyes moved down to her wide blue eyes, they were framed by dark long eyelashes. Her kissable lips were coated in a light pink gloss. I wanted to kiss those lips until that gloss smeared. I knew she would be so damn fuckable with her lips swollen from my kiss and that gloss smeared on her face.

She shifted on the bar stool that she was perched on. My eyes were drawn to her long, pale legs. Legs that I wanted to be wrapped around my waist as I pounded into her. Legs that I wanted to be draped over my shoulders as I feasted on her sweet pussy.

Fuck, just thinking about it made me hard. My dick twitched and my jeans started to grow tight as I watched my pretty little mate. Thinking about all of the ways that I wanted to take her.

Her friend joined her, throwing a tanned, toned arm over her shoulder. Pulling her attention away from me. I couldn’t look away from the two of them and a part of me was glad that Aaron made us practice so much, it was like my body was on autopilot as I kept playing the drums able to keep up with each song until we took a set break and I could go out there and introduce myself.

I watched her and her friend chat for a moment; her face falling before she finished her drink off. I wasn’t sure what had happened, but I wanted to go to her. To take away that hurt look in her eyes, to see her smile at me as she had her friend.

Aaron started a new song and I wanted to curse him for keeping me away from my mate. I wanted to hear her voice, smell her honeyed scent. Feel her body pressed up against mine as we danced. Her friend pulled her out onto the dance floor. Navigating them closer to the stage before they both stopped. My mate looked at her blonde friend, who had gone still. Her eyes flashed a deep shade of amber and her lips moved. But I knew that word. It was the same word that I had whispered when I saw her friend.

‘Mate’

My lips twitched into a half smile. If her friend was a shifter, then maybe she was too. That would make things so much easier. Even if she was human and knew about us, it would take away a lot of the hassle of having to explain to her what she was to me.

It would save us so much time. Yes, I wanted to take my time romancing her, but I also wanted to finish this set and drag her out of the club. I wanted to fuck her until I was the only one that she could think of. My name was the only word she could cry out as she lost herself in me and I lost myself in her. Then I would claim her, feel her with my seed until her belly grew with my offspring.

I could already picture her pregnant with our child, her throat marked with my claiming bite. Showing the world that she was mine. Warning others away from her.

Aaron tensed up for just a moment before turning back to look at me. He lifted up one finger to signal that this was our last song before we were taking a break. I nodded and he looked over at our guitarist, Drew, before doing the same. I knew that he had to have spotted his mate, that he felt the same pull to go and hunt her down, just like I was going to do with her friend.

I looked back out into the crowd. My mate had moved deeper into the crowd. Her arms were in the air as she swayed her body from side to side. Evan, one of my pack mates, was dancing with her.

My lips pulled back and my teeth grew sharp in my mouth. I had to fight with my wolf to keep from ruining our set and leaping off of the stage. I wanted to demand things from her that I knew that I couldn’t yet. She wasn’t mine. She bore no claim on her and Evan didn’t know that she was mine. Or that she would be before the night was over. Her eyes flicked away from his face and back to the stage, seeking me out. I wicked at her. Watching the tops of her cheeks grow red with a blush.

Fuck, that blush was going to be my undoing.

We finished up the song and I stood up, leaving Aaron and Drew on stage. As I made my way down the side steps that led to the dance floor. Aaron was the one that liked to play up to the crowd and he was great at it. The same wasn’t expected of me. I was free to go after my mate.

“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for watching us. We’ll be taking a short break before we come back on and finish out for the night.”

chapter 5.

Groupies moved to the side of the stage, blocking my way. I smiled but I knew that it was more of a grimace from the way that some of their faces dropped. Normally, I would stay and chat with them. Tonight wasn’t the night for me to do my normal thing and talk. I needed to get to my mate. I could still smell that sweet cherry candy scent that I knew had to be coming from her.

I needed to get to her. It was all my wolf could think about was claiming her as ours.

I looked through the crowd, spotting Evan’s shaggy blonde hair. When I caught sight of them, his hand was resting on the bare skin of her back and my beast growled, the sound slipping from my lips. The people around me moved out of my way and I stalked over to my mate.

Aaron had jumped down from the stage, not even bothering with walking down the steps in his rush to get to his mate. I could hear the gasps and women fan-girling over him now as rock music started to pour from the speakers. I looked over at my band mate; he had taken my mate’s friend into his arms. I could understand why it was causing fans to freak out.

Sure, he was known to hook up with women and men at our shows, but nothing like this. Nothing so bold.

I couldn’t say that I blamed him. I wanted to go to my mate, toss her over my shoulder and take her out of here. I wanted to show her who she belonged to, take her over my knee for dancing with Evan. For letting him touch her the way that he was right now. His thumb stroking up the back of her shoulder beneath her hair. The closer I got, the easier I heard their conversation. It was friendly enough, but I still didn’t like it. She was mine.

“Would you like to join me for a drink?” Evan asked, his thumb stroking her skin as he rested his open palm on her upper back.

I wanted to rip his arm off and beat him with it for even thinking of touching her but I didn’t think that Travis would take me dirtying up his club like that too well. Besides, Evan didn’t know that he was touching my mate.

She looked up at him, tucking a dark red curl behind her ear and I saw the scattering of freckles that dusted over her pale shoulders. I wanted to kiss each one of those freckles.

“Sure, I’d-“

“Mind introducing me to your pretty dance partner?” I said, cutting her off from answering him as I came up behind Evan and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. He smelled like the woods and pack. It helped to soothe my beast. Evan wasn’t my enemy, he was pack.

“Ryan, hey, man. Awesome show tonight. You guys are on fire.” He said, congratulating me. I gave him a smile. But I could barely take my eyes off of her. Up close, she was even more beautiful than I had thought she was. I could see hints of sun kissed blonde streaks in her hair. Hair that was begging me to tangle my fingers into it and haul her body close to mine.

She turned to look at me, her jewel like sapphire eyes going wide as she looked at me from beneath her dark long lashes. Her glossy pink lips parted and she sucked in a breath. Her pupils dilated and I could see the need in her to touch me. Her hand twitched towards me and I let out a low growl. If she touched me right now, it would be all over, there would be no way that I could resist taking her here and now.

“Mate.”

“Excuse me?” She asked, tilting her head to the side.

“You are my mate.” I said, biting my lower lip. She was so damn cute. That sweet cherry smell filled my senses, making me feel high. I could see her pulse fluttering beneath her skin and it made my mouth water. I wanted to trace my tongue along her pulse points to feel that fluttering beneath my tongue before I claimed her. Fuck, what was wrong with me? I needed to get it together or I was going to scare her away.

“I don’t, I don’t understand?” She stammered and I realized she had no idea what I was talking about. She was human.

“I was telling Tillie that I would introduce you guys when you took a break,” Evan said, clapping a hand on my shoulder. “But it sounds like you guys have some things you might need to talk about.”

“Yeah, yeah I guess we do.”

“So I’ll leave you with Tillie. See you later, Ryan.” Evan called out before leaving the two of us alone.

“Would you, um, would you like to have a drink with me?” I asked, looking down at my mate, hoping that she would say yes. Fuck, I felt like a teenager asking my crush out on a date.

“I would, yeah.” She said, smoothing her palms over the front of her dress.

I nodded, reaching out my hand for her. She slid her fingers across my palm and I had to fight back a moan at the pleasure I felt at her touch. Sparks moved across my skin and my heart raced in my chest. I pulled her off of the dance floor and over to the bar. Stroking my thumb across her knuckles, her skin was the softest thing I had ever touched. I wondered if the rest of her was just as soft?

My wolf had gone silent in my head at her touch. It was so strange. Since he had woken when I was in my late teens, he had never been this quiet. The beast had to be in shock over us finding our mate. I didn’t know how else to explain it.

We stopped at the bar and I caught Travis’ eye with a raised hand.

chapter 6.

Tillie

I didn’t understand why he would say that I was his mate. It was the same thing that Jake had said about his more than a girlfriend. He had called her his mate when he got out of the shower.

Now, this super sexy drummer was saying I was his mate.

What was a mate? I mean yeah. British slang for friend. And, of course, there were some animals that mated for life, but we weren’t animals.

Was there something going around making people crazy that I didn’t understand?

Even Charity was acting strange. She wasn’t the type to let a guy sweep her off her feet and let him kiss her without at least knowing his name first. Yet that’s just what she had done with the singer. He had jumped off the stage, pulling her into his arms and now I had no idea where she was.

Ryan and I stood at the bar, his thumb stroking the back of my hand, making toe curling pleasure dance over my skin. Being touched like this had never felt so good. It was like when Travis had handed me my drink and our hands had touched. It was innocent and I shouldn’t be thinking about how I wanted both of them to touch me again.

It had to be that I was lonely. Jake had been great in bed, but he always held back with me.

I didn’t want holding back. I wanted fire and touches that sent sparks through my entire body. I wanted the heat that I saw in Ryan’s eyes, the heat that I saw in Travis’ eyes. Like they wanted to devour me whole.

Ryan lifted his other hand to get Travis’ attention. The other man noticed him, his eyes met mine, and a slow smile spread across his face. He finished serving the drink that he had made before he walked over to us. His gaze landed on our joined hands and he pressed his lips together into a thin line.

“Tillie, same as before?” He asked, his voice slightly rougher than it was earlier. I liked the way it sounded and I wondered if that was what he would sound like when he woke up. First thing in the morning, his hair falling in loose waves around his face.

Ryan squeezed my hand and I realized that they were both watching me.

“Oh, yeah. Sorry. Jack and Coke, please.”

“Ryan?” Travis winked at me before turning to look at the man beside me. I could have sworn that I heard Ryan growl, but humans didn’t growl at each other. At least not unless they were doing some sexy primal play thing.

Was that what was going on between these two?

If it was, I wasn’t one to bash someone else’s kink. I just didn’t know why they were pulling me into it and why did I not care that they were pulling me into it?

Why did the thought of them hunting me have me pressing my thighs together?

Travis tilted his head down. His nostrils flared as he leaned closer to me. “You smell so good, like cherries.”

Ryan let go of my hand, his arm snaked around my waist to pull me close against his firm muscular body. “Cherries?” He repeated.

I looked between the two of them. There was a look of hunger in their eyes that I couldn’t explain. It spoke to something primal inside of me that I didn’t know was there. Something left over from the lizard brain that told me that sex with these two would be more than enough. That it would leave me ruined for any other partner afterwards.

“I’ll fix you something sweet,” Travis said. His voice was low but I could still hear it over the steady pulse of music that surrounded us. It made me feel like the three of us were in a little bubble that no one could disturb.

I nodded and his eyes sparkled in the neon lights of the club. He turned away from Ryan and me, setting a tumbler onto the back of the bar, he picked up different liquor bottles, mixing them together before topping it all with a cherry.

“Travis makes some of the best drinks.” Ryan whispered into my ear and I shivered at the touch of his lips against the shell of my lips. How his hot breath played against my skin, making goosebumps rise. I turned my head to look up at him. His tongue was tucked behind his teeth as he looked down at me and I could see the flash of metal in his tongue. I wondered how that would feel against my heated flesh?

I had heard rumors, but I had never been with anyone with a pierced tongue. It made me wonder what other parts of him were pierced. His hand moved from my waist to stroke up my arm and I bit my lower lip trying to fight back the moan of pleasure at his touch. Why did it feel so good?

Travis sat the drink down in front of me and I looked away from Ryan, down to the drink. It was a cloudy pink and yellow liquid. I had no idea what it was. I looked back up at Travis, worrying the inside of my cheek with my teeth. His arms were against the bar as he leaned over, watching me.

“What is it?” I asked, picking up the drink and sniffing it.

“Try it.” He smirked at me, “I bet you’ll like it.”

Swallowing hard, I lifted the glass to my lips, taking a small sip. Letting the flavors swirl over my tongue. It tasted like almonds and cherries. It was sweet yet tart, I took another sip before sitting the drink down. “It’s really good. What is it?”

“It’s an amaretto sour.”

“Strange name. It’s not sour.” I said, picking the cherry out and popping it into my mouth.

“I bet you’re not sour either. I bet you’re sweet and tart, that you taste like cherries.”

My eyes widened and I felt my body clench up at his words. It felt like there was a tightly wound coil inside of me that might spring apart at any minute. His hand moved to catch mine as Ryan’s fingers trailed higher up my arm until he rested them on my shoulders. I moaned at the pleasure of it, feeling my nipples tighten beneath the fabric of my short black dress.