Desire
Chapter One.
Oh God. Kill me now.
I fought the urge to bury my head in my hands—or toss back the rest of my double shot of bourbon—as I saw who walked in the door of the Eclipse bar. It was my birthday, damn it. My thirty-first birthday. As in, no longer just thirty, but in my thirties. Why couldn’t I spend it in peace?
Yeah, yeah. As a werewolf, I’d live a couple hundred years. I knew that. But the last few years had seemed to crawl by in one endless string of pain. It was the feeling that werewolves who denied themselves their mates dealt with. Pain. Bone-crushing, head-throbbing, drop-me-to-my-knees aguish.
And my unclaimed mate had just stepped into the room, so I felt it with the keen agony of the sharpest blade. Michael Trent. Older brother of my best friend, Cynthiana Trent-St. James. Why would she bring him here?
Eclipse was a place I thought I’d be safe. Only magical creatures came here. Humans who ventured in were just asking to be an after-dinner snack for something that went bump in the night. Or someone. Someone like me. And my best-friend-turned-traitor. Not like her very human brother. I’d managed to avoid running into him for months now. Damn Cyn for forcing this.
Hey, sexy.
Cyn tugged on one of my curls, making it bounce against my neck. A low, warning growl vibrated my vocal cords as she slid into the chair on my left. The sound ended in a whimper when Michael settled his big, scrumptious self into the seat on my right. The tiny table and cramped space meant his muscular thigh and arm were plastered against mine.
My sex throbbed at the benign contact, my nipples peaking tight as my instincts screamed in a desperate attempt to encourage me to claim him. To remind me how phenomenal sex was supposed to be with a mate. My body heated from the inside out, goose bumps shivering over my skin when he shifted his leg and leaned closer to me. Happy birthday, Candy. You look good enough to eat in that dress. I’m not sure if that makes you Little Red Riding Hood or the Big Bad Wolf.
His deep voice caressed my heightened hearing, his breath moving the tiny hairs at my temple. I shuddered and fought to keep myself from throwing him to the ground to have my way with him. Even though he was three times my size, my werewolf strength could easily best even the biggest human. Big Bad Wolf, indeed. I tugged at the hem of my short, tight scarlet silk dress. I mean, I liked my ample curves just fine, but they didn’t need to be falling out for the world to see. The top of this thing was about to give up the fight with my breasts, and I was pretty sure when I stood my assets would be hanging out the back.
Ha! I designed that outfit for her present.
Cyn ran a proprietary hand over the beading on my shoulder strap, her fashion-designer self geeking out over her creation. "Doesn’t she look
