Noise erupted in a cacophony.
Chen reached for her even as she reached for him, which startled her.
Snagging her in an unforgiving embrace, Chen took her breath away in a punishing kiss. This man, responsible for half the crime in the city including murder, drug running, and thievery, had his lips—and hands—all over her. Damnation, but the bulge prodding her belly felt huge.
Ignoring the disconcerting need to explore said bulge, Vicki twisted the energy snaking between them and caught Chen’s forearms.
The flesh beneath her palms shifted with a life of its own, freaking her the hell out.
“Wh-what are you doing?” Chen asked, caught in the mire of power between them.
“I want your ring. Give it to me, sweetie, and I’m yours,” she whispered and nibbled on his earlobe. “Allfuckingnight long.” She channeled a blast of his own sexual energy back at him, throwing him off balance.
He groaned and stumbled back, still clutching her, much to the amusement of his friends. To all outward appearances, Vicki and Chen were getting it on. As if she’d make it with an uber-criminal in front of this sleazy audience.
Chen pulled off his ring and shoved it into her front pocket, digging his fingers down toward her crotch. Annoyed because she liked the feel of him there, she mentally smacked herself upside the head.I am so getting laid when we finish this job.
Ripping herself from Chen, Vicki tried to catch her breath. Chen looked like a well-fed cat. His lids were shuttered as he stared at her, his shirt half open, revealing a smooth, muscular chest. The tattoos on his forearms writhed and hissed as he reached for her again.
Hissed?Time to go.
Chen shook his head and flexed his fingers, a puzzled look on his face. His eyes widened in understanding just as a commotion from the other side of the room drew his attention.
“Salinas!” someone yelled.Cops.
Sean suddenly appeared at her elbow and yanked her from Chen, but not before pounding a fist into Chen’s belly.
Wishing she had done the same, Vicki ran with Sean and the other panicked occupants toward the far exit into the night.
“Were you going to fuck him or what?” Sean huffed with disgust.
“I got the ring. Gimme a break.”I made out with Tommy Chen. Oh my God. I must be out of my freaking mind.
More Salinas rounded the corner, what looked like a battalion of them.
“Shit.We need to split up. Keep the ring and go three streets over. I’ll meet you at MacT’s.” Sean jerked them to a stop.
“What—?”
The jerk tore back down the street and slammed into three Salinas, taking them down. He waited to draw more of the cops’ attention before running off away from her. Using the distraction, Vicki made several unplanned twists and turns to shake the Salinas still on her trail. Damned if she didn’t also recognize a few of Chen’s men getting closer.
Darting down a narrow side street, Vicki frantically looked for MacT’s. Sean would have to suggest the one place she’d never been. Not that she came into this area much anyway, but in her zest to create a life for herself, she’d begun frequenting the clubs downtown. Twenty-seven, by anyone’s standards, was too young to vow eternal celibacy. Vicki couldn’t remember the last time she’d had sex with anyone other than her well-used vibrator. No wonder she’d wanted to hump Chen. He was a definite hottie, if one could overlook his psychotic criminal tendencies.
Swearing under her breath at her stupidity, Vicki spotted what looked like a neon M when she heard footsteps growing closer.
She raced toward the M and shuttled down the set of stairs leading to the almost pitch black entrance. “Nice ambience, Sean. A mixture of creepy, seedy, and…locked door.”
Pissed off, Vicki released her anger and anxiety on the lock. A few seconds later, the bolt broke, and she turned the knob with ease.
Finally.
Entering, she made a beeline for the darkest corner of the room, noting the one and only hallway on the first floor, the billiards in the back of the bar, and the stairwell leading to a second floor. She sat with her back to the corner, pleased at the dim lighting keeping her in shadow.
The cozy bar was crowded but not overly so. It smelled of beer and had an almost pleasant tang she couldn’t place. The tempo was more sedate, the rock music not too loud. Conversations continued in low tones and then stopped.
Crap.All eyes wereon her. She’d been too preoccupied upon first entering to notice. A glance showed her that each male in the place looked more beautiful and more savage than the next.Great, just what I need. Ravagers.The Voiders looked human enough until they took on the form of theirguer, their fighting spirit. Werewolves come to life. Strong as hell yet kind of sexy, in Vicki’s opinion, unless you had to fight them.
Very few females sat in the crowd, and those that were…
