“What services might those be?” she murmured under her breath.
Nate gave her a condescending look as if he’d heard her, but if he did, he didn’t acknowledge her tongue-in-cheek question. He simply wished them a successful night before disappearing into the kitchen.
“Sometimes the members ask for a private audience,” Nickie said from beside her. “You are allowed to say no, but you should totally say yes.” She winked. “Lions, tigers, and bears, oh my! Just don’t let them sink their teeth into you. Unless you’re into that.” She wagged her puffy white deer tail and strode deeper into the club, a tray of champagne flutes balanced on her hand.
The idea that one of these men or women might ask for a private audience made Laina’s stomach clench. It wasn’t vulnerability that set her on edge. On the contrary, as a werewolf on the night before a full moon,shewas the danger, capable of ripping a man apart if she wasn’t careful. No, what bothered her was the anonymity of it. Laina’s past lovers had all developed from long-term relationships. Unlike her brother, she’d never appreciated the appeal of a one-night stand.
Wanting to avoid as much attention as possible, she worked her way around the outer edge of the crowd, along the line of potted trees and flowering bushes that gave the club the illusion of an outdoor garden. The green plants offered her a sense of peace and security in an otherwise dim room. All the tables were bar-height, and above them, white globe string lights drooped in zigzagging swags across the timbered ceiling. On a platform at the front of the room, an alternative rock band played a tune she’d heard before but couldn’t remember the name of.
“Thank you,” a young man in a panther mask said, lifting a coconut shrimp from her tray and tucking a bill into her apron. His gaze darted to her breasts before turning back to a gray-haired woman in a leopard mask. They continued their conversation, something about pharmaceutical investments. The woman lifted a shrimp from her tray without looking at her. She didn’t tip. Laina moved on.
At the next table, the men were too wrapped up in organizing a charity golf match to pay her any mind. They leaned across the table, trying their best to hear each other over the music. She extended the tray between them and smiled. They each took a shrimp, seeming to barely notice the as-good-as-naked woman offering it to them. Still, they stuffed her apron with bills before she moved on.
Near a set of stairs at the back of the room, a table of four women seemed more interested in one another than in her. They enjoyed what was left on her tray and handed her a tip directly, rather than tucking the money into her apron like everyone else.
By the time she’d finished her first round and returned to the kitchen, she’d decided this assignment was far easier than she’d expected. She picked up another tray and melded back into the crowd. In a few short hours, she’d discreetly drop the fairy box on her way out and put the entire experience behind her.
As the night wore on, she forayed deeper into the crowd, closer to the hall that led to the private VIP lounges in the back. Curiosity made her skin tingle. What went on back there? Should she go check it out? It wasn’t like she planned to ever return to a club like this. Like Nickie said, tonight she could be anyone. Why not satisfy her itch to snoop? Smiling to herself, she looked over both shoulders and slipped behind the dark curtain that separated public area from private.
She strode down a long hall of poshly decorated rooms with velvet drapes in lieu of doors. Some were closed. Others were pulled back as if the guests inside enjoyed being observed. Laina snuck a peek inside the ones whose curtains were left open, noticing couples talking over drinks, some touching more than others. Near the end of the hall, she almost tripped over her stilettos at the sight of Nickie riding the lap of a man in a tiger mask. Flustered, Laina shuffled to the end of the hall and flattened herself against the wall, out of sight of their room. Jesus, she was lucky she hadn’t dropped her tray. She knew things like that went on, but it was another thing entirely to see it in person.
She gripped the tray tighter and backed into a dark corner, trying to catch her breath.
Part of her wanted to wipe what she’d seen from her mind, but another part, the wolf that waited under her skin, was having a glorious time replaying the scene in her head. This close to the full moon, her animal instincts were near the surface, and this was too good not to indulge in. Her blood heated as she closed her eyes and pictured the act again.
A hand landed on her hip from behind, and she jumped. Only her werewolf reflexes kept the tray in her hands.
“You’re not supposed to be here,” a familiar voice said into her ear.Kyle, she thought, but no, it couldn’t be. What would be the odds of him being a member here? The odds of him being here at all? Just someone who sounded like him, she thought. She glanced over her shoulder, but his face was covered in a lion mask. The door behind him was cracked open—a stairwell. So that’s where he’d come from.
“I didn’t know. It’s my first day. Don’t tell on me, okay?” She flashed a flirtatious smile and started to leave.
His hand landed on her waist. “Wait,” he whispered in her ear. “Stay. It will be our secret.”
The warm press of his thumb above her belly button made her body come alive. She inhaled deeply and parsed out the scent of human man, a spicy cologne, and the slightest hint of deep forest. Again, she thought of Kyle, and her wolf shivered beneath her skin, definitely interested. Her eyes widened.It couldn’t be.
“Is this okay?” he asked, pulling her closer. “I just want to talk to you.”
Her body thrummed, and she pressed her thighs together against a growing ache between her legs. “Yes,” she answered, unable to deny herself. His voice…his scent… Whoever this was, she wanted him. Her wolf wanted him. The animal part of her rubbed up against the inside of her skin, chuffing for more of his touch.
As if he could hear her thoughts, he moved her tray to the corner of a decorative table with an ornamental vase. When he returned his hands to her, he stroked them over her back. His nostrils flared. “You even smell like her.”
“Hmm?”
“You smell good,” he said a little louder. He drifted his hand lower, hooking it under her bottom and pulling her flush against his chest. Goddess, she shouldn’t be doing this, but her body loved the feel of him. It had been a long time since she’d been touched like this. She settled against him, giving herself over to the urge within her.
Tracing her nose along his neck, she inhaled deeply. “You smell good too.”
His smile turned wolfish, and he gestured toward the room where Nickie was making guttural sounds. “Do you like to watch?”
“Not really,” she whispered softly, her cheeks heating. “I… It was an accident.”
“Hmm. I believe that. You don’t strike me as someone who watches. You take what you want, don’t you?” His breath brushed the shell of her ear, his voice and scent making her body go taut. Something heavy turned over deep within her. Pure instinct took hold, and she ground her belly against his erection, her palms smoothing under his jacket, along the fine fabric of his shirt.
His chest rumbled a low growl. He bent his head until his mouth was dangerously close to hers, and the heady, distinctly male scent of him filled her nostrils. Their lips brushed, featherlight. Damn, her heart was going to jump straight out of her chest, and the thump-thump under her hands told her he was reacting similarly. Her inner wolf edged close to the surface, making her skin tingle.
It had been so long since she’d had sex. She was always too busy or too distracted by pack politics to allow herself the pleasure. But tonight, she was no one. Anita Woody didn’t exist. She’d never see this man again, and goddess, she ached for him.
Rising on her toes, she licked along the seam of his lips. Then fisted his hips and almost lifted him off his feet as she turned them both until her back was against the wall and his body nestled between her legs.
