Claiming Her Beasts Book One Read online

  Suddenly, I did want Javier.

  “Answer me, cariño,” he ordered in that strange voice.

  Something made me blurt out, “Yes.”

  “Good. Very good.” His silky voice was almost a purr. “Come close—”

  He was interrupted by Max grabbing the mic and announcing the end of Havana’s set.

  I shook my head, feeling dazed and weirdly turned on. What time is it? Uncle Duncan is probably freezing to death in the parking lot.

  I yanked my hand away from Javier. “I’ll have to think your offer over.” Before he could grab me again, I slid out of the booth.

  The flash of anger in his gaze told me he wasn’t used to being put off. He pushed something across the table. “Call me.”

  Blinking, I stared down at the shimmering black metal card.

  Are those genuine diamonds embedded around the phone number?

  “Thank you for your time.” He reached into his wallet, pulled out several hundred-dollar bills and placed them on top of the card.

  Part of me wanted to turn my back and walk away, sending the message I couldn’t be bought. But the other part of me that was suddenly aching for his touch and desperate to keep my family afloat had me stuttering, “Th-thank you,” while I grabbed the card and cash.

  As if telepathically summoned, Javier’s men left the bar and headed in our direction.

  “Lee, don’t keep me waiting. I’m not a patient man.” Javier’s tone held a note of warning.

  It was suddenly hard to breathe.

  He knows my real name. What else does he know about me?

  Answering my unspoken question, he said, “Even though you live just down the street, I want Nero to drive you home.” He motioned to a dangerous-looking man wearing a black suit.

  Nero flashed me a dazzling smile.

  It took me a second to realize that every single tooth in his mouth was gold plated.

  I backed away on shaky legs. “No. I’ve got a ride, thank you.”

  “As you wish. I’ll be looking forward to your call tomorrow, and to our date Saturday night.”

  I inwardly shuddered at the possessive gleam in his eyes. Clearly, in his mind, me agreeing to Saturday night was already a forgone conclusion. Turning my back on him, I sprinted toward the safety of the dressing room.

  5

  Hunter

  Rage blurred my vision. My claws extended and dug into the underside of the wood table.

  Javier just sealed his fate. I’d slay him as painfully as possible, feasting on his entrails while he begged for mercy.

  Venom dripped from my fangs as I battled the overpowering urge to charge across the strip club and attack.

  The only thing keeping me in my seat was the fucking chip in my head and the knowledge that my dancer had escaped Javier’s attempts at mind control.

  Although Alpha shifters possessed the ability to compel humans and weaker shifters, only the most craven would use it to seduce a female.

  I gnashed my teeth together, wishing I was grinding Javier’s bones to dust.

  After compelling the club owner to bring Lee to see him, Javier had made her an offer most wouldn’t refuse.

  I was proud of my dancer for not taking the bait. From my weeks of stalking her, I knew she was hard up for cash.

  Javier, on the other hand, had loads of money. Drugs, human trafficking, and extortion had made him obscenely wealthy. But when dollar bills didn’t get him what he wanted, he resorted to the same tactics he’d used to take over the Latin American cartels—mind control and intimidation.

  Lee hadn’t stood a chance.

  The moment the fucker compelled her to want sex, she’d grown wet for him. I could still smell the sweet scent of her arousal from across the club.

  If Javier hadn’t been interrupted, he might have compelled her to mate with him right then and there.

  Not that I would have allowed that to happen.

  Orders or no orders, she’d have sex with Javier over my dead and broken body.

  She’s mine.

  Now that I’d scented the perfume of her lust, my craving for her bordered on pain. Shaking with need, I tracked Lee’s power walk from Javier’s booth toward the curtains that led to the bathrooms and VIP rooms.

  The sound of wood splintering had me looking down at the table. My claws had ripped straight through the top of it. I’m losing control.

  I tensed, waiting for my handler to notice the spike in my arousal and blast me with a punishing electric shock. When nothing happened, I slowly let out a deep breath. Jen must not be monitoring me closely. Which meant…

  A slow grin spread across my face. I retracted my claws and glanced around the club.

  The old man in the cowboy hat had left. A blonde dancer bounced around the stage to an annoying as fuck pop song. Donna and her club owner husband were staring at the television over the bar. Javier was discussing another shipment of weapons with his enforcers. And the dominatrix was offering the jackass at the table in front of me a private dance.

  No one was watching me.

  This is my chance.

  I’d darted halfway across the club before I noticed Donna turning to look in my direction.

  “Wow, you’re moving fast, Sly,” she exclaimed loudly.

  Two of Javier’s enforcers turned to look at me.

  Fuck. “Y-yeah.” Remembering my act, I stopped and swayed in place. “Need to piss.”

  Donna let out a grating laugh.

  The enforcers turned their attention back to Javier.

  I’d almost blown my cover. Cursing my recklessness, I stumbled through the dark velvet curtain. Despite the dim lighting, I had no problem making out the bathroom door to my left and a row of VIP rooms that led down the hallway. Across from the rooms was a set of stairs my dancer was climbing.

  With my speed and reflexes, I could have rushed up the stairs and snatched her. But I didn’t want to risk her screams attracting unwanted attention.

  “Wait,” I called out, my booming voice carrying over the pop music.

  The dark-haired beauty stopped mid-step, gifting me with the incredible view of her muscular calves and firm ass before she spun around. “Sly?”

  The body glitter dusting her naked torso momentarily distracted me. It glistened, making her look wet and delicious. I flared my nostrils and drank her scent in—musky vanilla with darker undercurrents of desire.

  My cock throbbed and the sharp barbs along its length snagged the fabric of my pants.

  “Sly,” she said again, coming down a step. “Are you okay?”

  With a start, I realized she was calling me by my alias. “Yes.” My voice sounded like broken glass. I cleared my throat. “You dropped something.”

  “I did?” she came down another step.

  I retrieved the feather from my pocket and held it out to her. “I found this on the floor.”

  “Oh, that. You can keep it,” she said with a dismissive wave.

  I willed her to take it. “Can’t you glue it back on?”

  She sighed. “Sure. Thanks.”

  I held my breath as she took the last step down and reached for the feather.

  Her golden skin pressed against mine, and a frisson of electricity passed between us.

  I inhaled sharply, savoring the contact. A loud purr-like growl rumbled through my chest.

  Lee started at the inhuman sound.

  Fuck. Moving in a blur, I dropped the feather, snapped my hand around hers, and twisted her around so her back was against my chest. Then, I clamped my other hand over her mouth and carried her into the closest room.

  She let out muffled shrieks, trying to punch me with her free hand.

  “Calm down.” I tightened my arm around her, pinning her hands to her side. Then I yanked the red velvet curtains closed behind us.

  Agonizing pain pulsed through my head. I’d blown my cover, violating one of my handler’s orders. My chip would punish me until I rectified the situation. As the painful shoc
ks intensified, I continued shifting into my natural form.

  My dancer had to sense my shoulders broadening and my muscles thickening around her. Still, she fought me. She knocked off my sunglasses and buried her teeth into the flesh of my palm.

  The mounting pain summoned my beast. A deep roar thundered from my lips as my muscles contorted and my bones snapped.

  Her struggles became more frantic.

  My beast relished in her terror, wanting to assert its dominance. As I continued shifting, the top of my aching head collided with the small chandelier hanging above us. The tinkling of the chandelier crystals brought me to my senses.

  No!

  Taking deep ragged breaths, I stopped the transformation.

  My beast thrashed just below the surface. It urged me to wrap my jaws around the smooth column of her throat and press my fangs against her fluttering pulse until she submitted to me.

  Unaware her struggles were putting her in mortal danger, my dancer lifted one of her stilettos and tried to kick me with the pointed end.

  I easily evaded the sharp heel. “The more you fight, the more I crave you.” Trying to ignore the mounting pain in my head, I rubbed my hard cock against her back.

  She went still. Her wildly beating heart sounded in my ear.

  Not wanting to injure her, I adjusted my hold and her bare nipples grazed the top of my arm. A shudder rocked through me. I’d been waiting weeks to touch her like this.

  Take her, my beast urged.

  My breath sawed in and out. No! I would not hurt her.

  Summoning the frayed edges of my self-control, I flung her away and forced myself to regain a more human shape.

  She stumbled into the small raised platform in the middle of the room. Using her arms to push herself up, she opened her mouth to scream.

  Fuck. I hated resorting to mind control, but she and the chip in my head left me no choice. “Look at my eyes.”

  “Th-they’re glowing,” she cried. “What are you?”

  Infusing power into my words, I said, “You’re under my control.”

  Her expression went blank. “I’m under your control,” she recited back.

  “Relax. I mean you no harm. We’re good friends and you’re happy to see me.”

  “We’re good friends,” she repeated in a dazed voice.

  “Friends with benefits,” the asshole in me couldn’t resist adding.

  Her eyes glazed over, the tension left her body, and her arms fell to her side.

  All at once, the pain in my head disappeared. She’d believe whatever I wanted her to believe. She’d do whatever I wanted her to do. I motioned at the armless black couch behind the platform. “Please, sit.”

  She obediently walked over to the couch and sat on the shiny cushions that smelled of things I didn’t want to think about. Then, she looked at me expectantly.

  I hated myself in that moment. Lee was made of steel. She didn’t let anyone tell her what to do, including her shyster landlord or her too handsy boss at Hooters. And I’d taken that from her.

  Guilt punched me in the gut. I was no better than Javier preying on her.

  But what delicious prey she is.

  I couldn’t help but stare at her sparkling nipples.

  All I had to do was utter the words, and she’d offer them to me. After I’d licked and sucked them, I’d bury my face in her pussy.

  My beast purred in anticipation of tasting her. I’d make her orgasm over and over until she begged me to claim her.

  Seeming to pick up on my lust, Lee licked her lips.

  I groaned. Every cell in my body clamored for me to take her. I reached for her arm. Almost too late, I saw that my claws were fully extended. I quickly jammed my hand into my pocket, only to shred a hole straight through the fabric.

  Better the jacket than her skin. Fuck. I can’t touch her.

  The realization flayed me. She was human, or at least as vulnerable as one.

  I was nearly twice her size in my natural form. If I shifted into my beast as I often did when I lost control, our proportions would be even more ridiculous. How could she handle razor-sharp claws, poisonous fangs, and a monstrous barbed cock?

  She can’t. She’ll end up like the others.

  A howl of desperation caught in the back of my throat. What kind of sick irony is this? I’d found my mate but couldn’t claim her.

  “You’re so tall,” Lee said in a breathless voice. “Are you a baller?” Without waiting for me to respond, she answered her own question. “No. You’re way too muscular. Are you a bodybuilder?”

  I shook my head.

  She studied me. “Your hair is incredible. Do you get highlights?”

  I shook my head, not knowing what highlights even were.

  She angled her head to the side to stare at my face. “I’ve never seen metallic gold eyes like yours before either. Are they contacts?”

  “No.” I retrieved my sunglasses and put them back on. Her inspection of me was making me feel self-conscious.

  “Even with your sharp teeth, you’re gorgeous,” she said in a husky voice. The scent of her sweet musk grew stronger.

  She finds me attractive? It shouldn’t have mattered, but for some reason it did.

  She patted the cushion next to her. “Come here. I want to explore those benefits between us.”

  Disbelief locked me in place. Even at the club, I’d never seen my dancer proposition any male this way. But now she wants me? It made no sense.

  In a flash of clarity, I realized what was really happening. She’s still under Javier’s compulsion. In priming her to want him, he’d left her receptive to anyone. Even a beast like me.

  I wouldn’t take advantage of her and I sure as shit wouldn’t allow him or anyone else to either.

  Pushing a heavy amount of compulsion into my words, I said, “Ignore what Javier told you. You don’t need to be touched.”

  “But I do…” she said in a breathless voice. She rubbed her hand slowly up her thigh. “Will you touch me?”

  Alarm bells went off in my head. My compulsion never failed, except for the one time I tried to use it on a handler. I hadn’t known then that he and the other Titan soldiers were immune to mind control. My mistake had nearly cost me my life.

  I tried again, infusing power into every word. “You’re not attracted to Javier.”

  She blinked. “But I am attracted to him. He’s so handsome. And his eyes… He has beautiful eyes like yours.”

  My confusion gave way to a stunning realization—I couldn’t undo Javier’s compulsion. And that meant…

  Javier is more powerful than me.

  Impossible! I was the deadliest and most powerful shifter alive.

  As my dancer crooked her finger at me, I finally understood why I’d been ordered not to engage Javier.

  The military didn’t want to risk me falling under his control.

  But Jen could have at least warned me. Unless… this was some kind of test. A fucking diabolical test that pit my mating instincts against my programming.

  Of course.

  They wanted to know if I would follow orders or go after my mate. They’d even given me the impression that I was unmonitored. I snorted under my breath. I should have known better.

  The military would never allow me that kind of freedom.

  There was probably an entire team of handlers standing by to haul me away the minute I went AWOL. No doubt I’d join my fallen siblings in their unmarked grave if I failed this test.

  A trickle of sweat streamed down my face. Well, I’ll show them. I’d follow their damn orders. I’d get the intel and return to base. Later, when shit hit the fan, I’d find a way to escape and save my mate. Opportunity comes from chaos, right?

  My dancer reached out for me. “Sit with me. Touch me.”

  The murmur of voices from the room next door saved me from insanity. “I can’t, dirty dancer. Get your stuff and leave this place.” From weeks of stalking her, I knew the old man would take her strai
ght home. She couldn’t get into too much trouble there.

  “Stay at your house until I come for you.”

  “You’ll see me later?”

  No one had ever looked at me with such longing. My chest grew tight, and I fought the urge to drag her into my arms. “Yes. Now close your eyes and forget everything that happened since you left Javier. You can open your eyes in one minute.”

  “Okay.”

  As she closed her eyes, I did the hardest thing I’d ever done in my life—I walked away from the female I now knew was my mate.

  6

  Lee

  I came to my senses, startled to find myself in one of the VIP rooms. More than a little freaked out, I glanced around the empty walk-in closet-sized space.

  What happened? The last thing I remembered was walking away from Javier as fast as I could.

  Why make a pit stop here? And why sit on one of the nasty couches even the cleaning crew didn’t dare touch? Ew!

  As I peeled myself off the sticky vinyl, the unmistakable sound of leather smacking skin made me jump.

  Havana must be working the professor extra hard in the next room.

  I was glad it was her and not me pretending to enjoy his company. But, for some strange reason, the moaning from the other room made my stomach tighten.

  Maybe I’m missing out on something… something big. Maybe Javier is right. Maybe I want to be touched.

  My skin warmed at the thought of the drug lord’s hands on my body. My breathing shallowed as I imagined accepting his offer. Maybe I should go to him right now.

  Smack.

  “You’re such a naughty boy,” Havana said in the room next door.

  I blinked. What the hell is wrong with me? I needed to find Uncle Duncan. He’d been waiting long enough.

  Ducking through the red velvet curtain, I rushed up the side stairs and headed to the dressing room. It was empty.

  Not having to see Jess was about the only good thing to happen to me today. I let out the tense breath I’d been holding and walked over to the lockers. Mine was next to Cami’s. As usual, she hadn’t bothered to shut hers and her lingerie spilled out onto the floor.

  Shaking my head, I picked up the hot pink teddy and shoved it back inside her locker.