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  Big D, despite his “bigness” and the tattoos he had on display; was more like a gentle giant. His voice was softer than the others and he was patient with me, as he showed me around the place.

  It was a Thursday night and according to him, the discounts brought a lot of their customers in on this night. He had pointed to his own leather vest, and the vests that some of the other guys were wearing. Without giving me much of an explanation, he said that anybody with a vest on got their drinks for free. The rest of the people would have to pay. I made mental notes of the variety of drinks that Big D said the guys liked to drink and I figured I would have to eventually learn them up. It seemed like these guys were the kinds of people who wouldn’t have the patience to give out detailed orders every time they came up to the bar. I would eventually just have to know and pour as soon as I saw them.

  “You’ll be fine, kid,” Big D told me with a grin on his face and I smiled back, appreciating the encouragement. “Shifters aren’t as terrifying as everyone says. We’re just a big family here. A pack.” This is what I needed right now. I needed encouragement and a means of make a living. As good as Nina’s intentions were, her sympathizing was only ending up enraging me more than encouraging me. It wasn’t her fault of course, I was just pissed at the situation I had allowed myself to get into.

  Big D had given me the initial task of polishing and arranging some of the clean glasses, when the guy walked in.

  I’d looked up, expecting to see another group of muscular men walk in, but my eyes fixed on this figure with a jolt. I had taken approximately five-seconds, before I pulled my gaze away from him. A feeling like panting, rising up my chest. This guy, though similar in a lot of ways to the others, looked nothing like the rest of them.

  He was tall, probably a foot taller than me and was towering over nearly everyone else in the bar. He stood near the door, with his threatening gaze on me. Blue eyes stormy and dangerous and fixed on my face. I felt like he was angry that I had encroached on his territory. He was definitely pissed off about something.

  His hair seemed brown, at least now it did in the dim light of the bar, and he had a short faux hawk cut in the middle of his head, which was scruffy and neat at the same time; a kind of effortless style. A five o’clock shadow darkened his chiseled jaws.

  He was muscular, with wide shoulders and a heaving chest without being too buffed up. He was wearing the same vest that Big D had already told me about. So he belonged to whatever group these guys belonged to, although I had no idea what it was about. I wondered what type of shifter he was too. I had only met a few before, and none of them looked like him.

  I gripped the glass in my hand tightly, as I tried not to look up at him again. I could feel my cheeks flushing, burning up as I tried to remain calm. No other guy had this effect on me before. I had never thought that I was the kind of girl who could just look at a man and feel this kind of burning, sexual need.

  His biceps bulged under his leather jacket and I’d already noticed the tattoos crawling up his neck. My mind immediately went to what he might look like without his clothes on. His cock. The muscles on his thighs. Washboard abs.

  I had to shake my head slightly to stop visualizing this guy’s naked body.

  Big D was speaking to me again, telling me something about the cash machine. While I tried to pay attention, I couldn’t help but look over towards the door.

  He had stepped closer to the counter now, enough for me to notice the curl forming on the sides of his lips. Like he was deciding whether to grin. He was still looking at me and I knew I saw danger in those blue eyes. An instinct in the bottom of my gut was telling me to stay away.

  I snapped my head away from him and back at Big D again. No good could possibly come from looking at that man. He was definitely trouble.

  But oh so delicious, irresistible trouble. I’d never been with a guy before who could throw me over his shoulder, and this man definitely could. No problem.

  He looked like he could swing me around like a rag doll in his arms and I shivered slightly, at the thought of his cock inside me. He’d be rough. He wouldn’t take it slow and right now, I just needed to be fucked. I needed someone to bang the daylights out of me, so that I could forget about Maxwell and everything else that had gone so horribly wrong in my life. And this guy seemed like the absolute perfect candidate.

  Big D had walked away to attend to some patrons, leaving me alone with the glasses again.

  “Sweetheart!” I heard someone call out to me and I looked up at a group of men sitting at a table, clicking their fingers at me.

  I pasted a smile on my face, and walked around the counter towards them. I was aware the whole time of the mysterious stranger’s eyes on me. He was watching me work, and yet, he hadn’t approached me. I couldn’t look at him again, without giving myself away. I wondered if he already knew what I wanted.

  “You’re new,” one of the men said when I approached the table. I smiled at him and nodded my head, self-conscious of being so closely watched by these group of men who intimidated me. They were older, with graying scrawling beards and sagging tattoos. Hard men who could take their drinks well.

  The man reached for my hip and I felt my muscles stiffen.

  “Hands off the barkeep, Mickey!” another voice barked and I looked up to see the older man, the authoritative one who had interviewed me and introduced himself as just Hunter. He gave me a casual smile and went back to talking to the people around me.

  The man withdrew his hands from me and I maintained the smile on my face.

  “What can I get you?” I asked and that was when I heard his voice for the first time.

  “Big D will take your orders,” his voice was deep and velvety smooth, seeping straight into my soul and I felt my shoulders stiffen as I turned on my heels to look at him.

  He was standing right behind me, smirking now and I felt my mouth run dry.

  “Daredevil,” he said, in that same painfully sexy voice and I felt goosebumps erupt on my arms. I knew I was blushing. I hadn’t expected his voice to be just as hot as he was.

  “Pardon me?” I said in a small voice as he stepped up closer to me.

  “That’s my name. What’s yours?” he asked and I saw the way his gaze dropped to my breasts, dragged along the length of my bare legs and then he looked back up at my face again.

  “Well, they seem to call me sweetheart here,” I said and his smile grew wider, and I noticed how deep the dimples on his cheeks were. That smile was going to melt me into a puddle straight down into my shoes. It was too much for me.

  “But my actual name is Melody,” I continued and this time, he stepped even closer to me. Our bodies weren’t in contact, but it felt like he had just reached out and touched me. Like his hands were on my breasts, on my nipples. I could feel a warm wetness spreading between my legs. My body was rebelling against me and my polite manners. Was I gaping wide-mouthed at him? I struggled to maintain composure while he peered into my eyes.

  “I apologize on behalf of my friends, Melody. I’ll make sure they call you by name,” he said and something in his eyes told me that he meant every word he said. Like he was going to make sure these men called me by nothing else but my name. It felt like my breath was caught in my throat.

  “I…I don’t care. I mean, it doesn’t matter…I don’t mind,” I was fumbling with my words, trying to form one coherent sentence without making a complete fool of myself.

  Daredevil continued to smile at me, like he was enjoying watching me struggle. Whatever composure I had managed to maintain a few minutes ago was quickly dissipating.

  “And is Daredevil your name or is that what they call you?” I managed to ask and his smiled grew wider. His gaze dropped down to my breasts again and instinctively, I pushed them outwards. I wanted him to see them. I wanted him to undress me with his eyes. I couldn’t imagine why he was even looking at me. There were girls far sexier than me walking around this place. I’d just seen one come up and try to
speak to him. Why was he speaking to me?

  “You can call me Daredevil,” he replied, slicing through my thoughts with that voice of his again. I licked my lips, my words sticking to the back of my throat as I tried to come up with a decent response. I felt stupid standing in front of him, under his deliciously stormy gaze. The name suited him and I tried to smile, so that I wouldn’t look so foolish.

  “I’m new,” I blurted out, before I could stop myself. Of course he knew I was new! Everyone here knew I was new. The smile on his face grew and he nodded his head.

  “Welcome to the pride,” he said and I nearly choked. The pride? What was he talking about? This was a bar and I was an employee. I was human, not a shifter like them. I suddenly felt very naive and I wondered if this had been the right decision. Staring into this guy’s deep blue eyes definitely didn’t seem like the right decision.

  “Thank you,” I replied and his gaze dropped to the spot between my legs. Where the wetness had already begun to spread, where I could feel my libs throbbing, my clit swelling with desire. I wanted to be touched, roughly, pinned against the wall. And most importantly, I wanted to be touched by him.

  I couldn’t believe I was having these thoughts, while he was right in front of me.

  “Daredevil!” A big guy with a scruffy dark beard and dark hair called out to him from the door. We both looked at him, till Daredevil turned to me again.

  “Be good, Melody,” he said to me, with his dimples deepening in his cheeks and he turned around without waiting for a response and walked over to a table of other guys.

  I went back to the counter, as though in a dream. Still feeling like he had run his hands all over my skin. I knew my body was dripping with desire for this man who I knew nothing about. I’d do anything he wanted me to do. I was under his spell no matter how hard I tried to resist it. All he would have to do was look at me once more. But he didn’t.

  I watched him from under my heavily hooded lids as he laughed and joked with his friends at the biggest table in the center of the bar. It was like he didn’t even know I existed anymore. He was bad news. I could feel it in my bones and yet there was nothing I could do about the lust in my veins. It had taken over my system when I was supposed to be working.

  This was all Maxwell’s fault! I tried to blame him for making me want this man. I didn’t even recognize myself. I couldn’t remember another time I had felt this animalistic need for a man. But I knew I had to stay away. There was no chance in hell I could allow myself to fall for someone so quickly after my previous relationship had ended. I wasn’t in my right mind yet. I wasn’t myself. This was madness and that was the only explanation for how I was feeling.

  Chapter 6

  Daredevil

  I heard Big D make the last call, but my mind was swimming. I’d had too much to drink again. My tiger was practically asleep beneath my skin. The others were sitting around me, Jordan was making some joke about Ace’s lack of tattoos. He only had one, of a cross; to match the cross he always wore around his neck.

  I hadn’t been able to think about anything else all night, except redheaded Melody behind the bar. I’d watched her all night, following the way her ass moved underneath that denim skirt. Till Big D gave her the signal and I figured her shift was over. She had collected her things from the back of the bar and left, winding her way around the crowded tables. I had to do everything I could to not intercept her on her way.

  She was still off limits.

  “Guys, take yourselves home,” Big D had come up to our table and started collecting our bottles and glasses. The others started standing up, slightly unsteady on their feet and I blinked my eyes. Realizing now just how much I’d had to drink.

  “I’m gonna crash upstairs,” I growled at nobody in particular and I strode up to one of the bunk rooms, feeling my way in the dark. I hadn’t even bothered to hear the others respond, I just needed to be alone.

  In the dark, I crashed into one of the beds, a bottle of beer still in my hand. I couldn’t get Melody out of my mind. I’d spent the whole night at war with myself, cursing my father under my breath for setting up this ridiculous rule.

  Although, I was glad this rule existed because it kept her safely out of reach of everyone else. I’d have twisted the neck of anyone who even thought of going close to her. I was inches away from pulling out my gun at Mickey when he nearly touched her. How was I going to deal with watching her work at the bar every day, knowing that probably every other guy there was having the same thoughts as me? She was fresh and had an air of untouched virgin beauty about her. I could practically see the drool dribbling down the sides of their mouths.

  I couldn’t stay awake much longer. The alcohol was seeping into my system, overtaking my senses and I found myself drifting into sleep. Still thinking about her and what her hair might smell like on my face, how tight her pussy was and how much of my cock would fit into her.

  But that’s all I could do…just dream of her, because I couldn’t have her.

  xxx

  Next morning Church was called. Hunter had called for it, and the entire MC was going to meet in the office at the back of The Shifter Shack downstairs.

  Luckily for me, all I had to do was wash my face and go downstairs. It was still a pain getting out of the bed, dragging myself out when I could feel the throb in my head. My cellphone beeped with the alert that was sent out and all I wanted to do was smash it against the wall and go back to fantasizing about the redhead again.

  Melody.

  I’d blinked my eyes open to the thought of her. She felt real to me. I’d been thinking about her so hard that it felt like she could be in the same room as me right then. Those long pale slender legs, the curve of her hips, the stretch of her breasts underneath that black crop top. Her belly. Were her nipples pink or darker? I had woken up to the thought of sucking on one of them, squeezing her breasts till she squealed.

  I had never woken up to the fantasy of a woman before. That was probably because I had never gone to sleep without having the girl I wanted. Melody on the other hand; I felt like I would never be completely satisfied. No matter how many times I had her, I would still want more.

  By the time I reached downstairs, everyone had already assembled in the office around the big oak table that Dad liked to sit behind when he wanted to intimidate someone at a meeting. I was the last one to arrive, but I didn’t give a shit today.

  “Thank you for gracing us with your presence,” Dad said, when I walked in through the door. Jordan smirked and I ran a hand through my hair. I was hungover as fuck.

  “Beasty, you have the floor,” Dad said to him and he cleared his throat before speaking, his golden-brown eyes gleaming with anticipation.

  “I staked out Mr. Hill’s pawn shop last night. Daredevil asked me to because Mr. Hill was complaining that the Claws have been paying him threatening visits lately,” he began to say.

  I was standing in the middle of the circle of men, with my arms crossed over my chest. Dad was behind the desk with his fists on it, leaning himself over while he watched Beasty with his narrowed eyes.

  “Did you see anything?” Lewis was the one who asked, growing impatient and Beasty shook his head.

  “Nothing last night, but I have a bad feeling about it. My bear’s claws were threatening to come out all the damn time. Mahoney complained about the same thing last week and Mr. Hill said that some of the other businesses were shaken down too,” Beasty continued and Dad looked up at me and I clenched my jaw. Beasty was the only bear in the pride, but he was a beast. Hence the nickname. Giant ass Grizzly bear.

  “They might hit the shop again,” Beasty said and I stepped forward.

  “Ace and Beasty should stake the place out for another night,” I said and Dad nodded.

  “I was thinking the same thing,” Ace spoke up.

  “What do you think they’re planning?” Jordan asked and we all watched while Dad took in a deep breath.

  “Whatever it is, we need to be p
repared,” he said.

  “Shoot on sight,” I said and there was silence for a few moments in the office. I knew I was being watched intensely by the others, just as much as they were watching Dad to see if he agreed.

  “Shoot on sight,” he said and I sensed the workings of a murmur in the room.

  “We are not going to allow them to get any ideas,” Dad spoke again and there was silence in the room.

  “Beasty, Ace, report back tomorrow morning and make sure you’re packing for the night,” Dad said to them, to which they both nodded their heads. “The rest of you, find someplace to shift. We all need our senses heightened. You know how complacent you can all get. Let the cats out and let them do their job.”

  After that we dispersed, not before I exchanged knowing looks with Dad first. We weren’t speaking about it openly, but this was the kind of war he had been preparing me for my whole life. These were the kinds of decisions I would have to take when I took over the MC, and I was ready.

  Chapter 7

  Melody

  It had been a week, and I still couldn’t stop thinking about Daredevil.

  Getting a hang of the job was easy enough. I had to serve the drinks and keep a tab on who was paying and who wasn’t. Big D was always around, which meant that I didn’t have to handle anything on my own. Besides, some of the guys with the vests were always around the bar, and in their presence, I always felt safe. I could tell that they belonged to some kind of Club…I had my suspicions that it was a full-fledged Shifter Motorcycle Club. And Daredevil was a part of it as well.

  He still watched me around the bar whenever he was there, undressing me with his eyes, keeping an eye on my every move. And every time I saw him, I couldn’t get rid of the feeling I had that first night we’d met. I thought I was going crazy.