Demon with Wolves (Shadowpeak Wolves Book 3) Read online

  “I’m pretty sure you know how unbelievably hot you are. Yet no one is staring at you.”

  “You think I’m unbelievably hot?”

  She flushed but didn’t let herself get sidetracked. “Come on, what gives? Why aren’t they all over you?”

  “Well, delightful as that sounds, they’re not ‘mounting’ me because they cannot see me.”

  “Right, they’re all blind now. Or are you a figment of this?” She held up her drink, tapping the glass.

  He grinned. “Not at all. To them, I simply don’t exist.”

  She laughed. “Right. Hey, Ginny,” she called over to the waitress clearing the table next to them. “This guy thinks he’s invisible.” She waved a hand at the gorgeous, loony man still standing beside her.

  Ginny gaped at her. “You need me to call someone for you, Dusty?”

  “Uhh, no. Come on, why aren’t you laughing?”

  Ginny frowned. “You sure you’re okay? Have you been smoking something funny? Because there’s no man standing there.”

  “Ahh, yeah. Right. Sorry.”

  Dusty sent the waitress a sheepish grin. When Ginny’s attention shifted away, she turned to glare at her imaginary pain in the butt.

  “Better watch the wind doesn’t change.”

  “What are you talking about?” She took a big sip. Ahh, heaven in a slightly dirty glass.

  “Didn’t your mother ever tell you not to frown in case the wind changes and leaves you looking that way?”

  “Some of us didn’t have mothers.” She dropped her gaze, cursing herself for revealing that. She continued quickly, “I’m hallucinating. I’ve got to be. But why I would imagine someone as annoying as you is beyond me. And how did I get this if you’re invisible?” She held up the glass. “Wouldn’t someone have noticed a bottle of whiskey floating through the air?”

  Ah-ha, she thought, let him explain that.

  “I’m not a hallucination. But I can manipulate minds. If you ask someone about that whiskey, they’ll swear they saw you buy it, because that’s what I’ve told them happened. I’ve made sure that no one here can see me but you. I can also teleport, but then you’d be denied my delightful company.”

  “Right, well, lucky me, huh?” she said sarcastically, not believing a word of it. “Mind manipulation, sure, and I’d like to take tea with Mary Poppins.” She stared at the whiskey. “I have definitely had enough.”

  “Let me take you home.”

  “Whatever,” she mumbled. “Not like I can stop you anyway. You’re a hallucination, remember?” She peered up at him as she shifted off the stool. “Although, if you’re a hallucination I should be able to will you away or at least make you mute.”

  “I’m crushed. Can you truly say you’d never want to hear my dulcet tones again?” He placed a hand dramatically on his heart as she tried to stretch her leg discreetly. She’d been sitting too long, and her thigh was weak and stiff.

  “Something wrong, hellcat?”

  “Stop calling me hellcat,” she gritted out between clenched teeth. Pain shot up her leg, nearly making her whimper. Part of her wished she’d brought her crutches. But she refused to use them unless it was absolutely necessary. He placed a firm hand under her elbow, helping to steady her.

  “Let me help you until we get outside,” he said quietly, his voice serious. She nodded.

  It wasn’t a long walk to the parking lot, but by the time they made it she was leaning on him heavily. Much to her chagrin.

  “Looks like we have company,” he drawled, coming to a stop. “How rude of them not to call.”

  She looked up, groaning as two of the leering bikers from the bar stepped from the shadows.

  “Well, well, well, what have we here, Toad?” The tall, thin one walked toward them, full of his own self-worth.

  “Looks like a nice piece of ass, that’s what,” the other replied.

  “Get lost, I’m not interested,” she snarled.

  “Don’t recall asking if you were interested, sweetheart. You followed us out here. Couldn’t resist me, could you?” The tall one leered at her.

  “I can barely stop myself from jumping your bones,” she spoke dryly. “Beat it, before I’m forced to hurt you.”

  Toad glanced around. “You and whose army? Far as I can see you’re a woman alone. You do what we say, and we won’t hurt you. Much.”

  She snorted. “I’m so scared. Does it make you feel like a big man, picking on a woman alone?”

  “Ahem,” her companion cleared his throat, his hand still under her elbow. She pulled herself free, standing on her own.

  “You don’t count,” she muttered at him.

  The small guy looked around. “Who you talking to? Me? You think I don’t count? I count, cunt. Once you have a bit of Toady, you won’t be walking for a week.”

  She sneered. “I seriously doubt it.”

  “Get lost, Toad,” the tall one said, pushing his friend aside. “She doesn’t want you. She wants a real man.” He puffed himself up like a rooster.

  “Yep,” she agreed, smiling sweetly. “You see any, you send them my way, okay?”

  Laughing, Toad dug his elbow into the tall guy’s side. “She’s saying you’re not a real man, Ricky, get it?”

  Ricky frowned. “Yeah, I get it. Listen, bitch. I’m going to show you how I shut a slut like you up.” He took a step toward her. Beside her, Algernon folded his arms and smiled.

  “You think this is funny?” she asked him. “They want to rape me, and you’re grinning?”

  “I would put my money on you any day.”

  “Who’re you talking to?” Toad whined as Algernon’s confidence warmed her. She frowned. It shouldn’t matter to her what he thought.

  “I’m going to kick some dumb biker butt.” She tried to pull on her wolf, needing her strength. Her beast stirred, but it was like trying to wake someone who was drugged. Hopeless.

  Great. Looked as though she was on her own.

  “She needs a lesson real bad,” Ricky snarled. “Only one use for a mouth like that.”

  “I wouldn’t,” she warned, snapping her teeth. “I like to bite.”

  Toad took a step back as Ricky rushed forward. Dusty raised her walking stick, whacking him across the face.

  Ricky yelped, falling back. The two of them came charging at her. Shit. She braced herself.

  A strong gust of wind swirled dirt into Toad’s eyes. As he yelled, rubbing at his face, Dusty took on Ricky. Most of her weight rested on her good leg—her injured thigh was weak, heavy and screaming with pain.

  “I thought you weren’t going to interfere,” she yelled to her grinning companion as she struck a heavy punch to Ricky’s gut, quickly following up with a jab to his jaw. Hopping back, she barely managed to stay upright.

  “I got bored,” he replied, sticking his foot out to trip a bewildered-looking Toad.

  “You’re fucking crazy.” Ricky struck out at her, stunning her with a blow to her head. As she teetered back, Dusty swung her walking stick up, striking him in the eye. Ignoring his terrible screech, she smacked the stick into the side of his head, wincing at the crack before he fell, unconscious. Her leg collapsed, pain shooting through her body as she saw Toad fly through the air, crashing into a nearby car.

  Rolling, she tried to find her footing. Something large and heavy slammed into her side. She collapsed with the third biker from the bar on top of her, smothering her.

  Agony had her gritting her teeth as she fought back a scream.

  “Forget about me, bitch?”

  Damn her, she had. But she wasn’t about to admit it.

  “You need a bath,” was all she said before she butted her forehead into his nose. As he yelled, loosening his hold, she brought her hand up, slamming it under his chin, forcing his head back.

  He howled but didn’t budge. Instead, he placed his hands around her throat, choking her.

  “Need some help, hellcat?”

  “No,” she gasped. Stretchi
ng her hand down, she wiggled her leg up a little and grabbed the knife from her boot.

  Black dots filled the edge of her vision as she drove the blade deep into the fat biker’s buttock.

  He squealed, reaching back frantically for the knife. Dusty shoved him off her. High-pitched, piglike noises filled the parking lot as he pulled the knife from his ass, holding it out in front of him.

  “You bitch. You knifed me in the ass!”

  “Calm down, it only hit fat.” Still lying on the ground, Dusty braced herself as he grew purple with fury.

  “I’m going to kill you.” He stood, taking a step toward her. Her blond friend grabbed him by the neck, throwing the bigger man through the air with surprising ease.

  After that, he didn’t move.

  Dusty frowned. “I didn’t need your help.”

  “He was giving me a headache. You know, you really should’ve been watching out for him.”

  She glared, breathing heavily. “What are you?” she asked between clenched teeth. Her leg burned, lashes of pain screaming through her body. She didn’t want to move, let alone stand.

  “Nothing you have ever met before. Now shall we get a move on?”

  She gaped at him for a moment, amazed by how calm he sounded.

  “And people think I’m crazy. No, we are not leaving. I don’t have any idea who or what you are and I don’t want to know. You go. Alone.” She was going to have to drag herself to her Jeep. Walking was not an option right now.

  “Really? And how exactly are you going to move? Can you grow wings and fly? Or are you planning on dragging yourself around and hoping no one else assaults you? Because you know, with your people skills it’s only a matter of time before someone else decides to attack you.”

  She growled.

  He smiled and held out his hand. Reluctantly she grabbed hold, letting him help her rise.

  “Have you seen my walking stick?” she asked.

  “I’ll get it,” he offered, leaving her side.

  “No, don’t—” She reached a hand out, needing his help to balance herself. She felt herself falling, her weight moving onto her bad leg, which immediately protested, agony seizing her body, striking fast. Everything around her blurred and swirled as the ground rushed up to meet her.

  * * * * *

  “I’m going to puke,” Dusty gasped. Her stomach rolled from a mixture of pain and way too much whiskey.

  “Hmm, not the usual reaction from a woman in my bed, but then you’re not a usual woman, are you, hellcat?” His words were calm, unhurried, but he lifted her, carrying her swiftly into a large bathroom. Not a minute too soon either as the whiskey-laden contents of her stomach came riding up. Intense cramps shook her as she threw up.

  Finally—shaky, sweaty and weak—she managed to take a decent breath. He easily held her up from the toilet bowl with an arm across her chest, his other hand holding back her hair.

  “Hmm, what a waste of whiskey.” He set her on the cool bathroom floor.

  “You know, a little sympathy wouldn’t go astray.”

  “You don’t want sympathy,” he replied matter-of-factly. “You have had more than enough of that. It would only annoy you.”

  “How do you know that?” she asked suspiciously.

  He shrugged. “It wasn’t hard to work out, hellcat. Obviously, you’ve hurt your leg recently. And you don’t seem like a woman who would accept being injured, nor would you wish to suffer others’ pity.”

  Alarm bells rang in her head, but she couldn’t focus her brain. “Think you’re smart, don’t you?”

  “Here.” He filled a glass with water and held it out for her, along with some pills. She sipped the water slowly while staring at the drugs suspiciously.

  “They are merely from the packet in your pocket.”

  “You searched my pockets?” What else had he done while she’d been out cold?

  He shrugged, grinning unrepentantly.

  Well, they did look like her pills. And with the pain in her leg reaching screaming point, she was willing to take almost anything to make it stop.

  Dusty accepted the pills, swallowing them down quickly. A cool washcloth covered her face as he wiped her cheeks and forehead.

  She should have objected, would have objected if it hadn’t felt like absolute heaven on earth.

  “Think we can move back to the bedroom? I doubt you have much left in your stomach to throw up.”

  Wincing, she nodded. Had she finally reached rock bottom? Drunk in what appeared to be a motel room, with a crazy man who looked like every woman’s dream. Oh, and he was probably a figment of her imagination… Yep, sounded as though she was scraping the bottom of the barrel.

  Lifting her easily, he carried her back into the bedroom, laying her on the bed. She tried to move away, not wanting him close. Her breath had to be funky, and she probably looked worse than those sluts in the bar.

  “You’re certainly introducing me to a number of firsts, hellcat. You are the first unconscious woman I’ve ever carried to my bedroom. You’re also the first person I’ve ever held as they threw up.” He had a puzzled, almost fascinated look on his face. She had no idea what was so interesting about watching someone puke but shrugged it off.

  “You’re insane, right? Crazy, whacko,” she mumbled. She knew she was rambling, but a combination of exhaustion, an empty stomach and the pills she’d just ingested were making her a little crazy.

  “That so?”

  Her eyes drifted closed. Popping them back open, she saw him still standing there, staring down at her.

  “I’m not a freak show, you know,” she mumbled.

  He laughed as her lids dropped. “Well, you are a werewolf. Some would argue that makes you a freak by definition.”

  “You got something against werewolves? Are you a member of HAW?” She tried to sound angry, attempting to sit so she could confront him. But her limbs wouldn’t cooperate. Members of Humans Against Werewolves were the scum of the earth, men and women who believed that there was room only for purebred humans on earth. No werewolves need apply.

  “No, hellcat. I have nothing against freaks. I’m not a hypocrite.”

  She couldn’t stay awake long enough to ask him what the hell he was talking about. Or how he knew she was a werewolf.

  Or even what his real name was.

  * * * * *

  Caught in that dreamy place between deep sleep and consciousness, Dusty snuggled into the person lying next to her, shivering a little at the unexpected coolness.

  Rubbing against the undeniably male body, she let out a breath that was half sigh, half whimper. The urge to taste him, to touch him, was overwhelming. She had no strength to fight it. Her pulse raced, the walls of her sheath clenching.

  Desire rode her hard, swirling through her blood, stealing her mind. She was hungry, and the feel of him next to her called to her.

  A rich, deep smoky scent filled her senses, moving with lazy intent through her body. Drugged by his scent, she couldn’t hold herself back.

  Mesmerized, Dusty kissed across his shoulders. She moved down his back, smoothing her way with her mouth, nipping creamy skin. Reaching his buttocks, she cupped them, licking the line where his cheeks met. He stiffened then groaned before rolling over and grabbing her hands, tugging them back.

  “I really don’t want to stop you, but I feel I have to.”

  Dusty shook her head, tugging at her hands. She wanted to touch him, why wouldn’t he let her touch him?

  “How odd. I’m doing something that doesn’t benefit me. I wonder if this is what having a conscience feels like?”

  Dusty slammed into consciousness, the fog of need surrounding her thinning.

  What the hell am I doing?

  She rolled away, pulling free.

  “Fuck!”

  Sitting, she scrambled up the bed until her back hit the headboard. Dusty bent her good leg, clasping it against her chest in a defensive position.

  “What are you doing in my bed?
”

  “Actually, you are in my bed.”

  “I was sick.” She took a deep breath, trying to calm her heartbeat, to fight against the desire still raging through her body. “You could have slept on the couch.”

  He shrugged, his wicked grin lighting her insides. “The couch is uncomfortable, and I like to be comfortable.”

  How did he manage to make the word comfortable sound so, well, erotic?

  “Besides, this is my bed, and you’re in it. How could I stay away?”

  “You could have tried.”

  “And miss feeling your skin against mine? The way you sigh when you are aroused? I don’t think so.”

  “That was a mistake, I was asleep, dreaming.” She turned to climb from the bed when he clasped her hand, pulling her back.

  “Some dream.” He winked then grew suddenly serious. “Stay. I’m leaving. You need to get some sleep.”

  She glared. “Now you leave?”

  He nodded and stood. “I am no saint, hellcat. Believe me, if you were any other woman I would have taken what you offered without a second thought.” His voice sounded puzzled, surprised. “This is all very odd. I think I should go.”

  “Go where? Who are you?”

  He drew on his clothes. How he managed to look so sleek and unwrinkled this early in the morning was beyond her. She glimpsed down at her own clothes. Yep, she was a mess.

  As she raised her face, he caught her by surprise, his lips taking hers in a kiss that flowed through her body. Her eyelids drooped, her world narrowing to the pleasure swimming through her blood.

  “What’s your real name?” she whispered and opened her eyes.

  Only to find she was alone.

  Chapter Two

  When Dusty woke, sun was streaming through the uncovered windows, mockingly cheerful as it danced about the room. She held her palms up against her eyes, desperately willing her throbbing headache to dissipate.

  Memories of last night flooded her brain, and she groaned. Cautiously, she opened her eyes.