Avet, Danica - Ain't No Bull [The Veil 4] (Siren Publishing Classic) (10 page)

Suddenly, his hips arched off the chair, his body bowed out. “Isola,” he groaned as he came, thick, ropey strands of his seed spilling over his hand and stomach.

He was beautiful, his skin damp from his exertions, the evidence of his lust coating him. He gave his gorgeous, still half-erect cock two last pumps before giving a loud, shuddering sigh.

Izzy’s hand was on the window sash, ready to throw it open. She was going to take that man regardless of what was good for her. Her body was screaming for him, creaming for him, too, now that she thought about it. She was going to ride that bull until—

His head lifted off the back of the chair, his eyes finding hers immediately. The smoldering satisfaction in his face had her inner muscles fluttering in a phantom orgasm. Shit. She felt like a gazelle in the sights of a lion. Grant’s tongue swept out, wetting his lips and Izzy repeated the action without conscious effort. Then, he smiled and winked.

She gasped loudly, her head jerking back so fast she felt a sharp sting in her neck. The bastard had known she was outside the window! Her face went up in flames, or at least that’s what it felt like as she spun around. That bastard!

She stalked away from the house, the heat from her lust and embarrassment leaving her comfortable in the freezing temperatures. That sneaky, horned bastard, she thought as she stomped to her car. He’d put on a show for her. She slammed the door and turned the engine over.

The door opened and Grant looked out at her, his jeans still unbuttoned though he had fastened the zipper again. His blue eyes were heavy and sensuous, his cheeks flushed from his climax. Izzy stared at him through the windshield, not sure how she felt at this moment.

Throwing the SUV in reverse, she tore off of his property like the hounds of hell were on her heels. As she squealed onto the road, she vowed to buy a camera in town because if he did that again, she wanted to be able to watch it any time she wanted to when she got back home. Shivering at the memory, a smile played around her lips. The minotaur was better than Skinemax.

* * * *

Izzy had passed through Eustis the night before, but it hadn’t made much of an impression. Glancing around as she drove to the bar she’d seen the previous night, she nodded to herself. It still didn’t make much of an impression. She would guess it was mostly Veilerians living in the area. So yeah, boring.

It appeared to be a one-road town with all the businesses clumped together as though afraid of what was outside the city limits. Considering they had shifters, killer nymphs, and one badass Amazon in the area, the townspeople should be afraid. There was a small bank right next to the police station, which Izzy made sure not to stare at. That damn bear was there. She just knew it.

Shuddering, she looked at the opposite side of the street. A diner, grocery store, and barber shop all shared one side of the road. The bar was on its own at the edge of town. The black sheep of the business district, no doubt. Although she hadn’t seen a church in the area, she figured there were probably some who didn’t approve of the townspeople imbibing.

Thank the gods, it was open. Hopping out with all the exuberance of a kid on the last day of school, Izzy skipped into the bar and stopped dead in her tracks.

Shifters were packed wall-to-wall. She recognized a few of them as wolves, a few others as mountain lions, but it was the biggest ones in the crowd she was leery of looking at. Izzy had always believed that shifters moved like their animal half. Wolves were silent and tended to lope a bit. The cat breeds slinked all graceful-like. The bears though, the bears should have moved like lumbering beasts, but they never did. Instead, they were quieter than the wolves and more graceful than the cats. In spite of their massive size in human or bear form, they managed to be sleek and deadly.

All conversations stopped as heads turned to view the newcomer. Animal eyes gleamed at her in the dimness of the bar, raising the hair on the back of her neck. Self-preservation told her to walk out of the bar without taking her eyes off the crowd, but self-preservation was another one of those traits her tribe was trying to teach her. Luckily, none of her sisters were with her, so they couldn’t kick her ass for what she was about to do.

Bracing her feet shoulder-width apart, she tucked her thumbs into her pants pockets with a grin. “Well now, no one told me Eustis had a petting zoo!”

* * * *

Grant sat at his desk checking over expense reports, or at least trying to. His mind kept conjuring the scent of Isola’s lust, which led his cock to demanding an immediate repeat of the morning’s activities, this time with her in attendance. Considering he’d jerked off twice more since Isola’s disappearance, he should’ve been well-sated for several hours, but no. Not him. The little Amazon’s scent was like an aphrodisiac. If he could bottle it, he’d never have to work again. Viagra would be obsolete.

He wasn’t sure where she’d gone, but since none of his family had called him, he was certain she was just fine.

The phone rang and a tingle of foreboding raced over his skin. He eyed the offending appliance. He didn’t want to pick it up.

What had she done this time?

The strident ring sounded again and with a heavy sigh, he answered.

“Strickland.”

Loud, raucous noise blasted at him. He recognized the howl of a few of the local werewolves, as well as the roars of the werelions. Oh gods, he thought.

“Grant,” Ricky shouted over the noise. “You might want to come by Duffy’s.”

The phone clicked and he was left listening to the dial tone. He shut it off and closed his eyes. She was at Duffy’s, the only bar in a thirty-mile radius of Eustis. Surely she hadn’t caused that much trouble, he thought as he threw on a T-shirt. She was a Veilerian, she knew the taboos, knew the rules. An image of Isola’s mischievous smile and the daredevil glint in her eyes had him cursing and shoving his feet into boots. She was going to cause a riot.

* * * *

By the time he got to the bar, Grant’s blood pressure was nearing critical levels. His brain was a jumble of likely and unlikely scenarios, and each one left his body in a cold, clammy sweat. He didn’t want Isola to alienate any of his neighbors since she’d be living here soon. At least, he hoped she would be. If she pissed enough people off, they might be run out of Eustis by a mob.

He could hear the shouts before he even shut the engine off. With a furiously pounding heart and a dry mouth, he crossed the lot at a dead run. He wouldn’t let anyone hurt her. Sure, most of the people inside were people he’d known his entire life, but he wouldn’t let a single one of them lay a hand on Isola.

Fear held him in its tight grip as he pulled the heavy steel door open and stepped inside the murky bar. The scents of at least four other shifter races filled his nose. Beneath that layer of scent was a sweet, musky rose. Isola was somewhere in here, he knew, but finding her by sight was nearly impossible.

He’d never seen Duffy’s so busy, even when the Dog Ball League played. Had someone called in reinforcements when she walked in the door? Everyone knew Amazons were a little crazy and bloodthirsty. It wasn’t improbable. He peered over the heads of friends, searching, but couldn’t see her anywhere.

Ricky stood in the corner, his great height affording him a view of the entire room and he waved Grant over. Pushing through the shifters, Grant muttered greetings and hurried along before anyone could draw him into a deeper conversation. Eustis was small enough that everyone knew everyone and felt they had the right to nose into each other’s business.

“Where is she?” Grant asked without preamble as he came abreast of his cousin.

The bear had a smile on his face that left an uneasy feeling in Grant’s gut. That was the same smile Ricky had worn the day he’d dared Grant to kiss one of old man Hollister’s daughters. Grant still had the teeth marks on his ass from that stupid stunt.

“You’re just in time, cuz,” Ricky drawled, crossing his arms over his chest. “I didn’t know if you’d get here before the seats were all taken.” He kicked a stool towards Grant who sat down with a grunt.

“What the hell are you talking about? Where’s Isola?”

His eyes strained to see across the bar, trying to delve through the throngs of people, but he didn’t see her anywhere. The main room of the bar was completely open, allowing the patrons space to shift if they needed it. Today that wasn’t the case. The shifters were packed shoulder to shoulder with more still pouring through the door.

“What’s going on?” he shouted as the crowd suddenly roared.

Following the turned heads, he saw one of the local werelions saunter out of the back of the bar. He thought her name was Lisa Ford, but wasn’t sure. He tended to steer clear of her since she had a reputation for brawling with anything that moved. Grant considered himself more of a lover than a fighter, and Lisa was the type of female who fought with everyone she met. Sort of like Isola.

His heart stuttered and his eyes widened with sudden realization. “Shit!” He jumped off the stool. Now he recognized the anticipation hovering in the air. The crowd was waiting for a fight.

Ricky’s baseball mitt of a hand grabbed Grant’s shoulder, pushing him back on his stool like a mother with a cub. “Now, you just sit here and watch the show,” the bear said easily. “The rules have already been established and both girls agreed to it. So just sit back and enjoy.”

“Lisa fights dirty!”

“And you think your little Amazon doesn’t?” Ricky shot back with a chuckle. “Grant, she walked in here like she owned the bar and started talking shit. She was aching for a fight, so Lisa’s gonna give it to her.”

Just then Isola entered the main room which immediately erupted into boos and hisses. She’d shed her T-shirt and jeans, strutting out in a pair of leather pants and a leather halter top. Her hair lay in a single thick braid that swayed against her back as she entered the fighting ring.

Grant hated her outfit. His entire body tensed as some of the shifters gave wolf whistles at the sight of her. It was too much bared skin as far as he was concerned. She shouldn’t be wearing such skimpy clothing, he groused even as his eyes ate her up. She had scars all over her back and shoulders. Some of them looked like they came from blades, but a few of them on her back were definitely claw marks.

He and Ricky leaned forward as Isola turned away from them, giving them a perfect view of her back. Yup, claw marks.

“Bear claws,” Ricky muttered darkly. “No wonder she doesn’t like us much.”

Grant squinted. “Can you tell which kind?” he asked his cousin even as he aimed a kick at one overly eager lion’s head. The lion hissed, turning to face Grant who cracked his knuckles. “Stop looking at her like that and I won’t rearrange your face, cat.”

A big elbow slammed into Grant’s ribs. “Let the boy look, Grant, he’s barely out of transition. You remember what those days were like,” Ricky told him.

Yes, he did remember, which is why he planned to kick the young lion’s ass first chance he got. Giving the younger male another cold glare, he turned his attention back to the center of the room. The women stood in the center of the ring of shifters for the ref to quiet the crowd.

Duffy, the bar owner and one of the crankiest demon lords Grant had ever met, meandered to join the women. He was even bigger than Ricky and no one gave him trouble. Ever. His height and width made the two women look like children though they were both tall females. He looked them over, his black eyes studying them carefully. He seemed satisfied by what he saw because he nodded.

When his gaze lifted and pierced the crowd, everyone stopped talking and some even seemed to stop breathing. “This is gonna be a clean fight. No weapons, no claws, no teeth. First to surrender loses and owes the winner a year’s service in any capacity she chooses.” Some of the younger males in the audience snickered, earning a dark look from the demon lord. “No outside help. The fight lasts until someone surrenders or I’m too damn bored to keep it going. Got it?” He pinned each of the women in place with his gaze.

Isola nodded with a smile while Lisa glared back at the demon before shrugging. “Sure.”