Forbidden Alliance: A Werewolf's Tale (Forbidden Alliance Trilogy) (11 page)

“Oh, okay,” she said breathlessly as her chest frantically rose and fell with each rushed breath that broke past her lips, tiny bea
ds of sweat dotted her hairline,
and she licked her dry lips.
You could smell the heat rolling from between her legs and it was stomach turning; nothing screamed romantic dinner like the stench a slutty waitress.

I slid the butter knife off of my napkin and my hands painfully wrapped around the shiny metal, quickly turning it into origami under the table.
I was seriously envisioning phasing right then and there so I could rip her throat out.

“Would you like a complimentary bottle of Dom Pérignon Champagne?” she asked, inching closer to him.

Touch him, I dare you!
I mentally hissed.

Tanis looked
from her to
me and his brow furrowed.
“No thank you, the red will suffice,” he
said
dismissively
and waved
her away.
When the waitress was gone, he leaned across the table.
“Is something
wrong, Miss Jay Dee
?”

I closed my eyes and shook my head; thoughts that dark and
animalistic
were as foreign to me as the possessiveness and attraction I was feeling towards the vampire on the other side of the table.
It scared me that I was having such dark and bloody, homicidal even, fantasies...all of which obviously revolved around Tanis...
N
o, not revolved around, he was the source of them!
I was certain of it, and I wasn’t entirely sure if I liked that or not.
No creature, especially
a
man for that matter, should have that type of influence over someone, just like thrall.

“It doesn’t matter,” I mumbled.
“Was that thrall?” I asked, changing the subject,
and opened my eyes and
looked at him.

He smirked, possibly sensing that I was about to go all wolf girl up in
t
here and needed a distraction, and by God
,
he was damn sexy when he smiled like that—a kid in a candy store caught stealing and trying to talk his way out of it—so of course it was the distraction I so desperately needed.
“Yes,” he said, batting his lashes at me.
“Rather impressive, is it not?”

“No shit,” I snorted.
“Make me do something,” I said, and bounced up and down in my seat.
Now
that
was interesting and helped to push the dark thoughts from my mind.

Tanis cocked an eyebrow.
“Like what?” he asked apprehensively.

“Nothing I’ll kick your ass for,” I strongly suggested with a smirk.

“Very well,” he said with a
dramatic sigh before looking
intently into my eyes.
Again they dilated and the beautiful silver-streaked blue was replaced with black. “O
rder something and do not fret
the price,” he said, his voice was beyond sexy and like velvet as t
he words rolled from his lips. H
is warm breath wash
ed
over my face
and caused
me to bite my bottom lip as a screaming line of desire shot through me—that was a first and it was more than welcomed.

Yes, Tanis’ suggestion was suggestive and, by far,
was
the sexiest thing I had ever heard, but there was nothing there that would make me do what he was telling me to do.

“
Miss Jay Dee, do
not fret the price,” he continued.
“Simply order whatever you wish.
You may even order one of everything if it tickles your fancy,” he purred with a smirk.

Huh?
Isn’t there supposed to be some kind of mental intrusion or something clouding my mind and telling me to do it?
I mean, the tickling thing is a suggestion that I’m more than supportive of...bring it back to the appropriate, Jay Dee.
You’re getting as b
ad as that skanky waitress
who was
practically dry humping his leg!

I’ll admit,
I wanted to do what Tanis suggested simply because he asked me to, but at the same time
,
I wanted to bite him because of what he was telling me to do...because he was telling me to do something!
Had he never been around strong werewolf women before?
We don’t take kindly to being bossed around.
If anything, it was a one-way ticket to an ass kicking.

“A
nything you want,” he repeated
,
then
licked
his lips.

The annoying vampire
didn’t
play fair.

I snorted, rolling my eye.
“No.”

“Wait, what?” he stammered, confused.
“No, what?” he asked, shaking his head to clear it,
and
his pupils contract
ed
, revealing the beautiful blue that swirled with metallic silver when he was excited,
but
at
that
moment
they swirled with confusion.

“No,” I mockingly sang.
“I’m not going to order one of everything just because you said I can.
You really are pushy and bossy,” I informed him and his eyes widened.
“And let me give you some words of
wisdom
, Old Man; strong women don’t like being bossed around, regardless of how charming the man that’s doing the bossing is.
Honestly, I don’t know what the deal is with those other
broads
, but that wasn’t very convincing
at all
.”

Tanis leaned back and pushed his hand through his hair in frustration; his expression was masked with confusion and fascination.
“I cannot believe that did not work!
I put a thousand times more effort than needed because
of how
bloody
stubborn
you are
.”

“Hey!” I
whined
, throwing my napkin at him.

He ignored me; Tanis was obviously consumed with the failing-to-thrall Jay Dee debacle.

“Huh,” he huffed, sounding aspirated.
“You must be immune to it...or extremely hardheaded, thus immune to it.”

I made a face at him and he chuckled.

“It is rare, not entirely unheard of
for
someone of my age
, but very rare,” he continued.
“However, it is hard to tell though because your eyes are black.
Usually I can confirm effectiveness when the subject’s pupils dilate.
However I cannot tell with you.”

I huffed.
“So I’m broken.
Lovely.”

“No, not at all,
Miss Jay Dee,
” he assured me.
“It is a very, very good thing.
Especially with Romeo around, he has taken notice of you.”

My mouth fell open; Romeo had taken notice but not Tanis—that sucked.

The waitress returned with some bottles of imported water and the wine with two glasses
,
and instantly I was glaring at her again.

“We will take one of everything on the menu, minus soups and salads, with dessert and dessert wine,” Tanis ordered, never taking his eyes off of me and smiled smugly when I turned my attention, and glaring, from the waitress to him—now I was glaring for an entirely different reason.

You had to give the smug vampire credit, he was smart.
I would say that he should
have been
because he’s over three-hundred-years-old, but I’ve
known
some five-century-old werewolves that acted like five-year-olds
,
so age obviously had nothing to do with having brains.

The waitress pushed her chest out and huffed, trying to get his attention. “I get off at nine,” she whispered.

“Sod off,”
Tanis snarled, startling her.

It took all of my conscious effort to keep from doing the happy dance and singing
at
the top of my lungs that he just blew a skinny twenty-something off so we could be alone.

“I applaud your effort,” I absently said, watching from the corner of my eye as the horny waitress disappeared into the kitchen to put our order in
; I was rather confident that she was crying
.

“It was nothing really,” he informed me, his tone made it more than obvious that he was being a smart ass, and, yet again, it stole my attention.

“You’re a smart one,” I said and he nodded, “ass,” I quickly added and he chuckled.
“You’re a smart ass.
But enough about you…” I tried to sneer
but
ended up smiling when our eyes met.

Tanis nodded and brushed against the side of my foot with his.
“I will give you that, sometimes I can be an unmitigated and comprehensive arse,” he said and I fought to keep from
swooning—everything he said with that
sexy British accent of his was hot; there was no way he didn’t know that he was turning me on.
He was a vampire after all, so his senses should have been as heightened as mine...possibly even more since he was so much older.
“I quickly figured out with you
, Miss Jay Dee, that
I
mustn’t give any
options and simply do
as
I wish, yet I must offer a give to me take so I do not appear, as you put it,
bossy
.”

Damn it.
I can’t argue with him there
.

“Have you
had Italian before?” he asked
,
and opened
the wine.

I shrugged
, watching him
curiously
.

“You must allow the wine to breathe,” he explained and I nodded even though I didn’t know what in the hell that meant.

“Mom’s spaghetti and Chef Boyardee,” I admitted
, answering his initial question,
and instantly wish I hadn’t; now I was making myself look like bleached out reservation trash.

Tanis chuckled.
“See!
Consider this an educational experience.
You will sample various pastas, sauces and Italian cuisine, enjoy lovely wine and
phenomenal
company-”

“Who, coincidently, is the epitome of humility and modesty,” I dryly added and he smiled wide.

“But of course!
It is a date with a purpose,” he teasingly informed me.

Wait, did he just call this a date?
Oh my god!
I’m on my first date and I didn’t even realize it!

“This is a date?” I asked, wanting to confirm what I think he just said.

His cheeks flushed an even deeper shade of rose.
“
But of course.
I am dressed to impressed and you are,” he looked up at me and smirked, “good company.”

I rolled my eyes and pouted.

So I’m nothing but entertainment for the bored
old
vampire?!
That’s just great.
If that’s the case, why didn’t he hit up one of the girls
who
were desperately trying to get his attention and in his pants in Creative Writing or Gym?
At least they would have put out instead of silently staking claim to him like some kind of possessive alpha male in a pack of bitches in heat.
Seriously, why would he bother
with the werewolf outcast of the Lhaq'temish
?
Obviously he either has too much time on his hands or he’s not right in the head.
Yup, that’s my awesome lack-of-luck; I go on my first date at almost eighteen-years-old, with a three-hundred-year-old vampire nonetheless, and I’m merely here for his entertainment.

Whatever.

Not thinking about it, I grabbed the glass of wine in front of me and drank it in two unladylike gulps.
It wasn’t bad, I wasn’t used to drinking wine, sometimes Jack and beer but that was only on rare occasion, and I motioned for a refill.

“Are you going to be okay to drive since you’re drinking?” I asked; it would the responsible thing to be concerned with, not the most important thing, but the only one that wouldn’t make me look any more pathetic or desperate than I already felt.

“Yes,” Tanis assured me, refilling my glass.

Thankfully the appetizers came; I was so hungry I could eat the ass end of a horse.
Again, Tanis dismissively waved away the waitress who was so desperately trying to get his atte
ntion
and dropped the paper
coaster with her phone number on it that she discreetly slipped under his napkin to the floor.