Page 21 of Rocky Top

It was adrag.

His eyes swept down my body like a slow burn, and I swear I felt it in places I had no business feeling anything for an outlaw. My breath caught. He didn’t smile. Didn’t nod. Just stared at me like I was both the problem and the answer.

Then he turned and walked away, leaving the other guy coughing up blood behind him.

I waited a beat before following.

I found him outside, shirtless, leaning against a post like some muscly storm cloud. He didn’t look up when I steppedout. Fuck, the wolf tattoo on his chest caught my eye. That was quite the coincidence. I had to fight the visions of that night in the woods. That creature in dark.

“You okay?” I asked, wrapping my arms around myself. The night was cooler than I expected, and the wind tugged at my jacket like it had secrets to spill.

He shrugged. “Just club shit.”

“That didn’t look likejustanything,” I replied, stepping closer. “You could’ve killed that guy.”

“He deserved it. Because of what he said.”

Rocky finally looked at me, and I swear my knees gave out just a little. His eyes weren’t just dark. They were deep. Like if you fell into them, you might never come out.

“Because he don’t know when to shut the fuck up about things that ain’t his business,” he said.

I cocked my head. “And what business is that, exactly?”

“You,” he said, his voice rough. “You are none of theirs.”

My breath hitched. “I’m not yours either, Rocky.”

He stepped in then, closing the space between us. His scent hit me first, smoke, spice, and something wild. Something that made my pulse throb in my throat.

“Yeah,” he whispered. “But that don’t stop me from thinkin’ about it.”

I swallowed hard.

For a second, neither of us moved. We just stood there, too close, too hot, too damn aware. His hand lifted, just brushing my jaw with his knuckles.

“You don’t belong here, Birdie,” he said, low and almost pained. “You’re sunshine. This place eats sunshine.”

He didn’t kiss me.

Not quite.

But his mouth hovered close enough that I tasted the promise.

“Go back inside,” he said, pulling away with effort. “Before I do something real stupid.”

I watched him disappear into the dark, my whole body buzzing from the almost.

And the ache in my chest?

It wasn’t just want.

It was the growing sense that if I kept dancing around this biker, I’d either get burned. I’d be the one holding the match.

Rocky

My wolf wouldn’t rest that night. Maybe it was the full moon, maybe it was her…

I was already inside the yard when the sirens flared.

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