Page 36 of How to Hack a Hellhound
Yet I still hesitated on taking him to bed, and I had no idea why. Sex wasn’t a big deal. I’d had plenty of it. I knew he would treat me right, and I knew we’d have a fantastic fucking time (pun intended). But something was still holding me back, and it was frustrating. Iwantedhim. I wanted that dick in my mouth and my hands and my ass, and yet I couldn’t seem to take the step to get it.
My sexy stalker didn’t seem at all rushed either, and he certainly wasn’t pressuring me for sex, which would have made taking the dive easier. Nope, he was just being fucking sweet as can be, asking for aftercare, cuddling me, and sniffing me. It was confusing. Hot, but also confusing.
Liam’s eyes were getting more flamy, so I snapped, “Eyes up here, Sexy Stalker.”
He looked up at me and shrugged, and I swear to god he was making fucking puppy-dog eyes at me. What the fuck was I supposed to do with that? He was supposed to be the badass supernatural guy here, not the cutesy puppy-dog eyes guy.
“Well?” I asked, lifting my eyebrow. I knew I was being bitchy, but I couldn’t help it. Bitchy was my default mode.
Liam didn’t seem to mind, because he sniffed the air, then answered, “Lots of murk here, and a couple people who are very, very close to hellbound. No one quite there yet, I don’t think.”
“Alright, let’s go plant the seed with some of the murky ones,” I said, getting up.
Liam followed, holding onto my arm. We definitely looked like boyfriends as we made our way up to the bar, and lo andbehold, the same bartender that James had asked to take over the bar when he took me was there.
“Hey, Scotty!” I shouted, grabbing his attention.
He came right over, looking slightly worried. “Hey, man! What the hell happened to you guys? You and James left, and he never even finished his shift!”
I looked at Liam, who shook his head no at me. Huh, so apparently Scotty wasn’t in on it.
“I was drugged,” I said flatly.
“Fuck, man—no way! Let me tell the bouncers, and I’ll let the bartenders know. We all try to be vigilant about that shit…” He was starting to swing his arm up to wave a bouncer over, but I grabbed his hand.
“It was James,” I said.
Scotty stopped and stared at me, disbelieving. I didn’t think he was faking it. “No fucking way.”
“Yup. He drugged my coke. He was trying to take me out the back door to do who knows what, and this beefcake here”—I motioned to Liam, who still held my arm—“managed to be in the right place at the right time. He saw it and hollered that he was calling the cops and was going to report James, and James just fucking dropped me and ran off. This guy took care of me, and we’ve been seeing each other since then. I guess James hasn’t come back?”
Liam and Scotty both looked at me, and I have to admit I was super impressed with my spur of the moment story. It nicely explained why James had disappeared. If James had thought he was caught, he probably would’ve bailed.
“Shit, man. What the fuck,” Scotty said, shaking his head. “James hasn’t been back since that night. No one knew what the hell was going on with the guy.”
“Yeah, and based on how smoothly he had it all down, it probably wasn’t the first time he’s done this,” I added.
Scotty looked around, then he leaned in closer. “You know, James was always the one to help the really drunk people. I just thought… I mean, he just always did it, and I didn’t think anything of it. I thought he was just getting people rides and shit. He always joked about being a good samaritan.”
“Yeah, well, that wasn’t what he was doing,” I snapped.
“Fuck.” Scotty rubbed his hands across his face, and I saw genuine regret there. “If you need me to talk to the police or anything, let me know,” he added.
“Nah. I think they’ve got it covered,” I said.
“I just can’t believe it. I’ll have to let people know. People were really worried when he didn’t come into work on Friday.” Someone hollered for a bartender, and Scotty held his hand up. “I gotta work, but you let me know if you need anything, ok?”
“Thanks, man, I appreciate it,” I answered, and Scotty walked off to take more orders, shaking his head sadly.
The guy sitting in the stool next to me turned to face me when Scotty was gone. He was a cute twink that I’d seen around, but we’d never really partied together. “James always gave me weird vibes,” he said. “Thank god your knight in shining armor was there to save you. It’s a great meet-cute.”
I laughed. “I’m Q. I’ve seen you around.”
“Yeah, you’re usually with a crew of regulars. I’m Danny.”
Liam nodded at him but didn’t introduce himself, and I just smirked. “Don’t mind him, he’s a wee bit feral. I’m still house training him.”
Danny laughed at that, taking a sip of his drink. He then looked at it. “Fuck, I better tell people to be careful, although I don’t think Scotty is shady. But you should have the police check out Todd.” He snorted. “That asshole ‘with the extra D’ is super tight with James.”
