Page 17 of Hunting Savage
“Oh, you’re just jealous of her tits.They look real, and I bet she could bounce quarters off that ass.I wouldn’t mind a little taste.”
The last bit came from a male whose words ended in a hiss.Aurora hurried past them, keeping her eyes focused straight ahead.A red velvet rope with a large male came into view, shocking her since she’d seen one on the opposite side of the building.She looked behind her, wondering if she’d gotten turned around.
“You, come here,” the big male barked.
Aurora kept walking, ignoring his words.
“I was speaking to you, girl.Why do you smell like that?”he asked, breathing deeply.
She lifted her arm, inhaling near her pits.“Excuse me?Are you saying I stink?”she asked.
He shook his head, smiling an alarmingly white smile with teeth too sharp to be human.“Nah, you don’t stink like human sweat, but too much human perfume.You must’ve just come from working out.I like that about a female.Come here.”He gestured toward the doorway.
Aurora didn’t need him to tell her twice.“Ah, thank you.I appreciate the entry.”Goddess, she was an idiot—no game, as her sister would say.
His arm came out, stopping her before she could pass.“My brother will be swapping me places in an hour.Meet me at the north bar, and I’ll buy you a drink.You ever been here before?”he asked, licking his lips.
She shook her head, feeling that he’d recognize if she lied.
“Don’t accept a drink from anyone except someone from behind the bar and only one you’ve ordered.Don’t dance with anyone you haven’t met before, and don’t drink from your drink if you’ve set it down and haven't kept an eye on it the entire time.Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Aurora swallowed, understanding she could be in over her head in more ways than one.“Got it.I’ll only drink water.”
“What’s your name?”
Her throat closed up, worry about her safety rising if she were to lie.“Star,” she said with conviction.
He gave a nod.“I’m Oakley.My brother Trystan looks similar to me.We have a sister named Trystina, who’s Trystan's twin.If you see a man who looks like me, tell him I said he is to look out for you.”
Aurora touched his arm.“Thank you.”
She slid past him.As she stepped through the massive doors into the lobby, her training kicked in automatically.She noted the security cameras positioned at optimal angles, the guards who tried to look casual in their expensive suits, and the ostentatious gold accents that gleamed from the black and gold marble floor.Everything was carefully designed to seduce and intimidate, reminding visitors that they were entering the domain of the powerful.
It didn't work on her.She’d come to find her sister, and besides, she’d faced entities that could tear the fabric of reality in the middle of a forest when she’d been little more than a girl.Gold-plated elevator doors didn't exactly register on her fear scale.
Remembering Oakley’s words, she headed toward the north section, keeping her eyes and ears open.She took deep breaths, filtering in the scents around her, startled to find unfamiliar smells.There were humans, of course, but among the normal sweat and perfume she associated with the average man and woman, there was more.Heat travelled through her body, lighting up her insides as if charged by some unforeseen source.Her wolf sat up, raking at her inner walls.Aurora stopped in her tracks, pressing her hands against her sternum.
“What is it?”she whispered.
She nearly collided with a couple making out as they stumbled past her.“Sorry,” the man muttered.
Aurora eased toward the wall where the lights didn’t seem to reach, needing a moment to catch her bearings.Her wolf seemed to be going crazy.An occurrence that only happened twice a year, and she wasn’t close to her heat.Fuck.Exerting absolute control, she pushed her wolf behind the walls that secured her for years, knowing the beast would be angry.Nevertheless, Aurora needed to be the one in control.She opened her mind to Starla, worried it was her sister’s heat that triggered her own.
“Biddy Bee, are you okay?”
“Sissy, they’ve brought me to some scary dude’s place, but he’s busy looking for someone.They said something about me being payment for a debt, and if I play nice, I might live through the night.I don’t want to die,”Starla cried.
“Did they take you inside a warehouse, or where are you?”she asked, needing answers.
“They brought me in through the basement and up some elevator that honestly looked like it belonged in a five-star hotel.If I weren’t aware that I was being sold or whatever, I’d have wanted to gawk at my surroundings.Even this office waiting room area is swank as heck.”
“Can you describe it to me?”Aurora figured if her sister were busy looking around, she wouldn’t be so scared.
She felt a familiar tightness in her chest—not nervousness about her own life, but the weight of her sister’s well-being on her shoulders.The mission she’d taken on ten years ago drove every moment of her life.Hell, Aurora’s attempt at salvation all those years ago didn’t end when Starla came of age.Some might think it was guilt-ridden devotion.Her parents gave up their lives for the two of them, but in truth, Starla gave her a reason to continue living.
Starla’s voice broke through her own quagmire of thoughts.
“There’s a conference room through a set of double doors to the left of this office.It’s all glass and chrome, with floor-to-ceiling windows offering what looks like a panoramic view of the city.Magnus and Sterling both stood at the entrance, but neither came inside when we entered the office.There’s a huge man they stopped and talked to in a tailored suit that probably cost way more than I will make in an entire year.Oh, and did I mention he was drop-dead gorgeous, in that polished, privileged way—like one of those British dudes who speaks very formally and looks down their noses at us lesser folks.”
