Page 7 of Taken by Moonlight
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The next hoursped by quickly at Crossroads. Drinks flowed like water after a spring snow melt. I kept busy hustling, filling orders from the bar while two guys from the kitchen ran foodorders.
This clientele tonight had a different vibe. Most Fridays, customers wanted a meal, liquor and to stare at the girls gyrating on stage. Maybe a few would get cranked up and aroused, and slip Norm five Benjamins to steal away to the Champagne Room with one of the girls for a quick bout of sex disguised as lapdancing.
But most just wanted to see the show, and then go home to their packs or families. Dinners at Crossroads were gourmet, with prime beef Norm bought fresh off local ranches. Some males came for the food instead of theshow.
Not tonight. These males were hungry for something else. Beneath the refined, sophisticated silk dinner jackets beat the pure animal instinct of males on thehunt.
You could dress up the werewolf, but not take him out of the wild, especially when it came tosex.
In the kitchen, I grabbed my water bottle and took a long swig. I glanced at Guy, who sat at the counter, sawing away at a steak with a lethal-looking pocketknife.
“Why is Norm holding an auction for sex? How can he get away withit?”
Guy gave a laconic shrug. “He has local influence and the Council of Shifters lets him get awaywith.”
Said council governed any shifter activity, letting human law enforcement focus onhumans.
“So, who in their right mind would auction their body for sex?” I set the water bottle down on the stainless steel counter. “Those shifters in the crowd, they are restless and some of their auras are flashing lavared.”
Hot lava red meant a shifter was not merely ready for sex, but wanted it now. When weres showed this in their aura, watch out. No gentle lovemaking for them, it was all animal sex and sometimes (I’d read) biting their partner on theneck.
Along with delivering a few orgasms, too. Even the most impatient shifter was mindful of pleasuring his ladypartner.
Guy finished chewing and swallowed. “The males want something different. A sex auction is like bidding on a horse. Competition is fierce and part of the fun, and the female takes home enough money so she doesn’t have to work for the rest of the year. The four of the women who are being auctioned tonight are prostitutes who charge $5,000 a night. Norm expects bids to soar close to sixfigures.”
Six figures for one night of sex? I couldn’timagine.
I toyed with the bottle, thinking about that long, thoughtful look Dante gave me and what Kelly had hinted about sex with Dante. The idea of Dante bidding on a female sent that jealousy twisting through meagain.
“Guy, is it true that male alpha werewolves, the ones with alpha genes in their DNA, have a special, ah, ability during sex and they have a tickler on their, um,penis?”
He coughed, nearly choking on his bite of steak. “Peyton, what the hell? Atickler?”
“Well, whatever you call it.” I tried to keep my voice indifferent, but it did no good because Guy started tolaugh.
“Sweetie, if you’re going to entertain the thought of sex with a werewolf, for heaven’s sake, don’t call it a tickler. You’ll offend every alpha from here to NewYork.”
“Well, details, details. What do they callit?”
“Acock.”
Rolling my eyes as he guffawed, I folded my arms. “Guy,seriously.”
“No one calls it anything, but alphas refer to it as thebasiare. From the Latin word to kiss.” Guy laughed again. “Alphas say it kisses the womb and accelerates impregnation. Of course they brag it also stimulates the female into wanting more sex,too.”
I had a mental image of Dante’s well-endowed cock with thatbasiareand how much stimulation he could provide. There it went again, that clenching need low in mybelly.
What the hell was wrong with me? Sex was off limits. I could not affordinvolvement.
I chugged more cold water. Weres had terrific sense of smell, and I didn’t want Guy thinking I got all aroused over an alpha’s cock. Part of my disguise was bored indifference in a club where ennui was never aproblem.
Too late. His nostrils flared. Aw damn. I flushed. “It’s interesting,” I muttered as an excuse. “But I have to get back towork.”
Back into the lounge I scurried, eyes focused on the crowd. Grinding to a halt, Istared.
The bright lights were gone from the stage. Stephanie, the last stripper, had completed her act only ten minutes ago. Low lighting in the lounge showed the faces of all the shifters, and their auras flashed crimsonred.
