Page 11 of Bruised MC Bear
4
Axe
It tookall of Axe’s willpower not to rip out Death Adder’s throat back there. He probably would have, were it not for the fact that the man was his pack’s alpha. Touching a hair on his pretty little wolf head would inevitably lead to years of retribution between the bears and the wolves. He just wished he had not sworn to Silas that he’d stay out of trouble. The man got way too close to Angel’s personal space, and it was a hell of a challenge to walk away from her. Fuck, how had two short conversations morphed into this level of possessiveness?
“You again? Didn’t we do this all ready?” Angel said, lowering her car window when he made it across the parking lot. He smiled as she stepped out of the car and stood there, arms folded and neck craned up, staring into his face. “Give me a good reason why I should entertain spending any more time with you. None of them can have anything to do with my hands on your body, or my mouth, and vice versa. Go.”
Fuck, she had a mouth on her, and he couldn’t ignore that he loved it. He arched his eyebrows and licked his lips. The flare of backtalk in her eyes made him hot all over. He leaned forward an inch, and Angel’s breath hitched in her chest. She nervously lifted a hand into her gorgeous, blonde tresses, trying to hide her reaction. Too late. Axe had already clocked her split second of vulnerability.
“You already know why,” he whispered.
Angel ran her tongue across the smoothness of her lower lip and her eyes narrowed. “We can keep playing this little game of yours, Axe,” she rasped out in a voice that was fucking seductive. “But I’m going to tell you now,ifyou win, it’ll be on my terms. And that’s a big if, my friend. I’m not a woman to be pushed around. You need to be prepared for a fight.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. First of all, this is not a game. And second, the only fighting you’ll find me getting into is fightingforyou, notwithyou.”
Angel didn’t have a fiery comeback to that. She just stood there, jaw slack with her lips slightly parted. He eased his palm down the line of her cheek as he waited for an answer. Her hands flew up to his chest, skimming down his abs and even lower, until she cupped his groin through his jeans. Without breaking from his gaze, Angel batted her eyes, giving him an innocent stare while her hand stroked his growing bulge. Damn, he’d underestimated this firecracker. As quickly as she’d started, she removed her hand, turned and ducked her head into the driver side window for a moment.
He enjoyed the view while she got whatever she was looking for. When she straightened up, she threw the keys over to him. “I hope you know I don’t do this often,” she said, walking around to the passenger side. “By the way, I really love my car, Axe. Try not to drive it like a Harley.”
“I know exactly when to be gentle and when to be rough, sweet thing,” he teased. His cock throbbed in his pants when she bit down on her lip, taking his meaning.
“I’ll be the judge of that,” she murmured. He was about to walk around the front of the car to open her door, but she raised her palm to stop him. “I can manage. You drive.”
Axe jumped in and started the car, eased into reverse out of the parking spot, and the second she clicked the seatbelt around her, he revved the engine and sped out from the gravel parking lot in her sedan.
“I’m starting to see what you mean.”
“Where are we off to?”
“My apartment is about eight blocks from where we met. Head to Desert Java and I’ll give you directions when we’re closer.”
“Sure.” He turned out to the main street and drove toward the highway. “So, you know Dean Roman pretty well, I see.”
“Yes. His cousin is my best friend. We’ve known each other for years. How about you?”
Axe hesitated. Angel may have thought she knew Dean and his cousin, but he had no way to tell whether she knew that they were wolf shifters. “Let’s just say we run in some of the same business circles.”
“Really? For a second back there, I thought you would be at each other’s throats. I can’t imagine you working together.”
“We don’t. We’re more like competitors in a boxing ring, except right now, we’re both in our respective corners, waiting for the referee to either call the win, or throw us back in for another round.”
“Interesting.”
Axe sensed her breathing had changed slightly. She was more relaxed now, sinking back into the car’s leather bucket seats, eyes closed. At the rate Angel was drifting off, he would get to the coffee shop and be forced to check her purse for an address.
“Angel?” he called to her.
“Hmmm?” she answered.
“I’ll need your address pretty soon.”
“Oh, right.” She opened her eyes and straightened up. “Take a right at the second side street up ahead. You can park on the street. You know, I never asked how you plan to get back on your bike tonight.”
“I figured you’d give me a ride over there later on.”
“What if I can’t wake up until morning?”
“Waking up won’t be the problem, honey.” He noticed she was looking his way with the cutest little grin on her face. “Walking may be, but not waking up. In fact, I may have to keep you up all night long, after what you started back there.”
