Full Moon Rising (9 page)

"Hey, Riley," he rumbled. "Didn't think we'd be seeing you here until later in the week."

"I'm looking for Rhoan--do you know if he's come through?"

Jimmy shook his heavily maned head. "But I've only just come on shift. He could have come in earlier."

"What about Davern or Liander?" They were my brother's regular mates, men he'd been with for over two years. He had casuals as well, but if anyone might know where Rhoan was, it would be one of those two.

"Davern's been here since this morning, according to the security cams. Liander's usually over at the Rocker on a Sunday."

"Thanks." I paid my entrance fee and took a locker key. "What sort of mix we got this afternoon?"

He shrugged. "The usual."

Meaning there was a small smattering of vamps and shifters amongst all the werewolves. He opened the door. "Hope you're intending to change clothes. You know the house rules."

I patted his hand. "Heading to the change room first thing."

He nodded and closed the door behind me. I stopped at the top of the stairs and let my eyes adjust to the heavy darkness. Hologram stars blossomed across the midnight-colored ceiling, and the glow of the blue moon was only just beginning to dim their bright light. Tables and chairs, many of them occupied by wolves either mating or watching others mate, ringed the packed dance floor. Toward the back of the room, there were curtained booths for those who preferred to mate in some privacy, and they were also occupied. By the end of the week, when the force of the moon raged through our blood, those booths would have queues.

While most of those on the dance floor were naked, there were some who preferred something more exotic. A few wore leather outfits that clung to their bodies as closely as flesh, while others had donned more outlandish costumes that glittered and sparkled under the hologram moonlight.

The DJ was set up in the far corner, and the music he played filled the air with sensual and erotic melodies designed to seduce the senses. The room was heavy with the rich aroma of lust and sex, and desire rushed through my veins. All I had to hope was that I could control it long enough to find Rhoan.

But given the fierceness of that fever, I knew control would only be claimed by sating some of the need.

It was just too bad Quinn wasn't with me.

I frowned and thrust the thought away. Until I knew a whole lot more about the mysterious Quinn and his reasons for wanting to see my brother, I could not afford to do anything more than lust from a distance.

I walked down the steps and headed into the change rooms. After taking a quick shower to wash the smell of work and vampire from my skin, I put on my club clothes and did my makeup. Then I swept my long hair into a ponytail, shoved my bag into the locker, my credit card and locker key into the small pocket in my skirt, and headed out into the crowd.

Closer to the dance floor, the sensual beat of the music was accompanied by grunts of pleasure and the slap of flesh against flesh. The fever in my blood rose several notches and the deep-down ache that had started with Quinn that morning shifted into high gear.

But as much as I hungered to become part of the lusty, sweating crowd, I still had enough control to put business before pleasure. Davern was there somewhere, and I had to find him.

I skirted the edge of the dance floor, my gaze sweeping the tables lining the walls. Davern was near the rear of the room, close to the privacy booths. But he wasn't alone at the table, and I wasn't about to interrupt. Wolves, especially males, tended to get extremely violent if you did.

I grabbed a drink off a passing waiter--all of whom were mind-blind and nonhuman, which not only meant they could defend themselves if things got nasty, but the aura of a werewolf in heat had no effect on them. And while they were all normal men and women, and
did
get aroused, they were paid
extremely
well to ignore their hormones. Which was why jobs at all the werewolf clubs were most sought after.

I took a deep breath, inhaling the scents that swirled around me, allowing the atmosphere to soak through my pores, a richness that spoke of pleasure, indulgence, and carnal fantasies.

Was it any wonder humans were busting their balls to get into the wolf clubs? The sexual freedom of the clubs had to leave them feeling like kids in a candy store compared to the uptight, moralistic sensibilities currently being forced onto the human race as a whole.

Of course, having humans around during the full-moon phase would be a dangerous thing, especially considering there were some packs who liked their sex
extremely
rough. Humans just weren't designed to cope with a werewolf's idea of wild sex--which was why clubs Australia-wide were banding together for the first time in history to fight the government's plans. The last thing anyone wanted was a human casualty during the bloom of the moon--if only because the blame would be placed on werewolves and the clubs rather than the idiots who'd forced the change of rules.

As I looked back to the stairs, a man entered. He was tall and powerfully built, with chiseled features and dark golden hair. And the sheer sexual energy radiating off him was something I could feel even from where I stood. I'd met--and mated--with a lot of wolves over my twenty-nine years, but none of them had an aura as powerful, or as binding, as
this
wolf's.

Our gazes met. The heat so evident in the strange golden depths of his eyes echoed through the fibers of my being. Talon and I had been together for almost two years--which was something of a record for those who aren't soul mates. We knew each other extremely well sexually but were still basically strangers outside of the clubs.

He walked down the steps, stripping off his shirt as he did so and tossing it casually toward an empty table. His golden skin gleamed in the starry light and his leather pants showcased not only the strength of his legs but the size of his erection.

The force of his aura rolled before him, hitting the women nearest him like a tidal wave. Sighs and stares followed in his wake but he didn't stop, his gaze on mine as he strode toward me.

At six and a half feet, he was a big man. Even though I wore six-inch heels, he still dwarfed me by a good five inches. But when he moved, it was with the grace and lightness of a vampire. The selfish part of me hoped he didn't find his soul mate before I found mine, because we were good together. His brand of wild sex was something I wanted to keep enjoying for a while yet.

He stopped when there were still several feet between us, his gaze sliding casually down my body before rising to meet mine again. The lust that surged between us caressed my skin until it felt like I was glowing.

"I didn't expect to find you here this afternoon, little wolf."

His voice was a deep rumble, yet it flowed across my senses as sensually as a warm summer breeze. "I'm looking for Rhoan, and had hoped to ask Davern where he is."

His gaze momentarily went past me. "Davern won't be much longer, from the look of it."

"No, he won't." I was aware of the rising level of noise and pleasure coming from Davern's table, but part of me hoped he held off. I wanted to drink in the radiating force of
this
man awhile longer.

Talon took a step closer and my breath caught. The burning of the silver bullet in my flesh was nothing compared to the fire eating me at that moment.

His fingers brushed my cheek, then slipped down my neck and chest. It was a feather-light caress that felt as powerful as a sledgehammer. He flicked open the shirt's first button, then moved on to the next one. "The fever burns in you, little wolf. I can smell it."

So could I, and it was beginning to hurt. "It's a need that will have to wait until I talk to Davern."

"Really?" Another button gone. "And what is so urgent that you must speak to him during this time of celebration?"

"I got a call from Rhoan's mother." His mother was my mother, but Talon didn't know that. "As I said, I need to find him."

The last button came undone and he pushed my shirt open. His fingers skimmed up my stomach, sending quivers of anticipation scooting across my flesh. With deliberate slowness, his touch circled a breast, his gaze holding mine, drowning me in the flames of his desire as his caress gradually worked inward, reaching but not quite touching the aching, sensitive center.

Perspiration beaded my skin. His whisper-soft stroking moved to my other breast and by the time he'd finished circling to the center, I was close to screaming with frustration.

"Can I dance with you, little wolf?"

"After I talk to Davern, you can do whatever you want to me."

"A dangerous statement given the heat that sears us."

A smile teased my lips. I ran a finger down the hard planes of his chest and toyed with the top button of his pants. "And just what is it that you intend to do to me?"

He leaned closer. All I could smell, all I could breathe, was the musky, ardent odor of this wolf.

He brushed a kiss across my lips, then, with his voice little more than a gravelly growl, said, "I intend to fuck you senseless."

My heart slipped into overdrive. The intensity of both his words and his aura suggested he was feeling the moon as strongly as I, and, missing brother or no missing brother, I was damn glad I'd come here today. Misha, the second of my usual lovers, was gentle and sweet, but Talon was fierceness and danger and excitement and power. When the moon rode me strongly, it was Talon I wanted.

I raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that what you always do?"

His grin was wolfish. He wrapped an arm around my waist and pressed me close, until it felt as if he was trying to slip inside.

"This time I shall fuck you until you cry my name to the moon." His breath caressed my mouth and his gaze burned deep, until it felt like his desire singed the very fibers of my soul. "Then I shall keep on going until you beg for me to stop."

"That could take a while," I teased, my breath little more than a husky purr. "You sure you're up to it?"

"You will ache for no other lover tonight, little wolf, be sure of that."

I wrapped a hand around the back of his neck and pulled him down so I could kiss him.

"Davern's finished," Talon said after a while. "I shall hire us a room."

I smiled. The Blue Moon was the only club that actually had privacy rooms available to rent. There weren't many--four in all--but they were filled with all the latest gadgets to cater to the more adventurous types.

If Talon was getting a room, he was truly serious about his hunger and his intentions, and expectation coursed through me. Normally, we made out at the tables or on the dance floor, and that was pretty damn fine. And while I couldn't give him the remainder of the day, an hour or two of hard and heavy loving would certainly cure more than a couple of aches.

I flicked the top button of his pants undone and slid down the zipper. His erection leapt out at me, as if eager to be caressed. "Leave your pants hanging on the door so I know what room you have."

He claimed my mouth as fiercely as he undoubtedly intended to claim my body later, kissing me hard and long. Then he spun and walked away, leaving every inch of my body thrumming in expectation. I took a deep breath, but it did little to ease the ache.

After tying the ends of my shirt together, I made my way toward Davern. He was alone, nursing a drink, and looked up as I approached. He'd been drinking for some time because his eyes were more red than blue.

"Hey, Riley? How are you?"

I slid into the seat opposite him. He smelled of sex and sweat and alcohol, and I frowned. "I thought you were off the booze?"

"Got dumped this afternoon," he said gloomily.

It obviously wasn't too deep a relationship, because it hadn't stopped him taking other partners. "So?"

"So, he was a good fuck and I'll miss him."

I grinned and patted his hand in sympathy. "You drink too much more and you won't be up to finding more replacements tonight."

"It'll only take an hour or so to sober up, and besides, I feel like wallowing in self-pity right now." The hologram lights caught his black hair as he leaned back, lending it rich claret highlights. "What can I help you with?"

"I need to know where Rhoan is."

He raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because I have a gut feeling he's in trouble."

The very lack of reaction in his bloodshot eyes told me just how little he cared for my brother--and for that alone, I wanted to smack his drunken ass.

"Serious trouble?"

I took a deep breath and blew it out. More to control that urge to hit him than anything else. "No, not serious trouble. I feel he needs help, that's all. He's gotten into a situation he can't extract himself from."

Davern snorted. "He's always doing that, and he always gets out eventually."

"Yeah, but this isn't a sexual situation." Yet even as I said it, I felt the slight lie. It
was
a sexual situation--sort of.

Which made about as much sense as Rhoan's staying in a relationship so long with an uncaring nitwit like Davern. He had to be a damn good fuck because he certainly didn't appear to have much else going for him.