Shifters on Fire: A BBW Shifter Romance Boxed Set (13 page)

Chapter Three

Warren shoved the pile of papers away and sank back in his chair. It never ended. He’d envisioned such a different lifestyle when he’d gotten the local shifters to agree to the club in this place. Promised them a venue where they could have a great time, be together without worrying about what humans might think when they did what came naturally.

And, for some, what came naturally involved acts that the average clubbing human might find odd. Like public sex and nudity and turning into animals. Yeah, last time someone involuntarily shifted in a human club, the only thing that saved them from exposure was the authorities’ conviction that everyone in the place had been too drunk to be reliable witnesses.

And, indeed, judging by the activity he watched via the monitors mounted on the wall opposite his desk, the attendees did have a great time. A year in, they’d had to go from an “all shifters welcome” policy to that annoying line out front. Despite their flying under the fire code radar, wall-to-wall people made for trouble.

Unlike human clubs, the decision about who came in didn’t have to do with beauty or hipness or the right clothes. In a small world like the Arizona shifting community, the problem people were well known. Some of those outside were just above their agreed-upon head count, but others would never grace the hallways and dance floors again. Like Leo, who someone told him was hanging around outside, they’d been banned.

They just didn’t always know it.

Watching the main room, he noticed a disturbance on the dance floor. The couples were scattering, the disco light revealing confused and annoyed expressions. Moving the focus to the left, he zoomed in on a curvy, disheveled woman with straight, long black hair pushing people aside and stumbling toward the door to the admin area. She disappeared from the camera view but reappeared in the stairwell lens. In the fluorescent lighting, he confirmed what he’d suspected. The little human had gotten in somehow. He’d have that hare’s foot for a lucky charm! Teach him to use rabbits to do a bear’s job.

Lifting his radio, he ordered, “Carlisle.” His security manager. “Get Randy out front. I want Harvey in my office and someone get that woman out of my stairwell. Throw her out.” He paused, eyeing her huddled form. “No, bring her here. Who knows what she’s seen. Dammit!”

Shoving to his feet, he strode toward his office door and threw it open. From the bottom of the stairs, he heard scuffling and a sharp cry. They’d better not have hurt her. He’d skin them all. Not that he cared. She wasn’t one of them, and he had a huge problem. If she had seen too much, he’d have to do whatever was necessary to ensure their secret remained that way. Not a job he’d pass off to someone else, just one he’d hoped never to have to do.

Returning to his desk, he listened to the sobs and growls come closer until Lobo—such an affected name, what had the wolf’s parents been thinking?—and Carlisle dragged the weeping woman through the door.

“Get out.”

They dropped her arms and stepped back. “But, what about Harvey? He’s right behind us.”

“He can wait.”

Lobo adjusted his leather vest and flashed a toothy smile. “Want us to take care of him for you?”

He growled and narrowed his eyes. “What don’t you understand about get out? Harvey can cool his heels in the hallway until I decide what to do with him. I won’t have your prejudice making him into a fricassee.”
Not yet anyway.

As the door closed with a quiet click behind the two wolves, Warren eyed the sobbing woman huddled as far from him as the room allowed. “Sit down.”

She sniffed and turned to face the wall, burying her face in her arms and wailing.
Wailing?
With a heavy sigh, he stood and moved toward her. Her rounded ass globes thrust toward him under the thin, silky fabric and a small tear on her hip revealed bare, pale skin. A woman of heft who didn’t wear one of those horrible binding Latex things. His cock throbbed in agreement, and his hand reached out toward her.

He could flip that skirt up and plunge into her pussy so fast…. It would be hot and tight and milk his cock. And her ass. From her expression after seeing the two women in the hallway, he’d bet she’d never done even the slightest kink. He’d take pleasure in showing her how good it could be to have his dick in that dark, tight hole.

Lost in erotic fantasy, he jumped when she spun to face him. “If you’re done staring at my ass, can I use your phone now?”

If he wasn’t staring directly at her tear-streaked face, swollen eyes, and trembling lips, he’d never have known she’d just emerged from a storm of weeping. Her steady voice belied all the emotion she concealed. How quickly would that change if he pointed out the tear in the fabric over her left breast through both the dress and bra. A nipple like a plump, ripe raspberry peeked out at him.

Had his men seen it, too? Rage rose and he fought it back. If they had, they’d better never let him find out.

A loud sniff returned his attention to the woman, and he waved toward the couch across from his desk. “Didn’t you already use the phone in the hallway? Have a seat.” He reached for her arm, but she jerked it away and scurried to sit down.

Karma tried to use her breathing technique, but it eluded her. The man looming over her seemed to use up all the air in the room. Asking for some back would probably sound ridiculous. Unable to steady her wobbling knees, she sank into the plush, brown cushions. To her dismay, the bouncer followed her and sat right next to her. Only by shrinking into the corner did she keep any space between them at all.

“I tried to use the phone, but those women came in and started making out and I got distracted.”

He gave her a slow smile, golden eyes sparkling. “Marielle and Jinger can be distracting at that. Did you like watching them?”

“No!” What kind of woman did he think she was? “I was appalled.”

His chuckle rumbled from deep in his chest. “Appalled, huh? I will let them know. They’ll love that.”

The sluts, fooling around where anyone could see them. But did she really think that? As long as nobody knew she’d been turned on, no harm no foul. And what about that weird face-change thing? She’d written it off as an illusion of the light, but after some of the other things she’d seen, she wondered. “Whatever makes them happy.”

He shrugged. “All kinds of things do.” Lifting a hand, he stroked her bangs from her face. She shivered, wanting to lean into his touch and run away at the same time.

“Don’t touch me.”

“I like to see people’s eyes when I talk to them.”

And she liked to imagine what it would be like to rip off her dress and spread herself for this man like the whore—no question that bitch was a slut—did for Theo. But if wishes were margaritas, she’d be guzzling them as fast as possible right now. And she was finally old enough to do it legally!

Lifting her chin, she met the amber eyes without blinking. “What’s in the turquoise drinks?”

He dropped his hand. “What?” And he did blink. Changing subjects without warning was one of her favorite tactics when regaining control of a conversation. Or diverting attention from a situation that caused her discomfort. Or her own attention from the twisting heat low in her belly.

“The drinks. I want one.”

This time his grin spread wide, showing a few laugh lines. How old was this bouncer? Thirty maybe? Perfect. “You don’t want a Cliffside Blitz. It’s our own brand of tequila, 10 percent agave with a proof so high we can’t bottle it, and a splash of something special. It would knock you on your ass.”

What better position to seduce you from?

“Bring it on. I don’t even care what the dash of something special is. I just watched my fiancé screwing someone else in the dance room. I think I deserve a drink!” Her voice rose to a shriek and the very large man leapt to his feet.

“I’ll need to see some ID.”

Reaching in her bra, she yanked out her little wallet and tossed it at him. “Take it and take my debit card and bring me drinks!”

He had the grace to at least peek at her driver’s license before returning her wallet to her. Odd, she hadn’t expected the place to worry about a liquor license. “Just twenty-one. So young. But old enough. Your drink is on me. I deeply regret that you had such a horrible experience in my club and after you enjoy your Cliffside Blitz, I will deal with whoever has hurt you.” He spoke in a genteel way but his eyes flashed fire. What did he mean by deal with? His flexing fists and tense expression hinted at serious retribution, but they were after all big on permanent banishing here. Like that Leo guy.

Oh, was Theo going to be mad if he realized she’d been the cause…usually smiling and easy going, his occasional flares of temper could be frightening. Of course, when she cancelled the wedding, he’d probably be upset, too. But if he could cheat on her in a room full of strangers, how much could he love her anyway? Maybe he’d be relieved to be rid of her. At least her dad would be pleased. Her mother would throw a fit. Social graces were far more important to her elegant mother than her plump, cheerful, business-oriented dad.

Still, despite the pleasant image of Theo rolling down the hill, she probably shouldn’t encourage it. “Why do you care so much? I don’t even know your name.”

“And I don’t know yours,” he said, returning to sit next to her. “I am Warren Ursa, the owner of this establishment, and everything that happens here concerns me.” He lifted a landline phone from the side table while she processed what he said. The owner. Not a bouncer. Okay. “Bring me two Cliffsides.” Hanging up, he smiled at her, revealing strong white teeth. Although he didn’t move to touch her, his body heat rolled over her in waves, hypnotic and sensual. Aliens! Sexy aliens. She swallowed hard.

A tap on the door was followed by the entrance of a young man in jeans and a turquoise version of the T-shirt worn by the man next to her. He held a tray with two of the drinks and a bowl of snack mix. Setting it on the coffee table in front of them, he bent to listen to something Warren muttered then nodded and slipped out again without a word in response.

Warren lifted the two glasses and handed her one. She stared into its glowing depths, like the color of the seas off the Bahamas where her family vacationed every winter, wondering what her first legal drink would taste like. Probably not like the cheap margaritas she and her friends made in the blender at home or the overpriced rum and Cokes served at the dive near campus that didn’t ask for ID.

She took a sip and lifted her eyes toward his in surprise. “This is delicious.”

He grinned. “A reason it’s so easy to overdo them. We are proud of our house drink.”

Remembering his warning, she set the glass down after one more sip. “I’ll go slowly.”

“Wise.” He took a swallow of his and sighed. “Even I have to be careful, and I can hold my liquor.”

She had no doubt a body that big could metabolize a lot of alcohol.

“Now,” he said, settling back and laying an arm across the cushion behind her, “what else can Animals do to make up for your misadventure?”

“My friends are still in line, in the cold on that cliff.”

He nodded. “As soon as you finish your drink, I will arrange a car to drive you all back to wherever you came from. Phoenix?”

“Tempe.”

“Same difference.” He dropped his hand to her shoulder and toyed with her hair. The agave crawled through her veins, relaxing her even if she hadn’t had enough to end up “on her ass.” So far. “In an hour, you’ll be on your way home, and this will all be a memory.”

“Except for all the work of cancelling the wedding.” She leaned into his shoulder, breathing in his masculine scent of leather and the sweet, sharp drinks. “My parents are going to be surprised.”

He stroked the length of her hair and she wanted to purr like a cat. “Will they be upset?”

Karma shrugged. “Mom, probably. Dad never really warmed to Theo, but I hate to see them lose the deposit money they put up on everything.”

He shifted her closer and his fingers trailed down her arm, leaving goose bumps in their wake. “I’m sure they will understand when you explain.”

And wouldn’t that be amazing.
Mom and Dad, I went out into the middle of the desert to an alien nightclub where I watched two women make out and guess what happened then? I saw Theo screwing a naked woman right in the middle of the club. He was naked, too. So the wedding’s off.
“I think I’ll just tell them we decided to end things. I don’t want to have to go into detail.”

“Am I right in guessing the guy would have more to worry about than just being banned from Animals if you told your dad the whole story?”

She considered then nodded. “I don’t really want to think about it. It takes a lot to get Dad mad, but….”

He chuckled, the rumble running through her and peaking her nipples. What was with her body? It didn’t do that when Theo laughed. “I think we can agree, he’s not the man for you, Miss….”

She tilted her face up toward his, willing him closer, his hand on her shoulder pulling her against his big chest, her heart beating so loudly she could barely hear her own voice when she said, “Karma. I’m Karma.”