Temptation: Reckless Desires (Blue Moon Saloon Book 2) (13 page)

Plonk.
The two ball fell away.

Janna stalked around the table, completely ignoring the applause of the men around her. One of them brushed up against her, and she immediately stepped away. Jesus, could they just let her think?

Obviously, she needed a new game plan for how to go about things when Cole showed up, because Jay’s Bar didn’t have the cozy atmosphere she remembered from before. Next time, she’d take Cole to a diner. Better yet, on a picnic in the mountains. Anything would be better than this.

“Wanna dance, sweetheart?” a voice said, much too close to her ear.

She sighed and glanced toward the bar out of habit, half expecting to see Simon there. Bears were handy that way — one glare from him and these idiots would back away from her. But of course, it wasn’t Simon, because this wasn’t the Blue Moon Saloon.

The bartender here was a pudgy, balding guy who didn’t keep an eye on things the way Simon and Soren did. Something she’d never appreciated until just now. She’d never had an issue waitressing in the saloon because the guys kept things in line. But this place…

She looked around. Trucker types. Bikers. Lots of tattoos. Mostly men, too, which she hadn’t noticed before.

Whatever. That didn’t worry her. Even if the men closest to her got rowdy, they were only human. Nothing her wolf couldn’t handle if push came to shove. The only thing she had to worry about was Cole.

She circled to the corner of the table nearest the wall and bent, lining up her next shot. She could go for the three ball, over there, or a trickier shot with the five ball and set up her next shot…

“How about a dance, honey?”

She stuck out an elbow, undeterred. “Not your honey. Five ball in the—”

She yelped as two thick, tattooed arms grabbed her from behind. Really grabbed her, pinning her arms to her sides and her back to his front.

“I think a dance is just what this wildcat needs,” he chuckled, prying the pool stick out of her hand. His beer breath washed over her ear.

She opened her mouth to scream, then thought the better of it. All she needed was to stomp on his foot, then twist to the right and elbow him in the gut. That always worked.

So she stomped and twisted, but it didn’t work. The man was quicker than anticipated and clutched her harder.

“How about you and me head outside for some fun?” he said, pulling her toward the door.

“Stop! Stop!” she protested.

Two other men closed around them, blocking the view of anyone who might look over and protest while the blaring music covered her cry.

Janna struggled, cursing herself. She’d been stupid, coming to this bar alone. Working under the watchful eye of two bears had made her complacent. Well, fine. Let these jerks get her into the alley outside. She could use the darkness to let her wolf claws out and give them a whipping to remember. No one would believe a couple of half-drunk rowdies who’d claimed to have seen a woman turn wolf.

She stopped struggling and flexed her fingers, getting ready to call on her inner beast.

“That’s right, sweetie,” the man at her ear chuckled. “Come along and meet our friends.”

Friends? Her heart pounded in her chest. What friends?

The three men had her boxed in the narrow hallway. There was no way anyone in the bar would spot her. Forward was her only way out — into the alley.

She took a deep breath, trying to keep calm. Fighting off two or three drunks, she could do. But any more than that and things would get ugly. She’d have to shift fully to wolf form and tear out a few throats. She’d still get away, but it would bring unwanted attention to the incident. Injuries and bodies would lead to an investigation that could threaten the secrecy shifters valued above all else.

Her heart sank. Even if she managed to cover things up, there was only so much trouble the wolves of Twin Moon Ranch would tolerate from the likes of her and her sister, who were technically guests in pack territory. They’d be cast out. Their jobs, their new home — she and Jessica could lose everything.

Shit. Her only choice was to get away quickly without hurting any of the men badly enough to warrant attention. And damn, would that leave a bitter taste in her mouth. These jerks deserved the worst. Who knew how many other women they’d try helping themselves to in the future?

Another wave of garlic breath washed over her face, and she turned away, counting the steps to the back door. The second they were outside, she’d shift and run.

“Right this way, sweetheart…”

Oh, she’d show him
sweetheart
, all right.

“Hang on, Lou,” one of the others said, and all of a sudden, the hands gripping hers twisted and yanked.

She yelped at the pain.

“Perfect,” the man pronounced a moment later, pushing her shoulders.

She yanked her hands apart the second he let go, but her arms didn’t budge.

Shit!

No matter how she twisted or pulled, she couldn’t get her hands free. They kept catching on something…

“I think she likes your belt,” the first man chuckled.

Belt? They’d tied her hands with a belt?

Panic rose in her, and she barely batted it down. Jesus, now what? She couldn’t shift with her hands tied behind her back. Both shoulders would be dislocated, and even a quick-healing wolf couldn’t recover instantly from that.

Shit…shit…

She bit her lip, closed her eyes, and reached for her sister in her mind. It took a huge gulp to swallow away her pride, but this wasn’t about pride any more.

Jess!
she screamed inside.
Help! Please!

Even if her sister heard, she couldn’t teleport over. By the time help arrived…

Janna struggled again, fighting the ugly images in her mind.

“Now, now, sweetheart. You just keep on walking along. ’Cause those friends of ours? They’re your friends, too. Old friends.”

Old friends? What old friends would cooperate with men like these to rape her?

The man pushed her out the back door, and she had half a second to breathe the cooler night air before stumbling into another man who had been waiting outside. She lurched aside, but there was a third one there, clad all in white.

“Janna Macks,” he said coolly. “Such a pleasure to see you again.”

“You,” she blurted.

The man smiled and waved her captors away with a hundred dollar bill. “We’ll take it from here, boys.”

Janna backed away. The three men who’d hauled her outside were one thing. But this…this new enemy put ice in her blood.

Even in the dim light of the alley, she could make out the blue rings tattooed on their fingers. Blue Bloods. The rogue band who’d murdered her family and attacked the saloon not long before. Five of them.

“Seems you still haven’t learned your lesson.” Victor Whyte, the leader of the Blue Bloods, shook his head sadly. Then his face twisted into one of sheer malice. He grabbed her hair and twisted it, forcing her to her knees. “We’re here to teach you. The hard way.”

He pulled her head back — so far back, she could see the moon overhead. So far back, it was a wonder her neck didn’t snap.

God, he was going to kill her here. Now.

“You said we’d get a chance to play with her first,” one of the rogues gathered in the alley protested.

Play? She winced. She’d rather die quickly than endure what they had in mind.

She yanked at the belt tying her hands and felt it give slightly. If she could stall for a few minutes, she might be able to get it off. But Jesus, she didn’t have minutes. She had seconds, at best.

She drew in a huge gulp of air and screamed into the night. Drawing help — any help — was her only chance.

The big man behind her smacked his hand over her mouth a second too late, and they all stood, listening for a reaction for a moment or two.

“We kill her,” the leader hissed. “Now—”

He turned at the sound of hurried footsteps pounding into earshot. A tall figure appeared at the end of the alley, silhouetted by a dim streetlight.

Janna’s hope sparked, then faded. There was only one man there, not the armed posse she’d been praying for. An innocent man who’d likely be killed, too. God, what had she done?

“Hey!” he shouted, and everyone froze.

Janna looked up, recognized him, and blurted one hopeless word.

“Cole?”

Cole stood panting much harder than he ought to have been for the short run from his pickup to the alley. But he’d been panting the whole drive over. Pulling on his collar, too, and gnashing his teeth, not to mention scratching his ear so hard, it hurt. The urgency had been enough to pull him back from the abyss he’d been about to careen over and run to his car. Trying desperately to keep the madness at bay just long enough to…to what, he wasn’t so sure. Only that he had to push the beast he was turning into back and get to Janna right away.

“Back off!” he yelled. Much as he wanted to sprint down the alley and punch their dirty hands off her, he went slowly, checking the scene.

Four — no, five — big guys. He couldn’t see their faces but his nose caught a bleachy, unnatural scent that made him snort for clean air.

The warning bells that had been clamoring in his mind on the way over went off on a second frenzied round.

“You,” he huffed, recognizing the man who’d led the attack on Janna in the saloon weeks ago. The man he’d confronted once before.

He bared his teeth and a low growl filled the alley. A real, animal growl that would have scared him if he’d stopped to think.

Let me out!
a gritty voice yelled from inside.
Kill them! Kill!

Killing, he had no problem with. Not with guys who dragged a woman into an alley and tied her up. But it was the same voice that had been screaming at him to do all kinds of crazy things to Janna, and he wasn’t about to let it take control.

His facial muscles twitched wildly as he scratched an ear like a lunatic. Yes, he was going crazy. A fucking Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde he was powerless to control.

“Cole! Don’t!” Janna called.

He’d have jumped off a cliff for her. But desert her when she was in danger? No way.

Four of the five guys were big and burly, and the fifth was a pudgy older guy who spoke like he goddamn owned the place.

“We’ve got everything under control here. No need to get mixed up in other people’s business.”

Right, under control. Cole almost spat the words aloud, but his jaw was killing him. That feeling of teeth being push-pulled again, all four canines at the same time.

He shook his head and advanced another step, balling his fists.

The man had white hair and wore a white suit that seemed completely out of place in a dank alley at night. Whyte, that was the asshole’s name. He tilted his head at Cole and his eyes lit up in recognition.

“Ah, our knight in shining armor, back for another try.”

More like a raging bull, but whatever. Let the guy bullshit all he wanted.

Shift! Shift! Let me out!

Cole had no idea what the inner voice meant by
shift
, but he sure as hell wasn’t letting another enemy loose in the alley right now.

You need me to save her!

No way. He had to keep a cool head. To figure out a way to fight five guys long enough to let Janna get away.

The two men holding Janna started backing away with Whyte, while the two men closest to him stepped forward. For a moment, he could still see Janna, watching in desperation, and the next, a big body stepped between them, blocking his view.

Which was when the plan to keep cool went out the window.

Cole lowered a shoulder and charged the first guy. Rammed hard enough to send the ass sprawling then turned just in time to avoid the second guy’s fist. He caught the outstretched arm and twisted it hard, making the man grunt and drop to his knees.

He did it without thinking, and thank God, because the inner voice was screeching now.

Let me out! Let me kill them!

“Move,” Whyte barked, and the man holding Janna dragged her backward. When she dug in her heels, he slapped her.

Cole winced at Janna’s pained cry and blinked at the dejá vu. Janna, fighting off hands that slapped and grabbed at places no man had a right to touch, not when a woman didn’t want him to.

It hadn’t been him hurting Janna in his nightmares. It was these men.

His vision went red with fury, and he took his vengeance on the next guy with a vicious left hook. The guy stumbled for his footing while Cole paused to cradle his right hand. Jesus, he might as well have punched a brick wall. But the pain in his hand was nothing compared to the searing pain in his mind. Like his brain was being drawn and quartered. Torn by a hundred impulses and instincts, all contradicting each other. The voice in his head was winning control over his body, making his arm twitch, his lips draw back. He started snarling — not just on the inside, but on the outside, too, like a rabid dog.

Stay in control. Stay in control…

Give me control!
the wild thing demanded.
Give it to me! I’ll save her!

“Cole!” Janna yelled.