The Wicked Kiss (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #2)(22)

“What?” A jolt of nervous energy slammed through my system. The thought of dancing didn’t sit well with me. I was usually only inclined to do so after many drinks.

“You heard me.” He winked and smiled slyly. “Any excuse to get you into my arms.”

I laughed nervously and took a sip of my drink. “Oh, come on now, we don’t need to dance for me to be in your arms.”

He just shook his head. “Nice try, lady. You’re not going to get out of it this time.

I’m usually stuck behind the bar. I want to take advantage of this.”

He had a point. He didn’t get to do this often. One dance couldn’t hurt, could it? Not if I could manage to avoid tripping over my own feet.

I couldn’t help but peek at Kylarai. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that she was here with Julian. His casual touches and intense stares weren’t missed by me.

“Are you going to go talk to her?” Shaz asked, nodding in Ky’s direction.

I considered that scenario. It was plausible, but I didn’t want to talk to Julian nor did I want to put Kylarai on the spot.

“Not right now. She’ll fess up at home.”

It was nice, relaxing in the bar with Shaz, a drink and a live band. I wished that we could do this more often. Of course, if I was willing to accept Raoul’s money, we could both live the rest of our lives and never have to work again. I had too much pride for that.

And, I’m sure it would get boring.

There was a break in the music, and the singer shouted out that they were about to play the last song of the night. The girls around the stage hooted and hollered. Local bands received a lot of attention if they were good. More than one rock band had gone on to make it after getting their start in a small town like this.

Something kept drawing my attention across the room to the pool tables where Kylarai was. She was at the same table with the guys, but something wasn’t right. A completely different guy had joined them, and he was up in Julian’s face, too close to be anything but confrontational.

I froze, watching the scene play out before me. The human male was obviously calling the angry Were on. I couldn’t tell what had started the altercation. Kylarai made an attempt to come between them, and the guy shot her a venomous look. His mouth moved quickly as he spat a nasty remark at her.

Julian said something in response, and the man shoved him hard. This wasn’t going to go over well. I nudged Shaz and was on my feet by the time the first punch was thrown.

A werewolf in a bar fight was always the winner. I didn’t want to see Julian break this guy’s face. I couldn’t let it happen.

Fighting my way through the people that stood between the pool tables and me was a frustrating setback. I managed to cross the distance in time to see Zak pull Ky away from the chaos as if she were a breakable doll. The punches were flying fast. Those in the nearby vicinity were becoming aware of the fight as the guys crashed into chairs and tables in their brawl.

A few bystanders were daring enough to try to split the fight up, but each of them backed off when they quickly failed. Shaz was right beside me; his long legs carried him much faster than my shorter ones carried me. The heels didn’t help my speed.

Shaz was a blur of black and white as he leaped into the middle. He quickly tackled Julian, whom he had no problem taking down. Two more bystanders grabbed a hold of the other guy who struggled violently against them. Julian struggled to break free of Shaz’ controlling hold. As soon as he was steady on his feet, I was in his face.

“What the f**k do you think you’re doing?” I growled angrily. Amidst the music and commotion, nobody could hear me clearly but Julian.

He was breathing hard when Shaz released his arms. A trickle of blood ran from his nose. His eyes were wild, all wolf, daring me to keep talking.

“Have you lost your mind?” I wanted to throttle the life out of him for such blatant stupidity.

“Back off, Alexa.” Julian glared down at me from his six-foot-three stance. “This has nothing to do with you.”

Fury burned through me, and I felt my control slip. Right then, I just wanted to kill him. “You will respect me as Alpha wolf, Julian. If you want to expose yourself by being an idiot, you won’t be doing it in my town.”

He eyed me with a smugness that made me want to scream. It took all I had not to backhand the arrogance off his face. “What are you going to do about it? Sick your vampire on me?”

He actually had the balls to taunt me. Big mistake. I could feel Shaz a few feet away, simmering with anger. Kylarai and Zak hovered uncertainly nearby. Everyone else had gone back to their own business now that the brawl was over.

“It isn’t him that you should be afraid of.” I smirked with a conceit that wasn’t the norm for me.

All it took was a thought to throw enough power at Julian to slam him back a few feet. I didn’t even raise a hand. He reached out quickly to catch himself on the side of a pool table.

His dark gaze was filled with hate, which I took great satisfaction in. I had something he didn’t, and that made me the dominating force.

To say I was shocked when he got up in my face then would be a gross understatement. I was blown away. The dark haired werewolf was suddenly growling down into my face with a mouthful of bared fangs.

“If you want to f**king threaten me, bitch, then you better be ready to follow through on that.” He was close enough to kiss, the intrusion into my personal space a blatant show of disrespect.