Theresa Meyers - One Night with the Shifter

He kicked back without warning, catching vampire number two behind him in the chest. It spun backward over a pool table to land in a heap on a table, amid shrieks and toppled beer spraying everywhere. Son of a bitch deserved that and worse after it’d tap-danced on his spine. Payback was a bitch.

The third vampire melted into the crowd as Ty and the leader were instantly surrounded by the crowd pressing in around them with cries of encouragement and money changing hands.

Ty glanced up at the myriad faces, looking for just one—Jess. He wanted to make sure that the third vampire hadn’t taken her while he’d been distracted.

Her blue eyes were wide as she squeezed past the edge of the crowd. He wasn’t taking any chances. He grabbed hold of her hand and pulled her close, putting her behind him. “Stay here. I’ll be back in a minute.”

“But I—”

Ty didn’t have time to listen. The vampire in the duster came at him once again, fake brown eyes glittering with malice. He swung at Ty, and Ty blocked the blows. They kept coming, fast, hard. Sweat beaded on his skin, trickling into his eyes and making his hair damp. His muscles were growing tired in his human form, slowing his reaction time. One blow evaded his block, cuffing him hard enough in the side of the head to make his ears ring and his vision blur for a moment. The drunken crowd cheered.

Ty shook his head to clear it. He and the vampire circled one another, the superior sneer on the vampire’s face making him more irritated by the moment. Then he glimpsed Jess’s frightened face and a whole new rush of energy filled him from his scalp to his toes. He could do anything, be anything, to protect her.

The vampire lunged forward. Ty thrust the heel of his hand up hard against the vampire’s beak of a nose. The distinctive crunch of bones breaking was followed by a hard grunt as the vampire bent forward and Ty brought his elbow down hard against the vampire’s neck, knocking him out. If there weren’t all these people around, he would have carved the vampire’s fangs out of his mouth as battle trophies, the way his pack had done for centuries. But this wasn’t the time and place for the old ways and sooner rather than later, that vampire and his buddy would wake up. Probably call in reinforcements.

He was alone. No pack, no friends in the town.

There was a slap of high fives and the clink of beer bottles, along with cheers from the crowd. It had all just been another night’s entertainment to them. He stepped over the vampire to get to Jess. Her face was pale.

“Want to get out of here?”

She nodded. Ty wrapped her small hand in his and together they skirted around the prone vampire and headed for the door, keeping a vigilant eye out for vampire number three.

The air was clean and cold outside. Ty’s head cleared, his senses grew sharper. The cool evening breeze, heavy with the salty scent of nearby Puget Sound, ruffled Jess’s hair, sticking honey-colored wisps to her full, rosy lips.

“You okay?” he asked as he gently tucked the strands back behind her ear.

Jess blinked, and stared up at him, a mixture of curiosity and disbelief in her eyes. “What just happened in there?”

He tried to give her a lopsided grin, but it turned into a wince when he found his jaw was tender from the hits the vampire had landed. He rubbed the soreness. The night air chilled the dribble of blood from the cut on his cheek, making it wet and cold, but there was no scent of vampire. The third one must have been smart enough to ditch his buddies. His body ached from the fight, but it would heal fast enough. “A bar fight with strangers.”

“You didn’t know those guys?” she asked, looking around her nervously. “They seemed pretty intent on messing with you.” She grazed the corner of his mouth with her fingertips. “You’re hurt.”

The light touch was enough to send a powerful surge of awareness pounding through him that wiped away any of the ache that remained. Damn. There was no doubt in his mind there was a strong Mesmer forming with this woman.

He gently moved her fingers away from his mouth, keeping them folded in his. Her hands were fine-boned and slender and feminine. “No big deal.”

Her full lips tipped up into a soft smile, making him crave to kiss her. “Tough guy, huh?” She pulled a car remote from her pocket and pushed it, making the lights flash on a silver pickup on the edge of the dirt-and-gravel parking area beside the bar.

“Sounds like you’ve been around a few.”

She opened the driver’s door to the pickup and turned, standing in the gap, staring at him, her head tilted. “A few. But they’re nothing like you.”

Ty closed the gap between them, putting one hand on the door frame, shielding her from view of the parking lot but maintaining space between them. He knew better than to get close enough to be swamped by temptation. The Mesmer might be working on him, but that didn’t mean she’d understand if he came on too strong. Especially not after the fight.

“If you want to head home, I understand. I’ll stay here awhile and make sure those guys don’t follow you home.”

She reached out and grabbed fistfuls of his T-shirt near his collarbones, pulling him close until he was chest to chest with her. The soft swells of her breasts pressed against him, and the minty scent of her hair and the hint of lilac on her skin teased his sensitive sense of smell. Everything within him went silent and still, fixated on the lush curve of her mouth so damn close to his he could feel the warmth of her breath.

“What I want is for you to come home with me.” Jess stood on her tiptoes and looked up into his face, the dark fringe of lashes around her eyes making the blue luminous. Her rapid pulse beat against his chest, taking over the rhythm until his matched the pace she set. For a second the world tilted sideways.

Ty’s gaze dropped to the silky, damp edge of her lips and he was lost. He dipped down and kissed her. Her lips were soft and willing, tasting of peppermint. She tasted so damn sweet, hot and spicy all at once. A warm, viscous heat flowed through his veins, coating and drowning out every other sensation until he was hot and hard at the same time.

Ty gripped the edge of the truck’s door frame, nearly denting the sheet metal with his fingertips. But he was determined to keep his hands to himself, even though they itched to touch her. Heat seeped through his shirt, the temperature difference amplified by the chill in the air. The kiss turned deeper, slicker, the tip of her tongue brushing against his. The spicy fragrance of female that spiked the air left no doubt she was aroused. When they broke apart, both of them were breathing hard, their breath creating misty white clouds.

“You sure about this?” He could control his body, but not the rough edge of his voice as he struggled to maintain composure. “I could follow you.”

Jess looked up at him, her dark lashes dropping a fraction, giving her a sultry look. “Hop in.”

He was smart enough not to argue with her, but that didn’t mean that the little voice of human reason in the back of his head wasn’t screaming loudly that this was stupid and rash. He should take his own vehicle so he didn’t get stuck who knew where. He didn’t know a damn thing about her. Couldn’t read her mind and certainly hadn’t asked enough questions. But this is a Mesmer, the wild Were instinct side of him shouted back. No one, Were especially, could blame him for responding so quickly and profoundly to her. And hell, he could always follow his nose and walk back if he needed to.

“Anything you say,” he answered. He waited until she climbed up into the cab, admiring the way the dark denim jeans hugged the curve of her ass, then closed the truck door and walked around the back of the pickup. An uneasy sensation raised the hairs on his skin. He glanced over his shoulder one last time to make sure they weren’t being followed.