“I’m not cold.”
“You’re shivering,” I said close enough to her ear that I took the opportunity to nip at her lobe.
She glared at me as another shudder came over her body. “Because you’re near me, not because I’m cold. Now, leave me alone.”
It was a damn dare whether she wanted it to be or not. I slumped into my chair and draped my coat over her body. It covered nearly all of her. Then I glanced at the professor, whose head was already down. He wanted to be home sleeping, not teaching.
My hand went to her thigh where her thin leggings were hot with her body heat. She wasn’t lying, she wasn’t cold at all. She sucked in a breath and her thigh muscle hardened. “Cole,” she breathed out.
I murmured, “I can’t stop thinking about your texts.” Her eyes flicked to my jeans where the bulge in my pants couldn’t really be hidden. I dropped my mouth to her neck and let my lips graze over her soft skin. “Do you think about it too? Are you as wet as I am hard?”
Then, I licked her collarbone. She wiggled under me, probably trying to figure out if she should indulge me in the back of a lecture hall. Without saying a word, though, her hand wrapped around my wrist, and she dragged my hand up toward her pussy where she stopped to rub against me. She continued the journey to the waistband of her leggings. “See for yourself,” she breathed.
I didn’t wait for her to prompt me any further. I sucked her neck harder, wanting to leave a mark, wanting all the guys at the bar to know she was taken, and dipped my hand into her leggings.
She gasped softly when my thumb grazed over her clitoris and I felt her thighs tremble when my middle finger slid over her wet pussy.
“Jesus,” I whispered in her ear, “you always this wet for me?”
“Shh.” She frowned at me and ticked her head toward the other students a row ahead of us.
I smirked and let the hand that was wrapped around her shoulder graze at the side of her breast. Then, I flicked my thumb over it just as I slid another finger into her core. She inhaled sharply, and her breasts strained against the tank top she was wearing. I leaned in close to her ear to repeat her command, “Shh, Ladybug.”
She glared at me, but spread her legs so I could gain better access. With two fingers, I worked in and out of her quickly while rolling my thumb faster and faster over her clit.
She bit down on her bottom lip and closed her eyes. I took in her small neck, the way her lashes fell over her cheeks, and how her hair fanned out over her the breasts that were rising and falling rapidly.
“To think you hid yourself from me for this long. I could have had you sooner,” I said for only her to hear. “Give me what’s mine, Ladybug. Come for me.”
Her pussy clenched at my words, her mouth opened in a silent scream, and she convulsed around my fingers in an orgasm no woman could fake.
When her heavy-lidded eyes opened, I slid my hand from her leggings to bring to my mouth and taste her. “Mmm. You taste like all the good and bad things I want wrapped into one.”
“Bad things? Why?”
“Because I’m finding it hard to do this right. I want to give us time, make sure you’re ready.”
That was all the ammunition I needed for my next shift. He needed the push this time because Cole was a wolf, always protecting his pack instead of taking what he wanted. It was time he indulged rather than held back.
I dressed in the shortest shorts I had and pulled out the old fishnets from the corner of my closet. With dark eyeliner, dark red lipstick, hair mussed, and the Heathen’s top tied up, I knew I looked like I wanted to fuck.
Because I did.
Two hours into my shift, I still hadn’t seen Cole. Sometimes he got held up in back doing paperwork, so I would be patient. I rounded the bar to get to the patrons on the other side when they didn’t notice all the drinks I’d lined up for them.
Rowdier than usual and louder than ever before, the scene was what I’d pictured Heathen’s to be all those times I’d walked by before I worked here. Some of the guys hollered when I waved the tray of drinks in front of them and then I set it down on the bar. “Bottom’s up, boys.”
I turned to get back to work when one of the guys smacked my ass. Over the past month, I’d gotten more comfortable, knew the drawbacks of working as a woman in the bartending field, and knew assholes from afar.
I was more secure now. I glared at him and pointed a finger. “Do that shit again, I’ll have the bouncer take you out.”
He didn’t appear very apologetic, but I mentally patted myself on the back for standing up to him. I rounded back to the bar in time to see Cole.
Dark, angry, beautiful Cole.
He barreled past me, and I winced as Cole’s fist pummeled into the guy who had grabbed my ass. He’d been bold enough to grab for it again as I reached for a bottle behind the bar. So, he deserved it even if the sound of bone crunching sent shivers down my spine.
I sighed and set down the whiskey bottle to yank on Cole’s shoulder where he hovered over the creep. “Cole, you can’t hit him again.”
His greenish-hazel eyes snapped to mine. “You’re in trouble, Zo.” He turned back to the guy as two bouncers beelined our way. The guy was yelling now, furious that someone had attacked him even though he’d started it all.
Cole jumped over the bar as I shouted his name, but no one could stop him. Drake was swearing and moving his ass to get to Cole, but now the guy’s friends had jumped in.
Suddenly, the music cut and the crowd fanned out around a large man I’d never seen before. The whole bar quieted in a wave as the man, covered in muscles and tattoos, stalked over to Cole.
He yanked Cole back and when Cole saw him, the beast in him quieted while the other man lay groaning on the floor. He shook his head and said, “You gave me control of this bar, Rome. I’m not having anyone come in here and disrespect it.”
“She yours then?” Rome ticked his head at me and looked my way. When I met his gaze, the darkness had me jerking back, but I also felt pulled to him, like he was a black hole that would suck me in. His face was beautiful, terrible, and striking all at the same time.
“She’s mine. And only mine.” Cole’s voice was low as he answered.
Rome nodded and turned to the man on the floor. “Come back and I’ll kill you.”
A few people gasped; the whole crowd was watching him now.
Security dragged out the beaten man, and Rome looked back at me. “Zoey, once a heathen, always a heathen. Don’t cause Cole too much pain in my bar, huh?”
I nodded because I’d just met the owner and he was scarier than any man I’d ever seen. I believed every single thing he said, including that he’d kill a man. It seemed the whole crowd believed him too.
“I’m sorry about—”
“Don’t apologize. I’m gone, Cole. Get the Heathens back to business.” He turned to everyone and smiled. “Drinks on me for the next hour. Play nice.”
He disappeared out the front door, and Drake got the music back on. It took everyone a few minutes to shake the darkness that man carried with him though. Everyone ordered extra alcohol, and I tried to get back to work to shake the drama.
“No. You’re coming with me,” Cole growled when I grabbed a bottle.