LITMIR.BIZ

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would burn off alcohol or anything else in his system in mere minutes. It wasn’t as if he could get drunk. Which really sucked, because that was precisely what he wanted to do after a long week of working with green recruits. He shoved a twenty at the bartender, who returned with a clear plastic pitcher and cup and set both down in front of him. He slid forty more at the bartender. “Just keep it coming.”

      The bartender nodded, a look of understanding flitting through his eyes as he poured out the first glass. Ty took a drink, then snorted. The bartender might have seen a lot, but he didn’t know a damn thing about Ty’s problems.

      Right now the plan was to lie low, drink and keep to himself. A great plan that went to hell in two-point-five seconds.

      A sudden draft of air, laden with the musty odor of blood mixed with decay, tweaked his nose. Ty glanced at the front door. Three biker types walked in. The guy in front wore a black leather duster and the two men flanking him wore black leather jackets, making their pale complexions look waxen beneath the artificial lights. Vampires. The real deal.

      Ty bristled. What the hell were they doing in Sinclair? While he knew he was on the edge of the Cascade Clan’s territory, he sure didn’t see why they’d bother coming to a rural town when there was far better hunting for them in downtown Seattle. A low growl vibrated deep in his throat. He couldn’t seem to get the hell away from the leeches.

      The scent of clean female flesh underscored by a hint of lilac, mint and a jarring note of antiseptic invaded his airspace as a woman sat down on the bar stool beside him.

      Ty did his best to ignore her, but the grazing touch of a hand on his sleeve made him swivel.

      “You planning on finishing that pitcher yourself?” Her voice was light and friendly, reminding him of a teasing summer breeze.

      Ty prepared to fling back a glib answer, then glanced at her. Streaky honey-blond hair, a sweet bee-stung mouth and big blue eyes struck him with the impact of a sucker punch, turning him mute. All he could do was stare.

      Her grin faltered. A pretty pink blush blossomed across her cheeks and down her throat, ending at the very enticing display of cleavage just above the edge of her pale blue angora sweater. “I’m sorry. I don’t, well, I don’t— Never mind.”

      She had a polish to her, something about her that made her literally shine in the dingy atmosphere of the bar. Just one look was enough to tell any living male with two eyes in his head that she was too refined to be a regular in a place like this.

      He managed to kick his brain into gear long enough to hold out a hand to her. “Tyee—Ty—Grayson. Nice to meet you.” She glanced at his hand but didn’t take it. He tried not to shake as he grabbed one of the plastic cups off the stack just below the edge of the bar and poured the angel sitting next to him a drink. He managed a smile. “Go on. Have a drink. You look like you might need one.”

      Her smile reemerged, revealing white, even teeth. “Thanks. You have no idea.”

      No, he didn’t. But he wanted to.

      Ty mentally pulled himself up short. What the hell? What happened to sticking to himself and soaking out his week with beer? Don’t fight it, a little voice deep down inside him answered back. She’s the one.

      That sobered him up quickly.

      He’d heard about the Mesmer before—that unexplainable attraction and drive a Were could have to mate with a particular person. It was powerful juju you didn’t want to mess with if you could help it. But then, there was no helping it most of the time. A Mesmer simply happened. You didn’t get the convenience of picking when, who or why.

      “What’s your name?”

      The blush suffusing her skin intensified. “Jessica. But my friends call me Jess.”

      Ty gave her a coaxing grin. “No last name?”

      * * *

      Jessica Brierly was sorely tempted. A flutter kicked in her stomach. He was all three things she was looking for tonight. He had broad shoulders and an athletic build and the dusky caramel color of his skin was accented by his short but tousled black hair and chocolate-brown eyes—in short, the guy was gorgeous, but he had a provocative, wild edge to him that lured her in even more. Judging from the lack of a wedding band or the pale shadow of one, single. And most importantly, a stranger to the small-town rumor mill of Sinclair.

      She’d already asked around and no one seemed to know anything about the man. In a town like Sinclair, that was unusual, bordering on cosmic intervention. She’d had teachers in high school who had taught her parents. Grandparents of her friends who’d known her grandparents. It got insular enough to be claustrophobic at times. She couldn’t date a guy from the immediate area without her family—or more precisely, her three older brothers, Davis, Edgar and Paul—giving her a litany of his attributes and faults, high school hijinks and a list of every girl he’d ever dated. Which was why this stranger was completely perfect for what Jess had in mind—a one-night stand, no strings attached.

      His intense gaze bored into her, intimate enough that it made Jess feel like the only woman in the bar—perhaps the only woman on the planet. A shiver raced along her skin. Ty Grayson looked as though he could give her perhaps the wildest night of her life. And right about now, that’s exactly what Jess wanted.

      “How about we keep it on a first-name basis for now, and depending on how things go, I give you my last name and a number later?”

      A voice she didn’t expect answered. “If you’re offering, I’ll take that number now.” The harsh, thick rasp of it directly behind her made Jess’s skin crawl.

      Ty stood up, tall enough to be nearly eye to eye with the guy decked out in a long black leather duster, his dark hair shiny and slicked back, his dark brown eyes piercing on either side of a bladelike nose and unshaven jaw. Jess had never seen this guy around town, either, but the vibe he gave off was nothing like Ty’s. It made her want to shrink within herself.

      “This is a private conversation.” Ty’s monotone held an edge of menace to it. His pulse ticked in the vein in his neck, just above the edge of his T-shirt.

      Jess had never come to the OON for a reason. All her brothers said the place could be dangerous. And now she saw why. The tension in the air snapped and crackled like an exposed electrical connection, just waiting for something to combust. She pressed her back against the bar, feeling trapped, since the two of them were between her and the exit.

      She grabbed hold of Ty’s arm, extremely glad he was there with her when the creeper had showed up. “I think I’m ready to go, Ty.” The tremor in her voice annoyed her, but there was nothing Jess could do about it.

      The imposing biker dude leered at her. “And miss out on all the fun? Oh, no. You get to stay right here, with me.” He reached out to touch her and faster than Jess could blink, Ty grabbed the biker guy’s hand. From the way the tendons in Ty’s big hand stood out in stark relief and the muscles in his arm bulged, Jess could tell he had to be crushing the guy’s hand.

      They glared fireballs at one another.

      “The lady wants you to leave her alone. And so do I,” Ty growled.

      Jess held her breath.

      Chapter 2

      The vampire blinked, and Ty saw the brief rim of crimson around edges of the brown-colored contacts he wore. They were on the hunt for blood.

      Shit.

      A sneer curled the vampire’s lip. His fangs hadn’t dropped, but that wouldn’t take long. “I don’t take orders. I give them.”

      Ty’s teeth throbbed as an image of tearing into the vampire filled his mind. Tension flashed through his system, amping up every cell as his muscles and bones prepared to transition. He took a deep breath to steady himself and maintain his control, but his body shook with the effort. Wolfing out in the middle of a bar in Sinclair wasn’t an option.

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