If LIVE Nightclub hadn’t been short a few bouncers tonight, Brock Justice would’ve been home an hour ago. He knew he should’ve picked up some beer from the convenient store instead of stopping by here. After Leo had seen Brock hanging around outside with some bikers, the guy had practically begged him to keep an eye on things in the club. Brock had a hard time saying no to people he thought of as family. And he owed Leo one anyway. The man had bailed him out of jail more than a few times over the past several years. Coincidentally, one of those times had been from getting into a physical altercation with some bonehead he couldn’t even remember.

LIVE was way overcrowded tonight. The ratio of humans to shifters was relatively high. The nightclub was one of the most popular in the state. It was also the only club owned by a shifter where humans mingled around. But sometimes the mingling didn’t always lead to good times. Several fights had broken out in here over the past couple of months and Leo had already received notices from the authorities about executing a shutdown if the security wasn’t tightened up. The fucked up part about it was that over fifty percent of the fights were over disagreements between shifters and humans. There was no promise in sight that the dust would settle anytime soon. It was a rough time in Tellevue County where opposing political views were the number one topic of discussion. On top of that, the local government was trying to seize the majority of shifter-owned lands through eminent domain proceedings. It was no wonder so many sat at the bar, emptying beer pitchers left and right. Stressful times called for desperate measures.

“Hey Brock!” one of the call girls yelled as he passed through the dense crowd to get to the bar. “What ya doing out here tonight?”

“I was just passing through for a drink.” If he could remember correctly, the woman’s name was Anna. She’d been working here a while out of one of the backrooms.

“Where are your brothers?” she asked.

“I don’t keep up with anyone but myself.”

“You boys haven’t been in the news lately.” She grinned. “I thought maybe you had packed up and left.”

“I’m still here.”

“Well, me too. But I won’t be for long. As soon as I earn enough, I’m gonna buy me one of those motorhomes and head out west. Me and my girls. We’re going to Vegas.”

“Uh-huh.” Brock nodded. “I wish you luck. I’m sure you’ll get there.”

Getting out of the small town of Aspen Valley was a hot topic for half of the residents here. The majority of those who left for greener pastures or big cities did so without warning. They never really talked about it; they just got up and left. Brock and his brothers had abandoned the town before when they were young boys, only to be led back here when their younger brother, Dane, was named Alpha of the Aspen Valley Pack. Now they had a duty to stand by their Pack Alpha and the growing shifter community.

“If you’ve got some free time, I can help you relax,” she said.

It was her way of nonchalantly offering herself and her body for the night. There were probably about a half a dozen other girls working at LIVE tonight for the very same purpose. He’d never fucked any of them, but they did offer expert massages. He didn’t know what had gotten over him. Even the massages he’d come to love here weren’t doing the trick anymore. He was bored with it all.

“Listen, Anna, I’m on duty tonight, but it was nice talking to you,” he said.

“Ah, if you say so,” she said, her gaze working slowly across his groin. “If you change your mind, I’m here until 2 A.M.”

After Brock broke away from Anna, he slid on an empty barstool, took out his wallet, and tossed a Benjamin on the counter. Not a minute later, Frank placed a shot of whiskey down in front of him.

“What’s the word, Brock?” Frank asked as he proceeded to make a cocktail for another customer.

“Just trying to stay out of trouble.”

Frank laughed. “Is that even possible, dude?”

“Doesn’t anyone have faith in me?” Brock asked, pretending to look sheepish.

Frank smirked and gave him a skeptical look. He dipped a martini glass into some salt, poured in whatever fruity cocktail he’d mixed, and topped it off with a lime. It wasn’t until he placed it on the coaster of the woman sitting two seats down from him did Brock fully realize that she’d been there. The moment he turned his gaze in her direction, she looked up at him with a set of the prettiest brown eyes he’d ever seen.

She diverted her attention and looked down at her drink before Brock could get a good look at her face. She certainly wasn’t a regular and she damn sure wasn’t a shifter. Her outfit was provocative and barely there and he almost wondered if she was one of the new girls working the back. No, couldn’t be. Brock saw right past the seductive club attire and dramatic makeup she wore. She didn’t appear to belong in Leo’s adult rooms, but again the selections changed almost weekly.

While Frank was focused on another customer, Brock rose from his chair, took his drink with him, and slid into the empty seat next to the woman.

She looked straight ahead and fumbled with the napkins on the counter as if pretending not to see him.

“So…” Brock said. “Let me take a guess at why a woman like you would end up at an adult nightclub like this.”

She turned sharply in his direction, eagerly awaiting his answer.

“I wasn’t aware there was a requirement to enter the nightclub,” she said. “But go ahead…”

“One, you’re one of those reporters from the city they send in here every now and then to get the scoop on us. Two, you were getting a little bored with the regular clubs in the city. Three, this is your first day on the job, you’re feeling overwhelmed, and you decided to take a break.”

She smiled. “None of the above.”

“I’m all ears if you care to share the real reason.”

“I’m not sure if I like you or not.” She blushed and lifted her cocktail glass to her lips.

They were painted a dark red and all Brock could do was imagine her mouth on him. Shit! He was a little more deprived than he thought. Maybe it was time to unleash his desires before he drove himself insane trying to keep his dick in his pants. That had been his grandmother’s advice the last time he visited her out west, but sustaining his sexual attraction to this woman, in particular, was proving to be more difficult than he could imagine and he didn’t even know her name.

“Save yourself and your energy for your intended mate,” his grandma had said. “Trust me, you’ll need it.”

What Grandma Justice didn’t know was that he possessed endless amounts of energy when it came to fucking, thanks to his papa who was a rolling stone. Brock liked his freedom very much and had realized long ago that his intended mate might never appear. But there was no way in Heaven or Hell that he’d mate or even marry four different women in the process of finding her like his Papa Magnus had.

As the woman swallowed, her delicate throat flexed. Her caramel-complexioned skin looked soft to the touch. Soon, his gaze had shifted to her rounded breasts pushing up out of her little tight top. She wasn’t even wearing a bra and he licked his lips as he contemplated what shade her nipples might be. Her thick and luscious thighs were pressed together tightly and he imagined his face between them exploring her.

Fuck! Just stop it. She’s a human and you’ll scare her away.

“Are you a shifter?” she asked, her question taking him off guard.

“Don’t I look like one?”

She turned slightly and assessed him inch by inch, sending his blood pressure into an unhealthy spike. “You do.”

“I’m full-blood. Weren’t you expecting a shifter? This is a shifter-owned nightclub.”

“Yes, as a matter of fact, that’s why I’m here. I’m looking for a shifter just like you.” The tip of her tongue slipped through the seam of her lips and then across it.

Damn, she’s hot.

“Now, it’s my turn to ask a question,” he said. “You said I was wrong about why you’re here. Why are you here, little Princess?”

“As part of a dare.” She took a longer sip of her cocktail.

“A dare?”

She nodded, pursing her plump red lips. “Mmm-hmm.”

“Do you mind elaborating?”

“I’m here because…I want to sleep with a shifter.”

Brock almost spewed his liquor as he struggled to keep his amusement inside. “Sleep with? Okay, that’s innocent enough. Even little fairy princesses sleep.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Well, Princess, if you’re here for something you want, you ain’t gonna get it beating around the bushes.”

“I want to fuck a shifter. There. I said it.”

“Are you drunk, Princess?” he asked.

“Not entirely. I’m very aware of where I am and I know what I came for,” she replied, hotly.

Brock’s balls tightened and his dick pulsed against his fly. “Why do you want this?”

“My break is over soon and I’ll be heading back to college in under a week. There aren’t any shifters there like you. In fact, the boys there don’t do anything for me. I thought if I slept with someone of your…caliber that would hold me over until I graduate in the summer.”

This time, Brock did laugh.

A visible blush crept up her slender neck. “I knew I’d be laughed at.”

“I’m not laughing at you. I’m laughing because you’re misinformed.”

“I haven’t been informed of anything, except the fact that shifter males are excellent lovers. I have friends who’ve um…”

She pushed a few wayward strands of hair behind her ears and pursed her lips. Goddammit, he wanted to drag his fingers through her jet black, bone straight hair, and mostly, he wanted to kiss her plump, red lips.

“Who’ve what?” he asked.

“They’ve been with men like you and seem to really love it.”

“And you want to test it out?”

She nodded.

“What’s your name?”

“Don’t worry about asking because I wasn’t planning on giving it,” she teased. “One night is all I want.”

“One night, huh?”

“No strings attached and we go our separate ways,” she added.

Brock took a moment to assess her from head to toe, which wasn’t all that easy since she was seated facing the bar, but he loved what he saw. On top of that, the innocent scent underlying her expensive perfume was getting to his head. Did she taste as sweet as she smelled? This was all too good to be true.

“What’s the catch, Princess?”

She shrugged. “There’s no catch at all. I want something and you can give me that.”

As if demonstrating, she crossed her legs towards him and the heel of her stilettos brushed against his jeans.

Brock leaned in closer to her and more than a few seconds passed without her opposition. He stroked his palm upward against her leg, starting at her knee and pausing near the top of her thigh.

“I don’t think you can handle what I have,” he told her.

“Try me.”

“Then let’s quit the small talk.” He slid off the chair and held out his hand, palm up. “Let’s go someplace quieter.”

She looked around nervously. “Isn’t there a room in the back where we can do this? I thought this place catered to hook ups.”

“Do you think I’m gonna fuck someone as beautiful and delectable as you in the back of this nightclub? No, Princess.” He took her hand and leaned in to press his lips to her ear. “I’m gonna take you so hard. When I get done with you, you’ll be lucky enough to have the strength to stand in those sexy fuck-me stilettos you have on. Is that what you want?”

“Yes,” she whispered, her heated breath folding against the skin on his neck.

Hand-in-hand, they walked out of LIVE nightclub into the parking lot and into the cold dry air.