ROCCO There’s nothing like the chase…why not? It’s a casino after all. That quick look away, followed by another hopeful glance, that’s the shit I live for. That hope, the wanting to make something happen with another person, even if just for a night. So I do. I go over and introduce myself in a deep quiet voice as the owner. That’s when they really notice my eyes and face. I buy them a drink and the dance begins. Not as often these days, I’m twenty-eight now and the tottery, tipsy bachelorette with a fifty-fifty shout of throwing up on my suit has lost its appeal. Same with the angry cougar, the flirty psychotic, and the fake ice queens. Last week though a beautiful divorcee with a penchant for biting came into my world. Different but I was glad for the shifter healing after the mauling she gave me. All good fun though. There is nothing you cannot do if you set your mind to it. Unfortunately, my mind is as jumpy and
ROCCO It’s me again, perhaps I should have made it clear before that Callum and Jacob were of course werewolves too. Between us, we could always spot other shifters. Everyone else we met within this part of the city was human, exactly how I like it. We all met as teens at college, the three of us eager to escape our shitty packs where overbearing Alpha’s still expected dog-like obedience. I think it irritates mine that I don’t cower before him. I know my father used to. And he forced my mother to. Annoyingly, to buy this place, I had to find a guarantor. Callum and Jacob had rich families back home to support them whereas I had nobody, so I had to ask my Alpha. Not quite the full escape I had intended. It's also not fun having to ask the person who left you without a family for help. But that whole tragic, despicable tale is for another conversation. Happy Rocco is chatting right now. Alpha Brandon Wicknace. Or Alpha Dic
SELENE A gaggle of colleagues all followed my lead as we walked the few blocks to the casino. We had eaten at the Palace Palm Hotel, a decadent feast where Greg had been toasted and lauded by his employees like a Roman emperor. Ever the stickler I had monitored and marshalled the group into motion, arriving at the Gilded Falcon precisely on time. There was little evidence that it was a casino, no brash flashing adverts, which was cool. The signage and lighting were low key but once you looked closely the doorway and it’s branding were all high-end. A huge, castle-like dark mahogany door with brushed silver handles was covered by two cheerful, welcoming men. Not the hulking, threatening bouncers you usually expect. I held my breath as Jax tottered ahead of me, curves jiggling in her red dress giddily as she exclaimed, "here we are!" The group whooped with excitement as we descended a small flight of steps
ROCCO When I went up to the beautiful Miss Wilding I tried to gauge if the electricity was one-sided. She appeared cold but when I saw her eyes widen in fear at the idea of being escorted off, I felt bad. That wasn’t my intention, the first step of my dance had landed right on her toes and caused an error. I would never have thrown her out by the way, it wasn’t serious. What was serious though was the way the birthday man, Greg, was staring at me the whole time. when I told you about enjoying, the back and forth with pretty women I forgot to mention the other half of the game. Not pissing off the guys who have similar ideas He might have been a human but there was possessive machismo radiating in waves. Clearly, I was encroaching on someone he viewed as his, so I quickly made my excuses. Seeing as Miss Prickly wouldn’t even give me her first name it would appear the feeling is mutual. Not a problem. I like the chase, not a grind.&n
SELENE I had to hand it to Rocco and his sweet Scandinavian counterpart, they knew how to run an event. Very professional, who knew a pair of burly, muscular sex gods could do good business too? I keep drinking my vodka cocktails despite knowing they won’t get me drunk. It takes an extraordinary amount of alcohol to get a shifter inebriated but it was better to play along. I watched Jax gamble away her thousand immediately, the utter randomness of the roulette wheel her swift undoing. I managed to persuade her not to withdraw her life savings at least. It took everything I had not to let me eyes rest on Rocco. That dark hair and olive skin looked too good to be true. Tall, dark, handsome and a voice so sensually rich it made my hair stand on end. "You're no fun sometimes Selene," she grumbled, folding her arms in protest."I know," I sighed, switching my mind back to the party and not my panties, "but I can't be bothered to pic
ROCCO Not my smoothest move I'll admit. There was something happening at the bar between us, even though she would probably deny it. There was a tango of back and forth, trading tiny nuggets of information, little steps back and forth to the flow of the music. I could see her eyes following me up and down the bar, sizing up my shoulders wondering what my build was like under my suit jacket. When we leaned closer together over the bar, eyes meeting, her hazel irises dancing with curiosity, there was a possibility of something. I know I know I have made my rules clear, I don’t mix with shifters. She said she didn't either, let's don’t forget yet the ruby shards in her brown eyes said otherwise. You can call me foolish, but I know for certain, somewhere in a different reality it went differently than tonight. In a world where drunken friends and bosses didn't interrupt crucial moments, I would have been popping open those jac
ROCCO I think you've only seen the light, frothy version of me so far during these little interludes. Not today sorry, not in the mood. It had been a shit night, tossing and turning in frustration. Now I’m not saying I never strike out when I approach a potential conquest, date, romantic interest...whatever you want to call it. Not every woman I talk to is meant to be and that's just fine. My annoyance with last night came from a place I didn’t even understand. My wolf, who normally occupies a smaller chunk of my awareness was super fidgety as well which doesn’t help matters. Not like I can just head to the woods and sprint it off in the middle of the city either. We open in a few hours’ time, being a Sunday I’m not expecting big things so it’s just me running the show. Probably just a few regulars, some of the bigger fish. Often, it’s recently separated men, out to resolve some issues by splurging. I’ve never done that. I’m more likely to have a one-
SELENE Dragging my bag down the street I raged at myself, so many stupid decisions in succession. Leaving my bag at the club was the big one, so distracted by Jax and Rocco that I had to wake Troy up to let me in and pay the cab fare like a sneaking teenager. Error number two, massively offending Rocco by suggesting he had rifled through my things.Error three, looking into those dark eyes of his again. Dressed in just a white shirt and pants, sleeves rolled up and suit jacket flung over a chair he looked damn good. The whiteness of his shirt made that olive skin of his pop, his defined muscles easier to see with the jacket removed. That's two days in a row I've left that casino with soaking wet panties and zero satisfaction.It was too delicious a sight to take in and my attempt to be cold and business like fell away like ashes in the breeze. I do not know why but pissing him off and hearing the harsher edge of his ri