Smoke thickened as the night wore on. The bar was crowded and Aislinn moved from one person to the next along the bar, filling drink orders. She had taken the job a month ago when she had come into town. Her scummy boss, Derrick, had been more than happy to hire her. He had recently lost a bar tender and Aislinn was above average in appearance even if she didn't think so. When Aislinn had applied to the job he hadn't even asked if she could mix drinks. He figured that he could teach that. She wasn't a super model but she was attractive in a strange way and she was better than the nothing that he had. Derrick was at the far end of the bar talking with some regulars. Aislinn had learned relatively quickly to keep space between herself and Derrick. At the moment she also had Luke tending bar in between them and that definitely helped.
Aislinn hated the place. Derrick was an ass. He was always grabbing her and making lewd comments. He had even attacked her once. But she had slugged him and gotten away. She needed the job. She needed the money. The other people she worked with were mostly nice. Kelly was really the only bitch and that was because Aislinn had gotten the job Kelly had wanted. In this place the best spot to be in was behind the bar where the only person who could grab you was Derrick. Anywhere else and you were fair game for all the jerks who came in the place. Kelly's main problem with Aislinn had to do with the fact that she figured she had been there longer, had done her time and deserved the bartender job. When Derrick gave it Aislinn he had made Kelly a permanent enemy for her.Aislinn approached the new guy who had sat down at the bar near the wall. He was impressive. His approach had resulted in most of the other patrons making more than enough room for him, resulting in an unnatural amount of space at that end of the bar. Aislinn was perfectly happy to have a short lull in the number of people she had to deal with. The man was pretty big, even sitting on the stool. He had black hair and brown-black eyes and was tanned. He looked hard muscled even under the black leather duster he was wearing. But the strangest thing was this ageless appearance to him. At first look she might have said he was in his late twenties/early thirties. But at second glance he looked almost 100. Whether that was normal for him or was the fact that he looked as though he'd had the worst day of his life was up for grabs. "What can I get you?"The guy looked up at her as if he only just realized that he was in a bar. Aislinn waited and when he didn't respond she asked again. "What can I get you?"Cullen stared at the girl speaking to him appraisingly. She had an odd scent. It was hard to make out between the rancid smell of the bar, the smoke from the people around him soaking into everything, and some awful perfume she seemed to have bathed in. But there was something to it that caught his attention. She was attractive but she wasn't remarkable in any way. She had brown hair, blue eyes, pale skin, and medium build. She wasn't his type. I would probably break her, he thought and grinned at himself. Besides she wasn't what he was here for. The last thing he wanted was a woman tonight. No matter how intriguing her scent was."If you're not ready to order I can come back in a couple," Aislinn offered at his silence and the annoyed, confused look on his face as he stared at her."Guinness."Aislinn nodded, poured the beer and placed it in front of him. No sooner had she waited on the next person but he was pushing his glass toward her. She gave him another. Then another. At first she was concerned. He didn't look very friendly and adding drunk to not very friendly usually didn't end well. But he kept himself to himself, paid for each glass as he indicated his need for a refill, and didn't do anything to bother her or anyone else. He just stared at his glass and drank. Something about him that she couldn't quite put her finger on kept everyone else away.Aislinn really wasn't sure what kept drawing her attention back to him. The smell of him disturbed her. Since she had escaped her last job she'd had a sharper sense of smell. But after everything she'd been through to this point she kept herself to herself and that included telling anyone that she could tell who she was talking to with her eyes closed. Smells always got to her very easily. When she got out into the big wide world she had started layering on perfumes just to mask the smells around her. But tonight his smell was getting through her defenses. He smelled foul or dead. At least that was the only way she could describe it. She didn't know what could possibly make that odor. But every time the air shifted she nearly flinched at the awful reek that overpowered even the smell of rancid beer in this place. God why did I decide bartending was a good idea, she thought to herself.Cullen was still sitting there drinking as the place was getting ready to close. The girl who had been serving him all night walked up to him as she was clearing the bar. "Hey, buddy, do you need me to call you a cab or something?""Cullen," he said before he knew that he had said it."What?" Aislinn stopped what she was doing and started reaching for a phone. "Is there someone I can call for you?" she reiterated."My name. Cullen. Not 'buddy'. And no, I don't need a ride. I'll walk." He started to get up and then realized that he had drank more than he originally thought. It's been a long time since I managed to get drunk, he thought with a measure of amusement. Well that's what I came here to do wasn't it? He sat back down on the bar stool.Aislinn sighed and looked over at one of the other girls. Nikki just shrugged. "Alright, Cullen," she said haltingly. "Look, we're closing, you're too drunk to move. You've got to have a friend somewhere who'll come get you."He looked up at her and grinned with wry amusement. "Yhea," he said, "a whole pack."Normally a guy who said something like that and looked at her that way would have scared the crap out of her. But there was just something about the smelly guy that told her he wasn't a threat to her. If there was one thing she had always been pretty good at, it was reading people. That was half the reason Derrick didn't really bother her. She had known what he was like the minute she took the job. So, obviously it was her own fault she had to put up with him. Aislinn picked up the phone. "Give me a number."Cullen rattled off a number and she dialed. It rang twice and then a gruff, sleepy voice picked up. "Hello?""Yhea hi, sorry to wake you," Aislinn said."Yhea, who is this?" the voice said."Um, I tend bar. Do you know some guy named Cullen?"A shocked, "huh?" came from the sleepy voice. Cullen was watching Aislinn with amusement. His eyes sparkled a bit and he had a grin that reminded her of a kid playing a great joke on someone. He was taking note of everything about her. For a
Aislinn could see the thoughts spinning through his head. He was amusing himself with whatever it was he was thinking. She couldn't help wondering what it was. He certainly had a pleasant smile. As he was standing there she finally saw what was making him smell so foul. He was wearing a t-shirt and jeans under his duster. Everything he was wearing was black, so in the gloomy bar with all the smoke and him sitting behind the bar she hadn't noticed. But now that he was standing, with the coat open in the light from the main entrance she could see what appeared to be blood all over the front of him. She wasn't an expert but she was pretty positive from the smell that it wasn't human blood. That had a more coppery smell to it. She had caught that smell coming from people a number of times. People were always getting hurt. The smell of human blood wasn't pleasant but it wasn't this foul either.Cullen saw the look on her face and followed her gaze to the front of his clothes. When he reali
Aislinn took the opportunity to try and run around him but he yanked a black boxlike thing out of his pocket and caught her in the side with it as she tried to run. Aislinn felt the electric shock shoot through her body. Suddenly everything spun and she lost control of her legs. She found herself lying on the ground in confusion, unable to move and staring up at Derrick. He held up the black box and pushed a button so that she could see what he had done. Electricity jumped across the electrodes on the end of the taser. Derrick smiled an evil smile. "I bet you feel just as good unconscious as not."A low growl caught Derrick's attention and he turned around but all he could see were shadows down the street. He figured he needed to work quick before the stun wore off. Derrick shocked Aislinn again for good measure and shoved the taser back in his pocket. He had something more permanent in the car to deal with her. But he had to carry her over there. Another growl caught his attention an
Aislinn stood in silence for a minute staring at nothing on the ground. "You're right. I'm gonna have to quit. I can't stay there now. It would have been one thing if I'd just beat him off like last time. But you really screwed this up."Cullen growled at her. "Would you have rather-""Let me finish." Aislinn interrupted him. Cullen was shocked into silence. No one interrupted him. "No I wouldn't rather the alternative. But you didn't have to put him in the hospital.""He's not in the hospital. At least I don't see you running to call an ambulance." Cullen shook his head. "You know what? Just forget it. I'm sorry I interfered." He turned and started to head for the SUV.Aislinn watched him leaving for a moment. "Shit, wait!" She was standing there nervously. "God, why does the smart thing have to feel so crappy? Look, I just don't like owing people anything. And I seem to be accumulating quite the bill with you. First you come out of no where and," she shifted her weight from foot to
Aislinn stared at him. She wanted him to do more. She couldn't believe how badly she wanted him to do more. She cursed herself for not being able to keep control. He was a complete stranger. An incredible, sexy, kind, complete stranger. As she stared into his eyes they changed again. It was like staring into molten gold. There were dark fleck swimming in this iridescent amber around his pupils. Aislinn felt herself being pulled in, as though she could be happily lost in those eyes.Cullen felt his wolf taking too much control. He forced himself to pull his hand away from her and step back. It wasn't until he wrenched himself back into the moment that he realized his eyes had shifted. She was just standing there staring. He could smell her arousal, hear her breathing, he could almost feel her heart beat thudding in time with his own. When he felt the stirring in his pants he knew that things had gone way too far. His brain was screaming, You don't even know what she is! But his heart,
Aislinn put on what she considered to be her best interview clothes. The outfit consisted of a pair of black dress pants, a white button up shirt, and a shear black scarf she tied at her neck. She put on a pair of black heels and combed her hair into a twist at the back of her head. She didn't really know what kind of business was at the other end of the address, but she figured that the look was conservative enough for just about anything and not overly dressy. She had bought the clothes to attend a funeral and hadn't been given another opportunity to wear them.She took one last look at herself in the mirror before pocketing the piece of paper she'd been given and heading downstairs. She'd been putting this off for more than a week. When she had gone into work at the bar the day after she had met Cullen she found out that Derrick had ended up in the hospital after all. Luke said that he'd been told Derrick would be out for a couple of weeks or more.When Derrick had initially gotten
The lobby was decorated with an old celtic feel. The floors and walls were cut, carved stone and large wooden beams arched up to the ceiling. The beams were decorated with elaborately carved gaelic sayings that were most likely wasted on the average patron. But Aislinn was entranced by the intricacy and the beauty of it all. There were stained glass murals high on the walls that through beautifully colored shadows across the floor from the sunlight streaming in. There were tapestries lining the stone walls and sconces holding lighting that looked remarkably like flames. It was as though she had stepped into some different city. No wonder this place gets so much attention, she thought.As she waited she contemplated the names of the two businesses. The name of the restaurant, Taigh-oèsda, was actually "the pub" or "hotel" in gaelic. The name of the casino, Madadh-Allaidh Saobhaidh, was "wolf den". She thought about Cullen's eyes and the growling. She didn't really know how to take it a
When Cullen had received word that Brennus wanted to speak with him Cullen had been surprised but happily went to visit the man. Initially Cullen had refused Brennu's request. But had noted the political turmoil in Tairneach territory. There were a number of lycans that were capable of overthrowing Brennus. The only thing keeping the situation from becoming volatile was a small group of loyalists who were backing Brennus. But their backing was contingent on Brennus finding a suitable mate for Jenna so that they knew, if a challenge for his position were to happen, there would be someone able to take his place who wouldn't punish them for their loyalty to Brennus. Cullen had left that initial meeting feeling bad for Brennus and guilty for not wanting the man's daughter.Cullen had done everything he could to help back Brennus but as the months wore on Brennus became weaker and Jenna was no closer to finding an alpha mate than she had been when Brennus had first summoned Cullen back at