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 human she was rather impressive or very stupid. There wasn't another person in this bar who had been willing to be within two feet of him, but the girl didn't seem bothered at all. At least not by his appearance or mood. He got the feeling that there really wasn't anything he could have said or done to have made her afraid of him. And more than any of that she was able to make eye contact with him and stare him down. It had been a long time since anyone had enough balls for that.Aislinn growled her annoyance at the situation. "Look, I'm sorry I woke you up, buddy. But there's this guy in my bar and we're closing. He's too drunk to leave on his own. He says his name is Cullen and he gave me this number when I asked him if he wanted me to call someone for him. Can you come get him or not?"Keith rubbed his face. He thought he was having a crazy dream. He looked at the cell phone and then put it back to his ear. "Cullen?""Yhea, Cullen." The female voice at the other end of the line was sounding more agitated by the minute. "Are you coming to get him?" she insisted."Yhea fine. Where is he?""The bar's called the Blood Pit. It's on the corner of Elm and Oak. Do you know it?""No," he said. "But I'll find it." Then there was a click.Aislinn stared at the phone. Cullen chuckled. "He hung up?""Yhea, but he said he was coming." Aislinn went back to cleaning up.Cullen reveled in the feeling of the spinning room. As he waited he watched the girl move about. The drinking had done precisely what he wanted. It drowned out the look, smell, and feel of that bitch he wasn't interested in being mated to. He was trying to figure out what that scent was on the girl when one of the other girls walked up to her. That annoyed him to no end. Now there were two obnoxious smelling perfumes in addition to the rest of the odors in this room covering up the girl's scent."Ais, I've gotta go." She lowered her voice and looked over at Cullen uncertainly then back at Aislinn. But Cullen's ears were better than most and he heard every word she said. "I want to wait for you but Jeremy's outside already and he's being impatient. I don't know who to be more concerned about. Derrick or this guy you're looking after. It's not real bright of you."Aislinn looked back toward the offices then over at Cullen. "I know. Maybe I can talk Derrick into watching him til his friend gets here.""Fat chance on that. How's he gonna stalk you if he's gotta stick around here for some guy. Nope, he'll say that you didn't just kick him out so this guy's your problem. Then when he's gone and you don't have me around to give you a ride home, Derrick offers you a ride and guess how he'll expect you pay for it. Not to mention, the jerk's been drinking tonight. He's checked his brain at the door.""It's okay Renee. I'll be fine. I've taken care of myself for this long." Cullen noted the tired, lonely sound in her voice.Renee looked at Cullen again, just as some big football type poked his head in the doorway. "Renee," he yelled. "Are you coming or what?""Yhea," she answered. "I've gotta go," she said in that abused, manipulated, will-answer-to-any-jerk-that-pretends-he-cares-about-her way. She hugged Aislinn. "Be safe," Cullen heard her whisper."You too," Aislinn said knowingly. Renee blushed and then hurried away. As she reached the door the guy grabbed her by the arm and led her out.Cullen held himself back. She was just another human in an abusive relationship and it wasn't any of his business. He growled under his breath and tried to stand up. Suddenly the room began spinning again and he sat back down on the stool with a grin and a chuckle."Aislinn!" The voice that called the girl's name was slurred and angry sounding. Cullen looked up to see the girl hurry to some greasy looking guy who was standing in a doorway on the back wall. He tried to get her back into the office but the girl was smart enough to not let him draw her in. "Haven't you gotten rid of that guy yet?" His tone was annoyed and drunk."He's got a friend coming to get him. If you want to go I'll lock up behind me.""And leave you here in my place?" He grinned luridly at her. "The only guy you get to stay here alone with is me." He tried to grab at her but she stepped back and he missed. That earned her a glare."You know that I don't work that way, Derrick. You wanna fire me go ahead. But I don't play touchy feely with any guy."Cullen grinned again. She was amusing. Her tone was assertive and she seemed to be in control so he let her protect herself. It was nice to see that some people could. Cullen missed the end of their conversation to his swimming brain and his own thoughts. The guy disappeared back into his office and Aislinn was walking toward him when he looked up."So where is this friend of yours anyway?" She said. He could hear an edge of concern in her voice when she said that. She stared at Cullen and then over at the door."You know what," Cullen said and eyed the office door. "If you need a ride home or something…" His voice trailed off as he looked at her.Aislinn's eyes meet his again. She couldn't help see there was something in there. He was just one of those people she knew could be trusted in the same way she knew that Derrick couldn't be. At the same time logic dictated that she not accept rides from drunken strangers. "No thanks." She walked over to the main doors and looked out. There wasn't anyone there and the parking lot was abandoned except for a large black SUV and Derrick's crappy red Honda. Presumably he SUV belonged to this Cullen guy. She was considering calling a taxi. It would cost her but at least that was safer than any of her other options at the moment. Aislinn turned around to find Cullen standing directly behind her with a confused, appraising look on his face.He just couldn't put his finger on it. He wasn't sure what she smelled like. But he was starting to think that he liked it, whatever it was. He figured that if it weren't for the alcohol he probably wouldn't be being so introspective or even care. The worst part was that he wanted a closer inspection. Not that she'd submit to that. She wouldn't even let him give her a ride. She was standing there looking at him cautiously. He closed his eyes and smiled good-naturedly, shaking his head. He could just imagine her reaction if he said something like, I'll give you a ride home, you can take a shower, then you can let me smell you. He chuckled again. Alcohol hadn't felt this good in ages. And he didn't even feel that good. It's pretty sad with a little bit of amusement caused by a random female and alcohol beats out everything else in your life, he thought.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
Cullen tapped his pen on his desk with annoyance. "Jenna, I'm not going to deal with this right now. But I want you to think about what you just said to me and how exactly it would affect the legitimacy of your heirs. Or more accurately, your father's heirs. He's the reason we're both in this. If you can't handle the situation then you need to find a different patsy for your needs. Whatever they may be. I'm just the poor schlep who owed your dad too much to say no. This is how it is. You either cope or don't go through with it. Now, go home. Decide. I'll talk with you later this week." His glare held all the vehemence that was missing from his voice.Jenna realized all too suddenly that she was about to get stuck in a forcibly monogamous relationship with a lycan who really wasn't the least bit interested in anything other than repaying her father and just intelligent enough to make her plans difficult. Her father underestimated her. He believed that she was weak because she wasn't a