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 and he looked behind him to see that guy Aislinn had been waiting on standing there out of nowhere. The guy didn't say anything and his face was shadowed where he stood with a street lamp behind him."Mind your own business," Derrick spit at him and headed for his car with Aislinn slung over his shoulder.Cullen lost it. He couldn't believe that the piece of caoch would still be trying to get away with this even after being caught. He stepped up and knocked Derrick's feet out from under him. As Derrick fell Cullen grabbed Aislinn and pulled her to himself. The stun was starting to wear off and she looked up into his face. His eyes were like molten pools of amber. It was almost hypnotic. They seemed to swim between dark brown almost black and glowing gold.Derrick stood up swearing and pulled the taser out again. He headed toward Cullen and Aislinn and jabbed the device at them. Cullen took the shock in his arm and then shook his head at the guy. Derrick finally figured out that this was not going to go his way. He turned and made a dash for his car but somehow Cullen was there first. Derrick tried the taser again but Cullen only grunted as the shock went through him and grabbed Derrick by the wrist that was holding the gun. There was a disgusting crunching sound and Derrick's screaming as Cullen's hand squeezed around Derrick's wrist and the bones gave under the pressure.Aislinn was still a bit dazed as she watched Cullen beat Derrick to the ground and then toss the guy in the backseat of his car. Then as if nothing had happened Cullen came walking over to her. "Are you sure you don't want that ride home?" he asked.Aislinn swallowed deliberately. She just didn't get it. "Why did you do that?"Cullen watched her. She still wasn't afraid of him. This little human girl had just been attacked and watched him throttle her boss. He knew that she had seen his eyes turn. He's almost gone all the way. The alcohol was warping his sense of control. "I don't really know," he said honestly.Cullen knew that Keith was watching from the truck. He could see the black SUV down the road a ways. "That ride?" he asked again."I just live a block down from here.""Then I'll walk you." It wasn't an offer.Aislinn could tell from the tone in his voice that he wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer. She took a deep breath. "Fine, it's this way."Cullen walked with her toward her apartment building. "I think you need a new job."Aislin harrumphed at him. "Yhea, well you gonna give me one? Here's my resume. College dropout with minimal bartending experience seeks nice stable job not working for an ass." She refused to look at him and he knew there were tears in her eyes from the shaky way she finished the statement."Alright, you're hired," he said.She stopped and looked at him incredulously. "Are you for real?"Now he could see the glassy eyes. He wasn't sure if it had been his question or everything that had just happened that had caused her to be suddenly upset but he didn't like the idea that it might be his fault."What do you mean?" she persisted when he didn't explain himself."I have some influence with a number of different businesses in town. I can give you a job. Secretary, waitress if you really want."Aislinn wasn't sure if she should take him seriously or not. "Who are you? Superman?"Cullen chuckled and one corner of his mouth turned up in that amused smile he'd been wearing off and on all night. "I prefer Batman. I don't think I could pull off red and blue tights and Batman had better toys."Aislinn shook her head. "I think you've done enough for me at this point," she said cautiously.Cullen rolled his eyes and sighed in annoyance. "Why is it that people never do the smart thing when it's right in front of them? Look, I'm just offering you a legitimate job. You shouldn't have to put up with a creep like that."Aislinn glared at him. What right did he have to be angry with her? It's not like she'd asked for his help. "And what about the other girls there? You gonna give all the people working for Derrick jobs elsewhere? Why are you so concerned with me?""Honestly?" Cullen ran his hand through his hair and looked back toward where the black SUV was parked. He knew that Keith was sitting behind the tinted windows watching the scene. "I don't really know. No, I'm not going help out everyone working in that dive. But I thought I might be able to help you out. If you want to keep working for that guy, be my guest. But my guess is that when he gets a grip after what I did to him he's gonna be looking to take it out on someone. Who do you think is going to end up the target?" He was suddenly feeling very sober and didn't like it.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
Aislinn had just refilled the water at one table and was headed over to the next couple that had been seated. The large man wasn't dressed for dinner at the Taigh-oèsda and the woman with him certainly looked as though she was being paid for his company. But with the casino across the lobby it was a fairly regular site. All it took was one jackpot for Joe Schmoe to be able to afford the steak.Suddenly Rissa grabbed her arm and yanked her off toward a corner booth. "Lord Arnauk came in for dinner. When he comes in, if you have his table, everything else gets dumped and you deal with him. Without making it look that way though. It's important cause he's too nice to cut in line with other customers, but he's Lord Arnauk."Aislinn nodded and filed the information away in her brain with everything else she had been learning and got ready to take a mental picture of 'Lord Arnauk'. When she came around the booth and saw Cullen sitting there with Jenna she stopped as though she had hit a wal
Aislinn went through the motions of serving dinner and completing the rest of her chores for that evening. Cullen and his date who, Aislinn managed to find out from another member of the kitchen staff, was actually his fiancé ate their dinner in relatively short order and then left. Jenna had been conspicuously silent on all the subsequent visits that Aislinn had to make to the table and Cullen had managed to catch her eyes with an apologetic stare at one point.Aislinn sat in the back of the taxi on her way home. She felt rich in her ability to afford the small luxury each night. Walking would have taken at least an hour. But she would have done it if it had been necessary. She figured that if tips continued the way they were that she would be able to afford to move out of her crappy apartment and closer to the restaurant in relatively short order. She was calculating how much time it would take for her to pay for her missed rent, pay back her friends for her jail break, afford an at