She opened her eyes, looking around the room. It was surprisingly neat and orderly, and clean, for a guy. It was actually neater than her apartment.
The bathroom door opened and Jax emerged, looking up in surprise, catching her gaze.
“Hey, Nikki. Sorry if I woke you.”
She watched as he walked across the room, all lean muscles and smooth skin. His hair was military short, a thick wave of deepest raven black. The sight of it against his skin made her heart skip a beat. Plus, he was nak*d, in all his glory. Her heart recovered, beating faster.
“Come here.” She held out her arms, wiggling her fingers. “You didn’t wake me, but now that I’m awake…” The sheet slipped down one shoulder and she let it fall, knowing exactly how much of the curve of her breast it revealed, and what small portion remained hidden.
He hesitated, his eyes lowering for a split second and in that moment she saw doubt…reluctance… and it pierced her to the core. Not what she expected at all. She drew her arms back, pulling the sheet up as he crossed the room, sliding into bed beside her. He put his arm around her waist, pulling her against him. She let him, but there was a distance between them this morning, something that sure as hell hadn’t been there the night before.
“I should go…”
Jax was nuzzling her neck, his hand moving over her breast. Somewhere during the night the red camisole had come off and now he slid down in the bed, leaving a trail of kisses along her neck, over her shoulder and down the full curve of her breast.
“You should? Or you want to?” His voice was muffled against her skin and he didn’t look up as he spoke. Maybe she’d read him wrong, maybe he was just shy in the bright light of day.
“I…don’t want to. Do you want me to stay?”
He lifted his head, his eyes heavy-lidded, the silver in them muted to soft gray in the sun. “I want you…and I want you to stay.” His lips found her breast again and she relaxed against the pillow, giving herself over to Jax and the wonderful things he was doing to her.
They were wrapped in each other’s arms, the sheet a tangled mess between them when Nikki heard the door open. She sat up in alarm, looking over Jax’s shoulder at the man who filled the doorway. Jax sat up abruptly, turning away from her, and Nikki tugged as much of the sheet over her as she could.
“Bec, what the hell? Ever heard of knocking? Or of privacy?”
The man in the doorway, Bec, folded his arms across his chest. Even though he was shorter than Jax and built like a brick wall, Nikki could see the resemblance. It was Jax’s face, beneath a shock of blonde hair, ice blue eyes instead of silver.
“I didn’t know you were entertaining…or auditioning, if that’s the case.”
Nikki scowled, caught in the middle of something she really wanted no part of. She slid to the edge of the bed, the sheet wrapped around her, as the two men glared at each other. She bent down and retrieved her sweatshirt and jeans from the floor.
Jax had gotten off the bed, seemingly unconcerned he was nak*d, standing in front of Bec, hands balled into fists that rested on his hips.
“What I do, brother, in the privacy of my room, is my business. Not yours. Besides, I thought you’d left the…house.”
Bec snorted. Nikki looked up, eyes moving between the two, as she pulled up the zipper on her jeans. She’d seen enough bar fights to know that when the tension got this thick, it was time to leave. And there was no bouncer here to break this up.
“Um, Jax…” She was hopping on one foot, pulling on her shoe, looking in vain for the other. He turned, surprise on his face, as if he’d forgotten she was there.
“Nikki…you don’t need…”
But she’d found her other shoe and was gathering her purse. “Yeah, I think I do. I’ll see you at the club, yeah? I work tonight.” She edged her way between the men, and then slipped out the door of the bedroom.
The house was huge and she hadn’t paid attention last night. There seemed to be an endless number of rooms and halls, but no stairs. Finally, she turned at the end of one hall and found the stairs, almost running down them, her heart beating fast. She could hear voices from Jax’s room, loud angry voices, and the sounds made her cringe.
On the street, she stopped to take a breath, trying to get her bearings. This was a nice neighborhood, really nice, but she had no idea where she was. The street was a quiet residential, large homes set back from the street, but a few blocks down she saw traffic and she turned, heading toward someplace where she hoped she could find a cab.
*
“I thought I told you to leave.” Jax was pulling on his sweats, torn between going after Nikki and dealing with Bec. But he could hear Nikki’s fading footsteps, already down the stairs and then the snick of the front door as she closed it. It would have been easy to follow her scent, no matter how far she’d gone. It was indelible now, seared into his senses.
But Bec was in front of him and Jax’s duties…his damn duties…as alpha male came first.
“I did…I came back because there’s some shit going on that I need to talk to you about.” Bec walked into the room, pulling out the chair by the desk and sitting down.
“But I suppose you’ve been too busy here…” Bec nodded toward the bed, rolling his eyes.
“What do you need to talk to me about, Bec? Spit it out.” Jax sat on the rumpled bed, ignoring Bec’s comment. Nikki’s scent rose up around him and he closed his eyes briefly, aching to go after her, knowing there was no way he could explain anything.
Bec leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “There’s been a murder…three actually.”
“And what of it? Murders in Philly aren’t unusual.” Jax tried to keep his voice neutral, but the hair was standing up on the back of his neck. Murders, especially around a full moon, were always a concern.
“These are. Brutal, savage. Bodies almost shredded. One newspaper called it the killer ‘The Philly Wolf’.” Bec scowled, staring at the floor.
Jax ran a hand across his face. “Damn it. Okay, we’ll need to warn the others immediately. Everyone…all of us… need to be careful, more careful than usual.”
“Yeah. I know. I’ve told everyone already…well, I’ve told my pack.” Bec said the words slowly, as if they were a foreign language.
“So you’re an alpha male now? They let you just choose that for yourself, did they?”
“Jax, they came with me. It’s what they want, and what I want.”
“I see…well, we need to make sure the entire clan knows about this. Immediately.”
Bec finally smiled and Jax relaxed slightly. “So, what do you think? Do we have a human serial killer, or a werewolf killer, or someone trying to make it look like a werewolf?”
“I don’t know. I’m going to visit the murder sites tonight, see if I can scent anything…maybe pick up a trail.” Bec stood, the smile fading from his face, replaced with a deep look of concern. Jax looked up at his younger brother.
“You might want to be careful though, Jax.”
“Why is that?” For the first time, Jax thought Bec actually looked like an alpha male, not like the self-centered little brother he was used to.
“Because the murders were at a strip club.” Bec gestured toward the bed with his chin. “The one where your new…friend works.”
*
Nikki had finally gotten home, after taking a long bus ride and a short trip in a cab. Her wallet was empty and she realized she hadn’t gotten paid for her one and only dance the night before. Mack liked to settle up each night. But after seeing Jax, money had been the last thing on her mind. And Mack claimed he didn’t always remember who’d danced when. Everyone knew he watched them like a hawk, but his convenient forgetfulness always left him with more money in his pockets than theirs.
She shook her head. First the lap dance and now a night’s pay. Jax was costing her money. Something had to give.
It was still a couple of hours before she was due at the club and the memory of being with Jax brought up mixed feelings. More than anything she wanted to curl up in her bed and go over every last detail, every touch, every kiss, everything he’d done to her, relive all of it. He’d taken her on a wild ride, getting her high with his body, his very being. It had been a long time since any guy had turned her on like he had, touched her, not only physically but somewhere else, deep inside where all her emotions lived. In the place no man had ever been, the place she never let anyone see.
They’d seemed to fit together so well, been in sync from the minute they both knew what they wanted. But this morning had been off, different, their edges grating, not meeting. She didn’t know if…she didn’t know a lot of things. And it was obvious she didn’t know Jax at all.
Dinner was of a frozen variety, barely thawed, most of it discarded in the trash, before she left for the club. She was distracted, wondering if Jax would be there, if Lori was still pissed at her. Fighting made her stomach ache, a hold-over from family dinners that always turned into arguments. And fighting with Lori left her with an empty feeling in the pit of that upset stomach.
The alley was blocked off with crime scene tape and she went in through the front door, wondering if there’d been another robbery. The club seemed empty but it was still early. Sam was behind the bar as usual, but he was deep in conversation with Mack and neither looked up as she walked through the club.
It wasn’t until she was opening her locker that she realized she’d left her camisole behind, somewhere in Jax’s room. She sighed, groaning. She’d lost more clothes since she’d gotten this job. She wondered idly if she could use that as a tax deduction.
Nikki was almost dressed, after finally finding all the pieces to her leopard print outfit, the bikini bottom, halter-top and garter belt. She was sitting at the mirror, just finishing her make-up when Lori burst into the room.
“Oh, my God, Nikki. Can you believe it? Right here…right outside the door. I’m surprised Mack’s open, but he such a greedy bastard.”
Lori was trying to light a cigarette, but struggling, her hands shaking. She finally succeeded, drawing in a deep lungful of smoke, dropping down on the couch.
“Whoa, slow down. What are you talking about?” Nikki turned on the chair, leaning on the back.
“Have you been under a rock all day? There was a murder…three murders…right outside in the alley.” To add emphasis, Lori pointed dramatically with her cigarette, leaving a trail of ash on the cushions.
Nikki felt the blood drain from her face. “In the alley? When? Who?” Her hands started to shake and she dropped the make-up brush she held.
“Last night. They found Neon in a dumpster, China across the alley, with her druggy boyfriend.”
Nikki’s stomach did a sickening roll and she closed her eyes, drawing a deep breath. Lori seemed oblivious to Nikki’s reaction and went on, waving her cigarette, her voice rising in pitch as she got into the meat of her story.