Doubled over, Torren gritted his teeth as the music started. But the second he saw her—Candace—the pain went away.
She looked so different from the girl he’d met earlier. And it wasn’t just the purple, sparkly eyeshadow or the shining glitter that adorned her body. It wasn’t her dark hair in cascading waves down the middle of her back or the heavy eyeliner. It wasn’t the black, lacy bra or matching panties or the red satin high heels with a trail of cheap rhinestones winding around the sharp heel. It was her eyes that looked different. She’d flipped a switch.
Torren would recognize that look anywhere. He saw it often enough when he looked at his reflection in the mirror after a fight. Face all bloodied, he would stare at himself and wait for the vacant look to go away.
He could tell right now that Candace didn’t see anything as she made her way to the stage, shoulders back like she had all the pride and confidence in the world.
There were wolf-whistles and cheers around them, but Torren ignored the animals in the smoky bar. His focus was on her. Because he didn’t give a single shit that she was a dancer. He really didn’t. If this profession made her happy, or even if she was good with it and secure in her place in the world, he would be fine with it, too. He was open-minded. She hadn’t smelled sad earlier, so he’d expected to come in here and see her smiling and working the crowd. What he hadn’t expected was the grim set to her mouth, like she was clenching her teeth, or the ghosts in her eyes as she leapt up onto the pole and spun around it like a goddamn acrobat. Her eyes focused on nothing, as if she’d checked out and was going through the motions.
Torren angled his face and narrowed his eyes, studying her. She looked confident enough in her movements, completely owned the stage, so why had she gone empty on the inside?
He looked around at the men, bobbing their heads to the pounding bass beat. Tongues slid across teeth, and buddies leaned over to each other and said vulgar things. A dozen or so men crowded the edge of the stage. And he got it. Candace was the prettiest girl in here by far. Hell, she was the prettiest girl he’d ever seen, dressed like this or dressed in her skinny jeans and red sweater and snow boots.
The men were reaching for her, and she played the crowd, danced for them, but avoided their hands when they wanted to put money in her panties. Good girl. If they touched her, Torren was going to rip their fucking heads off, one by one.
He tossed back his beer and downed it.
“Don’t Change,” Vyr rumbled in that dragon voice that terrified normies, but not Torren. Vyr was his best friend. He wouldn’t hurt him. Even out of control, the Red Dragon had always saved him from his burning fire.
When Torren clenched his empty beer bottle, it broke in his hand. It stung, but he ignored it. Warmth trickled down his fingers, but still he ignored it. He couldn’t take his eyes off Candace. God, she was so fucking beautiful. So sexy. She was a really good dancer, better than this place deserved. Whoever had choreographed this had real talent. She was flexible and naturally graceful. She wasn’t just throwing her hips around either. She was on the pole with skill, then back down to the floor, doing moves that should’ve only made sense in some fancy-ass ballet, but it worked with this hard-hitting rock song somehow.
“She’s beautiful, ain’t she?” the guy a couple seats down asked. When Torren didn’t answer, he tried again, louder. “She’s a beauty, ain’t she?”
“Yeah,” Torren growled out.
“Total prude though, so if you have plans on getting a private dance from that one, she won’t do it. She never gives lap dances, much less goes back to that private room. No one’s allowed to touch her either. I think it’s part of her show. She gets everyone addicted, thinking they can be the one to entice her to be bad. She only ever gets the money the boys leave on the stage. Shame. She’s the star here. She could make four times what she does, easy. Fuck, I would pay her four times if she would give in just once.” The man had long greasy hair and yellow teeth, and though his words were friendly enough, there was a predator in his smile.
Torren scanned the rest of the guys in the room, and they all wore matching expressions as they watched Candace dance.
“Don’t. Change.” Vyr was getting on his damn nerves with the orders.
By the time the song ended, his body was humming with the power of the subdued silverback inside of him. He wanted to go King Kong and let the monster have him, rip this place apart brick-by-brick. He wanted to bury these guys for even looking at Candace like they owned her. Fuckers didn’t understand. This kitty was wild, and men couldn’t own wild things.
She was a prude? Nah, she was just smart to keep their paws off her. She was giving up an income she was clearly desperate for so she could keep herself intact. So she could keep the good things about herself. So she could survive this. He imagined some people didn’t. Not really. They kept breathing, sure, but a profession like this would make them numb inside. They would flip that switch a thousand too many times and one day not remember how to turn it back on. They would stay numb. Candace was trying to be okay. These assholes didn’t care about that, though. To them, these girls were playthings. They were only here on this earth to be stared at, whistled at, grabbed at.
Fucking humans. If they even knew what resided inside of Candace, they wouldn’t be staring at her like they had the upper hand. Her tiger could end any of their lives with zero effort. And look at her…eyes still soft. They hadn’t changed color at all. She smelled like fur and perfume like she was trying to cover her animal scent, but Torren could smell a big cat shifter from anywhere.
She was in such tight control. Sexy Wildcat. They were opposite. He couldn’t manage his animal at all, and this woman had learned to tame the damn beast inside of her. And she wasn’t submissive either. That tiger wasn’t hiding. She was like a trained animal in the circus, and Candace was the best ringmaster he’d ever seen.
And suddenly, he had a moment where he wished she could save him. Where he wished she could train his silverback like she’d trained her tiger. Ring master, ring master, he wished to God she could be his ring master.
“Hey,” the guy next to him called to Candace as she bent to pick up the money that was scattered around the edge of the stage.
She’d used those same hands to scoop snow to throw at him earlier. She’d used those same hands to play. He’d pinned that hand to the counter as he’d pressed his dick into her back and nearly came just from touching her. And now she was picking up money from these assholes. How had she gotten here?
“Hey!” the guy next to him called again as he sifted through the piles of dollar bills. “I put a twenty down instead of a ten. I want it back.”
“No, you didn’t,” Vyr said in the cool voice that said he was pissed and trying not to show it. “I watched you. You put a five down.”
“Fuck you, no I didn’t. I want my twenty back.”
Candace bent down and locked eyes on Torren. He could see the exact moment the flip got switched back because her eyes went from vacant to locked and focused on him. “Torren?” she asked in a sweet, clear-as-a-bell voice. “What are you doing here?”
“Clearly not paying like I did,” the man said, sifting through the money frantically.
“If you take a single bill from that stage, I’m going to kick your ass,” Torren warned.
“Fuck you.”
“Jerry, I’m not doing this again,” Candace said, scooping the money toward her.
Jerry slapped his hand on a twenty and scrambled to yank it out from under Candace’s hand.
“Stop!” Candace yelled. “Carl! Shit, where is he?” she asked, looking around frantically.
When Jerry grabbed her wrist, Torren was good and done. The gorilla stayed put thanks to Vyr’s order, but he was on Jerry so fast the sleazeball didn’t even know what hit him. Torren lifted him off the ground by his throat. “The lady has a rule, asshole. No touching. And no stealing money. She’s working, not you. Now fuck off before I pop your head off your neck
.” Torren offered him an empty smile and released the choking, red-faced man.
Jerry hit the floor like a sack of stones and then scrambled backward, coughing hard. Torren had been so tempted to collapse that fragile little human trachea, but he’d been a good monkey and let the idiot survive.
A deep, rumbling growl vibrated up his throat as his silverback practically hummed with satisfaction. “Who’s next?” Torren taunted the others who were now crowding around. “Who else wants to break the rules? Hmm? No one? That’s what I fuckin’ thought. Candace?”
“Yes?” she asked.
When he turned, she was standing with her legs locked, staring with wide, inhumanly gold eyes at him. “You go on and do what you want. I’ll collect your money and clear the stage for the next dance. You need anything?”
Stunned, Candace scanned the crowd and a small, wicked smile took her lips. “Yeah. A drink.”
God, her grin was boner-inducing. He matched it and asked, “What do you drink?”
“Guess.”
Oh, kitty wanted to play. “Okay, I’ll bring it to you.”
“Good. I’ll be in the private room, waiting.”
“What the hell?” Jerry squawked as the other men muttered under their breaths with the same sentiments. “This guy has been in here one time. He ain’t a loyal customer like the rest of us!”
Candace wasn’t listening, though. She was marching that firm little ass away and exiting stage left. And when she cast one last glance at Torren, she flashed him the sexiest come-hither smile that had ever graced a woman’s lips. Fuck, she was gorgeous. All done up in her glitter and big hair and false eyelashes or dressed down and natural like earlier at the mansion, this girl had all his attention, and his silverback’s attention, too. He’d felt like a rutting animal since the first moment he saw her out the window.
Torren gathered the money and stacked it quick. He would sort it out later like he did with his fight money, but for now, he shoved that pile into his back pocket and sauntered toward the bar.
“What happened?” a thin-haired, lanky man in his mid-forties asked as he came from the back. Probably Carl who, by the way, sucked at his job because Candace had called out for help, and where the hell was he?
“I took care of it,” Torren gritted out as he passed.
He ordered them both a double vodka and sprite with lime because Candace was a good mix of soft and hard. She wasn’t straight whiskey, but she wasn’t tequila and margarita mix either.
Drinks in hand, Torren made his way to the back and gave Vyr a dirty look for having a stupid smirk on his dumb face like he owned a crystal ball and knew everything in the world. He might be his best friend, but Vyr was too cocky for his own good.
At least Nox wasn’t here to annoy him. Least best friend.
Torren shoved the door open to find Candace standing on the back of a black leather couch, sticking duct tape over a camera lens up in the corner. “There’s no volume on it,” she explained.
“Carl won’t be mad that you blocked his view?” That guy was probably a perv.
“Carl has enough to deal with because I just called him on that little phone and told him I’m not doing my last dance so I can give you a private show. I told him you have tons of mullah.” Candace smiled brightly and held out her hand.
With an amused chuckle, Torren handed her the stack of money she’d earned.
“I’m rich,” she whispered, waggling her dark, delicately arched eyebrows.
Torren bit his bottom lip and slid his hands to her waist. She was on her knees on the couch. So. Fucking. Sexy.
“I’m not gonna dance for you for money,” she murmured, her eyes going serious.
“I would never ask you to.”
She searched his eyes and ran her hands up his abs. God, her touch felt so good. She didn’t stop until her open palms rested on his chest. Slowly, Torren leaned down but hesitated right before he kissed her. He gave her the option of backing out, but she held her ground. One more second, and he pressed his lips gently to hers.
They held just like that for a couple moments, and then she parted her lips for him and let him brush his tongue inside her mouth. Damn, she tasted so good. He didn’t want to push, but he sure as hell didn’t want this to stop either. She was doing something strange to him. Every time he dipped his tongue onto hers, she relaxed a little more against him, and his gorilla grew more and more still until he didn’t feel like he existed at all. It was just Torren and Candace. A man and woman. A boy and girl. Two people who were building the beginnings of…something. She was terrifying and interesting and a gorgeous distraction from the suck.
Candace pecked him once, twice, nipped his lip, and then stunned him when she slipped her arms around his neck and rested her cheek against his in a hug. A hug? When was the last time he hugged a girl? But he didn’t hate it. She was so small in his arms, he felt like a giant. Felt protective of her. Felt like the beast to her beauty. His heart was pounding so hard. Could she feel it against her chest? Could she hear it?
Fuck, what was she doing now? Candace rubbed her soft cheek against his beard, making a scratching sound that rivaled the softest purr in her throat.
“You’re getting stripper glitter on me,” he murmured.
“Good.” She eased back and switched cheeks. “Guess what I did?”
“Hmmmm?” he rumbled, damn near in a trance from whatever she was doing to his body.
“I rigged up the television with a movie.”
With a frown, Torren leaned back to look in her eyes. They were gold, and he bet she was a beauty in her animal form. Pretty kitty. “Like a porn?”
“No!” she said with a laugh. “Don’t be a gross boy. I found a comedy. This is date number two.” She looked and smelled happy, eyes bright as she stared up at him, waiting for a response.
This girl was more interesting by the second. Torren told her, “You have a lot more to you than I thought you would.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean you’re a bad girl in the ways I like, but then you surprise me because you’re a good girl, too. Perfect balance and so damn interesting. You make me want to watch you.”
“Like a stalker?”
“Don’t give HavoK any ideas. No, I mean you make me want to figure you out.”
“You mean you want to study me.”
“No. Study is the wrong word.”
“What’s the right word?”
“There’s no single right word. You make me want to be around you so I can figure out your secrets. You make me want to be around you so I can feel…”
“Feel what?” she murmured, stroking the hair at the back of his head with gentle fingers.
“Maybe just feel anything. Confusing woman. I’m supposed to be numb right now. I’m supposed to stay steady, and then you came in, and sometimes I want to test myself and see if I can stay steady around you.”
“Maybe you can.”
“Until our first fight. Until you do something that upsets me.”
“Like what?”
“Like leaving. You’ll get me hooked, won’t you, Wildcat? Get me hooked and then leave, and I’ll spiral so hard I won’t get to make it to my sister’s surgery. You’re dangerous to a man like me.”
“And you’re dangerous to a girl like me.”
“Good girl,” he said. “Now you’re getting it. I’m not a safe man to be friends with.”
“I don’t mean like that.”
Baffled, Torren shook his head slightly.
He was about to ask how he was a danger to her if she didn’t mean physically, but she picked up a remote off the couch cushion and turned the TV on behind them. Then plopped back against the leather cushion and slapped the seat beside her. “Come here, Prince Kong HavoK Danger Monkey. I stole us a bag of Skittles to share from Carl’s candy stash. I’m greedy though and like the reds, but dislike the yellows, so guess what you’re getting?”
Torren chuckled and sank onto the couch besi
de her. “I don’t mind the yellows.” Actually, they were his least favorite, but his voice had come out completely honest. Huh. Really, he just wanted her to be happy and comfortable, and he would’ve picked the reds out of five bags of Skittles just to make a whole bag of them for her.
“Watch this,” Candace said with an overly bright grin. She clapped twice, and the lights dimmed.
“Gross,” he said with a laugh as he imagined all the gyrating that had happened in this room at the dimming of the clap lights.
“Super gross, but I kind of want that in my house someday.”
The beginning credits were playing on the television, but Torren didn’t even know what they were watching because his attention was taken by Candace. “Do you live in a house now?”
“Tiiiiiny apartment a few blocks away.” She scrunched up her cute little nose. “It has roaches when it’s hot.”
“I can get rid of them. I’ll spray them.”
Her face went comically blank. “Really?”
“Yeah, really. It’s easy. I’ll probably have to come out and do it a few times, but I’ll get rid of your pest problem.”
“Huh.” She stared at the television for a few seconds and then asked again in a higher pitch, “Really?”
“It’s not a big deal. Any friend would do it for you.”
“Can I tell you something?”
“Tell me anything. No judgement. I’m a bigger devil than you.”
Candace hesitated, then laid back on the couch, rested her head on the armrest, and draped her bare legs across his lap. Now he was damn-near purring like a cat. He dragged his fingertips down her smooth thigh and rested his hand on her bent knee. “Did you change your mind?”
“No, I’m just thinking if I want to tell you or not. I don’t talk about this stuff. Not with anyone.”
“Well, the benefit of having a crazy acquaintance who is about to be put down is your secrets will go to a grave, and quick.”
“Don’t ever talk like that,” she said, her eyes blazing a lighter gold. “Even if that’s what you think will happen, don’t talk about it.”