Zach went over to the girl who, by now, had slipped the weapon back into her boot and attempted to pick herself up off the ground—clearly it was a chore. Zach sighed and grabbed her arm, easily hauling her up.

“Hey!” She looked up at him. From where he sat at the bar, he hadn’t realized exactly how pretty she was. Amazingly pretty. She had dark brown eyes that peered at him from under black lashes. Her skin was a light brown, with a hint of red. The brutal scar on one side of her face couldn’t hide her sharp cheekbones or full lips. In fact, it only enhanced them.

Her dark brown eyes were staring straight at him. “Pretty teeth.” She had a light Texan accent. Not as hearty as the others he’d been hearing on his ride from California. “Long.” Her right index finger was in his mouth. It suddenly occurred to him that he hadn’t yet retracted his canines. She smiled at him. “You’re pretty too.” Wow, she was REALLY drunk. With a sudden surge of strength, she slammed Zach against the far alley wall. Then she was leaning into him, “I’ve never seen anyone as pretty as you.” Zach had been called a lot of things in his lifetime, “pretty” had never been one of them. She growled as she smiled… uh, no… leered at him.

She kissed him. Her soft lips on his mouth; her tongue sliding past his teeth.

Their tongues connected and Zach had the sudden urge to take her right there, in the alley. And when he felt her hand slide down the front of his jeans and take firm hold of the bulge that was growing by the second, he knew he had to have this woman. Now. This minute. This very second. But before he could even put his arms around her, she was pulled away from him. Torn from him, was how he thought of it.

He had been so lost to her that he didn’t even realize that her friends had burst into the alley, clearly prepared for a fight. The one called Miki had a baseball bat, probably from behind the bar. The other, Angelina, had removed the high-heel shoes she had been wearing and seemed ready to handle the situation with her bare hands. He’d thought she had that take-care-of-herself quality.

“Sara!” Angelina yanked Sara back from Zach, while Miki stared. Zach could only imagine how it must look to them with their friend’s tongue down a stranger’s throat and her hand on his crotch. “What are you doing?” Zach quickly retracted his canines back to normal human incisors.

Sara pulled away from Angelina and leaned back into Zach. She smiled, “This is my pretty man. Isn’t he great? I think I love him.”

Miki rolled her eyes and lowered the bat, “You have got to be kidding me.”

Angelina moved toward her friend, “Okay, honey, that’s the half-bottle of tequila talking. Now it’s time to let the ‘pretty man’ go.”

“No!” She snapped, causing her friendto stop in her tracks. Zach watched, amazed at her level of aggression.

But her friends seemed completely unaware at how close they were to real danger. Miki burst into laughter while Angelina looked validly concerned. “Sara, honey, you’ve got to let your toy go.”

“Hey!” Zach snapped.

Angelina glared at him, “Work with me.” She bit out between clenched teeth.

“Okay. Okay.” Sara straightened up. “Don’t fight on my account. I can take a hint. I’ll go.”

Angelina visibly relaxed, “Good.”

“But first…” Sara whispered so that only Zach could hear. Then her hand was at the back of his neck and she pulled him down so that their faces were barely an inch apart, “It would be just rude not to say ‘night.”

She kissed him one more time. And that urge to take her returned in full force, whether her friends were watching or not.

“Whoa!” He heard Miki exclaim.

But before he could slam Sara face down over a garbage can, Angelina had her friend by the waist and was dragging her back to the club, “Come on, sassy girl. We need to get some coffee into you before you set somebody’s car on fire…again.”

“Bye-bye, pretty man.” Sara waved at Zach.

Miki pulled the back door open as Angelina, literally, threw her friend inside. “That’s it. No more tequila for you, missy. Ever.”

Miki followed them but stopped just at the entrance. She turned and looked at Zach, “Look, sorry ‘bout that. She’s really drunk.”

“No problem.” Zach forced out. It was taking all his inner strength just to control his dick.

Miki flashed a pretty smile and turned to enter the club. She stopped short, “Jesus Christ, Angie! Get her off the floor!”

Zach pulled out a cell phone and pushed a button. While he waited for the connection, he quickly adjusted his suddenly tight-fitting jeans. “Hey.” He answered when he got a pick up, “It’s Zach. It’s definitely her. But they’re already here.”

Chapter One

TOC

“He’s on the List?”

“But he just… ”

“He’s on the List.”

Sara sat behind the counter of Marrec’s Choppers, the store she had been working at since she was fourteen, and watched the now weekly ritual between her two best friends.

“Sara.” Miki demanded, “The List!”

“Would you two bitches please stop. I have a migraine.”

“No. You have a hangover. Now, the List.”

Sara sighed, “No cowboys. No bikers. No criminals of any kind. And no republicans.”

“And…”