I see a flash of skin and hear the crack of bone on bone. The dragon shifter roars and leaps to his feet, rubbing his jaw, as two hundred pounds of angry wolf wedges in front of me.
Carlos.
I've bitten off way more than I can chew. I never meant for him to have to defend me or fight for me. I only wanted to rile him up a little. To reveal himself.
Now we're both in serious danger. In human form, Carlos might be an even match for this guy, maybe even for the guy and his friend. But if they shift, a wolf is no match for a dragon. Hell, the dragon could burn this place down with one roar.
The dragon behind me chuckles, but he's released my arms. "The she-wolf has a mate," he observes in English.
I grab Carlos' arm and tug him toward the door. "Carlos, it's all right. Come on, let's go."
Carlos won't stop growling, nor does he take his eyes off his foe.
I pull with all my might. "Carlos, let's go."
The dragons haven't moved to escalate the fight, but I have no doubt they will if Carlos keeps it up.
I change my tactic, and push in front of Carlos, as if I'm going to defend him. He immediately picks me up by the waist and tries to set me aside, but I don't go. I repeat the action of pushing my way between them. It seems to do the trick, because his brow furrows. I'm banking on the instinct to get me out of danger being greater than his need to prove himself in front of me.
Carlos picks me up again and carries me toward the door, only stopping to readjust and throw me over his shoulder when we're clear of the dragons.
Miraculously, no one follows, no one challenges him.
He doesn't say a word to me or anyone else as he shoves out the door and climbs the steps. The rain has stopped and mist curls around the buildings and lamplights. Carlos' breath puffs in and out at an angry cadence as his shoes hit the cobblestones.
A shiver of excitement goes through me.
I like him mad.
Of course that makes no sense. I don't even know how to analyze it, other than recognizing his take-charge display of male dominance curls my toes. Maybe I do feel a teeny bit guilty, too, for nearly getting him killed in there.
He marches all the way back to my hotel, not setting me down until the elevator doors close behind us. Then he drops me to my feet, spins me to face a wall, and flattens both my hands against it with one of his pressed over the top of them. His other hand crashes down several times on my ass.
Ouch.
And… yum.
My panties dampen, heart taps rapidly against the front of my rib cage.
Carlos, you devil.
"Never, never go into a paranormal bar alone," he clips, his accent thicker than usual.
The elevator stops on my floor. He pulls my hands from the elevator wall, whipping me around, making the skirt of my dress swing and flare. "Come."
He marches straight to my door, taking my purse from my shoulder and retrieving the key.
I ought to be enraged by the proprietary actions, but I'm not. I'm still finding his anger enticing.
I know, it's weird.
The moment the door swings open, Carlos points to the opposite wall. "Hands on the wall, like before."
I try to muster some fire, cocking a hip. "What right do you have-"
Carlos is upon me in seconds, shoving me back against the closed door, mouth pressing over mine in a searing kiss. His large hands roam over my body, find the zipper on the back of my dress and yank it down. The dress falls to my feet and I stand in my black lace bra and panties and black leather boots. Stunned.
"Panties off. Keep the bra and boots," he orders.
My tummy flutters with excitement. I'm not the least bit scared of this male-maybe that's crazy. But we've been through worse and he managed to be a gentleman. He may be angry now, but there's no sign of his wolf in his eyes, only dark promise.
Delicious dark promise.
Still, I don't move to obey him. Maybe I just want to see what he'll do. How far will he take this authoritative stance?
I'm right. He doesn't grow angry, instead his eyelids droop and he adjusts his cock in his pants. "Muñeca, get into position like I told you."
My nipples harden. I'm sure he smells my arousal because heat blooms between my thighs. I'm too excited to refuse him, so I strut across the room in my bra and boots and panties and put my palms against the wall, ass out.
"Good girl." His purr hypnotizes. He walks up behind me and hooks his thumbs in the elastic of my panties. I expect him to tug them off, but he lowers them to just below my buttocks. "You don't want to take them off?" His lips are close to my ear. "Now you have to keep them up. Spread your legs, ángel. If the panties drop, I start the spanking over."
My pussy clenches at the word spanking, which somehow thrills me the most out of all the sexy things we've already done, mango fucking included. I widen my stance to stretch the panties between my thighs. It's half-humiliating, half-erotic. I love it.
But then Carlos' hand claps down on my ass, harder than I dreamed possible, and the fun is totally over.
I yelp and jump away from the wall. "Ouch! That hurt." Shifters may heal fast, but it doesn't mean we don't experience just as much pain as your average human.
Carlos grabs my ass, fingers gripping the cheek he just marked with his palm. He brings his body right up against mine, snaking an arm around my waist to hold me tight. His thick cock presses against my belly, hard and insistent. "I know, ángel. I meant it to hurt." He eases his grip on my ass and rubs away the sting. "You must get back into position."