Attraction
Caden Mitchell wasn’t supposed to be here. It wasn’t supposed to be him sitting in this seedy strip club avoiding the advances of women he has no interest in. Originally, his head of security was assigned this location. But, when they got a last minute tip about an illegal shipment of drugs, Caden was forced to take the mission at the club while his associate followed the lead at the docks.
It really was the best plan. Unfortunately, now he was the one stuck sitting here in this hell of overstimulation instead of reading a good book while enjoying a cup of tea in the quiet of his own home.
The flashing colorful lights all around him make his eyes hurt. The loud music, if you can even call it that, feeds the headache that’s clawing its way out from inside his skull. The pungent smells in the carpet, on the seats, and in the thick air trigger waves of nausea to churn his empty stomach. Everything about this place reeks of desperation and sex.
From the moment he sat down an hour ago, Caden has kept his head and eyes down. He can’t afford to draw attention to himself if he wants to complete his mission. However, as he catches the scent of someone new walking through the doors, his head lifts slightly so his eyes can follow the man he was sent here to observe and probably kill.
His senses heighten as he watches his target casually approach the bar and order a beer. The man dressed in a suit too expensive for this cheap club turns to cautiously scan the crowd. Caden quickly lowers his head again and takes the final sip of bourbon from his glass. A minute ticks by before he looks up to zero in on his target again.
But instead of finding his prey, Caden is met with a set of sharp gray eyes staring back at him with an arousing playfulness.
He can’t look away. Even though his breaths remain slow and even, his heart rate accelerates like a racehorse out of a starting gate. The blood in his veins feels like fire under his skin, yet he keeps his expression shrouded with disinterest. Heated shivers ripple outwards through his body as his eyes catch the faint mischievous smile taking shape on the bartender’s perfect lips. The moment the owner of those mystifying silver eyes begins walking to where he sits, Caden’s grip on the empty glass in his hand tightens.
Everything in the club fades to the background except for the man striding confidently to the small round table in the corner where Caden waits. His sensitive ears hear the steady beat of the bartender’s strong heart. His cobalt blue eyes catch every movement of the young man’s sinewy muscles beneath the black skin-tight jeans and barely-there crimson red shirt he’s wearing. Everything about the bartender fascinates him. But it’s the innocent man’s scent that truly captivates him.
Caden has never smelled anything this heavenly before. The bartender’s fragrance is a potent blend of rosewood mixed with sweat, compelling him to inhale deeply until he can taste it on his tongue. The combination is exhilarating yet there is something else subtly interwoven beneath it that draws him in like a siren’s song. Something Caden believes he has smelled before but has been lost to him over time.
“What can I get you, handsome?” the bartender asks with a flirty tilt of his head.
Caden’s fingers itch to bury themselves in the man’s soft hair. The urge to pull on the strands at the root, baring the man’s neck to his teeth, has him clenching his jaw. He swallows stiffly as the bartender’s almond shaped eyes openly travel up and down his body. They’re lined with endless rows of black lashes so thick it gives the illusion that the young man is wearing eyeliner. It makes Caden want to see if the barkeep is as dangerous as he looks. His eyes drink in the young man’s bare arms, his mouth going dry when the sly minx of a man flexes his biceps. The bartender has covered them, along with the sun-kissed flesh covering his exposed collarbones, with some sort of fine body glitter. The seductive man’s naked skin glistens with every breath he takes, every minute shift of his lean body, and all Caden wants to do is lick it off him.
The bartender can’t be more than twenty eight years old, way too young for Caden. Hell, at this point, everyone is too young for someone his age. A pale shadow of scruff along the man’s sharp jawline adds the perfect touch of roguishness to his youthful appearance. As the barkeep waits for him to answer, Caden’s gaze is drawn to the man’s elegantly long fingers resting on the top of the empty chair opposite him. Images of the young man’s hands around his cock send shocks of desire through Caden’s body.
He blinks rapidly and shakes his head once to chase away the erotic visions flooding his mind. He can’t do this. Not now. Not ever. Looking up at the bartender’s face, he tries to compose himself. It seems to be working until he opens his mouth and every word that leaves his lips turns into a garbled mess of gibberish.
“I...uh um...can I…hmm…can you...drink...I would like...”
“You look like a man who would enjoy a good whiskey. Do you take it straight?” the bartender asks with an impish raise of his left eyebrow and a half-cocked smile.
“Actually,” Caden replies in his deepest voice. “I’ll have a martini. Dirty.”
A deep blush rises on the bartender’s round cheekbones and Caden delights in the fact that he was the one who put it there. However, he maintains his unreadable expression. He’s not here for pleasure. If he was, he would pursue this tempting man as if he were prey, not resting until the barkeep was his. Unfortunately, tonight he’s on a mission. And it doesn’t involve bedding one hell of a sexy bartender.
The young man quirks a smile at him and replies, “Whatever you like…sir.”
That final word is the match that sets fire to the deepest recesses of Caden’s dying heart. It takes all of his strength to control his inner beast, to not lay claim to the bartender’s body and soul right here in the club. A painful ache settles in his groin as the man turns and walks away, his perfectly round ass on full display in his tight pants.
As the young man returns to the bar, Caden stares as if spellbound. The barkeep’s shoulder length ebony hair shines with a captivating iridescence under the colorful flashing lights of the club. His strides are long and powerful yet graceful. Many patrons greet him with smiles as he passes by. Some even shake his hand or fist bump him. The man is obviously liked and respected by not only clients but other employees as well.
The bartender is not the only one serving drinks tonight. There’s also a blonde woman dressed all in black behind the bar expertly preparing a row of shots to a group of businessmen. She gives the young man a knowing look and shoots a quick glance in Caden’s direction. The bartender grins bashfully and turns his head towards the blue-eyed man still staring at him.
Caden watches as that shy grin gradually morphs into a blinding smile brighter than the sun. His heart stutters. For the first time in a very long time, he feels something spark to life inside his withered heart. Something he feared he would never get the chance to experience again.
Happiness.
The female bartender puts her arm around the man pouring Caden’s martini. Her bright red lips brush against the barkeep’s cheek as she whispers something to him that makes the young man gasp in feigned shock.
The beast inside Caden rages. He grips the sides of the table to stop himself from lunging at the woman, the wood groaning from the immense pressure. A low growl rumbles within his chest but fortunately the booming bass of the music drowns it out. His body shakes as he fights the urge to rip out the throat of the woman who is leaning her body seductively against the young man and giggling flirtatiously. The only thing stopping Caden from giving in to his jealousy are those hypnotic gray eyes that won’t stop looking at him.
Just as the bartender is about to walk out from behind the long counter, Caden notices his target shouting to get the barkeep’s attention. He offers the young man a shot. At first, the bartender politely refuses. But the older man dressed in a cheap suit obnoxiously insists.
With rapt fascination, Caden stares unblinking as the silver-eyed man finally agrees with a sigh and surrendering nod. The men tap their shot glasses in a toast and throw their heads back. The older man coughs violently, spluttering most of his vodka all over the top of the bar. But the bartender swallows his alcohol with one long, slow bob of his Adam’s apple.
Caden’s teeth ache as he watches one lone drop of liquor make its way down the barkeep’s long neck. He shifts in his seat at the building discomfort between his legs. His eyes take on an unnatural glow, forcing him to look away before he completely loses control and exposes himself.
After a few deep breaths, he looks back up and sees his target leaving the nightclub. It’s a puzzling turn of events. According to the intel provided to him, the man who just enjoyed a shot with the young bartender came here to make a weapons deal. Caden has no idea what type of weapon, only that it would shift the balance of power to his enemies. However, he hasn’t seen anything exchanged with anyone. As the target walks out the door, his eyes shift back to the bar.
The silver-eyed man’s head hangs low, his face pale and his eyes unfocused. Caden can smell the sweat pouring out of his skin. He watches with rising dread as the bartender stumbles towards the double doors that lead to the back of the club. Before he realizes what he’s doing, Caden is out of his seat and chasing after him.
As he passes through the swinging barriers, he catches a whiff of the barkeep’s scent. Its sweetness beckons him to follow. However, now there’s a bitterness tainting its perfection. Something is wrong, very wrong. Caden’s footsteps quicken towards the back door as his instincts scream at him to find the young man. In his agitated state, he nearly pulls the metal exit door off its hinges.
Charging out into the rain soaked alleyway, Caden hears the bartender’s shrill and terrified screams as the man begs for someone to help him. Darkness shrouds the narrow street, the single street light meant to keep the shadows away just a broken shell. But it doesn’t stop him from finding his stolen bartender. He was born to hunt by moonlight, his eyesight sharper than any earthly beast.
And what Caden’s eyes see awakens a rage inside him that has been dormant for far too long.
Three men are dragging the bartender’s weakening body into the back of a black SUV. His words are fading and slurred, his gray eyes rolling chaotically inside his head which lolls from side to side.
Without thinking, Caden attacks, transforming into his true form in the blink of an eye. He unleashes hell upon the men stealing this innocent soul away from him. Hot blood splatters, their flimsy skin tearing like paper as his sharp teeth sink into their soft flesh.
The fight is over before it even begins.
Returning to his human form, Caden holds the man with eyes like swirling mercury protectively against his naked body. He brushes the bartender’s sweaty, rain soaked hair away from his face and places his hand against the man’s cheek. He’s burning up. The young man tries to look at the man holding him but his drugged eyelids flutter open and closed erratically.
Caden knows they can’t stay here. He needs to get the bartender to a hospital quickly. Sitting the young man against a dumpster, he quickly searches the scene and finds his cell phone lying beneath the SUV. Thankfully it wasn’t broken during his shift. Using his face to unlock it, he immediately clicks on his contact list. His thumb presses on the first name and makes a phone call that consists of only three words before he hangs up.
“I need you.”
After stripping the clothes off one of the attackers, Caden returns to the bartender whose eyes are now closed. Wrapping a blanket he found in the back seat of the vehicle around the unconscious bartender, he gently lifts the young man off the dirty, wet ground. Without warning, the silver eyed man wraps his arms around Caden’s neck and nuzzles behind his ear.
“It’s you.” the sedated man whispers before fully succumbing to whatever drug he was given.
Caden freezes. He looks down at the man in his arms, eyes wide with shock. His heart hammers behind the confines of his ribs. The self-control that usually keeps him focused during situations like this slips away as waves of emotions now foreign to him return with a vengeance. His muscular legs nearly buckle under the weight of all the questions now running through his mind.
How does this man know him? They’ve never met before tonight. Yet Caden can’t deny that, ever since he laid eyes on the bartender, he’s been drawn to the young man by a familiarity he can feel in his bones. An inexplicable need claws at Caden’s heart, begging him to keep the bartender close, to protect him from whatever danger is coming.
He can’t ignore it. He can only follow his instincts.
So, he does the one thing he’s promised himself never to do again.
He allows himself to care.
Pulling the bartender close, Caden heads to the one place he knows will be safe. The one place no one will think to look. The one place he vowed to never bring outsiders.
Home.
