name suited him, she thought. “Mila.”
He tilted his head. “Why are you looking so down, Mila? Let me guess—it hurt when you fell from heaven, right?”
“No. But hauling my ass out of hell was a bastard of a climb.”
Chuckling, he cast her bottle of water a quick look. “Let me buy you a real drink.”
“I’d prefer to just have the cash.”
Dominic’s brows lifted, his eyes twinkling. “Would you now?”
“Yeah, these are hard times we live in.”
“True.” Dominic tipped his chin at the mountain of muscle behind him, although he kept his eyes on her. “See my pack mate over there? He wants to know if you think I’m hot.”
“Why? Does he have his eye on you and consider me competition?”
Dominic’s smile widened. “Yeah. He and I are both gay. Think you can convert me?”
She snorted and then turned to Madisyn. “Is he always like this?”
With a regretful sigh, Madisyn nodded. “Yeah.”
Dominic edged closer, his eyes dropping to her enticing mouth again. Lush and bow-shaped, it was straight out of every X-rated fantasy he’d ever had. Up close, he could see that although Mila was slim, she wasn’t all skin and bones as he’d first thought. No, she had delicate curves in all the right places, and damn if he didn’t want to get a better look at them.
He itched to touch her flawless olive skin and see if it was as petal-soft as it looked. Maybe even take a bite. His wolf liked that idea, wanted to leave a mark or two on her flesh—not out of possessiveness but to get her attention. She had such an aloof “I could give few fucks” way about her that his wolf felt overlooked. Especially now as she chatted with Madisyn, like Dominic wasn’t even there. Which, perversely, made him smile.
She laughed at something the barmaid said, and Jesus, the smoky sound was like fingers curling around his cock. He’d been rock hard since she’d started singing onstage, and his dick showed no sign of standing down. A greedy ache to possess her had him in a tight grip, and it was made worse by the electric energy she gave off that fluttered across his nape. And God, her scent . . . Frosted berries, rosewood, and sweet honey. Yeah, he wanted more of that. His wolf wanted to lap it up.
The odd “note” to her scent told Dominic that her parents weren’t the same breed of shifter. When different breeds conceived a child, said child would be the breed of one of their parents. But just as they would have the physical characteristics of both parents, they would carry a hint of both breeds in their scent. He could smell the pallas cat in her, but he couldn’t quite make out what the extra “note” to that smell was. “Which one is the pallas cat—your mother or your father?”
Mila blinked at him, surprised. “My dad.”
“What’s your mom?”
“A wolverine.”
His brows flew up again. “Your mother is a wolverine? Oh, Mila, you just get more and more interesting. Can you introduce me to her? I’ve never met a wolverine.”
Mila could only stare at him. The guy wanted to meet a wolverine? Most breeds of shifter pointedly avoided them. “I’m beginning to think you’re not quite sane.”
“Admittedly, you’re not the only person who feels that way. Does that mean you won’t go home with me?”
“Is there much point? I doubt it would be easy for two people to fit in a cardboard box.”
He laughed. “Mila, you’re a tough audience.” Damn, he really liked this cat. Liked her sharp wit, dry humor, and aura of electricity. Liked her quiet confidence—it was in her easy smile, her unapologetically direct stare, and the self-assured way she carried herself.
Her feline air of indifference was like a challenge, and he just wanted to find some way to crack that poker face. But she wasn’t giving him any openings. She practically batted away his pickup lines. Dismissed his flirtatiousness. Snorted at his attempts to charm her.
He knew she was attracted to him—he could see it, sense it—but she didn’t appear interested in acting on it. She wasn’t playing coy or hard to get. Wasn’t testing him or attempting to take control of the situation by leading their dance; he knew those games and could spot them easily.
He had the clear sense that she was simply very selective in her choice of sexual partners and, for whatever reason, he didn’t meet her standards. Yeah, that poked at his ego. It also made