Aric (The Boundarylands #7) - Callie Rhodes Page 0,5

with desperation. "If I agree, will you go inside and get me a drink, please?"

Finally, a need he could understand. "What do you like?"

"I don't care. Something strong."

Aric knew just what would do the trick. A shot of his whiskey was like magic. It had loosened up more than a few uptight betas. Shit, after a couple of slugs of his stuff, one of his alpha brothers had actually taken a beta home. Not just to his bed…but to be his fucking mate.

If anything was going to get this whore in the mood, it was Aric's moonshine.

"Come with me," he said, holding out his hand.

Jo shook her head emphatically, her jet black hair fluttering around her face. "Oh, no, I don't—I think I'll just get back in this car and wait for you there."

That made sense to Aric. Every woman who walked in the door on Friday nights, with the exception of his brothers' mates, was subjected to a lot of attention. The fact that it was appreciative probably didn't make it easier for a woman as shy as he judged Jo to be.

And keeping her here would also prevent another alpha from swooping in while he was at the bar and trying to take his fun for the night.

"I'll be right back," he said.

The bar was jammed full with Nicky's girls and their clients, as well as a big group gathered around the pool table to watch Zeke and Faith finally battle it out. It took Aric a while to get Ty's attention.

"Hey, Aric," Courtney called to him from a few stools down while he was waiting for his drinks. "I'm still free if you are."

Aric had to give the woman points for trying. "Sorry, darling," he said, grabbing the two shot glasses and heading back toward the door. "I've got my night lined up already."

As it turned out, he shouldn't have spoken so soon.

When he reached the car, it was empty.

Jo was nowhere to be seen.

Aric tilted his back his head and drew in a deep breath, but there were too many scents—too many alphas, too many women—for him to distinguish just one out of the crowd.

But his eyes told him everything he needed to know. His date for the night had bolted.

"Fuck."

Aric kicked a rock for no good reason, sending it slamming into one of the brand new trash cans Ty had just bought to replace a few that had been run over, crumpling the shiny side. Add that to his tab, and it was turning out to be one damn expensive evening—especially since Courtney was going to expect a hell of a tip after the way he'd strung her along.

Chapter Three

Jocelyn stood frozen as the door closed behind the freakishly large alpha, her heart pounding with fear and horror. But it took another few seconds for her body to get the message from her brain.

Get away! Oh God, run!

The only problem was that there was nowhere to run, not without instantly getting lost in the woods. Jocelyn had a poor sense of direction, and only knew she was in the Boundarylands thanks to the sign they'd passed on their way in.

She looked around frantically for a hiding place, but there were only neat rows of parked trucks and a few metal trash cans on the side of the building. The best she could do was scurry behind the weathered wood roadhouse and flatten herself against the wall in the shadows.

Jocelyn racked her brain for a new course of action. She couldn't stay here all night. Someone would soon find her—one of those alphas. And when they did…

What I want to do is fuck you harder and longer than you've ever been fucked before.

A fresh bolt of electricity shot up Jocelyn's spine as the alpha's deep, rumbly voice echoed in her memory. That hadn't been some idle boast or threat. It was a promise.

Jocelyn bent over with her hands on her knees and took a few deep breaths to prevent hyperventilating. What the hell had she done?

She'd give anything to be able to go back in time. This time she would ignore the tickle of suspicion that had nagged at her all morning after she linked the site of a recent murder that had been all over the news and the name on an invoice for "consulting services" that had crossed her desk the day before.

Stratford Field.

Why, oh why couldn't she have simply let it go? Or at the very least, stopped digging when she'd found the