Claimed By The Devil - Joanna Blake Page 0,1

for keeping an eye on him, spark plug.”

The vet finished examining Hendrix and gave me a reassuring smile.

“The infection is already clearing up.”

The breath left my body in a whoosh. I’d been scared out of my mind. But I was realistic. I knew he wasn’t going to live forever.

“He’s got some good years in him yet. But he needs special food and a little more TLC. A heated blanket would go a long way to keep his joints from stiffening up.”

“I can get one of those.”

“And be here every night to turn it on?” she asked with a raised brow.

“Well, that might be more of a challenge,” I considered, realizing my four-legged brother was going to need daily and nightly visits. I worked most nights at the clubhouse bar.

“I’ll keep an eye on him for you. I can put the blanket on at night.”

“I can’t ask you to do that, kid.”

“I have a name,” she said with a scowl. “And I’m a teenager, not a kid.”

I rolled my eyes. She couldn’t be older than thirteen then. Still, she was a tiny little thing. Definitely still a kid, no matter what she said.

“Thirteen is not a teen.”

“I’m sixteen,” she insisted, looking offended. I held up my hands, knowing when I’d pissed off a woman that it was time to back down, no matter how young she was. “Almost, anyway.”

“Sixteen then. But only if your parents say okay. And only if I pay you.”

“But—” She started to protest as I leaned down to look into her face.

“And thank you. You’re a good kid, Melissa.”

She crossed her arms, looking put out and pleased at the same time.

“So you do remember my name, after all.”

I gave her a smile. The kid was cute as fuck and had her head on straight. I considered her a friend, along with her folks. Us horse folk stuck together.

“How could I not?”

Chapter One

Nick

I leaned against the bar, scanning the room for trouble. A lot of the inner circle old ladies were here tonight and all the guys were on high alert. It was still early, so the usual troublemakers were unlikely to be shitfaced enough to make a problem. But Dev was worried anyway. He was always worried when it came to Kaylie.

Sucker, I thought with a grin. We all loved his old lady. But Dev took it to the next level. She was a beautiful girl and very sweet to all ‘her boys’, as she called us, but it was more than that. The girl had grit. She was more than just a pretty face. Dev knew it too.

That man was long gone. He was beyond devoted. The man was obsessed.

Hell, almost all the guys in our crew were these days. I hadn't really thought much about settling down myself. I hadn't been messing around lately either, though. I'd been living like a monk for so long now, it had become a habit. I had no interest in any of the “sweetbutts”, or local talent, anymore. Something the guys took endless pleasure in teasing me about.

One of the regular sweetbutts came over to order a drink while Whiskey wagged his eyebrows at me. Her name was Cindi. She was a nice enough girl, but she was always trying too hard. Trying too hard to dress sexy, trying too hard to dance for all the guys, trying too hard to get our attention. Mine in particular. Bright makeup and mini-skirts might work on a lot of the club guys, but not me.

I was always polite, but I didn’t encourage her or any of the other girls. I wasn’t rude, either. I didn't treat women like trash no matter how they acted. She was just looking for a good time. I just wasn't the guy to give it to her.

Donnie hopped behind the bar to get drinks for Sally and the girls. He shook his head as he saw more of the sweetbutts making a beeline for the bar. Drake was working with me, and having two single guys behind the bar was apparently enough to get the girls in a feeding frenzy.

Sadly, none of them had honey-brown hair or blue eyes so wide you could drown in them. If I ever did settle down, I wanted a sweet girl. I had a fuzzy image of the girl for me, though I couldn’t have told you where it came from.

“Nick the Nun.”

I glared at Drake. The man was swimming in it. He took home a different girl every night,