Grinding for the Coyote Read online

  The meeting went on for another thirty minutes before breaking up. Adalyn lingered talking to a few of the other dancers.

  “You want to go get something to eat?” Leah asked.

  She was friendly and Adalyn hung out with her sometimes. She’d never had many friends growing up. She’d been bruised, battered, and barely presentable. The kids who didn’t make fun of her ignored her.

  “We can grab lunch at Irish Grill,” Valerie said. The dancer was taller than Adalyn and Leah and blonde with bigger breasts.

  “I thought we were going to Coffee Crossing,” Leah said as the front door opened and light rushed in to blind them temporarily.

  “I don’t know,” she said, squinting as the door closed. She started to look away but Samarra stood there clad in black slacks paired with a royal blue blouse pulled taught across small breasts and a flat stomach. The top button was open revealing a hint of a silver chain that stood out against her rich red-brown skin.

  Adalyn watched Samarra push a hand into her trousers pocket revealing a black leather belt cinched around her waist with a silver buckle containing a royal blue flower on its face. Her entire body warmed from the inside out and her cheeks heated in remembrance of last night’s dance.

  Adalyn dared to meet her gaze as her pulse rushed. She wondered how Samarra managed to pull off such a masculine look without looking anything but sexy.

  “She’s so hot she makes my teeth sweat,” Leah whispered to her.

  Adalyn gave her a brief look and a laugh even as possessiveness wove through her. She had to swallow tightly before biting back the angry retort that wanted to escape. “Yeah?”

  “She used to come once a week before you started dancing here,” Leah said. “She’s in here all the time now. I bet she sticks a couple of Bens in your G every night.” Leah wiggled her brows at Adalyn and grinned.

  “I hear she’s got money to burn,” Valerie murmured. “I think I’ll let her burn some of it on me.” Valerie told them and sauntered away.

  Adalyn bit back a protest that she knew she had no right to make. She hadn’t even agreed to go out with Samarra and was thinking seriously about turning her down. She made good tips from her and a bad date could ruin that.

  “Val does have a way of getting what she wants,” Leah, said. “And this is her first real opportunity to talk to the gentleman, so she’s going to milk it for all its worth.”

  Adalyn forced her gaze back to Leah and feigned a smile. “I better get going,” she said.

  “She doesn’t have anything I don’t,” Valerie muttered and threw a look over her shoulder. “Leah, are you coming?” Valerie stalked out the door.

  “I guess that means you’re not joining us for lunch, huh?” Leah gave her a wink and hurried after Valerie.

  Adalyn moved to the door taking her time, her eyes on Samarra. Her stomach doing flip-flops.

  “Good afternoon, Adalyn,” Samarra greeted her in a low intimate tone that made her nipples harden.

  “Hi.”

  Samarra’s gaze slid down her body taking in her casual skirt and blouse. The heat in her eyes made Adalyn feel branded, and she shivered. “At least that’s not as short as the skirts you dance in,” she commented.

  Adalyn rolled her eyes. “I like to wear skirts and dresses, Samarra,” she said tartly.

  “No complaints from me, darlin’,” she drawled. “You’ve got such nice legs, but I like your hair flowing around your face though.”

  She’d put her hair up in a loose knot leaving a tendril free at her nape. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  “Do you have time for lunch?” Sam asked as she stepped a little closer to her. “If your answer is no, fine. I’m not going to force you into something you don’t want.”

  “There are plenty of other dancers like Val who’ll be more than happy to have lunch with you, right?” Adalyn muttered. “I know she came onto you. Did you turn her down conditionally?”

  Adalyn was surprised she’d managed to keep her voice low and the calm on Samarra’s face angered her even more. In her mind, it meant Sam was a player and not bothered in the least by the accusation. And she didn’t need a woman like that in her life.

  Sam pulled Adalyn away from the door and out of the flow of dancers filing out of the club. Adalyn didn’t protest when Sam pulled her against her and led her to the bar as a few dancers lingered by the door.

  Adalyn’s back brushed up against the bar as Sam put her hands on either side of her trapping her in place. “Back off,” she ordered.

  Sam gave her a cool stare. “I like a woman with some backbone, but here and now isn’t the place for it,” she murmured and leaned in closer. “I’m not interested in her and if you want me, then step up to the plate, baby.” Sam took a step back. “Otherwise I don’t have the patience for little girls who are too afraid to do more than crave me.”

  Fuming, Adalyn took a step toward Sam as she glared up at her. She didn’t know why Samarra’s words chaffed so much but they did. “You’re the one checking out other girls every night. If you really wanted me, you’d have asked me out before now. You should stop coming here and stay home with your girlfriend.”

  “That’s what’s bothering you, darlin’?” Sam asked. “Well, relax. There is no girl at home waiting on me. As for the rest, this is a strip club, Adalyn, that’s part of why I come here. To look and enjoy a moment with an attractive woman, but you’re the only one I’ve wanted enough to ask out. I thought the feeling was mutual, but I guess you got what you wanted last night.”

  “You bitch,” she muttered, her voice rising slightly.

  “Yeah, but I’m not a coward, baby,” she said softly.

  “Don’t ask for me anymore. I’ll have to refuse you.” She shoved Sam and took a step but Sam was right there blocking her escape. Adalyn swallowed tightly. There was nothing in her eyes—no, her stare was enigmatic, but the set of her jaw said she was hiding her emotions whatever they were. “Move.”

  Sam stepped aside, but she didn’t look at her and it stung. Adalyn’s skin chilled and she suppressed a shiver as she headed for the door where some dancers had been watching with interest.

  “I guess you aren’t the competition Val thought you were,” a brunette taunted.

  She gave the other woman a cold look and rushed out into the sunlight. The rays teamed around and washed over her, but didn’t take the chill that had set in away. Adalyn drew in a breath and pushed it out.

  She was okay. She held out her hands, palms facing down in a brief reminder to calm down.

  Lam, vam, ram, yam, hum, om, shrim.

  She repeated the chant three times, fingers on her bracelet as she walked stiffly toward the bus stop. The melody of the words calmed her as they balanced the energy flowing through her as they were meant to.

  ****

  Cargo snapped more pictures of the dancer as she hurried out to the sidewalk. She was very pretty, and it was a shame she’d managed to get herself caught in the wrong person’s cross-hairs.

  His cell phone rang and he snagged it from the passenger seat of the four-door he’d rented to tail the girl in. She wouldn’t have recognized him, but he hadn’t wanted to take chances.

  “What’s up?” he asked.

  “I need you to do another favor for me,” his friend said.

  “I’m already tailing the girl.” He didn’t know where she lived, so he’d decided to wait across the street from the club. Cargo hadn’t expected to see her until tonight. This had been a lucky break. “I’ll know where she lives by tonight.” She had to go home eventually.

  “Great. When you find out where she lives, get us a place near her. I don’t care how you have to pull it off. Then, get into her place and set up surveillance”

  “Will do.”

  “I’ve got colleagues who’re going to handle things until I can get there to take charge of her. I’ll send you the info you need to hook up with them,” his friend said. “Thanks. There’s a reward in it for you.”


  Chapter Five

  “Hey.” Sydney stepped into the security room and nodded to the other women as she made her way to the desk console where Sam was carefully studying a camera angle for the main floor.

  The wall console monitored the parking lots only while the desk one kept track of the inside and outside. There were two women for each and she was glad the techs had been able to update the system this morning though they’d just finished thirty minutes before the club opened.

  Sam had been seated there since then having completed her meetings just after three. Maintaining the position had been a feat since her coyote had wanted to leap from the chair the second they saw Adalyn arrive.

  Normally, she wouldn’t have given a woman a second thought after a rejection, but Adalyn was impossible to shake. She told herself it was the heat, the animal’s hunger that wouldn’t be assuaged, but Sam knew that was a lie even as the words ran through her mind.

  The reasons were immaterial when the craving was this strong. What she did about it was all that mattered. Pushing too hard made her a stalker but that was the way of the beast. Track the prey until you could lay claim to it.

  “What’s up?” Sam asked, rubbing the back of her neck.

  “Only two of the hyenas are here,” Sydney said. “One of them’s been paying Marigold a little extra attention.”

  “I noticed,” she commented tightly. “I hope the tips are good.”

  Sydney snorted. “You hope she doesn’t give either of them a private dance,” she murmured. “Good luck on that.”

  “Is that what you came back here for? To taunt me?”

  “I’d be wasting my time,” Sydney said. “You’re Miss Cool-As-A-Cucumber. No one gets to you.”

  “So?” She’d worked hard at that. It had only taken once to have her heart savaged to teach her not to trust easily or wear her heart on her sleeve.

  “So, Marjorie, that’s the hyena’s name. She and her pals hail from South Africa originally. They came over twenty years ago. Marjorie works for her uncle who owns an insurance agency.”

  “Are they American citizens?” Sam asked curiously.

  “Yeah.”

  “Where’s his company based?”

  “Here, but he has offices in New York and all through New Jersey and Vermont,” Sydney said. “Marjorie has been running the office here for the last six months because the guy’s dying. However, she and her girls were living in New York where she was running that office.”

  “Is he leaving anything to her?”

  “Everything,” Sydney told her. “So, the guy’s probably not her front man.”

  Sam agreed, but she didn’t like it. That meant Sorrento could be a threat.

  “But her uncle and Sorrento are golfing buddies, and he’s pretty chummy with Marjorie, but other than that, there’s nothing on her or her uncle. They’re law-abiding citizens.”

  “The only thing to do now is wait and see what happens,” Sam said as she pushed to her feet. “I finished working out the schedule for den patrol. Go over it and tell me if it works.”

  “I’ll do that in the morning,” Sydney told her. “We can meet after that unless you’re otherwise engaged.”

  Sam grunted. “I’ll be in my office. I need more info on Marjorie’s pals.”

  “Taking care of it,” Sydney told her. “You’re more of a slave driver than Mallory.”

  “That’s why I’m head of pack security.” Sam stepped out of the security room and headed to her office. She didn’t like the idea of a single hyena dominant planning to attack them, but she despised the idea of the two of them working together against Snow Fur.

  She stayed in her office for an hour and then walked the floor before heading outside. All the lights were still casting their bright smiles over the lot to chase away shadows.

  “Everything’s been quiet tonight,” one of the guards told her when Sam questioned her. “There is something out there though. I can feel it watching.”

  She gazed out past the parking lot. The warehouse district wasn’t that active at night. Most of the warehouses were closed along with the majority of other businesses except for the coffee house and the gas station.

  Their business butted up against woods on one side. Their veranda was fenced but the business on the other side closed at six.

  “Keep your eyes open,” she said and made another round before going inside to take up post on the third floor veranda. The control room and offices were on that floor.

  At midnight, Sam went in search of Adalyn, determined not to allow her to take a cab home tonight. That afternoon, Mallory had told her that Adalyn no longer had a car as of three weeks ago.

  She found her in the dancer’s small lounge. There were two other dancers there chatting about something.

  “Hello, ladies,” Sam greeted them with a nod. They all turned to her with interest and expectation.

  “Hi, Sam.”

  “Would you like a dance?” A red head asked.

  “Actually, I’d like to talk to Adalyn.”

  Adalyn glared at her but strolled over. “What do you want?” she demanded.

  Sam took her hand and pulled her from the room. “Slow night?”

  “Sort of,” Adalyn answered stiffly as Sam’s thumb stroked the back of her wrist. Her warm such sparked flames in her belly and Adalyn jerked her hand free. Her skin still burned as the fire slowly died.

  “Why don’t you let me give you a ride home?”

  Adalyn crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t need your pity,” she said coldly. “I can take care of myself.”

  “I saw you dance tonight.”

  “So, you expect me to give you a dance?” she demanded coolly.

  “Do I strike you as the type who doesn’t know how to ask for what she wants, darlin’?”

  “Listen, I don’t even know how you got back here, but I’m calling security if you don’t leave,” Adalyn said.

  Sam laughed. “Good luck with that. Now, why don’t I take you home? The big spenders have already gone.”

  Adalyn shook her head, indecision clear in her pretty green eyes. “Samarra—”

  “It’s just a ride home, Adalyn, not a marriage proposal.” She didn’t have to worry about that. All Sam wanted was her company, but it was clear she wasn’t going to get it. So she wouldn’t force it. However, she would make one last play on the ride home. Adalyn’s rebuffs this evening would be taken as a true no, and she would move on to find someone else who welcomed her advances. Valerie maybe.

  The other woman wanted her money, but she’d earn whatever she got.

  “I would appreciate that, thank you. Let me change?”

  “Not on my account,” Sam teased. “I like you just the way you are.”

  Adalyn laughed, and Sam saw true humor in her eyes that made her coyote smile. “I won’t be long.”

  “Take your time,” she said. She did like the dancer just the way she was. She was sweet yet full of fire.

  Sam was drawn to that and so was her animal. It was a furnace whispering to the coldness in her soul, and she wanted to warm herself by it as much as she wanted to stoke it to a wildfire.

  She wanted to see Adalyn smile. She wanted to learn the secrets behind that guarded look in her eyes too.

  She leaned against the wall exhaling shakily. “Careful,” she warned herself. “You could so fall for her.” Sam was already far more attracted to her than being in heat could account for.

  Chapter Six

  On the drive to her apartment, Adalyn was a little nervous. She didn’t know anything about Samarra except that she tipped well, and she had good taste in clothes.

  She could be just a pushy rapist beneath her civility and nice outfits. It wouldn’t be unheard of. Predators often hid their dark natures well. Her attraction to Samarra didn’t make it okay to be thoughtless, but she was always so careful. And it made her lonely.

  “How are things with the other patrons at the club?” Samarra asked.
r />   “What do you mean?”

  “Any of them try to follow you home or get your address or anything?”

  “Marjorie’s tried to get me to go out with her, and she’s a little rude,” she said with a frown. Marjorie’s energy was wild like Joelle’s and there was something dangerous about her and her friends that left Adalyn on edge, but she was dealing with it. “Why do you ask?”

  “I’m curious. I’ve seen you interacting with patrons before, but you seemed more relaxed tonight. Is Marjorie a problem?”

  “She’s getting a little pushy,” she admitted. Mean is what she was getting.

  “Are you interested in her?”

  “No, and I’ve told her,” Adalyn answered before she could stop herself. “Did you offer me a ride to grill me about my romantic life?” she demanded incredulously.

  “Hardly,” Sam murmured. “I’m not concerned about competition.”

  “Because you can have me whenever you want?” she snapped.

  Sam threw her a brief look. “Why are you so contentious?”

  “You bring it out in me,” Adalyn muttered. “Turn right up here.”

  Sam pulled into the parking lot of the apartment complex and Adalyn directed her to the right building with its parking.

  “I’ll walk you in,” Sam said after cutting the engine.

  “You don’t have to,” Adalyn murmured. “It’s a safe area.”

  “I know I don’t have to.” She climbed out and strode around to Adalyn’s side and pulled open her door. “I want to.”

  “Thanks.” Adalyn took the proffered hand and allowed Sam to help her out of her car.

  Samarra pushed the door closed and let Adalyn to lead the way. Adalyn noticed her casting curious glances around the lot as they strode up to her door.

  “Do you have a taser or pepper spray?” Sam asked.

  “No, I don’t really think I need it,” she said.

  Sam grunted. “Adalyn, you really should take your safety a little more seriously. Do you have a dog?”

  “No.” She opened her purse to take out her key. Adalyn drew in a breath as she inserted it into the lock. “Would you like to come in for a drink?” She looked up at Sam.