Devlin Dynasty 2: Fall Fury (9 page)

Melissa rolled her eyes. “Don Boudreaux of the Chamber wants to speak withyou.”

“I prefer the dark corner, but okay. Later,” he said over his shoulder as he walked

away with Melissa.

“And I see someone I need to talk to. Excuse me,” Logan said, leaving Max standing alone with Shannon, and utterly unable to breathe. He tried a deep inhale, but only succeeded in picking up her subtle scent. The woman was going to drive him insane if he didn’t have her soon.

Her eyes told him that she wanted the same thing. And yet a wariness shadowedher face. That and the cool breeze around them warned him that this wasn’t goingto be easy.

“You take my breath away, Shannon,” he said.

Her cheeks colored a deep pink. “Thank you. You look amazing in a tux,” shesaid, then sucked in her lower lip as if she regretted giving the compliment.

“And you look good enough to eat.”

She arched a brow. “Said the wolf to Little Red Riding Hood.”

She had no idea how close she’d come to being completely accurate. “Do I looklike the big bad wolf?”

Her eyes widened. “Um, no. Not at all. Shall we mingle?”

“How about we dance instead?”

“I don’t think so.”

He felt the chill in the air, figured it was her magic. She was purposely trying toevade him, but why? Maybe he was getting too close? Or perhaps he was gettingunder her skin, making her feel off balance.

Good. He liked her that way. Easier to pounce. “Afraid of the big bad wolf, areyou?”

“I’m not afraid of anything. We’re here for business, Max, not personal pleasure.”

“So, you’re indicating you could receive personal pleasure from me?”

She huffed out a sigh. “No, that’s not what I meant and you know it. Now do youmind? There are a lot of people I want to talk to tonight. Influential people. People who will spread the word about The Rising Storm casino.”

“In other words, you don’t trust yourself in my arms. You’re afraid of me.”

Her eyes narrowed, shooting icy daggers at him. Perfect. Why he enjoyedtormenting her, he didn’t know. Probably because she provided such a passionatereaction to his teasing. If she didn’t care about him, she wouldn’t react like shedid.

“I’m not the least bit afraid of you.”

“Prove it. Dance with me.”

“This is ridiculous.”

“Coward.”

“That’s it.” She marched onto the makeshift dance floor, then turned and held out

her hands. “Okay, Fred Astaire. Show me what you’ve got.”

He intended to.

Chapter Five

Did Max have to look so breathtakingly handsome in a tux? Shannon kept asmuch distance between the two of them as possible, hoping to at least manage toappear cool and calm, though she was anything but.

Damn, he smelled good. And the tux molded itself to his body like it had beensewn on. She found it difficult to resist running her hand over his shoulder,feeling his muscles bunch tight and hard underneath the jacket.

He looked dark, dangerous, like a secret agent.

Or a man with a secret. Something about Max signaled warning bells in her head,but she couldn’t put a finger on it.

“I don’t have leprosy,” he said with a teasing smile, then yanked her flush against

him. Her bare thigh brushed his leg.

She swallowed, then looked around, hoping for something or someone to rescueher. Not that he appeared to be willing to let her go. She felt imprisoned, as if shecouldn’t pull away if she wanted to.

The really bad thing was, she didn’t want to.

He shifted, pulling her even closer, if that was possible. “Would you relax? Idon’t bite.”

Ha. That remained to be seen. Or not seen. No. Bad mind, bad. Don’t go there.

“Unless you want me to. Do you like a little nibble, say, on the neck or

shoulder?”

Her gaze flew to his. Tiny wrinkles crinkled at the corners of his eyes when heflashed that gleaming grin.

“Yes, I see it in your eyes, Shannon. Makes me really curious as to other things

you might like.”

If she could find her voice, she’d tell him in no uncertain terms that she wasn’tthe least bit interested in his bites, or anything else he might have in mind. She’dbe lying, of course. Visuals entered her mind—being entwined with him andhaving him sink his teeth into the soft flesh of her shoulder as he rode her hardand deep.

Max inhaled, his eyes drifting closed for a brief second. When he opened themagain, the grin had left his face. “I want to make love to you, Shannon. Tonight.”

Desire coiled deep in her belly and moved south quickly. Her nipples tightened,her breasts swelling against the material of her dress. Thankfully, he couldn’t see.

And how was she supposed to respond? Her mind screamed
 
no fucking way
, buther body shrieked
 
Yes! Yes! Oh, hell yes
! “That’s not a good idea.”

“Fuck ‘good idea’. I want you.”

Had someone turned the air conditioning off? It was blistering hot. Droplets ofperspiration settled between her breasts. Her panties dampened. Had to be theheat.

She had to get her traitorous body under control and quickly. They were in themiddle of a cocktail party with hundreds of people around them.

And her legs were trembling.

“Max, let go of me. This isn’t going to happen between us. Not tonight, not ever.”

“I say it will happen. And it will happen tonight.”

His response gave her exactly what she needed. A little righteous indignation tocool her libido. “You’re so smug, aren’t you? Do you always think you can havewhatever you want?”

There was that devastating smile again. “Do you?”

“I control my own destiny, Max. No one tells me what I will or won’t do.”

“Maybe before you met me. I know you like to be in control, Shannon. I’ll bet you even have to tell your men what pleases you in the bedroom. You like to call the shots, tell them when and where.”

“Exactly.”

“But I’ll bet deep down inside, you’re hoping that somewhere out there is a man

who’ll take that control away from you, who’ll tell you what to do and when. And

who instinctively knows just what you need without having to ask you for

directions how to get there. You’re begging for it. And I’m going to give it to

you, exactly the way you want it, and exactly the way I want it.”

No! His egotistical suggestions didn’t excite her in the least. In fact, she was justabout ready to haul off and slap him one.

“Mind if I cut in?”

Saved by the bell. Or in this case, her mother. Who was, as usual, beautifullyattired in a long, golden dress that caught the light and dazzled like sparklingchampagne. She kissed her mother on the cheek. “Hi Mom. You look stunning. When did you get here?”

Her mother grinned. “
Merci, ma belle
. You look beautiful, too. We slipped inabout five minutes ago. Your father and I have been watching you dance with thishandsome man here. Care to introduce us?”

Shannon stepped back and hugged her father, grateful for their timelyinterruption. “Max Devlin, this is my mother, Angelina and my father, Galen.”

Not the least bit wary, Max enthusiastically shook her father’s hand, then kissedher mother on both cheeks. “It’s a pleasure to meet you both. Your daughter hasme so spellbound I didn’t notice you standing there. My apologies.”

Max sized up Galen immediately. An exchange of something elemental andslightly magical occurred between them, a spark that he felt like a warm aircurrent sizzling through him. An awareness, almost like a meeting between twoalphas of opposing packs. He’d seen it before, felt it before. Respected it. Galen Storm was not someone to mess with. Max had sensed the same thing when hefirst met Logan and Aidan. Without words, he communicated his intent to Galen,showing his respect by stepping away from Shannon, acknowledging that his

child didn’t belong to Max. Yet.

Galen nodded. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Max. I’ve heard very good thingsabout you from Melissa.”

“Thank you, sir. I’m honored to be working on The Rising Storm’s public

relations campaign.”

“Okay, before you two get involved in business talk, I’d like to dance with this

young man here. Galen, dance with your daughter.”

“Yes, dear,” Galen responded dutifully, winking at Angelina as he led Shannon

around the dance floor.

Max pulled Angelina into his arms. Damn, the woman was breathtakinglybeautiful, no matter what her age. Petite, her body still that of a young woman’s. Glossy, dark hair reflected the light of the chandeliers, curls streaming down theside of her face and resting against prominent cheekbones. Her amber eyessparkled.

“You’re here for more than just The Rising Storm’s campaign,” she said.

Now how could she know that? Or maybe she was just fishing.

“I’m not sure what you mean, Mrs. Storm.”

“Call me Angelina. And I think you know exactly what I mean.”

Did he? He knew the Storms had magic, and he could certainly feel a poweremanating from this diminutive yet obviously commanding woman. If Shannonhad it, then it stood to reason that Angelina had it, too.

“Why don’t you tell me what you think you know, and I’ll tell you if you’re

right?”

She laughed, soft and gently. “Oh, you’re very good, Max. I can see why

Shannon likes you.”

“She told you that?” That would be a surprise if it were the case. As it was, he’d

been expecting a resounding slap across the face from her before her parents

showed up.

“Of course not. I know my daughter. She’s very stubborn.” Lowering her voice

and glancing around the room, she whispered, “She gets that from her father.”

Now it was Max’s turn to laugh. “I think she might get some of her highspiritedness from her mother, too.”

“Maybe. Now as far as what you want, I can sense you’re different from most

men.”

That was an understatement. “Go on.”

“And you have an agenda while here. One that goes beyond the campaign for The

Rising Storm.”

Okay, she was right on that one, too.

“You’re very powerful, Max. But keep this in mind. So am I, as is my family. I sense you have an attraction to my daughter, and while I don’t necessarily feel that’s a bad thing, I won’t stand by and watch her be hurt by anyone. We defend our own.”

A fierce mother protecting her young. How could Max not respect that? “Iunderstand, Angelina. And believe me, the last thing I want is to hurt Shannon. Ibelieve we share a destiny.”

She arched a brow. “A destiny? How so?”

Max wasn’t certain how much she’d already guessed about him, so he wasn’tgoing to volunteer too much information. How could he explain to Shannon’smother that he was a werewolf and had chosen her daughter for his mate? She justmight not like that idea. “I believe we’re fated to be together.”

“Interesting you should say that. I felt a connection between you two as soon as I

walked in the room tonight.”

That knowledge would probably help him later on, provided he needed some

Storm family assistance in getting Shannon to see the light.

After they danced, Angelina directed him to several of the key business people in New Orleans and introduced him. She stayed by his side, joined shortly thereafterby Galen. Max spent the better part of an hour with them both, impressed withtheir business acumen and their inherent ability to make their customers feel likeold friends.

For the next several hours he’d met just about every important business contact,and had spent time with both Logan and Aidan, doing a little promotion of thehotel/casino as well as talking about the public relations program.

He liked this family. A lot. They were close knit but friendly enough to openthemselves up to a stranger like him. Reminded him a lot of his own family.

During the entire evening, Shannon had kept her distance from him, a fact thatapparently was not lost on Angelina as they watched Shannon dancing with herfather again.

“She’s avoiding you.”

“So I see.”

“You’re not going to let her get away with that, are you?”

“Not very likely. She and I have unfinished business this evening.”

Angelina grinned and nodded. “Good. Take me over to my husband.”

He swept Angelina in his arms and moved casually toward Galen and Shannon.

“She won’t be easy, you know.”

Max laughed. “I think I already knew that.”

“She’s headstrong.”

“I like that. But so am I. I want an equal, Angelina, not a meek woman. And

Shannon is definitely not meek.”