Read Online A WILDer Kind of Love by Angel Payne - Free Book Online

be. Knock on the door only if there’s really a nuclear apocalypse. Wait. No. Only if there’s a zombie apocalypse.”
    Apocalypses. Zombies. World destruction. All the connections were too easy—and cruel—to reach, as Franz stepped away, just as the woman across the room fully rose from her chair fortress.
    And the bottom fell out of Dan’s gut.
    Yep. There was the mask, easily covering half her face—its strings tied beneath a waterfall of brilliant red curls.
    Rose Temptation.
    The color he hadn’t been able to forget for four damn days.
    Framing the face that had clung even tighter to his mind.
    The proud carriage of her neck. The determination beneath her heart-shaped chin. The high, sweeping cheekbones. And damn— damn —that perfect pinup girl’s mouth, defined by her favorite cherry red lip stain, glistening anew as she swiped her tongue nervously between the curved surfaces…
    “Fuck,” Dan grated. He spun back around on his bar stool as her gaze circled toward them. Ducked his head, leaning it into his right hand.
    What the hell ? Why was he hiding from her? Wouldn’t be like she’d be stunned to see him here. She knew all about his dark side. Probably too much.
    But you told her, anyway. You told her more because she always begged to know—and that felt good. Damn good. Better therapy than what the “assigned” shrinks had done for you. Because that was something you were ever going to bring up to a person who could decide if you got your job back, right?
    There was that.
    Which didn’t do shit for this . All the craziness in his nervous system, still breaking down the fact that Tess stood across the room, looking like that . That she was so determined to find a Dom, she’d come to the most hardcore club in the city by herself, for the third night in a row—
    Where she eventually would find that Dom.
    The guy who would be good to her. Would be good for her. Every Dom and Domme in this place had to pass Max’s rigorous evaluation process first. They’d been studied, screened, and tested. They were men and women damn good at what they did, serious about their responsibilities to the people who knelt and served them.
    She’d asked him to be that guy.
    He’d turned her down.
    Karma’s teeth did not feel good in his ass.
    “Dan?” Max’s query was low with concern. “You chill, man? You look like you just saw a ghost.”
    He forced a nod while sneaking another glance at Tess. “Maybe I’d have preferred one.” God damn . One of the overhead lights caught the top of her head. Her hair was like fire, her skin toasted cream. He didn’t even dwell on her mouth. Hard-ons were tough to hide once they busted past a guy’s fly.
    Max didn’t miss a nuance of his movement. “Now you know why I’m ‘uppity’ about her.” The guy cocked his skull-cut head while bracing his huge arms to the bar. “Though my screening process is rigid, I’m tweaked that some guy is going to hear ‘new’ and think ‘open to anything.’”
    “Fuck,” Dan snarled. “You’re right.” Everything about Tess’s wide stare, nervous gulps, and lost lamb stance was like an open gate for a Dom who wanted fresh ground to churn with dark fantasies. But that was the trouble with plowing fertile soil. If tilled too deeply, it was ruined for any growth.
    “Last couple of nights haven’t been a huge concern,” Max went on. “Midweek without a huge convention in town, we usually see only regulars and their bottoms. But it’s Friday now. I can already see a few of the weekend guys considering a re-set of their radars in her direction.”
    “Who? Where?”
    “Whoa. Easy there, Drothaki.”
    “ Where ?”
    “Snarls don’t earn you cookies. Or answers. What the hell, Colton? Do you know her or something?”
    He wanted to lie but karma had it too bad for him as it was. “Yeah,” he muttered. “In a way.” Max’s snicker whipped his head up. “What the fuck’s so funny?”
    “‘In a way?’” Max