Axel's Pup by Kim Dare Read Free Book Online Page A

another room.
    At the last moment, a burst of laughter caught his attention. He turned around. The amusement was all directed at a young blond man standing with three older men. The boy blushed, ducked his head and rushed off into the crowd, his tail tucked firmly between his legs. The older men laughed all the more.
    “What about you, wolf-boy, do you think you could take twenty from a cat?” one of them called out when he spotted Bayden.
    Bayden recognised him from his previous visits to the pub. Richards. He wasn’t one of the men who sat at the bar talking to Axel. He didn’t ride with Axel’s club, but he was often there in the background. He’d offered to buy Bayden a drink and he hadn’t liked it when Bayden had pointed out he already had one.
    “Well?” Richards came closer so he didn’t have to yell so loudly over the music. He lifted up a cat of nine tails as exhibit A.
    “I’m not interested.” Bayden turned away.
    “Figures, there’s no such thing as a wolf who isn’t a coward at heart, is there?”
    Bayden pushed down his anger as best he could and went back to his search for Axel.
    “I think he’s scared,” one of Richards’ friends chipped in.
    “Looks like it.” It was the smug satisfaction in Richards’ voice that tipped the balance.
    Bayden’s hackles went up. He turned to face him. “Of you?” His tone made it clear how stupid that idea was.
    Richards’ eyes narrowed. “I’ve seen you fight. You dodge well enough, but I’ve never seen you take a hit like a man. Wolves are just animals when it comes down to it. They can bite and claw, but when it comes to taking their licks, no wolf has that kind of self-control.” He smirked. “I’d put money on it.”
    “How much?” Bayden demanded, before he could check the impulse.
    “One hundred.”
    “Not very sure of yourself, are you? That’s not even enough to make it interesting.” Bayden turned away, dismissively.
    “I’ll match it if you get to thirty,” one of Richards’ friends offered.
    “Get to forty, and I’ll match it, too,” another one chipped in.
    “That makes three hundred,” Richards said. “ If you can take forty—all to your back on bare skin, and win the whole bet. Bail before that, and you’d owe each of us a hundred. Is that interesting enough for you, or is the truth that a wolf just can’t hack it?”
    The music wasn’t so loud they couldn’t be overheard. Bayden looked around to see who else might be listening. Everyone else’s attention seemed to be on the whipping taking place in the opposite corner of the room. But, even if those three men were the only ones who heard the challenge, even if they were the only ones who thought wolves were weak, it was still three humans too many.
    Axel’s expecting you. “I don’t have time for this bull,” Bayden bit out.
    “Later tonight, then. After the pub closes, at my place,” Richards said. “Unless I was right about wolves, and you’re just making excuses for being a coward?”
    Bayden met his gaze. He couldn’t afford to let humans think he was weak. If he was willing to face facts then he couldn’t afford to turn away three hundred pounds, either. Axel was waiting for him, but Axel was also bound to be finished with him way before closing time.
    “Three hundred says I can take forty lashes then,” he agreed.
    Richards had rattled off his address, and Bayden was finally able to go back to his search for Axel.
    There! Bayden’s heart rate settled as he finally spotted Axel near the door leading into the third back room. Then it sped up again as he took in a few more details.
    Axel had dispensed with his usual black jeans in favour of tight leather trousers. Without his T-shirt, the only things covering any part of Axel’s chest were his tattoos. Bayden’s fingers itched with the desire to reach out and touch. He pushed his hands into his pockets. Axel turned slightly. Light glinted off a nipple piercing. It was all Bayden could do to