Taming the Night (Creatures of the Night Book 1) by Tisha Wilson Read Free Book Online

lovely thighs bent over the pool table. He’d nearly swallowed his tongue.
    He had watched the altercation unfold before his eyes, but his tongue had been frozen in his mouth. His brain refused to believe that the images that he’d dreamed were actually real. It came back to him in clips and pieces that woke him and left him bathed in sweat. Now he watched her leaning against the table, the siren from his dreams, and she acted as if this were the first time she’d ever met him. Was he going crazy? How could he have dreamed of her before he’d ever even met her? He didn’t believe in fate or the sight. He’d never gone to a palm reader or had his fortune told. He believed that the things those people foretold only came true because the people who believed in them made the events happen to prove it was true.
    Maybe he’d seen her for a brief moment in passing somewhere around town. He shook his head. If he’d seen her, even in passing, he would have remembered it for the rest of his life. He’d never seen her before outside of that dream.
    He turned his attention to Ru ss with a force of will. “You wouldn’t be in here gamblin’ again now would you Russ?” Russ shook his head vehemently.
    “We was just havin’ ourselves a honest game between friends,” he said quickly.
    “Really? You didn’t look all that friendly a second ago and you was callin’ her a shark,” Jerry argued back. Russell had the good sense to look a little embarrassed.
    “Actually. I didn’t come here to shark. I sold him a bike part from my custom shop a few miles to the West. I came up here to collect payment myself because I love the ride through the Smokies. He didn’t have quite enough to cover so I played him for it. He lost. I want the rest of my money.”
    She said it so smoothly that it was hard to tell if it was a lie or the truth. She owned a motorcycle shop? “You’re a little on the small side to work on bikes aren’t you,” he commented.
    “You’d be surprised at the things a small ole gal like me can do cher,” she said. Her Creole accent spilled from her tongue like a sorceress’s mist putting his brain in a daze. She ran a hot look up and down his body.
    He felt his blood heat up and knew that he was probably blushing just a bit. He cleared his th roat and turned to Russell again. “Is that the way of it?”
    Russell’s face was mottled by rage but he just nodded. He couldn’t afford to go back to jail for gambling. Jerry put his good hand out, palm up. Russell reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of cash. Jerry knew the man did a little something on the side because he didn’t have a real job. Just as he also knew that he would one day catch him slipping up and put his sorry ass back in jail.
    “You know Russ. A big man like you would do better at honest work like collecting garbage or construction. Sure beats pushing around women more than half your size and getting arrested for gambling and the like. One of these days you are going to take on more than you can handle and I’m going to find you in a ditch somewhere.”
    Ru ss mumbled something derogatory under his breath as he counted out a few hundred dollars and dropped them in the officer’s hand. He turned and stalked out of the bar angrily. A few people chuckled when he was gone. They didn’t dare laugh in his face.
    Jerry turned back to the mystery woman. On purpose he folded the wad of cash and put it in his pocket. He then stepped up to the bar and sat on a stool. The bartender moved over to him with a question on his face. “It’s all right Dale. I just want a cup of coffee.”
    “Did that happen in the accident?” the bartender asked as he placed a cup in front of him and filled it with steaming coffee. He was referring to the bruising and scratches on Jerry’s face.
    “I didn’t cut myself shaving,” he replied wit h a good natured smile. Dell seemed to relax visibly with this. Jerry knew that he could be standoffish sometimes