Dark Wolf Returning Read Online Free Page B

little to conceal. As she stood, as well, the rest of the group who’d been standing nearby at the bar joined them, looking between her and Eli as if they were waiting for him to make the introductions.
    Sounding more than a little pissed off, Eli said, “Carla, this is Kyle Maddox, Sam Harmon, James Bennett, and Lev Slivkoff. Guys, this is Carla Reyes. I, uh, know her from home.”
    Carla almost winced in sympathy for the gorgeous jerk, since he’d sounded so awkward there at the end, as if he didn’t know what to say about her. He’d obviously never mentioned her to any of his friends or coworkers or whatever a badass Lycan called the other badass Lycan mercenaries that he fought with. Something buried deep inside her gave a stupidly pained cry at that fact, but she refusedto pay any attention to it. She wasn’t going to let a little hurt make her act like an idiot in front of him.
    “It’s nice to meet you,” she murmured, shaking their rough, battle-hardened hands. They were all tanned and tall and dark, except for Lev, whose shoulder-length mane was as golden as hers. And while the others had dark, midnight-colored eyes that nearly drowned out their ebony pupils,his were an interesting mix of green and blue that could barely pass for human.
    They were all pretty much stunningly attractive, oozing the kind of raw sex appeal that probably made most women drool when they saw them—but Lev was definitely the best looking of the bunch, reminding her of a badass Russian enforcer she’d once met during a hunt. When he grabbed her hand, she almost laughed,thinking he was going to kiss the back of it, like something out of a movie. But he didn’t. Instead, he turned it over and licked the inside of her wrist with a rough tongue, right over her pulse. Her startled gasp was drowned out by Eli’s guttural snarl, and the next thing she knew Lev had released her hand and was stumbling into the guy named James, who had a wicked scar on his throat, because Elihad just given Lev a violent shove.
    “Don’t be a jackass,” Eli growled.
    “He loves me, really,” the Lycan drawled, though there was something in his rich, masculine scent that told her he was more. They all were. She just didn’t know what that more was, and there was no way in hell she was asking when she wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer.
    Carla kept a careful eye on the groupas they settled their bill at the bar, not quite sure what to expect from them. They were eyeing her with open looks of curiosity and friendly smiles, but she was still a bit wary. Not physically, but emotionally. The last thing she wanted was for one of them to blurt out a question about her relationship with Eli. And they looked nosey enough to do it.
    “Since the men and I are heading backwith you,” Eli rumbled, “we should find a motel for the night, then hit the road first thing in the morning.”
    She’d just started to ask how quickly he thought they could reach Maryland, when the sound of screeching tires and loud voices came from the bar’s front parking lot.
    “What was that?” she asked, though no one was paying her any attention. They were all focused on the one namedSam, who had made his way over to one of the front windows and was peeking outside. “Shit,” he muttered. “It looks like we’ve got a problem.”
    Eli grabbed her arm and jerked her behind him. “Who is it?”
    “I can’t tell yet,” Sam replied, while the remaining customers, along with the staff, started pouring out the back entrance. It apparently wasn’t the first time this place had seen thiskind of “problem,” and given the look of the clientele, Carla doubted it would be the last. “But we’ve got three pickups with beds full of armed bad guys,” Sam was saying, “and they’re stopping by our trucks. So my guess is that they’re here for us.”
    “Were you followed here?” Lev asked her.
    “What? No! Of course not.”
    “Then they’re definitely here for us,”