Lycan Alpha Claim (#1): (BBW Shifter Romance) (Brief-Bites Novelette) Read Online Free PDF Page A

around. But now with pulse tech, everything is
charged via pulse power.
    Right now I'm really pulsing.
    The same wave of heat washes over me. But
instead of me thinking it's a hot flash, I recognize it for what it
is.
    I'm in lust. For a complete stranger.
    A biker, by the looks of it.
    I bite my lip, squeezing my thighs together
for the second time in twenty-four hours.
    I remember that pair of blue eyes from the
other night. The ones I didn't imagine.
    The guy that came on to me at the gym last
night had blue eyes too—Jimmy, Johnnie? I can't remember, he was so
underwhelming.
    Look up.
    He doesn't.
    He's crouched down, his muscular ass holding
the rest of his hotness just above the ground as he checks the
engine on a sleek black Harley. His head dips as he inspects the
bike. I pick out the highlights the sun casts in his military
short, nutmeg-colored hair.
    Come on, Talyn.
    Still, I can't take my eyes off him. Every
time he leans forward to check another thing, a tricep or bicep
bulges cooperatively.
    And I find myself latching onto the bulge in
his jeans. Which seems pretty large for a guy doing a little engine
perusal.
    The more I stare, the more I flush with
desire. My knees literally weaken, my heart speeds, palms
dampening.
    I wipe them on my short skirt.
    Get a grip.
    He obviously won't look at me.
    I give a shaky laugh. You're not that
interesting, princess. Move on.
    I turn and finish opening the door. My damp
skin chills as the AC hits me as I move inside the building.
    I feel foolish.
    That doesn't stop me from hanging back in
the shadows and watching him another three full minutes.
    Nor does the gasp from my mouth get stifled
when he rises.
    He's tall—a brick house of a man. Broad
shoulders shift as he strides into two-way traffic, deftly dodging
impact by two cars with only inches to spare.
    His fingers flex as he hops with a fluid
grace to the curb then marches around my building, going toward the
back. He doesn't turn in my direction.
    Does he have blue eyes?
    Those blue
eyes.
    I rush into my office and catch sight of
Patty, the assistant who serves both offices on this side of the
building.
    “ Hi!” I call out
breathlessly.
    She sees the look on my face and begins to
rise.
    I immediately feel ridiculous. “No, sit! I'm
just checking on something.”
    Someone. Some total stranger who couldn't
care less about me.
    But I have to know why I had that spark of
intuition. There were fifty people on the street. Why did I take
note of only him?
    Because he's hot as hell.
    There is that. But I know it has got to be
more.
    I rip around to the back, fling open the
shade with a yank of the cord and a face fills the glass.
    I scream.
    It's the guy from the gym.

9
     
    Patty and I sit together in two chairs.
    Across from Jamie.
    This is how bad of a counselor I am: I can't
even remember the guy's name who tried to ask me out.
    However, I do recall the yoga pants comment and cringe. I'm
being kind, thinking he was asking
me out. I'm not a Gold Gym Body Babe. I'm a late-thirties,
curvy-to-the max, bookish type.
    I don't do casual. I
don't do losers. I think Jamie's
really barking up the wrong tree.
    “ Listen, I appreciate your
interest,” I begin.
    Patty's eyes are very large in her face as
she sits beside me with her hands tightly clasped.
    I'm tense, but direct. I can do this. “But
you can't visit my place of work for reasons other than
business.”
    Jamie leans back on the lobby couch. I'm
just waiting for him to pitch a tent.
    Immediately I assess him. Arrogant,
cold—indifferent. He has my psyche flags rising and bonking me
directly between my eyes.
    His fingers drum on the back of the couch
and he cocks his head, dirty blond hair overshooting the tips of
his ears. “There's no law against showing up here and getting a
little emotional help?” He smirks, his teeth are very white. A tad
sharkish.
    I suppress a shiver.
    He's kind of handsome. When he doesn't open
his mouth. That seems to be the main