Base Instincts Read Free Page B

looking for shit to bond over.”
    So the game was hard-to-get. Slake could play that way. For a time, at least. The medic had given him enough looks for Slake to sense the guy’s taste for males, but if Raze was, indeed, the guy Atrox said had been hanging out with Fayle, things might get a little complicated.
    Or maybe they could be real damned simple. Fuck the guy, take the girl, save a soul.
    His soul.
    “I didn’t say anything about bonding.” Slake moved toward Raze. Slowly. Purposefully. “But I wouldn’t mind getting to know you. Got a girlfriend?”
    Raze came to a halt a couple of feet from the entrance. “No.”
    “Boyfriend?”
    Raze swung around, his green eyes darkening. “You have no idea what I am, do you?”
    “Should I?” Slake advanced on him, enjoying how Raze’s body tensed and his breaths became more rapid. “Are you . . . dangerous? Aside from that crazy shit you do with your tats.”
    One corner of Raze’s mouth tipped up in a half smile. “I’m only dangerous if you piss me off.”
    “What if I get you off?”
    Raze barked out a laugh. “Man, what do you want from me?”
    Slake got close, invading the other male’s personal space. The guy would either stand his ground or back off, and either one would speak volumes about him.
    Tension filled the narrow gap between them, pulsing like a heartbeat. Raze was taller than Slake’s six three by maybe half an inch, but Slake outweighed him by a good twenty-five pounds, and as they stood there taking each other’s measure, he had to admire that Raze didn’t back down. Most dudes who went toe-to-toe with him did so out of macho arrogance, but the calculation and intelligence flashing in Raze’s eyes said he was holding his ground for a different reason.
    Raze was attracted to him.
    But he was suspicious. Which was smart.
    “What do I want from you?” Slake reached out, brushed a finger over Raze’s jugular, once again watching. Gauging. And hoping. “I want to buy you a drink. Is that too much to ask?”
    “I don’t drink.”
    “Why not?” Alcohol was poison to some species, while in others, there was no effect at all, no matter how much they ingested. Anyone else who didn’t drink was just weird in Slake’s opinion.
    Raze’s hand snapped up to grab Slake’s wrist in a hold that walked the line between pain and . . . well, not pain. But it felt good to be touched. Too good.
    “Alcohol can’t make me drunk, but it does make me want what I can’t have.”
    “And what,” he said softly, “is that?”
    Releasing him with an angry shove, Raze pivoted smoothly toward the club. Oh hell no. Slake wasn’t done with the medic. Raze was probably associated with the female Slake was looking for, and even if he wasn’t . . . well, there was just something about the guy that intrigued him. Besides, Slake had never been one to give up easily. He’d have been dead a long time ago.
    With a low growl, Slake snagged Raze’s shoulder and spun him back around. Surprise and anger flashed in the medic’s expression, and in that moment of startled disbelief, Slake took advantage like the predator he was, pressing his body against Raze’s as he brought their mouths together.
    Instant, sizzling lust shot through Slake, sparking nerve endings to life and shocking his heart into an erratic rhythm. But low on his back, the scar from an ancient stab wound began to throb, a reminder to never surrender entirely, not even to a sultry kiss that could potentially lead to more. He needed to keep his mind focused, clear, and aware of everything going on around him. Like the cool breeze that rattled the trash on the ground and smelled like rain. Or the drip of water from the downspout a few yards away. And the sound of honking horns and squealing tires from the street traffic.
    No one and nothing would ever sneak up on him again.
    Hungrily, he fisted Raze’s hair and increased the pressure on his mouth. Raze’s lips were firm, unyielding, and