Page 17 of Bartender Mate

“Great.” Dusting off her hands, Samantha stood up and waved them around the room in a grand manner. “These rest of these fine hotties in leather are the Stellar Misfits.”

She put her hands on her hips, a benign smile on her face, as though she expected the rest to explain itself.

“Annnnd…” Tess prompted, clearly expecting more. She huffed when her friend didn’t rise to the bait and fill in the blanks. “Are your biker friends heading on over to a Halloween party or something?”

“Or something,” growled the Prez of the Drakon Hunters. He raised an eyebrow at Argon and Zinc, who were standing side-by-side. “You know I can’t let a slight like that against one of my men go unanswered?”

The man’s voice was mockingly reasonable, but the dead-eyed look he shot at me was darker than a black hole. I didn’t give a fuck about the witch and his threats, though. I only cared for the opinion of my mate who was, at this point, studiously ignoring my beating gaze.

“What is a Halloween party?” Radon muttered to me as he came over to join us, Quasar at his side. “Are we meant to be celebrating? This was not a victory on either side.” His eyes traveled over the bar. “The enemy still lurks. Stinking up our mate’s bar.”

Radon tipped his chin at a Drakon Hunter huddled behind an overturned table, the same cut as the one who I had expelled. Some of his men were still standing behind their leader, but a few of them were eyeing me in fear and looked ready to bolt.

I sent my mates a grim smile. “Then we should take care of that.”

Cracking my knuckles, I stalked over to the coward where he huddled on the floor. Radon and Quasar fell in behind, as always following my lead.

“Stop,” Zinc bellowed. “Not in here.” Bursting into sudden action, Zinc grabbed hold of a Drakon Hunter’s cut and one of Argon’s mates and hauled the two grappling males apart, pushing both toward the front door that still stood wide open. Come to think of it, the door may have actually been broken. Whoops, I hadn’t actually meant to destroy my mate’s property. That wouldn’t win me any favors. “Everyone out!”

Argon’s lips pressed into a hard line as Zinc all-but threw one of his mates out the door, but he didn’t intervene immediately. Instead, he followed Zinc out, silently backing up the brute’s call.

“Ah, a new powerplayer is in town. About fucking time.” Axle Grinder sauntered along in Zinc and Argon’s wake, chest puffed out like he was the one seeing the men out. Then, to his people, he rasped out a curt command. “Drakon Hunters, to me.”

Without a word of complaint, all of the bikers followed their leaders out into the gravel courtyard, though some were still muttering insults at each other as they went. The Drakon Hunters loaded up on their bikes, turning over their motors in preparation for their departure, while the Stellar Misfits gathered on the porch announcing their intent to stay and guard our mate and her property.

“And yet,” pressed Axle with a self-satisfied smirk. “You’re not wearing the correct patch?” The front of his cut had a patch rusty with old blood. “Looks like you need to sort out your house, Drakon. There’s some dead weight to be shed.”

Argon growled, taking a large step toward Axle, dragon in this throat. But Zinc threw a hand against the brute’s chest, drawing a lethal snarl of his own from the worked up warrior. The two powerful Drakons stared at one another for a brief but dangerous moment, heat blistering in the air between them as their beasts surged to the surface. Demanding their due.

“Not yet,” Zinc growled gruffly, too low for the Hunters to hear, and thrusting his chin in the direction of the smirking enemy.

Still rigid with his dragon’s ire, Argon nodded once–stiffly–then slid his gaze away, his tail swishing in lethal promise. “But soon.”

The Prez of the Drakon Hunters shot a victorious smile at Tess who was now propped up in the doorway behind us, glaring at the witch. “We’ll be back in three days, Tess. Think on our kind offer. Because the next time we meet, I’ll expect a warm welcome. Otherwise your precious family legacy will be the ash left in our wake.” He shrugged as if he couldn’t care less. “Your choice.”

“Bank is closed on the weekend, fucker,” Tess grumbled. “Nothing I can do by Monday and you know it.”

“Your problem, not mine. Your dear uncle bet against me and lost.” He shrugged. “I just want what’s mine.”

The biker kicked his bike to life and rode off. His men quickly followed, leaving their injured to find their own way home.

“They threatened you?” I asked my little mate where she leaned on the broken door jamb of her establishment.

“Not your problem, Misfit. It’s mine,” Tess growled, glaring at me as she rolled off the wall and disappeared back into her bar, picking up chairs and struggling with a heavy wood table.

“But it is.” I lifted the table from her hands with little effort and settled it back on its stand. “If the Drakon Hunters have threatened you, it is my duty to protect you.”

“You have got to be kidding me.” Tess grabbed the blonde witch and pulled her further into the bar. “Who the fuck have you brought into my bar, Sam?” my mate hissed. “I’m not exchanging one biker problem for another.” Her eyes flicked to me and the others as we moved about picking up from the brief battle. Too brief for the lust still running under my skin. Fucking and fighting were often too close in the heat of the moment, but with our fourth right in front of us, the hard throb of my cock felt completely justified. I doubted my new mate would see it that way, so I angled my body away from Tess to spare her an eyeful. “Get them out of here, I don’t need anyone demanding shit tonight.”

Radon scoffed at her dismissal, earning a glare of his own. I shook my head at him when he went to lay down a blistering retort and his jaw clicked shut. It didn’t look like our mate would be falling into our bed just yet, not that I was surprised given her cagey reactions to our assistance thus far.

We would have to win her over.

“Yeah. You’re right,” Quasar sighed, as though he could read the turn of my thoughts. He leaned into me, tucking my arm between our bodies as he hummed. “She’s perfect.” Always the one to lead with his heart, he was just as affectionate when Radon stomped on over to join us, needing comfort. “Look at that hair. She was already calling to us before our comet found her.” He grinned up at me. “I wanna wrap those purple strands up in my fists while I knot her so bad, Asteroid.” He took a deep sniff of the air, no doubt hunting out more of her scent. “Fuck, she smells good.”

“How can you tell?” Radon grumbled, pushing a trash can to the center of the room. He started tossing broken bits of wood and glass into the receptacle. “Beneath the scents of fermented grains and rotting wood, not to mention the stench of those Hunters, you can’t smell dick.” Quasar just glared at him. “You can’t smell a flower in a bag of shit, Quasar,” Radon admonished. “And with the way Axle Grinder was looking at our mate? We’ve definitely fallen into a bag of shit.”

“Really?” Quasar stomped over to confront our sullen mate. “Do you have to do this?” He looked at Radon with sad, knowing eyes as he changed tac and went to catch hold of our mate’s hand. “Can’t you embrace the help of the stars and be happy that we found her so quick?”

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