The fox’s eyes flickered.

“Who’s been saying that shit to her?” demanded Jesse.

“People with too much time on their hands,” said Dominic.

Charlene danced her fingertips over his nape. “To be fair to them, you’re not a relationship kind of guy.”

Dominic nudged her hand away from his neck, making her brow pucker. Neither he nor his wolf wanted her touching him. “You once said the same thing about yourself, Charlene. Now you’re mated. People change.”

“Yes, they do,” she said, putting his and Jesse’s empty bottles on her tray. “I keep telling you that you’re too old to be chasing skirts. You should let me set you up with a friend of mine.”

“Don’t need your help, Charlene.”

“You don’t need my help to score, no, but you do need help convincing nice girls that you’re not a player. Pierson’s articles certainly didn’t aid your case. Have you had any more trouble from him?”

He cast her a hard look. “That’s pack business.”

She rolled her eyes. “Fine, don’t tell me. At least let me introduce you to my friend.”

“Like I said, I don’t need your help.”

“Yes, but what you want—”

“Is standing right there on that stage.”

Oh, that seemed to piss the fox off. “Surely you’re not still holding out hope that she’ll throw some crumbs your way,” Charlene snarked. “I never had you down as a sucker for punishment. Where’s your pride?”

A growl rumbled out of him that took her off guard. “Careful.”

Jesse’s eyes turned cold and flinty. “Charlene, I know you have a job to do. I’m confused as to why you’re not doing it.”

Cheeks reddening with what was probably a mix of embarrassment and irritation, the fox stalked off.

“What is her problem?” Jesse asked him.

“Don’t know, don’t care.”

“Why didn’t you tell her that you’re with Mila?”

“Because I don’t have to explain myself to her.”

“You’re pissed at Charlene for something,” Jesse sensed. “What did she do?”

“She was the person who warned Mila away from me.” Shaking off his anger, Dominic clapped along with everyone else as the song reached its end and both female performers took a bow.

“Did you ever pursue Charlene?” asked Jesse, his gaze speculative.

“Didn’t need to,” replied Dominic, picking up his fresh beer bottle.

“Okay, I’ll put it another way. Have you pursued anyone other than Mila?”

“No.”

“Maybe that’s Charlene’s problem,” Jesse mused. “She’s happily mated, but her ego will have a problem with seeing you go after Mila when you didn’t invest any time or energy in pursuing her. Foxes can be pretty vindictive, and they’re highly competitive.”

Dominic took a swig of his beer. “I doubt it’s that.”

“Don’t forget, Charlene is known as the female you had the longest fling with. She takes a certain pride in that, especially since so many females set out to tame you and consistently fail. There’s a rumor that you won’t commit to anyone because Charlene broke your heart when she dumped you and later mated with Lennie. Charlene obviously hasn’t disabused anyone of that belief because it remains a rumor. It’s something else she’d probably get a kick out of.”

“She just offered to set me up with one of her friends.”

“And if it worked out, she could—in a roundabout way—take credit for ‘taming’ you, since she set the whole thing up. On the other hand, she might purposely match you with someone you wouldn’t gel with. Who knows?” His eyes snapped to something over Dominic’s shoulder, and he smiled. “Ah, here are our girls.”

Our girls. Dominic liked the sound of that. Having put down their bottles, both he and Jesse stood as their “girls” hopped up the small set of steps leading to the VIP area. Dominic spared only a brief smile for Harley, who went straight to her mate. His attention was on the feline behind her, whose eyes were as bright as her smile—she always looked drunk on adrenaline after a performance.

Dominic hauled Mila close and kissed her, licking into her mouth, devouring her. Was it weird that he’d missed her? Probably. They hadn’t been apart long, but she centered him somehow. He didn’t care to overthink it. “Flawless performance, as always. Gotta say, baby, every time I see you up there, all I can think about is fucking you.”

“Classy feedback,” said Mila, smoothing her hands up his arms.

He chuckled, splaying a possessive hand on the small of her back. “Isn’t it, though?” He kissed her again, so fucking greedy for her he almost shook with it. His wolf drank in her scent and touch. “Love your taste.” He brushed her hair over her shoulder, baring her neck, and pressed a kiss to the bite there. Yeah, he wanted all the people he could feel watching them to understand it was his mark.

Mila’s mouth twitched. “I think you made your point to all the gawkers.”

Sitting, he pulled her onto his lap. “Just wanted to be sure there’d be no misunderstandings.”

Jesse caught his eye and slid his gaze toward the bar. In the reflection of the mirrored wall behind the bar, Dominic could make out the sour look on Charlene’s face as she plonked down the tray. She started talking in angry whispers to one of the lone drinkers at the bar, as if she knew him well. Dominic frowned. He recognized the male. Thought maybe he’d seen him at the barber—

“You’ve caught quite a bit of attention, Dominic,” said Harley, her eyes twinkling.

Mila hummed. “I’ll bet plenty of tongues are wagging right now.”

Dominic nipped Mila’s ear. “There’s only one tongue I’m interested in. It’s a very talented tongue. I know it wants to lick my cock—I don’t know why you won’t let it. That’s just mean.”

She shrugged, giving him a look of mock sympathy. “I’m a pallas cat, sweetie. We’re all mean.”

“What if I give my cock the most thorough wash it’s ever had and make sure it’s really clean?”

“It wouldn’t make a difference.”

He grinned. “Ah, I see, my baby likes to suck dirty cocks.”

Shaking her head at his idiocy, she grabbed his beer. “Like I’ve said before: hopeless.”

“Hey, I’m here to fulfill your every fantasy. If what you want is to suck—” He cut off with a groan as she swirled her tongue around the neck of his bottle. “Ah, that’s not fair.”

“As my mother would say, ‘Fair? What is fair? I not know this word.’”

Jesus, his cock throbbed at her smoky voice speaking in that thick Russian accent. Dominic crushed her to him. “Say that again.”

Laughing, she nipped his ear. “I want to dance. You coming?”

“Coming? Later. Hopefully a couple of times.”

Rolling her eyes, she slid off his lap. “Always have sex on the brain, don’t you?”

“Around you, yeah.”