I gave him the ticket. "I'm gathering that smile of yours means you've decided to pick up the offered shares in the club?"

"Yep. I'm now hoping the Rocker decides to extend the modern music theme, so I can make lots of lovely moola. Have a good time, Riley."

I grinned. "I intend to."

He closed the door. Darkness swamped me, and while I could switch to infrared easily enough, I simply stopped and gave my eyes time to adjust. Infrared didn't do the club or its atmosphere justice.

Hologram stars blossomed along the roof, but their twinkling glow was being overshadowed by the stronger light of the blue moon, which had almost peaked in its journey across the midnight-colored ceiling. Tables and chairs ringed the huge dance floor that dominated the room, and it was packed with singles and couples, some dancing, some making love, some simply watching.

The music played by the DJ in the far corner was filled with sensual and erotic melodies designed to seduce the senses, and the air was as hot as the music, rich with the scent of lust and sex. I breathed deep, allowing the atmosphere to soak through my pores, right into my very bones. An answering tremor of excitement coursed through every fiber. I loved this place. Always had.

I walked down the steps and headed into the change rooms. After taking a quick shower to wash the smell of dust from my skin, I popped a mint to lose the garlic breath then did my makeup. After finger-combing my damp hair, I shoved my bag into the locker, clipped my credit card and locker key onto a chain around my neck, then naked I headed out into the crowd.

Closer to the dance floor, the sensual beat of the music was accompanied by grunts of pleasure and the slap of flesh against flesh. The fever in my blood rose several more notches and my breath caught, then quickened. The press of flesh made my skin burn, and my already erratic heart race that much harder.

I couldn't see Misha, but that wasn't surprising, given he'd supposedly been mating with a blonde when Rhoan had left the club. Misha had never been one to miss an opportunity, and I suspected he'd enjoy making me wait.

But if he was playing it straight, and did have a tail, I couldn't make it look like I was searching for him. Which meant I could have a little fun before I got down to the nitty-gritty end of business. Hell, Rhoan wasn't the only one capable of abusing Directorate time, and I had no intention of letting Misha think he was going to get away with forcing me to wait.

I pressed deeper into the crowd, dancing, flirting, and generally having a great time. Several males gravitated toward me, drawn to the scent of a free and willing wolf as easily as bees to a honeypot. We danced, and while it was both playful and sensual, it was also very much an erotic foreplay, with both men vying for attention and favors. I toyed with them, teased them, enjoying their caresses, their kisses, the heat of their bodies pressed against mine.

But before I could decide between the two, a third wolf joined our dance. His hands slid around my waist, his touch possessive, almost demanding. He pressed me back against him, his body like steel against my spine, his erection pressing teasingly between the cheeks of my rear. Little Hash fires of desire skittered across my already overheated skin, and I knew in that instant it was him I wanted inside.

With the skill of a true artist, he herded me away from the other two men. I didn't care. Not when our dance was a slow but carnal overture of what was to come.

His breath was warm against my neck and ear, the kisses he dropped across my shoulders and neck as sensual as his touch. And his touch had me melting.

"Turn around." His voice was a husky growl that sent my pulse rate soaring.

I obeyed. He was a brown wolf, though his skin and hair were more warm chocolate in color than the usual mud color of the brown packs. He was lean, but muscular in an athletic sort of way, and his eyes were the most amazing shade of green. Mint colored, flecked with gold.

He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close again. Sweat formed where we touched, and the air was so thick with the heat of our desire I could barely breath. And somewhere in the foreplay of our dance, I realized he was an alpha wolf. It was there in the way he moved, in the authority of his touch. In the way he took control. An alpha was a rare find here in Melbourne, where male wolves were generally more gamma or even beta. Alphas were leaders, takers, and tended to accumulate in Sydney, where the fiercely competitive, intensely dominant attitude of an alpha more easily fitted in.

I'd never been with a true alpha before, as Talon didn't really count. Although he was an alpha, he was also lab created and all his assets—including his machismo—had been amped up by his creators.

But there was something about this alpha that called to me in a way few other wolves had. Maybe part of that was simple curiosity. Alphas had the reputation of being excellent but demanding lovers, and if he made love anywhere near as good as he danced, well, I wasn't about to say no.

We moved deeper into the heated crush of bodies, where the smell of sex was so powerful it was almost liquid, and space was at such a premium that it felt like a hundred different people were touching, pressing, caressing. We danced some more, played some more, teasing and tasting, nipping and kissing each other, until the need that pulsed between us became all-consuming.

Just when I thought I could stand no more, his mouth claimed mine, his kiss fierce as he lifted me up and onto him. Then he was in me, and it felt so damn good I groaned.

Wrapping my legs around his waist, I began to move, riding him slowly, savoring the sensations flowing through me, until the waves of pleasure rippling my skin became a molten force that would not be denied. And as the shudders of completion ripped through us both, and the warmth of his seed flooded deep inside, I found myself wishing that this wolf was fertile, that he and I could make a child. An odd wish, given I didn't even know his name.

Yet I didn't really need to, because there was something about him that seemed oddly familiar.

The stranger leaned his forehead against mine for a moment, then said, in a husky voice that had a tingle vibrating right down to my toes, "I want you for the evening."

Normally, I wasn't overly fond of demands, but the way he said "want" made me melt. Or maybe that was the press of his lean, hard body against mine. I took a deep breath, and tried to remember I was here tor a reason.

"Unfortunately, I have a prior arrangement." Which was nothing but the truth, though a dangerous one to admit to a stranger given I had no idea who Misha's watchers were. For all I knew, I'd just fucked one of them.

"No chance of breaking it?"

"Not this time."

"Ah." The rich green depths of his eyes gleamed with hunger, warmth, and amusement. And something else. Something that made my breath catch in my throat, and my heart do a strange flip-flop.

It was the recognition of destiny.

And I knew, in that moment, this man would play a major part in my future.

If I lived to have a future, that was.

"My timing seems to be off yet again." His voice was a low growl of frustration that sent a warm shiver up my spine.

Talk about one hot wolf… then his words clicked, and I realized I'd met him before. Here, on this dance floor, in a similar situation. Only that time, he'd let me get away before we got as far as sex.

"Kellen?"

His warm, slow smile sent another surge of desire through my bloodstream. "I was wondering if you'd remember me."

I raised an eyebrow. "I'm surprised you remembered me. We only shared a five-second dance."

Humor vied with the desire in his eyes, an appealing mix that had me mentally cursing the reason I was here. When it came to sex, I'd much rather play with this wolf than the icy pole I had waiting.