Free Dual Threat by Wendi Zwaduk

Chapter 1
    “A beer and a real good fuck.”
    Ian massaged his temples. He’d stared at the computer screen for far too long and his head ached. A cold beer and a hot woman would help ease his tension right about now. Beer to chill him out and the woman to take his mind off the numbers. He didn’t have either the booze or the girl, but the inventory still stared back at him from his computer screen. Lots of numbers, and each needed a place to go on his spreadsheets. He tallied the camera sales. He’d need to order a couple hundred more micro wireless cameras as well as the infrared home monitoring cameras and at least a thousand yards of cable. The numbers began to blur again, and he closed his eyes. Running the store made paying the bills a breeze, but sometimes he hated looking at surveillance equipment.
    A vision formed behind his closed eyelids. The woman, curves where a woman should be curvy, black hair in fat curls dangling down her back, and not a stitch of clothing in sight, danced. The spotlight she moved in front of gave him the perfect outline of her body and a tantalizing hint of her identity. He’d know her anywhere. His mouth watered, and he longed to touch her. He slid down in his seat and thanked the Goddess the desk hid his erection. He cupped the bulge in his pants with both hands and stroked in time with her swaying.
    Kaia Martin. His tiger roared from within. The moment he laid eyes on her, he and his animal knew she’d complete him. Whether she’d fit in with him and his brother … they’d figure that out soon enough. Better to tempt her with one tiger than to scare the living fuck out of her with both of them at the same time.
    He rested his head on the back of his chair and continued to stroke himself. He needed to see her. The Glass Martini Gentlemen’s Club sucked in so many ways. Too much cigarette smoke, too many drunken men trying to paw the girls, and more than a couple of girls trying too hard to hit on the paying customers. He’d begged his sister, Sonya, not to work there, but being the wild card of the family, she ignored whatever he said. Then he met Kaia. Kaia served as the bright spot in his life.
    But Kaia wanted to stay friends. The thought ripped him right out of his fantasy. Seeing her dance helped him temporarily quench his desire for her, but he’d never taken things to the next level. Not with Dade around. His tiger growled, and he opened his eyes. Warm orange light streaked across the buildings from the late-day sun. Thinking about a woman wouldn’t help him get his inventory finished, and it sure as hell wouldn’t get him to the Glass Martini any faster.
    He sighed and refocused on his laptop screen. The urge to see his friend outweighed his need to finish the inventory. The moment they’d met came to mind. His sister insisted there was a girl at the club who would hit it off big time with both him and Evan. He scoffed, but went to the Glass Martini anyway with Evan in tow. Three years later, the friendship remained strong. But he wanted to take things further. His tiger wanted his mate.
    His phone pinged, signaling an incoming text. Ian closed the laptop lid. Time to call the night a wash and find something better to do. He swiped his thumb across the phone screen to bring up the text. A picture filled the screen. Evan, his twin, grinned next to one of his abstract paintings. The caption underneath read SOLD ANOTHER ONE .
    Ian grinned. Talk about being the same but complete opposites. Being identical twins, he and Evan shared the same broad build, same cropped blond hair, same blue eyes. But where Ian excelled at computers and wiring, Evan got off on painting. Ian never understood what Evan saw in the streaked combinations of colors. He claimed each painting meant something. Hell if Ian knew what, but he didn’t care. Evan followed his heart. That’s what mattered and made him a good living. He’d already sold four works at about two thousand dollars each. Not bad