Free Claiming Curves (Werewolf & BBW Erotic Romance) by Arwen Rich Page B

street. Neon signs buzzed and flashed, and I found myself tingling with excitement despite my nervousness.
    “Where are we going, Jade?” I asked one final time, as we were outside some dingy, dangerous-looking bar named The Howling Moon . Jade stopped to look at me, and I expected her to berate me for questioning her so much. But instead she grinned her manic grin that made me nervous.
    “Right here,” she said.
    “Here?” I looked at her in alarm. Something about this place worried me. I looked up at the sign again – the letters were a cool neon blue, and encircled by a huge yellow circle.
    The Howling Moon. I had heard that name before ... but where?
    An alarm bell rang somewhere in the back of my mind, but before I could say or do anything, Jade had dragged me through the door.
    It was like entering a different world.
    The room pulsed to an animalistic, tribal rhythm which vibrated through the floor and into my legs. The entire bar seemed to be constructed of roughly-hewn pieces of wood, like some medieval structure. The air was thick with smoke, which swirled amongst the tightly-packed crowd of people.
    Dangerous-looking people. A pair of huge bikers in leather jackets, scarred and tattooed, swaggered past Jade and I, leering.
    I stopped at the threshold, frozen by nerves, and Jade gripped my hand, trying to pull me further in.
    “Jade,” I said, “There's something I don't like about this place ...”
    But Jade just turned back to me and laughed. “Don't worry!” she said. “These guys aren't as nasty as they look.”
    Her statement did little to ease my mind. A huge bald guy wearing a singlet wandered past as she spoke, and he turned and grinned at her words. I caught a glimpse of his face and recoiled – one torn, blind eye, and a thick red scar which ran from eyebrow to jaw. His teeth glittered sharply, stirring a sick feeling in my stomach. He turned away and continued to walk, which sent a flood of relief through me. I saw a tattoo on the back of his neck as he receded.
    A tattoo of a wolf paw.
    Those alarm bells rang again in my mind. But they were clearer this time. And suddenly it came to me. I realized, with a fresh rush of fear, where I'd heard the name of the bar – the Howling Moon. I'd seen it mentioned in the newspaper several times. It was notorious for violence.
    And werewolves.
    I squeezed Jade's hand, and she turned back to me again. She must have seen the fear on my face, because she looked a bit more concerned.
    “What's wrong?”
    “This bar,” I said, trying to keep my tone hushed – which was difficult, considering the pounding music. “It's ... a werewolf bar!”
    Jade burst out laughing again. “I know! Isn't it awesome?”
    I knew Jade had a thing for bad boys, but this was crazy. I opened my mouth to speak again, but I struggled to find any words. And before I could stop her, Jade had released my hand and weaved her way into the throbbing crowd of people.
    Not people. Werewolves.
    Helplessly, I watched Jade disappear into the crowd. Without her beside me, I felt instantly vulnerable. I wanted desperately to leave, to turn around and run through the door. But I couldn't leave without her.
    I took a deep breath and followed Jade into the crowd.
    I was instantly enveloped by the feverish throng. Heat emanated from the bodies as they danced around me. Sweaty limbs protruded from the darkness, undulating and writhing like snakes. My senses were overwhelmed by the rhythmic pounding of the music, and I felt myself begin to move with the crowd, despite myself.
    Something stirred deep inside me, something hot and pulsing, and suddenly I found myself writhing along with the other bodies. My sense of fear somehow evaporated in the music, became replaced with a sensuous longing to do nothing but move. My plan to find Jade receded into the back of my mind as I began to dance. I noted with awe that my normal self-consciousness had begun to fade. In the darkness, I became nothing but