Page 70 of Taken by Moonlight

Dante ushered me over to a table. We sat and two chefs scurried over withplates.

“I thought you said you didn’t like to be waited on at the barbecue,” I toldDante.

His mouth twitched in a brief smile. “I don’t. They’re doing this for you,sweetheart.”

He introduced the pair. The head chef, whose hat was taller and whose body was wider, was Andre. The sous chef, a thin shifter with an earnest look, wasPaul.

Andre, his white apron stained with sauce, reached us and bowed a little. “What can I get you for dinner, MissPeyton?”

I’d rather have stood in line like the rest of them, but doing so meant an insult to these wolves eager to please. “Give me a selection of everything,please.”

Paul peered at me with friendly interest. Maybe a little too friendly, but he seemed harmless. “Todrink?”

“Iced tea, please. Thankyou.”

“I’ll have my usual,” Dantedecided.

His hat bobbed as he nodded. “Excellent.” Then Andre beamed at Dante. “A woman with a healthy appetite is a goodwoman.”

Both scurried off. I snorted. “He has no idea how healthy my appetite canbe.”

Dante slid his hands around my backside, reached down and cupped my ass, squeezing it. “I love your appetite, sweetheart. In bed and out ofit.”

His smoky voice hinted of what he wanted later, perhaps as dessert. A shiver raced down my spine. Dante was a powerful alpha wolf, and what he wanted, he pursued with relentlesspassion.

The two chefs and assistants brought over platters of food to our table and place settings. The food tasted wonderful, and my appetite perked up at the aroma of smokedmeat.

Dante licked barbecue sauce off his lower lip, his hooded gaze watchingme.

“You do have a good appetite, Peyton. I enjoy seeing youeat.”

I set down my fork, the chicken piece still speared on it. “Oh. Guess I’m making a pig ofmyself.”

I made an oinking sound. Dante did not smile. With preternatural speed, he turned and seized my chin, not exactlygentle.

“Stop that. Stop mocking yourself,” he bitout.

I summoned my coolest look. “Why? You don’t like my sense of humor? Then why bring me here, Dante? This is the realme.”

“The real you is a full-figured woman with plenty of life and spark. Not this.” He speared a piece of chicken, brought it to my mouth. “Eat.”

Bristling, I pushed it away. “I’m nothungry.”

“Don’t bullshitme.”

I glared at him. “Don’t force me into something I don’twant.”

Dante considered and set down the fork, the move very careful. “I would never dothat.”

His slow smile carried a warning. “But I will teach you a lesson you must learn. Get up and strip naked. Right here andnow.”

I stared at him. “In…in front of everyone? Thechildren….”

“They’re gone,” he said in a dangerously quiet voice. “They ate first and went inside to play games under the supervision of the pack nannies. Only the adults areleft.”

And then I recalled what Alex had told me earlier about the Saturday barbecues and how they typically ended in sex. Lots of sex, the pack not caring who witnessedthem.

Nudity was celebratedhere.