Claws and Effect (Small Town Shifters Book 1)

by Lola Kidd

  Rhett turned on the news. "I'm not going to laugh. Whatever you think will help you find the perfect one for you."

  "The books didn't help," she admitted. "They did help me see that some of my old relationships were doomed before they even started, but none of them made me feel like I'm any closer to finding love."

  He locked eyes with her and touched her face. "How will you know when you find it if the books didn't help?"

  "I don't know if I will know. Maybe I'll be like the lady in the movie."

  "I guess you'd better start looking for a giant fountain to fall into, then." He played with the hair around her face, wrapping it around his finger, letting it go and then starting the whole process over again.

  She licked her lips. "What about you? Do you think you're any closer to finding your one true mate?"

  "I don't know." He cleared his throat. "It's more complicated than it sounds. I don't think most shifters know right away. I think it takes time for our human side to warm up to the mate idea."

  "I've heard that before. One of my friends dated a guy for two years before deciding he was the one."

  "I don't think it'll take me that long." He let go of her hair and caressed her lips with his fingers.

  Joseline was on fire. Every hair on her body was standing up. This was it. This had to be it. She leaned forward ever so slightly, and that was all it took. Rhett took the hint and closed the distance between them. His lips brushed hers lightly at first. Then his tongue darted out to taste the inside of her mouth, and she moaned.

  He bit her lower lip and pulled away. "I've been waiting to do that for the last hour."

  "I've been waiting for the last two days."

  "Two days?" he groaned. "I knew I should have done that the moment I saw you."

  "What were you waiting for? Smoke signals? Sky writers? I thought it's been pretty clear that I want you."

  "I guess I'm dense. I thought you weren't so interested once you got back to my place and learned about the catfishing thing."

  She threw her head back. "Yeah, that did suck. I was all ready to go, and then to learn that it was all a joke was crushing. But I thought you were hot stuff from the moment I saw you."

  "Feeling's mutual, darling." He kissed her again, this time pulling her into his lap. He cupped her ass in his hand and squeezed.

  Joseline ran her hands up and down his strong arms. Nothing was going to hurt her as long as his arms were around her.

  He touched the button of her jeans, fingering it, and rubbed her jaw. "Can I take these off?"

  "I don't know." She bit her lip. "I mean, I want you, but I'm not sure I'm ready to go all the way yet."

  "That's fine," he whispered. "I want to taste you. I'm not asking for anything more right now."

  She nodded. If he was okay with her stopping, she was fine with him undressing her. She knew she could trust him. Rhett's word was good. She wanted him, but it was too much right now. She didn't want to get carried away with her passion and lust for him. It was late, and they both might feel different in the morning.

  But right now, she was going to enjoy every inch of him and everything he was doing to her.

  Once he got her out of her pants, he laid her across the couch and crawled on top of her. He moved her around like she weighed nothing. It had been a long time since she'd been with anyone so strong and capable.

  He lifted her shirt and nuzzled his face between her breasts. Joseline groaned and ran her hand down his back, finding the hem of his shirt. She lifted it off him and pulled him up to kiss her again. His body fit perfectly against hers. She was very pleased to find that the scent that had driven her wild the last two nights was his natural scent.

  She broke the kiss and put her face against his neck. "God, you smell good."

  He nipped at her shoulder. "Not as good as you feel."

  He pushed her back and kissed down her body. When he got to her panties, he lifted the elastic with his teeth. Gently, he tugged them down to reveal the fine hair covering her sex. When her underwear was at her thighs, he stopped being so gentle. He let the fabric fall from his mouth and sat up to pull her panties off her body.

  When she was naked in front of him, he spread her thighs and climbed between them. He kissed each one and then licked his way up to her center. Joseline quivered as he kissed her along her slit. Her hands were clenched at her sides as she watched him work.

  He moved so slowly. Too slowly. She pushed her pelvis toward his face.

  Rhett put a hand on her stomach. "Getting a little impatient?"

  Joseline groaned and rocked in his grip. "Do it already. I'm dying up here."

  "You think you're dying now? I've barely even started." He moved up to take off her bra, and Joseline protested again. "Seriously?"

  "I want to see all of you laid out before me." He took off the bra and squeezed her breasts in his hands. He licked one nipple and then sucked the other into his mouth. Joseline bucked off the bed and licked her lips.

  With her nipple still in his mouth, Rhett reached down between her legs and caressed her now dripping-wet folds. He found her clit and stroked it firmly a few times. Joseline saw stars. She was close. Her entire body was shaking, and she was pressed tight against him.

  She gripped his shoulders as he slipped a finger inside of her. Rhett let go of her breasts and moved to settle between her legs once more. He licked her entire sex twice before focusing on her clit. He sucked and licked at her while his finger moved inside of her.

  It was too much. Joseline moved her hands to cradle his head as her entire body tensed with pleasure. Her hips bucked off the couch as the sensation raced through her body. He didn't let up as she came in his mouth. He rode out her orgasm, teasing her and driving her pleasure higher until she screamed his name.

  "Oh my God," she gasped.

  Rhett kissed her thigh. "So, it was pretty nice for you?"

  "Get up here and kiss me."

  He kissed her stomach and then moved up to kiss her lips. While they kissed, he flipped their position on the couch so she was lying on top of him. "That was nice," he said.

  "That was fan-fucking-tastic," she replied. She kissed him deeply, tasting herself on his lips. "That was the best. Thank you."

  "Thank you for letting me." He kissed her forehead. "Would you like to sleep in my bed tonight?"

  "Sure." She smiled against his chest.

  No way was she going to feel different in the morning. She wanted to wake up next to him. This was it. She was falling in love, and he was falling in love with her too. She was living the romantic movie of her dreams with a man she could never have hoped would be hers. Finally, this whole thing was going to be worth it. Her life had to be in danger before she found someone who was worth risking it all for. And that thing he could do with his mouth? That was only the icing on the cake.

  Chapter Fourteen

  This was it. He had found her. It had been exactly what he wanted but didn't know he needed. He didn't know if he would ever be deserving of a mate, let alone one as good as Joseline. Everything that had happened last night was more than enough to let him know that his mate was interested. He was just going to have to put in a little more work to woo her. He had to figure out how to tell her everything without freaking her out too much.

  Last night was going to stay with him for a long while. He couldn't get his mind off her. Now, at work, all he could think about was having her again, and how amazing it would be to put her on the desk and take her as his own once more.

  "There are teenagers here to see you," Beau said.

  Rhett looked up from the files he was sifting through. "Teenagers, like who? Can't you handle this?"

  He was getting to something with his research. This thing with Murry had happened before: the thing Lydia had talked about and another time too. There were also three cases of humans being attacked in the town's history. He knew the first person who it had happened to—Lydia's mother.

  Lydia's mother had attacke
d a human when she was a child. Rhett hadn't lived in Lake Magnolia back then and had never gotten the full story. It was likely a case of a child who couldn't control herself, but it was still interesting. Shifters seemed to go feral here more often than in his birthplace. But that was twice for Lydia's mom. Once as a child and again as an adult. There had to be something useful there. There weren't any records from the incident. He was working from memory here. Even worse, the people involved in the incident were long gone.

  The human her mother had attacked was long gone and so was her mother. She'd left town and died. It was a dead end but still something to think about. He understood why the town Keepers at the time had covered it up. It wouldn't be good for shifter/human relations if the humans thought they were in danger. It was the same reason the Abbott Keepers were freaking out today.

  It wasn't just the humans who would freak out. He knew quite a few shifters who wouldn't want to put anyone in danger, too. The whole thing would get out of hand quickly, so he wanted to get to the bottom of it, just to be on the safe side. He didn't think his shifters were a problem, but he still didn't want it happening again. Not if he could stop it, anyway.

  "These teenagers are here to see you specifically," Beau told him. "I'm pretty sure they're dragons."

  That got Rhett's attention. "So, they're sending kids now."

  "I don't think this is about that. They're interested in Joseline, but they aren't trying to attack her or anything. These kids are friendly. Well, as friendly as dragon teens are going to get."

  Rhett closed the file and brought it with him to his desk. He recognized the teenagers right away. These were the three kids he had busted for underage drinking: a girl, a brown-haired boy, and a red-haired boy.

  "You guys here to cause any more trouble?" He sat down at the front desk.

  "Your human is neat," the girl said.

  "We wish we had more humans in Abbott," said the brown-haired boy. "No humans ever come to our town and stay. They always leave."

  "She isn't my human," Rhett said through gritted teeth. "She's her own human. Maybe more humans would come to Abbott if you didn't treat them like chattel."

  Teenagers always set his nerves on edge, but kids like these drove him nuts. It wasn't their fault they were like this. They had been taught all these crazy ideas, but that didn't make it any easier to talk with them. And if these kids knew it was thanks to their meddling on Speed Mating that he had found his mate, he would never hear the end of it. He didn't want to give them the satisfaction of telling them that they had brought him and Joseline together.

  The girl and the brown-haired boy were related, the kids of one of the richest couples in Abbott. The redhead was related to Hayes. They were cousins somehow. Everyone in his family had orange hair except for him. It was easy to recognize the whole family around town when he had the misfortune to go to Abbott, which made it easier to see who to avoid from a mile away.

  "We're here to apologize," the redhead declared. "We shouldn't have put you on those sites. We know it caused you a lot of irritation and pain. It shouldn't have been funny to us, but it was."

  "Why did you do it? You know catfishing is wrong, don't you? You know it hurts people, don't you?"

  "We know," the girl said. "We hope we didn't make any problems in your relationship. If we knew the nice human was your mate, we would've never done this. We thought you were single. That's what makes it funny. The human women would think they had a chance, and you'd want to have them too, except you couldn't have them all. That would have been hilarious. But it's much less funny because you have a mate. More mean."

  "She isn't my... We aren't... What you did would have been wrong either way." Rhett frowned. He didn't need to explain anything to these kids. He was surprised they were being so forthright.

  "Well, we're sorry," the red-haired boy said. It sounded like the words had burned coming out of his mouth. It was likely the first time he'd ever had to speak them aloud.

  "I accept your apology," Rhett said coolly. "I assume that means I won't have to deal with you guys anymore. You won't cause any trouble in Lake Magnolia or the surrounding area."

  "We won't cause you any more trouble," the brown-haired boy said. "Please spread the word that we're good now. We'll never hear the end of this if our parents don't think you're satisfied with our apology."

  The redheaded boy smiled. "You know, I always thought you were a useless Keeper, but obviously I was wrong. My parents are very impressed with you. You could still be a Keeper in Abbott if you wanted."

  That was high praise from his kind of dragon. If normal dragons were full of themselves, his family thought they were gods. But just because they used to be treated like royalty among their kind didn't mean they were special here in the modern human world. They had never gotten used to the idea that in modern times, they were just like everyone else.

  "Thank you," he said. "You guys can leave now. I have more work to do. I'll make sure to tell everyone about your epic apology."

  "I've got lunch," Joseline chirped, coming into the building. She stopped when she saw the kids. "Hey, you guys, again."

  "We apologized to her too," the brown-haired boy told Rhett. "We didn't mean to make her life difficult."

  Joseline nodded. "They sure did, and I accepted it."

  She shot Rhett a look. It occurred to him that she probably didn't want it getting out that she'd been catfished by a bunch of teenagers. Everyone in town thought she'd been attacked while she was coming to visit a friend. He wouldn't be the one to let her secret get out. If the apology was good enough for her, he wouldn't press the issue.

  The red-haired boy stood up. "Let's go. We've done what we're supposed to do, and there's nothing else for us to do in this place."

  What an odd thing to say. Now Rhett was sure that they hadn't wanted to apologize at all. Maybe the girl had, but the boys probably hadn't. This was all part of buttering him up. The dragons wouldn't be about to tie up all the loose ends in the Murry thing as long as he was standing in their way. They wouldn't be able to get rid of Joseline unless he stood down.

  It was nice of them to humble their children, but that wasn't going to be enough to get him to stop.

  "I need to stop by my house," Beau said, taking his lunch from Joseline. "I have a plumber coming by in half an hour."

  "That's fine," Rhett said.

  "Bring me back one of those sandwiches?" Joseline asked. "I know I have lunch, but that can be my snack later."

  Beau laughed. "That's my girl. And, yes, I'll bring you something back."

  He left for his house, and Rhett and Joseline settled into a nice silence. She looked lovely today. She was wearing skintight jeans and an off-the-shoulder top, and her heeled boots made her ass look amazing. He wondered if he could convince her to hop up on his desk after all. They were alone now. They could even use his private office. She had a naughty streak, so this was probably right up his mate's alley.

  "Have you ever signed up for any of those dating sites yourself?" she asked him.

  "Nope."

  "So, you only date people you already know or you've met in real life?"

  He didn't love this line of questioning, but he would humor her. "I don't date much."

  "Well, then, how long has it been since your last relationship?"

  He thought back. "I haven't been in a relationship in maybe a hundred years."

  She raised her eyebrows. "A hundred years? If those kids hadn't pulled their little prank, do you think you and I would've ever gotten together?"

  "Probably not."

  Well, they would have, because she was his mate. They would have likely at least met, but he couldn't tell her that yet.

  "What if you saw me at a bar?" she pressed.

  He shrugged. "I wouldn't have done anything."

  She frowned. "But you find me attractive?"

  "This isn't personal or anything."

  "So, even though you find me attractive and I'm just your type, y
ou wouldn't have done a single thing to get me?"

  "Nope." He picked up the file from his desk. "I want to get through this before Beau comes back, okay?"

  "Okay."

  She went back to sorting the files, and he went back to his own. She seemed distressed, but he would ask her about it at home. Right now, he needed to get through these files, and he didn't want to keep answering her questions.

  It didn't seem like such a great idea to ask her to come back to his office with him anymore. Once she'd cooled down at home, he would talk to her more about his past. But this wasn't the right time for it.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Day four, and she was getting antsy. Joseline couldn't help it. She was used to always being on the go. She didn't know how to relax. She had finished the project at Rhett's office in two days. What was there left for her to do? She could start on his house, but that seemed a little presumptuous.

  They had only been fooling around. If she looked like she wanted to move in already, it might spook him. Yes, he was a shifter, and maybe he thought she was his mate. But he hadn't said as much to her yet. She cared for him deeply and didn't want to do anything to mess up whatever they had going on. She needed to let him move at his own pace, and his pace was slower than hers. She would have already jumped his bones if she thought he would go for it. She'd wanted to take it slow the first night, but that was because it was night one, not because she didn't want him.

  After they'd slept together and had gone on a few dates, she would offer to organize his house. It wasn't even like she could just live there. She wasn't going to move herself right on in. He had to ask her first.

  No making the first move anymore. Only after he showed that he was truly invested in her and committed to being with her would she allow herself to imagine a future more than a week away and show how much she truly cared about him.

  Some might see it as playing a game, but she saw it as keeping her heart safe. He was holding back on her. After he revealed himself, she would let her guard down.

  This was the first time she'd spent the day at his house. She hadn't followed him in to work this time. She was too afraid to walk around the neighborhood herself, but she had made one trip over to see the puppies again.