by Ever Coming
“Damn, your family is fierce.” Parker was far too impressed by all the things my family could do that I could not. I was boring and normal.
“I got none of those skills.” Nor were they things you could learn, not that I wanted to. “So, how does this lion thing work?” Because changing the subject felt like the best plan ever.
“You mean, how do we do it, or what exactly is it you are curious about?” Curtis led me to the couch, and we all sat down.
“I know how you do it. I watched Barry change last night.” A growl filled my ears from Curtis’s side of the couch. “Did you just growl at me?”
“Sorry?”
That would be a yes.
“I mean, are you like Barry, needing to be on the other side of the country, because I thought that location was kind of a non-issue.” Out of all the things floating around in my brain, that seemed the most important at the moment, the underlying question being: Are you going to leave me?
“He’s alpha, so he has to be there. We’re just clansmen, so we can stay or go. That wasn’t a lie.” And as Parker spoke the words, I felt a bazillion times lighter.
“Roxy said you mate for life. Does that mean if we get it on, I’m stuck with you?”
“You don’t beat around the bush.”
Or, more accurately, I was horny and not wanting to inadvertently jump into a lifetime bond before I was ready because I wanted some sexy times.
“Never found it handy.” I shrugged.
“No, not if we get it on, but if we get it on and bite each other, kind of.”
And if that didn’t sound like the sexiest thing ever. Who knew I had a biting kink?
“Kinda of? Like, if we are apart, we die?” And now I was pulling from movie lore like an idiot. I should’ve asked Roxanne all of this stuff, but I had gotten so curious about her kids and if they were going to be like their dad that I never got back around to it.
“More like if we are apart, we are miserable.” Which sounded remarkably like the week before when they were gone. Did it get worse than that? Because if so, I wasn’t ready to handle that.
“No biting without permission,” I announced as if it were the logical solution to all things when, really, I wanted them to do it now, which was a bad idea even if it felt so right.
“Fair enough.” Curtis looked to Parker and back to me.
“So—what are we doing today?” I needed heavy conversation time to be over. We could and would get back to it soon enough.
“We were going to show you our lions.” Curtis shrugged, and my heart did a little flip. They were going to trust me with their lions even before they knew I was A-ok with it.
“I spoiled the surprise?”
“Pretty much. I guess we can go bowling instead.”
I bumped into his side at his escapades. I liked bowling as much as the next girl, but not at seven in the morning, and certainly not when we could spend quality alone time together instead.
“Wise ass.” His arm wrapped around me, Parker watching us both with a satisfied smile on his face.
“You are remarkably okay with all of this.”
Curtis wasn’t wrong. I was. Maybe it was because my family was so bizarre, or maybe it was because it hadn’t quite settled in yet, but most likely it was because it was them. Something about them just clicked with me in a way no one, not even Roxanne, ever had before.
“It makes sense.” There was no way I would be able to explain the how or why of that statement, but it was true. They made sense. We made sense. Even their animal side made sense, somehow. “What’s the deal with Gerri?” Because that had to be a bigger part of this than I knew.
“She is a shifter matchmaker.”
Of course, she was. Oh, Roxanne, you crafty one. I needed to find out how she discovered the woman in the first place since, as far as I knew, Roxanne’s family was perfectly boring in all ways.
“Roxanne knew from the get go.” I was mumbling more to myself than to them.
“That she did.” Parker agreed.
“Little stinker.”
“Are you upset?” Curtis’s inquired.
“Only that I didn’t know going in.” Maybe it was for the best, though. “Is Gerri ever wrong?” Because I wanted her to be right more and more with each passing moment.
“Not that we have heard of.” It was hard to tell if Parker was razzing me or if she really was perfect. Ha, it could easily have been both.
“Sounds like I’m stuck with you.” My face was beaming at that thought. The craziness of all of this took a back seat to the excitement that this not only might work out, but had a strong likelihood of doing exactly that.
“Pretty much.” Curtis’s lips placed a small kiss on my head.
“Works for me.” I leaned forward, capturing Parker’s lips in a quick kiss before turning to Curtis and doing the same. “Lion time?” Because if we didn’t stop now, the only time we were going to be having was sexy time and seeing their lions first felt important.
“Lion time.” They both agreed.
Chapter Twelve
A half hour later, we were in a field off a dirt road. Road being a generous term. I’d not been to this area before, and it was beautiful. The mountains filled the background with beauty as the field filled with wildflowers. I was impressed something so naturally beautiful could be so close to the city yet feel so far removed.
“Where are we?” I asked as Parker popped the trunk and retrieved a blanket.
“A friend’s land.” Curtis took my hand and led me to where Parker was now laying out the blanket.
“You have friends here?” Maybe they would be able to build a life here with less of a sacrifice than I assumed. Not that I’d had strong ties here, but knowing we both had positives in both places was a bonus. If my reaction to their going away for a few days before we even fully established a relationship was any indication, the long-distance thing was not for us.
“By friend, I mean another clan said it’s be cool if we came here.” Clan. Parker said clan.
How had I not known the city was filled with shifters? Or, maybe not filled, but had some. I generally was pretty decent at spotting those with oddities. I knew Gerri was off, for instance, even if I didn’t know how exactly.
Maybe it was only humans I could sense. Assuming Gerri was human, that might be it. Or maybe I just could sense gifts I knew, like premonitions and mediums because I grew up surrounded by them. Not that any of that mattered, but it was curious to be sure.
“Ah. Stanley from the insurance building.” I thought back to that day. Nope, he seemed normal. By my newest theory, that meant he could be one of them.
“That’d be the one,” Parker said over his shoulder as he trotted back to the car.
“He’s a lion?”
“No, but his mate is.” Curtis shot my theory out the window. His wife was a lion. No, he didn’t say wife. Mate.
“Mate meaning wife?” Was I going to be a mate? A wife? A girlfriend?
“Husband.”
I laughed at myself as he caught me putting myself into the situation. Because it made perfect sense to jump from a handful of dates to marriage. The things these guys did to me. “But that’d be the human equivalent.”
“So, not just some guy he shags.” My attempt at humor caught Parker’s ear as he returned with a thermos and a few mugs. I had to give it to him, the man was prepared.
“See, she gets it.” He winked at me before pointing to a coffee mug at which I smiled with a nod. Coffee was always good when you were running low on sleep. I accepted the cup greedily, taking a sip.
“Is this where you get naked?” Unlike with Barry, I was going to be watching very carefully and, if I saw all the bits, yay for me. A growl filled my ears. Holy cow, they’d both growled at me. “What is with the growling”
“You saw Barry naked.”
Crap on a cracker. That was where their brains went. How did they think I saw him change, and why on this green Earth would the
y believe I’d want to see the man who was like a brother to me naked? No. Just no.
“Not the eww bits.” I shook my head at them in disbelief. Here they were, sexy, handsome, successful men with all my attention, and they got caflustered because I might have seen a random set of balls.
“Eww bits?” Curtis looked legitimately confused. I took another drink of my coffee before even bothering to answer because, seriously? That needed an explanation?
“Yeah, the bits for Roxanne only.”
Parker was watching me far too intently for the topic at hand.
“They would not be ewww on you.”
And then they relaxed. Had they really thought I wasn’t into them—all of them? I needed to amp up my game. Roxanne had mentioned that Barry had been less than confident in them before she accepted him, maybe this was reminiscent of that. And goodness knew he had confidence now. Or cockiness, as Roxanne called it.
“Just checking.” Parker held out the car keys. “Here. In case you want to leave.”
“I won’t.”
“You may. We are pretty ginormous.” He looked to his package as he spoke. He did not just tell me his junk was scary huge. And then he fell to his side, a smug looking Curtis looking down at him. I guess that answered that.
“Good to know.” I winked at Curtis.
“Aren’t you feeling sassy.”
“I may have had some dreams that have me a bit worked up.” I might not have slept enough the night before, but those precious REM cycles paired with the far-too-short kisses, had me not only sassy but completely wanton.
“Were we in them?” Parker pulled himself up to a seated position, head resting in his hands as if I were about to give him a play by play, which I so was not, if only because I was dead curious to see their lions.
“Center stage.” Or center bed as it were—and shower—and couch and… Wow, I was a naughty one when I slept.
“Damn, you may be the perfect woman.”
Curtis nodded his agreement to Parker’s assessment of my worth. I didn’t correct them that it was one thing to dream about debauchery and another to be comfortable enough to attempt it.
“Get naked.”
The both smirked as they obediently complied with my demand. First, they peeled their shirts off, revealing bodies sculpted with lean muscle, Parker’s completely smooth to Curtis’s more natural look. Both of them sported tattoos. I was so going to have fun exploring them when a more opportune time arose.
As they kicked off their shoes, I focused on not drooling. The two of them standing there in just jeans was the stuff those sexy calendars were made of.
When their hands reached their flies at the same time, I knew I was being toyed with. They had choreographed their routine to some extent. The zippers made their slow decent before the jeans pooled at their feet. They were both commando. Commando, and not unhappy to see me. Before I could form words, they walked into the field, hand in hand, kicking their jeans off within the first two steps. My gaze was glued to their asses. It was official. They were trying to kill me with sexiness. There were far worse ways to go.
Their hands dropped to their sides as they took their form. None of the cracking and pain I’d read about in books and seen in crappy movies. It was a fluid, graceful motion that if I had blinked, I’d have missed.
Parker stood a bit taller than Curtis, both of them larger than any lion I’d seen in a zoo or at a circus. I put my cup down, getting to my feet before I chickened out and closed the distance between us. Up close, they were even more beautiful.
“Stunning,” was all I managed to verbalize before reaching my hand out, tentative at first, not out of fear I would be harmed but that they might not want me to treat them like a pet in that way. Each of them lowered their heads in a nod, and I petted them one after another, their fur not as soft as I’d imagined it would be.
I pointed to the blanket and wandered back, both of them padding behind me.
“Can we just lie here, like this? Together?” I asked. They both settled down, their bodies reaching beyond the scope of the blanket, and I climbed into the space they left for me and snuggled in, feeling safe and warm and suddenly sleepy. I let my eyes close and sleep take over when I heard the soft sound of their breaths slowing as well.
Chapter Thirteen
“Madeline, I need to see you in my office.” George’s voice grated on me worse than normal.
The day before had been so very perfect. After a nap in the sun, we shared a nice lunch at a small diner near the field before going back to their hotel and chatting the day away. Chatting and making out was more accurate, but the conversation was the best part of it and, with kissing that unbelievably hot, that was saying something. We talked about good things like favorite foods, but also about their plans to possibly relocate temporarily. It no longer felt too soon to have that on the table, the morning spent with their lions bringing us closer together, something I hadn’t anticipated when I first had the idea. Everything was so great and then reality hit back. It was time for work.
And George and whatever bug he had up his ass.
“Yes, sir.” Plan of the day, comply with all requests, apologize even if not my fault, and get back to my desk and away from him. At least that was the plan until he accidentally brushed up against my ass just as we reached his office. How was it again that this scum earned an office?
“Come in.”
“Yes, sir.”
As the door clicked closed, I knew things were not going to be as easy as I’m sorry. I will do better.
“Do you know why I called you in here?”
Ha, as if I would pre-confess even if I had an inkling, which I did not.
“From the sounds of things because you are upset with me.” I opened my eyes extra wide with each blink, the look of innocence I attempted designed more to annoy him than anything else. Why hadn’t I taken a second not-so-sick day?
“This is your formal write-up from the other day.” He slid the paper across the desk. Fuck, I’d almost forgotten about that. “Sign here.” He tapped on the highlighted line as if I couldn’t find it on my own. Asshat.
The document was pure fiction. Anyone reading it as truth would assume I was a volatile, lazy shithead employee who not only used their phone the entire shift but then belittled him in front of the entire staff as an ongoing bully brigade I was the mastermind of. Eff that.
“This isn’t accurate sir.” He pushed it back to me. I found it oh so convenient he’d managed to fill the entire page, not leaving any room for my rebuttal, which was required by state law.
“You can sign it or head straight to Human Resources.”
“Here.” I signed it with a notation saying further response forthcoming because, while I might not want to deal with Human Resources while I was so ticked off, it needed to be done at some point. George had no idea who he was dealing with, either. By the time I was done with it, not only did I envision a clean record on my side but also some disciplinary action on his. He’d finally done something that could be pinned on him by picking a moment with both witnesses and technology recording how untrue his phone complaint was. He was going down. I’d given in far too many times.
“Now, here is a second write-up for yesterday.”
I will not stomp off or slap him. I will sit here and wait until the time is right to take him down.
“I wasn’t here yesterday.”
“And that is the reason for the write-up.” He pushed it closer as if that would have me handing over my John Hancock without a fuss.
“I’m allowed to take a sick day.” In fact, if I didn’t, I would lose it, thanks to my sick bank being full, but I kept that part to myself.
“Yes, when you are sick and we both know you weren’t sick, you were with that that…”
Shit, he knew, or at least thought he knew I was with the one who helped emasculate him in front of the staff.
“Man?” I offered as a question, still unsure if he actually knew anyth
ing.
“Sure, if you want to play it that way, sure.” He pushed it forward again. This time it landed on the floor, where I left it. I might sign the first one as a way to get my part of the story in, but there was zero chance I was going to even read the second one now that it was on the floor.
“Actually, I was with two of them, and they took care of me and now I feel well enough to be at work.” He cringed at my words, which I miraculously was able to make 100 percent true. Yay me.
“Where is your doctor’s note?” He stood, leaning over his desk and looking down at me.
“You and I both know the employee handbook says doctors’ notes are needed to return to work after three consecutive absences.” And even that the company was flexible on when it came to flu season or the stomach bug that we had run through the place last spring.
“Sign it,” he seethed, pointing to the floor.
“Not going to happen.” My calm amazed even me and set him ablaze in anger.
“Then, off you go. You can return in the morning after a meeting with Human Resources.”
“My pleasure.” I grabbed the phone out of my pocket, clicking on the camera. “And do me a favor and quit staring at my ass every time I walk away. That, my little friend, is the stuff that gets people fired.”
“You have no proof.”
I held up my phone, letting him think I had more on it than the last thirty seconds. “Ahh, but I have a plethora of witnesses, so I highly doubt that matters.”
His eyes never left my phone, his face now burning with anger. This escalated quicker than his normal MO and, for the first time, I felt less than safe physically in his presence.
“You are on official leave pending an investigation into blackmail, Madeline. Security will escort you out.” He made no move to call them.
“I’ll manage quite well on my own.” I stood, nonchalantly making my way to the door, the phone facing him the entire time. “After I head to Human Resources, as is my right.”
