by E A Price
Francine looked away quickly. No, it was never like this for her. She usually knew guys as friends before they went out together. She was never usually hit with potent attraction. She didn’t know what to do with it!
“Are you okay?” murmured Felicia.
“Fine,” choked Francine, as she felt a flush creeping over her.
Gabby sighed. “Are you sure you want those two?”
As if on cue the two men muscled through the door. The smaller one, the one besotted with Felicia, smirked. “Hey, Gabby, just returning your stapler.”
“You’re not carrying a stapler, and it’s already on my desk,” growled Gabby.
“Well, since we’re here…”
The larger one eased into the office and gave her another panty-wetting grin. Her flamingo may have fainted at that point.
*
Stone was standing outside the ladies’ locker room. He was waiting patiently; his rhino was waiting impatiently. They were both annoyed by Biff, who was pacing up and down.
“You sure you don’t mind me taking the blonde.”
The retort of ‘take her, take her anywhere you want’ hovered on his tongue, but he instead just said no. He could care less whether the blonde had just won an award for being the most flexible flamingo on the planet, or if she owned a brewery – he wasn’t interested. His rhino only had eyes for Francine.
She wasn’t his usual type, but that wasn’t a bad thing. His rhino didn’t usually have opinions on women, so he was keen to see where this was going. Plus, the scent, the gloriously sinful and decadent scent that had been torturing him was her. She smelled like chocolate peanut butter fudge cake. Seriously, she did. How could anyone not notice? How could anyone function with a divine scent like that wafting through the gym? He shook his head.
When Gabby had reluctantly introduced them, Biff had gone straight for Felicia. That was more than fine with him. Stone had guardedly studied Francine before carefully taking her hand in his and saying hello. It was glorious. Handshakes shouldn’t be glorious, but this one was. She looked at him with clear blue eyes, a faint smile on her cherry lips, and she said hello in a breathy, little voice and he was gone.
Biff had raised an eyebrow in surprise, and Gabby had glared at him in disgust, but he couldn’t help it. His arousal skyrocketed and every inch of his being wanted to throw the flamingo over his shoulder and run all the way back to his apartment to show her that it was true what they said about rhinos. It would certainly make her forget about the males of her own species – that was for damn sure.
She was smaller than he expected, smaller than the average flamingo. He guessed about five-foot-six, maybe seven, it was hard to tell in her skyscraper heels. Still, she was tiny compared to him and would feel just right plastered up against his chest. Her skin was quite pale, and with pouty red lips, thick, long eyelashes and sleek, black hair, she almost looked like a doll. So perfect. He was almost too afraid to touch her in case he broke her. Thankfully, he noticed with more than a little glee that she had a body built for lovin’. The tight jeans she wore didn’t so much hug her ass as give it a sensual caress. He was actually a little jealous of them. And jeez, her breasts looked like they were trying to escape her clingy shirt.
His rhino rumbled happily, thrilled at the thought of getting his hands on the voluptuous flamingo. He didn’t know where this sudden and overwhelming attraction came from, but he knew he had to have this female.
The two flamingos erupted out of the locker room in a fit of giggles and chatter. And because fate was obviously torturing him, she was wearing a very tight pair of shorts and a vest. His rhino drooled. It wasn’t going to be easy to pretend he was professional.
*
Francine frowned, inwardly as she watched her lithe friend on the running machine. Her limbs moved as easily and gracefully as the ebb and flow of the tide. Men around her were sighing.
“I don’t work out much,” she said to Stone. She was trying to hide her shyness. For some reason, he was bringing her out in a rash of bashfulness.
He smiled warmly. “We’ll start slowly.”
She watched as two very buff women lifted weights. They had so much testosterone that both of them had moustaches. “I’m not sure I want to look like that.” She waggled her eyebrows in the direction of the Tom Selleck appreciation club.
Stone frowned. “No we don’t want that,” he said with feeling, giving her body the once over. He smiled again, and her flamingo swooned. “We won’t do anything drastic. It can’t hurt to be fit in case…” His face darkened as if thinking of something very unappealing.
“In case of what?”
His jaw ticked. “In case you get mugged, or some bastard attacks you – we should work on some self-defense moves.” He brightened at that thought.
Yeah, she could have done with a few moves when that horny bastard St. Fontaine came at her. Her flamingo squawked as she tried to put that unfortunate incident behind her. Until she got to court... Ugh, that was a downer. At least when she got there, she could explain this whole mess to the judge and then forget all about it. Obviously, he or she would see that it was all a big misunderstanding. She wasn’t trying to kill him, just trying to make him keep all his appendages to himself.
Stone smiled benignly. “Let’s start with some stretches, follow what I do.”
She did. Not very expertly. She had danced in some of the musicals she’d starred in, but she hadn’t done much and in those instances she just did as the choreographer told her. Stone grinned at her, but not in a laughing way, it was kinder than that. It was patient and lovely. The man radiated muscular good naturedness.
And he had very warm, plate-size hands. She found that out when he moved her, gently repositioning her and flexing her into a different position. Her stomach did flip-flops and her bird quivered every time he touched her.
This didn’t happen to her. She didn’t usually feel attraction that left her breathless and her heart beating like an out of control drum. She’d pretended she had in the past, both on and off stage. Off stage when she didn’t want to hurt a previous boyfriend’s feelings. These new feelings were both exhilarating and a tad frightening.
And she generally didn’t feel attracted to men like him either. Men who spent more time working out than she spent doing her hair – and she spent a lot of time on her hair.
But he was nice, and not in the way you would say to a man who you were trying to let down gently and couldn’t imagine as anything other than a friend. And he wasn’t just a gruff and obnoxious meathead as she would have expected from a man his size.
“Hi, Stone.”
Francine glared, and her flamingo clucked as a tight female body in an even tighter outfit sauntered by, giving Stone come hither looks. He grunted and palmed one of Francine’s hips with one of his massive hands. She almost yelped, but whether, in objection or excitement, she wasn’t sure.
“That’s it,” he murmured, throatily in her ear. Her back brushed against his chest. Heat from his huge body seeped into hers. “Just ease your body round like this.”
“Ummm hmmm,” she whimpered.
She knew visiting the gym would be torture. She had no idea it would be this kind of torture.
*
Stone smiled like a lovesick puppy. Maybe he was ill. Maybe he needed to get his head checked. He didn’t have this kind of reaction to women. He didn’t usually want to sweep them into his arms and howl at every other male that this female was his and his alone.
Her cheeks were pink, she was huffing and puffing like a freight train, and sweat was rolling down her face and she looked gorgeous. How other men weren’t flocking to her, he didn’t know. Couldn’t they scent her? Couldn’t they detect that invisible pull to her body like he did? No? Well, good. Although, he almost had a murderous rhino on his hands after she bent over, and a few of the gym members stopped what they were doing to get a good look at her heart shaped ass. His beast wanted to charge them and tear them to pieces. Bu
t Stone managed to keep him in check. Mainly by promising to bogart her ass from all other men. He liked to think of it as his ass, and he couldn’t wait to get those pants off it and see it in the flesh.
“Are we finished?” panted Francine
“Hmmm? Yeah, you did great today.”
She smiled prettily. “Thanks.”
“Do you wanna grab a drink or something?” He flashed his sexiest smile and flexed his muscles ever so slightly. His rhino leaned forward expectantly.
Francine hesitated ever so slightly. She opened her pretty mouth, the word yes hovering on her lips. Her eyes flashed yellow before she abruptly looked at her feet. “I don’t think so, thanks anyway.”
She scurried away, and Stone gaped after her. His rhino hammered at him to run after her, but Stone was in shock. She said no!
Chapter Thirteen
“Well aren’t you the lucky birdy?” Felicia gave her a knowing grin.
“What do you mean?” asked Francine. She wasn’t entirely sure what she meant, but the heat was already rising to her cheeks in readiness.
“I saw the way your trainer was looking at you.”
Francine shrugged as she reapplied her make up. She had to make sure it was immaculate; she might run into Stone on the way out. “And I saw the way yours was looking at you.”
Felicia snorted. “Please, he just thinks I’m hot. Yours was two moves away from dragging you to the ground and humping you rotten.”
“Very vivid image, thank you for that,” she muttered.
She was being very careful not to let Felicia know how delighted she was to hear that. She didn’t know why. They hadn’t held anything back from one another since they were fourteen years old, and they were both in love with Billy Fischer – his dad owned an ice cream parlor. But for some reason she didn’t want Felicia to see how interested she was in Stone. She didn’t really understand it, but she felt precious over the matter. She tried reaching out to her flamingo for help, but the bird was quiet for a change. Instead of flapping around panicking, the creature seemed to be thinking. Francine didn’t know whether she should be more worried about that or her crush on her trainer.
Her flamingo had not been pleased when Francine said no to his offer of a date. But instead of being upset, she was quiet. It was unnerving. She regretted saying no, but she had made a resolve not to date men like him again. Sure, he seemed like he was a world away from the vapid actors she previously dated, but he wasn’t. They were all just preening men who thrived on attention from women and thought they could snap their fingers and anything female would fall at their feet. She bet Stone had women panting after him by just flexing his muscles – well she wasn’t going to be one of them.
Felicia nudged her out of the way of the mirror, and Francine sighed as she watched her friend try to improve upon perfection. “I’m serious, Franny. You didn’t see my trainer with his hands all over me. And Stone practically growled when another male eyeballed you.”
“What other male?” asked Francine, genuinely interested as she hip checked Felicia out of the way. Being hippy had its advantages.
“When you were trying to touch your toes…”
She groaned. “Don’t remind me.” She assumed she still could, but since it had been many a year since she felt the need to bend over and touch them, she found it was quite a struggle.
“A guy leered at your ass, and Stone sent him a look that would freeze lava.”
Francine shook her head. “You’re imagining it.”
“Nope, I swear on my Squirrel Girl badge in square dancing,” – it was the only badge Felicia had managed to achieve – “he is into you. When I suggested that we switch trainers, he looked horrified at the idea.”
“He didn’t agree to switch, did he?” she squeaked, with just a shade of worry.
Felicia smirked. “No, and it looks like the feeling is mutual.”
“Fine,” she snapped. “I’m attracted to him, okay? He’s just so… I don’t know, male. I’m not sure I could actually be alive and not be attracted to him.”
“Well, I’m alive and I’m not attracted to him, but I say go for it.”
“Go for what?”
“Take him out for a drink and then take him back to yours. Actually no, scratch that, make sure you go back to his. No offence but even cockroaches don’t want to be seen in your building.”
Francine’s flamingo perked up. Yes, she liked the sound of that. Francine on the other hand… “I don’t know; that’s very… spontaneous.”
“You’re saying that likes it is a bad thing when it’s actually a good thing.”
“But I don’t even know what he likes, I haven’t had time to get to know him…”
Felicia snorted. “It’s clear that what he likes is you. That isn’t a baseball bat he’s smuggling down the front of his pants. Instead of acting like the kind of woman you think he wants, you could just try being yourself for once. No one’s saying you have to go out with him again after tonight.”
“You mean, have a one night stand?” Francine and her flamingo were shocked that her staid married friend would suggest this. Felicia had been trying to find a suitable man for Francine to settle down with for years. She wanted them to both be staid married women.
“Sure, why not.”
Francine allowed herself to be moved away from the mirror again. “I don’t usually do that.” The loosest she got was making out with a camel shifter, and at the time she had been pretty high.
“No, but I’ll bet he does. It’s obvious he’s not marriage material, and you’ve had a… ah, difficult week. So let loose and let him show you why rhinos have such a good reputation in the pants department - if you get my drift… I mean his penis.”
“I know what you mean,” laughed Francine. So, the big guy was a rhino, huh. That explained his size. She was kind of curious herself about whether he was in proportion.
“And you can tell me about it later,” said Felicia.
“The sex?”
“The penis – I’m stuck with the same one for the rest of my life, I need to live vicariously through you when it comes to new and exciting penises.”
Francine pursed her lips. “Why don’t I just take you a picture?”
Felicia mulled that over. “Could you?”
“No!”
“Look, just have fun with him, flirt, and don’t mention the fact that you’re on trial for attempted murder. Let him buy you a few drinks, and then when the time comes just enjoy the ride. What could one night of fun hurt?”
Francine still had misgivings but given the twittering encouragement of her flamingo and her friend she agreed she would go out with him. “Fine, if he asks me out, I’ll go out with him.” She said this in the confidence that she’d already said no, and he wouldn’t ask her again.
*
“What is that?” asked Francine glaring at the pink concoction.
“Strawberry daiquiri,” replied Stone with a wink.
“Well, I hope it’s for you because I’m not drinking that.” She motioned to the bartender, who seemed to be smirking at Stone, and ordered a glass of white wine. The bartender took the pink drink away.
“Is that a standing order for your lady friends?” she asked, teasingly.
He chuckled with a just a little discomfort. “You got me, feathers. Most women like them.”
“I don’t.”
“You’re not like most women.”
“So, feathers, huh?”
Stone smiled in a lazy, sexy way. “Yeah, you’re a flamingo, right?”
Her flamingo fluffed her feathers proudly. “Right, and I hear you’re a rhino shifter.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You hear?”
“Flamingos have very little sense of smell; we can’t scent other shifters.”
For some reason, he looked disappointed. The bartender hovered near them, wiping the same glass over and over. Stone scowled at him before moving Francine to a slightly more secluded table in the cor
ner.
He gazed at her for a few moments, and she found herself heating under the scrutiny. “You know, you don’t look like a flamingo shifter.”
Her bird huffed indignantly. “And what does a flamingo look like?” she said, peevishly.
His face dropped, and he scooped up one of her small pale hands in his massive one. “That wasn’t an insult, feathers. You’re just different… I… ah…” He stumbled over the words, and she relented.
“It’s fine. My dad was actually a bull shifter. So I’m part cow.” She giggled, self-deprecatingly. “That would explain my hips.”
“Yeah,” he agreed with feeling as his gleaming eyes wandered up and down her body.
Francine decided to change the subject. “So, do you train people full-time, ah, Stone – is that your first or last name.”
Color tinged his cheeks. “It’s just Stone.” She was about to press him to see if he had an embarrassing name when he started explaining about working for a bail bond agency. She didn’t ask for details on that; it was too close to home to her current situation. And he talked about boxing in some underground shifter fights.
“Isn’t that illegal? And dangerous?” Her flamingo flapped in worry for their huge rhino.
“Technically it’s illegal, but cops look the other way. Short of murdering each other in the ring we can’t hurt each other. The fights tend to allow rowdier, younger shifters to work off some of their anger – rather than working it off on the cops. And I haven’t lost a fight yet. No one can beat me.”
Her flamingo swooned, and Francine gave the creature a mental eye roll. Stone squeezed her hand lightly, and she realized he was still holding it. She also realized that new drinks had appeared in front of them. She was too busy listening to him to even notice what was happening around her.
“Wow, uh, tell me more.” She slapped her interested look on her face and settled herself for a long night.
“But I want to talk about you,” he purred as she took a big gulp of wine.
