by E A Price
She giggled. “Thank you.”
Magda smoothed down her hair. “I really should be getting back to my kids, I have a sixteen-year-old who can figure out the locks on the adult channels.” Ronald nodded at her, and she blushed. “It was lovely to see you, Ronny, and so nice to meet your girlfriend.”
“I’ll walk you out,” said Ronald. “Back in a minute, m’boy.”
They left through the back door, whispering softly. Magda had been his dad’s neighbor for over six years. She moved into the house next door after her mate ran off to Canada with a goose shifter. She was a sweet, matronly lady, and Stone knew that she did a lot of cooking for his dad while he fixed things around her house. They were the perfect neighbors.
“Was that your dad’s girlfriend?” asked Francine, giving an experimental tug on the handcuffs.
“Nah, that’s his next door neighbor.”
“Who he makes out with,” she said, saucily.
“They weren’t making out, they were… I don’t know; maybe she lost her contact or something.”
Francine let out a delicate snort. “Was she looking for it in your dad’s mouth while he took off his pants?”
Stone frowned as his dad came barreling through the door. “Don’t just stand there m’boy, let the lady sit down. Would you like a drink m’dear?”
“Actually, I wouldn’t mind using the bathroom.”
“Upstairs, first on the left.”
Francine raised her hand and waggled it around, giving Stone a pointed look.
Ronald grabbed a beer out of the refrigerator. “Do I want to know why you’re attached at the wrist?”
“It’s ah, a long story,” repeated Stone, lamely.
Francine cleared her throat. “You need to let me out of these.”
His rhino shook his head vehemently. “You’ll run off.”
“If you need to handcuff a woman m’boy, you’re not doing it right.”
Stone inwardly fumed, and his rhino harrumphed. Like he needed advice from his gruff father about getting women. “Fine.” He led her up to the bathroom and took the cuffs off. He wagged his fingers at her like she was an errant schoolchild. “You run off again, and I will find you.”
“Yeah, I’m starting to get that.” She pouted, sadly.
Stone groaned, and he softened. She could knee him in the crotch a thousand times, and he bet he couldn’t stay mad at her for longer than thirty seconds. “Just… I’ll be downstairs.”
He walked downstairs, slowly and found his dad pottering in the kitchen. It was always a strange sight for him – his father in the kitchen. He didn’t belong there, anymore than a wild otter did. After his mom left, the oven was used so little that his dad started storing tools in it. That changed when Magda arrived. He needed the oven to heat up the meals she made him.
“Pretty girl,” commented Ronald in a neutral but clearly interested voice.
Hell yes, she was! His rhino roared in agreement. Prettiest girl in the world as far as he was concerned. He could wax lyrical all night about her, but instead he said, “Yeah.”
“Flamingo?”
“Uh huh.” Stone pulled a beer from the refrigerator.
Ronald narrowed his eyes. “You aren’t forcing her to do anything she doesn’t want to do, are you?”
Stone pondered that question. Technically he was because she had made it clear she didn’t want to go back to the cops. But then, what skip did? “Probably not in the way you’re thinking. What were you doing with Magda?”
His dad actually smirked. “I’m not explaining the facts of life at this late stage, m’boy.”
“But since when…”
Ronald gave him a patient look. “For quite a while now. Why do you think she cooks all my meals?”
“Because she’s a nice person? Because you fix her shower when it goes on the fritz?”
“No, m’boy.”
“But she’s been making you meals for years!” Stone shook his head at the image of his dad making out with Magda. Parents shouldn’t be allowed to do that kind of thing.
“Yeah well, we didn’t want to rush things. Neither one of has had a good mating the first time round, and Magda’s kids are still young – we didn’t want to confuse them. Her youngest was just a month old when she moved here.”
His dad’s face twitched in anger. Yeah, he recalled that Magda’s ex-mate had always been a sore subject for his dad. When his dad got drunk he even wanted to chase after him and beat him up for leaving Magda. His dad always told him that Magda was a wonderful woman, and any man would be lucky to have her. Perhaps, in retrospect, Stone should have seen the signs.
“What was all that about bitches be crazy?”
“Yeah well, that’s all about your mother. I’ve been trying to get your mom to give me a divorce for years. She finally said yes, and a few days ago I asked Magda to mate with me, and she said yes.” His dad lit up like a Christmas tree.
“But…”
“That’s why I’ve been trying to call you to let you know.”
“But all these years, you’ve been telling me that matings are for chumps!” It was one of the reasons he had refrained from entering into any kind of serious relationship with a woman.
Ronald shrugged as he pulled out a leftover casserole from the refrigerator and half an apple pie. “Do you think Francine would like some casserole and apple pie?”
“I… have no idea,” he admitted.
“What kind of foods does she like?”
“I don’t know.” He felt a twinge at the fact that he really knew nothing about her. His rhino grumbled. He should really rectify that.
Ronald raised an eyebrow. “Well I can smell her all over you, so you can’t tell me that there’s nothing going on between you two.”
“It’s… complicated. She’s kind of my girlfriend," - even if she wouldn't admit to it at that moment in time, "but I also have to take her to prison. She’s not dangerous – well, probably not to anyone but me.”
He didn’t like to admit about being kneed in his special area. It had hurt more than he could have possibly thought. Weren’t flamingos supposed to be soft and dainty? Must be her cow blood. But then it’s that blood that gave her all her delicious curves. Wouldn’t want those to go anywhere.
“It’s just nice to meet one of your ladies. I thought I’d die before that happened.”
“Well, I only brought her here because I thought you’d be in bed.”
“I’m not that old,” chuckled Ronald.
“Clearly, if what I heard between you and Magda is anything to go by.” Stone gave him an accusing look. He didn’t mind her meeting his dad – his rhino actually thought it was a good thing. But he didn’t want to answer questions about the handcuffs. He considered just saying they were into kinky shit, but Magda would probably give him an earful. Or worse, what if she asked to borrow the cuffs to use on his dad. Ugh, horrible mental image.
Francine came into the room and waved. “Hey, still here.”
Ronald beamed, and Stone had the urge to punch his father for looking at his flamingo that way.
“Sit down m’dear, you look pale, have something to eat.”
Francine slumped into a chair. “Thank you, I am a little hungry.”
“I’ve got some leftover casserole.”
His rhino pushed at him to do something. He had to take care of her. Stone kneeled next to her and took her hand. When she was sure he wasn’t slapping the cuff back on, she let him. “Or I can get you something else, I could fetch you something - anything you want. What do you want? Pizza? Chinese? Chicken? Ummm…”
His dad blinked at him, but Francine just shrugged. “Casserole will be nice, thanks.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
There was no awkward silence. The air between father and son was slightly testy, but only in so far as they were two big men who rarely admitted to having emotions, never mind identifying them and trying to talk about them.
So instead through their
meal, they ignored whatever feelings were floating around, and Ronald told her some embarrassing stories about Stone as a young man. Or should she say, Ronny. Even her flamingo snickered at that.
Stone seemed a little edgy, but maybe that was because he feared she was going to bolt at any moment. Although she thought the concern in his eyes went a little deeper than that. She hadn’t asked him why he wasn’t dragging her to the cops yet; she was just grateful for it.
It was a truly enormous meal in which she was encouraged to eat twice the amount she normally would – because two rhinos couldn’t possibly believe that one bird could eat so little. Ronald said good night and Stone (she couldn’t call him Ronny) took her to his room. Or, what was his room growing up. It didn’t appear to have changed much since he left. There were an awful lot of posters of models in swimwear. He actually blushed a little when she saw them.
Stone rifled through his wardrobe and passed her a huge black t-shirt that said ‘hornmeister’ on it. “You can sleep in that.”
She considered getting undressed in the bathroom, but why bother. It’d just start an argument about her not running off, and he’d seen everything anyway. Francine stripped out of her clothes and enjoyed the fact that he watched in open-mouthed appreciation, frozen to the spot as she bared everything to him.
She pulled on the shirt and gave him a wan smile. “Bet you had lots of girls up here.”
“You’d be the first,” he admitted shyly.
“No way. Guy like you?” He got looks everywhere he went.
Stone rolled his shoulders and pulled off his own shirt. She only wobbled ever so slightly at the sight. He was even better than he remembered. Her bird sighed, and Francine clamped her legs together. With everything that was happening, now was not a good time to give in to her horniness.
“Yep, I wasn’t exactly a ladies man in my youth.”
“Your dad doesn’t mind me being here, does he?” Another reason not to try and ravish him – his dad was in the next room. Not all families were the same, but she would die before having sex within a mile radius of her prim mother.
Stone snorted. “Since I know what my dad’s been doing with the neighbor lady in the living room, I doubt he’ll mind.”
“They make a nice couple.”
“Ummm,” he grunted as he removed his pants. She pretended she didn’t notice the fact that he was completely naked. Her flamingo did the panting in private for both of them.
“Is that so bad?” she asked, firmly keeping her eyes north of the equator.
He looked pensive. “Ever since my mom left he’s been telling me that people who take mates are idiots and that I’d be an idiot to get mated. Now he’s turned around and told me he’s mating with Magda. It’s unbelievable.”
“Parents do the craziest things,” she murmured.
“Yeah.”
“My dad died when I was little, and my mom told me over and over how he was her true mate and she’d never get over him. Then she got re-mated when I was seven to another flamingo shifter. They have two daughters. They’re happy. And it was always a problem that I wasn’t. I can’t even count the number of times my mom told me just to pretend to be happy, to act like we were one big, happy family.” It all came out in a rush. She didn’t know where it came from, and at the end of it, he was staring at her in surprise. She’d never admitted that to anyone before. Even her flamingo was shocked that she divulged all that to Stone.
She clasped her hands together. “You say something quick, I’m feeling very vulnerable right now.”
“Oh, ah… I’m sorry about the smell of body spray – I thought it was awesome to drown myself in it when I was a teenager.”
Francine erupted into peals of laughter. “I can barely smell it,” she gasped between hiccups.
“Really? Can't you smell that? I’m almost gagging.” Slowly, he walked toward her. She considered fleeing, but where would she go? “You smell amazing.” He rubbed his face over hers and then her neck.
“Flamingos have poor senses of smell,” she breathed as his lips grazed her collarbone. “It’s one of the reasons why so few find their true mates – we can’t scent them.”
He moaned into her neck. “Well, you’ll just have to take my word for it that I smell amazing, too.”
“I’ll bet.” He probably smelled as sweet as he tasted.
“Lord, feathers, you smell like chocolate peanut butter fudge cake.” He dragged his tongue over her skin, and she squeaked in pleasurable alarm.
“Should I be offended that I smell like a calorie-laden cake?” Hell, at that moment he could have told her she smelled like fish heads and she probably wouldn’t have minded.
“No, feathers, you smell like heaven. Can’t believe my luck in finding you.”
Yes, but he found her because it was his job. “How much are you getting paid to catch me?”
Stone stilled, but an arm tightened around her waist. “It’s not about the money. I didn’t want someone else coming after you – someone who might not be so gentle with you.”
Francine felt another surge of truth coming, and she couldn’t do anything to stop it. “You know when I saw you outside my apartment I actually thought you’d come there for me.” She couldn’t even stop the note of brittleness that entered her voice.
“I did,” he said, affronted by her presumption.
“No, you didn’t, don’t lie.”
He let go of her and folded his arms. “I’ve been looking for you since the moment you ran out of my apartment without a word.”
“Not very hard,” she sniffed.
“I didn’t have your phone number or even your last name, I’ve been going through every Francine in the city to find you – I was up to the Fs.”
Her clingy bird swooned. “Really?”
“Really.” He scooped up his pants and pulled out the feather. “You think I carry around the feathers of all the women who shed in my bedroom?”
A spiteful voice told her that he’d be more likely to have cat hair in his bedroom before she came along, but she kept that to herself. “But that Caitlyn woman…”
“Is the bane of my life,” he growled.
She was thoroughly ashamed of being needy but, she had to ask. “And me?”
“The light of my life.” He blushed.
Francine flushed prettily. “You don’t know me.”
He took one of her hands and rubbed his thumb over her palm. “I know you well enough, and in time…” He left that dangling, while he smiled, hopefully.
“That won’t happen if I’m in prison.”
He stopped and sighed. “What do you suggest I do?”
“Right now my only option for staying a free woman is to kill someone.”
“I see… wait, what?!”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Francine explained everything. She took him through the night with Michael, the jackass trying to force himself on her and what happened subsequently. She told him about trying to talk to Michael and his blackmail surprise.
Stone paced the room as his beast roared. “I’ll kill him. I will fucking murder him for this.”
Francine perched on the edge of the bed. “That won’t exactly help my case.”
“Fine, I’ll beat him up.” And rip something off that he could live without. An ear maybe, or perhaps something further south…
She rubbed her forehead. “So then he can say that after I tried to kill him I sent my enormous boyfriend to do the job for me.”
He stopped and smiled goofily. “I’m your boyfriend?”
“Focus, Ronny.” Francine sighed. “What am I supposed to do? I can’t kill someone. Not on purpose anyway.”
“You said he’d call you tomorrow?”
“Yeah, he gave me a burner cell.”
Stone closed his eyes, focusing on calming his animal. The situation was a mess, and he needed to find a way out of it. He needed to protect Francine. He needed to keep her safe. He needed to peel that t-shirt right
off her body… His thoughts were running away with him, but at least the latter was a plan both man and beast could get behind. “Okay, so we’ll wait and see what he says, and then… I don’t know… we’ll go and talk to this woman.”
“And tell her what? That we’ve been sent there to kill her, I don’t think that’s going to go down well.”
“No,” he said, slowly. “We’ll just try and find out why he wants her dead – I mean there has to be a reason. Random homicide seems unlikely, don’t you think?”
“I guess,” she replied, unenthusiastically.
Stone kneeled in front of her and used the pad of his thumb to wipe away a tear that slid down her cheek. “It’s going to be okay, honey.”
“You’re very optimistic.”
“Yeah, I’ve had a good life, and how could I not be? You walked into my life, and when you walked out, fate gave me your address.”
“Well, if this is the way fate gets everyone together, I have a few choice words for fate. One of them starts with f. And I’ll bet you say this kind of thing to all the girls.”
“No, everything I say to you is original or possibly ripped off from a TV show that I can’t remember watching.”
She opened her mouth to sass him back, and he quickly covered it with his own. She whimpered he took her in a thorough kiss.
Coming up for air her eyes danced with merriment. “Ooh, should we be doing this? Your dad…”
“Apparently, is very aware of what sex is.” He licked her earlobe, and she squeaked.
“How are you down there?” Her eyes flicked to his groin as she tried to keep a straight face. “I didn’t cause any lasting damage, did I?”
Stone laughed as he pulled the shirt over her head. “Nah, the boys look okay to me.”
“Mmm, maybe I should check.”
Francine slipped to the ground and sealed her lips around his twitching manhood. He groaned as she ran her tongue over the head and slowly began moving up and down his length, taking him as deep as she could. She pursed her lips around him, delighting as he shivered. Slowly she ran her hand up and down the part her mouth couldn’t reach. Gently, he tangled his fingers in her hair, and he rocked in and out of her mouth. Whenever his breath quickened, and he started flexing his hips, she let go of him, prolonging his release. He moaned and gritted his teeth until she took him inside again.
