Ty shakes his head, and I still can’t bring myself to do anything to break the moment.
It’s Justin who finally asks the question, awe in his voice. “Is Misty a gator?”
Thirty-Six
Misty
What did Justin ask? I frown at him, wondering what the hell he’s staring at. I’m about to ask, when I notice Sam and Ty are gawking at me like I just sprouted horns too. Or scales, I guess, if I’m taking Justin’s question as a hint. I look down, inspecting my naked arms and legs. Nothing’s any different than usual, although I could probably be making more of an effort to top up my tan while I’m in the sunshine state. I seriously doubt these guys are suddenly transfixed by my milky-white skin.
“What’s happening?” I ask, looking at them in turn.
Justin shrugs, shaking his head. “These guys know way more than I do about this stuff.”
He doesn’t want to tell me, then. He’s avoiding my gaze. Damn it, Just. I turn to Sam, hitting him with a glower. “Well?”
His stare begins to heat up as I lock gazes with him. He’s thinking about me naked, I can just tell.
“Sam!” I snap, pulling nothing more than a wry smile out of him.
“You really don’t know who your father was,” He murmurs, as if he’s a little in awe.
He’s not asking a question, so I don’t feel compelled to answer. Out of everyone in this room, he should know better than to ask about my dad. I cross my arms under my chest.
“What has that got to do with anything?” I bite out the question, irritated that he’d poke at a soft spot like that when he damn well knows it’s something I hate to talk about.
My father. The one story I could never break. I tried so many times to track him down when I was a teenager. I never could figure out who he was. My free-spirited mother didn’t have the slightest idea who he might be, and even my grandma couldn’t figure it out. What chance did I have?
“Well, I’m pretty sure he was a gator,” Sam tells me, sounding a little apologetic, but there’s a whole freaking ocean of untapped glee under the surface. He’s barely holding back a grin. What the hell, Sam?
“How do you work that one out?” I’m waiting for the penny to drop, and it’s taking its damn time.
“Your eyes,” Ty puts in, his voice quiet.
I turn to him, and the flicker of hope in his gaze makes me pause. “My eyes?”
He nods slowly. “Go look.”
The nearest mirror is in the bathroom. I stalk over there, yank open the door and step inside.
The lights are out, so I hit the switch. When I turn to the mirror, I instantly jerk back from my reflection, stumbling into the wall. Okay, now I get why they were staring. My eyeballs are a creepy-ass glowy yellow with black slits. What the shit? I stare until the initial horror of it wears off. I look like I started getting ready for Halloween a few months early then didn’t bother to pick up the rest of my costume. Okay, calming down now. I can deal with having freaky eyes. As long as it’s not a permanent thing. Shit. This better not be freaking permanent. I have a show to record tomorrow. There’s no way Tom’s going to be okay with his fluff piece girl having monster eyes. I wasn’t even allowed to wear black, for fuck’s sake. I seriously have to calm down before I start hyperventilating.
I look away from the mirror, and mentally run though everything Sam ever told me about his species, trying to find out what this is. He seems to think it’s because my father was a gator. Fine. Maybe he was. If he was, or is, I guess, then why would I only be showing signs of that side of me now? It makes no sense to me, and nothing Sam ever told me clicks with this.
I head back into the room and the three men I’m currently fighting off attraction toward are gazing at me in a way that makes my skin flush. The shock is gone from their faces. Arousal has taken its place.
For a moment, I’m stunned into silence. It’s as if the room is pulsing with carnal desire. I feel an insistent throbbing in my panties. Oh hell. I should have found a thirsty stranger and banged him senseless before I came back to town. This dry spell has totally fucked me over. I’m ready and willing to take all three of them on. Right here, right now.
Sam comes toward me and I take a step back, trying to clear the fog from my brain. Whatever’s going on, I’m not thinking straight. I need to watch what the hell I’m doing.
“I don’t understand what this is,” I say, crossing my arms.
“I think I do,” Sam says, his voice subdued as he takes my non-verbal cues and stops walking before he gets close enough to touch me. We all wait for his explanation silently. He smiles wryly. “You’re a hybrid, Misty. That means you’re part-gator. That part of you slept until you were ready to claim a mate.”
My stomach churns in response to his reveal. A mate? Dread fills me. I shake my head. “What? No!”
Sam’s expression is guarded, avoiding my gaze now, as if he wasn’t ready to burst from happiness a few minutes ago. “You want this, Misty. If you didn’t, it wouldn’t be happening.”
I try to calm my breathing, but it feels impossible. “I can’t.”
“She’s mine,” Justin puts in quickly, reminding me of the claim he already made.
“It’s not that simple,” Sam murmurs, his searing gaze warming me from the inside out.
“If she was yours, she would admit it and her eyes would go back to normal,” Ty tells him.
Justin’s crestfallen face almost makes me wish I could just agree to be his, but I can’t. I feel a lump forming in my throat, and it makes it impossible to speak. Not that I even know what to say anymore. I’m part-gator, and I’m ready to take a mate? That information doesn’t want to sink in. I’m going to blame my lack of sex for this damned situation. That has to be it, doesn’t it? I’m in desperate need of a lay, so my gator side decided this is the best way to do something about that.
“She’s not ready to choose.” Sam moves toward me again, a predatory sway to his step.
Choose? It hits me then, and hard. Being ready for a serious relationship is one thing. I’d been taking steps toward that. I wasn’t too freaked out about it. Kind of. Trouble is I have strong feelings for each of the guys in this room. I could see myself happy with each one of them. There’s no way to choose one over the other. Damn. That’s why this is happening. It’s why I have monster eyes.
Everyone’s looking at me, waiting for my reaction. I swallow and the lump in my throat begins to recede.
“Sam’s right,” I tell them, putting out a hand to stop him as he makes it obvious he’s about to move in for a kiss. My heart pounds hard in my chest at the thought of letting him take it, but I shake the feeling off. “I’m not ready to choose.”
Thirty-Seven
Tyler
Misty pushes Sam back, and I feel a hint of a smile part my lips when I realize what she just said. She’s ready to take a mate, but she can’t choose. I know she has feelings for Sam, and for Justin. Now, the way she looks at each of us, I’m certain she also has those same feelings for me.
“I thought…” Justin starts, trailing off when Misty gazes at him.
“I’m sorry, Justin. I had no idea this would happen. I never should have led you on.”
Oh, wow. If he looked dejected before, now he looks like she just stabbed him through the heart.
“I love you,” she blurts, her skin flushing at the admission. She sits down next to him, on the edge of one of the twin beds, taking his hand in hers. “I love you, Justin, but I never felt ready for anything serious. I don’t feel ready now either, but apparently I am.”
There’s nothing she can say to placate him now. He’s resigned to being rejected. I think he’s counting himself out too quickly, but I’m hardly going to complain.
“It’s okay,” he tells her. “I understand.”
He doesn’t, not really, but he’s too nice of a guy to be pissy about any of this. I glance at Sam. His gaze is heavy and full of intent as he keeps his eyes on the woman he’s been in love with
his whole life. If anyone deserves to be Misty’s mate, it’s him. Too bad that’s rarely the way the universe works. It much prefers kicking everyone in the teeth.
Misty lets go of Justin’s hand and gets up, looking from me to Sam.
“How does this work?” She sounds matter-of-fact, but she’s clearly aroused. I wonder if it’s driving her crazy to stand here with us all, three potential mates all part of the same….
“Fuck,” I whisper, my thoughts beginning to spiral on the dots I just connected together.
“What is it?” She frowns my way.
I shake my head slowly. I’m not ready to say it out loud. I don’t want to freak her out. She’s having enough trouble with this whole thing. Besides, I doubt Sam would be too pleased at the idea right now, either. “I just realized you’ll be stuck with those eyes until you choose.”
Those eyes widen. Really, she looks kind of hot with them. Like a sexy blonde demon. She did already kind of look like she sold her soul to Satan for that incredible ass of hers.
“I will?” she squeaks out the question, staring at me in horror.
“She can’t,” Justin says, shrugging when we turn his way. “We have to shoot a segment tomorrow.”
Oh, right. They’re filming.
“Maybe you should make your choice tonight, then,” Sam tries, apparently determined and cockier than hell that her choice is going to come down to him and him alone.
I smile wryly. If I’m right, he’s not going to get what he wants. Neither is Justin.
“Do not try to rush me on this,” she warns him. “Remember what happened the last time you pushed too hard…”
He blows out a breath and sits on the edge of the other bed. Her bed. I can tell by where her stuff is even if I couldn’t by the subtle scents in the sheets. Sam can tell better than I can. He kicks off his sneakers and swiftly moves to lie his head down on her pillow.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Misty asks, sounding half-irritated, half-amused.
“Getting comfy. Sounds like we might all be here for a while.”
She shakes her head at him. “You can’t stay here.”
“Why the hell not? Justin’s staying.”
“Justin kind of has to.”
Justin winces, running a hand through his hair. He’s too nice for this shit. He’s just going to have to get used to it. I think he’s going to be around for a while.
“This could work out,” I say, settling into the seat next to the TV. It’s kind of too low to be comfortable, but beggars can’t be choosers.
“How do you figure?” Sam asks.
“We can make sure none of us black out if we’re all together.”
“Man, you’re a downer,” Sam tells me, shaking his head.
Misty stares at him for a sec before she kicks off her shoes. “Okay, here’s the thing. I don’t care what you guys do, but I need to sleep. I have to film tomorrow and if I look like shit on camera I could get canned.”
Sam pats the bed at his side. “There’s plenty of room right here.”
“I’m not sleeping beside you,” she tells him, making Justin straighten.
She starts to lie down on Just’s bed and Sam immediately jumps up.
“Fine. I’ll take the floor.” He sits by her side of the bed. “I need to stay awake to make sure Snappy Biterson over there doesn’t go kill anyone else tonight anyway.”
I shake my head at him, but relief washes over me that he’ll help make sure it doesn’t happen again. Even if it’s just to protect Misty. I don’t want to be freaked out about going to sleep, or shifting when I have to. I shouldn’t need to for a long while now, but that’s how it was before last night too. My gator was sated, but I still managed to wake up covered in blood with no knowledge of what happened.
Misty goes into the bathroom and changes into a long T-shirt before she gets into bed.
“Sweet dreams,” I tell her, catching her smile as she lies down.
Justin cuts the lights, and stretches out on his own bed. He doesn’t sleep though. Sam doesn’t. I don’t. All three of us are locked in this room with a sleeping hybrid woman who possesses each of our hearts as if they were beating within her own chest. I get the feeling this isn’t going to be an isolated situation. I wonder how Sam and Justin will take that once they know.
Misty’s choice doesn’t have three outcomes. It has four. And I think I already know which one she’s going to pick.
Thirty-Eight
Misty
You’d think it would be hard to fall asleep in a room where the sexual tension was through the roof. Apparently I was just worn out enough to manage it. Which is just as well, really. All kinds of filthy suggestions had been flowing through my thoughts by the time I drifted into a less than relaxing slumber. Then even my dreams were on high-heat.
I’m sweating when I awaken, still drenched in lust from a fantasy situation involving three hotter than hell men and my naked, more than willing body.
I try to move and realize someone snuck onto the bed beside me last night. I’m not entirely surprised to find Sam’s tousled blond head on my pillow, his eyes closed. His shoulder is slightly pinning me to the bed. I shuffle a little and manage to pull out from under it without waking him.
Justin’s crashed out on the bed beside us. I get up and he mumbles slightly, something about closing a damn door. I wonder briefly what he’s dreaming about, my thoughts losing their track when I turn my gaze to the tall, dark and extremely handsome man who’s sitting in the chair next to the TV.
Tyler is awake and he seems amused by my surprise. “I told Sam to sleep on the floor. He ignored me.”
I shrug. “It’s fine.”
It’s not like we haven’t slept in the same bed before. My face heats at the realization that for all the times those sleepovers with Sam meant nothing to me, they meant something to him. I’ve been such an idiot.
“I’m hitting the shower,” I tell him, heading to my suitcase.
While some part of me thinks walking back into the room naked might be the best idea I’ve ever had, another more sensible part refuses to entertain it. I unzip the case and start pulling out the nicest underwear I packed, when something big and plastic flies out and lands on the floor at Tyler’s feet.
The sound it starts to make scorches my already flushed cheeks. I swallow as my gaze lifts to meet his. He leans forward and picks up the vibrating dildo.
A dozen excuses fly through my thoughts, but none of them make it past my lips.
“What?” Sam asks, groaning as the mattress creaks.
Tyler turns off my vibrator. I snatch it out of his hand when he offers it, my main aim to hide it before Sam sees it. This is going to be hard enough to live down. He sees it, he’ll have a field day.
“I thought I heard something,” Sam says, yawning as he gets up, stretches and comes my way.
I hide the vibrator behind my back, freezing in place as he approaches. He kisses my cheek.
“I need to go check on my dad. I’ll be back in a bit. Don’t go anywhere.”
I barely manage to mumble back a vaguely compliant noise. Thank God he didn’t see it.
He gets to the door and turns, smiling. “You can ditch the batteries, Flash. I’ve got something for you in my pants that works a lot better than that thing you’re hiding behind your back.”
His wink as he leaves makes me furious. I never should have brought Buzz. Now he knows for sure there was nothing between Justin and me when we came here. It’s only going to make him cockier, and that’s one thing he really doesn’t need to be.
“You okay?” Ty asks, getting to his feet.
I look at him, my thoughts flashing. Choosing Tyler or Justin while Sam’s gone would make him so damn mad. Payback would be a real bitch if he walked back in here to see me naked in Ty’s lap. The impulse flares, and I barely feel able to control the desire to act on it.
“Misty, there’s something in your eyes,” Ty murmurs, brushing my hair back fro
m my face.
The simple touch makes me shiver. It takes everything inside of me not to act on it.
“If I scream, it’s only because I really fucking need this,” I tell him, turning on my heel and walking into the bathroom. I switch the vibrator on and lean back against the door as I rub it against my crotch. I’m so swollen and wet it barely takes a minute to make me come.
I moan out my pleasure, but it isn’t enough. I need the real thing. I want Ty’s lips on mine, Justin’s hands on my body, Sam’s cock inside me. I want all of them, at once. Over and over again.
I settle for the sex-toy, not ready to admit I’m so damned deprived of male companionship that the thought of choosing makes me want to cry. I don’t want one of them. I want them all.
“Oh God,” I whisper, opening my eyes and seeing the unnatural state of them in the mirror.
These demonic eyes are going to be mine until I choose.
I can’t have them all, and I’m going to have to deal with this haze of lust on my own until I concede to that fact. I switch Buzz off and run the shower. Maybe a cold one will help cool me down. I can only hope.
Thirty-Nine
Sam
Nothing kills the smile that crawls onto my face when I see that vibrator of Misty’s. I know she’s mine the instant I see it. She came back home with that camera guy because she needed him for his work skills. The sex-toy is proof of that. She didn’t expect to get laid. Probably didn’t expect to have to share a room with him either.
I get home in ten minutes, and don’t find Dad on the ground floor of the house, which isn’t instant cause for alarm, but is kind of weird considering he’s usually pottering around the kitchen making coffee by this time in the morning.
“Dad,” I call out, heading for the stairs.
Flashing Her Gators Page 11
