by Sky Winters
“That’s your big secret?” she asked incredulously.
“Yes.”
“Okay. Well, I guess that I’ll be honest with you too. My ex was a shifter. I met him on the ComeShift dating site.”
“There’s a site dedicated to dating shifters?” he asked, seeming more surprised by that than by her admission.
“Yes, there is. I can’t believe you’ve never heard of it.”
“Well, I’ve never been one for dating sites. I’m surprised you would be on one.”
“Why?”
“You’re such an incredible woman. I can’t imagine why you’d have to go to a dating site to find someone.”
“A friend suggested it. I wasn’t having very much luck meeting anyone on my own,” she said, feeling a little embarrassed.
“Why a shifter site?”
“I don’t know. I heard that shifters were different, more loyal than other men, but that’s obviously not true.”
“Why do you say that?”
“My ex, the one I met on there. He was anything but loyal and certainly no different from a lot of the men I know.”
“I see,” he said, his voice trailing off.
Mandy wondered if he was more bothered by not having been the first shifter she had been involved with or her mention of an ex. Perhaps he felt like he wasn’t anything special to her since he wasn’t a novelty to her like he might be to some women. Men were always so prideful about some things.
“Listen, let’s not talk about the sad stories of exes. I’m with you now and that’s all that matters. I think that you being a shifter is incredible, but I’m happy with what kind of man you are, no matter what. I’ve felt more alive with you in the past few weeks than I’ve ever felt with anyone during my entire life.”
“I feel the same way. I don’t see any end to this,” he replied. They’d reached overlook and the sun glared down on the water, sending shards of beautiful light dancing across its surface, but Mandy barely had any time to take it in before Weston was kissing her Weston pulled away from her and brushed a strand of hair away that had fallen over one eye.
“It’s cool up here today,” she said, a shiver running across her skin.
“I guess I’ll have to keep you warm then,” he told her, pulling her closer. Pretty soon, they were oblivious to anything around them, risking being caught as they undressed one another in the bright light of day. The lake wasn’t heavily populated with visitors this time of year, since it had begun to grow colder.
A moment of fear ran through her as a cool gust of wind blew across her bare nipples, instantly hardening them. They burned with anticipation as they pushed against his bare chest out in the open air and she wanted him in the worst way. Still, they were barely out of the public eye.
“Weston, we can’t. Someone might see us.”
“Then they’re in for one hell of a show,” he told her.
Pulling her toward the flat surface of a nearby rock, he lay flat on the cool slate and guided her down on top of him. He was already hard and she fit onto him like a perfectly molded inlet. Her feet braced on either side of the rock, firmly on the ground below them as he placed his hands on her waist and pulled her down on top of him so hard that it felt like the mushroomed head of his cock was locked into her womb. She cried out as a little pain shot through her center.
“Be careful. Someone might hear you,” he said with a smile.
Mandy bit her lip and looked down at him, her hands roaming across his flat abdomen as he began pulling her upward again, slowly and deliberately. The friction from her inner walls stretching and constricting with his movements was incredible. Then he was slipping her downward, closing his eyes as he was almost fully buried inside her again. Her hands instinctively moved toward her own breasts, her fingers pulling and twisting her nipples. He opened his eyes and smiled, watching her touch herself as he guided her up and down the length of his cock with perfect timing.
“I love watching you do that. Move one hand down to your clit. Make yourself come for me,” he told her and she obeyed his simple command. Leaving one hand to tease her breasts, she let her other hand slide downward. Her fingers trailed over clit, already sensitive from the friction of his cock rubbing against it. Her body convulsed as she easily pushed herself over the edge, not once but twice, her head tossed backward and her eyes closed. She was aware of nothing around them but the sensations of what her body was feeling.
“So beautiful. Don’t stop. Keep going,” he told her.
Their bodies rose and fell with one another as she continued to repeatedly bring herself to climax. She couldn’t remember ever being so turned on. Whether it was the daring of being outdoors or of showing off for him while he watched, it was mind-numbingly erotic. She had lost complete control to his will. Cool air blew across their naked bodies once more, sending with it the mingled scent of the woods, the earth, the soil, the leaves. It was utter perfection.
Their moans blended together, drifting along the winds to places unknown as he hastened his pace, pounding heavily into her. It pushed her over the cliff to yet another powerful orgasm and this time he joined her with his own eruption. The feel of his pulsating cock as it spasmed with release, coupled with the strain and then calm that graced his face, seemed like something from a dream. She tried to memorize every nuance of this moment before it was gone.
“I think I may have dislocated my hip,” he laughed as she pulled away from him and watched him slowly get up from the rock below him.
“That’s too bad. I don’t think I can carry you back down the slope,” she teased.
“We might be stuck here then,” he replied, limping a little as he walked naked toward her and pulled her into his arms.
“That would be such a shame. Stuck out in the woods with a gorgeous, naked man. Whatever will we do to pass the time until we’re rescued?” she asked.
“I’m sure we’ll think of something,” he said, bending down to kiss her.
Mandy quickly became lost in him again, enjoying the way his tongue darted across her own, exploring her, tasting her. She felt like she could spend forever just kissing him, their skin pressed against one another beneath the warmth of the sun. Weston’s fingers wandered downward, his nails grazing softly across one nipple as they traveled along. She gasped aloud, never taking her eyes off his as he found her clit and began to stroke it, taking advantage of its already overly sensitive state.
“It is so beautiful to watch how your eyes darken when you get excited. The way you bite your lip when you’re trying to hold back. I could spend days just teasing and pleasing you until you are nothing more than a pile of come-saturated mush.”
“You do quite a good job of that as it is.”
“And I intend to continue doing so at every opportunity.”
Her body jerked as he found just the right spot and exploited it with one deft finger. She was quite literally putty in his hand, shuddering with an orgasm. His strokes increased, two more of his fingers slipping inside her as his thumb manipulated her clit with precision. She trembled, having to lean against him for support as her knees weakened and buckled beneath her.
“I love making you weak in the knees.”
“You must, you seem to keep me that way,” she panted as another wave of orgasmic bliss rocketed through her body and caused her to collapse against his chest breathlessly.
“You are perfection personified,” he told her, pulling free of her and kissing her softly on the top of her head as she leaned against him.
“Mmm,” she mumbled against his chest, unable to manage more than that.
“We best get dressed and head to the shop, I suppose,” he told her.
“Okay,” she replied, disappointed that they couldn’t stay here lost in one another longer, but it would begin to get even cloder with the afternoon passing and it wasn’t as if they could remain naked in woods forever.
Later, still basking in the afterglow of their risqué outdoor adventures, Cameron and
Mandy perused the costumes in the Halloween shop. Mostly everything in the place was fairly generic, but one costume stood out to the both of them and they agreed it could be adapted to something much more original and more likely to win a contest. They gathered everything they would need together and took it to the register to check out.
“Mandy?” a voice said from behind as Weston was paying for their items.
Mandy froze at the sound of his voice. She hadn’t heard from him since the day he’d left her apartment and hadn’t seen him since the Halloween party. Turning around to face him, her face remained just as stony as she felt towards him these days.
“Cameron,” she said simply.
“It’s good to see you again,” he said, taking a step toward her. She noted that he had a red cape draped over his arm. His face curled up into a momentary snarl, as if noting something that smelled distasteful to him. It took her a moment to realize what it was. With his heightened sense of smell, of course he could smell the scent of Weston still clinging to her, within her. In an odd way, it pleased her for him to know that she had unequivocally moved on.
“Sure,” she said nonchalantly as Weston turned toward her with their bags and took her hand. Cameron’s eyes narrowed, taking in the new man in her life. “Listen, we have to get going. Take care.”
“Wait. Can I call you later? I’d like to talk to you,” he said, disregarding Weston’s presence.
“No. We have nothing left to talk about,” she replied, pulling Weston’s hand toward the door as a silent request to leave. He didn’t question her, but made his way through the throngs of people shopping and out to their car. As they climbed inside, Mandy looked up to see Cameron standing outside the shop, watching them drive away.
“That was him,” Weston said, his voice terse.
“Yes,” she replied.
“Do I need to be concerned with that at all?’ he asked.
“Not in the least little bit,” she told him.
“Good,” he replied, patting her hand lightly with his before grasping in to hold on their way back to her apartment. Nothing more was said about the encounter, which was good. It changed nothing between the two of them. It mattered not in the least bit to her that Cameron had suddenly materialized after all this time, at least that’s what she tried to tell herself.
Mandy turned the conversation toward something else, acting as if the encounter hadn’t bothered her. On one level it hadn’t. She found that she no longer felt anything for him, but the situation with seeing him while with Weston had been awkward and she hated that. Hopefully, Weston knew that there was nothing left there and wouldn’t let the thought fester. If Cameron somehow managed to ruin her current relationship the same way he had managed to ruin the one she had with him, she would be livid.
“I’m going to have to sleep at home tonight,” Weston told her back at her place. I have to be up early in the morning to go to a client’s hearing over in a different county.”
“Okay,” Mandy replied, now worrying that the encounter had already caused a rift between them.
“Mandy, it has nothing to do with seeing your ex this afternoon. I promise,” he told her, pulling her chin up so that she was facing him.
“Promise?” she replied, not denying that he was correct about her thoughts.
“I promise. As a matter of fact, why don’t you come over to my place tomorrow night and we’ll work on our costumes before I ravage that delicious body of yours again. You haven’t spent the night at my place since we’ve met. Seems like we always end up here. I’ll even sweeten the pot. I’ll make you dinner.”
“That sounds wonderful on all accounts,” she said, feeling much more at ease now.
Not only was he okay about the incident today, but he was letting her into his life on yet another level. She was already looking forward to spending the night at his place. Though she had been there a couple of times, she had never stayed for long. It was usually just a matter of ducking in to pick up something and heading back out again. Still, after he left, she found that she had a feeling of unease. It was the first night he hadn’t stayed with her since the first time they had made love. She tried not to think about what had happened with Cameron not returning, but it was difficult, especially with having just seen him.
The main difference in the situation was that, unlike the abandonment she had experienced with Cameron, Weston made sure she knew he was still thinking about her. He texted her several times before bedtime and again the following morning while she was getting ready for work. She kicked herself for even thinking he would do anything like Cameron had done to her and then grew annoyed with herself for even considering anyone could be as cold as her psycho ex.
Having her usual lunch with Kellye, she gushed about how good things were going with Weston, but then told her about running into Cameron at the Halloween store. Kellye rolled her eyes and shook her head in disgust.
“I can’t believe he even had the audacity to speak to you after all this time. You know he’s been seeing several of the girls that work at the art gallery that exhibits most of his work. He’s not much better than a dog in heat these days. Best thing he ever did for you was leave, the bastard.”
“I agree. I felt nothing when I saw him other than feeling weird about Weston being with me. You know, I always told myself that if I saw him, I would have a whole list of vile things to say to him but when the time came, I didn’t even feel like saying anything to him. It wasn’t just because Weston was there. I just had nothing to say to him.”
“That’s good. It shows that he truly does mean nothing to you anymore. Why should he after what he did? We both know that Weston is twice the man he will ever even think of being. He’s so much better for you than Cameron ever would have been.”
Mandy nodded in agreement, reaching for her phone as it began to buzz on the table. She picked it up and groaned loudly, holding it out for Kellye to read.
“That man must have balls the size of a small planet,” Kellye said, reading the message from Cameron.
“I’m so sorry that I left you the way I did. Seeing you yesterday only made me realize just what a mistake I had made. I miss you, Mandy. Can we please talk this out? I want to come home, baby.”
“I’m just not going to respond. I don’t have time for his bullshit. The only reason he wants me now is because he saw that someone else has taken what he thinks is his. He thought I’d spend the rest of my life in abject misery, mourning the loss of the great Cameron. He can see how it feels to have your texts go unanswered just like I did when he ignored me.”
“That a girl,” Kelley told her, taking a bite of her sandwich. They continued their meal, talking even as the phone buzzed a few more times. “Is that still him?” Kellye finally asked as Mandy glanced at the phone’s notifications and ignored the messages.
“Yes. He’s on a messaging tirade, I guess.”
“He’s a freaking psycho is what he is. Make sure you stay far away from him, Mandy. There’s something wrong with him. He’s unbalanced.”
“Nah. He’s harmless. He’s just pissed off because he put his candy down and some other kid took it while he was off on the merry go round. He’ll get over it and leave me alone once he sees I’m not going to come running back to him begging for his affection.”
“Maybe. Just be careful. I’ve heard stories about him from some of the women he’s been seeing since you split and he’s got some psychological issues.”
“I’m not sure that being an asshole can really be elevated to the level of calling it a psychological issue. Like I said, he just can’t stand having someone take something that he feels is still his, even if he did drop it and walk away.”
Kellye scowled at her and went back to eating her lunch, changing the subject to something a little lighter even as Mandy’s phone continued to buzz sporadically.
They finished their lunch and returned to their offices. Over the course of the afternoon, Mandy’s phone buzzed several times, each
time with increasingly needy messages from him. By the time five o’clock rolled around, she had put her phone on silent to keep it from going off constantly. Remembering that it was on mute, she reached for it again in her car and looked. There were over a dozen messages from Cameron and one from Weston. She read the only one that mattered and replied, telling Weston she would see him in an hour.
Flipping through the remaining messages quickly before pulling out of her parking spot, she felt more than a little alarmed. They went from sweet and begging her to talk to him to hateful and insulting. A couple were even borderline threatening. She refused to let him get to her, putting her phone in her purse and ignoring it again. Prior to arriving at Weston’s, she turned it off completely. Cameron was ancient history and he wasn’t going to resurrect himself in any way.
“Ah, you are a sight for sore eyes,” Weston told her, pulling her inside the door and kissing her when she arrived. “I had the worst time trying to sleep without you last night. I should have just stayed with you and gotten up a bit earlier to make the trip to see my client. Does that sound too clingy?”
“No, not even close,” she said, hugging him tightly.
All the messages from Cameron faded into nothing as she quickly forgot about him. She and Weston sat discussing what they wanted to do to improve their costumes as he worked at making dinner. Mandy sat at the breakfast bar situated between his kitchen and dining room and made notes about what they would need to finish them up as they talked. By the time the food was ready, they had a solid plan as to what they wanted to do and plans to pick up the rest of what they needed the following afternoon so they could put it together that night.
“If this doesn’t win us a prize, then the contest is rigged,” he laughed.
“I have to agree with you on that,” she replied, putting the notes aside and setting the table while he moved the food over to it.
“Dinner is served, madam,” he said playful with a slight bow and flourish.
“It smells delicious,” she replied, impressed by the perfectly roasted lemon pepper chicken and sautéed vegetables he had prepared with a side of rice pilaf. It wasn’t a complicated meal, but it certainly looked appetizing.
