by E A Price
Cutter still hadn’t had his physical. She’d made sure the Director was aware of it so he would remind the stubborn wolf shifter yet again. Personally, she couldn’t wait to get her hands on his big, hot body. She fanned herself as heat pooled between her thighs. Just the thought of him sent her crazy.
Lucie had felt the attraction since the first moment she saw him. She joined the SEA a year ago, having previously worked as a personal nurse to an elderly elephant shifter. After her charge had died – from natural causes – she decided on a change of scenery and, on a whim, filled out an application. She was both amazed and delighted when she got the job.
She was on a tour of the building when she first saw him. Everyone else faded into a blur of faces and names, but, from the second she saw him, James Cutter was ingrained in her memory.
He stood a foot taller than her at six-foot-three; his body was long, muscled and gorgeous. He wore jeans that molded perfectly to his thick, ropy thighs, and a tight, white t-shirt that stretched across his wide shoulders. His eyes were an incredible shade of green that were startling against his dark brown skin. And if that wasn’t spectacular enough, his voice was velvety smooth and deep and seemed to have a hotline directly to her sex. So, in one word, he was perfect.
Her usually docile, little beastie was virtually dancing around at meeting him, and even better she scented his arousal from the moment he clapped eyes on her. Yep, he wanted her too. Which made his continued rejection of her advances baffling.
It started with him running in the opposite direction whenever he saw her, and now it meant that he actually rejected her when she asked him to go out with her. Some women would have been put off by this, but not Lucie.
She may be small, her favorite color may be pink, and she enjoyed knitting as a hobby, but she was scrappy. From a young age, she realized that people would look down on her because of her size, species and somewhat largely proportioned hips and breasts, and with that realization came a tenacity of spirit. One that meant she would never back down, and she would never give in to the feelings of despair – even when they tried to creep up on her after she was orphaned at the age of 10. Be it a schoolyard bully or a wolf shifter who can’t admit to his own feelings – she was always up for a challenge. Of course, in later years, she also realized that big breasts were hardly a hindrance. As an adult, they came in extremely handy, in fact. Cutter himself couldn’t help looking at them, and salivating, whenever they ran into each other – which wasn’t as often as she would like. Ha, he should see them sans clothes – his head would probably explode.
But, she had to admit that after a year, nothing seemed to have changed. She still flirted like crazy, and he still retreated. She knew that there had to be a reason as to why he was so determined to stay away from her – not necessarily a good reason – but she had no clue as to what it was.
At first, she’d assumed he was married, but a quick inquiry round the gossipy office had soon confirmed that he was single. A state of being that happily dogged him to that day. Lucie had been very alert as to whether he had been with another woman, and she was almost one hundred percent certain that – like her - he had remained celibate since the day they met. Which only increased her zeal for the two of them to be together. By all accounts he used to be a bit of a womanizer, so surely this self-imposed abstinence was for her benefit. She couldn’t imagine herself being with another man, so, clearly, he couldn’t imagine himself being with another woman. Yet, he still kept her at arm’s length. Yeah, like she said – baffling.
Hmmm, maybe she needed to make some kind of gesture – something to knock him off his feet and grab his attention. She just didn’t have a clue what that would be. The only things he seemed to be interested in were working and drinking. So, short of murdering someone in the hopes that he’d investigate the case or buying a brewery, she had no idea what to do.
Her hedgehog wrinkled her nose. Her little beast had been nothing but supportive and encouraging, but even she was starting to get a little impatient with the gruff wolf shifter.
Maybe she just needed to shower him with attention. She could tell she had an affect on him, so maybe if she were around him more, he would be so filled with lust that he would be powerless to resist her.
Lucie bit her lip. Well, in the absence of a better plan – her only other current plan involved a Stephen King Misery type scenario – it was worth a shot. As soon as she was done with Diaz, she would get upstairs and start her plan of smothering him with attention until he finally gave in and agreed to be her boyfriend.
Her small animal mewled in agreement. Yep, look out Cutter - she was coming for him.
*
It was a bitter disappointment to note that Cutter was leaving in the opposite direction as soon as she made it up to the office floor.
Lucie deflated a little and made her way back to the elevator. She’d give him the benefit of the doubt. He was kind of busy trying to fill in for his polar bear shifter boss; she could understand why he needed to leave in a hurry. She just hoped he wasn’t running away on her account. Her hedgehog chuffed at her. Yep, they’d get him tomorrow.
“Oh, Lucie, I’m glad I caught you,” called her very harried-looking boss, Cecile.
Cecile was a Director at the SEA, in charge of medical and maintenance staff. She was a swan shifter and usually tackled life with zen-like calm. Unlike the other Directors, she was on a first name basis with all her staff – often acting more like a mother hen than a boss - and was captain of the office softball team. Today, however, she appeared to be having a bad day.
Lucie shook off her own discontent at missing Cutter and plastered a bright smile on her face. Like Aunt Mae always said, ‘when life gives you lemons, just quit your whining and eat your darn lemons.’ Aunt Mae said the oddest things, but she combined a smiley outlook on life with a steely resolve that would make a rhino shifter pause before going up against her.
“Hi, Cecile, what can I do for you?”
Cecile waved the piece of paper she held in her hand. “I have good news; we’ve found a new medical examiner, and he starts tomorrow. We can finally get rid of that Doctor freaking Frankenstein.”
Lucie’s eyes widened in surprise; it was the first time she’d ever heard her boss badmouth anyone. The crotchety, retired, raccoon, Marvin didn’t get on with anyone, but usually Cecile always found some good in everyone.
The swan shifter shook her head. “I’m sorry; that was unprofessional. I’m just having a bad day.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” offered Lucie.
“No, it’s nothing an hour in the batting cages won’t fix. Let’s just say I’ll be glad when the newest member of the Alpha team gets reassigned. Damn wolf shifter seems to have eight hands.”
Yes, there were a lot of female agents who had also already come to that same conclusion about Dale. Lucie, for her part, hoped to stay off his radar. His type seemed to be tall blondes, so most likely she was safe from his dubious charms. Another reason she was more than content with being short and having tawny brown hair - even if she did need help to reach the top shelf at her local grocery shop. However, Dale had taken to showing up in the medical bay at odd times. She’d come back from the bathroom and he’d suddenly be there. Maybe he was into Helga. Well, she was tall and blonde, but also happily married with seven children. Her husband was a mole shifter and a half a foot shorter than her – he was in awe of his Valkyrie-like wife, and darn they did look cute together.
“So, his name is Doctor Rick Powers…”
“Great name,” commented Lucie.
“Agreed, and he’s a lion shifter. He’s been with the SEA for five years, and previously he was at the SEA offices in Serpens City, Illinois. Would you mind showing him around and getting him settled in tomorrow?”
“Of course not.”
Cecile seemed to lose a little of her tenseness. “Thank you. I can’t wait to give Marvin the good news. He can go back to butchering rounds of golf instead of our corpses.”
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Lucie raised an eyebrow and Cecile chuckled ruefully.
“Sorry, I know – completely unprofessional. I’m just glad that I won’t be getting any more complaints from irate family members about the stitch jobs Marvin does after he finishes their autopsies.”
Lucie winced. She had to admit that Doctor Frankenstein wasn’t a bad fit for Marvin. Families want to send their loved ones into the next life with dignity, not having them look like a prop from a horror film. Marvin wasn’t exactly what anyone would call considerate.
“I’m sure the new guy will do a good job.”
Cecile smiled. “Yes, me too. We’re lucky to get him. He’s moving here to be near his family. As frustrating as the last six months have been, I’m glad we didn’t find a replacement sooner. I wonder if he plays softball.”
She tapped her chin thoughtfully, and Lucie giggled softly.
“Are you okay?” asked Cecile, solicitously. “You look a little pale.”
Oh, the man I’m absolutely obsessed with virtually refuses to even acknowledge I’m alive. But other than that… “Peachy, thanks.”
Cecile nodded but still looked a little concerned. “Well, my door’s always open if you want to talk about anything.”
“Thanks, Cecile. Don’t worry about the new doctor, I’ll see that he settles in, and I’ll see you on Saturday for the game.”
The swan shifter grinned widely. “Those firemen won’t know what hit them.”
The softball team was competing against the LLFD on Saturday. If there was one thing Cecile loved it was a friendly game of softball. And when Cecile was in charge, it was always friendly. She was as gracious at winning as she was at losing. Apparently things had been a little different a couple of years ago when a certain wolf shifter, who definitely wasn’t a gracious loser, was captain of the team.
Lucie groaned. Son of a monkey, everything seemed to come back to Cutter.
She watched as Cecile glided down the corridor. Swan shifters were so graceful. She thought about airing her woes to her boss, but decided against it. Lucie would have been more than happy to complain until the cows came home – she had no idea where they were coming home from, it was just something Aunt Mae used to say – but that just wasn’t her style. Rather than sitting around bellyaching about her problems, she preferred to take action and try and fix them, and being lovesick was hardly a major catastrophe.
It’s just that all the actions she took didn’t seem to get her any closer to actually fixing it. Maybe it was time she got some outside help.
Chapter Three
“Screw him!”
Lucie blinked at Avery, and the blonde lioness flicked her hair back garnering more than a few admiring glances from patrons at the busy bar.
They were perched on high stools around a table at the Red Moon Bar. It was a watering hole frequented by numerous SEA agents that cultivated a sexually charged atmosphere. In particular, Lucie had spent the better part of the evening watching, longingly, as a crocodile shifter and a rabbit shifter virtually dry-humped each other in a booth.
Feeling despondent, she had called on her gaggle of friends for advice about Cutter. Currently, they weren’t saying anything she wanted to hear.
Jessie, the squirrel shifter, stirred her appletini. “I think you need to move on.”
Lucie snapped to attention, and her beast, true to form, prickled. “Move on?”
The squirrel nodded her long, mahogany red locks. For once, her hair was its natural color. Usually, it was dyed alternately in neon shades of yellow, pink, blue and green.
“It’s been a year, Luce. He’s not interested. You need to forget about him and find someone else. There’s nothing worse than sitting at home every night pining over a guy who barely knows you exist.”
A look of knowing sadness flitted over Jessie’s face but before Lucie could probe her she was interrupted by Isis in all her obnoxious glory.
“No, sleep with his best friend,” declared the tigress, as her eyes roved the bar looking for willing men – or perhaps willing victims.
Lucie rolled her eyes. “I’m not doing that, and even if I wanted to, his best friend is already mated to our friend, Erin.”
Isis nodded thoughtfully. “Good point. Sleep with his second best friend.”
“That’s terrible advice, Tigger,” snapped Avery, who seemed a little more angry than usual.
The tigress bared her fangs at the nickname. “What got your considerable panties in a bunch?”
Lucie almost choked on her own appletini. Implying Avery was anything other than slender or toned was a crime against nature. But then the two cats fought over just about anything.
“A morning spent trying to deal with a bitch of a hyena and then an afternoon with the world’s surliest wolf shifter – that’s what happened!”
Isis, in an unusual fit of sympathy, actually softened. “You’re right; spending the day with Primrose and Cutter sounds hellish to me. No offense,” she commented to Lucie.
Avery relaxed a little. “Look, Cutter’s an okay guy,” she paused as Isis snorted, “but it’s clear that he isn’t into you. So my advice is to find someone new. Not the love of your life, just some rebound guy for a bit of casual sex.”
“Or, does he have a brother?” inquired Isis.
Jeez Louise! Lucie bit her lip. “Guys, it’s not that I don’t, uh, appreciate all this advice, but I was kind of hoping for something a bit more practical. Like ways I could win him over.”
Jessie gave her a pitying look that she chose to ignore. Her hedgehog pushed at her to do something. She wasn’t quite ready to give up yet. She wasn’t sure she ever could.
“Please guys?”
The squirrel huffed half-heartedly. “Well, what does he like?”
“Swearing,” volunteered Avery.
“Drinking,” suggested Isis.
“Hitting things,” laughed Avery.
Jessie gave them a scolding look. “No, I meant more along the lines of what does he like to eat or drink or does he have a hobby? Like you could pack a picnic of his favorite foods and take it to watch a football game or something like that. Try appealing to what he likes; try doing something romantic and then if that doesn’t sway him, give it up as a lost cause.”
Lucie nodded in agreement, liking everything she said until that last part. No, giving up wasn’t an option.
Avery snapped her fingers. “Yes, that’s it. Give him a big romantic gesture and if that doesn’t work – fuck him. Go big or go home.”
Isis shook her head. “No, this is easy, just turn up at his apartment wearing nothing but a trench coat. When he opens the door, drop the coat and, voilà, he’s putty in your hands.”
She was alarmed at how excited her little beast got over that idea. The plan certainly had its merits. Cutter wasn’t made of stone – even if parts of him certainly seemed to be rock hard. When faced with a naked hedgehog shifter in possession of, even if she did say so herself, a very impressive bust, she highly doubted his resolve wouldn’t crumble like old cheese.
“That’s not bad,” she admitted to a preening Isis.
“Just let me know if you need to borrow my trench coat – I have several.” Isis clapped her hands together. “Alright, I am going to get us another round of drinks.”
The lithe tigress sauntered away, swinging her hips, pushing her boobs out and eye-fondling just about every male in the bar. The good thing about Isis is that she always procured free drinks for everyone. Her record from leaving the table to getting a guy to offer her a drink was sixteen seconds.
Lucie couldn’t help the giggle that escaped her as Isis blew air kisses at a very surprised looking panda shifter. He almost inhaled his bottle of beer in surprise.
Ah, to be a five-foot-ten tiger shifter.
*
Cutter snarled at a fellow wolf shifter who pushed past him as he was entering the bar. The wolf returned the snarl, and they kept going back and forth in a snarling contest until, finally, Wa
yne thumped him on the back and told him he was thirsty.
It had not been a good day.
His wolf had been sulky and irritable all day, even more than usual, and they hadn’t made any headway with either of their cases. Plus, somehow Primrose got wind of the fact that he had been within a hairsbreadth of Lucie getting her delectable fingers on him for his physical, and that he’d bolted. Primrose, naturally, reported that to the Director and Cutter barely made it out of the office without having to pry the snake shifter’s fingers from around his neck.
He sniffed as he entered the bar and almost howled in frustration. His treacherous animal was thrilled, but Cutter just wanted to run in the other direction. There, amongst all the sweat, perfume and arousal, was the sweetest scent of all – blueberries and cream.
Yep, Lucie was on the loose.
Dale noticed his discomfort and smirked. By now he had also scented Lucie and was looking forward to what was about to transpire. It had taken Dale all of five minutes to see how Lucie felt, and to see that Cutter was fervently trying to prevent anything from happening between them. Dale couldn’t understand why Cutter didn’t just take her to bed and be done with it. No, he wouldn’t understand. He’d never turn down the offer of sex with a woman, whether she was his brother’s girlfriend, whether she was married… To Dale, it was downright unmanly not to try and hump every woman he found attractive.
Cutter just thanked whichever gods were on his side that Dale wasn’t after Lucie. He felt confident that Lucie would resist him – she had way too much class for that randy loser – but even the thought of Dale trying to touch her sent him wild. Wild enough that he shifted and burst out of his best shirt the first time the disgusting thought crossed his mind. The idea of that male’s paws touching her creamy skin… Cutter felt his gut twist, and his wolf bared his fangs.
Easy, he soothed his animal. Lucie was safe from Dale – he’d make sure of it. Just like he made sure that she wouldn’t be bothered by that reindeer shifter from tactical who had wanted to take her out for coffee abut eight months ago. Not to mention the wombat shifter analyst who was trying to lure her into joining his RPG game, The Wolves of Olde. Cutter made damn sure she was safe from both those creeps – even if both times had resulted in another round of anger management classes. He scowled at the thought of those males. Coffee and RPG games – the sweet, little hedgehog deserved so much more than that.
