Evernight Publishing
www.evernightpublishing.com
Copyright© 2014 Nicola Cameron
ISBN: 978-1-77130-729-1
Cover Artist: Sour Cherry Designs
Editor: JS Cook
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
DEDICATION
For Keith Davenport, who stopped me from running amok on more than one occasion.
Thanks, my liege.
TRICKSTER
Nicola Cameron
Copyright © 2014
Chapter One
Mate.
The scent hit Delaney Smith the moment he walked into the Trickster Technologies reception area. Delicious, mouthwatering mate pheromones teased his sensitive nose, kicking his libido into overdrive. My mate. He’s here.
He looked around the room, empty except for the receptionist. As much as he loved Aimee, both for her Army-trained organizational skills and her filthy sense of humor, he knew damn well that the mating scent wasn’t coming from her. He took a deeper sniff, and suppressed a howl. His mate had been in that very room not less than ten minutes ago. Goddamn it, I go on my first vacation in years and I miss him by ten minutes?
Aimee looked up from her keyboard, beaming at him. “Welcome back, my liege,” she said, smacking a fist over her ample chest. “How were the Bahamas? More importantly, where’s my souvenir?”
“Nice to see you, too, Aims.” He didn’t want to admit that going on a cruise by himself had been more than a little lonely. He’d spent much of the trip wishing that he had someone who could travel with him to exotic places.
It looks like I’m about to get my wish. “The Bahamas were fine. And let me get into my office first before you start sucking up for presents.” He leaned closer over the curved reception desk. “Did we get a delivery or something in the last ten minutes or so? Or a visitor?”
Aimee frowned. “Nope. Why?”
The scent teased his nose, sending tendrils of need winding down into his balls. “I can smell my mate.”
Her frown deepened. “Del, I’ve been here since eight and I can tell you nobody’s been through here but employees...” She blinked, her expression changing. ”Whoa. Including the new contract programmers. Scott hired them last week for the Lone Star Credit Union job.”
Delaney relaxed. That had to be it. Trickster’s CEO Scott Devlin had been hot to hire some contract talent, and Delaney knew that he’d come back to find the last of the company’s empty cubicles filled. It was just his luck that Scott had also hired the shifter who would become Delaney’s mate, the other half of his heart. “That’s great. They’re over in Engineering, right?”
“Yeah, but Del—”
He was already heading towards the open plan area where the system developers worked. I know I just got back from vacation, but Scott won’t give me a hard time over taking tomorrow off. Especially after what happened with him and Carmen.
“Del, wait.” Aimee stood up, scooting around the desk.
He didn’t notice, lured on by that amazing scent. I’ll just track down my mate, introduce myself, get us set up for dinner, and by midnight we’ll be fucking our brains out and bonded. Poor guy, has he been scenting me all this week from my office? He must be half-crazy by now—maybe I’d better take Tuesday off, as well.
“Del!”
Somehow Aimee had gotten in front of him, one small hand firmly planted in his chest. “Stop!”
“What?” Delaney scowled. “Why?”
“About the programmers.” She glanced over her shoulder, then dropped her voice. “Del, I’m sorry. But they’re human.”
****
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Delaney said hollowly, staring across the expensive oak desk at his business partner and pack Alpha. “They can’t all be human.”
“I’m telling you, Del, none of them are shifters,” Scott said, spreading his hands in a silent apology. “We ran the standard background check, plus that new blood test that we pass off as a drug screen. All three of the programmers tested out as pure human, not even a hint of shifter DNA.”
Groaning, Delaney scrubbed at his face with both hands. He could smell his mate even in here: sharp salt, the bloody hint of iron, overlaid by the musk of clean, healthy male and some (thank God) mild deodorant and body wash that didn’t shrivel his nose hairs.
And that luscious ribbon of pheromones that grabbed him by the dick and made his coyote want to yip with glee. His balls ached, and the urge to shift and hunt down the source of that scent produced a full body shiver. He took a deep breath through his mouth, but even cutting his nose out of the equation didn’t help. Now he could taste his mate.
His human mate. Someone who had no idea that shifters existed and would not only have to be introduced to the idea, but convinced not to tell the rest of the world.
Delaney grimaced. It wasn’t that he was speciesist or anything. He just didn’t find humans attractive. They were so ... bland, for lack of a better word. He wasn’t sure if it was being trapped in one skin or their general lack of connection to the natural world, but humans never seemed to have the raw sensuality and gusto for life that shifters possessed. When it came to sex partners, he’d always found it easier, not to mention far more satisfying, to stick to his own kind.
Until now. He knew that Fate needed a laugh as much as anyone else, but did he have to be the butt of this particular joke?
A soft throat-clearing noise dragged his attention back to Scott. “Hey, it could be worse,” the CEO said. “At least she’s not a bobcat or lynx shifter.”
Delaney glared at him. “Not helping.”
“Yeah, sorry. So, she—”
“He.”
“He?” Scott’s eyebrows rose at that. “That’s a change.”
Delaney shrugged impatiently. He usually preferred women, but like many shifters he’d had experience with same sex lovers. And the mating bond itself had no respect for sexual orientation. “It happens. I don’t care. I just want to meet him.”
“Well, it does narrow things down. We only hired one male programmer.” Scott rummaged through the papers on his desk, locating one and passing it over to Delaney. “Name’s Mark Fellowes. Here’s his CV.”
Delaney sniffed the paper, and groaned. “Oh, God. Yeah, it’s him.” He forced himself to actually read the CV and not lick at the traces of skin oil left on the paper. “Damn. He’s really good, too. Please tell me he’s not married.”
“He’s not married, but he said something about a girlfriend finding the job listing for him.”
Delaney growled under his breath. Great, because things weren’t complicated enough. “Yeah, hi, nice to meet you, I’m your mate. I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to dump your girlfriend and learn how to take it up the ass. Oh, by the way, I can change into a coyote at will. How ‘bout those Cowboys?”
Scott leaned back in his chair, giving him a sympathetic look. “Look, Del, I know what you’re going through. You remember how I got when I scented Carmen?”
Delaney did. Scott had first smelled his mate at the enormous Texas State Fair, and had almost torn apart the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex trying to track her down. “I thought we were going to have to hose you down every hour.”
“Right, so I know how it feels,” Scott said. “The thing is, we really lucked out with Fellowes. He’s kil
ler on security countermeasures, and he meshed really well with Fazia and Meiying. In fact, I want to hire him once the Lone Star contract is finished.”
“Great, I’m totally behind you on that,” Delaney said, buzzing with impatience. “Can I go meet him now?”
Scott sighed. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. I’m trying to tell you not to go running in there and scare the shit out of him. If he’s your mate, we both know the girlfriend won’t last. Take it slow, let him get used to the idea.”
Struggling to get his desire under control, Delaney took a shallow breath and nodded. “Slow. Right. I can do that.”
Following the CEO’s suggestion, he forced himself to go back to his office and start wading through the backlog of email that had built up while he was on vacation. It took every shred of willpower he had to ignore the mating scent, but the logical part of his brain knew that Scott was right. He had to approach a human mate with a certain amount of tact. A non-shifter couldn’t smell Delaney’s answering pheromones, and wouldn’t understand why he was suddenly being pressed to a wall with the CTO’s tongue down his throat. I can always wander down to Engineering later this morning, just cruise by and see what he looks like. Nice and casual, no stress, no strain.
His resolve lasted until he heard a knock on his office door. “Come in.”
The door opened and a man poked his head into the room. “Mr. Smith? I’m Mark Fellowes, one of the contract programmers. Fazia said that I should stop in and introduce myself?”
The mating scent smacked Delaney hard in the nose. His cock didn’t just throb, it pulsed, going so rigid against his fly that he could have pounded nails with it. Details from the CV flickered through his mind: Mark Matthew Fellowes, 29, BA in computer programming from SMU, extensive experience in financial security protocols, liked running and swimming.
In person, his mate turned out to be a slim 5’11”, with a cap of curly light brown hair and grey-blue eyes behind silly hipster glasses. A combination of a snub nose, full upper lip and heavy eyebrows gave him the look of a slightly cranky faun. None of it was what Delaney had expected in a mate, but he realized with a surprising shock of joy that it didn’t matter. Even human, Mark was perfect just the way he was.
Now all Delaney had to do was explain that Mark was his mate, woo him, fuck him, and mark him. Yeah, that’s not going to be a problem at all. Oh, boy.
Mark was still at the door, waiting patiently. “I’m sorry, did I catch you at a bad time?” he asked.
“Uh, no, sorry. Come on in,” Delaney said, tugging his jacket across his groin as he stood and extended a hand. “Call me Delaney. Mr. Smith sounds like an alias.”
“Delaney, got it.” Mark took his hand, and the simple touch sent tingles racing over Delaney’s skin. His coyote yipped at him to pull his delicious human down for an afternoon of hot pounding sex, rounded off with a mating bite. Slow, goddamn it.
“Sorry, I’m a little out of it,” he said out loud, reluctantly letting go of Mark’s hand. “Still in vacation mode, you know?”
Mark nodded, oblivious. “I was going to give you an update on the Lone Star project, but if you’re busy now we can get together later.”
Get together. Delaney had a sudden image of Mark spread out on his desk, face flushed and mouth open as Delaney slowly, lovingly fucked him senseless. Clearing his throat, he sat back down, grateful for the desk’s camouflage. “No, it’s fine. Let’s do this now.”
The next half hour was the longest, most torturous one of the shifter’s life. As his cock and balls burned with the need to claim his mate, he tried to focus on Mark’s words about the Lone Star Credit Union’s system upgrades. It didn’t help that he was constantly distracted by the play of muscles in Mark’s hands, or the way his tongue slipped out every so often to wet his lips. Delaney could just imagine that tongue wrapped around his shaft, sliding oh so sweetly over the head and lapping up the pearls of precum forming there, before those lips parted and sucked him into hot, wet heaven—
“—aney?”
Delaney snapped back to reality. “Yes?”
Mark’s brows creased, as if he knew what the other man had been thinking. “I was just asking if you have any questions?”
Thank God Scott had left him a printed list of milestones for the project. Scrabbling for the piece of paper, Delaney zoomed through them, barely absorbing Mark’s replies. His coyote was also scrabbling inside, desperate to get out and leap on his mate.
Finally, there was nothing more but to stand, mutter some pleasantries and shake Mark’s hand again. This time, Delaney held on, unable to resist pouring his need into the grip. Come on, babe, show me you feel it too.
While they didn’t have a mating link yet, he was still aware of everything going on in Mark’s body. As they held hands he could sense his mate’s heartbeat speeding up, along with respiration. The scent deepened, enriched by a thread of desire.
Behind those hipster frames, blue eyes turned dark as Mark’s pupils dilated, the involuntary reflex of attraction. His mate’s bottom lip dropped slightly, mouth open in surprise. He’s getting it! Yes! Relieved, Delaney leaned over the desk, ready for their first kiss.
And got nothing but air as Mark’s hand jerked out of his grip. “What the hell are you doing?” the human yelped, almost tripping over his feet as he backed up.
Aw, shit. Delaney straightened up, trying for a charming “aw shucks” smile. “Um, I ... wanted to kiss you?”
Mark’s jaw dropped. “You —what? Why?”
“Well, I’m very attracted to you. I mean very, very attracted.” He turned up the wattage on his smile. “And I’m pretty sure you feel the same way about me.”
“I—” His mate’s scent changed and not in a good way, anger flooding it and adding a hot undertone. “For your information, I’m not gay.”
He can’t smell you, Del, not like that. Use your words. “I’m not saying you are. Maybe you’re just heteroflexible. But I do know you’re attracted to me,” Delaney said, trying to sound persuasive. “There’s nothing wrong with that. And believe me, I want you back just as much. If it’s all right with you, I’d really like to take you out for a drink after work and get to know you better. I think we could have something amazing together, if you just give me a chance.”
Mark’s mouth worked silently for a moment, raising Delaney’s hopes. They crashed to earth as the human said, “Okay, I don’t even know where to tell you just how wrong you are. Not to mention how deeply I’m offended by your behavior. This is an office, Mr. Smith, not a blind date. Or a booty call. And for your information I have a girlfriend.”
Delaney sniffed, analyzing. There was a very faint odor of a woman, but none of the scents associated with an active sex life. “I bet you haven’t gotten her into bed yet, have you?” He grinned. “I promise you, that won’t be a problem with me.”
Furious color flooded Mark’s face. “Normally I don’t say things like this to an employer, Mr. Smith. But you can go fuck yourself.” He spun and stalked out of the office, slamming the door behind him.
So much for slow. Delaney sat back down, resisting the urge to smack his forehead on his desk. Yeah, that definitely could have gone better. And if he goes to Human Resources to complain, Scott is gonna kill me.
He eyed his computer. Okay, here’s a thought. Now that the little head struck out, how about we let the big head make the next move? Ignoring the persistent throbbing below his waist, he pulled over the keyboard and called up Trickster Tech’s HR files.
It was time to do a little bit of background research on his mate.
Chapter Two
“Oh, that is just ridiculous!” Caren huffed over the phone. “Sweetie, you need to report him to someone.”
“I think he’s one of the company owners,” Mark said, holding his cell phone between his ear and shoulder as he tightened his running shoes. It was early evening now, and he was still pissed off at Delaney Smith. Owner or not, who the hell does he think he is, pullin
g that kind of shit?
“If I had any idea that he would try something like that, I never would have suggested you apply for the job,” Caren said. “He shouldn’t be allowed to get away with this kind of thing. Really, Mark, you need to talk to the CEO about this.”
Mark grimaced. By rights, he knew he should contact Scott Devlin about his CTO’s behavior. But he hated the idea of having to tell someone other than Caren that another man had come on to him so blatantly.
Especially since he didn’t want to remember how it had made him feel. The sheer presence that the taller man radiated, the sense of comfort and home, of rightness. And the split-second sensation of wanting to lean over the desk and open his mouth to Smith’s kiss, just to see if he tasted as good as he looked.
Not to mention the traitorous twitch of his cock. I’m not gay. I have Caren. It was just a momentary blip. For Christ’s sake, everyone gets those.
“Mark? Are you still there?”
He shook his head. “Yeah, sorry honey. I’ll go talk to Devlin tomorrow.” He fiddled with a shoelace, easer to turn the phone call onto a more pleasant subject. “I was wondering, do you want to get dinner or go see a movie tomorrow night?”
A sigh on the other end of the phone. “Sweetie, I’m just so swamped this week. Can we do it next weekend? I promise, I’ll leave Friday open for you. We can even go see that comic book movie you wanted to see, the one with that cute British actor.”
Mark stamped down a flare of disappointment. They’d been going out for a month, and he’d gotten maybe four dates in total with the gorgeous brunette, all of which had ended with a kiss at the door and him going home to whack off in the shower. But Caren was an up-and-coming executive at her company, determined to climb the corporate ladder, and he didn’t want to seem pushy or stand in her way. Who knows—maybe after a couple of hours of checking out the God of Mischief’s ass, she’ll be in the mood to fool around. “Okay, it’s a date. I’ll talk to you later.”
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