by Shea Balik
“Bodhi, is that you?” his mom called out.
He had to stop himself from rolling his eyes at his mom. Who else would it be? Even if she didn’t hear him say “Mom,” the kids screaming his name should have given her a clue. Still, he knew it wasn’t her fault. She was probably just engrossed in whatever she’d been doing to have really heard him.
His parents were free spirits. They loved art, creating it whenever and wherever they could. Growing up, Bodhi’s friends had thought his parents were weird, but Bodhi loved their outlandish ways. Too bad the same couldn’t be said for his sister, Amity.
Since birth—hell, knowing his parents, since conception—they had encouraged their children to express themselves in any manner they wanted. Bodhi had embraced that philosophy with a passion. He loved to create. Painting was his favorite, but he also enjoyed sculpting, ironworks, and glassblowing.
With the introduction of the Alpha Mate’s celebrations each month, Bodhi had a new passion, dance. It was so freeing, so uninhibited. He spent hours every night searching for dance lessons online, practicing the moves over and over again until he felt comfortable enough to add his own style into the dance.
He walked in the direction of his mom’s voice at the rear of the house, where the sunroom was located. His father had built it for her when she’d complained about not having enough light to create her masterpieces. So he built an all-glass room.
Everything from the walls to the roof was made of glass, allowing as much sunlight in as possible. His mother had loved it, squealing like a little girl when his father had shown it to her. They had started kissing, and Bodhi and his sister had to run from the room the moment clothes started coming off, ushering several of their foster siblings along with them.
That was the thing with his parents. They believed love was a beautiful thing to be shared. Bodhi agreed, but he still didn’t want to see his parents getting it on. A shiver of disgust raced down his spine at the thought. He may be happy his parents loved each other so much, but he sure as hell didn’t need to see it up close and personal.
“Hey, Mom. I made it back.” He walked up and gave her a kiss on the cheek, then went over to three smaller kids who were busy with their finger paints. “Hey, munchkins, you making masterpieces?”
The two girls, April and Tonya, gave him huge smiles, their faces a mess of paint, clearly having gotten into their work. Wallace, on the other hand, ignored him as he concentrated on getting his picture just right. Wally was only two, but already he had a passion for art that might exceed Bodhi’s.
His mom tsked when she saw the mess the munchkins had made. “We better get you all cleaned up if we’re going to make it to the Amphitheatre.” She turned to Bodhi with a bright smile that quickly changed into a frown when she saw his paint-covered body. The kids weren’t the only ones that got into their work. “Are you going to be ready in time?”
“I’ll be ready,” he called over his shoulder as he dashed to his room to get cleaned up.
The announcement for movie night had gone up a couple of weeks ago. Since they hadn’t a clue what a movie was, they’d had to look it up. Sometime around the Great War, the humans had done away with all types of entertainment, including music and movies. Even art wasn’t practiced much any longer.
Fortunately for them, it was easier to see what their ancestors had created, as the art still existed all around them. Music and movies were a little harder to find, unless one knew how to search for them online.
Excited to get to experience something new, Bodhi’s mom made him and his dad promise to get there early enough to get a good seat since the last celebration had been so packed with people it had been hard to move. Twenty minutes later, he managed to scrape all the paint off his body and stepped out of the shower.
“Bodhi, we leave in ten minutes,” his mom called from outside his door. Several kids cheered and started chanting “movie” over and over again. He couldn’t help but smile as he quickly dried off.
It was a stretch, but he just managed to get dressed and his hair styled when his mom yelled, “Time to go.”
Excited, Bodhi ran to the front door with a smile on his face. His dad, mom, and the ten kids, ranging from two to fifteen, waited for him with equally excited expressions. They stepped out of the house, all holding hands—except for the munchkins, they were carried—and practically skipped as they walked the mile to the Amphitheatre.
Already there was a crowd of people gathered outside the gates, which were still locked. A glance at his watch showed they should open any minute. All around them, people chatted happily about the upcoming event. Considering everything Juarez had been through, it was surprising to see so many happy and laughing.
Just a few months ago, they’d been mourning the deaths of nearly a thousand people when a member of the Cadre had set off five bombs throughout the city. His best friend had died that day, along with his friend’s wife and three-month-old son. It had been one of the most horrific events the city had ever had to endure.
It was something that should have destroyed Juarez and its citizens, but instead, thanks to people like the Alpha and his mate, it brought the city closer together, bonding them like nothing else could. No longer were they going to put up with corruption or people with evil intent.
Daily, the citizens of Juarez stood up to the bullies, refusing to back down. They still had a long road ahead of them to get rid of all the bad elements, but with the Alpha and his inner circle helping, the city of Juarez was becoming a safer place to live.
In the distance a clock chimed four, the time the doors of the Amphitheatre were to open. Right on cue, six large men strode forward to unlock the gates. Suddenly the excitement of the night changed as his gaze landed on one of the six men.
His cock went hard so fast, Bodhi got a little light-headed from the lack of blood in his brain. He let his eyes devour every inch of the man’s six-foot-three frame. Drool pooled in his mouth as he watched the play of the man’s muscles under the tight stretch of his dark-green T-shirt.
He licked his lips just thinking about running his tongue over the dips and ridges the miles of brown skin provided. So engrossed in studying the eye candy, he had forgotten where he was until the kids pulled him forward with the crowd.
His dream man disappeared in among the throng of people but not before Bodhi made eye contact with the man’s stunning gray eyes. Even from the distance that separated them, Bodhi didn’t miss their smoky color.
“We need to find a good spot before they’re all taken,” his mom said.
He heard the words, but they weren’t registering as he frantically searched for the sexy man. Considering how tall the man was, he shouldn’t be all that hard to find if it weren’t for the fact that Bodhi was too short to see over the people that surrounded him.
How was he supposed to find the man that looked like every wet dream Bodhi had ever had all rolled into one? Based on the last event, there was expected to be over thirty thousand people there. It would be like finding a needle in a haystack.
“Come on, Bodhi. Your mother claims to have found the perfect spot.” Bodhi’s dad smiled after his wife as she rushed with a few of the children in tow, and an armful of blankets they had brought, to stake her claim on her slice of heaven.
With one last look around, Bodhi followed his dad, making sure all the kids were accounted for. He could only hope Etzel, the owner of the Amphitheatre, would know who the man was since his walking fantasy had helped to open the gates. He’d ask him tomorrow. In the meantime, he’d enjoy the fun that was planned for the night.
Chapter 3
Stunned, Kai stood there searching for the most tantalizing man he’d ever laid eyes on. The little wisp of a man held a small child in his arms with another two kids tugging on his arm. Those brilliant lavender eyes were absolutely breathtaking.
Wanting to see more, Kai followed the direction his purple-eyed beauty went, but he’d completely lost sight of him. Not about to be dete
rred, he searched the large Amphitheatre completely, forgetting his promise to Gibson that he’d help with the dance lessons.
“Kai, you’d better be on your way. I’m going to kill you if you’re trying to bail on these lessons,” Gibson said through the earpiece the entire inner circle wore to keep in constant contact with each other.
He still wasn’t sure how Gibson had convinced him to give dance lessons. Sure, he enjoyed learning the various steps. He even enjoyed turning up the music and letting his body move to the beat, but that didn’t mean he wanted to give lessons. He never once said he was an expert. Most of these songs he’d only just learned in the past week at Gibson’s insistence.
Not that he could back out now. Gibson was infamous for making them eat cereal instead of letting them eat what he cooked for their meals when one of them pissed off the feisty chef. Gibson’s food was too good to be forced to eat cereal. “I got stuck up front but am on my way.”
“You better be, buddy,” Gibson muttered. “The crowd is twice what I had planned.”
Kai rolled his eyes even though the man couldn’t see him. “I’ll be right there. Just hold tight.” With his long strides, it wasn’t more than a couple of minutes before he was at the dance lesson area.
The first movie would start at five with dance lessons offered before for three of the songs, “Greased Lightning,” “We Go Together,” and “Born to Hand Jive.” After the movie, there would be an intermission with another dance lesson given for the second movie. That one would entail five songs, which seemed a bit much to Kai, but what did he know?
The panic in Gibson’s eyes would have been funny, but as Kai looked out on the sea of faces that stared at them expectantly, he wanted nothing more than to turn and walk away. Only the thought of cold cereal stopped him. “So what are we going to do? Four instructors aren’t enough to teach all these people.”
Hunter and Anemone had also learned the dances to help with the lessons, but there had to be close to five thousand people standing there with barely enough room to move, much less dance, and others were clamoring to be allowed into the area to learn the dances, too.
“I don’t know,” Gibson whispered furtively, clearly afraid that the crowd would hear him. “Normally we have several sessions so there aren’t so many at once. But with the movie supposed to start in less than an hour, we can’t exactly have more than one session.”
Anemone and Hunter had joined their little powwow, while Talon, Blade, and Forest stood in a loose circle between them and the crowd while they figured out what to do. “What about recording us and putting it on the screen?” Anemone asked.
Hunter tucked his mate close, kissing the side of his head. “I knew there was a reason I loved you, beauty.” Anemone’s face lit up at his mate’s words.
“Rune, can we put our lesson up on the screens so everyone can see?” Gibson asked their communications expert using COBI, their communications and biometric interface. When in battle, the earpieces would be linked so they could hear everything said, but for day-to-day use, they just communicated with each other without everyone hearing what they said. Gibson’s smile beamed. “Thanks, Rune.” The Alpha mate turned to them. “He said he needs ten minutes and he’ll have it working.”
Kai nodded. “We should probably make announcements before fights break out to get into this area.”
Gibson got on the PA system to thank everyone for attending and to announce the change of plans since there were more participants than they thought. By the time Rune had set everything up, they came up with a new game plan. Gibson talked through the dances while Kai, Hunter, and Anemone danced them.
In all it was a lot of fun, but all Kai could think about was finding that lavender-eyed beauty he’d seen earlier. He just hoped those kids didn’t belong to the guy, or at least if they did, that he wasn’t involved with anyone, for Kai planned to make the man his.
* * * *
Bodhi couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Up on the stage, teaching the dances for the movie as if he was born to dance, was the man who’d taken his breath away. At least now he knew who the man was. Gibson had graciously provided the names of the three helping him, but Bodhi only cared about Kai. What a perfect name, Kai.
Strong, manly, and with a fluid gracefulness that belied the man’s size. The name described his future lover to a T. Bodhi may not have met the man yet, but there was no doubt he’d find a way to get into that man’s bed.
Little hands tugged on his arm. “Bodhi, you’re supposed to move your feet like this.” Zaina, one of the squirts, showed him by moving her feet perfectly in sync with the music.
It took some effort, but Bodhi managed to get his head back into what they were doing and learn the dances. The kids made it so much more fun as they worked to mimic the steps.
When it was time for the movie to start, Bodhi excused himself by claiming he was going to get them all popcorn, which according to their research, was the perfect food for watching a movie. It would mean he’d have stand in a line that looked like it was at least an hour long, but it would be worth it for a chance to talk to Tall, Dark, and Sexy.
As soon as his family disappeared into the crowd to get ready for the show, Bodhi turned to the stage with a single-minded determination to meet the man of his dreams. That was one of the things his parents taught him: if something was worth having, he needed to go after it, not just sit around and wait for it to come to him.
He ignored the thousands of people who were pushing to get back to their seats, plowing through the crowd as if it was the Red Sea and he was Moses. Sure he was nearly to the stage, Bodhi looked up, only to find he’d been pushed back and was now twice as far from the stage as he had been when he started.
It really sucked to be so short and skinny. With clothes and his heavy boots on, he barely weighed over a hundred pounds. He’d tried to gain weight, but no matter how much he ate or worked out, he continued to stay the same. Between his smaller size and his quirky parents, Bodhi had endured years of bullies picking on him.
For the most part, he was able to ignore the cruel taunting. One good thing about being smaller, he was quick, which probably had a lot to do with his being an antelope shifter. Not only had he been the fastest kid when he was in school, but he was able to fit through holes in fences, allowing him to get away without having to get hit, well, the majority of the time.
There were times the bullies surrounded him, not giving him the chance to get away. Those were the times, like now, when he wished he were bigger, stronger. Then maybe people wouldn’t feel they had a right to push him around.
Just as he was being shoved back even further, a large body stood directly in front of him, forcing the crowd to go around or risk getting knocked down by the wall of flesh. Bodhi was ready to give the person blocking his way a piece of his mind, when his eyes traveled up, and up, and up to meet smoky gray eyes that smoldered with heat.
“Hello, little butterfly.” The man’s deep voice settled right in Bodhi’s balls, making them tighten with need.
His mouth was suddenly dry as he tried to respond, which was weird since he was sure drool was coming out of it. Instead of flirting with his very own wet dream come to life, Bodhi looked like a fish out of water as his mouth opened and closed.
Forcing himself to swallow several times, Bodhi finally managed to find his voice. “I’m not little.” Did he really just say that?
Bodhi didn’t know what was wrong with his mouth, but he needed to get it together before he totally blew this. Sure, he didn’t appreciate anyone referring to his smaller size, but that wasn’t something he should bring up when trying to get the guy into his bed.
“I mean…Hi, I’m Bodhi, and you’re hot.” As soon as the words left his mouth, Bodhi closed his eyes and prayed a hole would open up beneath his feet. What the hell was wrong with him? It was like he had diarrhea of the mouth.
A deep chuckle had Bodhi’s dick perking up to take notice. “I don’t think it’s quite t
hat bad.”
Huh? “I’m sorry, but what’s not that bad?” Did he miss something?
“Admittedly it’s a unique way of putting things, but I don’t think you have diarrhea of the mouth. I’m Kai by the way.” Kai held out his hand for Bodhi to shake, but all Bodhi could do was look at Kai in horror.
Had he really said that out loud? It’s like he was cursed. Forced to say whatever he was thinking. Refusing to make a bigger fool out of himself than he already had, Bodhi turned on his heel and walked away. He bemoaned having to leave behind a man who was so fucking sexy he made Bodhi’s teeth ache, but it was better to cut and run now while he had a small shred of dignity left.
Diarrhea of the mouth. Seriously what in the hell was wrong with him?
Arms were suddenly around him, pulling him into a chest that felt more like a cement wall with all those muscles. “Whoa there, little butterfly. Where are you running off to?”
Pressed against Kai’s chest, he could feel the man’s deep voice rumble under all those muscles, vibrating right through Bodhi’s body, making his already hard cock turn into steel. Pre-cum shot out of him, soaking the front of his jeans. He just hoped the material was thick enough to hide the wet spot.
Lips brushed along Bodhi’s ear, causing goose bumps to break out all over his body. “Please let me go.” He hated the whine he heard in his voice, but he was so close to total embarrassment by coming in his jeans like some horny teenager. He’d already suffered enough humiliation in front of this god of man. Bodhi didn’t want to make it worse.
He’d fight to get free if he had to, but he didn’t think it would help since his feet were at least six inches off the ground. Without giving Bodhi a choice in the matter, Kai started walking behind the stage the man had just been using to demonstrate the dances for the movie.
He should have felt anger at being manhandled like that, but instead Bodhi was turned on even more. His head dropped back onto Kai’s chest. “Oh Gods,” he moaned as he felt his dick throb.
