Fire & Frost

by Meljean Brook

  Since it was a nice day out — well, for her — Estrella walked to Vic’s garage. It was only a few blocks away from the gym she worked at, and in Texas, that was practically neighbors. She took her jacket so her boss wouldn’t ask questions, and then ditched it into her car as soon as she hit the parking lot.

  As she walked, Estrella inhaled the scents of the city. She loved the sharp, crisp bite of the winter breeze. The only trees she could smell were junipers; everything else was bare and brown. The sky overhead was gray, which suited her mood quite well.

  The hunt for the father of her child was not going so well.

  Estrella shouldn’t have been surprised. Hell, it was close to impossible to find a date under normal circumstances. Finding the perfect guy who also wanted to be a parent in the space of under a week? Impossible. Still, she wouldn’t stop hoping. Something was going to have to come out of this heat, after all. Waiting wasn’t an option. Already her ovaries felt like they’d climb out of her body at the sight of the next sexy guy who walked past.

  Maybe a human? Vic would kill her. Totally and completely kill her. If she’d ever felt like an outcast because of her liger ancestry, it’d be nothing to how she’d be treated if she were a liger knocked up by a human. She sighed, feeling defeated, and kicked a nearby can instead of picking it up and tossing it in the garbage. As much as she’d felt like an outcast growing up because of her dual halves? There was no way she’d subject any child of hers to anything remotely close to that.

  Like it or not, she had no ideas. That was why she was going to confront Vic and ask — no, beg — for his help. Her face flushed uncomfortably hot at the thought. Vic, could you help me with my heat?

  Why did that make her flutter low in her stomach? Stupid heat made everything attractive, apparently, even her formidable, scowling, often-scary alpha.

  Vic’s Garage was busy, all the bay doors open and cars on the lifts as men moved under them. The scents of motor oil and rubber tires filled her nostrils, along with the scent of other tiger-shifters. Vic hired family first, and several of the Barlow clan worked here. The scents of so many tiger males made a low, rumbling purr start in her belly, and she had to pinch her arm to make her purring stop.

  As she walked up to the garage, men stopped and stared at her. It was disconcerting, especially since the looks they were giving her weren’t the typical looks that she expected a female in heat would get. She knew she was at her sexiest, so why were they all staring at her with a mixture of wariness and unease?

  It was because she was a liger. It was stamped into every ounce of her being — different. Tiger women were normally tall and strong, but Estrella was taller and stronger than everyone else. Hell, she was taller than most of the tiger men. What, did they think she’d hold them down and take advantage of them? Sully their innocence? An amused smile curved her mouth. Judging from the wariness on their faces, maybe they thought that after all. Ignoring the men, she headed into the waiting area of Vic’s Garage, closing her eyes for the blast of heat that would keep the room a comfortable temperature for the human and not-going-into-heat customers.

  She’d prepared for the heat wave of seventy-two degrees Fahrenheit inside, but she hadn’t been prepared for the barrage of tiger scents as she opened the door. She was familiar with most of the clan; these smelled different.

  Different tigers? In the Barlow territory? Her uterus gave an excited little quiver of anticipation. Estrella’s fingers curled and she crossed her arms over her breasts, lest her nipples betray exactly how she was feeling. Three men sat at the far end of the waiting room, talking quietly amongst each other. Their backs were to her, but as the door closed behind her, they turned…and stood.

  Three men. Black hair. Two were about her height; the third was taller than her by an inch or two. They were all her age.

  Her mouth went dry.

  The door to Vic’s office opened. “‘Strella. Good. You’re here. You saved me a phone call. Come in so we can talk.”

  Her body protested leaving the men behind, but she forced herself to turn around and face Vic. Of course, as soon as he came into her sights, she was drawn to him like a magnet. God, he was strong and fierce. The liger side of her liked the thought of having a fierce mate. She needed a man who would stand up to her, take charge when she needed him to, defend their territory…

  She clenched her fists, willing the thought to go away. Vic was not going to be her mate. Not. He’d be horrified if he knew she was fantasizing about him. Hadn’t he said at the speed mating event that he wasn’t looking for a mate? The last thing he needed was her coming on to him because she thought he’d make some good looking babies.

  When she walked into the office, he shut the door behind her. She delicately flared her nostrils, taking in his scent. Oh hell, he smelled amazing. Like hand soap and a hint of sweat and axle grease under that. It shouldn’t have been such a turn on, but her claws were threatening to come out. The heat was getting worse, and she was out of prospects at the moment. Surely that was why she was going wild for her alpha.

  “Vic, I’m desperate,” she blurted, and it came out breathier and far more erotic than she’d imagined.

  He froze in place.

  “Not like that,” she amended quickly. At least, not yet. “I need your help. For the heat.” Oh god, she was blushing. “Not like that, either,” she said when he raised an eyebrow at her. “I mean, I need help finding someone—”

  “I know. Sit.”

  His voice was commanding; she immediately moved to the nearest chair and plopped into it, curving her long legs underneath, waiting for him to speak.

  “Last night after the speed mating, I made a few phone calls to the other tiger clans. Told them what we — what you — were looking for in a candidate. And while I can’t guarantee that any of them are into a long-term relationship, I want you to at least have a few options for your child that don’t involve hooking up with the nearest were-badger. Or worse, a human.” He leveled a hard gaze at her.

  She felt herself grow flushed, sweat breaking out on her forehead. “Am I that obvious?”

  “Yes,” he said bluntly. “But I’m glad you came to me.”

  So were her ovaries. Especially when he said the word ‘came’. Estrella clenched a hand over her stomach.

  “It’s obvious you’re going to go into heat very soon. I’ve sent the rest of the clan out of town for the week, just until we’re sure that you’ve covered all your bases. I also talked to the lion alpha — since you’re half of each — and he’s sending his boys out hunting in East Texas just to be safe. Unless you had your eye on one of them?”

  She shook her head. She knew the local lions and they hadn’t exactly been friendly. Or accepting. They were not even a choice for her. Her child would be fully accepted by his or her clan.

  “Okay then. I’ve flown three males from other tiger clans into town. I want you to take a few days and talk to each one of them. Let me know what your thoughts are. Find out which one is best for you and the baby.”

  Suddenly she was weepy. “You did this for me?”

  “Of course. I’m your alpha. If you have a problem, you come to me, and we fix it. I’m here for you.”

  Tears flooded her eyes. God, she was emotional lately. But just hearing that from Vic, well…it was something she’d needed to hear. She’d never felt more alone than this last week, being treated like a leper amongst men. Knowing that Vic was going out of his way to make this as smooth for her as possible? It made her giddy with happiness.

  It also made her incredibly emotional.

  Vic noticed her blubbering, and came around his desk with a sigh. “Don’t cry, ‘Strella. I can’t stand to see you upset.”

  “It’s just…I’m always just…” so alone, she wanted to say, but the words lodged themselves in her throat. A tiger wouldn’t know what it was like to be alone simply because you were born a half breed. As one of the Barlows, Vic wouldn’t know what it was like to be abandoned by y
our father, lose your mother. She was always so lonely.

  Until now.

  He knelt in front of her chair and put his arms around her, awkwardly patting her back. She wrapped her arms around him and snuggled her head against his shoulder, tucking her nose against his neck. It was fast becoming her favorite position with him, because it allowed her to take the most furtive sort of sniff of his scent. Not just his scent, but his skin—

  “Did you just sniff me?”

  Estrella bolted backward, flushing. “It’s the heat.”

  “Uh huh.” He looked more amused than annoyed, though. “If you don’t want to go through with this, just say so.”

  “I kind of don’t have a choice. My vagina’s already prepping for the Shifter Superbowl.” And she sniffed, loudly.

  He stiffened against her.

  “Sorry.”

  “Just glad I wasn’t holding any wine this time,” he grumbled.

  She gave a teary giggle at that.

  “‘Strella…You know I’m always here for you.”

  Yeah, but my brain keeps going to weird, dirty places when you’re trying to be supportive. So she said nothing.

  He gave her another little pat on the shoulder. “Why don’t you go out and say hello to my cousins before you start crying again?”

  She nodded, then impulsively reached out and hugged him again. Why had she ever thought Vic scary? Under that fearsome exterior was the heart of a big pussycat.

  Literally.

  It might have been her imagination, but the hug went on for longer than she’d expected. She pulled away and glanced up at his face. Same old Vic. Must have been her imagination.

  “Thank you,” she told him one more time.

  He waved her toward the door, the look on his face grim.

  As she stepped through the door, she could have sworn she heard something crash in the room. She turned around to look, but then tiger scents were in her nostrils, and she was surrounded by three young, virile tiger males, and Estrella forgot everything else.

  IN WHAT COULD only be described as the world’s most awkward quadruple date, Estrella took the three men out to lunch at the local barbecue pit. Her stomach was growling for food, and barbecue was a favorite with shifters — you could put away a ton of meat and no one said a thing about it. Estrella drove, and when she offered to pay for lunch, no one put up a word of protest. For some reason, that stuck in her craw. This was feeling a bit like she was auditioning for stud service.

  Well, hell. That was exactly what she was doing.

  Estrella’s heart sank. Vic had made it clear that the guys probably didn’t want a relationship, but if she wanted a baby that would be fully tiger clan, fully accepted, these three were her best chance. So she smiled and listened politely as they talked.

  Two of the men were brothers. Nelson Maher was an electrician, twenty-nine, and single. His brother Montgomery Maher was twenty six, an X-ray technician, and single.

  She immediately crossed Montgomery off the list. Too many X-rays, she told herself. What if her baby came out with radiation poisoning? Worse, what if he’d fried his junk by standing too close to the camera? For some reason, the thought of having sex with a sterile man repulsed her. Hell, if she was going to have sex for fun’s sake, she wanted someone more like Vic…

  She shut down that train of thought immediately and turned to Nelson. “So, what do you like to do in your spare time?”

  Estrella could have sworn he flexed, just a bit. “I do some rock climbing and work out at the gym,” Nelson said between bites of barbecue. “I like to stay fit.”

  She brightened at that. “You do? That’s terrific. Did Vic tell you? I teach yoga and fill in as the Zumba instructor at my gym.”

  Nelson gave his brother a sideways glance that seemed a bit too competitive, and turned his smile on her. “Well now, I like to do real exercising. You know, get a sweat going.” That time, he definitely flexed. “Bench presses and the like.”

  She bristled at his tone. “I see.” Well, she could cross Nelson off the list. Arrogant prick. Like the father of her child was going to be condescending about what she did for a living. She was probably in better shape than Nelson was, if his muscle — or lack thereof — was any indication. “You must have just started lifting recently,” she said sweetly. “When will you start to see results?”

  Nelson frowned.

  Montgomery smothered a laugh behind a mouthful of barbecue, which made her appreciate him a bit more. Shame about the possible sterility.

  She turned to the third man. Tall. A bit on the lean side but still fit. Quiet, but good looking enough. He had pleasant features and serious eyes. “You’re not speaking,” she told him, forcing the smile to stay on her face.

  He gave her an almost shy nod. “Cory.”

  “That’s a nice name,” she said conversationally.

  “Cory Janitor,” Montgomery broke in with a smirk. “You want your kid to be named Janitor?”

  “I…what? Really?” She gave Cory a startled look. His bright red flush told her everything.

  Oh. Oh no. If she were picking men for selfish, silly reasons…a horrible last name was definitely up there on things to avoid, in case her child wanted to hyphenate their last names at a later date. “I’m sure there’s nothing wrong with that,” she said politely. “So what do you do for a living, Cory?”

  He shrugged. “I’m a manager at Super Burger.”

  “When he’s not smoking weed in his parents’ basement,” Montgomery said with a snort. Cory elbowed him and gave a nervous laugh.

  These were her prospects? A misogynistic narcissist, a possibly sterile asshole, and a pothead with the last name of Janitor?

  Three men and she didn’t want any of them. Estrella didn’t think the day could get any more depressing.

  TO BE FAIR — and because she didn’t have any other options — she gave them the weekend. Against her better judgment, she went out on dates with all three and tried to make the best of things. After all, she didn’t have to marry the guy, right? He just had to get her pregnant.

  Even after her date, she couldn’t stand Nelson. He was polite enough, and he held doors open for her and acted like a gentleman. He was also controlling and a bit too old fashioned for her taste. They’d gone to a restaurant — his pick, since her pick wasn’t ‘any good’ according to him. Once there, he’d promptly ordered for her before she’d had a chance to look at the menu, and when she’d tried to order a cocktail, he’d told her that he didn’t find it appropriate for ladies to drink in public.

  Of course, when she’d snarled at him, he’d changed his tune.

  Montgomery was not much better. They’d gone out to a restaurant; the exact same one that Nelson had taken her to. Once there, Montgomery had grilled her about his brother. Had she liked Nelson? Had he purchased her dinner or had they gone dutch? Did she think his brother was the better-looking one? Everything seemed to be a competition between the two of them, and that was a major turnoff for her. She just imagined trying to sleep with the man. He’d probably quiz her on his technique and ask her who her best had been. Nor did she want to subject her future child to a lifetime of his father’s competitiveness.

  Cory had taken her to a bowling alley, and they’d played a few games while chatting. To her surprise, she genuinely liked Cory. He was nice, low-key, and easygoing. He was also a pothead who lived in his parents’ basement, but she supposed she couldn’t have everything.

  Too bad his last name was Janitor.

  Cory was nice enough, but just because he was the lesser of three evils didn’t mean that she wanted to have his baby. After the bowling date, she headed back to her apartment — alone — and stared at her phone, debating. After a moment, she sighed.

  In desperation, she called the dating agency one more time.

  In what seemed to be par for the course, she got Ryder’s voicemail. “Hi there! You’ve reached the desk of Ryder St. James,” a perky voice chirped. “I’m unavailab
le to take your call at the moment, but leave me a message and your account number and I’ll call you back as soon as possible. Have a super day!”

  “Hey, um, Ryder? I don’t remember my account number, but this is Estrella Townsend. The liger that’s about to go into heat. I’m guessing you don’t have many of those at the agency so I’m hoping you’ll remember who I am. Anyhow, I wanted to say that I didn’t mark down anyone on my card at the speed mating the other night, but…” She sighed, hating herself for even bringing it up. “But I was wondering if anyone marked me down. If so, can you let me know? I’m willing to reconsider dating anyone who put me down. Anyhow, call me back.” Estrella rattled her number off and then hung up, hating that she’d had to stoop to this.

  Pickings were definitely slim and getting slimmer all the time. Maybe she needed to make a list of attributes she was looking for in a man, and then she could narrow down her (rather sparse) selection. After all, she could always go turkey baster and raid a sperm bank or something, she supposed, but that wouldn’t help with her heat much. She needed to have sex, period.

  Her apartment was too warm. Fanning herself with a notebook, Estrella opened all the windows, letting the icy winter air breeze in. Sweat beaded on her forehead. Maybe she could make her list while having a nice, relaxing, chilly soak in the tub to bring her internal temperature down a bit.

  Estrella undressed and filled the tub, adding some bubble bath. She gave a soft sigh of pleasure when she soaked her limbs in the cool water. It immediately felt better. Picking up her paper again, she tapped her lip with the pen and considered.

  If she was man-shopping for herself, she liked tall men. Dark hair. Muscles. A little bit dangerous. Someone with a take-charge kind of personality who wouldn’t be overbearing or condescending. She liked a man who knew what he wanted, but trusted her enough to make her own decisions and wouldn’t try to override her. She wrote down a few notes, then considered. Tattoos? For some reason she’d found tattoos sexy lately…