by J. D. Light
Copyright © 2018 J.D. Light
Cover Art by www.coversbyjess.com
PROLOGUE
The day before…
Watching my cute little neighbor bend over and dig weeds out of his garden was probably one of my favorite things to do in the whole world. His plump ass swayed back and forth as he danced to a tune that must be in his head, because my shifter hearing hadn't picked up on any music and the man wasn't wearing any type of earphones.
The guy had lived next door to me for almost three months now. I remember the day he moved in, parking in the driveway as the moving truck pulled up behind him. He'd tried numerous times to help the burly men as they lugged all his belongings into the house, but they always shooed him away. Probably thinking, like me, that his clothes were too crisp and his hands too pretty and delicate for such things as manual labor.
I'd taken one look at the beautiful man with his subtle Asian features and soft white skin and wanted to force him to sit down in the shade and let me take care of him. He was far too precious to be lifting heavy boxes. My instincts screamed that the man should have a big strong husband around to make sure that he never had to lift so much as an envelope that needed to be put in the mailbox.
I'd frowned at that thought, wondering how I could be so protective of a man I hadn't even met yet. My leopard was even trying to urge me to go over and make sure the man had everything he could ever want or need. Which seemed like a mate thing, only, not once had I caught his sent on the air, telling me he couldn't possibly be my mate.
The man had turned then, jumping back a bit when he saw me sitting there on my porch, watching the whole thing.
"Shit!" he'd whispered to himself, but I'd heard him loud and clear. Then he'd backed toward his own porch, clearly a bit scared.
I hadn't meant to scare him, but I'd been told more than once that I needed to smile more because when I frowned, I looked like a serial killer. Maybe I should pay more attention to my facial expressions.
The guy had disappeared inside his house, peeking my direction every once in a while through the kitchen window that faced my house.
I continued to watch the house that day, trying to be smiling or at least looking less threatening when he peeked out the next time. Never. Not even one of the times he checked for my terrifying existence on my front porch was I looking even remotely friendly.
Mostly, because my mind kept wondering to my messed up instincts that kept telling me to go take care of the complete stranger that wasn't my mate, and make sure he wasn't scared.
Three months later and I still haven't managed to assure the man from afar and I absolutely refused to allow myself to get closer. I could tell from here, getting to know him would be getting to like him. I'd been down that road before.
A man like that, always dressed to perfection in his skinny slacks and button-up shirts when he wasn't dressed a bit more casually for gardening, would never put up with a grease monkey like me, whose closet seriously looked like a cartoon character's, with every outfit exactly the same.
White t-shirts and work jeans.
I did have lots of sweats in a basket by the back door, because shifter. But I really couldn't boast a variety of clothing beyond that.
Nope. Relationships or even flings meant dealing with a person who didn't feel the need to look past all your shortcomings and minor character flaws. It meant somebody constantly telling you that you were too plain to get away with wearing grease stained clothes and work boots anywhere but at work. It meant trying to change so much about yourself to please another person, only to find out in the end, you could never have changed enough because you just weren't what they wanted in a man.
I knew there was a chance that I would never get a mate. I was already one hundred fifty-three years old. But after two "relationships" that had ended in my partners each telling me I was too plain and too boring for them, I'd decided that working that hard for anyone but a mate just wouldn't be worth it.
If I got horny enough, I could dig out my nicer jeans and a black t-shirt and at least pull something from the nearest gay bar. Aside from that, I had a perfectly good hand.
One I was going to have to put to work if I didn't stop watching the flex and release of my neighbor's delicious ass and defined thighs.
His Asian heritage shined through in the lean lines of his long V shaped body and shortish, shapely legs. The pale skin of his arms peeking out of the sleeves of his somehow crisp, light blue t-shirt was thankfully covered in sunblock, protecting the smooth, unblemished perfection.
He stood, stretching his back out and tossing the weeds he'd plucked over into the metal tub he'd obviously designated for them. When he bent back over, I groaned, reaching down to adjust my cock where it was bunching uncomfortably in my dirty, work jeans.
I hadn't even made it in the house yet. Instead, like a creepy stalker, I'd seen the man bending over his flowerbed, completely oblivious to the world, and I'd plopped my perverted ass down on the steps of my front porch and enjoyed the show.
And what a show! He had the perfect ass for burying my dick in. Nice and plump, filling out those slightly worn jeans to perfection.
Wait! Sunblock?! I frowned hard, trying to catch a scent on the breeze. Why couldn't I smell the sunblock? I'd creepily watched him reapply the greasy stuff to his arms, the back of his neck and his face. So, I knew he was wearing it, but even the "unscented" stuff had enough of a chemical smell to be scented by a leopard from the fifty or so yards that separated our houses.
Come to think of it, I'd never smelled the man himself. I should have been able to at least pick up a bit of a scent on the man. Especially with him sweating the way he was. If he'd been my mate, I'd have smelled him from the moment he'd exited his car that day. Leopards could smell their mates up to a half a mile away depending on the wind. So, I wasn't even considering that, but it was still really peculiar to not be able to smell the man at all.
I considered walking closer. I could meander out in the yard a ways. But he turned then, glancing toward my house, while he tossed the weeds in the bucket.
When he caught sight of me, his head jerked back around and he bent to scoop up the sunblock and the tub of weeds, making a hasty retreat up the stairs of his porch and quickly into his house.
"Well, shit!" I'd been frowning again.
I swear I wasn't a grouchy person. I really did know how to smile!
The mystery of my neighbor's lack of scent would have to wait. The chances of him coming back out to finish weeding his beds were slim. It was too bad too. I hadn't meant to scare him into not finishing.
Sighing, I stood, turning to make my way into my house, just barely catching the movement of curtains in my neighbor's kitchen window.
Poor guy, he probably thought I wanted to kill him.
And, oddly enough, I suddenly smelled the earth that had been stirred up from him pulling weeds.
Strange.
CHAPTER ONE
And now…
As I became a little more coherent, I realized I was staring up at my gorgeous, usually glaring, possibly wanting to murder me, neighbor like some kind of starry-eyed moron, letting my mouth run, while my brain took a hiatus.
He was smiling down at me with concern, and a little amusement.
What did I just say?! Oh shit! This big, buff alpha male was going to knock my teeth out. I think I might love you, pretty naked man? Really?! Hopefully he didn't understand what my fogged out self had been saying.
Realizing I was nuzzling my cheek against his completely bare chest, I froze, eyes widening. Shit! It was like I was trying to get my ass kicked.
Quick! I needed to say something manly. Something that would maybe deter him from beating me up for totally rubbing all over him and hitting on
him in my less than completely conscious state.
Wait! Why was I being held by the neighbor I had been silently peeping at, as he wandered his back yard naked, almost every night for the past three months? Not that I was going to complain about being held to his bare chest like something precious, but it was a bit odd to suddenly find myself here.
Wait! Was he still naked? I tried to nonchalantly lower my eyes to see if there were pants on the legs that were cushioning my rear, but my attention was taken by someone else.
"Sutton?"
I turned at the sound of Thompsyn's concerned voice, confused about his presence and a bit perturbed about being pulled away from my perusal.
"Thompsyn?" I asked, right before all things furry came back to me, making me squeak. "Ya'll were animals! You were a bear!"
Jeez! I was starting to sound like Dorothy.
My heart rate picked up, as the hot and cold sensation of adrenaline flooded my body. I clung to the man holding me, basically, climbing up into his lap and wrapping my arm around him backwards. Only stopping when my fingers were clutching the band of his pants––guess he was wearing pants––low in the middle of his back.
"Sh. It's okay, sweet Sutton," my neighbor crooned deeply in my ear, somehow soothing me despite the fact that I was sitting mere feet away from a couple of werebeasts. "Thompsyn would never hurt you. Even if he turned right now, you'd be completely safe, I promise."
My body relaxed completely against the man. Which was ridiculous, really. What did I know about this man other than the fact that he was completely gorgeous, and had a completely lickable naked body?
But I did know Thompsyn. Had been getting to know him for days while he did everything he could to win his boyfriend back. I looked back and forth between the two men kneeling on the ground a few feet from me, wondering if I'd gone bonkers.
I felt a broad, warm hand rubbing circles on my back and I glanced sideways at the gorgeous man who I could now see had dark brown eyes to match his dark brown hair and tanned complexion.
Thompsyn cleared his throat, again drawing my attention away. "This is Bennett, the man I was telling you about." He grabbed the hand of the man beside him, smiling sweetly while he dropped a peck to his knuckles.
For some reason, maybe all the flowers, I'd expected Bennett to be small and effeminate, or maybe even questionably gay looking, like me, but the man beside the big bear-man, while smaller than Thompsyn, was tall and buff.
"He's a leopard," I said stupidly.
"I am," the cat in question said, smiling. "And thank you for all the work you did on my flowers. They were beautiful."
"I'm glad ya liked 'em," I shrugged, still staring at these…men? Beings?
I tried to see something of their animals as I watched the two men smile at each other and then back at me, but all I could see was lots and lots of flesh and muscles. Lots!
There was a time when that would have made my day, a time when I would have gawked. Well, I would have sent about a hundred covert glances their way, because these boys were big and I didn't want to get my ass kicked. But honestly since that first glimpse I'd gotten of my delicious neighbor sitting there all gruff and cranky looking on his front porch the day I moved in, I hadn't even been able to appreciate the sexiness of another man.
"I like your accent." The deep, sexy voice rumbled against my shoulder, making me shudder noticeably.
"Thank you." I bit my lip, trying desperately not to let my eyes roll back in my head from the straight lust that shot to my dick. I needed to get a handle on myself before he caught sight of what had to be getting obvious between my legs.
Sitting up quickly, I realized just how much in his lap I was, when my ass cheek ground down on his dick, making me shudder again.
He was hard as steel. I'd seen his dick many, many times, because I seriously had a problem and spent nearly every night sitting in my pitch dark bedroom in the chair by the window, staring out into his back yard, waiting for the exact moment he would walk by and I could stare unabashed at his gloriously naked body. But I had never seen him hard.
I so wanted to take credit for the dangerous ridge I was currently inadvertently riding, but it was more likely that the friction from my rather plump ass had actually dragged an unwanted hard-on out of him. I may be skinny everywhere else, but this Asian got back.
"Sorry," I whispered, not looking him in the eyes as I cringed and slid from his lap.
"No—"
Whatever the gorgeous man was going to say was cut off as my very angry best friend came stomping around the side of the house—growling?
"What the hell is wrong with you guys? Are you trying to expose us to the world? Like we don't already have enough bullshit going on!"
I'd never really seen him agitated before. He was usually a very laid back person. But as he looked around at the three men kneeling on the ground around me, he looked like murder on legs.
I jumped to my feet, intending to ward him off. I might know Thompsyn and somewhat trust him, but I wasn't sure how anyone would react since Foster seemed insistent on insulting them.
I'd known Foster for about five years. He'd walked into the very first flower shop I'd worked in when I was fresh out of high school, and fresh out of the closet, and fresh out of my parent's good graces.
He'd come into the shop in a hurry, like he was running from someone. I would later discover that he was, and that his propensity for being a loner and his smart mouth got him in those situations often.
We talked for over an hour as the four giant men continued to walk up and down the street. Sniffing the air almost like dogs. When they got close to the building, Foster just smiled and picked up a delphinium bundle, taking a deep breath.
He'd stayed way past the time when the men, who had been looking for him, got in a white SUV and drove away. After that, he's started stopping by regularly. Sometimes running in like the world was on his tail. And sometimes he'd just stroll in like he didn't have a care in the world. But he always seemed drawn in by the delphinium.
It was odd how fond he seemed of the flower. It was pretty, but definitely not an accent. I used it on many of my arrangements as filler. But he always got some from me when he was around.
I knew his job with the FBI was pretty busy, and he tended to stay gone for long periods of time. But he really was the best friend I'd ever had, and when he'd show up, we would fall in like we'd never been separated.
For some reason, even though Foster was a very handsome man, I'd never really been attracted to him. We had slipped so easily into the friendship role, and I'd just never seen him as anything else in my life. Even though I was pretty sure he was at least bi.
I'd seen him check out more than one desperate husband who'd forgotten a birthday, or anniversary, as they zipped by him in and out of my shop.
But, in all those years, never once, not even when he was running from a group of men that looked like they could crush me with a single squeeze of their fist, had I ever seen him like this.
"Listen, fox," the man who had been holding me said, standing and facing off against my friend, putting himself between me and Foster. "I think you know you are on leap land. It would be hard not to. Don't come into my yard yelling at me and my people."
"Now, because of these two careless morons—" Foster threw a hand in the direction of Thompsyn and Bennett. "Sutton has been exposed to shifters. I've been trying to keep him away from shifters for over half a decade now, and all that hard work is thrown out the fucking window because of carelessness!"
Before I could even think to react, Bennett leapt through the air, slamming into Foster, and taking him to the ground. It was beautiful and graceful and a little scary since both of them were snapping at each other with entirely too lengthy teeth.
My super hot neighbor pushed me behind him, clamping his hands down tight on my hips just a bit above my ass. And even with all the craziness that was my best friend starting to sprout light red fur, I couldn't seem to get pass
ed the way the man was touching me.
"That's enough." His growl should have been terrifying with the power I felt from it, but all I could do was shiver and move closer, drawn in by something I couldn't explain. "We'll worry about all the other stuff later. First, let's get my m—Sutton in my house, and then you can explain to me why you are here and what connection you have to him."
Bennett immediately leapt off of Foster, clearly taking the order to heart. "And explain why you've been running around the woods, sniffing around creepy shit, when I'm pretty sure you told our alpha you were just catching up with a friend, and checking on a lead."
"That's my friend," Foster said, pointing in my direction before climbing to his feet. I didn't miss how Foster still had huge teeth and glowing yellow-red eyes.
Clearly, he was an animal also. And judging by the growl that vibrated my body when the man still clutching me to his back had gotten irritated earlier, he was too.
I had to wonder if I was in shock. Surely, I should be freaking out about being led into a house with four beings that could turn into the things you are usually taught are dangerous. But, by the time my hot neighbor pulled me around and tucked me under his arm while smiling softly at me and winking, I still felt only confusion and lust. Even as he led me further around to the back of his house and up the steps into the darkened interior. The same neighbor, two days ago, I would have sworn wanted to kill me.
Once the lights were flipped on, I allowed him to lead me to the couch and urge me to sit down, smiling hesitantly when he plopped down next to me, stretching his arm out along the back of the couch behind me.
"Would you like something to drink, sweet Sutton?" He asked in an almost whisper, making it seem intimate, somehow.
I bit my lip, watching his eyes zero in on my mouth as I shook my head.
"You going to offer me something?" Foster asked, smirking when the man next to me snarled at him.
"Get to talking, fox. I'm seconds away from saying screw it and just killing you."
Though I thought the reaction was a bit harsh, I knew Foster tended to rub people the wrong way. Hell, my adopted brother threatened to kill him once a week and they had never actually even met in person.
