by E A Price
If swans could growl, hers would. “And you believed her?”
“The background check on your mate was very troubling. He has a history of violent behavior.”
“I’m not going to deny that. Boris had a troubled childhood that led some very unsavory moments in his adult years. But he has turned his life around, and I don’t believe for a second he has ever or would ever hurt a female. I take it you were the one who told Louise about his background?”
He nodded. “Your cousin asked if I would steal your mother’s car, and fill it full of the silverware to make it appear as though your mate had robbed the house. I suggested that the pearls would be easier to frame him with, and she agreed.”
“Dawson, how could you?” asked Marianne as she came into the dining room.
He hung his head. “Forgive me; I thought it was what you would have wanted.”
Cecile gave her a pointed look, and Marianne looked a little sheepish.
“I should not have voiced my objections to the mating. It is none of my business.”
“It is your business, Mother, but it is my decision. I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy. If I lived for a thousand years, I’d never meet a better man.”
“Alright, darling, you’ve made your point. I admit I do quite like Boris, or in particular, I like the way he treats you. And I’m sure I will like him more as I get to know him.”
“Thank you, Mother. Now, we need to get Boris out of this mess.”
*
Boris stared at Diaz as he yawned. Apparently the Los Lobos branch of the SEA was the closest, and the jaguar shifter had been dispatched to investigate the theft.
He looked Boris up and down. He was still only in his boxers. “Don’t suppose you want to put some pants on?”
“Don’t suppose I do.”
“What’s all this about then?”
Edmund and Louise, who had been the most vocal about Boris' guilt, were oddly silent.
Mindy wasn’t. She pointed at Louise. “Ask her. She accused Boris of stealing her pearls.”
Louise tried to smile bashfully.
Diaz raised an eyebrow at Boris. The big bear didn’t say anything, merely stared back with darkening eyes.
“Ah, Agent Diaz,” said Cecile in a no-nonsense tone, gliding into the room.
Diaz stood a little straighter. “Director Chambers.”
Boris growled.
“Ah, Director Chambers-Sokolov,” he corrected.
“I am sorry you have been called out here unnecessarily.”
“Oh?”
“Yes. This is my mother, Marianne.”
Diaz started bowing to the older, regal looking swan and then managed to stop himself. Boris didn’t hide his snicker of laughter.
“And her butler, Dawson. He has something to tell you.”
Dawson cleared his throat and started speaking in an almost mechanical voice. “I stole the necklace and put it in Miss. Cecile’s room. I merely put it there so I could retrieve it later. I am a kleptomaniac, and I have a problem.”
“The pearls have been returned, and Louise does not want to press charges, isn’t that right, Louise?” asked Cecile in a steely tone.
“Yes,” she said quietly. “I just want to forget it happened.”
“Dawson is an old friend of my mother’s; I’d rather get him the help he needs than have this taken any further.”
Diaz looked at the butler, whose eyes fixed on a point at the other end of the room as his cheeks turned pink with embarrassment.
“Well, okay, if that’s what you want.” He wasn’t going to argue with Cecile. Boris was always amazed that his sweet mate was so readily obeyed. She wasn’t an alpha, or very dominant. People did what they said because she was nice and charming. His bear smirked. Yes, he did what she wanted, too – but then he’d swim through hot lava if she asked him.
Cecile escorted Diaz to the door. “I am sorry to ruin your evening, Walter.”
Diaz shrugged. “Don’t worry, Director. My mate’s on a late shift at the diner. It means I’m now awake and can swing by and pick her up. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.” He winked and Boris snarled.
“You too,” she laughed.
Boris pinned her to the door as she closed it behind Diaz. “What’s going on? There’s no fucking way the butler’s a klepto.”
“I just need to talk to a couple more people and then I’ll explain everything.”
*
“If I had known she was pregnant, I never would have done that to her mate,” whispered Louise, furiously. “This seat on the city council is hardly worth the awful things you want me to do.”
“I didn’t know either. Do you really think I want her back now that she’s carrying that bear’s demon spawn?”
“Ahem.”
Louise and Edmund looked up guiltily. Cecile clasped her hands together. Boris was behind her, and she could sense his confusion, although that was becoming overwhelmed by anger for the crack about demon spawn.
“I take it, you,” she gestured to Edmund, “have run out of money from your last three divorces, and decided that you wanted me back. So you bribed Louise - by assuring her a seat on the council – into breaking apart my relationship with Boris.”
They both started objecting, and Cecile held up her hand. “You have ten minutes to pack your bags and leave.”
“But Cissy!”
“Don’t call me Cissy!” she yelled, surprising herself and her swan. From Boris, she just felt a surge of pride.
“Now, you have nine minutes and forty seconds. And I must warn you after the ten minutes has ended, I will have to release the bear.”
They glanced nervously at Boris.
“I asked Boris to be on his nicest behavior this weekend,” she explained, “but given that you did try to frame him for theft, ruin our mating and kept calling me Cissy, I will rescind my request if you do not leave immediately. If I were you, I wouldn’t wait around to see what he is capable of.”
Their eyes widened before scurrying off in opposite directions.
Boris pulled her back against his body, burying his head in her hair. She clasped his arms, running her fingers over his tattoos.
“I’m sorry, I hope you don’t mind me using you to threaten them.”
“Nah, I’d be more than happy to plant my fist in Edmund’s face.”
“The way I feel right now, I’d be happy to plant mine in Louise’s.”
He growled. “You’re sexy when you’re like this. But then you’re always sexy.”
“Do you want me to explain what really happened with the pearls?”
“No, I got the gist. Dumb fuck swan wanted you back, can’t have you. End of story. You’re mine.”
“Yes, always,” she agreed as he swan fluttered in joy. She kissed his hands over the tattoos she loved so much. “It’s a little late now, but we can leave first thing in the morning.”
Boris growled. “Why? It’s Mother’s Day tomorrow. Won’t your mom be pissed if you leave?”
“Well, after what happened, everyone accusing you, I just thought…”
He chuckled. “I’ve been accused of a lot worse. Besides, I’m just starting to like your family.”
“You are?” She didn’t bother to hide the disbelief from her voice.
“Sure.”
“Most of them are scared of you.”
“Yeah,” he crooned in seeming satisfaction. “Besides, I ought to get used to them before junior arrives. Can’t have him or her seeing me trying to maul your family.”
Cecile patted her stomach. “No, I suppose not.”
She twisted in his arms and plastered herself against his chest. “How can anyone not realize how perfect you are?”
“You’re the only one who thinks I am, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
The swan swooned. “Mmmm, mine.”
The end
Perfect and Awesome
“What’s the word, hummingbird?”
Aria
dne Black watched as her daughter slapped a flyer down on the kitchen table. “Daddy-Daughter Dance,” she mumbled before attacking her peaches and cream breakfast bun – a new delicacy Ariadne was considering trying at the bakery, and judging by the way Calisto was ripping into her second helping, it was going to be a winner.
“Maybe Mr. Winters from next door…” The harmless seventy-year-old grandfather of nine.
“I already tried. He left two days ago. He’s on a cruise around the Greek islands.” Calisto stared down her glass of milk as if it were a shot of bourbon.
Ariadne sighed and wiped her hands on her apron, once again cursing her luck with men. “I’m sorry, Callie baby.”
“I’m not going. Dancing with the teachers is embarrassing.”
Ariadne couldn’t deny that was true. She could remember that from when she was a girl. That damned photo of her with the principal stepping on her toes made it to the yearbook. Once again she lamented the choice to host the Daddy-Daughter Dance. The School never had a Mommy-Son Dance – apparently that was a bit too Oedipussy for everyone’s taste.
“I know, Callie baby. Trust me.”
Yep, if there was one thing that she knew and understood - starting with her father and ending with her latest ex who broke up with her citing the fact that her cooking was making her too fat - it was disappointment in men. It seems the Black women would always be destined to fall for losers, who then carelessly abandoned them. Even Calisto, only eleven years old, already felt the sting when her crush – who she’d spent numerous hours helping with his math homework - ditched her for a pre-pubescent cheerleader. Yes, sulky teenage witches just couldn’t compete with vacuous cougar shifters who spell words with their arms thought Ariadne sourly.
“I will find someone to…”
Three short beeps sounded as Mrs. Glicker – currently on carpool duty – sounded the horn. Even the woman’s beeping sounded perky.
“Don’t bother,” grumbled Calisto grabbing her backpack. “I have to go to School.”
“Have a nice day, Callie baby.”
“Aha. Bye.”
“I love you.”
“Me too,” came the grouchy reply before the front door slammed.
Ariadne felt her heart clench on seeing the disappointment lance her daughter’s pretty face. Or what would be a pretty face if she were ever allowed to find it under the dark bangs? Ariadne once made a comparison to Cousin It and had certainly regretted it. Calisto wasn’t waiting until she was a teenager to be moody.
Ariadne had always told herself that not having a father didn’t matter because that was how she was raised, and how her mother was raised and so on and so forth. But, she wished that Calisto could have a decent male role model for once.
She started beating the hell out of the cupcake batter as she thought of Calisto’s father. Asshole. Never even wanted to see his daughter. Couldn’t be bothered to send birthday cards and had long since given up on child support. Calisto pretended she didn't care, but she did. Moisture pooled in Ariadne’s eyes. She didn’t regret falling pregnant at twenty-two. Her daughter was everything to her. But oh how she wished she could have fallen for a better guy.
It didn’t matter now. It is what it is. She was going to find a decent man to take Calisto to the dance, and no, she wasn’t going to hire an escort to do it as her mother had tried for her when she was younger. That was especially embarrassing given that her history teacher had recognized him – apparently they had a business arrangement. Ms. Lickey could never look her in the face again after that.
But she was going to find someone to take her daughter to the dance. She was going to find a good male. Someone who was brave and smart, funny and charming, strong and kind. He enjoyed wine, but not to excess. No, he didn’t mind taking it in turn to wash the dishes. He had no problem dealing with household insects – shudder, spiders. He was well dressed but didn’t waste money on too many designer clothes. Course he’d have to work out on a regular basis – couldn’t have her sinful cooking ruining his figure… which would naturally be toned and muscled to an insane degree. The perfect male would come to her, traveling through hell and high water, and land at her door to tell her that she was perfect and awesome, and he wanted nothing more than to take her daughter to the Daddy-Daughter Dance. The perfect male created just for her…
Ariadne sucked in a breath. Okay, she might have veered away from finding someone for her daughter to finding someone for herself. She grabbed a tissue and blotted her damp eyes, giggling. Besides, she doubted the male who met all her specifications existed.
She started dividing the batter into cupcake cases. She didn’t notice the stray tear that splashed into the pan.
*
“Cheese and rice! I swear Isis, if you don’t stop trying to cheat I will bounce your ass out of here.” Cutter’s eyes and muscles bulged in fury. The wolf shifter looked as if he was about to explode.
“Cheese and rice? Lucie’s got you well trained.” Raf, Isis’ human mate, gave him a mild look, completely confident that his mate was safe. Partly because she was a kick ass tiger shifter and also because Lucie, Cutter’s hedgehog shifter mate, didn’t approve of violence anymore than she approved of swearing, and she most assuredly had her mate by the short and curlies.
Everyone chuckled while Cutter grumbled and Isis blew him a kiss before slinging an arm around Raf’s shoulders.
“Don’t be mean to my mate,” admonished Lucie, bustling into the room with a tray of nachos and beer. “And stop cheating.” She beamed at her mate, who in turn smirked at everyone else who had the decency to look chagrined.
Isis held out her hands and struck an innocent expression that fooled absolutely no one. “Moi?”
“We all saw you,” said Avery, snagging the nachos.
“You were giving your mate extra cards,” agreed Wayne.
Rick grabbed the cards. “Yes, perhaps I ought to deal.”
All friends present, with the exception of one penguin shifter, worked for the Supernatural Enforcers Agency in Los Lobos. Most were agents, but Lucie was a nurse and Rick the Medical Examiner.
He shuffled the cards with impressive ability.
“Whoa, careful,” chuckled Diaz, “I think the doc’s a card sharp.”
“Just good with my hands,” he said smugly.
Cutter rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath. Lucie told him to behave and sauntered back to the kitchen with her mate leering after her.
“Gunner not coming tonight?” Rick ably dealt out a hand. It was poker night, currently being held at Lucie and Cutter’s house – mostly because Lucie provided the best snacks.
“Nah,” said Wayne. “Erin’s almost due. He’s paranoid the cubs are going to come early and wants to be ready to catch them.” Gunner and his mate were expecting triplets, and as the days rolled by, Gunner, an enormous polar bear shifter, was becoming increasingly squirrelly about his upcoming fatherhood.
“Shame, he could have brought Erin. I would have delivered the cubs if they wanted to make an appearance.”
“You’re a medical examiner,” huffed Cutter. “You just play with dead people.”
Diaz chuckled. “Gunner sure is pussy whipped.”
Avery threw a nacho at his head. “Says the guy who can’t go two minutes without running into the kitchen to smooch his penguin shifter mate.”
He frowned. “She gets lonely.”
“Ha!” came a loud squawk from the kitchen where Penny the penguin was currently drinking wine and chatting with Lucie while she prepared food.
Raf slapped Diaz on the shoulder and grinned. “Nothing wrong with being pussy whipped. For the right pussy.”
“Isn’t he delicious?” Isis beamed territorially before nibbling on Raf’s ear.
Avery rolled her eyes. “Ugh. What about Jessie and Gerry?”
“Yeah, illegal gambling with our stick up the ass boss – sounds like fun,” laughed Diaz.
Lucie pursed her lips as she came b
ack with Penny in tow. “They couldn’t make it, they have tickets to the opera,” she said more than a little wistfully. “And Gerry’s a great guy.”
Cutter snarled in annoyance at his mate complimenting any other male. He didn’t like her talking to or about other males, and she was expressly forbidden from making friends with any male he hadn’t already pre-approved – which would never happen. His growls led to some soothing reassurances from his mate and the temperature in the room rose as she flushed at his whispered promises for later.
Penny slid onto Diaz’s lap.
“You sure you don’t want to play?” asked Avery.
Penny shook her head, long black locks whipping back and forth. “Nah, I’m just going to undermine all you guys and make you feel uncomfortable until my jaguar here wins.” She looked around the room with large, guileless eyes. “Isis, your jeans make your butt look big – small country big. Wayne, is it true that coldblooded shifters are incapable of giving women orgasms? Is that why your girlfriend always looks annoyed?”
Isis growled as Wayne – a gator shifter – chuckled heartily and Diaz gave Penny a squeeze. “That’s my bird.”
“Before Penny insults everyone, remember she brought cupcakes – fancy cupcakes.” Lucie placed the tray in the middle of the table, ignoring the annoyed grunts of the poker players as she covered all the betting chips. Although they did start oohing as they saw the display of mouth-watering cupcakes decorated with bright frosting and sprinkles.
“Damn, they are fancy,” said Wayne licking his lips. “And I don’t usually like sweet things.”
“We know, we’ve met your girlfriend,” snickered Isis.
Everyone grabbed a cupcake – most more than one – and started munching. Collective groans permeated the air.
“Umm, this is better than sex,” mumbled Avery.
“Then you’re not doing it right,” blurted Lucie before Isis could even open her mouth to purr the same comment.
Everyone stared at the hedgehog in surprise as her cheeks bloomed red and she slapped a hand over her mouth. Cutter’s smugness rose in leaps and bounds.
Rick groaned and dropped the cupcake. His eyes glazed. “Perfect and awesome,” he mumbled in a strained voice.
