by Lena Austin
“My dad thinks you’re no good for me.” Corbin’s comment sliced through the silence like a hot knife through butter, startling Roni out of her thought coma.
“Funny — my dad says the same thing.” Roni sighed. Corbin was rich. She’d figured that much out by the fancy hydrocar. The few humans who had massive credit were the most vocal about racial purity.
Corbin kissed her nose. “I don’t care — do you?”
Roni shook her head. She relaxed and snuggled closer to Corbin. “Not a half-credit. What is it with parents and their inability to stay out of our lives?”
His brows knit together, and his look became fierce. “I don’t know. My dad has become overbearing. He thinks I should date and marry inside our p… social circle.”
“My dad thinks the same thing.” Roni frowned, remembering what her father had said about Corbin. Humans were not “dangerous cockroaches that should be exterminated on sight.”
“I don’t care what my father thinks. He could fall out of a tree, sprout wings and fly, and I still wouldn’t care.” Corbin leaned in, brushing his lips against her cheek as he spoke.
“I care about what my father thinks, but most times I just don’t pay attention.” Roni finished her sentence with his lips pressed lightly to hers. Any sensible thoughts flew out the window into the night.
“Fuck what our parents think.” Corbin pressed his attention further, sending her nerves into overdrive. For a human, he certainly knew how to dominate and control a were-bitch’s heat.
Roni shivered with both anticipation and the naughtiness of their socially unacceptable behavior. Okay, so they were both breaking the rules, dating outside their species. Big deal. Isolationism and misunderstanding had led to the paranormals being shoved into the shadows for centuries. Now humans needed her people, and she was happy to bridge the gap with Corbin. “No, fuck me.” Roni permitted Corbin to shove her onto the rug.
With aching slowness, Corbin pulled down the zipper of her minimalist jumpsuit, designed to hug every curve of her body. She’d bought the jumpsuit with Corbin in mind, and he seemed to appreciate the effort on his behalf. His lips followed the zipper’s slow trail down, licking and nibbling every inch revealed. “Did I mention how much I love this suit you sprayed on?”
Roni gasped and wriggled beneath him. The tiny bites and soothing licks, moving slowly down to her dripping pussy, made the anticipation increase to unimaginable levels. Most guys hopped on with minimal attention to her needs and rode her like a racehorse doing the two-minute mile. Not Corbin! The human was a master of the slow, sensual lovemaking most women dreamed of. “You’re showing me just fine.”
Corbin chuckled softly at her moaned answer. He continued to pull the zipper down past her hip joint, but stopped its progress midway to her knee. There, his lips worked their way to the soft flesh on the inside of Roni’s thigh. “Open for me, baby.”
Obediently, Roni spread herself before him, helplessly caught in her need for his tongue or his cock. She didn’t give a rat’s ass, as long as she got relief from the rumbling volcano inside her. She could feel her skin heating, knowing her fur was showing and unable to stop it. She just prayed her shaved pussy would be enough to keep the virtually hairless human aroused. “Corbin…”
Her zipper slid down to her knee, exposing more of her flesh. Corbin’s hot mouth attacked her pussy like he was a hungry predator. His sensual hum vibrated up her entire body.
Her delighted shudders echoed his hum, and her entire focus narrowed to how his tongue scraped across her swollen clit, and his chin ground into her flowing pussy. One of her hands crept downward and pulled apart her labia to give him full access.
Corbin responded to her silent plea by delving even deeper into his treat. If she’d been an ice cream cone he’d have been swirling his tongue to relish every bit, fueling a thousand fantasies of every woman in view. As it was, he was all hers, and he was a master at his art.
Roni had no warning. Her body stilled only for a second, an eternity of waiting before she exploded. Her back arched, and she clawed the rug to hang on to sanity. Roni screeched his name, helpless and caught in the force of her orgasm.
Her human lover wasted no time. He knelt upright and wiped his chin of her juices with an evil grin of triumph. Had he been a werewolf, such an expression would have been a serious challenge to her as a born Alpha Bitch. Then, he ripped her new jumpsuit to shreds with his bare hands.
The loss Roni counted as a small one. She’d buy another. She restrained herself from the urge to go completely furry and demand a chase in the woods. Poor primate that he was, he’d never scent her out, much less catch her and tame her as an Alpha Male claimed his mate. What a shame. He came so close to perfection, Roni almost howled in despair.
Corbin closed his eyes for a moment and shuddered. He bit his lip and took a deep breath. His dark eyes opened, and he grabbed her ankles. Before Roni could even squeak, he put her feet on his shoulders and hauled her bodily across the carpet until his cock nestled against her still throbbing pussy. “C’mere!”
The Chuskie in her obeyed before the thinking woman caught on. Roni blessed her daily sit-ups and came upward to put her arms around his neck. Seamlessly, she slid down on his cock and fell backwards toward the carpet.
Corbin’s strong arms saved her from a nasty bump on the head and gently lowered her back now that he was firmly entrenched inside her. Again, he shuddered, perhaps to avoid coming too soon. He put his hands on her thighs as his brace. “Ready, baby?”
Unable to speak, Roni nodded and grabbed the carpet once more. She’d be at his mercy, and unless she wanted a serious rug burn on the parts not still covered by the remains of her jumpsuit, she had to hang on tight.
The first thrust rocked her back into orgasm. Roni clawed the carpet. Again and again, each thrust shoved her further across the Oriental rug. Ana was going to kill her, but Roni didn’t give a royal damn. She howled her lover’s name. “Cor-wor-wor-woo-woo!” God, Roni hoped she didn’t sound like an idiot.
Corbin’s breath came out in harsh, ragged gasps. He followed her in their progress across the room, and the sounds emanating from deep in his chest were almost barks. She’d heard humans could make those sounds, but they were doubly erotic coming from Corbin’s throat. He gasped out, “Your tail! Your tail! It’s tickling my ass! Oh. My. God!” The last of his thrusts was so deep and hard it seemed to almost break her pelvic bone.
That was the ultimate for her. Roni screamed and came again in waves. The blood rushed to her ears and made her temporarily deaf. If he called her name, she never heard it. The vision of her tail sweeping between his legs, caressing his balls and ass did her in. She decided to never laugh and come simultaneously again. The orgasm wins, but you can’t breathe.
Apparently, the squeezing of her pussy combined with the eroticism of her tail on his nether regions into one massive orgasm. His face contorted to the half-pained-half-ecstatic rigidity of a male emptying his life into her. In an amazing feat of pure strength and willpower, he reached down and pulled her onto his lap as he knelt upright.
Roni felt every pump of his cock’s explosions. Unable to bear losing one moment of the sensation, she wrapped her arms and legs around him and rode to a sweaty, roaring finish. Even after their tremors stopped, she held on, unwilling to let him go.
Corbin shivered and squirmed. “Baby?”
“Mmm?” Roni didn’t want to talk. The caress of his softening cock kept her writhing and happy a few minutes more.
He choked and moved again. “Could you change back now? Your tail makes it really hard to hold still.” He swallowed, gave up, and wriggled in a desperate manner. “Please?”
Her shoulders shook with the need to giggle. It took a moment to regain self-control long enough to change back to human. Roni looked up at his red face and bit her lip. The laughter bubbled out of her.
Corbin mock-frowned, though his eyes twinkled. “Okay, that’s it with you, sweet little Chuskie. Don�
��t make me get out the rolled-up newspaper.” He smacked her ass with his bare hand and released her.
Roni squeaked and landed on the carpet. No Alpha Bitch would let that threat go unanswered. She’d have her revenge in the next round. She let the challenging sarcasm drip from her words. “Oh. Baby. Oh. Baby. Oh. Why don’t you prove you’re wolf — I mean, man — enough to tame me?”
Corbin laughed and stood. He was damn big that way, looming over her. He scooped her up and carried her to the bedroom. “I’d be glad to. In the morning.”
Chapter Five
Roni stood at the kitchen sink and waited for the morning coffee to brew while Corbin took a shower. The thought of his glorious body wet and dripping with slick soap made her smile. The words her father had spoken the day before about dating a human crept into her mind, and Roni’s smile faded and her good mood evaporated instantly.
She spoke to her reflection in the coffee pot. “What if my father is right? I’d outlive Corbin by a good sixty years.” Roni sighed heavily. “I couldn’t stand to be without him but I also couldn’t stand to sit there and watch him grow old while I don’t.” The coffee pot sighed as if in sympathy even though she knew it was just steam escaping. “I should just end this now and save him and myself the future heartache.” Roni’s mouth moved but her heart rejected the words.
The coffee pot burbled out the last drops. She poured them each a cup and left his black the way he said he liked it. Roni walked through the living room to her bedroom door. It was cracked open an inch. Corbin’s voice came through the wood loud and clear.
“I don’t give a fuck what you think, Father,” Corbin growled into his phone. “I will marry who I please, and you have nothing to fucking say about it.” Corbin paused for a moment, breathing heavily. “I don’t need your blessing. I am going to ask her!”
The coffee cups rattled in her shaking hands, the hot coffee splashing on her skin, jerking her back to reality. Part of her wanted to jump for joy at Corbin’s shared feelings, but the rest of her slammed on the brakes and said hold on. Did he want to marry her out of love, or out of spite for his father? She composed herself and waited for the bleep as he closed the phone before she walked into the bedroom.
Instantly, his face lit up, and he smiled. He tossed the cell phone back on his jeans that were folded neatly on the bed. Beads of water slid down his chiseled chest, soaking into the towel that hung around his slender waist. Lust surged forward, and she put her concerns to the side for another day.
“Everything okay?” She handed him his coffee. “You sounded upset.”
“Just some issues at work. All is taken care of.” Corbin smiled back but his eyes clouded with what could have been guilt.
“I’m glad.” Roni suppressed her need to scream “liar.” Where exactly was Ana when she needed her to interrupt? As if on cue she heard the front door slam closed and she inwardly sighed with relief. She set her coffee cup on the nightstand and turned to the door.
Ana’s panicked voice shrieked at supersonic speed through the house. “Roni? Where are you? I need you! This is unbelievable!”
The frightened tone in Ana’s voice had Roni scared. She walked through the door and bumped into Ana. Both had reached the threshold between the bedroom and the living room at the same time.
Ana grabbed Roni’s arms, her eyes wide with panic.
Roni could feel Ana’s hands shaking. What could scare a vampire? “What is it? What’s wrong?” She might have had more success if she were talking to a cabbage. “You need to calm down, take it slow, and tell me what’s wrong.”
Ana’s mouth moved but no sound came out. Her gaze bounced from place to place, never settling on anything in particular. “Jon… I can’t… he… the audacity…” Ana’s grip on Roni’s arms tightened with every word.
Pain shot up Roni’s arm. Werewolves were famous for their ability to ignore pain but a vampire’s strength matched that gift. If Roni didn’t free herself she’d be wearing a cast. One by one, she pried Ana’s fingers loose.
The blonde barely noticed, so intent on her problems was she. “He… He… proposed.”
Roni had to think about that for a second. Had she heard Ana correctly? Did Jon realize what he was getting into? Jon was only half-angel, and not immortal like Ana. Such a mating was unheard of. Wasn’t it? Roni thought of Corbin. Her heart sank. She looked up at Ana and saw her best friend was waiting for some kind of response. “Jon did what?” Okay, maybe it was the stupidest statement on the planet but it was the best she could come up with at the moment.
Ana looked at Roni like she had horns growing from her forehead. “Do you have a mental block that keeps you from listening?” Ana shouted and paced the floor in front of Roni. Frustration had her stomping around the living room — the heels of her shoes pounded on the hardwood floor so hard the pictures on the walls rattled.
Roni looked at Ana in amusement. “The mental block doesn’t keep me from listening — it just helps to block out decibels of a million or higher.”
Ana slapped her roommate’s arm. “Oh? Whose woo-woos could wake the dead recently? Uh, wait. They did wake the dead. Me!” She shook her finger at Roni. “I don’t want to hear any more comments about my squeaky bed. Tart.”
They both giggled and hugged one another.
Corbin grinned in camaraderie at their shenanigans. “If it’s a congrats moment, congrats. If it’s not, then I’m leaving, ’cause the first thing she’ll lash out at is the testosterone.” Corbin sidled around the panicky vampire. He started down the hall.
Roni noticed Corbin’s butt playing peek-a-boo from the towel. “Um, babe?” Roni snickered. “I don’t share very well.”
Corbin looked down at the towel, blushed, and darted back into Roni’s room to get dressed.
“Cute male butts aside, I’m in crisis.” Ana resumed her circuit around the living room, wringing her hands.
Corbin emerged from Roni’s bedroom fully clothed. He cuddled Roni for a moment and kissed her hair. “Bye, my sweet Chuskie.”
Guilt washed over her. “I’m sorry about all this.”
Corbin gave her a squeeze. “Don’t be. I have work to do, anyway. I’ll see you Sunday?” Corbin looked hopeful.
Roni’s heart beat just a little faster. “Of course.” Males were such contradictory creatures. One minute they wanted in your pants, but only if you ran away. However, if you screamed, “Take me! I’m yours!” then they ran in the opposite direction. Weirdos. Corbin cuddled and talked. For hours. Amazing.
He kissed her quickly and jogged down the hall. His cell phone’s ring tones reverberated through the house moments before the front door slammed.
Roni turned back to Ana, who seemed about to hyperventilate. Rather impossible since vampires didn’t breathe. If Ana weren’t already dead, Roni would swear she was about to die of fright. “Ana, calm down and tell me what happened.”
“Weren’t you listening, or was I not yelling loud enough?” Ana stalked to the sofa. Roni smiled when her drama queen best friend plopped onto the couch and sighed heavily. “Don’t you get it? Jon proposed! What am I supposed to do?” Ana shook so hard that it reminded Roni of her father when he got excited.
Roni sat on the couch next to Ana. “I heard you loud and clear, but I barely understood you. I don’t understand what the issue is. Tell me from the beginning.” Roni placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.
“After you so unceremoniously shoved me out the door last night, Jon took me to the finest restaurant in town. He had roses delivered to the table.” Ana pointed to the huge bouquet of flowers that rested precariously on the edge of the computer desk. “He had a violinist come to the table and play a song by Beethoven. We went back to his place and he had bought new furniture, the kind of stuff that I would have decorated my own place with. All old-fashioned wood décor and none of your kitsch.” Ana jabbed Roni in the ribs.
Roni smiled. “What? You don’t like the glass pelican with the fish in its belly?” Sh
e pointed to the pelican that sat on the coffee table next to them.
The age-old argument between them made Ana smile slightly. “I hate that thing.” Ana pushed the pelican closer to Roni.
“Yeah, well, the constant creak of your wood bed frame doesn’t leave much to the imagination when Jon is over.” Roni poked Ana in the arm.
Ana’s features fell back into worry. “After he showed me the living room, Jon took me into the bedroom and there was a new wardrobe in the closet. Not for him. For me. In the bathroom was a new toothbrush, hair brush — everything I would need if I was moving in.”
Roni frowned, totally confused. “You have toiletries. Why did he buy you new stuff?”
“I asked him the same thing ’cause I thought at first he was just asking me to move in.” Ana fiddled with her nails. “He said that a new beginning requires new stuff. I just rolled my eyes. It’s not like I can’t afford whatever I want.”
Roni made a rolling gesture with her hands and urged her on. “What happened next?”
Ana sighed deeply. “I turned back into the bedroom, and on the bed was a black velvet box. My heart froze. Hell, my whole body froze. Jon picked up the box and got down on one knee.” Tears clouded her blue eyes. The way they shimmered and sparkled reminded Roni of the ocean. “He opened the box. There was this beautiful diamond ring in it. The size of the diamond alone would probably drown me if I were to swim while wearing it.” Ana deliberately drew in a breath and whooshed it out almost as if her lungs still functioned. “Then he proposed.”
Roni sat quietly for a minute to see if Ana was done talking. Roni took a deep breath. “What did you say?”
“What was I supposed to say? Yes?” Ana’s mood went from panic to anger as if someone had flipped a switch. “I’m immortal and he’s not. What if he realizes that I’m going to outlive him and all of his relatives? What if he wants children? I can’t give him children.” The switch flipped again. Ana’s expression went from anger to fear. “What if he leaves me because I can’t die, can’t have children, and can’t give him the things I know he wants most in life? So I asked him for time to think.” Ana stood and paced the living room.
