by E A Price
Ling, however, studiously avoided his gaze, and he couldn’t blame her. His beast was furious with him for dismissing her that morning, and couldn’t understand why he’d done it.
Marcus made himself another cup of coffee, his tenth that day, as Carly tried to wheedle information out of Ling.
Ling rolled her eyes at Carly’s probing questions. “Look, all I know is that his name’s Damian, he works for Lunar Burger, and he’s picking me up at 7. Okay?”
Carly folded her arms. “But I thought you, you know, liked…” She coughed and none-too-subtly inclined her head in Marcus’s direction. He pretended not to notice, but his animal rumbled in satisfaction.
A look of hurt overtook Ling’s face before she smothered it and sniffed. “I have to go,” she said primly, “I have to get ready for my date.”
Ling bid everyone a stilted goodbye and ran out of the office like she was on fire.
Carly gaped at her retreating figure before turning to Marcus. She opened her mouth to speak.
“Something you’d like to say?” he demanded, eyes flashing.
Carly sucked in a breath through her teeth before shaking her head. “No, sir.”
Marcus nodded, retreated to his office and slammed the door.
He decided to catch up on some paperwork. The work he should have been doing earlier if he hadn’t been hanging around the office like a lovesick idiot.
As he shuffled the papers on his desk, he thought back to that morning in the police station. She looked… bedraggled, quite frankly. But still beautiful, with her warm face and deep brown eyes. He’d have given anything just to kiss her at that moment, to wrap his arms around her and never let her go…
But he couldn’t. After hearing that she had been in danger, he’d been furious. The old familiar feelings of rage had overtaken him. He’d wanted to rip apart the shark shifter for daring to go near his mate. He wanted to howl at Carly and warn her never to put his mate in danger again. He wanted to drag his mate back to his bed and chain her to it so she could never be hurt again…
Marcus panted with the effort of maintaining control. Mate. Fuck, he already thought of her as his mate. It was even worse than it had been with his wife, Kelly. He’d loved Kelly, but he knew she wasn’t his true mate. He’d fallen for her hard and fast, and his beast had been unbearably possessive of her, taking him to a place he never wanted to go again…
Rather than lose control in front of Ling, he’d chosen to run away from her. It seemed like the easiest solution, even though it wrenched his heart, and he had serious doubts his beast would forgive him.
He should focus on work. That would clear his mind. He needed to find that damn camel. Every day he was roaming free was a slap in the face. For heaven’s sake, the damn camel was stoned out of his brain half the time; it was an insult that he had been able to elude Marcus for longer than an hour.
Marcus pulled out Norman’s file. It was now a little dog-eared from being read so many times. He stared at it without really reading, his mind wandering back to the damn panda again.
His snake slithered round his mind, urging him to go to her. He thought of the way that fucking mongoose had his hands on her, and had been trying to kiss her. Would her new date try and do that as well; would he be even more handsy than the mongoose? Even worse, would she welcome his attention?
Marcus slammed his fist on the desk. No, he couldn’t allow another man to touch her. He had to see her. His snake rumbled in happiness.
It didn’t have to be like it was with Kelly. Ling could be his true mate, which would mean she was meant to be with him. If she were, she wouldn’t cheat on him; she would be loyal to him, and she would soothe his violent temper. He’d seen it with his brother and his mate. He was even worse than Marcus, and yet just a smile from his rabbit mate, and he was purring like a kitten.
Yes, he needed Ling; he needed to be with her, right that second.
Crap, she was on that damn date, god only knows where. By the time he found her, it might be too late. Even if he did, what would he do? Rock up to her and her date and say, ‘I’m sorry I was a tool, but I’ve really enjoyed our mild flirtation, please marry me.’ No, that wouldn’t do at all. Knowing his luck she’d probably laugh at him and trip off to be with her date. He was probably six foot five, with bulging muscles, and a multi-millionaire who owned his own private island. God, Marcus hated the fucker!
He felt his skin tighten and flex as his snake started to push through. Marcus tamped him back and relaxed.
There was an easier way to get her attention. He was her boss after all. Maybe there could be a work emergency. Technically she had to do what he said… His lips curled up wickedly; oh the things he would like her to do.
He reached for his phone. He was finally thinking clearly.
*
Ling plastered a smile on her face as she stirred her peanut butter milkshake. Yes, she loved Lunar Burger, but it wasn’t exactly her idea of a great first date. She expected to be wined and dined.
Hmmm, maybe she’d just been spoiled by Robert and Myron. Considering how those relationships had turned out, perhaps she should give this guy a chance.
She looked at him objectively; he was pretty handsome. He was a couple of years younger than Ling and had a youthful, smiling face. He was just under six foot and a tad skinny. He could do with a few muscles, nothing outrageous, just a few tight, sinewy muscles to fill out his shirt a little more, the way Marcus did… No, bad girl, we’re not thinking about him anymore. Her panda grumbled before the animal turned her back and became sullenly silent.
Damian hadn’t really talked about his family, but she knew from her mother that his parents came over from China, and he was born in Playa Lunar like she was. He was human but didn’t seem to have any issue with her stripping down and becoming a hairy, little critter once in a while. Hmmm, she wondered if Marcus would really have had a problem with her being a panda? Snakes tended to be quite speciesist. Although, he did have a niece who was a rabbit, so maybe… No, stop it! They had to get Marcus out of their heads; he made it quite clear he wasn’t interested. Her panda whined, and Ling ignored her completely.
“So, Damian,” she said, suddenly, interrupting his flow, “what kind of movies do you like?”
Damian blinked at her a few times. He’d been prattling on about the new Lunar Burger ad campaign, and before that he’d spent the entire car ride rhapsodizing about their new menu. Lord it was tedious; a burger is just a burger!
When her mother arranged the date, he’d offered to pick her up, which was good because her car still smelled like that damn shark shifter. Ugh, she needed to Febreeze it, asap.
He’d told her they were going somewhere special. Yeah, real special. You could find a Lunar Burger on every other street corner in Playa Lunar. He got all his food free from Lunar Burger, so he pretty much ate every meal there. He thought Lunar Burger served the best food in the world, and he saw no reason to try any other restaurant. Although put off by his narrow-mindedness and thrifty nature, she was impressed by how thin he was considering he ate fast food morning, noon and night.
He didn’t say anything. “Movies?” she prompted.
“Oh, right, yeah. Well, I don’t really have a lot of free time, I work long hours, after all, Lunar Burger doesn’t run itself. In fact, the last film I watched was a documentary about how healthy Lunar Burger is compared to our main competitors…”
Sigh. Ling took a big bite of her Lunar turkey burger and, although the taste was exquisite, she groaned as a glob of the Mediterranean mayo plopped onto her shirt. Fabulous.
Damian didn’t even notice. He didn’t seem to notice anything about her. While Howard had lecherously watched her every movement, Damian barely even glanced in her direction. He actually seemed to spend more time looking at the restaurant counter, to see what people were ordering.
She wasn’t sure whether this was worse than last night or better. Worse, definitely worse. Last night, Marcus had shown up
and given her a devastating kiss. Her panda practically panted at the memory, and Ling rubbed her fingers over her lips. She could almost still taste him. She looked around the restaurant, hopefully, before slumping back into the booth. It seemed unlikely lightening would strike twice.
Damian started reciting the calorie content of all their burgers and Ling gave up completely on listening. She should have tasked Carly with calling her during the date. She could have pretended there was an emergency and ran off. They used to do it all the time when they were teenagers.
Oh, well, too late now.
She almost jumped as her phone trilled. Holy crap! Was Carly psychic?
She fumbled to answer, murmuring to Damian that it might be important. He wasn’t listening. “Hello? Hello?”
There was a pause on the other end. “Ling?”
Ling felt like her heart actually missed a beat when his silky voice echoed down the line. “Marcus?” Her panda yipped.
Again, a pause. “I’m sorry to call you; I know that you’re busy.” Was it her imagination or were the last few words spat out? “But it’s about work; I could really use your help.”
Her help? Were there some files that needed alphabetizing as a matter of urgency? “Are you sure you need my help?”
“Yes,” he hissed.
Ling glanced at Damian. Did she really want to run out on her date so she could moon over a guy who didn’t seem the least bit interested? Her panda yapped. Yep, she did.
“Okay, but I don’t have my car with me…”
“I’ll pick you up, where are you?”
She gave him the address, and he hung up. She stared at her phone for a few beats, frowning. What was going on with this guy?
“Problem?” asked Damian.
Ling put on the most apologetic face she could muster. “That was work; it’s an emergency. I really have to go.”
Damian nodded solemnly. “I understand.”
Ling tried not to roll her eyes. Of course he understood; he’d probably miss his first child being born if work called with an emergency.
She apologized again and left him to his double Lunar burger. He didn’t seem any more or any less happy by her absence. She’d tell her mother to hold off on booking the wedding chapel for now.
Moments later, Marcus’ BMW roared up, and she eagerly ducked inside.
He was silent for a few minutes as he drove; when he finally spoke, she almost leapt out her seat in surprise. “I’m sorry I had to cut your date short,” he said crisply.
Ling smoothed her skirt over her thighs and was pleased to note Marcus was glancing in that direction. He wasn't totally immune. “It’s fine; it seemed like he was already in love with someone else anyway. I don’t think I could ever compete.”
Marcus raised an eyebrow at her, and she grinned. “He loves Lunar Burger far too much to ever let anyone else in.”
A smile pulled at his lips. “Interesting choice.”
“I know; if I were going to fall in love with a fast food restaurant, it would definitely be The Thai Factory.”
He chuckled before sobering. “I take it a second date isn’t on the cards.”
“No, and I only went on this one because my mother guilted me into it. I certainly didn’t want to be there.” She looked at him searchingly.
Marcus’ snake hissed in happiness. “We’re here.”
He rolled to a stop and turned the lights off. Ling looked at the window wonderingly. “Where is here, exactly? I thought you needed me to do some filing or something.”
Marcus fidgeted. “I need to do a bit of surveillance.”
Ling burst into laughter. “And you thought I’d make good back-up? Why didn’t you ask one of the bounty hunters?”
“They will all be busy.” Not that he’d actually tried to find out.
Ling looked at him through narrowed eyes. “Busy, huh? And you didn’t think that maybe I was too busy for this?”
He cocked his head on the side. “You just said it was fine.”
She held up her hands. “You didn’t know that though, for all you knew I could have been on a date with the most perfect man in the world for me.”
His snake thrashed around in annoyance. “Not possible,” he growled. He was the perfect man for her!
Ling huffed at him. “So what the heck are we doing here anyway?”
Marcus unbuckled, and she felt a frisson of desire shoot through her as he leant towards her. He pointed across the street to an old apartment block. “The guy I’m looking for, his mom lives in that building. I need to wait here and see if he turns up.”
She bit her lip. “So, this guy is dangerous?”
Marcus looked taken aback. “No, I wouldn’t have brought you here if he was.”
Her forehead creased as she turned the matter over. “So, if he does turn up, do you need me to help run after him? Because I gotta tell you, running is not my forte.” At least, not for more than twenty seconds at a time.
“No, if he turns up, I’ll get him, and you stay in the car with the door locked,” Marcus told her firmly.
“So what exactly is my role here?”
Marcus winced; he hadn’t actually thought this portion of the plan through. “Well… we could be here hours; two pairs of eyes are better than one. It can be pretty boring sitting here alone.”
A thrill of happiness flittered through her; her beast almost purred. “Are you saying you like my company?”
Marcus felt a surge of courage on seeing her hopeful smile. “I’m male, straight, and I have a pulse, don’t I?”
Ling flushed with pleasure, before feeling a niggle of doubt. “I sort of got the feeling that you didn’t when we were at the police station earlier.”
His snake huffed at him, encouraging him. If he didn’t say something now, she might go on more dates and find someone better than him. No, he couldn’t allow that. He was 42; he was too old to play games. If anything were to happen between them, he had to do something.
He turned to look at her and pinned her with a heated look. “Ling, I like you, a lot.” It wasn’t as much as he wanted to say, but he didn’t want to come on too strong yet. He figured he’d give her a couple of days before he went full-on Marcus.
Her panda whooped and jumped in the air. That was the greatest thing a guy had ever said to her! “Well, that’s lucky, because I like you a lot, too.”
A smile lit up his handsome face, and she almost swooned. “I have a confession; the reason I called was I wanted to get you away from your date.”
Ling smirked at him. “Yeah, the pieces are kind of falling into place.”
“I’m sorry if I upset you earlier, I was just pissed that you could have gotten hurt. I didn’t like the idea of anything happening to you before I even had the chance to take you out on a date.”
“We kind of had a date last night, and this is kind of a date.”
Marcus snorted. “I can do a lot better than this.”
Ling fluttered her eyelashes. “Oh, I don’t know; this is a really unusual date. No one can accuse you of being boring. All we need are some snacks…”
“Way ahead of you, beautiful, I got a box of Happy Heart donuts and some cherry soda in the back.”
She didn’t know what she liked more, being called beautiful or the fact that he had her favorite food and drink. In spite of all the fancy restaurants she’d ever been taken to, this was her best date yet.
“You think of everything,” she cooed.
After they settled down with a couple of donuts each and a soda, they chatted while watching the apartment block, which was thankfully quiet. Ling told him all about her childhood, growing up with Carly and the many scrapes they found themselves in. She told him about her scary mother and her siblings.
She took a gulp of soda. “So, what about you? You have a brother, right?”
Marcus let out a low grumbling growl. “Yes, an older brother. He’s the King of my snake den, or at least, what used to be my snake den.”
<
br /> “What happened?” she asked between munches.
“He tried to force me into an arranged marriage and I said no.”
Ling almost dropped her donut. “You’re kidding, right?”
He let out a long breath. “Nope, my brother’s controlling and pushy. He wanted me to marry the daughter of a rival den. He set it all up and got pissed when I eloped and married my human girlfriend. So he kicked me out the den, kicked me out of my nightclub business and said I could never return.”
“Wow, and I thought my mother was controlling.” Things could be much worse.
“Things are better between us now, but I’ll never go back to the den, I prefer to be on my own.” He was, however, worried that his brother would try and force an arranged marriage on Mia. If he did, Marcus hoped Mia was strong enough to stand up to him.
“What about your wife?” she asked hesitantly.
His jaw ticked. “She died, four years ago, and we’d been apart for a while before then.”
Concern marred her pretty features. “I’m so sorry. I was married once too; we divorced." She took a deep breath, "He cheated on me with an octopus shifter, but I’m over it… mostly.” She couldn’t promise she wouldn’t try to kick one of brake lights out if she ever got within reaching distance of his car again, but she was pretty much over it.
His animal snapped his jaws. “I can’t believe that.”
“No it’s true, I’m over it.”
“Not that; I can’t believe that any guy would cheat on you. Anyone would be lucky to have you.”
He stared at her with such burning intensity that she felt like her soul was on fire. His face softened as he saw the glob of raspberry jelly on her lip. He reached his hand out to her face and waited to see if she would recoil from him. She didn’t; she held painfully still as her body quivered, yearning for his touch. He cupped her cheek and rubbed his thumb over her lip, scooping up the jelly. He pushed his thumb into her mouth, and she sucked at the jelly.
Her panda almost fainted at the erotic electricity coursing through the car, and his snake hissed at him to take her.
