by Jade White
The thought of everything she needed to do was starting to overwhelm her. The first thing she needed to do was to figure out how to get a job as a model in this city. It was really the only skill she had or experience she knew. Sure, her agent and manager had made the offer to help her out here, but they hadn’t talked to her yet and she thought they were probably still a little resentful about the whole fact that she had left them and gone to America on such short notice.
They had seen it coming though, she had warned them up front that her dream was to go to America and to get away from Ukraine where her talents were wasted. She wasn’t going to sleep her way to the top of anything and she wasn’t interested in doing anything that compromised her occupationally. Sleep with one guy and you go to the top, but when he loses his job or moves on, then the next guy will expect the same or you’re back on the bottom. It was a slippery slope and she was excited to be in the land of opportunity trying to start her career again. Thankfully, her experience was no doubt going to help her with that, but she didn’t know just how much it was going to help her.
But beyond that, there was still a ton she needed to do before then. She needed to figure out what she needed to do in order to get a driver’s license so that she could actually drive here. Heck, she would be satisfied if she could just get her hands on a bicycle to ride around. She needed to explore this place and it was eating at her. She wanted to look at all the sights and see what there was to see in her city.
She had made a vow that she wanted to see all of America, but she wanted to start out local and then to slowly expand her circle of knowledge. She wanted to know San Francisco intimately and she wanted to truly know every street and where all the best places were before she moved out to the other places in California that were waiting for her. She longed to see all of it and then she would check out Nevada and Oregon, then Washington, Utah, Arizona, Idaho, New Mexico, Wyoming, and all the other states that were waiting to the east of her. She wanted to know it all. But, in order to explore, she needed a mode of transportation and that meant getting her license eventually. After all, she wouldn’t be able to ride her bike everywhere.
More importantly, she was going to need to get a gym membership, which was going to cost money, but her fitness was going to be crucial in her ability to show off in a bikini or to model a new line of dresses. So, she was going to need to seriously get into the habit of working out often, in fact, most of her days. Her diet was no longer a diet, but a way of life, so she wasn’t really worried about that. The only thing she was worried about was how she was going to get a membership. She didn’t really have a place of residence yet and there was no mail to show that she lived here, no bills, nothing like that. Somehow, she was going to have to prove that she was living here and that she could pay for a membership.
Then came everything else that she could think of. She was going to need to get more clothes, decorate her room and her bathroom, and start meeting new people to build a life here. She knew that mates were usually the doorway and the gatekeepers to a Shifter’s life. They were the ones who found people to introduce them to, knew how to keep their secrets, and were able to help them function in society and show them how to act. Shifters needed their mates for more than sex and to have an heir, which she was going to inevitably have to prepare for. That was okay, she was ready for it.
Part of her preparation for this whole endeavor was studying and reading up on how to stay fit while pregnant so that her body wouldn’t be totally destroyed by the inevitable pregnancy that would be expected of her. Sure, she was going to have a hard time modeling while pregnant, but there were jobs for pregnant women and she would work as long as she could. She wanted to make sure that she could take care of everything that was dependent upon her.
She pushed herself off the stool and knew she wasn’t excited for the whole idea of getting pregnant, but that was part of the deal. Shifters didn’t want roommates that they could fuck on the side. No, they wanted people who would help them carry on their legacy and would make sure their line survived. It was going to be a day Oksana wouldn’t be able to avoid. As she opened the door to the house and stepped outside, she knew it was better to just accept what was coming and being ready to go through it as gracefully and successfully as possible. After all, she loved children and it wasn’t going to be terrible. In the end, you ended up with a child and that was a pretty great reward for a year of struggling.
She walked down to the edge of the yard where the sidewalk was running along the side of the house and watched a man pass her, listening to music, his eyes never deviating from the running path that he had chosen. She admired his conviction and the fact that he had a wedding ring on his finger made her even more proud of him. She liked it when men were able to control themselves around her, especially when they already had a committed wife waiting for them at home. It gave her hope in the goodness of men, especially when they were always throwing themselves at her when she went anywhere.
That was something that worried her about Mike and Will. They had selected her, but there was a reason why so many Shifters had avoided her like the plague. They knew that there were going to be a lot of men around her that would flirt with her and jealousy was a problem that all of her exes had to deal with. Mike and Will were going to realize very quickly that men were brazen animals and they were going to be coming up to her all the time. If a Shifter couldn’t control his anger, then they were going to get into some situations they weren’t going to enjoy. That was something that had hindered her on the forums and on the Shifter websites. Most of them knew their limits and realized certain women were high maintenance, requiring they went out a lot and Oksana definitely looked high maintenance. It wasn’t an insult to her. She just liked what she liked.
As she jogged down the streets, passing men who whistled at her or women that glared at her with envy and jealousy, she realized she was at home here. There were more people who simply ignored her or smiled at her than there were in Ukraine. She liked feeling like she was just another beautiful women among the multitude that were already out, enjoying the day that was waiting for them. That was part of the life that she had desperately wanted for herself.
Making her way back toward the house, she took in the sights and the sounds of the city waking up, or at least the neighborhood. It was somewhere she had never been before and for the first time since she was here, she felt like she was getting a chance to see what life was like in America. Honestly, people were pretty much the same no matter where you went in the world, but the way of life was always different, no matter where you went. Customs and decisions people made were always unique and different. She liked getting a chance to see all of it. She liked seeing the world through different eyes at different places. It was a whole new experience. This was the world that seemed like she was meant to be a part of.
When she made it back to the house, it was a little after six and she watched as people got ready, walking out to their cars or opening their garages as they headed off to their plans or to their jobs that were waiting for them. She smiled at anyone who waved to her or even looked at her. She wanted to be friendly with people and she wanted to see what the world was like for the average American.
She remembered hearing people tell her that Americans were rude or mean people. But, as she was making her way to her home, she noticed the exact opposite. People were nice and they were friendly here. Most of them weren’t even flirting with her or being nice to her just to get a chance to check her out. No, they seemed like they were genuinely interested in her. As she stopped in front of the house, her hands on her hips as her chest heaved up and down, trying to catch her breath and cool down, she knew she should take another lap around the block, but she didn’t want to. She paced back and forth in front of the house and looked at it, seeing that it was still dark, full of sleeping souls. She didn’t want to go back in there right now. She could feel the sweat covering her body and slowly trickling down her arms and back.
/> She realized how nervous she was for tonight. This was going to be a huge event in the lives of both her and her friends in this house. She felt like she had just gotten used to the dynamic that was waiting for her. Mike and Will had their own lives that they participated in. They both did their own thing and they kind of kept to themselves. They had their own friends and when they came together, it seemed like they came only in the solidarity that they were roommates and that they were both Shifters. The fact that they were living together seemed to have little influence on their mutual friends. If they had mutual friends, she had yet to see any of them. Maybe she would meet more of them in the coming days, but right now, they seemed so separate and distant from each other.
Feeling her heart pounding in her chest, she wasn’t sure if it was from the nerves or the workout that she had just gone through. She walked toward the door, feeling like she was about to start something scary and intimidating to her. As she slowly walked toward the front of door and climbed the steps to the porch, she tried to calm herself down. It wasn’t going to be the worst thing she’d ever experienced. She was going to be just fine. As she opened the door and headed into the quiet of the house, she stopped and closed her eyes. Be calm, she told herself over and over again. She suddenly felt a chill rush down her spine as she stood there, sweaty in the cool of the house. It was still warmer than she thought six in the morning should be, but it was cooler with her body covered in sweat.
Climbing the steps to the second floor, she made sure to keep quiet and make her way to the bathroom like she was a ghost visiting the house. Opening the door, she snuck into the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. She remembered all the looks she would get at the gym, standing sweaty in the middle of the free weight area, her chest heaving, sweat running down her body, and her whole body feeling exhausted. She needed to get back to that. It was work to make men want you and she wanted Mike or Will to want her more than anything else in their lives. She always figured the key to a woman’s role in a relationship was to make sure that she never stopped flirting and that their eyes never wandered. She wanted to make sure that they were always interested in her. If they always wanted her and lusted after her, then they wouldn't wander or want something else. That was the key to every happy relationship. That had to be it.
Turning on the shower, she smelled the steam filling up the room and diving into her lungs. She loved the heat. She liked absorbing the warmth and holding it inside of her, like she was some kind of cold-blooded reptile, soaking up the rays of the sun before it was ready to get out into the world. She pulled back the curtain and stepped into the shower, feeling the water cascading over her and she tried her hardest not to think about the one thing that was on her mind right now more than anything else. She didn’t want to think about how very soon, she was going to be going on a date with a man that she thought was incredibly sexy and it was going to be her job to make sure that he liked her as much as she liked him.
“Let fate take its course,” she told herself over and over again.
She didn’t have to force anything. All she had to do was be herself.
Chapter Four
She walked down the stairs and found Will where he’d been pacing back and forth since he’d called her down the stairs. Mike was sitting in the overstuffed chair in the living room, looking like he was the calmest man in the history of the world. As he sat there, looking at how nervous Will was, she could see a sort of demented, cruel happiness in his eyes that was luminous and genuine. She had to admire how nervous Will was for all of this and she almost felt bad for him as he walked back and forth, anxiously rubbing his hands together and waiting for her. When she made it to the bottom of the stairs, she turned and looked at Mike, smiling at him before she made her way to the couch.
Sitting down she watched Will exhale sharply and turn to look at her.
“Okay,” Will said, sitting down on another chair across from Mike and making sure that she was seated directly in the middle of them.
She smiled at the symmetry and couldn’t help but want to laugh at how ridiculous all of this was. There was something fierce in this room that she was not given the opportunity to be a part of yet, but she was more than eager to find out what it was.
“What’s up?” she asked them with a pleasant smile on her lips.
“So, we’ve made some rules for the whole competition,” Will said with a smile. “After we’re done here, I’m going to go out and hang out with some friends, go see a movie, and then stay the night at our friend Ricky’s place so you two can have the house to yourselves for whatever reason. I’m sure you’ll be out doing stuff, but just in case, I won’t be around to bother you.”
“In case of what?” Oksana teased with a grin on her lips.
“You know,” Will said with an awkward expression on his face.
“No, could you clarify?” Mike pressed.
“Come on,” Will groaned. “In case, you know, you do the dirty business.”
“Do you think I’m dirty?” Oksana teased him.
She relished the shade of red his face burned into and she laughed at the sight of it and reached out, putting a hand on his leg to assure him there was nothing he should be worried about. Well, maybe there was, but she was just playing with him and wasn’t cruel. Will smiled at her and scowled at the grinning Mike who was totally enjoying himself right now.
As he stood up, he looked at the two of them nervously. “Good luck,” he said with a weak attempt at a lie. “I hope you have fun.” It was the sorriest lie he had tried to tell yet and she smiled at him.
“We will,” Oksana assured him. “Try and have some fun yourself.”
“Because we totally will be,” Mike jabbed.
Looking sickly and pale, Will made himself scarce and Oksana laughed at the sight before she turned her gaze to Mike who was sitting across from her. There was a look in his eyes that had so much potential to her. Maybe he would be willing to forego the date and would be even more interested in ravaging her right here and now. The silence of the house enveloped them and they could hear Will starting his car and pulling out of the garage before he vanished for good, leaving the two of them here in each other’s company. She looked at Mike. He looked at her. There was a quiet fire between the two of them and she was relishing it.
“So what’s the plan?” she asked him.
“You’ll see,” he said enigmatically; she hated every syllable of it.
“Is there something I should wear?” she asked him.
“Something you feel like dancing in,” he said to her.
She liked the sound of that. She smiled and slowly stood up from the couch and looked at him. Part of her was primal and savage, wanting to take off her clothes right here in front of him, but she had to control herself. She had to make sure she didn’t do anything that would derail the night. She wanted to make sure she got to see the whole experience of what it would be like to date Mike and spend a romantic time with him rather than just fuck his brains out. God, she wanted that so badly though.
“Then I’ll be right back,” she said, turning and heading up the stairs. She walked slowly, making sure that he could see the sway of her ass as she walked, climbing the steps slowly and letting him really get a look of what he was going to have a shot with tonight.
When she closed the door to her room, she couldn’t rip her tank top off fast enough and as she threw it across the room, her bare breasts were bathed in warm sunlight. She shrugged off her shorts and quickly walked to the wardrobe and threw open the doors, finding a glittering, navy midi dress that she’d been waiting for a time just like this to put on. She dressed as quickly as she could, spending the majority of her time on make up and her hair. It was an hour before she decided she was ready to go out into the world.
Throwing open the door, she was slightly disappointed to see Mike was wearing the exact same thing, only he’d thrown on a button up shirt over it and rolled up the sleeves. Well, maybe she looked a little
over dressed compared to him, but that was fine. She wanted to be his arm candy. Locking her arm in his, she smiled as he kept stealing glances of her.
“You look incredible,” he said when he opened the door to his car for her and she sat down with a smile.
She didn’t say anything to that. She knew how incredible she looked, but she did like the affect she was having on him. If she could keep that going, she would be just fine.
It took over an hour to get to the destination that they were bound for, but Mike seemed to know exactly where they were going. She would smile as she caught him stealing glances at her legs and several times he’d stared at her chest, no doubt fantasizing about grabbing her dress and pulling it down to free her breasts. She closed her eyes and imagined his hands on her and smiled at the sensation. God, it made her so hot.
When they finally reached their destination, she was pleased it was a concert and that she wasn’t the only woman who looked a bit over dressed compared to their dates. Maybe this was just an American guy thing. She smiled as they stood in line outside of the venue and chatted. She wanted to know everything about him, but Mike wasn’t exactly an open book. He was more of the guy who liked to keep things close and personal. He wasn’t going to open up about anything and let her have a look inside. She knew it was all part of the exterior he’d no doubt crafted after years and years of figuring out what the perfect man meant to him or in his mind. She would get to him eventually.
Inside, the venue was dark and the house music was pulsing through her veins as she stood at a small table he’d reserved on the balcony overlooking the dance floor and the stage. The lights swayed back and forth of all different colors and she felt like she was back in Ukraine at one of the great concerts she’d been to before.
“I figured you were a girl who liked to have fun,” he said to her, having to shout over the music.
“You guessed right,” she said with a smile, sitting close to him and feeling that familiar warmth wafting off of him.
