Valentine's Mates

by E A Price

  “Meh. I’m feeling better. I ate about half a box of chocolates, so if I am feeling sick now, I can’t blame the baby for that.”

  Gerry grunted.

  “You okay?” asked Jessie.

  “Of course, or at least I am now.”

  He regretted not physically hurting the witch for trying to ruin his life – lord knows Diaz wanted to – but Gerry was more concerned about his mate.

  “Are you sure?” she murmured. “Because if you have any concerns about the baby, you can tell me. I’ve kind of sensed you were a little tense, but you’ve been doing a good job of hiding it. I know you don’t like to be pushed, so I thought if you needed to, you’d talk to me.”

  “I was concerned about my age,” he admitted, “but I believe I shall just take Diaz’s advice and not sweat the things I cannot change.”

  Jessie pulled back and gave him a concerned look. “You’re taking Diaz’s advice? Are you sure you’re okay?”

  He chuckled and kissed her. “As long as I have you, I will be okay.”

  “Been a pretty weird Valentine’s, huh?”

  “Indeed,” he breathed, pressing his forehead to hers.

  For a moment there, he almost thought he had lost her - his perfect, lovely mate. But no, she was his, now and forever and he couldn’t wait until their baby was born.

  “You know what I want right now, don’t you?” she asked sweetly.

  Gerry smiled at his mate. “You want me to pick up all the chocolates, don’t you?”

  “Yes! They’re my favorites; if any didn’t go on the floor, I’m going to eat them. But when you have, we can definitely have sex.”

  They kissed and he gladly set about finding her chocolates.

  The end

  Seven: King Kong and Cottontail

  Mason and his inner gorilla eyed the pink beer speculatively. He wondered at coloring the beer for holidays. It still tasted the same, though his pee was usually a different color. Almost gave him a nasty turn the first time he went to the bathroom after he drank red beer at Christmas. He grunted and took a sip. Nice, though he wasn’t looking forward to pink pee.

  “Valentine’s tomorrow night,” he rumbled, his gaze roaming over his cute little bunny mate. She was currently getting trounced at pool by the tiger shifter, Isis. “What you guys up to?”

  Isis’ human mate, Raf smirked, giving Mason a knowing look.

  “Other than that,” muttered Mason, who already knew far too much about their sex life for his liking. The tigress was not shy.

  Raf shrugged. “No plans. Maybe we’ll catch a movie, grab a bite and then home. Nothing special – we don’t really bother about Valentine’s, and Isis doesn’t really care about flowers or chocolates or jewelry.” Given the looks that passed between Isis and Raf, Mason had to assume that the two of them treated every night as if it were Valentine’s. “What about you and Judy?”

  His gorilla huffed slightly. “She’s working, so I volunteered to work too.”

  “Well, Valentine’s is just another night.”

  “Yep, just another night to work,” agreed Mason. His little carrot muncher volunteered to take on lots of extra hours and cover dozens of agents’ shifts. He wouldn’t mind a little more time alone with her. They could stay home, and his gorilla could pet her bunny…

  Raf glanced over to where Isis was doing an obnoxious victory dance, and Judy was shaking her head. Judy had only come out for a drink with their friends because Isis insisted. The tigress could be very persuasive, or bossy really. Judy probably would have come if Mason insisted too, but Isis got to her first. Perhaps he could get Isis to make Judy take a few days off work…

  Mason and Judy were investigators for the Supernatural Enforcers Agency. They met while Judy was working for an insurance company, and, unbeknownst to her boss, she had taken on the search for some missing eggs. Judy was very ambitious and sick to death of just running errands for her boss. They caught the guy who stole the eggs, but her boss fired her. However, Mason’s boss, Gerry heavily suggested she join the SEA, and now, here she was, loving her job and keen to make her mark. That keenness just involved working lots of long hours. He knew she had aspirations to become a director at the SEA. Both he and his gorilla were inordinately proud of their go-getting little mate, though sometimes, although they lived together and worked in the same building, they barely saw one another. They were like ships passing in the night.

  “You know she volunteers to do other agents’ paperwork?” said Raf with a chuckle of disbelief.

  Other agents had to be forced to do their paperwork. Gerry usually had to invoke bodily threats – like sending the agents to get a physical by the imposing polar bear shifter nurse, Helga – before they submitted and did it. But Judy wanted to do it and was very eager to help other agents. Led to a few mishaps when she first started in the SEA. She offered to fill out a report for Allen, the llama shifter in tactical, and he assumed she was coming onto him. His gorilla enjoyed setting him straight. Judy was his. Mine. Whoop.

  “Judy’s kind of obsessive about work,” said Mason, though not with any heat.

  “Yeah, we all noticed.”

  Mason chuckled. Yeah, that was just the super-energized bunny he fell in love with.

  *

  Judy squeezed Mason’s hand. Her inner bunny chittered in remorse.

  “I’m sorry I forgot,” she said for the fifth time.

  Yep, she’d forgotten Valentine’s Day. She was a complete tool. Even with all the reminders all around her – the displays of gifts and cards in stores, the heart-shaped cakes at the coffee shop, the special pink beer, the fact that nobody wanted to work that night – she still forgot.

  Mason remembered. He bought her a card and a new charm for her charm bracelet – it was in the shape of a gorilla so she could always carry him everywhere. Awww. Her bunny wiggled her tail for their mate. Thoughtful, lovely Mason and she… did diddly squat.

  “Cottontail, it’s fine.”

  He gave her his devastating smile, and she felt even worse. He was so sweet. She had moved into his apartment, he supported her and helped her study while she was training to be an agent at the SEA, and now that she was an agent, she was so focused on work that she was completely ignoring him.

  “I’ll make it up to you… tonight, if you know what I mean.” Heat rushed to her cheeks as she thought of the wonderful possibilities.

  “Fluffy, we’re both working.”

  “Oh, right, yeah.”

  Her bunny cursed her for being so oblivious. No one else wanted to work so she volunteered – should have clicked with her at that point that it was Valentine’s, and she needed to do something for her main man. But, no.

  “Maybe after…”

  Mason gave her a patient look. “I’m gonna be on stakeout tonight – not sure what time I’ll be home. Don’t wait up, Flopsy.”

  He leaned down and kissed her. It was soft and lingering and lovely and made her bunny’s whiskers curl.

  “I love you, King Kong,” she said with feeling

  “I know, carrot muncher,” he said just a little smugly.

  He kissed the tip of her nose and sauntered away. She watched him with a sigh. Damn, she adored her big guy. But it had always been her dream to be an investigative agent. She had wanted to be an insurance investigator, but this here at the SEA was even better. She was just trying to be the best she can be.

  “Ooh, staring at another agent’s ass while drooling, that will get you a ticket to the etiquette in the workplace seminar.”

  Judy sneezed as Isis joined her. Judy was allergic to cat hair, but could tolerate most shifters once she got used to being around them. Isis’ heavy perfume didn’t tend to help matters though.

  As for etiquette in the workplace, her watching Mason walk away was nothing compared to what Isis did to her mate on a daily basis. After what the two of them did in the break room, Judy couldn’t go in there without blushing. Isis had attended the etiquette seminar more times th
an any other agent in the building. The lusty tigress rarely held back. Though, when it came to her lascivious nature, it was generally considered that she was harmless to anyone other than her mate.

  “I forgot Valentine’s,” said Judy.

  Isis shrugged. “Raf and I don’t bother with it. Far too commercial.”

  “Yes, but Mason got me a gift and breakfast in bed, and I forgot completely.”

  “So, make it up to him tonight. Give him dinner in bed, naked… in fact, let your naked body be the plate for the food. Though, I advise against soup or any food with a sauce – trust me, it just turns into one big sticky mess.”

  “We’re both working and…”

  Isis let out a long growl, and her eyes flashed yellow.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I sense a disturbance in the force…”

  Judy frowned. “Star Wars?”

  “What?”

  “Was that a quote from Star Wars?” Judy wasn’t sure – she was more of an Agatha Christie fan than sci-fi.

  Apparently, Isis wasn’t a fan either. She gave Judy a look of disdain. “I’m hot; I would never watch Star Wars. Ask Avery; she’s into that crap.”

  Judy considered that their lion shifter friend Avery was probably the hottest woman on earth – and although extremely happy with Mason, the gorgeous lioness gave Judy a few, strange feelings that she had never felt before. But before she could point that out, Isis was scowling at a towering redhead, sauntering their way, swinging her hips so wide it was a wonder she didn’t get motion sickness.

  Her bunny tapped her foot in agitation. Tigress. The woman was similar to Isis – flaming red hair, a smirk on her face and a wide red mouth. But she was a few inches taller, and her curves a little more defined.

  Isis rumbled like a motorboat beside her. She didn’t seem to get along very well with most other tigers.

  “Isis,” purred the other tigress.

  “Indigo,” spat Isis.

  Isis also didn’t make a secret of the fact that she didn’t get along very well with most other tigers.

  Indigo’s eyes dipped to Judy, her lip curled up in a sneer, and then Indigo proceeded to ignore her existence completely.

  “You’re back then?” complained Isis.

  Indigo gave her an infinitely smug smile. “Yes, I decided on a change of scenery.”

  “Oh, I thought you were just getting a divorce,” said Isis in a deceptively airy way.

  Indigo’s left eyebrow ticked marginally. “I hear you’ve mated a human.”

  “Yes,” hissed Isis, suspecting what was coming.

  “Oh I can’t wait to meet him,” said Indigo in a gushing voice.

  Isis’ eyes narrowed.

  “But for now, I actually have a job to get to.”

  She strolled away from them, sidling up to Mason who was chatting with a couple of other agents. Judy’s nose twitched, and her bunny snuffled unhappily as Indigo laughed at something Mason said.

  “Who is…”

  “Mason’s ex-girlfriend,” snapped Isis.

  “Really?” Her bunny twittered anxiously as she looked at her King Kong honey.

  “Yep. She used to work here a few years back and then moved away to mate with a bear or something. I heard she cheated on him and he dumped her ass, so she’s come crawling back.”

  Judy watched as she placed a hand on Mason’s arm and leaned in to tell him something confidentially.

  “I heard the two of them were pretty hot and heavy for a while,” Isis told her confidentially. “Then she dumped him for the bear.”

  “Mason wouldn’t do anything with her.”

  Isis shrugged, unconcerned. But then it wasn’t her mate that Indigo was trying to brush up against with her Double Ds.

  Judy tapped her foot, and her bunny sniffed. Didn’t matter how tall or gorgeous she was, Mason belonged to Judy. He was her King Kong. He adored her and… Judy generally ignored him and forgot even to buy him a Valentine’s card.

  Didn’t matter. Mason wouldn’t do anything.

  *

  “Oh!”

  Judy’s nose twitched something fierce when she found Indigo in Mason’s tiny office, sprawled over his seat and resting her feet on his desk.

  “May I help you?” asked Indigo scornfully.

  Her bunny harrumphed, but Judy forced herself to smile. “I was just looking for Mason.”

  “He isn’t here, and you really should knock…” She trailed off as she caught sight of the picture on Mason’s desk. She grabbed the frame and flicked her gaze between it and Judy. “Oh, is this you?”

  Judy nodded wearily. It was a photo of Judy and Mason when they were at an ice cream parlor – the two of them were indulging in the ‘mountain of ice cream challenge.’ Which thanks to Mason they won. She had sauce and sprinkles all over her when the owner snapped the picture. Why did he have to frame that particular photo? Though it had been a very fun day, and the first time they both said ‘I love you.’ Her bunny melted a little. Yeah, okay it was a very special day.

  “Yes,” replied Judy, “we live together.”

  Indigo squinted at the photo. “I see.”

  “Can you tell Mason I…”

  “You just don’t seem like Mason’s type,” interrupted Indigo, not listening at all to what Judy was saying.

  “Perhaps he thought it was time for a change,” said Judy mildly.

  “Sure,” sneered Indigo.

  Judy sighed. “Is Mason coming back soon?”

  “He’s just in a meeting.” Then she smiled horribly. “We’re on stakeout together tonight.”

  “Oh.”

  So what? It didn’t matter who he was on stakeout with – she wouldn’t worry if he was there with Wes the liger shifter, so why worry about Indigo?

  Indigo gave her a patronizing look. “You seem like a sweet little thing, but I have to tell you, Mason was always in love with me and now that I’m back…” She trailed away and gave her a mock sad expression.

  Judy folded her arms. Her bunny thumped her foot. “Now that you’re back what?”

  “Well…” The look intensified.

  “What?”

  “Let’s just say, don’t leave it too late to find a new apartment.”

  “Puh-lease,” snorted Judy.

  The woman curled her lip. “Mason adored me, and well, he’s probably had fun with you, but I’m back now.”

  Judy glared at the supremely arrogant tigress. “I wouldn’t start picking out china patterns just yet if I were you,” she told her primly.

  Not a fantastic come back, but at least it knocked the smile off her lips.

  *

  Judy’s bunny chittered unhappily. This was a very bad idea. She trusted Mason – she did, but she didn’t trust Indigo. But if Mason found out she was spying on him…

  Judy, unfortunately, asked Isis for advice, and yep, this is what the tigress would do if she were in that situation. So, after her own shift ended, and while Mason was on a stakeout, Judy and Isis were also staking him out. They were sitting in a car, spying on Mason and Indigo, who were in turn sitting in a car, waiting for someone to show up.

  “Ugh,” snarled Isis, “the bitch just tried to yawn and put her arm around him. Where did she get her moves? That hasn’t been popular since the stone age.”

  “Can I use the binoculars?” asked Judy. Isis had been hogging them the whole time, and Judy was the one who brought them.

  “In a minute,” muttered Isis. Judy doubted that. Isis appeared to be enjoying herself in a perverse way.

  “Maybe we should just go,” murmured Judy. Her stomach and bunny were already in knots over the whole thing. But when Isis insisted they do this, she caved.

  “Don’t be ridiculous; we’ve barely even…” Isis lowered the binoculars and stilled. “Oh, crap.”

  “What? What’s going on?” cried Judy fearing the worst – fearing Indigo was trying to kiss him.

  Judy started as the back door of her car opened, and
Raf swung himself inside. “Ladies,” he purred, an amused expression on his face.

  Judy gave him a strained smile. “Uh, hi.”

  Isis scowled. “How did you find me?”

  “Find my phone app,” he told her in a jolly voice.

  “Damnit!”

  She picked up a phone, looked at it accusingly and tossed it out of the window. It crunched on the ground.

  “Isis, that was my phone,” said Judy in dismay.

  “Figured you were up to no good when you told me you were going out for a girls night with Judy,” said Raf. “You hate girl talk. What are you two doing?”

  “Something totally justified,” Isis told him haughtily.

  Raf sighed. “Judy?”

  “Well, you see the thing is…”

  Isis interrupted. “That total whorebag, Indigo is trying to steal Mason away from her. We’re here to make sure that doesn’t happen, and if it gives me a reason to punch Indigo, all the better.”

  Raf raised his eyebrows. “Indigo – the new tiger shifter?”

  Isis gave him an accusing look. “You’ve met her?”

  “Yep, she introduced herself earlier.”

  “Did she now?” growled Isis.

  She moved to reach for the door handle, and Raf grasped her arm.

  “She told me I was cute, but she didn’t like any other cat’s leftovers.” He twinkled at his mate. “I said that was fine with me.”

  “Humph.” Isis removed her hand from the door, mildly mollified that her own mate was safe.

  Raf turned to Judy. “You don’t really think that Mason would do anything? He’s the most solid and dependable guy in the whole SEA.”

  Her bunny chittered in agreement about that. “I know, and I’ve been taking advantage of him. I’ve been ignoring him. I just don’t want him to find someone who will be better for him than me.”

  “Ugh, this is veering into girl talk,” muttered Isis.

  “Firstly,” said Raf, “I know Mason worships you. Secondly, he wouldn’t find a better mate in Indigo, and I’m sure he knows that.”

  “She said he adored her,” said Judy uneasily.

  “She apparently also told Lake from tactical that Cutter used to have a thing for her. The word she used was besotted.”