by Viola Grace
Leora stared. “I thought you were their mate?”
“Things are working a little backward.” She pried her phone out of her skin-tight back pocket and sent a text.
There was a pause and a message. Where are you?
Video shoot with Ford. I got to be a body double!
You want to shoot with the boys?
Yeah. May I?
How much is the rescue getting?
She looked at Ford. “How much is the rescue getting?”
He snorted and sent a text to Argus.
Done. Are you going to be dressed up, kitten?
“Uh, am I going to be dressed up?”
Ford grinned. “You are. I know just the thing.”
Leora laughed. “That is an evil look, Ford.”
Olivia snorted. “That isn’t evil; that’s horny.” She paused and looked at Ford. “Aw, hell.”
He laughed. “This is going to be a fun afternoon.”
They moved location, and when she came out of the wardrobe and makeup area, she looked at Ford with narrowed eyes. “You are going to pay for this.”
“You will be paid for it. The rescue will be paid for it. You look spectacular.”
The jaguar body paint and the same hairstyle that she had been wearing during the other scene. The only saving grace was that only her eyes were recognizable. The rest of her had been highlighted and contoured into a very feline aspect.
Her body was clad in tight black trousers, an overskirt of sorts was made out of woven leather. Leather bands on her wrists and a bra made of crossed strands of soft leather an inch wide.
“How is your range of motion, honey?” He grinned.
She dropped and did some push-ups, lunges, and lowered herself into slow splits. She looked up at him with a challenge. “Pretty good.”
He let out a strangled sound, and she grinned. “There.” She got back to her feet. The boots were the best part of the outfit. She loved boots.
The guys from the rescue were bemused, and they saw her and waved. “Hey, Den, Jerry, Harry. So, this is odd.”
They chuckled. “Argus said to cooperate, but you need to keep to the cats you have met.”
She asked Jerry, “How is Hector?”
He beckoned for her to follow him. “This has to be seen to be believed.”
She followed him to the enclosure, and Hector had pinned Caesar and was grooming him. She giggled. “Is she pregnant?”
“No, but we are starting to think he might be. She has him completely whipped. It’s hilarious.”
She stood next to the fence, and Hector’s jaw jerked upward, as did Caesar’s. They both came to the gate and rubbed against it. “Hiya. So, you two knocked boots, huh?”
Hector looked pleased with herself. Jerry looked at her. “If you want to go in, you can.”
She smiled and walked into the enclosure, where she was rubbed and hugged by huge cats.
She patted the cats, and they moved to block her in. “Jerry?”
“Yes, Olivia?”
“Can you call Argus? I am kinda stuck in here.”
Jerry was laughing. “Yeah, I can see that.” He took out his phone and made a call. “Yeah, Ambrose, are you working from home today? Great. Uh, Caesar and Hector have pinned that mate of yours and aren’t letting her out of the enclosure. Can you come down here? Great. Oh. Sure.” He chuckled. “Yeah, she’s all decked out for the video. She looks hot.”
She flipped him off. Jerry hung up and snapped the picture. He was quick.
She huffed, and when Ford came to find her, he started laughing. “Sorry, honey. I wish I could help.”
She was lying on Hector, and Caesar was still watching the door. It was a fairly comfortable place to rest if she ignored the drones.
Chapter Twenty-One
“Hey, Ford, what’s she up to now? It’s only been a day.” Ambrose’s deep voice rang through the air. He directed his question to Ford and then turned to look at her. “Holy shit. Precious, you look amazing in leather.”
She grumbled. “It has always been a personal preference. Can you get Caesar to let me out?”
“I don’t know. I think he needs you there to keep Hector under control. How many people are taking photos right now?”
She looked around and leaned up on Hector. “Six phones and two drones.”
The tiger chuffed to Ambrose. He responded.
“Well, if I rescue you, you owe me, precious.”
She tensed, and Hector growled. “What?”
“After you finish your shoot for the day, come to my studio dressed like that.” His eyes were heated.
“This isn’t my outfit. I think it’s Ford’s, though I don’t know how it would fit him.” She was wary. Ford was grinning and watching.
“Hmm. Perhaps a compromise.” He opened the gate, and Caesar rubbed up against him, chuffing happily. “Yes, you caught her, just like you said you would. Thank you.”
Outrage ripped through Olivia. “You jackass!”
She got up and scratched Hector’s head when Dexter arrived, and Hector went apeshit, doing figure eights and other patterns because she was happy. Dexter walked over to Olivia and smiled. “That’s a fun look.”
“Thanks. It took a few hours, and we are losing daylight. I need to get out of here.”
Dexter nodded. “Fine. Kiss.”
She walked toward him.”
“Ambrose.”
She paused and looked at the smug blond leaning against his lion. “This is a lot of negotiation for being held hostage by big cats.”
Ford laughed. “We are losing light, honey.”
She looked at Ambrose. “Will you accept a kiss to let me out?”
He thought about it for a moment, and then, he nodded. “I will, but further negotiations won’t be this easy on you, precious.”
She blinked and narrowed her eyes. “Fine.”
“Come here, precious. Let’s get that door open.”
She knew he wasn’t referring to the enclosure, but she walked to him. He wouldn’t bend, so she grabbed his shoulders, jumped, and wrapped her legs around his waist. He blinked in surprise and caught her. She pressed her lips to his and coaxed him into joining in. When her tongue slid into his mouth, he started purring, deep and heavy. His erection was growing against the seam of the leather pants, and she rocked against him as their kiss continued. He reached behind her and stroked the mark, and she moaned. Dexter’s hands cupped her hips, and his purr was intense. She gasped and rocked between them until her orgasm ripped through her. Keeping it silent meant that she was staring into Ambrose’s eyes as the pulses rang through her.
He sighed slowly. “I accept your payment. Caesar, stop being an ass.”
She dropped to the ground, and when she was out of the enclosure, she muttered, “You are going to either wipe off the lipstick or get a touch-up. It’s a good colour on you.”
The makeup lady was doing the touch-ups as they walked, and the boys were happy to rub against her, and Ford was in her ear, telling her what he wanted her to do, how to sit, lie, stand with the drones and the artificial wind whipping her hair.
She heard him tell her that she could do whatever she wanted, she glanced at the drones, nodded, and she and the boys burst into a run. They bolted past her and turned around to see why she wasn’t keeping up, but she kept running, and they returned to her and loped at her side. She heard shouting behind her and grinned as Caesar ran up next to her. She jumped onto his back, and he took off with Hector and the boys until they reached the end of the open spaces, and then, he turned and trotted smugly back toward the cameras and the shocked spectators who kept silent until the cats were back in their enclosures. Ford kissed her and bent her back into a deep dip.
“That was spectacular, honey. We got so much footage. We want one of you kissing Dexter, though.”
“What? Why?”
“Because we got him all dressed up, and we need a
couple shot for the end of the video.”
She turned, and Dexter was wearing the apocalyptic gear in brown and black leather, and he talked to Ben. Her heart tripped in her chest, and her sex tried to purr on its own.
Ford grinned. “Isn’t he pretty? I can see why Ambrose wants to top him.”
She opened and closed her mouth. That wasn’t the way it worked with those two, but if everyone was content to think so, it wasn’t her place to correct them.
They stood on a rocky platform, the cameras surrounded them, and she followed direction, slowly looking up at Dexter. The kiss happened without any prompting. The playback in her head started, and she and Dexter started to dance. It was far more intense than she had anticipated, but it might have had something to do with Ford whispering filthy nothings into her ear.
They finished twisting, spinning, standing in a variety of embraces until the red light of sunset cast across them and Ford let them rest.
She was breathing heavily, and she looked up at Dexter. “Um, thank you for this. It’s my first day out in the world. I feel like I just came out of an egg, and there is so much to try and do.”
He chuckled. “This is going to do it. You look super cute as a jaguar. You are definitely more cougar, though.”
She coughed. “Right. How old are you again?”
He grinned. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“Yeah, I would.”
He laughed and then sobered. “Are you having fun?”
“Yeah. I am meeting people, talking to strangers, getting stared at, and riding a motorcycle across the open fields. So much fun.” She grimaced. “I am also learning that I am going to have to hire bodyguards if I want to move around on my own. It is weird, but an idea that is becoming acceptable as necessary to me.”
She shivered as she remembered the motorcycle chase.
“What happened, Olivia?”
“Nothing. Thankfully. But I now know what a nullifier canister looks like.” She smiled weakly.
His expression went dark. “You are coming home.”
“To do what? Wait until one of you can find time in their schedules? I have been waiting for others all my life, and I am done waiting. I want to live for a while, and then, I can crawl back into my nest and stay there until you guys come to visit.”
He sighed. “That isn’t what I meant. I am worried about you.”
“If I had a life before I met you, it wouldn’t be an issue, but I didn’t have anything. I was in a holding pattern. I need to live a little, and life can be dangerous.” She stroked his cheek. “You have friends, family; I have neither.”
“You have us.”
“Not hardly. You have me. I don’t have anything, but I am working toward it.”
Dexter sighed. “We came when you called.”
“You came when Jerry called.” She stroked his cheek.
His growl was pure frustration. “I would have come if you had called.”
“No room for my cell phone in these leather pants. Speaking of which, I had better get them back to wardrobe. Someone probably wants to auction them off or sniff them or something.”
“You are really cynical.”
“Practical. I know what omegas are in the world. Pets for the alphas. I want more, and I am trying to get it.”
Dexter smiled. “Independence. I think I might be starting to understand. We wanted to be feline alphas with a shared omega, but it never occurred to us that her independent streak would have to be as big as ours.”
She grinned. “At least you are getting it. I know you live together but separately. I want that for me as well. Ford is an excellent gateway.”
“As long as the toll isn’t too heavy.”
“It’s pretty light, actually.” She chuckled. “He doesn’t ask for more than what I am ready to give and gives me parameters and options for my own direction. It’s actually refreshing. I know there is no pain waiting with him behind a bad mood.”
He sighed. “He wouldn’t hurt you.”
“He said he wanted to. I have to believe it when folks say they want to hurt me. It has kept me alive.” She looked at him. “Until he tells me otherwise, I have to believe he knew what he was saying.”
“Wait. All he has to do is tell you that he won’t hurt you?”
She shrugged. “Basically. If someone punched you in the face for walking into a room, you would stop going there. If you had been punched in the past and someone told you that if you walked in that room, it would happen again, you would not go in there.”
Dexter grimaced. “I get it.”
“I don’t court pain. That sums it up. If he wants to do that with others, he’s welcome to do it. Just leave me out of it.”
Dexter sighed. “I want to rub myself all over you, but you need to get that body paint off first, or I would just make a mess.”
“I think Ford is taking me out for dinner. I have never actually been out for dinner.”
Dexter looked stricken. “You haven’t?”
“Nope. He’s helping me collect experiences, and he thinks of stuff, so I don’t have to crunch my brain to do an assessment on something I have no frame of reference for.”
Dexter sighed. “Are you going to go paintballing with Argus?”
“That sounds like it should be dirty, but it isn’t.” She chuckled. “I am. Dating isn’t something I thought I could do.”
“I am so sorry. I thought we would have time.”
She stroked his neck. “So did I, but we didn’t, and this is what we are stuck with. Are you heading back to wardrobe?”
“Yeah. It was fun playing with you for the video.”
“Thanks. The more money for the animal rescue, the better.”
Dexter blinked. “You are donating the money to the rescue?”
“Ford had to donate something to Argus to use the boys. How is Hector feeling, by the way?”
He blushed. “She has Caesar whipped.”
They linked arms, and he walked her back to makeup.
When she finished getting cleaned up and was back in her normal clothing, her guys were gone. She sighed.
Ford wasn’t anywhere to be seen, so she shrugged and walked back to his place. The crew was there, setting up for a barbeque and having fun. She smiled at a few familiar faces and headed up to the guestroom she had been assigned. She closed the door and crawled into the closet with a blanket and a pillow. She had dozed off, and her phone started vibrating.
She answered. “Hello?”
“Honey? Where are you?” Ford’s voice was concerned.
“I went to rest.”
His voice got husky and sweet. “Back at home with the guys?”
“No. In the guestroom you said I could stay in.”
He paused. “I was just in there. Where were you?”
She sighed. “In the closet.”
She heard his footsteps outside the door, and she squinted at him when he stood looking at her.
She hung up the phone. “Hey.”
He crouched in the doorway. “Hey. Sorry, we aren’t going out for dinner. Where were you?”
“I talked to Dexter, and then, I walked back here when I couldn’t find you.”
“Damn it. He was supposed to walk you back.”
“Maybe he got trapped in his leather pants.” She shrugged.
“We are watching the footage and a rough cut tonight. You should come see it.” Ford smiled. “Let me rephrase that. Your coming downstairs is mandatory. Come on, honey.”
She cringed back. “I don’t want to.”
“The fun part about being part of the world is that you sometimes have to do things that you don’t want to, even if you think it will bore you.”
He held out his hand, and she sighed and put her hand in his. He pulled her to her feet and held her against his body. “I am sorry that your pride is such a bunch of dumbasses.”
“Me, too.”
&nbs
p; He smiled. “Argus is downstairs with the boys.”
She blinked and started to quiver. “He is? Did he ask to see me?”
“Of course he did, honey. That is when I realized that you hadn’t come back with us. Where were you?”
“Stuck in makeup, getting my spots off.”
Ford chuckled. “He’s going to enjoy the video clips.”
“Uh, how much could you have cut together?”
He grinned. “The digital age is a wonderful thing.”
“How long did you work on it?”
“Of and on, two hours. We added your footage as it came in, and then, we rendered it all and added the soundtrack.”
She bit her lip. “Do I look okay?”
“Honey, you could be covered in mud, and he would still want to take you to his bed.”
She smiled, and they left her guestroom.
“Honey, if you need comfort, go to my nest. I would rather you are there than be lost in the house while the party goes on.”
“There is a party starting?”
“Yes, honey, there is a party started.”
She smiled. “I have never been to a proper party.”
“I will take you out for dinner another day; just make sure you fall asleep in my nest tonight. I don’t think anywhere else is safe.” He chuckled, and they headed downstairs.
The makeup artists were fawning over Argus, and the boys were watching the grill area with intense focus and lashing tails. Argus saw her coming down, and he smiled, holding out his hand.
She saw the irritation in the eyes of the makeup artists when Argus pulled her in, but he held up her hand and kissed his mark on her wrist. “Ah, kitten. You finally look like you.”
She curled against his chest and whined. He held her tight and purred for her.
The women who had been ogling him stared with wide eyes as he held her to his chest. He ran a hand into her hair, and he murmured, “It’s okay, kitten. We will sort it out. We just have to set back to one and start courting you. You want to go play paintball on Friday?”
She nodded against his chest. “Yes. Are you sure you want to go out and play?”
He chuckled. “I am sure. You need to learn how to play, Olivia. It is my pleasure to show you some of that. Now, do you want to curl up on a couch and watch the crew go crazy in Ford’s place?”
