by Cara Adams
Larry sat forward in his chair and Curtis knew that at least he was starting to get interested in the project. “So how do you plan to do this? Move an entire movie studio ten miles?”
“Almost everything we have is designed to be dismantled and stored when it’s not in use. It’s built to come apart and fold up flat,” Curtis replied.
“I understand that, but you also have two actual buildings there.”
“They’re clapboard. They’ll come apart. We’ll draw designs so we can put them back together again with minimal trouble. Some things we can’t move like the concrete floors and wall tiling, but most equipment, even the bathroom fittings, we can pull apart if we want to,” added Nicholas.
“Transportation won’t be that big a deal as we’ll have the access road. We’ll leave that exactly as it is until everything building-wise is finished, water, power installed and so on, then we’ll likely just cover it with a ton of dirt that we can sweep off again if we ever need a road for a scene.”
Larry nodded again. “Autumn told me you’re masters at making things appear more solid and larger than they really are. Let me see if JB’s available to join us. He’ll have a better understanding of these things than I do.”
Larry pulled his cell phone out of his pants pocket and hit a number. “Hey, JB, can you drop by my office for a little while? Uh-huh. Okay. He’ll be here in ten.”
Larry asked them a range of questions about their regular staff. Not just Raegan, who he’d met so briefly, but also Zara, their wardrobe mistress, Peyton, who was their chief makeup artist, and their props and stunt people as well.
A sharp rap on the door indicated JB had arrived. Curtis knew his real name was Javier Basil, but he also knew Ramona was pretty much the only person who ever called him Javier. Curtis could understand why. It was a bit of a mouthful of a name. Although Curtis wasn’t exactly a top-ten name, either.
“Hey, JB, pull up a chair. Curtis, how about you explain the whole dismantle-then-set-up plan to JB and let him judge how long it’ll take? That’s assuming he reckons it’s possible at all,” said Larry.
Curtis ran through the story again, and JB pulled a notepad out of a pocket as he did so, grunting from time to time and taking a few notes.
“JB?” asked Larry.
“It’s definitely doable. Not much different from those traveling circuses and so on. Instead of having a bunch of small sheds like they do now, I’d advocate storing as much as possible of the things they will still be needing in one of their buildings and dismantling the sheds first. Transport them here and set them up—you’d need to have poured the concrete pad to rest them on first and let it set—and have one large storage shed. Then they could bring over their equipment and put it in the shed before dismantling the buildings and transporting them here. It’d be a bit of work scheduling the logistics to make sure everything was ready, allowing for bad weather and such, but doable. Quite definitely doable,” concluded JB.
Curtis leaned back in his chair with a sigh. It was such a relief the builder had agreed with him. It’d seemed to work to him and Nicholas, and Raegan had been in on the discussions, too, but hearing it from JB made it all seem so much more likely to happen.
“I assume you will be including Autumn in these plans,” said Larry.
“We will be mating with her when we’re all set up here and have a home to bring her to,” said Curtis.
“Where are you going to make your home? On the set somewhere or on your new land?” asked JB.
Nicholas jumped straight in. “We wondered if we could have a small apartment like yours, Larry, in the main building. Just a large bedroom we can also use as a sitting room and a private bathroom. The set will have a lunchroom and enough space if we want to eat there or entertain there, and Autumn has her own favorite places to work here with her friends, so it’s all we need.”
“You owe me ten dollars,” said JB to Larry.
“What?” Curtis looked at Nicholas, who shrugged his shoulders.
Larry opened his wallet and handed a ten-dollar bill to JB then said, “Weeks ago JB decided to renovate the entire top floor of this building into apartments for mated families.”
“I said one was sure to be requested before Thanksgiving, and it’s only October now,” said JB, pocketing the money.
“You guessed about us before we knew ourselves?” asked Curtis.
“You, Serena, or Verity, even Diane. I figured they’d be needed.”
“Well, let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. Nothing is decided yet. If you are to live here there are exams to pass to ensure you’ll fit in with the community. As well as that you still have to sell your other property and buy the land you want. But at this stage I’ll say I’m happy for you to proceed to the next step. But understand you have not been approved and accepted to live here as yet.”
“I understand,” said Curtis, but nevertheless he was convinced everything would be all right. The county officials were positive, the developers were positive, now he had the community’s agreement. What could possibly go wrong now?
* * * *
Autumn spent a very long time thinking about what she wanted. And what she wanted, what she really, truly wanted, was Curtis and Nicholas. Not a short-term relationship but an ongoing one. A true mating. Marriage, as the human side of her would call it.
Could a werewolf and a half-panther live together though? That was the main question. A quick look around her at the community demonstrated that panthers and humans could be happy and werewolves and humans could be happy. But could a three-species union work? Well, the sex sure works just fine, she reminded herself with a giggle. Yeah, but life together is going to be more than sex.
Finally, she decided to phone Gaynor and Ramona to talk in depth about living with mixed-species matings. These two women knew Curtis and Nicholas the best out of all her friends and had been mated the longest. Hopefully, they could offer her the advice she needed. One part of her wanted to go ahead and take these two men as her partners. The other part of her was sure such a decision could only lead to heartbreak. There’s no divorce in shape-shifter matings. If I make a mistake, I’m stuck with it. I can’t afford to get it wrong.
“Come to my house. We can use the den, and if JB or Omar come home, they’ll still have the great room to hang out in,” said Ramona.
“Thank you. I’ll tell Gaynor,” said Autumn. She hadn’t really thought about it before, but with Omar as Alpha of the pack, likely he’d quite often need a private place to hold a small meeting or when people needed to talk to him in confidence. But Ramona and JB wouldn’t want to have to leave the house every time that happened or sit in the bedroom. That wouldn’t be an issue for her, as Curtis and Nicholas each had an office at the movie studio. Plus several of the sets would be vacant and they could use one of them if they needed more space.
Ramona opened the door to Autumn and took her through the house to a small but cozy room with a television, a computer, and two big, comfortable-looking couches. Gaynor was already sitting on one of the sofas. “Once you sit down you’ll never get up again. This so nice,” she said.
“This fabric’s so soft. It would be a dream to sew,” Autumn said, rubbing her hand over the covering on the arm of the couch.
Both the women looked at her questioningly. Autumn sighed. She’d asked for this time with them, but now she didn’t really know where to start. Finally, she blurted out, “Nicholas and Curtis want me to mate with them, and I love them, I really do, but can a cat, a dog, and a human hope for happiness together? It just seems too illogical for words.”
“Why?” asked Gaynor.
“What?”
“Why is it illogical? Why shouldn’t you be happy if you love them and they love you?”
“Because I’m half-human and half-panther. Curtis is human, but Nicholas is a wolf.”
“So what?”
Ramona took charge. “Why do you love Curtis? What is it that attracts you to him?”
&n
bsp; “Curtis is a Dom, but he doesn’t rule over people. He lets people do their own thing while he sees them going the right way. He only intervenes when he sees a problem about to happen. He lets me live my life my way but still watches over me to make sure everything is all right. I like that he directs rather than controls. Except in the dungeon,” she replied.
“Now Nicholas. What do you love about him?” asked Ramona.
“He knows what he wants and has the personality to engage other people. He makes them want to join with him. I think that’s why the two men work together so well. They complement each other. Nicholas has people happily following him and Curtis is there to get them back on track if something isn’t going well,” Autumn said, remembering her previous thoughts about the men as she spoke.
“So it’s nothing at all about whether they’re human, or panther, or wolf, or puma. It’s all about them as people,” said Gaynor.
“Yes.”
“So why do you think your different species will be an issue?”
“There wouldn’t be a saying ‘fight like cats and dogs’ if there wasn’t a reason for it. Dogs do chase and kill cats. But it’s not just about me. Even if Nicholas and I never really argue, what if the men argue about me and end up fighting between themselves and lose their business as well as their best friend? It would be all my fault. This is a three-species mating. So far we’ve only seen two species mating together. It’s just another dimension that may go horribly wrong.”
“Do you fight with them?” asked Ramona.
“Actually, no. Occasionally, they’ve been a little bit controlling, but we’ve always worked out a good compromise.” Autumn decided not to mention that the compromise had been cutting off her panties instead of her precious shirt that time at the movie studio.
“Have you ever heard Nicholas and Curtis arguing, really arguing I mean? I haven’t,” said Gaynor.
“No. But what if they do?”
“Why would they suddenly start arguing now? You’ve been together for a while now and there’s no precedent for it,” concluded Gaynor.
“Why do you think a three-species mating will be any different from a two-species mating? All people have their own personalities and quirks, don’t they?” added Ramona.
“Let’s sum up here,” said Gaynor. “You love them both for who they are, not what they are, right?”
Autumn smiled. “Yes. I do.”
“Well, there you go then. You don’t have a problem at all,” Gaynor said.
“I guess…I don’t know…” Autumn made an effort and gathered together some of the scattered thoughts that were worrying her. “Won’t the wolf traditions and practices be very different from panther ones? Or even human ones?”
“I can only answer for Tor, and as you know he grew up around humans, but our mating followed wolf traditions, and from what I’ve heard of the other matings around here it was quite similar to them. We fucked outdoors as well as inside,” said Gaynor.
“We did, too. It’s common among panthers as well.”
“I don’t believe any of these things are essential. They’re habits, traditions, preferences, if you like, but I think the only rule, if we can term it that, is to bite as you climax,” said Gaynor slowly.
“But how can humans bite without fangs? And what if I end up with a wolf tattoo? I’m a panther not a wolf.”
“Sorry, I wasn’t clear. The shape-shifter bites. I mean, the human can if they want to, but it’s the shape-shifter who needs to bite, to claim their mate. As for the tattoo, no one else has gotten one, just Tor, Cameron, and me, so I’d say the odds are against it,” said Gaynor.
“So what you’re saying is that the people involved can pretty much make it up as they go along. I didn’t know that.”
“Think of a human marriage ceremony for a minute. People decide where and when they’ll get married. At city hall, in a garden, on the beach, in a church. They write their own vows, they build the ceremony around what suits them. Shape-shifter matings are no different from that. The ceremony is tailored to suit the people who are mating each other,” said Ramona.
“Are you both saying you don’t think my mating with Nicholas and Curtis is likely to cause a rift between them? That it won’t end up with them splitting up and losing their business as well their relationship with each other?”
“Fuck no, you silly goose. They both love you and want to be with you. You refusing to join with them is more likely to make them unhappy.” Gaynor gave Autumn a hug.
Autumn smiled. “Thank you both so much. I feel a lot better about everything now.”
Ramona jumped up and hugged her. “And so you should. They’re good people, Autumn, and you deserve to be happy.”
“I agree,” said Gaynor, smiling at Autumn.
Autumn smiled too. It was as if a huge weight had been lifted from her. A weight she hadn’t even known she was carrying until it went away. She could breathe deeply and freely for what felt like the first time in weeks, months even. She was still sitting in Ramona’s chair, but it was as if she’d come inside from a storm and could see and hear and breathe properly once again. They are sure it will be okay. Ramona and Gaynor are certain everything will work out with me, Nicholas, and Curtis!
Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes and she couldn’t stop smiling. “It was tying me in knots, but I do love them. Besides, from what you’ve both said I can see now that it will work for all of us, however weird it is for a cat and a dog to mate with a human.”
* * * *
“Autumn, you know we both love you, don’t you?” asked Curtis.
Autumn nodded. He thought she was about to speak, so he went on, “It’s time we were mated. We love you and we know you love us. You’re the only woman we’ve ever wanted. You complete us and make us whole. I spoke to Omar, your Alpha, as a courtesy, and told him I want us to mate tomorrow night.”
“You must have been sure I’d say yes to speak to him before you spoke to me.”
Curtis hoped she wasn’t hurt, so he hurried to explain his thinking to her. “I thought I might have to talk him into it and I didn’t want to have you worrying about the outcome of our meeting. As it happened, he knew you’d been talking to Gaynor and Ramona, which I didn’t know, so he seemed to think we all knew about everything.”
He watched her face carefully and saw that she accepted his logic. “So are you ready to mate us both tomorrow night?”
Curtis almost held his breath. He wanted her to say yes so bad. He knew in his heart she loved him and Nicholas as much as they loved her, but she had to agree with her mind and actually say the words. He was so nervous and scared, it was hard to stand still and wait for her reply.
Autumn gave her characteristic little giggle. “I’m half-human, remember. Where’s the ‘men down on bended knee with flowers and chocolates’ proposal?”
Nicholas raced out of the room while Curtis wondered where he’d gone and Autumn looked around them. Then Nicholas was back with a silk rose between his teeth. He kneeled at her feet while Curtis and Autumn both laughed.
Curtis asked seriously, “Would you like a wedding ring? I know panthers and wolves don’t usually wear such symbols, but you’re half-human, as you said.”
“No thank you. It’s too dangerous when we shift. But I appreciate you asking.”
“You still haven’t answered us.” He hadn’t kneeled or given her chocolates or flowers either, but he really needed to hear her say yes. If she didn’t answer soon his legs might just give up on him he was so nervous. Then he wouldn’t be kneeling before her, he’d be flat on his face looking like an idiot. But then, it was no wonder he was so nervous, he’d never proposed to anyone before, on bended knee or otherwise.
“Until I spoke to Gaynor and Ramona I wasn’t sure the three of us mating would work. We’re three different species, and you two are so closely connected to each other, I was scared I might spoil your own friendship. Gaynor and Ramona made me understand that people are just people
and since we love each other that’s all that matters. So, yes. I do love you and want us to mate. Will there be a ceremony at Carnal Connections like with Leticia, or will that happen later, like with Jubilee?”
“Later. Tomorrow is just for us.”
Curtis knew she’d been working through the whole issue of mating with him and Nicholas. And he’d always known she’d say yes in the end. But it wasn’t until that very moment that he understood how tense he’d been waiting to hear her actually say the word, yes. To agree now, right this minute, as against some vague future time.
His shoulders sagged with relief and he grabbed her, pulling her to him in a kiss. She’d agreed. At last all his hopes and dreams would be fulfilled tomorrow.
* * * *
He’d spent the entire day planning their mating, leaving Nicholas to run the day’s filming at the movie studio. It was a straightforward day, with only indoor shots and just half a dozen actors involved, and Curtis knew Nicholas would manage perfectly well without him. Whereas only he could plan the perfect evening. There needed to be three elements. Sex outdoors with semen dropping to the ground, them all running in shifted form, and a BDSM sex scene to celebrate him as their Dom. Somewhere in there they needed to bite each other when they climaxed. The BDSM could not be extreme, because it was only one of the three segments. The hard part was deciding the order. Would he, a human, be too tired after the run to do justice to the sex scenes? Should the BDSM be first or last, in the dungeon or elsewhere? It was damn complicated to organize to ensure everything flowed smoothly.
By the time he and Nicholas collected Autumn and took her to the movie studio that evening, Curtis was nervy and sweating despite the cool air. She looked happy and smiling, although she was still carrying that huge purse of hers. He hoped like hell she wouldn’t need to swing it at anyone’s head ever again but knew it was just part of her, like putting on her shoes.
