At first, she could barely believe what she was seeing. She’d booted up the system from the laptop in her living room, expecting to see nothing but dimly lit storage lockers in the back room. Instead, she’d been treated to the sight of her boyfriend’s flexing buttocks as he hammered away at a dark haired beauty on Audra’s desk.
It was probably weird of her to still be watching. Not like she was getting any sexual kick out of it, but she found herself oddly riveted. What did this woman have that she didn’t? She had a great body, but after years spent hauling gardening supplies around to various job sites, so did Audra. She seemed to enjoy sex, but it wasn’t like Audra was frigid or anything. She enjoyed sex too. She’d enjoyed it very much with Chad, and she’d tried so hard to make things work. He was funny and sexy, and he could have been the one. She was tired of being single. She’d hoped that Chad would be the end of that, but apparently not.
A lesser woman might have patched the feed into Facebook Live, or sent a link to Chad’s mother, or any number of things. Audra didn’t feel like doing any of them. She felt strangely numb. Maybe this was shock? She was hurt for sure, but this was the third boyfriend in a row that had cheated on her, and she’d already exhausted her store of tears. All she had left was exhaustion. She was beginning to suspect that she might as well give up. The one perfect guy for her? He wasn’t out there. Instead of continuing to look, she would treat herself to one of those nice top of the line vibrators. They, at least, were somewhat reliable.
She stood up, looked down at her t-shirt and pajama pants ensemble, and decided not to bother changing. After all, she didn’t have anyone to impress. But she did want to get the naked people off her account books, because she had to touch those on a regular basis. She grabbed her keys and headed out to her car without making a sound. It just didn’t seem worth the effort to complain. No one was going to care anyway. Not even her cat. Houdini was kind of a jerk, if she was going to be honest about her life choices. So far, they kind of sucked.
She pulled her Volkswagen convertible right up to the back doors of the Desert Oasis Pawn Emporium. She’d owned the place for the last six months, ever since her Uncle Grey had died suddenly from a massive stroke. He’d left the shop to her as they’d previously arranged. No one else in their family had their magical gifts, and the owner of the Desert Oasis needed them.
On the surface, it looked like any of the other hundreds of pawn shops that dotted the streets of Las Vegas. This one sat on the higher end of the pawn shop spectrum. The outside of the building was clean, free of graffiti, and freshly painted. A high end security system protected the entrances as well as the standard bars and gates. Most of her patrons had all of their teeth and did not show their belly buttons in public. It was a good business, and she felt proud to call it hers. She could afford to discriminate when it came to deciding what to invest in. They did a nice trade in jewelry, since Audra had a real knack for spotting real precious stones thanks to her magic. Beef, one of her employees and her best friend, knew music collectibles like most people know the alphabet. Chad had always done a great job of selling unsellable items to female customers, usually while flirting his pants off. Until this moment, she hadn’t realized that was a literal thing.
As she unlocked the back door, she tried to take a calming breath. The anger was hitting now. She didn’t deserve to be treated like this after all she’d done for him. She’d given him a job shortly after they started dating. He’d claimed that he hadn’t known the girl he’d dated before her was married to his district manager, but now she wasn’t so sure. Maybe that had been another lie.
Well, he could take his tanned buns off her desk and go find another woman to leech off of. Because as of this moment, he was going to be out of her life and her place of business if she had to throw him out into the street on his naked behind.
She threw the door open and stalked into the back hallway, her teeth clenched. After those first few moments of stunned numbness, the fury felt good. It carried her toward the door to the back room. Light leaked around the edges of the door and into the darkened hall. That door was supposed to be locked all the time, especially in light of all of the dangerous magical artifacts that were hidden in there, but Chad didn’t know everything about the artifacts. He knew about her magic, because one time when he’d lit a pizza on fire in the oven, she’d put it out with a single wave of her hand. Normally, she didn’t reveal her abilities like that, but that gas oven had been a millisecond away from exploding. Besides, she’d trusted him.
Not anymore.
The door wasn’t locked, which just made her angrier. She threw it open so hard that it banged against the wall. Chad jumped, looked over his shoulder, and then pumped his hips four more times before he stopped. He didn’t even withdraw from the woman whose waist he held firmly in those baby soft hands. He just looked over his shoulder at his girlfriend of five months as if waiting for her to say whatever was on her mind so he could get on with drilling this woman on her desk.
“You are a cockwaffle,” she declared. “And we’re through.”
“Audra, don’t be like that,” said Chad. Then he ran his thumb over the woman’s thigh, like he was trying to keep her engaged in the sex despite the fact that he was arguing with someone else. “It’s not what you think.”
“Oh, but it is. I installed some new security cameras, Chad. I’ve been watching you screw this hussy for the past twenty minutes.”
He arched a brow in that cocky way of his. Up until this moment, she’d found his self-confidence attractive, but now she was beginning to see it for what it was. He was self-absorbed, and she hadn’t seen it before now because she’d been willingly blind. Just like the last time. And the time before that. She couldn’t decide which one she was angrier at—Chad or herself.
“You liked what you saw, didn’t you? Why don’t you join us?”
He followed this statement up with a charming smile and a gesture of invitation, as if Audra would just shrug this off and jump onto the desk with them. Then he tried to pump his hips against the woman who was still sitting bare assed on the account book, but the woman shoved him away with surprising strength given her slim figure.
“You said you were single,” she declared. “Is this your girlfriend?”
“For the past five months. I’m Audra.”
“Lara. I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
The two women exchanged looks of complete understanding. They knew where the blame needed to go. Although they were opposites on the outside—Lara’s tiny dark beauty contrasted with Audra’s tall, blonde Amazonian shtick—they were completely sympatico in that moment.
“I’m sorry I called you a hussy,” Audra said. “Of course this cockwaffle didn’t tell you he was taken. He was too busy thinking with his tiny penis.”
Both women glared at him, and the tiny penis in question (which actually wasn’t that tiny, but Audra wasn’t exactly feeling charitable at the moment) shriveled beneath their angry looks. Chad leaned down as if to pick his pants up off the floor, but Lara’s bare foot slammed down on them before he could get to them.
“Nuh uh,” she said, shaking her head. “You lied to me. I’m sick of boy-men thinking that it’s acceptable to lie to get into my pants.”
“You tell him,” said Audra.
This was so much better than anything she’d pictured while she was driving to the shop. She’d imagined stalking in here and giving some kind of speech that would make him wish he’d never been born, but what exactly could she have said? Look at what you’re missing, knowing full well that he’d had it and found it somehow lacking? You hurt my feelings, knowing that he really hadn’t cared about them from the start? But watching Lara dig into him made her feel a little less alone. They’d both deserved better treatment than this.
Chad, for his part, seemed to think they were being unreasonable. He rolled his eyes. Audra felt a wave of sheepishness pass over her. Maybe Lara had been taken in by Chad’s charm for the evening, bu
t she’d been taken in by him for months. And why? Because he was good in bed, and because she liked being a part of a couple. She liked having someone to go out with, or to bring her soup when she was sick. She didn’t like being alone. Failed relationship after failed relationship had ground her down, and she’d set the bar too low. She’d wanted it to work after so many failures. But she was beginning to think that was never going to happen.
“Look,” he said, his eyes darting from Lara to Audra and back again. He seemed to realize that Audra was done with him, and his eyes settled on Lara. “I was going to break up with Audra tomorrow. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you the truth, but I really felt a connection with you, and I didn’t want to lose out on the opportunity. You’re so amazing that I couldn’t risk someone else sweeping you up. I couldn’t wait, even for an hour. You understand that, don’t you, baby?”
“What I understand,” said Lara coldly, “is that you lied to get into my pants. If you’d really been interested in me, you could have told me how you felt and asked to take me out after you talked with Audra. You could have called her on the spot and broke it off before you stuck your penis in me. But you did neither of those things, which suggests that you’re only trying to cover your ass now. And since you got into my pants under false pretenses, I claim yours. It’s only fair. Pants for pants.”
“I bought you that underwear,” added Audra. “I want it back.”
Chad looked from one implacable face to another. Then he grinned. “You want me to go outside in just my shirt? Bare assed?”
“You can have your shoes too,” said Audra. “I didn’t buy them.”
He ran one hand over himself, like this was a sexy game and maybe they were kidding about being angry, and that threesome thing might still be on the table. Or on Audra’s desk. But neither she nor Lara relented. After a moment, he sighed.
“Fine, but my car keys are in my pants pockets,” he said.
Lara looked at Audra, and after a moment’s wordless communication, she nodded. She fished out his wallet first, and tossed it to him. But then, once she found the key ring, Audra stopped her.
“Wait just a moment. I’d like to take my keys back first,” she said, holding out a hand.
“Of course,” said Lara.
She handed them over, perfectly poised. Like she wasn’t standing naked in a room with a woman she’d only just met and the cheater they’d both just rejected. Of course, with a body like hers, she didn’t have anything to be embarrassed about, but still. Audra had a banging body too, but she felt fairly sure that she would have been more than a little self-conscious if the roles had been reversed.
It took Audra a moment to remove the keys, but finally she tossed the ring to Chad. He looked down at it for a moment and then frowned.
“You took the pawn shop keys too,” he said. “I need those if I’m going to open tomorrow.”
“Are you kidding?” asked Audra. “You think I’d trust you with my business after this? You’re fired.”
Now his face began to go purple, and he blustered for a moment before finally forming some coherent words.
“You…you can’t do that! You have no cause to fire me. Just because you’re a cold assed bitch and didn’t meet my needs is no reason to fire me. I’m going to take you for every penny you’ve got. Just wait until I call my lawyer,” he declared, sounding very satisfied with himself.
Before Audra could put together a coherent reply, Lara snorted. “Good luck with that. She owns this place, yeah? I’m assuming your claim that this was your shop was another of your lies. And you let me, a complete stranger, into her place of business after hours? And then put this necklace on me. How much is this necklace worth, do you think?”
“About twenty thousand dollars,” said Audra evenly.
Lara carefully unfastened the clasp, handling the valuable piece with reverence. “It’s gorgeous. And while I was happy to wear it when I thought Chad was the owner, it’s not quite the same when he’s not.”
“No kidding.” Audra got the velvet tray that was supposed to house the necklace and held it out. Lara carefully put the jewelry back where she’d gotten it, and they nodded to each other.
“I suppose I should put some clothes on,” said Lara, looking down at herself. “And then you want to get something to eat? My favorite restaurant is just down the block. They have the best pancakes in the world.”
“Tilly’s? I love that place.”
Chad made a disgusted noise. “So that’s it? Now you two are besties, and I’m fired and short a pair of pants.”
“Think of it this way,” said Audra. “It’ll make it much easier the next time you decide to lie to someone and stick your dick in them. You won’t even have to de-pants first.”
“Very nice,” said Lara. “I like how you think.”
“Why thank you.”
“And I think I want you to put that necklace away for me. I’ll come in tomorrow to pay for it.”
“It really suits you,” said Audra, laying it on thick. The nicer they were to each other, the more disgusted Chad looked.
“This is fucking ridiculous,” he said.
“No,” said Audra. “That’s just you.”
Chapter 2
Darius Carson watched the couple walk by his job site. They looked happy. Hands in each other’s back jean pockets. Shoulder to shoulder. Big cheesy grins on their faces as they gazed into each other’s eyes. It looked like a Hallmark commercial. Darius half expected one of them to trip, or accidentally walk out into traffic, or something like that. But it didn’t happen.
If he was going to be honest, he envied them. He’d struck out, dating-wise. It seemed like most of the women he met in Vegas were only looking for flings or boy toys. They wanted nightlife and glitz, while he was holding out for the kind of woman who’d be happy watching reality TV and ordering pizza while they vegged out in sweats. He didn’t mind a nice night out every once in a while, but constant clubbing made it impossible to get to know the other person. You couldn’t have a decent conversation shouting over the music, and trying to do so always gave him a headache. So while he would have liked to walk down the street with his hand in his woman’s back pocket, it looked like that wasn’t going to happen.
Besides, at six-seven, perhaps his height was prohibitive to the whole pocket-sharing endeavor. The dude he was watching was maybe an inch taller than his woman. He was lucky to find a woman who reached his shoulder. Most of his past girlfriends had been more along the lines of nipple height. Which was an odd way to measure prospective mates, now that he thought about it.
“Darius…? Earth to Darius!”
He blinked, brought back to the present by the insistent voice of his best friend and site manager Rebecca Augustin. She had a whiskey-deep voice and copper curls, and like most of his exes, she was also nipple height on him. Now that he’d come up with that unit of measurement, it was going to be difficult to shake. But unlike his ex-girlfriends, there had never been that kind of tension between him and Rebecca. Their mothers had been best friends, way back in the day. She felt like a sister more than anything, and putting a move on her would have been more awkward than telling her that he was now mentally measuring everyone based on the height of his nipples.
“Sorry,” he said sheepishly. “I was daydreaming. What did you say?”
“Oh, it’s fine. I’m used to you not listening to me after all this time,” she teased.
He punched her lightly on the shoulder. As a big man, he always tried to stay conscious of how much he outweighed most people. He moved with the kind of extreme caution that one develops when they shoot up a foot in the summer before seventh grade. It had been an awkward year, always running into things and accidentally hurting people when he’d only been trying to play around. His boosted shifter strength only made things worse. He’d worked very hard back then to develop control over his muscles and over his shifts. Darius Carson might have a lot of faults, but he would not hurt anyone by accident.
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Of course, one of the things he liked most about Rebecca was that he didn’t have to hold back quite so much. She’d always been tough. Although she wasn’t particularly tall, years of working on construction sites had built up her musculature, already developed from years of roughhousing around with her best friend Darius. And although she wasn’t a full blown shifter, she was shifterkin. That meant she was stronger than the average woman by far, and healthier too. So Darius didn’t have to hold back as much as he did, but it was better to maintain a level of restraint at all times. When he didn’t, people tended to get hurt.
So when she made a show of rubbing her shoulder and pantomiming pain, he knew it was all just an act. “Wimp,” he rumbled.
“Bully,” she shot back.
“What are you interrupting my deep thoughts for anyway?” he asked. “I am the brains behind this operation, you know, and brains need their thinking time.”
“And here I thought you were just staring at that blonde who walked past.”
“Was not.” He shrugged. “I mean, not her in particular. I was just looking at the sidewalk. It seems wider than it looked on paper, and I’m wondering if it’s going to cause problems.”
“I’ll have someone measure it out,” she said promptly. “But in the meantime, I’ve got something you should look at.”
He went instantly on alert. This project had been plagued by issues from the start. The multi-millionaire who bought the property had bought in early, and his plans for the home had required the development of infrastructure that simply hadn’t existed in what passed for the neighborhood so far. It had all been handled, but there had been problems with laying the water lines, and then issues with zoning, and then one of the cranes they’d rented had broken down and needed replacing, and then the ground where the resort-style pool would end up going had turned out to contain a large and unexpected layer of rock-hard clay. He’d never seen anything like it in the middle of the desert before, but it persisted in existing anyway.
The Supernaturals of Las Vegas Books 1-4 Page 33