Flamingo Fugitive (Supernatural Bounty Hunters 5)

by E A Price

  Michael didn’t seem to care. “As long as she’s gone, that’s all I care about.”

  “Yes, so why exactly did you want her dead?”

  He snorted. “You’re not going to trick me into saying anything. You’re probably wearing a wire.”

  “No, I’m not,” she denied, hotly. She really wasn’t. That might have been a good idea – but she was coming to realize that she didn’t have good ideas.

  “Prove it,” he smirked.

  Wh… what?” Her flamingo snorted in disgust.

  “Take your shirt off,” he ordered, slowly.

  Instinctively, she covered her breasts with her arms. Her bird wailed in fury. “I’m not doing that.”

  He dragged his blazing eyes over her figure, and she felt infinitely dirty. “Maybe we should finish what we started back at my house.”

  “Me stabbing you?” snapped Francine.

  He took a step closer to her, a lascivious look crossing his features. This wasn’t going well. “Come on now. You do want me to drop the charges, don’t you?”

  “But… but… I already killed someone for you!”

  Michael raised an eyebrow. “You really expect me to believe that you, a dumb flamingo could kill her? The only way you got her hair is by her giving it to you.” He threw up his arms and walked around. “You can come out, Opaline. I know you’re out there.”

  There was a soft curse from a nearby tree, and Opaline materialized. She shrugged a thin shoulder. “Worth a try.”

  “He sort of admitted it,” said Francine.

  Michael was about to say something when the words caught in his throat. He’d noticed Stone appearing. The sight of a six foot eight rhino shifter looming over you out of the darkness was anything but relaxing. He grabbed Francine and put her between him and Stone.

  “Who the fuck is that?” he hissed.

  “My boyfriend,” she spat, trying to jerk out of his hands. His punishing grip was digging into her flesh.

  “Let go of her,” ordered Stone.

  Michael was clearly suicidal because he shouted, “Or else what?”

  Stone smiled mirthlessly and cracked his huge knuckles. The sound seemed to echo.

  “Now what, numbnuts?” sneered Opaline as Francine jiggled in his arms.

  Michael gulped as he looked at Stone, who was looking increasingly agitated, and Opaline, who just looked bored. He then yelped as Francine bit him and stood on his foot. Finally, his gaze rested on Opaline. “How much do you want in return for some more luck?”

  “Oh no, it’s too late for that. You got that bird to try and kill me. We’re not negotiating.”

  “Let her go,” snarled Stone.

  “Stone, call the cops,” said Francine, desperately trying to keep her panicking bird under control.

  “Don’t bother, Stone,” commanded Michael. “Technically I haven’t done anything wrong. You have no evidence against me. And do you really think they’ll take the word of the woman who attacked me and her boyfriend? I’ll say you kidnapped me and tried to torture me into dropping the court case against her.”

  “But, Opaline…” started Francine.

  The witch actually looked a little abashed. “I can’t. If I got involved in a police case, the Council would know what I had done, and believe me, the consequences for all of us would be much worse than anything the justice system can dole out.”

  Michael laughed his hyena laugh, and Francine whimpered as he pulled on her arm.

  “Let her go!” howled Stone. The words were a little muffled as his rhino pushed forward, and he shifted. The rhino grunted and pawed at the ground, readying to charge.

  “Try it and I’ll snap her neck,” warned Michael. “Doubt she’ll be able to heal that.”

  The rhino didn’t look like he was going to stop. He grunted and growled, and Michael screamed and whined as his own beast tried to push forward.

  And then… a lot of things seemed to happen at once.

  Michael pulled out a gun and aimed it at Stone.

  Francine shifted to her bird and tried to flap her way into the path of the gun.

  The rhino roared and charged as the gun went off.

  And strangely enough, a mountain lion leaped onto Michael and tried to maul him.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  It took some explaining when the cops arrived, but finally the charges were dropped against Francine, and she was allowed to go home.

  Essentially, Michael admitted to everything. He did so on the proviso that the crazy mountain lioness – also known as Caitlyn – stayed the hell away from him. He told the cops that he had lied about Francine trying to kill him and definitely didn’t want to press charges for the damage done to his car. He even admitted to trying to blackmail Francine into killing someone. And then for trying to shoot Stone. He was currently under arrest for… various things. Detective Leeman was piling as many charges as he could on the hyena.

  Opaline was nowhere to be found. She disappeared after Caitlyn struck. That wasn't such a surprise, although his rhino was pissed about it. He wanted the bitch to stick around and get her due reward. As far as he was concerned, this was all her fault. If she hadn't been so greedy and meddled with Michael's life, none of this would have happened. Hopefully, the Witches Council would see to a little payback.

  Michael had tried to shift when Caitlyn leaped on him, but he didn’t quite make it. He was currently stuck between his two forms. He was sporting one hyena ear and tufts of fur all over his body. Along with his gouges and wounds, it really wasn’t a pretty sight. He was taken to hospital where horrified doctors were trying to figure out what they could do for him.

  As for Francine, much to Stone’s displeasure she had been shot. Well, not technically shot, the bullet grazed her arm, and she was left with a small, stinging cut. It was virtually the end of the world for Stone, but Francine shook it off and said she was fine. He was furious with her for putting herself in danger, and putting herself between him and the gun. But she told him, simply and quietly, that she didn’t want anything to happen to him, and she would do it again and again and again – if she had to. His rhino virtually melted.

  She was about to say something else – he suspected she was about to divulge the L word when a paramedic approached them. Stone roared so loud he was pretty sure the whole park heard him. But he came to his senses – his flamingo needed patching up for her enormous injury. After the paramedic calmed down, and after Stone promised to keep away, the cut was cleaned, and she was given a band-aid. Plus, Stone also kissed it better – she said that was the only thing that made her feel better.

  As for Caitlyn… Stone, at Francine’s insistence, pulled her away from Michael mid-mauling. Stone was all for letting Caitlyn get on with it, but Francine seemed to have an issue with violence. And he wasn’t about to let his pretty flamingo get upset – even if the dickhead deserved a good thrashing from a crazy lioness. Even his rhino didn’t argue; they had to keep their mate happy.

  There - he said it. Well, thought it. Francine was his mate. He should have realized it when he went crazy over just her scent. It shouldn’t have taken her almost getting shot for him to see what was right in front of him. But he was the first to admit, he wasn’t quick on the uptake.

  But she was his, and no matter how many times she kneed him in his junk – he wasn’t letting her get away.

  After shifting back to her human form, and seeing him fawning over Francine, Caitlyn declared that there was no way they could get married now – she wasn’t willing to share him. That suited Stone just fine. While Stone was verging on grateful to Caitlyn for showing up and putting the bastard Michael down, he wanted her out of his life before she changed her mind. She was a dangerous lioness, and he didn’t want her anywhere near Francine.

  When Detective Leeman took Caitlyn away, Stone suggested that he get her checked out by psychiatrists – pronto. Hopefully, she’d get the help she needed.

  He took Francine home, and when she declared
that she was hungry, he ran out to buy as much food as he could. His mate was not going to go hungry during her week of bed rest. The paramedic suggested that she take it easy for the rest of the day. Stone interpreted these instructions differently to Francine.

  At the grocery store, he grabbed just about everything he could carry. It occurred to him that he didn’t actually know what she liked to eat, so he decided on a variety of different foods. He looked forward to finding out what she did like.

  As he returned to her apartment, he noticed that her neighbor appeared to be having a party. It was spilling out into the hallway. Stone slowed his stride as his eyes roved over the men who he considered to be unwashed hippies. Ugh. He shuddered, and his rhino snorted. He was getting Francine out of this building as soon as possible. He would have take her back to his place, but he already decided he wanted to move to a new place - somewhere Caitlyn hadn’t been.

  The men looked a little wary of his approach and tried not to sway so much. But one of them smiled at him. “Hey, you’re Francine’s guy. Hey, everyone, it’s Francine’s guy.” They all let out sighs and relaxed.

  Stone grunted. “Keep the music down, Francine’s trying to rest.”

  “Oh, I feel fine.” Francine came fluttering out of her own apartment in a pair of blue pajamas that hung from her curves very prettily. “I heard you from my apartment.”

  He grinned at her. She looked fine. But then he scowled. First of all, even if she felt fine, she still needed bed rest. Second of all, no other men should see her in her nightwear.

  “You need to go back to bed,” he rumbled, eyeing the other males with a dangerous amount of hostility.

  She giggled and flounced back to her apartment. His rhino sighed. Damn, she was lovely.

  One of the hippies – a camel shifter – put a hand on his shoulder. Stone growled but the camel seemed unperturbed. “Treat her well,” he said.

  Stone stared at him for a few moments. His rhino pushed for thumping the dumb camel, but Stone held back. Francine would disapprove. It was on the tip of his tongue to ask whether the camel and Francine… But no, he held back. He really didn’t want to know. Francine was his. Anyone that came before him didn’t matter. He was actually a little proud of his attitude, although, if he caught that damn camel giving Francine anything as flagrant as a smile, he wouldn’t be responsible for his actions.

  He gave the camel a half-nod and followed Francine. She pawed through the bags of groceries before deciding on pop tarts, a bag of tortillas and chocolate covered marshmallows.

  He gave her a look of mock disapproval. “That’s not very healthy.”

  “Get used to it,” she said through a mouthful of tortillas. She swallowed and beamed. “If you’re going to be my boyfriend, you’re going to have to put up with this.”

  “I guess since I’m going to be your mate,” he corrected, with the full approval of his beast, “I will.”

  Francine dropped the tortillas and looked at him. “You want to be my mate?”

  “Naw.”

  She squawked at him, and he chuckled before pulling her into his arms. “Feathers, I already am your mate. I was a goner the moment you came to the gym. I’m yours, and there’s really no help for me now.”

  “Oh!” she whimpered, as he pressed kisses over her neck. His rhino took this as a ‘yes, I can’t wait until we bond as mates, Stone’.

  “Just so you know, I don’t cook,” she panted as his fingers started grasping at her top.

  “Me neither.” Frustrated by the tiny buttons he ripped the garment off and feasted on the sight of her naked breasts with a triumphant look.

  “And I sometimes keep weird hours,” she squeaked as his massive hands kneaded her orbs.

  “Me too, we’ll work around that.” His hands slid down to her bottoms.

  “I don’t make much money, and I spend it all on clothes.” His hands cupped her ass.

  Stone pulled his shirt over his head and kicked off his shoes. “I’ll buy you all the clothes you need, feathers… although, you won’t need any at home anymore.” He waggled his eyebrows as his rhino nodded in agreement.

  “And I…”

  He grabbed her and pulled her into a hard, long kiss. He stroked her hair and groaned as she pulled away and nestled against him, almost purring like a kitten. “Feathers, there’s nothing you can say or do to get rid of me – you’re perfect just the way you are.” He paused. “Although I do have one thing and it is a deal breaker.”

  Francine pulled back and raised her eyebrow. She gave him a suspicious look that faltered, slightly as he removed his pants. “Oh?”

  “You have got to move out of this apartment.”

  She sniggered in relief. “What’s the matter? Don’t you like my neighbors?”

  Stone considered the camel. “Not even a little.”

  “Where would I stay?” she asked in a husky voice. She traced a finger down his chest and ghosted over his straining manhood.

  “I figure we’ll get a place together.”

  “Hmmm, our own little love nest.”

  “Yeah,” he grunted as he toppled them onto the bed. They kissed and rubbed against each other. His cock pressed into her thigh as he cupped her breasts, lightly pinching her nipples. “How do flamingos bond with their mates?” His lips descended on one of her breasts, sucking it into his mouth as she shivered in pleasure.

  “We, ah, oh, yes!” She clutched his head to her. “We have a ceremony. It has to be on a full moon; we chant, and we build a nest and… it’s kind of complicated. It’s why so few flamingos mate bond. We envy the predators – all they have to do is bite each other.”

  Stone chuckled around her breast and let go of it with a wet pop. “Rhinos have a ceremony, too. Sort of. We have to chase each other around, and then we wrestle, and then we mate – it’s more the intention behind the mating for us.”

  Her lips quirked. “Wrestle?”

  “Yeah, bonding between rhinos gets pretty rough. A friend of mine ended up in plaster after his mate broke his leg.”

  “Yeah?” Francine nipped his collarbone, sending tingles straight to his straining member. “Well, I promise to be gentle.”

  Stone growled and guided his hard length to her sex. He rubbed against her entrance, letting her juices flow over him. He pushed inside, gently giving her time to open to his invasion. He moaned as she accepted him to the hilt. Her body rippled around him as he peppered kisses over her neck.

  He began sliding in and out of her, snarling, softly as she swallowed his length over and over. Francine smiled, disarmingly before rolling her hips and swinging him round, so she was on top, riding him.

  She gave him a triumphant grin as she rocked against him. His rhino roared in happiness as Stone was momentarily stunned. It didn’t last long. He hooted in laughter, enjoying the view of her breasts bouncing and eagerly gripped her hips. He forcefully thrust into her body, arching his back and reaching her so, so deep.

  Francine rhythmically lifted herself up and down his body, squeaking with every plunge down his body, whimpering as her nub grazed against him. Stone leaned up and caught one of her breasts in his mouth.

  She crooned his name and sped up her movements, clutching at his chest, grinding herself on his manhood and riding him to completion. She was almost frantic and when he caught her nipple between his teeth, the slight pinch of pain pushed her over the edge.

  Francine gasped, and Stone relished in that cute little sound as she tensed and clenched around him. Stone wasn’t nearly so demure. He roared and howled like a wild animal as he exploded in climax. His rhino bellowed in the satisfaction of being with his mate, of making her come, of making her gasp in pleasure…

  She collapsed on his chest as her inner muscles continued to massage his manhood. “Love you,” she whispered into his chest.

  His rhino puffed up in pride. “Love you, too.”

  Chapter Thirty

  Stone clutched at the bouquet of daisies. They were Francine’
s favorite flower. Her favorite color was blue – naturally. She liked chocolate nougat, noodles, and peach ice tea. He virtually knew her inside out. They had been living together for a couple of months – best two months of his life. With some help from his dad, they actually managed to buy a house… well, sort of. They actually just took over the mortgage on Magda’s house, since she and her brood had relocated to his dad’s house. His dad suggested it because he wanted them to spend more time together as a family. Plus, it also meant they were on hand as babysitters for Stone’s new step-siblings. Six young hippos were quite a handful.

  He and Francine had performed the mating rituals of both their species. They were quite fun. In particular, they had both enjoyed the chasing and wrestling part of the rhino ceremony.

  Money was tight for them, but they managed. Francine curbed some of her wilder spending habits and started couponing and thrift shopping with Magda – the queen of making a little amount of money stretch far and wide. Francine had even managed to get her friend Felicia hooked on couponing. The other flamingo now had enough cans of tuna stored in her basement to feed her family for two years. She had to buy it – it was half off!

  They didn’t go out much – what with their limited finances. But that was fine with them. Stone much preferred to stay at home with his pretty birdy and watch a movie. Alien Zombies from Outer Space was fast becoming his favorite movie of all time.

  After the charges were dropped, Francine soon found a role in a stage production of Frozen. She said it was by the same director who did Beauty and the Beast, and she was thrilled to work with him again. Tonight was opening night, and Francine was killing it as Anna. His rhino rumbled in agreement. Everyone else on stage paled in comparison to her. He had his daisies ready to give her and let her know she was the most amazing flamingo in the world.

  He shuffled in his seat, impatiently, and his rhino grumbled. Francine wasn’t on stage – it was completely boring when she wasn’t on stage. Hopefully, she’d be back soon.