by T. S. Joyce
“Where are you going?” Nox asked, blood streaming from his nose.
“Uh, I just remembered I already have dinner plans.”
Vyr narrowed his eyes, but now they were terrifying. They were churning silver with elongated pupils. Dragon, dragon, dragon, shit, shit, shit.
Pain behind her eyes nearly blinded her, and she doubled over.
“Whoa,” Vyr said. “What do we have here? Wildcat, indeed. Pretty kitty. Bad kitty. What got you into stripping?” He was approaching slowly, hunting her, stalking her. Candace’s back hit the door. She’d convinced herself over the last few days that she wasn’t scared of anything, but in this moment, she knew she’d been wrong to be so careless. To think she was safe from anything.
“Stop,” she pleaded.
“You haven’t done this long. Not long enough to smell sad yet, huh, pretty kitty? Two years.” Vyr angled his head from side to side, keeping her trapped in his gaze. The pain was so bad in her head she went to her knees.
“Stop,” Torren rumbled.
“Dead.”
“Please stop,” she begged, her eyes burning with tears.
“Your dad.”
A sob wrenched from her. Dad. Dad, Dad, Dad, I miss you, Dad.
Torren blasted Vyr across the face with a closed fist, and the pain faded instantly as the gorilla shifter picked him up by the shirt and ran him into the wall. He slammed the dragon shifter against it so hard the wood splintered around his body.
“You want to die?” Vyr yelled.
“Do you? You’re being a dick. She’s crying, man. Save your evil bullshit for someone who deserves it. Stay out of her fuckin’ head!”
Tears streaming down her face, Candace stumbled upward and yanked open the door. She fled down the stairs and to her car as fast as she could. Vyr was a monster. The Red Dragon could read minds. He could pull her memories right from her. And without her consent.
She slipped on the way to her car, almost fell, but righted herself and pulled open the door. Crying so hard, she jammed her key into the ignition with shaking hands and turned it over. Nothing. Shit! She tried again and again and again. Of course, her car would break down now when she needed a quick getaway.
Of course!
This was so perfect. The perfect comment on her life. Anytime she needed anything, actually needed something, everything fell apart even worse.
She rested her forehead against the steering wheel and wrapped her arms around her stomach. And then she just…broke down.
The door opened, and the car rocked with a great weight as someone sat in the passenger’s seat. She didn’t even care if Vyr was here to finish her off. “If you’re going to eat me, make it fast,” she said with a pathetic sniffle.
“Eating out girls isn’t as fun when they’re crying. Or so I assume,” Torren said.
Relief flooded her body, and she sagged against the wheel. Rolling her head, she angled her face to him.
“Your make-up is shot, woman. You look like a raccoon.” Torren was squished into the passenger’s seat of her tiny Volvo, and his knees were nearly up to his chest.
“Well, you look like you’re in a clown car.”
He stared at her blankly for a three-count, but then his lips curved up into a smile. He chuckled.
Which made her giggle.
His chuckle got a little louder.
And she laughed.
“God,” he muttered, running his hand through his dark hair and shaking his head at whatever he was staring at out the window.
When she followed his gaze, Nox was pelvic thrusting against the big picture window of the mansion.
Torren sighed. “Are you okay?”
“No. My life is circling the toilet, and I came to see about having sex with a man for money. And then I met the Red Dragon and he took memories from me. I feel violated.”
“Yeah, he shouldn’t have done that. He forgets sometimes.”
“Forgets what?”
Torren arched his blazing bright green gaze to hers. “He forgets to feel. He’s cold. It wasn’t always like that, but he’s complicated.”
“Um…thank you.”
“For what?”
“For making him stop. That was a huge risk you took.” She gripped the wheel and stared out at the snowflakes that had slowly started falling. The idea of how powerful all three men were was intimidating. “Because he blew a fireball. In his human form. That’s fucked up.”
“You have a filthy mouth.”
“It’s not going to change with you complaining.”
“Didn’t say I was complaining. Were you really going to sleep with me for money?”
“Maybe. I don’t know. I had a plan.”
“Tell me the plan.”
She frowned at the sexy stranger beside her. “Okay. I wasn’t just going to jump into bed with you. I was going to negotiate. I was going to make you take me out on dates. At least three so we could see if we could be friends with…you know.”
“Benefits?”
“Yeah. Um…I’m a tiger.”
“In the sack?” he asked with a hopeful tone to his voice.
“No,” she said with a giggle. “I mean I’m a tiger shifter. Not a pretty white one, though. I’m an orange one. My stripes are thin so I look solid orange from a distance other than my white points. I look like my dad. He was mostly orange, too. My mom was a white tiger, but I don’t remember her much. She left when I was three, so it was just me and my dad. I always liked looking like him and not her.” She shook her head and laughed nervously. “I don’t know why I just told you that.”
“He died?”
She bit her bottom lip and nodded. “Last year. Still feels new sometimes, though.”
“Pretty kitty. Broken kitty.”
“Not broken. You just met me during a hard chapter of my story.”
Torren smiled sadly. “Same.”
“At least you have a crew,” she said, because positivity had always been her thing. Look for the bright sides. There was always at least one.
“You’re alone?”
She nodded. “It was part of the appeal of trying to be your friend.”
“With benefits.”
“Yeah. That was just a bonus. You’re kind of hot.”
Torren looked surprised and then belted out a single laugh. Was he blushing now? She definitely was.
“I got a problem with my animal, but sex won’t fix me. Nox shouldn’t have asked you. Nothing is gonna fix me.”
“Because you’re HavoK?”
He jerked his gaze to hers. “You researched me?”
“Hell, yeah. I want to know the type of man I’m prostituting myself for.” She cracked a smile so he would know she was joking, but he only frowned deeper.
“You would hate being friends with me, and I would terrorize you in the bedroom. I’m not a man you want to make a deal with. But your car probably has a dozen things that need to be worked on, it’s cold, and Vyr has the burgers on the grill by now. This ain’t a date because, trust me when I say, you don’t want that with me. But how about you spend the evening with a few fuck-ups and the Red Dragon?”
“Will Vyr hurt me?”
Torren shook his head somberly. “I won’t let him.” Torren shoved open his door with a creeeaaak and got out. Then he strode around the front of her car, pulled open her door, and offered his hand. “I promise you, Wildcat. You’re safe.”
You’re safe. That was the best combination of words in the whole wide world. And she’d listened to his voice when he uttered them. He’d been telling the truth. She was safe with him. He was a beast and could be swift with violence as she’d seen when he’d fought Nox and Vyr. But with her? He was being careful. He was being gentle. He would make sure she survived the night.
And she trusted him—this stranger. He’d gone after the Red Dragon to keep him out of her head. He’d earned that trust in just seconds.
“What do you say? You want to have a non-date with me? You want to pre
tend to be friends without benefits just for the night?”
She slid her hand against Torren’s palm and allowed him to help her out of her car. “Yeah. That sounds like just the kind of adventure I was looking for.”
Chapter Five
“Your swan looks cold,” Candace pointed out.
“Not my swan,” Torren said, leading the way around the half-frozen pond toward a glass-encased patio off the back of the mansion.
“Nox’s?”
“Nox is going to eat it at some point. Nevada and I have bets going on how long Mr. Diddles will last.”
Candace giggled. “You named him Mr. Diddles?”
“His name was supposed to be Fergus or some fancy-schmancy name like that, but Nox saw him humping that duck statue over there on the edge of the pond and re-named him. That idiot came in and ruined everything. Vyr is going to burn him at some point. Nevada and I have bets on that, too.”
Candace gulped and jogged to catch up with Torren’s long strides, her boots crunching in the snow. “Does Vyr eat a lot of people?”
“Yep. And don’t worry about the swan. I rigged him up a house with a heater.” Torren pointed to a tiny replica of the mansion with an opening and an orange glowing light emanating from within. “The fucker is just too dumb to stay in it for more than thirty minutes at a time. I think it likes the cold.
Mr. Diddles was watching them ghost the edge of his pond with one suspicious, beady eye. Candace didn’t like birds that much, but maybe it was the tiger in her. “You built that swan house?”
“Mmm hmm.”
“Okay, that’s extra sexy-points because a handyman is a sexy man.”
Torren came to an abrupt stop and turned to her, his head cocked. “Really?”
“Umm, yes. I can barely put together a bookshelf that is mostly assembled and includes directions. I’m not mechanically minded at all.” She came to a stop beside him and looked up. “Where did you learn how to build something like that? It’s beautiful. And thoughtful.”
“Not thoughtful. Vyr loves that stupid oversized goose, and if he dies, Vyr will Change and burn everything to the ground and get us all arrested and probably eat like…half the town. I probably should’ve said that last part first because it’s the most important part, but…you know…I don’t want to go to shifter prison if I can avoid it.” He cracked a stunning smile. “I hear the food there sucks.”
“No bananas?” she teased.
“Oh, she’s got monkey jokes.”
After Candace curtsied magnanimously, Torren did something that shocked her. He ruffled her hair and shoved her gently. “You’re gonna be annoying. I can already tell.” He sauntered away, but the way he’d said it made her smile. There was affection in his voice. Or amusement perhaps. And when he turned and flashed her a smile over his shoulder, something electric snapped inside of her and made her gasp.
Torren walked backward and dragged his flirty gaze down and then up her body again. “You coming?”
“Only if you make me.”
“Make you come?” he asked, his smile growing brighter and eyes churning with naughtiness. “I’d wreck you for everyone else. You don’t want that, Wildcat. You want to be able to settle with mediocre sex someday.”
“Cocky,” she accused, following him step-for-step.
Torren glanced down at his crotch and gave a nod. “Yep. Big cocky.”
“You’re gonna be really annoying,” she said, stealing his words. “I can already tell.” Candace bent down and scooped up a handful of snow, shaped it into a ball, and chucked it at him.
Torren ducked it easily. “You throw like a stripper.”
“Oh, my gosh, how many times are you going to bring that up?”
Torren bent easily and scooped snow in his giant hand, then packed a giant snowball. “At least a dozen times a day. That’s how I plan to chase you off, don’t you know? Shame you for your shameful profession.”
“You’re being mean,” she said, jumping out of the way of his snowball.
“Haven’t you heard about silverbacks? We’re the worst.”
“All of you are assholes?”
“Every last one.”
“Even Kong?”
Torren stopped walking backward and frowned. “My dad’s the only good silverback.”
Candace smiled sadly and admitted, “Sometimes I think my dad was the only good tiger.”
They stood there looking at each other, neither one saying what they’d just admitted. Each had told the other they weren’t good. That the good in their family had stopped with their fathers.
Torren straightened his spine and inhaled deeply. “Smells like dinner is on. What do you drink? We have cheap beer or tap water.”
“No fancy wine in the mansion?” she asked.
Torren’s lip twitched, but not in amusement. It wasn’t a smile. “Look around the house when you go inside. Really look. We aren’t living fancy here, Wildcat.” Torren dropped his gaze to the snow, then back to her for just a moment before he spun and strode toward the enclosed back porch.
Huh. Candace followed and opened the door that had banged closed behind him. And then she did as he asked. She really looked around. The porch was much warmer, protected from the breeze by windowed walls, but the table was nothing more than a cheap, fold-out card table that sat six. The chairs were mismatched plastic ones and two had duct tape on the legs. A blue cooler that was old and scratched sat by a charcoal grill that probably cost thirty bucks at the general store. Vyr and Nox were pulling burgers off and Nevada was setting out a tray of tomatoes, pickles, and lettuce. There were heaters above attached at each corner, but none were turned on and everyone was wearing their jackets.
“Can I help?” she asked Nevada.
“Yeah, you wanna grab napkins and a knife for the mustard?” she muttered as she began opening the condiments on the table. “Oh! And grab the strawberries?”
“Sure,” Candace murmured, making her way inside. She could see the great room from here and really took it in. The couch and loveseat were red and brown and didn’t match. They were made of tattered, old leather with rips on some of the seats. The end tables looked like they came from thrift stores, and there was nothing decorating the walls or the mantle over the stone hearth. The kitchen was beautiful with polished granite countertops and hand-scraped wooden cabinets. But when she opened the cupboard near the fridge, it had plastic cups from barbecue restaurants and paper plates.
“See?” Torren asked from right behind her.
It should’ve startled her, how quiet he could sneak up on her, but for some reason she didn’t even jump. Her body reacted differently to the sound of his deep, snarly voice. It sent a hard shiver up her spine, and she didn’t turn around.
“I like that reaction. I like that I can make you tremble,” he said, even closer to her.
His warmth radiated onto her back, and when he brushed her arm with the tips of his fingers, she automatically exhaled and melted backward against his solid stone chest. It was like resting against a wall, but one that made her feel safe somehow.
A deep, satisfied rumble rattled from his chest against her shoulder blades.
“You said you would ruin me for other men,” she whispered, her eyes closed so she could feel his fingertips running through her hair. “What if I’m already ruined?”
“What are you doing?” he asked, his voice nearly inhuman. “You’re calling the animal. It’s a dangerous game you’re playing.”
She responded with a purr and arched her back, pressing her backside against his erection. Big boy. His hand gripped her hip to keep her in place, and his other hand tightened in her hair and pulled her head back, exposing her neck.
“You would be so easy to hurt,” he whispered.
When Torren sucked hard on her neck, Candace moaned, completely lost in the moment. She reached behind her and gripped the leg of his jeans, begging him to come closer. And he did. He shoved her against the counter and ground his erection agai
nst her ass so hard, she thirsted for him. Rough silverback, he would make her feel good and forget about the bad parts of her life for a little while. He could offer her a beautiful escape.
He moved faster, grinding on her through their clothes, and when he slid his fingers through hers and pinned her hand onto the counter, she wanted to beg him to take her somewhere private so he could finish them both.
But he backed off of her so fast, she startled. One second he was there with her, connecting, touching her, warming her, and the next…he was across the kitchen, grabbing two glasses of water off the counter. Without a single look back at her, he disappeared down the short hallway to the back porch. The door slammed so hard she jumped.
What the ever-lovin’ hell just happened?
Her body was still on fire from his touch and, dumbly, she tried to recall what Nevada had asked her to get. Plates? Okay. Mayo? Yes. Good, she wasn’t completely useless right now.
But when she stumbled out onto the porch, Nevada frowned at the plates and murmured, “Strawberries, napkins, and a knife. That’s not even close.” And then she arched her gaze over to Torren, who was shoving himself into the small space between Vyr and Nox.
“Sorry,” Candace murmured. She spun around and made her way back into the kitchen, gathered the stuff she was supposed to bring, and hurried back outside.
The others were already seated, and the only empty chair was one next to Nevada with silver duct tape on the leg. Torren was squished between Nox and Vyr, and both of them were giving him matching what-the-fuck looks.
Dumb boy. He was making Candace feel like she had cooties. It’s not like she needed to sit by him anyway, especially if he was going to act weird.
She sat down beside Nevada and scooped strawberries onto her plate and then onto the fox shifter’s plate. She shoved the bowl over to the boys’ side without making eye contact with Torren. Her cheeks were on fire. It wasn’t her way to be embarrassed, but he’d bolted so fast it had to be her…right? But it was good they hadn’t taken the little romp in the kitchen any further because they were supposed to have three dates before she made a decision on the benefits part of this friendship. She couldn’t afford to just jump into a bad decision with a man. She wanted to get to know him a little first, figure out if he was a D-bag and would bail.