by Moxie North
As her eyes roamed the walls, they caught on a tiger picture. Another classic. Seems her world was raining cats at the moment, thanks to Tiger Mountain Winery. Maybe that would be a great commemorative tattoo for landing her first big account. She’d have the money from the bonus. But she couldn’t really see herself with a big orange tiger gracing her skin.
She saw a sweeping paw print next to the head of the cat. It had long claws that looked like they were tearing into skin. That was kind of badass she mused. She could most definitely rock that ink. Smiling to herself she checked another item off her To Do list. That list wasn’t long, but each check mark was celebrated. Tonight felt like a margarita type celebration.
“Hey, skank,” she called out to Cass.
“Yes, ho ho,” Cass called back.
“Margaritas?”
“Oh, hell yeah!” Cassie let out a squeal.
“Bitches, this is a classy joint. Keep it down up there!” A tall heavily tattoo man called out not looking up from the back of a very large biker dude he was working on.
“Love you too, Spike!” Both girls called out and broke out into fits of laughter.
Chapter 8
Hey, how did the changes go?
Great, sent them off to you as soon as they were done.
Sorry been out of town.
Let me look at them.
They look good
I think we should meet at my winery to finish up.
Can’t we talk over the phone?
I’m worried my car won’t make
that trip. LOL. I need to baby
her.
I’d rather be able to go over
things in person.
Typing doesn’t always translate.
Effie chewed her lip. She really was happy conversing with the smoking hot guy over the phone and in text. His stunning beauty might turn her into a drooling simpleton. Then he’d lose all faith in her and cancel her contract. Or worse, become one of those evil masterminds like in movies that get you blacklisted to all other companies. Okay, so maybe that was a tad dramatic.
Well the client is always right.
Excellent. How about I have a car sent for you?
Be able to keep your wheels
functioning for a little longer.
Will this car have bar service? j/k
But of course!
Shit, she was joking. Did he not see the j/k? Did he know what that meant? Or did she just come across as a total money grabber. Shit, shit, shit.
I was just kidding!
I wasn’t.
Yup, double shit, she thought. Okay fine, he’s sending a car. They will meet. Finalize everything and she will get paid. Then life will go on, no muss no fuss. Great game plan, Effie, she moaned dropping her head into her hands.
How’s Tuesday at eleven am?
Sure, that’s fine. See you then.
She tossed her phone to the couch to make sure she didn’t say anything else stupid.
“Gah, I should be kept away from the fancy rich people.”
“Yes, you should. You tacky little thing,” Cassie called from the bathroom.
“Wasn’t asking you!” Effie shouted back.
“But I still answered!” Cassie returned.
It was a good thing she loved her best friend so much.
Dax looked down at his phone. He was going to meet the elusive Effie. His cat was purring contentedly in his head. He clearly needed some female contact. Maybe this Effie might be a nice distraction for a while. Dax wasn’t opposed to dating. He was clear from the beginning with women that he wasn’t looking for long term. As long as everyone was on the same page, he’d managed to keep things civil with his exes when the time came to move on.
Spending the weekend watching four happily mated couples made him long for what they had. He really didn’t think he’d ever find his mate. He was over fifty and he’d met thousands of women. Wouldn’t you think one of them would have been a match for him by now?
There was always the possibility that a shifter didn’t find their mate. It happened pretty frequently, considering the sheltered environment most of them lived in. Keeping your secret meant laying low. Laying low meant not putting yourself out there. Dax had been out there. He’d traveled to different countries. Met wolf shifters in France, met foxes in England, and lions in Africa. The humans he’d met were countless. And not one had ever been the right fit for him and his cat.
If he didn’t find a mate soon, he’d be expected to give up his Alpha role with the pack. It was tradition that all Alphas were mated. It provided them with the support of a bonded partner and made them stronger for it.
Dax was almost thinking that it might be a good thing. He could focus on his business and give someone else the chance to lead the pack. His life would be his own. He could choose his own destiny. What a concept.
Thinking about what ifs weren’t the best use of his time. Besides, his cat needed a run. Dax let Margo know he was leaving early for the day and took off in his car, windows down, heading into the hills.
Almost an hour later, Dax pulled off into a secluded parking area for hiking. He didn’t see any cars in the lot and figured luck might be on his side. Usually he waited until nightfall, but his cat needed to stretch his legs and Dax could use the mental break.
Walking into the woods in the opposite direction of the trail head, he slowly started removing his clothes as soon as he could no longer see his car. Finding a relatively dry spot to stash his clothes, Dax relaxed and let his cougar fold out of his skin. A shimmer of light and a swift sensation of his body losing gravity and Dax was no longer standing. His head was lower to the ground and his cat had all four paws dug into the soft mossy dirt.
Giving his cat the lead, Dax fell back and his cat took over. Instinct had his animal darting off into the forest. He jumped over fallen trees and climbed onto long limbs before jumping down. In California they often ran at night, the area was so populated that seeing a cougar usually got someone on the news and in trouble with the Alpha. Here in Washington the forests covering the mountains were so thick that a big cat could roam for hundreds of miles without ever running into a human.
Dax’s cougar was running as fast as he could, his sharp eyes missing nothing. Rabbits scampering off under the ferns, the scent of deer and elk kept wafting over his senses. Knowing he needed a long run, Dax fell back and let his cat track and hunt the deer that was too close to resist.
Finally after running his paws off and filling his belly, his cat found a rock by the river that was still warm from the sun. A nap sounded like an excellent plan.
Chapter 9
Tuesday rolled around and Effie was nervous. Not about her work. She wasn’t worried that Dax wouldn’t like it. They’d conversed enough and she felt she was on track about his wants and needs for the designs. She was nervous because he was gorgeous. She never thought of herself as beautiful. She was shocking maybe, with her weird hair and clothes. Did she care what he thought of her personally? She wasn’t sure, but she did know, she really wanted him to like her for some reason.
Smoothing down her black pencil skirt that was tightly fitted to just below her knees, she checked out her smoking heels. They were black patent leather peep toes. Totally adorable and she’d bought them on clearance. Score for her! She put on a red short-sleeve see-through blouse with a black spaghetti strap tank top underneath. Knowing her bra straps were going to show, she’d picked a satin red one to control the girls.
Checking her hair, she pushed the hair pins tight into her skull to make sure her giant rolled curl wouldn’t slip down her forehead. She’d had to redo her eye make-up twice. Her hand shaking so much, she’d ended up looking more circus clown, then vamp chick. Checking her MAC Lady Danger lipstick in her bathroom mirror one last time, she took a deep breath.
“Show time, Effie.”
Walking out to the living room, she was kinda glad Cass was at work. She’d be even more frazzled if
she was there. Gathering her laptop and her purse, she heard her phone buzz. Shoot she’d left the ringer off again.
Picking it up she answered and a voice said, “Ms. Parks, your car is here.”
“Thank you, I’ll be right down.”
It was now or never. As she made it to the street, Effie saw a shiny black town car waiting for her on the curb. Even the sight of that fairly nondescript car had Mr. Barnes coming out of the restaurant for a look-see. Effie waved at him and then smiled to the man holding open the door.
She sat down and the door closed behind her. The seats were leather and cool to the touch. There a bucket on the empty seat next to her with an open bottle of champagne, one single flute and a note tied around the bottle. It said, ‘Open bar’ and was signed with a D.
“Tricky man,” she whispered under her breath. Never one to turn away free alcohol, Effie grabbed the glass, poured herself a drink and settled in for the ride.
Around a half hour later they pulled into a gravel parking lot in front of a large metal building. Surrounding the parking lot were rows of trellises strung as far as the eye could see. Grapevines strung down long rows already green and leafy. It was stunning.
The moment the driver opened the door, Effie couldn’t help but take a deep breath in. It smelled liked wine. The fresh scent of the plants and the smell of the processing coming from the building made her feel like she was getting a contact buzz from the air.
She thanked the driver and walked towards the building. Seeing no other entrance than the one for the tasting room, she entered. A little bell rang over the door and she saw Margo behind a long counter.
“Hello Ms. Parks,” Margo greeted her with a smile.
“Hello, I hope I’m not late,” Effie offered. Not that she had any control over how fast she got there or not.
“Of course not. Let me get you settled in the conference room and I’ll let Dax know you are here,” she said, coming around the counter and gesturing down a long hallway. They strode down the narrow passage to a windowless room that could probably only sit around eight people. The large table took up most of the space inside.
“Can I get you anything? Water? Wine?” Margo said with a little laugh.
“I’d love some water, thank you,” Effie replied. That champagne was great, but skipping breakfast was not one of her finest ideas. Her head was swimming from alcohol and nervousness.
Sitting down she got out her computer and tried to figure how she was going to get through this meeting.
“Like a professional damnit!” she whispered out loud.
“Excuse me?” Margo asked, walking back in with the glass of water.
Embarrassed, Effie explained, “Just giving myself a little pep talk.”
“Oh don’t worry, honey. Dax has been the best boss I’ve ever had. And he’s already raving about your designs. I think you’ve got this one in the bag.” She finished with a wink.
Margo turned and left, leaving Effie with her thoughts. She was booting up her laptop when the door to the room opened. She was typing in her password so she didn’t immediately look over her shoulder when she heard, “So we finally meet at last, Ms. Parks.” The voice was deep and smooth, and most definitely not Margo.
Turning slowly and standing at the same time, Effie got her first look at Dax Hayes.
Tall, fit, tan, but his hair was darker than she remembered. His picture showed he was beach boy blond. Now his hair was a darker mahogany brown, but it was still him. He was wearing a silver dress shirt with just a hint of shine in it and black dress pants.
She took all this in, in a fraction of a second. His picture didn’t do him justice, he was more handsome in person. Classic features, sharp jaw, high cheek bones covered in a rough five o’clock shadow. Her eyes coming back to rest on his brown eyes that were looking at her in wide astonishment.
“Mr. Hayes, It’s nice to finally meet you in person,” she said offering her hand. Dax had raised his hand when he walked in but let it drop when she stood. Maybe he was a germa-phobe she speculated.
She watched as Dax took a long slow inhalation, like he was filling his lungs to scream or something. He held his breath, then let it out slowly. His eyes raked up and down her body a number of times. The smile that she saw for a fraction of a second when she stood was now gone. It was replaced by a look of sheer focus. His tawny eyebrows were drawn together like he was thinking really hard.
Should she sit back down? Effie went to drop her hand and Dax reached out in a flash and grabbed it before she could. His grip was tight and he gave a small tug on her arm that had her losing her balance and falling into him. Their hands pressed between their chests.
“Mine,” he said quietly, his voice growling low.
Then, before Effie could respond, he leaned down and claimed her mouth in a fiery kiss.
Damn he could kiss! She wasn’t the type to kiss strangers or worse clients upon meeting them. But when a smoking hot guy lays one on you so fierce that that your toes curl? You kiss that bad boy back!
Effie let her mouth fall open and she heard Dax moan. She felt his arms scoop around her torso, locking her to him. She could feel the rapidly swelling bulge in his pants pressing against her belly. Good to know that he was into this as much as she was.
Dax’s tongue was sweeping her mouth over and over, tasting and sucking. It was the most overwhelming kiss Effie had ever experienced. But she was running out of air. Their mouths were sealed and she was trying to breathe through her nose, but couldn’t seem to coordinate the effort.
Realizing she was going to faint, she brought her hands up to his chest and gave a shove. Dax immediately broke the kiss but didn’t let her go.
She looked up to his face and saw his lips were shiny and he was panting. His eyes looked a little wild and he repeated his earlier declaration, “Mine.”
“Alrighty then, I think we need to talk. Hmm?” Effie said with a little laugh.
Chapter 10
His mate. HIS MATE.
Dax’s mind was spinning. His cat was roaring in his head. Effie Parks was his mate. His whole world felt like it had shrunk down to this one room, to this one woman, and the one heart beating in her chest. The minute his eyes met hers, he felt his own heart skip a beat. It fell into a perfect copy of her rhythm. Her scent washed over him and his cat. It was like currants and spice and something sweet that played across his tongue.
He didn’t think, the minute he saw her starting to pull away from him he reached for her. The second their hands met, his cat lost its kitty mind and he had to taste her. Shit, they hadn’t even finished introductions and he’d shoved his tongue down her throat. Dax couldn’t even feel bad about that. She was delicious.
She gave his chest another little shove and he let her go as she stepped back to her chair and sat down with a flop. He followed suit and pulled out the chair next to her. Turning it to face her he grabbed her hand back. For some reason this made her laugh.
Her eyes were sparkling with a clear astonishment and more than a little humor. They were green he noticed. Not bright green, but a warm sea foam color. Her hair was black, jet black and it was rolled into an amazingly perfect curl above her forehead. She had dark winged eyeliner on and cherry red lips. He realized that particular shade was probably smeared over his own face now since hers was clearly smudged.
Spotting a box of tissues on the table he reached for them, not letting go of her hand and offered her one. She accepted and he took one himself. Except he didn’t wipe his own mouth, he leaned forward and lightly brushed around her lips.
He watched her startle for a second and then her eyes warmed. She leaned over and started to remove the lipstick off his mouth.
Dax was trying to take in all of her at once. He’d felt an ample bosom pressed against his chest. His hands had brushed over the swell of her hips. They’d itched to slide down and cup her ass that was looking like a ripe peach in that tight skirt she was wearing.
He could see tattoos,
a bright colorful one on her arm that ducked under the hem of her sleeve. His sharp gaze caught another on her ankle and he could only guess where he might find more.
Dropping his hand, he watched her do the same. Then her head tilted to the side and she gave him a little encouraging smile.
“Hi,” he whispered to her. Dude, he needed to man up, he thought.
“Hi, back,” she offered.
“I’m sorry about that. Well I mean I’m not sorry. You’re beautiful and sexy and you don’t know it yet, but you’re mine. I’m yours too, so you don’t have to worry about that. I can explain,” Dax said in a huff.
“Okay, Dax. I’m guessing first names are going to be fine considering our unconventional greeting. Thank you for calling me beautiful and sexy. Always nice to hear. The kiss, well that was some kiss, mister.”
“Yeah, sorry about that. I was…. overcome?”
“Are you asking or stating?” Effie said with a laugh.
“I’m going to go with stating. I’ve been looking for you for so long. You have no idea.”
“Have you now? Well I’ve been around, where have you been?” she tried joking. Not quite sure where this conversation was going. But she wasn’t scared. This didn’t seem wrong, just unexpected.
“Not where you were, obviously. I know this sounds crazy and I really hope I don’t scare you away. I know I should be taking this slowly and convince you that I’m a totally normal guy. Which I am. Just not right now. I mean I’m normal, but this situation isn’t normal. Shit, I’m not explaining this right,” Dax said, running his hand through his hair in frustration.
Effie watched this man that looked larger than life when he walked through the door, stutter through his little speech like a high schooler asking her to prom.