by Ophelia Bell
“Where do we start?” he asked.
Cato darted a relieved smile at him. “We have some time off until the official season matches begin. Best way to maximize our time is to head to Earth. I’ll make us appointments with Gerri Wilder. If she can’t find us mates, nobody can.”
4
Simina sat back on the comfortable sofa, sipping her tea while Gerri settled in the armchair across from her. She avoided the woman’s intense stare, darting her gaze around the comfortable sitting room where Gerri met with her clients.
“Why don’t you tell me a little bit about yourself, dear,” Gerri said.
Simina nodded and set her cup down on the coffee table, picking up the decadent-looking piece of cake Gerri had served her. She was grateful for the small diversion because it gave her a moment to gather her thoughts. She took a bite, and was briefly distracted by the delicious wash of flavors that flooded her mouth.
“Oh, my, I love this.”
“It’s a special family recipe. I don’t share it often.”
“Oh, no … I didn’t mean … I would never do it justice. I’m not a very good cook.”
“What are your strengths, then?”
“Is this a job interview? Shall I give you one word to describe myself too?” She gave Gerri a playful look, and the woman smiled back.
“If you wish. In order to find you a suitable date, it helps to understand what makes you tick.”
“A date …” Simina repeated, shifting a little in her seat. “I still feel strange even coming to you. It isn’t exactly a date I want. I need … I want …” She let out a little huff and then shrugged, giving Gerri a defeated look. “I want to have a baby, but I’m not exactly looking to fall in love again. Do you think it’s possible to find a mate who just wants that? To be a father?”
Gerri tilted her head slightly and tapped a manicured nail on the edge of her mug. “Possible, yes. If two shifters’ desires aligned closely enough, and they had enough control over their animals, they could mark each other and conceive. But are you sure you want to limit yourself? You’re still young. Losing one’s mate doesn’t have to mean sacrificing love entirely. Romantic love, I mean.”
Simina remembered that her lost love had been a topic of conversation at the dinner party where she’d met the other woman, but she’d neglected to give the woman many details. “We were never fully mated, Talon and I. We never got the chance. And I fear my capacity for romantic love … Well, it died with him.” Her voice turned brittle and her hand shook when she picked up her fork again. The bite she took tasted like sawdust and she set down the cake. “I’m sorry. Maybe I’m just wasting your time.”
“Nonsense. I’m sure I can help. I just need you to try to keep an open mind. Why don’t you tell me what kind of qualities you would like to see in the father of your baby?”
Simina let out a breath. Finally, an easy question. “Well, I’d like someone who genuinely wants to be a father, who will be nurturing and loving—emotionally invested in the child’s life. He should be intelligent too. I’m a doctor, so I’d like to be able to have informed, rational discussions with him about the raising of the child. Someone who is willing to be a partner in this, in all ways. A friend.” She paused and picked up the cake again, her appetite returning as she envisioned what this fantasy father to her child would be like.
Gerri nodded, and Simina wondered whether the woman should have been taking notes. She had quite a laundry list of details, now that she’d gotten going.
“Go on,” Gerri said.
“I’d like him to be fit and healthy. Athletic, but not an athlete. But please don’t set me up with any arena champions, whatever you do. And … well … as long as we’re on the topic of great qualities, I’d like someone who is passionate and a skilled lover. I still have physical needs … and I suppose if we’re going to make a baby, I’d like to enjoy it, you know?”
“Indeed,” Gerri said, giving her a sly smile. “Any particular preferences, otherwise? Are you partial to a type of shifter, or perhaps interested in human men? We are on Earth, so there are plenty of options.”
Simina stared down between them, thinking about adding more specifics to the whole “skilled lover” point. She and Talon had had a rather adventurous sex life, and she’d learned she loved being kinky, but this wasn’t about sex. It was about procreating. You didn’t need to be tied up and spanked to get pregnant.
She took a deep breath, letting go of that thought and focusing on what was relevant. Just the bare minimum. “I’d at least like someone who I can fly with. He doesn’t have to be a dragon, but that would be a bonus. I don’t get out enough with my work … Having a partner who enjoys flying would encourage that, I think, and it would be good for the baby while I’m pregnant. Do you really think you can find a match for me with all those qualities?”
“Darling, it’s rarely that simple. I will do my best, but like I said, you should keep an open mind. The perfect mate is often quite unexpected.”
Simina took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Fair enough. But I really have to reiterate the no-champions thing. That is kind of a hard no for me. I’m sure you understand. Too high-risk, and they aren’t likely to want to settle down anyway.”
“Duly noted. I have your number, and I’ll give you a call at the resort as soon as I find a match. You’ll hear from me soon.”
Simina polished off her cake and tea and said farewell. Despite her apprehension about how this would go, she was strangely excited as she caught a cab and headed to the airport to catch a flight to her final destination. The shifters-only resort in the mountains would be the ideal place to relax and stretch her wings. Even if Gerri’s choice didn’t work out, she resolved to enjoy herself.
5
Veryl itched under Gerri’s imperious scrutiny, feeling even more inadequate than he had the first day he’d tried out for the grade-school arena team. He’d come a long way since then as an athlete, but he was woefully unprepared to re-enter the dating world. Ever since he and his partners had secured their pro-League status, they’d agreed that dating had to take a back seat to their training. It had been three years since he’d even slept with a woman.
He still didn’t believe this step was necessary to achieve the advantage they hoped they’d get from finding mates. But Cato and Dez clearly had different opinions. He owed it to them to try. When the attempt failed, he’d make his case again for the three of them taking their relationship beyond professional. Their animals were in sync; it wouldn’t be a stretch to add a physical element that took them out of the arena for a change. And he loved them both more than life, though the remote, introspective Cato was the one whose attention he craved the most.
“I understand you and your teammates are all looking for mates, is that correct?” Gerri finally asked. “That’s highly unusual for arena champions as highly ranked as the three of you. Are you sure you wouldn’t rather wait until you’ve retired from competing?”
Veryl swallowed a huge gulp of steaming tea, wincing as the fluid burned going down. His dragon instantly absorbed the heat, reveling in it. He took another swallow to delay having to answer a little longer, then braced himself and looked at her. He could do this. Treat her like an opponent. Though as he met the woman’s intense, blue-eyed stare he decided he never wanted to be stuck in the arena with her.
“We believe the threat of losing our edge after mating is an old wives’ tale. If that’s the case, there’s no sense in waiting. In fact, I think the bond with a mate will give us an edge other teams don’t have.”
Gerri’s eyes sparkled. “Other teams besides Hot Wings, you mean. I saw the exhibition match between your two teams. It couldn’t have been a good feeling, having your asses handed to you by a duo. Good thing you didn’t make it easy for them, or you may as well be retiring now.”
“Yeah … that might have something to do with it.” Veryl gave her a sheepish smile. That she was a fan somehow made it easier for him to relax.
<
br /> “So, tell me what you’re looking for in a mate.”
“I …” He faltered, then shrugged helplessly. “I honestly have no idea. Someone who’d be happy mated to a champion, I suppose.” He stared down at his hands, stretching his fingers wide on his thighs. These hands were trained to fight, with the dragon’s spirit flowing in his veins ready to manifest on command, even if he only needed a single talon. He hadn’t used his hands for much else in too long. Not to make love to a woman, nor …
The image of a newborn baby popped into his head, unbidden, at the memory of Cato’s speech the day before, which had prompted their trip to Earth. The baby was fragile, soft, and so small he could hold it easily in both palms. He turned his hands over, cupping them into a bowl-shape for a second, then clenched them into fists and looked up at Gerri.
She had her head tilted to the side, watching him with one finger lightly tapping at the edge of her mug. One pale eyebrow lifted as though she waited for him to share his revelation.
“I want to be a father. So I guess whoever she is should want that too. Dez and Cato are like a family to me. They always will be, but it isn’t like we can magically replicate a new generation of arena champions. Not that I’d necessarily expect my kids to be champions …”
“You want a brood mare. Is that what you’re saying, then?” Gerri asked, tilting her chin down and leveling an even more disorienting stare at him. “I’m sure there are dozens of females on Aurora who would be ecstatic with that kind of arrangement.”
“What? No! That isn’t what I meant. I’d actually rather she didn’t know I’m a champion. At least, not at first.”
“Do you even really want a mate, Veryl?”
His pulse throbbed in his neck and he pushed back against the cushions, then abruptly stood, too agitated to sit still under her critical gaze. He strode to the window and stared down at the street far below.
Gripping the frame on either side of the window, he clenched his teeth. This was ridiculous. He knew who he wanted, but that wasn’t enough, was it? He couldn’t have Cato, Dez, and a family, even if his partners wanted him back. But it was clear his friends wanted something different.
“This isn’t easy for me,” he finally said.
“Not everyone is able to articulate their desires,” Gerri said behind him. He glanced over his shoulder, but she was still seated, sipping her tea. She set the mug down and uncrossed her legs, turning slightly in her armchair so she was facing him with one arm draped over the back of the chair.
“Veryl, there is no risk in telling me what you want. The more details you share, the easier it will be for me to match you with someone appropriate. And if she doesn’t work out, I’ll refund my entire fee or find you someone else.”
He shook his head slightly, at first simply disagreeing with what she’d said, then in denial.
“That’s the thing. I know who I want, but they aren’t interested, so whoever she is probably won’t work out unless she’s willing to be just that—a brood mare. And I’ll be damned if I ask a woman to be that for me. Don’t you think your clients deserve better? They come to you to find loving partners. I can be a father—I’d love the fuck out of any and every child I could have, but my heart …” He clenched his teeth, suddenly overcome by emotion. Letting out a ragged breath, he finally blurted out the thing he’d never thought he’d say out loud. “I am in love with my arena partners. I don’t see that going away.”
“I see,” Gerri said, nodding. Then she leveled a piercing stare at him. “Do you trust me?”
Veryl propped his butt against the wide windowsill and shrugged. “Sure. I don’t really have much to lose.”
“Perhaps not, but I want you to try to find some optimism, if you can.” She leaned over and scribbled something on a pad of paper on her coffee table, then ripped off the sheet and handed it to him. “Check into this resort tomorrow and wait for my call. I’ll let you know when and where to go next.”
Veryl took the instructions and glanced at them, then stuffed the paper in his pocket and left in a daze. He wasn’t sure he could face his teammates after articulating his true feelings to Gerri. It was one thing to suggest a physical bond, but something entirely different to confess he was in love. Still, he reminded himself they hadn’t been there, hadn’t heard him spill his deepest secret.
Dez and Cato had each had separate appointments with the renowned matchmaker, and they’d agreed to meet up at a local bakery afterward, so he forced himself to focus and headed in that direction, trying to ignore the weight of uncertainty making him drag his feet.
If she could actually find him someone who could fill the hole left by Cato’s rejection, it would be a miracle.
* * *
He found Dez and Cato seated in the bakery at a table loaded with sweets. The red dragon was licking his fingertips, making soft hums of ecstasy. Cato caught his eye and waved him over, and Veryl went, his heart in his throat at the memory of his confession.
Time to set that futile wish aside, at least for a week like Gerri had asked. After this plan crashed and burned, he’d have to just deal with the consequences, particularly if his teammates both found mates while he was left in the cold due to his foolish, unrequited desires.
Dez shoved a plate of some sugary confection at him when he sat down. “You’ve got to fucking try this, man. It’s like sex on a plate.”
“Not sure I even remember what that’s like,” Veryl said, forcing a smile. He picked up a fork and dug in anyway. Desserts were usually a good bet for a pick-me-up. Dez hadn’t lied, and Veryl’s mood improved bit by bit as he ate. After a moment, another fork cut into the opposite edge of the cake.
“You’ve gotta share,” Cato said, giving him an admonishing look.
“What? Is it the last piece of cake on the planet?” he asked.
“Just of this cake,” Dez said, stabbing his own fork into the side he’d already taken a big chunk out of before Veryl had arrived. The red-eyed dragon popped a huge bite into his mouth and moaned, his eyes rolling back in his head. “Fuck me, that is good. So, where’d she send you?”
“Shifter resort in the mountains,” Veryl said. “Should be a low-key vacation if she doesn’t find a match for me, at least.”
“She’ll find someone,” Cato said. “Just remember, we agreed not to mention what we do at first, assuming it’s another shifter she sets us up with. I don’t want our fame influencing the women we meet.”
“I know,” Veryl said, weary of the reminders. “What are the chances it’s a shifter, though? We came to Earth; I would think human women are a more likely bet.”
“Not when Ms. Wilder’s sending us all to a shifters-only resort. She’s already set me and Dez up on dates for tomorrow afternoon. Mine’s a one-on-one botanical hike with a woman who’s a local expert, with the option to go camping. Dez’s date is the owner of a local beer garden that’s known for its menu. Both are bear shifters, and so far, I’m impressed. Who’s your date?”
Veryl frowned around another bite of the cake that was swiftly dwindling to crumbs between them. “Nobody yet. She said she’d let me know. Sounds like she found each of you a perfect match, though, so there may be hope for me yet.”
He forced himself to swallow the pasty lump of cake that had lost all its flavor. The dates Cato had described sounded absolutely perfect for both of them. Cato’s constant quest for knowledge had him spending all his free time devouring scientific articles on shifter physiology to try to improve their edge in the arena, but he also simply loved learning as a hobby. Dez, on the other hand, preferred to indulge his hedonistic side, and since the three of them had effectively taken a vow of celibacy for years, he tended to find his outlet in food and drink. Of course their perfect mates would fit into their lives like a missing piece to a puzzle.
Veryl wished he could predict the type of woman he’d wind up meeting. Would she be as perfect? Did such a woman exist?
“Thank you,” Cato said in a low voice. “I know yo
u weren’t crazy about this idea, but it’ll work. Just have a little faith. Gerri’s the best at her job. One hundred percent success rate, I’ve heard.”
Veryl met his friend’s earnest gaze, then pressed his lips together and gave him a tight nod.
If she was really that good, why did he feel like he was giving up?
6
Simina marveled at the level of detail the shifter resort had put into satisfying its customers. The luxury destination’s lodgings consisted of a multitude of small cabins, spread out over several acres and surrounding a huge lake, with hundreds more acres at the disposal of the guests who came to stay there. Her own rooms were a somewhat secluded cabin within walking distance of the main lodge, and she was still absorbing all the possibilities after spending her first full day exploring the amenities close to the lodge itself.
She could relax in their hot springs, or take a rafting tour down the meandering river with the option to partake of more adrenaline-inducing rapids, if she wished. She could head into the human town about twenty miles away, if she wanted the true Earth experience. Or she could simply shift and fly for her entire visit.
The concierge had informed her that the entire preserve had comfortable waystations scattered all over the mountains, marked by balloons tethered to the chimneys for any winged shifters to find. The stations were equipped with a variety of necessities, including basic clothing and bathing supplies. There were also luxurious private cabins that could be reserved for guests who wanted an even more secluded stay than her already remote little cabin provided, with meals delivered if desired.
She almost hoped Gerri wouldn’t contact her, so she could avoid her mission and just spend a solitary two weeks exploring and relaxing. She could use the time to get back in touch with her dragon, find the synchronicity she’d had when Talon was alive, then return to her research refreshed and sharp enough to finally make that breakthrough she needed.