by Erin Havoc
Table of Contents
Opening page
Blurb
Chapter 01
Chapter 02
Chapter 03
Chapter 04
Chapter 05
Chapter 06
Chapter 07
Chapter 08
Chapter 09
Chapter 10
Epilogue
Epilogue
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Backmatter
Copyright
NOLAN
SHIFTER DATING APP SERIES
* * *
ERIN HAVOC
A Curvy Woman Shifter Romance
NOLAN
As a firefighter, my life’s always on the line.
It doesn’t mean much. I don’t have a mate anyway.
Everything changes when I see her.
Most beautiful woman in the world.
And she doesn’t care about me.
FAITH
There’s this guy. He keeps telling me I’m his mate.
Sorry, pal. Not falling for this.
I don’t care how hot he is. Or how he makes me feel.
I’ve been broken before. And I’m not repeating my mistakes.
1
NOLAN
Like a lion, I’m used to the heat. My animal lives in savannas, bearing the desert sun with a head held high. No complaints, no grudges. We’re kings, even if we don’t live in jungles. That easiness around heat and the higher resistance of my body made it quite easy to choose a profession when the time came.
Firefighter, and proud of that. Saving lives for a living.
There are days we do little. Once I had to save a cat from a high tree. The little thing had been desperate, clawing at anyone who approached. But one look at me, a cat by nature, and the kitten came to my arms as if ordered.
Lions have a presence. Can’t deny that. We also look good as hell. Everybody agrees that big cats are the bomb, right? Tigers and lions and panthers. Not to offend anyone. My boss is a bear. One of my closest pals is a fox.
Can’t help but laughing at him, though. Poor Austin. A fox. He never shifts next to us because he knows he’s going to be dwarfed next to the rest of the team. He’s one hell of a firefighter, of course.
But he’s a fox. Insert a snort here.
But there’s one thing that Austin has, and the rest of us don’t. One tiny thing, really. A mere detail.
A mate. The freaking fox was the first one to find his mate. Not fair, I know. I mean, look at me. Attention’s drawn to me. I am a handsome fellow. And I train every day, keeping my body in shape.
My mate’s been hiding. That’s the only explanation.
Doesn’t change the fact that Austin has a mate and I don’t. And this painful matter has never been more obvious and more important than now.
The heat is insurmountable. I have no idea what these people kept in this house, but I’ve never seen anything burning this hot. I’m heat resistant and fucking hell, my face is covered in sweat. The drops cover my eyelashes and I keep blinking to shove them off. It runs down my back and chest and arms, and I’m curling and uncurling my fingers inside my gloves as Austin and I retreat.
Hunter’s voice can be heard above the noise of crinkling flame and the sound of walls giving out. The kitchen has collapsed behind us. When we received the call for this emergency, the neighbors had no idea if there was someone inside. After daring the flames, we learned the house is indeed empty.
Good, because the roof is caving in. Right on top of us.
“Faster!” Austin cries over his shoulder at me, shoving a fallen bookshelf out of the way.
I roar a laugh, the irony not lost on me. That’s another thing he’s got on me, I can’t deny. Foxes are quick. They have to be, small as they are. We hurry down the long corridors, pieces of the ceiling hitting my hands and shoulders. Finally, I glimpse the light of the main door. The windows are closed with boards from the inside, and some of my co-workers are making quick work of cleaving them off so the smoke can drift out.
It won’t be needed. The place is coming down. The fire’s too hot, too intense, the house too flimsy. I pity whoever lived in here, but they aren’t coming home to find their place intact.
Austin darts to one side, looking over his shoulder at me. He never loses sight of whoever comes in with him. And he usually gets into the fire a second time to be sure no one was left behind. The man’s good in what he does.
But he’s distracted. His focus is not on the surroundings for the second he looks at me.
We’re steps from the exit when one of the walls next to us crumbles. I watch it all unfold in slow motion as if every brick has topped off, one by one. Austin should pick up his pace, but he doesn’t. He makes no move to protect himself.
He has a mate. Unlike me, he already has someone he loves, someone whose life is going to be destroyed without him.
Without a second thought, I urge my lion to the surface. Jerking my arms in front of me, I amass all my strength and shove Austin out of the way as fast as possible, a roar at the back of my throat. He flies several feet ahead, landing in a crouch at the door. He snaps back at me with wide eyes.
I open a grin as the wall crumbles over me. Darkness settles in moments later, the dull sound of voices filtering through the debris. I black out, pain numbing my mind as I drift away.
Away, away... Then back.
Pain shoots through my left arm and I snap my eyes open. I’m still in my helmet as a scream escapes me, the pain lacing through my arm too much and too sudden for me to hold back. Someone’s pulling me, my head hanging to the ground, the helmet bumping as I grind my jaw.
“He’s alive!” The voice I recognize as Keenan yells.
“My arm, you motherfucker!” I roar, pulling my arms back and flopping face-first on the ground. My body’s turned over, my helmet pulled free, and I squint at the several faces above me. Smoke takes the background, the smell so harsh I’m sure we’re still close to the fire.
“Told you,” Keenan says with a smirk. “He’s too tough to get killed like this. I’m sure when Nolan dies, it’s going to have some flair and drama.”
I sit up and punch his thigh, but a smile stretches my lips. My eyes are watering from the smoke, and my lungs burn with the relief of breathing fresh air. There’s nothing like living when you thought you were gone for good.
Austin kneels next to me, his helmet off, his face pale. “Fucking hell, man, you almost gave me a heart attack.”
I shake my head, messing his hair with my good hand. “I’d have to come back to haunt you. I pushed you out of the way to keep you alive, you know?”
“You didn’t need to do that,” he says in a weak voice.
I laugh his worries off. “Please, Austin. You have a mate to take care of. She would say I really needed to save your slow ass.”
The others laugh, but Austin still tilts his mouth in worry.
“You said something about your arm.”
I pat my left elbow. “I think it’s broken. Gonna drop by at the nearest hospital.”
“I’m coming with you,” Keenan says, offering a hand. I accept it and get to my feet. “There’s an ambulance waiting.”
“Good.” I wave the others off as the two of us stalk to the ambulance.
Hunter, my captain, jogs in our direction, a large smile on his face. “You good, Nolan? Gave us quite a scare.”
“I’m good,” I tell him, jutting a thumb to the ambulance. “Broke an arm, though. Or something like that.”
“Will let you know when he’s released,” Keenan adds as we climb the back of the ambulance.
“Fantastic.” Hunter presses his hands to his hips, his classic Superman pose. The man is nothing short of a superhero, that’s for sure. He�
��s our captain for a reason. “Heal up, eh? No excuses to skip work.”
I laugh him off as the doors close on us. A paramedic urges me to take my uniform off so she can check on my arm. Keenan strikes up a conversation with her, and I’m left with pain and a heavy heart.
For I’m all smiles and jokes, but deep down I know this is slowly becoming a façade. The absence of my mate hurts every day a little more. Some days I wonder if I’m ever going to find her. If she’s even out there.
Shaking my head, I shove the thought away. Of course she is. Of course I’m going to find her.
All I have to do is have more faith.
2
FAITH
Swallowing the rest of the water, I feel my pager go off on my hip. Gripping it, I check the message and turn to stride down the hospital corridor.
My lab coat swishing behind me, I pass some nurses and nod to them. They nod back, and that’s the entirety of our relationship.
I’m not easy to make friends with. Not outgoing at all, I’m not fond of the usual hobbies people have here. Everyone is divided into two categories. The married ones and the lonely souls. I’m single, so I’m never invited to the couples’ outings. One girl once mentioned she didn’t want to make me uncomfortable, sitting by myself when everyone’s got a date.
So you’d say I have to go out with the singles, right?
Wrong. They’re worse. Singles go out to group dates and to find flings, and I’m so not up for that. All I want to do is my job. I spend days off with Netflix and an enormous cup of tea. That’s that. I’ve been in the married group, and I don’t want to go back there.
One nurse waves at me from the end of a corridor. I nod at him, slowing my pace when he gets close.
“Doctor Hale, we have a man in room three for you. It seems he’s broken an arm.” He reaches me a clipboard.
“All right, I’ll be there in a moment. Thanks.” Checking the clipboard, I go over his main info and the symptoms.
A firefighter. That’s interesting. Hurt in the line of duty. Well, then he deserves my best care.
As soon as I walk into the consultation room, my steps fail.
The man sitting atop the stretcher is... Uncanny. He doesn’t seem to notice me, his back turned, and I check he’s indeed a firefighter. His uniform pants are still on, though he’s wearing a white t-shirt that looks... appetizing.
He takes a deep, deep breath, then snaps his head to me. Our gazes lock and I can’t help but study his absurd beauty. The dark blond hair atop his head is buzzed to the sides, his green eyes widening as he looks at me.
My stomach flips. He looks surprised. Didn’t he expect a woman as his physician? I curl my nose, half-expecting him to ask for another one.
“I’m doctor Faith Hale, I will attend to you tonight, Mr Sloan.” Quickly, I regain my composure, walking to the desk and leaving the clipboard there. After sanitizing my hands, I turn to him. “I see you think you’ve broken an arm.”
His jaw is slack when I look at him, and his eyes take a tour of my body. My cheeks warm, and I realize he doesn’t mind I’m a female doctor at all. He eats me up with his heated stare. Something long forgotten coils low in my belly.
“Just Nolan,” he says in a confused voice.
I blink, twisting my mouth. “Which arm was it?” He motions for the left one, his gaze locked on mine. “Excuse me.”
Gently taking his arm with my hands, I prod at his taut muscles. Hell, the man is hunky. I’ve never seen someone like this. Strong and lean and handsome. My heart’s beating off rhythm, dancing and skipping inside my chest. Never felt this way either.
Things are truly strange.
“Let’s take an x-ray to see where the fracture was, okay?” I pull my hands back, feeling a tingle on the tips of my fingers. As if he’s been electrified and I can still feel the current running through our bodies.
I run him through an X-ray without words. When the images are ready, I meet him inside the consultation room once more, showing him where his arm’s been broken — just one, clean fracture, easy to heal.
“We’ll put a cast on and you’re free to go. I’m prescribing a painkiller so you can sleep well tonight, but I’m afraid you’ll have to be off work for some time.”
He shakes his head, a smile finally tilting his lips. “You’ll see me again to take it off by the end of the week, doctor Faith Hale.”
My name on his tongue sounds sinful. A shiver runs down my body, raising every hair on me. “Why is that?”
“I’m a shifter. I’ll heal soon enough.”
My mouth drops. He’s the first shifter I attend to. At least the first one who tells me. That’s going to be interesting. I’ve heard they heal faster than usual, but I’ve never had someone to check it.
“Good. Good for you.” I smile back before I set off to ask the orthopedic technologist to prepare the cast. “I hope you heal soon, Mr Sloan.”
He’s faster than I expect, striding across the room to stand between me and the door. I halt mid-step, watching his brows hiking up his forehead as if he’s also surprised by his sudden move.
“Please, tell me you’re single,” he says in a breath.
What? I laugh, crossing my arms as I wait for him to joke about it. When he doesn’t, I arch a brow. “Why do you want to know?”
“I need to take you out. Somewhere. Anywhere.” He runs a hand through his hair. “Can it be now? No, I mean, you’re working... When are you off?”
A crease forms between my brows. “Why would you want to go out with me, Mr Sloan?”
“Nolan. Just Nolan, please,” he asks, taking a step closer. I don’t walk back, tilting my chin up to face him. “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. Please, let me take you out.”
I shake my head. “Nonsense. Quit joking.”
“I’m not.” He laughs, raising a hand as if to touch me. The arm drops next to him. “What’s your favorite food? I’m taking you anywhere you want.”
“It’s hot dog,” I answer without thinking, then I shake my head. “I’m not going out with you, Mr Sloan. Please, let me pass.”
I plead it but my voice’s giving me away. He smells great, though his scent is mixed with smoke. And this up close, I can watch the shifting of his eyes as he takes me in. There’s such adoration in his gaze, I can’t deny he’s attracted to me.
And when Nolan takes another step and presses his body to mine, I’d be mad to think he’s lying. A hard length presses into my lower belly and I gasp, but once more, I don’t step away. His arm flexes and I’m mesmerized by his huge bicep as he brings a finger to my chin, tilting my face up.
He leans over and for a moment I’m afraid he’s going to kiss me. My lips part, betraying me. His breath coats my tongue and I imagine myself fucking this man. Running my hands down his defined chest and fingering his six-pack. I imagine that huge cock spreading me. Taking me, making me scream.
A wave of arousal leaves me, coating my panties. I’ve never felt this turned on, this needy, and he’s done nothing to me.
I tell myself it’s the dry spell I’m in. But the urge I feel to mold myself to his body is unheard of. Heat licks up my legs and threatens to overwhelm me. Even the muscles of his neck are hot. Understandable, since he said he’s a shifter. I’ve heard they’re all strong and good-looking, all ready to swipe plus-sized girls like me off their feet...
He’s a shifter.
And shifters do commitment. Forever.
Finally, my brain takes control again. I pull back. Back and away from this dangerous man. This man that could very well make me break my promise. The promise of never getting in a relationship again.
“Mr Sloan.” My voice trembles as I pull back, pressing my thighs together as heat pools low in me. “Please. You have to put your cast on.”
“Let me take you out, Faith,” he says, his hand hanging in the air. “Give me your phone number and I’ll leave.”
I shake my head. “No. I’m not going out with
you.”
“Why not?” He says, desolation across his face. The arm drops and I can feel something inside telling me to give him a chance. But I can’t. I’ve promised not to, and he’s no exception. We barely know each other. I have no reason to think he’s going to be different.
“Because I don’t want to,” I blurt out and watch pain slash through his face. I want to take it back, apologize, and throw my arms around him. But I keep those words behind my teeth. It doesn’t matter if he’s hurt. He’s nothing to me and he never will be. “Please. Let me leave or I’ll scream.”
After several beatings of my thundering heart, Nolan steps aside, leaving the way to the door clear. I’m off in a second, running from him, running from this moment of weakness. Praying to leave it all behind.
My phone buzzes in my back pocket and I jump out of my skin. For a second, I think Nolan has managed to get my number. And for a second, I don’t mind.
But when I pick the call, it’s not him. It’s someone I don’t want to hear from. The very reason I’m not ever giving my heart away again.
I hung up and block the number. And I force myself to forget this day ever happened. Sending the orthopedic technologist in Nolan’s way, I sign his release and rush off to our coffee break room, swearing I’m wiping this man off my mind.
I’m wiping every man off my mind. My heart’s been through too much, and I can’t do flings. I get involved, I trust, and I give myself. And that only got me hurt. That never served me right.
No man will move me from my decision. No matter how hot he is. No matter what he makes me feel. Even if my body pleads for his touch.
3
NOLAN
My mate. As expected, the most beautiful woman in the world. The second I put my eyes on her, I knew we were meant to be. My cock went rock hard in a heartbeat, and I was ready to forget the broken arm and take her.
Plot twist. She didn’t want me.