by Sable Sylvan
Chapter Seven
That Sunday, Liam and Nick came over. Liam was set up the same way Nick was for his date, and Nick and Ann were on their way. Ann hadn’t had a chance to check out their car before. It was a silver SUV that didn’t look like it belonged in techie Seattle or in the possession of two male strippers.
“This is a nice car,” said Ann as they rode off.
“You know a lot about cars?” asked Nick.
“Nah, I just have my dad’s hand me down for the kids, that old blue van,” said Ann. “But this…this is a nice car. I don’t remember the last time I was in a car with heated seats and without cereal crumbs and crayon scrawls on the armrests.”
“Trust me, you don’t want to see this car after Liam and I put it through a weekend of partying,” said Nick. “Our detailing shop…let’s just say they get a good amount of our business.”
“You two party hard, obviously,” said Ann.
“What makes you say that?” teased Nick.
“Oh, just the fact that you two are frikkin’ gorgeous male strippers who are frikkin’ bear shifters to boot,” said Ann. “Double trouble times double trouble is what, quadruple trouble?”
“You know it, babe” said Nick. “I’ve got some stories about parties. Man, things get wild at Bear Buns.”
“How wild?” asked Ann.
“Let’s just say that we have a good relationship with the other strip clubs in the area,” said Nick. “And the night clubs. So, people in the industry party together, and Bear Buns is often where those parties are held.”
“You party…with strippers?” asked Ann. “Like, female strippers?”
“Yeah, you jealous?” asked Nick.
“To be honest, a little,” said Ann.
“Trust me, you have nothing to be jealous of,” said Nick.
“Oh yeah?” asked Ann. “Prove it.”
“First off, nothing’s glamorous about a stripper who’s wiped off all her makeup, gotten back into ratty sweats and sneakers, and wants to throw back a sixteen ounce and shoot the shit about awful customers who get too grabby,” said Nick. “Trust me. While we like the attention at Bear Buns, we also have better clients. Female strippers have to deal with dudes, and by that, I mean strip club customer dudes. I don’t like those dudes and I’m a dude who works at a strip club. Secondly? None of them hold a candle to you in terms of appearance.”
“I doubt that,” asked Ann. “I can’t twirl around a pole, using just my labia muscles.”
“I’m not asking you to,” said Nick. “Leave the stripping to me and Liam. We’re the professionals. But what I mean is…none of the stripper gals have your curves. I can’t have a stick thin girl. I’d break’m.”
Ann chortled so hard she almost snorted. “Sure. As if,” said Ann.
“I’m serious,” said Nick. “Shifters party hard. But we also…party hard, if you know what I mean.”
“Sure you do,” said Ann.
“Let me put it this way,” said Nick. “Of course, Liam and I have shared women before. Of course, it’s gotten as far as sex, and given they weren’t you, obviously, we never went further with them. However, we’ve broken more than our fair share of beds…and it happens more often than not.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better about the stripper girls you hang out with?” asked Ann.
“No, but here’s something to chew on. Do I seem like the kind of man who wastes his time doing things he doesn’t want to do?” asked Nick. “Do I seem like the kind of man who doesn’t go after what he wants?”
“No, to both, obviously,” said Ann.
“Then there’s your answer,” said Nick. “I obviously didn’t pursue the female strippers because I wasn’t into them, I didn’t want them, and I won’t pursue them because I don’t and won’t want them, simple as that. That isn’t going to change now that I met you. Secondly, I’m hanging out with you because I want you and I really, really, like you, Ann. I like you.”
“Alright, alright, my green-eyed monster’s gone back into hiding, you proved your point,” said Ann.
Nick couldn’t help but smirk. “Good.”
Nick pulled into the parking lot of a fancy apartment complex Ann hadn’t seen before and helped Ann out of the car.
“This place looks fancy,” said Ann as they entered the building, which had a red carpet leading to the entrance, which was guarded by a doorman who let Nick in, recognizing him on sight.
“You ain’t seen nothing yet,” said Nick.
“Ugh, you’re so cocky,” said Ann.
“Because I have reason to be,” said Nick, unable to resist.
He led Ann to the elevator and clicked the letter ‘P’.
“P?” asked Ann. “Pool? Preschool? Podiatrist?”
“You’ll see,” said Nick. The elevator rose and rose and rose, and finally, dinged. Nick exited after Ann, and walked her to the only door in the red carpeted dark wood paneled hallway, and slid a special key in, and turned, before opening the door.
That’s when Ann learned what the letter ‘P’ stood for.
It stood for mother-frikkin’ ‘penthouse’.
“No way,” said Ann. “You guys have a penthouse apartment?”
“Trust me, it’s not that glamorous,” said Nick. “Oh, wait…it is!”
“So what are we going to do here?” asked Ann. “We’re not going to, y’know…given that Liam’s not here.”
“Definitely not,” said Nick. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun with some of my toys.”
“Toys?” asked Ann. “What kind of…toys?”
“Get your mind out of the gutter, girlie,” said Nick. “Follow me.”
Ann followed after Nick, not sure if he was leading her to a room full of video games, or a room full of sex toys. Instead, he led her to…the kitchen?
Ann watched as Nick brought out expensive cookware and gadgets. He opened the large fridge and started bringing out ingredients.
“You good at cooking?” asked Nick.
“Of course,” said Ann.
“Good, because I’m not,” said Nick. “Well, I’m okay. Liam’s better. With you around, I’m sure we can make…this.” He pulled out a recipe that had been printed off of the Internet, that he had stashed on a counter.
“Roasted teriyaki salmon? With roasted asparagus?” asked Ann. “Yeah, of course I can make this…but you’re going to have to help.”
“Of course I will,” said Nick. “Can’t let you have all the fun.”
Two hours later, Nick and Ann had the fruits of their labor cooling on the counter. There was one tray of salmon, baked in the oven with a teriyaki glaze, and a tray of oven roasted asparagus, made with olive oil, salt, and pepper, simple ingredients, because they could use the extra teriyaki sauce on the asparagus to make the vegetable more decadent. Nick popped open a bottle of sparkling pink French lemonade and the two dug in.
“How’s the salmon?” asked Nick.
“It’s delicious,” said Ann. “Very high quality. Where do you buy it, some specialty store?”
“No frikkin’ way,” said Nick. “We hunt it, ourselves.”
“What?” asked Ann. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Nope,” said Nick. “Everyone in our Clan goes salmon fishing a few times a year. We catch the salmon, gut it and prepare the various cuts, and freeze it for storage. Beats having to eat it all at once to store it for the winter in your belly.” Nick tapped his stomach.
“You don’t exactly have a belly,” said Ann.
“That’s the thing a lot of girls don’t realize,” said Nick. “As a male stripper, I have to have abs. Abs, you get from not having fat over your ab muscles, which means that I have to work hard, as winter approaches, to gain that fat for the winter.”
“Why on earth would you need to be fat for the winter?” asked Ann.
“Biology, baby,” said Nick. “My human side might not need to hibernate, but my bear? Heck yeah he does. And if I don’t
feed my bear and get him prepped for hibernation? My black bear’ll get downright grizzly.”
“It must be amazing, being a shifter,” said Ann.
“It must be amazing, being a human,” retorted Nick.
“Yeah, as if,” said Ann. “We don’t get fated mates.”
“But…you still get to feel true love,” said Nick and with that, he shoved his plate aside and got up, before putting a hand around Ann’s head and pushing it up towards his so he could kiss her tender lips.
Ann got up off of her chair and leaned into the kiss. Nick’s lips were softer than she’d imagine they’d be. They were hot with desire, wet with longing, and pulsing with something that could only be described as lust. Something else was pulsing with lust, something she could feel pressing against her stomach.
“Hold on tight,” said Nick. Ann barely had time to register the words before Nick had swooped her up into his arms and was carrying her into the living room, onto a large black leather sofa with chrome details. He sat down on the couch with Ann and positioned her so she was sitting facing away from him, on his lap.
Nick pulled Ann’s ample butt backwards onto his throbbing shaft. His bear lusted for her, wanted to feel her wrapped around that cock, but he knew he had to wait…but that didn’t mean he couldn’t have the next best thing. He pressed his fingers against Ann’s jeans, hard, and dug in, but couldn’t get a good grip, as the pants were too slippery.
“Get those off,” said Nick. “Now.”
“I thought we couldn’t…” started Ann.
“We won’t,” said Nick. “But trust me, we can have some other fun.”
“You aren’t afraid that…we’ll go too far?” asked Ann.
“Not at all,” said Nick. “Liam might let his bear boss him around, but nobody bosses me around…not even my shift.”
Ann shimmied her jeans down and tossed them aside. As soon as she did, Nick grabbed her by her thick waist again and brought her close to him, pressing her butt back on his cock, where it belonged. While Ann had taken off her pants, Nick had undone his and moved them down a few inches so that the tent in his pants could press against the crack of Ann’s butt and down along her slit.
Ann felt Nick’s thick shaft in the crack of her butt and for a split second, was afraid that one of them would do something they might regret, pushing fabric to the side, pushing the cock into the one place it did not belong…but Nick had control, not just of the situation, but of her. He pressed so that his cock was in the crevice her slit formed through her panties, but the cock didn’t touch her skin. That didn’t mean something else couldn’t.
Nick pressed his cock so it was lying flat against Ann’s butt, settled nicely in the crack. He used a single hand to hold Ann in place while using the other to give her just what she needed. The hand snaked down below her underwear’s waistline, down into her honeypot, where it found what it was looking for, a slippery button that if pressed just right, would win Nick the ultimate prize: hearing Ann moan.
Before Ann knew it, she was moaning. This was the closest she’d gotten to sex with any guy, and this just made her want the cock that Nick was keeping from her that much more badly. Ann started to turn, but Nick turned her the other direction. Ann reached back, but Nick swatted her hand away.
“Don’t,” said Nick. “Trust me. This is about you.”
“You’re making me want you more,” said Ann.
“Yeah, that’s what happens when somebody who knows what he’s doing gives you the kind of show you can’t get at Bear Buns, not even in the cocktail room,” said Nick. “But I don’t see any bouncers here, no vice squad neither.”
“What’re you trying to --” started Ann, and then she got cut off by the answer, coming from within.
Nick, in record time, faster than Ann and any of her toys, had made Ann reach climax, hard. She saw fireworks, rainbows, unicorns, and a kaleidoscope of neon colors all at once. If Nick could do that with his fingers…what could he do with that dick?
That’s what Ann was left wondering after Nick dropped her back off at home, where Liam had been babysitting…and unlike Nick, Liam hadn’t managed to get the kids into bed before Nick and Ann arrived. Unlike Nick, Liam had done meal prep for the four-person house…for the entire week, both lunch and dinner. That night, on the phone with Chastity, the gossip? Was red hot. Little did Ann know that things were about to get a whole lot hotter…
Chapter Eight
“A wedding?” said Liam, turning the event invite over in his hands.
“Remember the night we met?” asked Ann. “I was the ‘bachelorette’ because the real bachelorette, Chastity, well, a drink was spilled on her seat, so I took her seat. It was her party because she was about to get married…so here’s the invite.”
“And she says you can invite a plus two?” asked Nick. Nick and Liam were at Ann’s house together, one day after Ann had picked the kids up from school. Having three hands around the house was a real help, and with Nick and Liam’s nocturnal schedules at Bear Buns, they woke up around the time Ann was getting back home. The dates that they each had been blessed to have with her one on one had all been successful, and two months in, things were getting even more serious for the triad, but they still hadn’t sealed the deal, or had a triad date. The opportunity to have both was sitting squarely in Liam’s hands, and it was covered with a gold confetti pattern.
“That’s right,” said Ann. “See?” She opened the invite. There was a bunch of text about the wedding, and then, it said, on the RSVP card, her name, and the words ‘plus one’ were crossed out and replaced, with pink glitter gel pen, with ‘plus two’, with an extra line drawn in with the same pen.
“She must really want you to bring us,” said Liam.
“Are you frikkin’ kidding?” asked Ann. “She’s been asking about it since after our first dates. She wants what she called, in her words, ‘dinner and a show’, but I told her not to get her hopes up, because it’s not like you two will dance for free.”
“Hey, anything for the blushing bride,” said Liam. “But I don’t think that’s what she means by dinner and a show…you said this was a shifter wedding, right?”
“Well, insomuch as the groom is a shifter,” said Ann.
“It’s a shifter wedding,” said Nick. “And that means one thing.”
“What?” asked Ann. “That…there will be a shifter? I’m not following.”
“You’re really not from our world,” said Nick. “It means drama, plain and simple. You put a bunch of shifters in a room with a bunch of single ladies like Chastity’s friends, and you’re gonna get one thing: drama. So, trust me…Chastity will definitely get dinner and a show.”
“I don’t think she’ll get any drama from us,” said Ann. “It’s not like we’re going to cause a scene.”
“It’s not us I’m worried about,” said Liam. “It’s other shifters.”
“Other shifters?” asked Ann.
“It’s nothing,” said Nick, glaring at Liam. “Don’t fill her head with such worries. Trust me. It’s gonna be fine.”
“So are you both going to come?” asked Ann.
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” said Nick.
“We’ll get a babysitter for the kids,” said Liam. “And if you want…we can have the babysitter stay overnight, if you know what I’m saying.”
“We could get a hotel room,” said Nick. “And…well, I’m sure you’ve been waiting long enough for that to happen.”
Ann couldn’t help but smile. “That sounds perfect,” said Ann. “And I’m sure it’s exactly what Chaz would want.”
During the next week Chastity took Ann shopping for a proper dress to wear to her wedding. They found her a gorgeous gown. The only reason Ann wasn’t the Maid of Honor, much less a bridesmaid, was because of her obligations to the kids. The day of Chastity’s wedding, Ann shuttled the kids’ stuff off to Jennifer and Glenda’s house. It was a Friday wedding, relatively local, within the Seattle city limits, s
o worse come to worse, Ann could get back to the kids quickly. She still wasn’t comfortable leaving the city limits without them in tow. Jennifer and Glenda offered to keep the kids all weekend, in case Ann wanted extra privacy, but she assured them that she’d be back on Saturday. Jennifer and Glenda would pick the kids up on Friday after school, entertain them that night and in the morning, sometime during Saturday morning cartoons, Ann and Nick and Liam would pick the kids up.
The guys picked Ann up at her house the day of the wedding in time to take her to lunch, because although Chastity had ordered up dinner and a show, there was no telling how much of the evening would be dinner and how much would be show. Ann answered the door in her clothes for the night and saw her two boys in monkey suits for the first time, and it was hard to say whose breath was taken away more.
Liam and Nick were both in designer suits, but they didn’t match too much. Liam’s suit was a cool shade of navy blue so dark it was almost black, with an aqua pocket square. Nick’s suit was a warm charcoal shade that he’d paired with gold accessories and a flashy hot pink pocket square. While Liam looked preppy, Nick looked like a rock star. Liam looked like the kind of guy or a gal would be proud to bring back to her parents…while Nick looked like the one she’d want to find in her bed. Both filled out their suits with their bulging muscles, and of course, they had fresh haircuts that kept the hair out of their gorgeous green and blue eyes.
“Whoa,” said Ann.
“Whoa yourself, princess,” said Liam.
“Yeah, where were these clothes before?” asked Nick.
“Oh, this? It’s nothing,” said Ann.
“It’s not nothing, it’s…breathtaking,” said Liam.
“You should wear stuff like this more often,” said Nick. He rotated his index finger. “Twirl.”