The Nine: An Urban Fantasy Reverse Harem Romance (Foxfire Burning Book 1)

by C. M. Stunich

  "My ex, Finley Wilde," I started and saw Revel's glossy red brows go up. They were perfectly arched, frames for a pretty face and emerald green eyes. I dug my nails into my thighs as I tried to figure out how, exactly, to tell this story. The fact that she was dealing with me instead of demanding to meet my ex-mate was a tad confusing. Any single female kitsune would be drooling to get their hands on an un-mated male. And yet, Revel hadn't asked me a damn thing about him.

  So there I sat, fingering the strap of my thigh holster under the satin lines of my dress and trying to figure out some way to present a man I didn't want to a woman that I hoped would take him off my hands. You’re such a liar, Thea. Just admit you want to keep Fin for yourself and be done with it.

  "Did you know before or after you slept with him?" Revel asked, pausing as our waitress came over with the bottle of wine and offered her a bit to taste. "Fucking excellent," she growled out, her orange ears swiveling on the top of her head. One of the strange things about shifters, something that seemed to bother a lot of humans, was that we had not one but two sets of ears when we were in a hybrid form. So as Revel swept her red hair behind one ear, she revealed a set of beautiful gold earrings in the shape of tiny fox faces.

  As for her question, I wasn’t quite sure what she was getting at, but I assumed she meant when did you know you wanted to leave him.

  "After," I replied slowly, considering her question as I tried the new wine our waitress had just brought over. It tasted like … well, wine. Fuck, I was no expert. "Many years after." With a sigh, I pushed some of my dark hair away from my sweaty forehead, Mom's knife burning against my left calf. What would she think of me right now, trying to offload my destined mate on some random chick I'd never met? "Look," I began, lifting my eyes from Ziff and turning my attention back to Revel. "It wasn't that I disliked Fin or anything. I just didn't like the council telling me what to do; I didn't like my fate being handed to me at birth. I wanted to choose my own life and my own mate, if that makes sense."

  "Makes perfect sense," Revel growled out, standing up suddenly and pulling her chair closer to me. "I knew when I was maybe … eight that my mate wasn't going to be right for me." She reached out and put her hand on my knee, pushing the satin up and then touching my bare skin. A hot thrill went through me, and I found myself swallowing a bit too much of my wine. "He ended up being a bit of a twink himself, so no hard feelings."

  My turn to raise my eyebrows.

  "Your ex is gay?" I asked, and Revel finally withdrew her hand, sitting up and reaching out to grab a piece of bread for herself. As I watched, she slathered it with liberal amounts of butter and popped the whole thing into her mouth.

  "As a rainbow unicorn," she said, and I found myself grinning. What were the chances of us using the same analogy? I felt myself starting to warm towards this woman who was, most likely, going to win Finley's heart eventually. But maybe we could still be friends? Maybe I could still see Fin and not feel this ripping, tearing pain in my chest. "He's a crosser, too."

  A small chuckle escaped me at that one. I was a crosser—a person who fucked outside their own species—if there ever was one. Not only did I sleep with non-kitsune canidae shifters, but apparently I was also entertaining the idea of screwing a vamp. And vampires, well, let's be frank: they were dead. I was thinking of sleeping with a dead guy, for fuck's sake.

  "Last I heard, he was dating some tiger shifter in China." Revel flashed me another smile—she seemed to have a hell of a lot of those stored up behind those red, red lips. "I saw him a few months ago, just before I moved to Japan. He seemed seriously fucking happy though."

  "So you live in Japan now?" I asked, simply assuming that Fin would be relocating. I mean, he had a low-level, hand-me-down job from the Earth while Revel worked for a massive PR firm. I still had no idea what the hell Riot was planning on doing, but I couldn't worry about that right now. I had to stay focused on the issue at hand: getting my goddamn magic back and getting my new fucking tail bound.

  "I live wherever I'm needed," Revel said, reaching out to run a finger down my bare shoulder. "Or, wherever I'm wanted." If I hadn't known she was there for Fin, I might've thought she was hitting on me. "But enough about me," she continued, reaching out and stroking her hand up the length of one of my fluffy, white tails. "You're either ancient as fuck or else you're … powerful as fuck."

  I just stared at her, my fingers twitching against the strap of my gun holster. If Revel Jones had been a man in that moment, I'd have probably shot her in the balls. At the very least, I'd have taken my mother's knife and cut a bitch. Then again, I'd let Nix get away with touching my tails, too. What the hell was happening to me?

  "I'm thirty," I said curtly and she poked me in the shoulder. Ziff grumbled and I passed him another piece of bread, this time with a bit of butter on it. Now that made him trill with pleasure.

  "Yeah, and I'm twenty-seven, big fucking deal? I saw that on your profile page. I want to know how you have nine tails and why they aren't all bound."

  "Looks like she's working on that problem now," a voice said from behind me. I knew right away that it was fucking Fin. I'd have smelled him immediately if I'd been paying attention, even with the beautiful scents in the restaurant, the smell of garlic and butter and onions, of smoked meats and fresh bread. No, I'd have smelled Finley Wilde's clove and cinnamon scent as soon as he’d walked in the door if it hadn't been for fucking Revel.

  "Finley," I warned as I rose to my feet and Ziff quickly climbed up onto my shoulder. He, of course, was more than happy to see my ex. I … had mixed feelings. Obviously his introduction to Revel had to happen at some point, but not like this, not before I was ready. And shit, definitely not with the attitude I could see him swinging around like a giant erect dick.

  "Who the hell is this?" he asked, his voice this broken, sad thing. Finley paused, almost an anomaly without Riot by his side. Again, I wondered if the two of them were together, or if they were fucking, or shit, even if they were in love. I had no goddamn clue.

  "Oh, so this is the ex?" Revel said as she rose to her feet and cocked out her hip. She looked Fin over like she wasn't impressed and a shock of cold fear ran through me. If Revel didn't want Fin, I'd have to find another unmated kitsune which was about as easy as finding a needle in a monstrous pile of shit. "Calm down, killer," she continued, flicking him in the stomach.

  Finley shoved her hand away, teeth clenched, and gave me this look of betrayal that I wasn't sure was solely to do with Revel. More than likely, it was to do with Mik.

  "Please sit down and don't cause a scene," I said, giving Fin's tight, black t-shirt and loose jeans a look. He wasn't wearing shoes which was sure to give one of the restaurant employees a heart attack. Pets might be allowed in establishments now, but the shoe thing was still pretty well-enforced.

  "Where's Riot?" I asked as, surprisingly, he took a seat at the table without protest. His orange-brown eyes lit on mine, blazing with both confusion and frustration. Fuck, I missed his tricksy old personality. Finley played pranks, made jokes, nibbled my earlobe and made me laugh … He wasn’t always like this.

  "Nursing his pains at a bar," Fin growled out, raking his fingers through his rust-colored hair and giving me a look. "Because, you know, you made out with a dead guy."

  "She was trying to save her ass—not that that incident is any of your business anyway," Revel replied, still standing up, and now with both hands planted on her hips.

  "Save her ass?" Fin choked out, his face twisting into a mask of rage. "She showed up to work in his shirt and practically fucked him on a desk right in front of me. How is that saving her ass?"

  "Wait, what?" Revel choked out as I felt my face heat. But I'd be damned if I'd let either of these two shame me for what'd happened. But then Revel turned her attention to me and cocked a brow, her orange tails swishing behind her. "Are you like, pansexual or something? Poly?"

  "What?" I choked out, thoroughly confused. I mean, well I knew what pansexua
l and poly meant—I lived in Colorado, after all—but where the hell was this question coming from?

  "I mean, you contacted me looking for a mate. I flew all the way over from fucking Japan for this." Revel gave me a look like I was the scum of the earth. "Dude, if you're fucking your boss, you should've told me that in your message."

  "What does my relationship with Mik have to do with any of this?" I asked as I glanced over at Fin and saw him with this stupid smirk on his face. It was comforting in a way, seeing that old spark of mischief in his eyes. Made me miss him in a way I hadn't expected.

  "Oh, this is rich ... " he purred, much in the same way as Revel. "You didn't send for a mail-order bride for me—you bought one for yourself." With a chuckle, Fin reached out a hand and grabbed for my wineglass, just as the waitress arrived to take our order. One look at our table though and she scurried away with a mumbled excuse.

  "I ... " As soon as Fin said it, it hit me like a brick in the face.

  Oh.

  Oh.

  Ooooooh.

  "You're here for me," I whispered as Revel rolled her eyes and leaned down, putting both palms flat on the tabletop and giving me a scrutinizing sort of look. "You came here for me," I repeated, just before she leaned in and pressed her mouth to mine.

  Our red lips clashed, and I was so startled I didn't even fight.

  My entire life, I'd considered myself to be straight. Like, straight as a goddamn arrow. In fact, as soon as her mouth touched mine, I was thinking about getting away, putting some space between us.

  But then …

  Holy fuck, women have soft mouths.

  Not only were Revel's lips soft, but she tasted sweet. Her lipstick smeared against mine as her tongue darted into my mouth, swirling against my own, bringing the crisp, sweet taste of the wine along for the ride. Her hand cupped the side of my face, demanding but comforting in a way, too.

  I'd heard rumors that women were better kissers than men.

  It was true.

  It was so true.

  Or at least it was for Revel Jones.

  I found myself leaning into her like she was the sun, drinking her in, letting her left hand trail down my arm, her long nails teasing my flesh. I'm not sure how long we would've kissed for if Fin hadn't interrupted us.

  He was around the table and yanking Revel away from me, shoving her back … and getting a gun to the face for his effort.

  "Do not interrupt me when I've got my tongue down a beautiful woman's throat. You hear me, dude?"

  "Fuck you," Fin said, not at all disturbed by the massive silver weapon aimed at his forehead. The rest of the restaurant however … not so much. People were screaming or gasping, cowering against the walls, but nobody was moving. In the post-integration world, situations like this were fairly common. Since supes tended to be strong, nearly invincible in some cases, we handled arguments with force. "You're all bark and no bite."

  Revel aimed her weapon at the floor and fired off a shot.

  Oh dear.

  Ziff was hissing now, his fur raised and his teeth bared.

  I snatched a bite of bread, shoved it in my mouth, and then stepped between the two kitsune, both of whom had their orange ears pressed against their skulls, their teeth bared, tails swishing.

  "Get your asses out of here before the cops or the NHSC show up," I said, snatching the bottle of wine by the neck and giving the two foxes one last look. Fin's brown eyes … Revel's green ones.

  Fuck me, I had a lot of issues to sort out, didn't I?

  Storming out of the restaurant, I took my wine, my bread, and my pet with me.

  Fin and Revel, they could work their problems out on their own.

  Me, I was screwed.

  My magic and my tail binding, that all relied on getting Fin mated.

  Apparently, I was only good at doing that for myself.

  Well, maybe I just good at getting myself teased. I'd had a lot of kissing and no action.

  So maybe, I had two big problems to worry about.

  Ziff licking my earlobe was what woke me up the next morning. I was nowhere near ready to face the day though, so I yanked a pillow over my head and tried to go back to sleep.

  Sadly, my little friend was having none of it and zapped me with static electricity to shock me awake. Little shit. He'd somehow learned that rubbing his back along my carpet vigorously enough generated the static needed to carry a shock when he touched me, and it was a trick he used way too damn often.

  "Fine, I'm up!" I yelled at my little buddy, throwing the blankets back and burying him with them. Serves him right. "After the night I had, you'd think I might be allowed to sleep in, don't you think?"

  The only response I got was a muffled chirping as Ziff fought his way free of the covers. Sighing, I staggered into the bathroom to run a cool shower in the hopes it might clear my head a little. Things in my life had all of a sudden become crazy intense.

  First Mik kissing me … Mikhail freaking Ravena kissed me and I thought my panties would burst out in flames. Then Revel. Revel. The woman who I'd brought here as Fin's mail-order bride, turned out to be my mail-order bride. For fuck’s sake. For thirty years, I’d identified as a straight woman, but that kiss … it was going to take three ice-cold showers to wipe that from my mind.

  And both in front of my exes. As if life wasn't complicated enough.

  Ugh. I needed some space and some focus. Neither of which I held out much hope for, but a girl had to try, right? I doused my head under the cool water and prayed for a miracle today. Something, anything not related to my four—freaking four—current and former romantic complications.

  My hair was so damn long it brushed the backs of my thighs when it was dry, and took forever to wash, but I just couldn't seem to bring myself to cut it. My mom had long hair; it was one of the clearest memories I had of her. So, despite the fact that it was totally inappropriate for my line of work, I kept it long. At least for now.

  When I finally finished rinsing shampoo and conditioner out, I shut off the faucet and squeezed as much water out of the heavy mass as possible before stepping out into the bathroom.

  "Holy fucking goddess tits," I swore, jumping with fright and almost dropping my towel when I saw the huge figure looming in the doorway to my bathroom. "Seriously, Mik?! Do you have a death wish or something? Who the fuck sneaks into a freaking assassin's house unannounced?"

  Mik narrowed his eyes at me. "You were in the shower. I highly doubt you took your guns in there with you, and you also need a better security system. I'll have my guys install one today."

  Well, he was right about the security system part, but I had brought my pistol in with me. Fit nice and neat behind the shampoo.

  "Mik," I growled, clutching my towel tighter and really, really trying not to think about just dropping it and pouncing him like a vixen in heat. "We need to have a serious chat about boundaries. But not now, I have shit to do today."

  "Shit?" he echoed. "Like what? We need to discuss what happened at the meeting yesterday." The way his eyes trailed down my body, it didn’t look like that’s what he’d come over to discuss. In fact, the only thing that looked to be on his mind right then was sinking his teeth into my neck and his dick into my cunt. Not that I would mind that, not at all. Maybe Fin and Riot had had some real fears about the vampire from the start? Not that I’d ever acted on them before now.

  "Uh, no. No, we do not." I shook my head in denial. "Like I said, I have shit to do and you were not invited in. Isn't that some kind of vampire rule or something?"

  Mikhail sighed and rubbed his hand over his jaw, shaking his head like he so desperately needed to clear it. "You watch too many movies, Thea." His words said one thing, but the tone of his voice said another altogether. I want you, Thea.

  "Mik," I groaned. "Please, get the fuck out of my house. We can talk or whatever later. I've got to get Chris to his NA meeting." Lies. I had nothing planned for the day, but I sure as shit didn't want to hear more hurtful reasons about
why kissing me had been an awful idea.

  "Hmm." Mik nodded, his lush, kissable lips pursed. "You’re a good friend Thea.” I felt almost guilty enough to confess that I had no such plans, but then Mikhail turned his sapphire gaze to mine and stole my breath away. He seemed almost … sad, which was a strange emotion on a man so full of self-confidence. “I’ll come back later then." He started through my bedroom to the door then turned back to me. "Don't worry about locking up when you leave. My security team will be here during the day to install better locks and surveillance for you."

  "I don't need better locks; do not send them over here!" I ended up yelling to thin air as Mik just waved a hand at me dismissively and left my room, slamming the door behind him. I did, in fact, need better security, but I wasn’t about to tell him that. Honestly, I’d put in a work order with the guild months ago for a new system.

  Ziff chirped at me from the mess of blankets on my bed and did a little bit of a happy dance, which made me frown. Surely he wasn't starting to like my surly boss, was he?

  "Ziff, just two nights ago you were trying to attack him. Remember that?" I squinted at my little friend who just chirped again and curled into a ball on my pillow. "Ugh, whatever. We need to go do something in case Mik actually does come back. I highly doubt the big, bad vampire appreciates being lied to."

  Leaving Ziff to nap, I brewed some coffee and began the laborious task of brushing through my hair. When I was finished, my arm ached and my damp hair was tightly braided into two fishtail braids which hung over my shoulders. I may not actually be working today, but I always needed to be prepared.

  "Alright little guy," I announced once I was dressed. I'd gone a little more casual today with ripped skinny jeans and a black tank top. Because the weather was getting cooler, I tossed on a cropped leather jacket and knee-high leather boots with a thicker high heel than I often wore. "Ready to go?"