by Fox, Piper
Christian took the offered flashlight and shone it where Declan had pointed, his voice taking on a professor’s tone, “I’m not sure. Before you told me about your condition, I didn’t know of Were-Fossas, had never heard of that type of creature, much less a Were that could shift on command. And I know a lot of shifters and Weres, man. So I’m guessing not much is known about you. Though if we go by what we know of the animal itself then not much is known about them either so we’re pretty much batting a zero when it comes to research on either subject. However, I was able to find something; I’m just not sure it relates to you or your condition.”
Declan placed the big candle he had found on the coffee table and lit it, eagerly turning to his friend for more information, “What’d you find?”
A cinnamon smell began wafting through the living room as Tamara came in and had a seat on the couch, propping her feet up on the coffee table in her attempt to get comfortable, “That’s enough light, guys. I’m sure we can talk about this without all the candles blazing. At least for now.”
Declan sat on the couch next to his mate, placing his arm over her shoulders and bringing her close to his side, “I suppose you’re right, sweetheart. As long as we don’t have to read anything.”
Christian had a seat on the chair to Tamara’s right, perching on the edge in his excitement, “Well I had brought the printout of the information with me but I pretty much know it by heart because I have gone over every word a million times so we don’t really need to read anything.”
Declan moved to the edge of the couch in his eagerness to know more about his condition, leaving Tamara’s side, “So tell me what you found.”
Tamara moved to the edge of the couch and grabbed her mate’s hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze, “Relax, darling. I’m sure Christian is getting there.”
She turned to look at their guest, a pleading look in her eyes, “You are getting there, aren’t you?”
Christian laughed and stood, pacing in front of the coffee table and the couple on the couch, “Yes. Of course, I’m getting there. So, you know as much as I do about the Fossa, which isn’t much I’m afraid, but let me elaborate for those of us in the room who have not studied that animal for the last three years. What is known about the Fossa is that it can fit inside of a thimble, really, but this is the information on hand; the fossa is a cat-like, carnivorous mammal endemic to Madagascar and is a member of the Eupleridae. That’s just a fancy way of saying that this animal is a family of carnivorans closely related to the mongoose. Keep in mind that this classification is quite controversial due to the fact that the Fossa’s physical traits resemble that of the big cats, but other traits suggest a close relationship with viverrids. That being said, since our expedition to Madagascar to study the creature more closely was cut way too short to find out any more about it, we’re just gonna have to go by what we already know. Unless our professor decides to go back to Madagascar sometime in the near future.”
Christian took a deep breath before he continued, “Now as for your condition, Declan, there has been one reported sighting of a half-man, half-creature. The report doesn’t say much except that the part of the man that wasn’t human appeared to be cat-like with sleek fur all over the body and they moved more like a cat than a human male. The family that made the report to the local rangers stated that their youngest child watched as the man-creature changed into a creature that looked similar to a mongoose with a tail like a monkey. When prompted, the youngest drew this picture. Now I know we are looking at this in candlelight, which makes it a bit hard to see, but can you tell me what it looks like, buddy?”
Declan leaned closer, squinting at the printout of a child’s drawing, “It looks like a Fossa. But they could have seen that animal in the San Diego Zoo!”
The Were-Fossa stood in his frustration and began pacing in front of the fireplace.
Christian cleared his throat, gaining the attention of his best friend, “I don’t think that’s the case, Declan, and this is why; this creature was reported to have been seen in Wisconsin. That family who reported the sighting to the local authorities had been camping and they claimed to have seen this creature as they were going into their tents for the night. I’m not sure how much of this report is true because I ran across it on one of those conspiracy theory sites online, but you and I know how often the truth is hidden on those sites.”
Declan nodded and made his way to his friend in front of the coffee table and placed his hand on Christian’s shoulder, “Yeah. So, what do you think we should do? Should we go out to Wisconsin and check it out for ourselves?”
Tamara leaned forward, anger and frustration clearly written on her face, “You’re not going without me. Not this time.”
Christian stopped his pacing waiting to see what would happen between the couple in front of him. He could tell by the look on Tamara’s face that she would not be talked out of going with them to check out this lead. But he knew Declan would try to talk her out of it nonetheless as he felt it was too dangerous to have her with them, regardless of the fact that both men could shift into an animal and would be able to protect her from almost anything. He watched as his friend moved back to the couch, taking long strides that ate up the small space between the fireplace and furniture.
Declan sat back down quickly and took her hands, hoping to calm her down, “You can’t go, sweetheart. You have a restaurant to run.”
She jerked her hands out of his and stood, pacing in front of him, “The last time you left town without me you came back changed. And I’m not just talking about mentally, though that has changed in some ways as well. So, you’ll have to forgive me when I tell you that I’m not sitting this one out, Declan. I have just as much right as you to find out what happened to you. I’ll talk to Alexandra and have her take over for a few days. She’s the assistant manager and already knows how to do the books. She also happens to be my sous-chef, so she knows the menu and how I run the kitchen, which means I don’t have to take the time to teach her anything. How do you think I’m able to get away with you on the weekends? Did you think I close Poppy’s from Fridays to Mondays? That would put me in the red!”
Christian rested his left arm on the mantle above the fireplace as he watched the fiery temper take hold in his friend’s mate and he could see why Declan refused to leave the human. She might not have any special abilities, like being able to take on an animal form, but she could certainly hold her own against the two of them.
Declan stood and grabbed her shoulders, stilling her movements, “All right, darling. You handle what you need to handle, and Christian and I will make the arrangements.”
Christian pushed off of the mantle, holding his hands up in front of him with an offended look on his face, “Woah, woah, woah. Aren’t we getting a little ahead of ourselves here? I never said anything about going to Wisconsin. We have school to think about, Declan. Unless, of course, you’ve decided to let your condition run your life and are planning on dropping out instead of getting that degree you’ve been so eager to get.”
Declan shook his head, determination practically radiating off of him, “Um, no. I’m definitely not dropping out because I need that degree now more than ever. But we have break coming up soon.”
Christian gave a short nod, knowing that his best friend wouldn’t do anything to chance his chosen career, “True. But it’s only a week long.”
Tamara stood between the two men, who had been arguing over her head, and placed a hand on each of their chests in an attempt to keep things from escalating, “All right now boys. Let’s all just calm down and think logically. It shouldn’t take more than a week to find out all the information we can on the sighting and possibly locate that man, right? I mean, we will need to go to the Camp Rangers and see what they have to say and what reports they might have. I’m sure more than the one camping family has seen this creature, correct? ”
The men went still, looking at Tamara as if she had just magically appeared before th
em, as if she hadn’t just been arguing with Declan a few minutes before herself. Both of them nodded and sat back down, thinking over her suggestions.
Declan stood and made his way to the front door, opening it just a crack and letting in a blast of cold air and rain, “Well the storm is still raging so it looks like you’ll be spending the night, Christian. Which means we have plenty of time to come up with a game plan. Tamara, do you mind running upstairs to set up the guest room so Christian has somewhere to crash?”
Tamara looked at the man in question, taking in his physique, then looked back at her fiancée wondering what he wanted to talk about with his best friend that he felt he couldn’t discuss in front of her, “Uh, sure. Yes of course. I’ll be back in a jiffy.”
Chapter 5
The men were sitting on the couch, their heads close together, speaking in hushed tones when Tamara came back down the stairs, “And just what are the two of you planning? Hmmm?”
She stopped at the bottom of the steps and looked the men over, taking in their differences. Declan was light where Christian was dark. Her mate had light brown hair that had a golden tinge when the light hit it just right, the same color as the coat of his animal form, and his eyes were a golden brown that had gold flecks in them when he was in his animal form while Christian had black hair and dark green eyes with tanned skin. Declan’s manner of dress was completely different of that of his best friend as well. Where Christian was a T-shirt, jeans, leather jacket and biker boots kind of guy Declan was more of a preppy type of dresser, with khaki pants, polo shirts and loafers.
Declan stood and made his way over to his beloved, wrapping his arm around her waist, “Nothing you won’t enjoy, darling. I promise.”
Christian had moved behind Tamara as Declan lifted her chin up and softly placed his lips on hers. Christian replaced his friend’s arm with his own around her waist from behind; pulling her body into his while Declan moved his kisses to her throat.
Tamara stiffened in the men’s arms and pulled away slightly, “Wait a minute. Just wait a minute. What are you doing, Christian?”
The men chuckled while Declan placed a finger under her chin and brought her attention back to him, “You don’t really mind, do you, Tamara? It’s not the first time we’ve added another body to our bed. Besides, I thought you liked it when we spiced things up a bit?”
She moved further away, leaving the men standing close together, looking from one to the other struck again at how different they were, “I thought that’s what our little hide and seek games out here on the weekends were supposed to do, Declan. Or that’s what you said those games were for anyway. Are you saying they’re not working anymore? Or is it that they’re not enough?”
Tamara sat on the couch, a hurt look crossing her face, “Is this where you tell me that I’m not enough for you anymore? Am I losing you to your animal needs?”
Declan put his hands up, trying to placate her, a serene look on his face, “I’m not saying that at all. The games really do spice things up. Of course, they do. But if you’ll calm down and think about it for a minute, sweetheart, you’ll remember that we’ve talked about this before. I thought you might like to live out one of your fantasies since you gave me my threesome fantasy, that’s all.”
Christian had been quiet throughout the couples’ discussion, letting Declan handle his fiancée and her decision. He wanted Tamara, could feel his cock stirring at the thought of having her underneath him, but only if she was willing. And in order to be sure that she was willing, he was content to stay quiet and let his best friend sweet talk her into joining in on their fun.
Tamara gave their silent guest an assessing look, “You haven’t said anything about this matter, Christian. How do you feel about it?”
She wasn’t sure why she had asked, one look at the front of his tight jeans showed her how he felt about the possibility of having sex with her, whether her fiancée was involved or not. But she wanted to hear him say how much he wanted her. To mention how much fun, he felt the three of them could have, if only she would let her guard down. Which was something Tamara found rather hard to do at any given time.
Christian moved forward, his hands up in much the same gesture as Declan’s, his face a calm mask, “I don’t want to push you into doing something you’re not up for. Declan and I discussed it, sure, but if you’re not on board then we won’t do anything. But know this; I do want you, Tamara. The need is almost a physical ache and it’s been a consistent thing since you answered the door. Declan had mentioned that his fiancée was hot, but after seeing you earlier this evening, I have to say that he was sketchy in the details. He also mentioned that you were pretty open-minded about sex. Let me say again, that we aren’t going to push you into doing something you don’t want to.”
Tamara felt the blush rush up into her cheeks as she took in the scene. The two men were standing close together and she was struck by how different they were. One dressed in biker clothing with his pretty boy looks, his dark locks curling above his right eye. The other dressed in his comfortable clothes looking like a prep schoolboy, his wavy light brown hair slicked back and curling around the collar of his polo shirt. Both were holding their hands up, faces the picture of calmness, as if they were surrendering. But to what? What were they willing to surrender to be with her?
She gave them a wicked smile, “The two of you discussed this huh? While I was fixing up the guest room for your stay?”
The two men nodded, their smiles slipping a little.
Tamara looked at Declan, her eyebrows raised in question, “Was that an excuse for me to leave the room so that you could set this up with Christian? Did the thought that I might not be as receptive as you were hoping ever cross either of your minds? Is that why you felt the need to discuss the idea amongst yourselves?”
Declan shook his head as he made his way over to his mate, a gentle smile playing on his lips, “No, my love. It isn’t like that at all. I wanted Christian to be comfortable and felt that the guest room would fit the bill. It wasn’t until you had left the room that he mentioned how I understated how hot you were. That lead to a joking conversation about the three of us playing some adult games together tonight, which then turned into a serious consideration. But, as Christian stated, we don’t want you to do anything that you are uncomfortable with.”
She looked from Christian to Declan, gauging both of their facial expressions as she asked, “And you couldn’t have brought this up while I was in the room? You know, see what my reaction might have been? What is it with guys and needing to be in charge all the time? Not all relationships work like that. I like to think that mine and Declan’s relationship is in the twenty-first century and a fifty-fifty type of thing, but then something like this happens and it seems like I’ve only been imagining it all these years. We are all adults here and can have a civil conversation about sex, threesomes or otherwise. The two of you didn’t need to wait until I left the room to discuss how hot you think I am or joke about how bad you want to get into my pants.”
Tamara threw her hands up in the air and paced in front of the fireplace, “Why can’t a woman be in charge of the sexual situation, for once?”
Declan took hold of Tamara’s shoulders trying to focus her attention on him as Christian answered her question, “It’s not that. At all. I didn’t want to risk rocking the boat in my friendship with Declan’s by telling him how sexy I think you are. I don’t have many friends, so I try to keep the ones I do have. In order for me to do that, I felt joking my way into the conversation as the best way to go. Once I had broken the ice about your looks, it didn’t take long for our conversation to turn serious about sex. Weres, no matter the species, are an untrusting lot and because of that, we don’t hang with many people, beings, whatever. Declan and I have been friends for years and I want to keep it that way. I couldn’t see talking about this subject while we were having dessert.”
Tamara laughed, “I can totally imagine that conversation, ‘Gee the s
trawberry shortcake was divine, Tamara. And Declan your fiancée is way hotter than you said!’ To which my love would respond, ‘Dude, I know right? Wanna tag team her later?’”
Christian chuckled with her, “Yeah I have a feeling that would have gone over as well as a lead balloon.”
Declan waited until his mate met his gaze and her giggles had subsided, “Tamara, do you remember the night we had with Kari? You didn’t come to me with the idea, did you?”
Tamara shook her head, acceptance on her face, and Declan continued, “Why do you think that you discussed the fun the three of us could have with her before you came to me?”
She took a deep breath, beginning to understand why her mate’s friend didn’t broach the subject while she had been in the room, “Because she’s my best friend and I wanted to keep it that way. But I also wanted to make sure that I didn’t cause a rift between you and I. We had fun that night though, didn’t we?”
Declan could tell that Tamara was beginning to warm up to the idea of her fiancée and his best friend taking her together and he grinned. He took her hand and led her back to where Christian was standing, moving behind her when they reached their destination. She leaned back into him, gathering her strength and courage. They didn’t do this often so it was always a bit nerve-wracking for her to let her guard down so completely that she would enjoy herself. She had always had control issues and they didn’t just go away, even if sex was involved.
Christian moved closer to her, looking deep into her eyes for an answer to his unasked question. When she nodded, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her to him; their bodies flush and claimed her mouth. With Declan behind her, Tamara did her best to let her worries go, melting into the kiss.