by Lisa Oliver
Little gasps, trembling lips; oh, Quaid was enjoying himself so much – and this was just the first act! Quaid could picture long evenings, stretched out on a couch with more room than Cari’s present one, kissing his mate into a climax. From the way Cari was wriggling against his chest, it was something Quaid figured he could do easily.
So caught up in his musings and the pleasure of having his mate in his arms at long last, it took a moment for Quaid to realize a strong scent of wolf was coming from the front door. Pulling away from Cari’s swollen lips, Quaid rumbled, his lion furious at someone coming near their unclaimed mate, especially the way he looked right then.
“What’s wrong?” Cari’s eyes widened at his growl.
“Shush.” Quaid put his finger over his lips. Carefully untangling himself from Cari’s body that was plastered all over him, he got up, padding silently to the door. Tilting his head to one side, he listened. Seconds later there was a pounding at the door, followed by a loud, female laugh.
“Cari!” The woman yelled from outside. “Cari, it’s Lucy. Let us in, we’re here to celebrate with you.” More pounding followed.
/~/~/~/~/
Cari jumped to his feet, shocked that Lucy and the others might be visiting him. He made to go to the door, but Quaid put up his hand to stop him, then pointing to the couch, all without saying a word.
“But,” Cari mouthed silently. He just couldn’t leave the door unanswered.
Quaid pointed to his chest and then back at the couch. Sighing a little, because while it was hot his “bodyguard” was protecting him, it also went against all Cari’s instincts to not open the door himself, Cari perched himself on the edge of the couch, his hands folded in his lap.
“Cari?” Lucy’s voice was getting louder. “I know he’s in there,” she loudly cackled with her friends. “It’s not as though that loser goes anywhere without us.”
Cari closed his eyes, he was mortified, but not before he saw the glower on Quaid’s face. Without warning he heard the front door open and Lucy’s surprised, “Ooh. well, hello handsome.”
Her seductive tones were enough to force Cari’s eyes open. Even though it was a Wednesday night, Lucy was dressed much the way she did when she went out on Saturdays. Her slinky red dress clung to her frame like a second skin, and her long dark hair was flowing around her shoulders. In her hand was a bottle of wine. Typically, she hadn’t noticed him, she was too busy trying to rub up on Quaid. “I didn’t know you were a friend of Cari’s. He must have been holding out on us.”
The “us” alerted Cari to the fact Marcus and Ryan were with her. Like Lucy, they were dressed to seduce. Marcus was like a male version of Lucy, although he’d chosen black fitted pants and shirt for the evening. Ryan was blond like Quaid but that’s where the similarities ended. Fine boned, he sashayed his way into the apartment, plopping himself down on the couch. Cari tried to inch away, but the man just sprawled into the space.
“Are these friends of yours, Cari?” Quaid growled, holding Lucy at arm’s length. “Is it normal practice for you to be drinking on a Wednesday night?”
Cari stiffened at the accusing tone, but strangely, it was Lucy who bailed him out. “Cari drink? You must be joking.” Cari had never noticed how cruel her laugh could be.
“And yet you brought wine?” Quaid pointed to the bottle. “Even though you knew he didn’t drink.”
“Cari doesn’t mind us drinking around him, do you, Cari? And I’m sure I can tempt him into having one little glass, seeing as it’s a celebration and he’s in his own home.”
Even her smile is fake. Cari wondered why he’d ever thought Lucy could be his friend. “You have work tomorrow, Lucy. I’m surprised to see you so late. Has something happened?”
“As if you have to worry about working anymore. Darling, I came as soon as I heard.” Lucy scooted away from Quaid and took the empty space next to Cari on the couch. “We’re billionaires darling. Who the heck needs to worry about working anymore? Come on, you must have some glasses around here somewhere. Get them out, let’s get this party started.”
Cari sat frozen. He didn’t have a clue what to do. “I thought there was only one winning ticket in the lottery,” he said, quietly, looking at Quaid for guidance. But Quaid was too busy glaring at Lucy.
“Well, of course, there was only one,” Lucy said dismissively. “Otherwise you wouldn’t have come into so much money. But you’re part of the pack now. You’ll share your good fortune with us, I’m sure. You know it’s the right thing to do.”
For the first time, Cari noticed the pushy edge in Lucy’s tone. The same one he’d responded to a dozen times before. This time though, he didn’t feel the instant need to obey. “There’s no point in opening that wine, Lucy,” he said, praying his voice wouldn’t tremble. “Quaid and I were just getting ready for bed. Perhaps we can catch up over the weekend.”
“Ooh, so we’re having that kind of party, are we?” To Cari’s horror Lucy stood up, pushed the straps of her dress down her shoulders and shimmied out of it. Standing completely naked, except for her heels, Cari couldn’t work out how come she was still holding her bottle of wine. “I’m game if you are.”
Then Cari noticed Quaid looking at Lucy. He didn’t understand what Quaid was thinking, it was impossible to tell, but something savage rose up in Cari for the first time in his life. Quaid was his. “I think it’s time for you to go,” Cari said, grabbing Lucy’s dress off the floor and shoving it towards her chest area. “All of you, get out. I never asked to see you naked. I never wanted to see you naked. You all came in here and made a fool out of me in front of Quaid. Get out. Go on, get out.”
He tried to push at Lucy, but then his hands hit bare flesh and he recoiled faster than a bullet. Stepping back, he fell over Ryan’s feet, landing with a thud on the floor. “Get out!” He screamed. Emotions, strong emotions swamped through his body and Cari couldn’t help himself. Calling on his hedgehog form, he ignored the fall of his glasses on the floor, scurried out of his clothing and under the couch. Peering out, he could just see as far as Quaid’s knees. You’re supposed to be my bodyguard. Do something.
Chapter Eight
Quaid eyed the naked lady, who dropped the dress as soon as she saw he was watching her. “I think Cari made himself perfectly clear, don’t you? He wants you three to leave.”
“Hey, buddy,” Lucy put her hands on her hips and thrust out her chest. “I don’t know who the hell you are, but we’re the only friends Cari’s got. So, I think it’s you that should butt out, don’t you?”
“You think I didn’t hear you refer to Cari as a loser?” Quaid pushed himself off the doorframe. “You think I don’t know what you think of him, truly? You think I don’t know what all this is about?” His voice getting steadily louder, Quaid stalked closer.
“Your alpha sent you, am I right? His dirty tricks with the lawyer and the therapist didn’t work, so you’re the seduction team. Any reason your wine bottle is already opened?” Snatching the bottle from Lucy’s grasp, Quaid brought up the opening to his nose and sniffed. “Drugged. Guess you wouldn’t bed Cari even for a billion bucks, aye?”
To her credit, Lucy didn’t back down. “Cari and I are very close,” she sneered. “I’ve been working on the Alpha to get him admitted to the pack. A lot of the younger members like him.”
“For what? A snack?” Quaid growled. “None of you could be bothered with him until he saw that therapist. Then all of a sudden you wanted to be around him. He’s gay. You tried to get him attached to someone in the pack, but why would you do that when the whole pack knows the Alpha doesn’t want him around?”
“The Alpha changed his mind, before he won all that money,” Lucy added. “The Alpha doesn’t leave his territory. We were easing Cari into the idea of being pack.”
“He doesn’t need a pack now,” Quaid said with a smirk. “He has me. Do you have any idea who I am?”
“A hunk with a love of hogging doors.” Lucy folded her arms, pus
hing up her breasts.
“I’m Quaid Poullon, of the Poullon pride. You may have heard of the name. My brother is on the paranormal council.”
“Hey, if the council’s getting involved in this shit, I ain’t sticking around,” Ryan unfolded himself from his couch sprawl. “I ain’t got a problem with shafting Cari once or twice for the money, but council shit’s too heavy for me. Later Dudes. Hey, Marcus, you coming?”
“Marcus will stay right here,” Lucy snapped.
“No, I won’t.” Marcus, who’d remained silent for now, made to follow Ryan out the door. “Unlike you, I actually like Cari. I think he’s a decent guy. I only came here tonight because I thought he might need some protection. It seems he already has that well in hand. Mr. Poullon, good night.”
“I’m going to tell my daddy on you,” Lucy yelled. “You’ll be cleaning latrines for a month.”
“Alpha daddy, why aren’t I surprised?” Quaid slammed the door on the departing men, trying to peer around Lucy to make sure Cari was all right. “Put your dress on. You don’t need to be naked to hear the message I have for your father.”
“I wouldn’t fuck you on a bet anyway.” Lucy pulled the dress over her head. “Now give me my wine, and I’ll get out of here.” She reached for it, but Quaid kept it out of her grasp.
“Na, I’m keeping this. Your fingerprints on the neck of the bottle, drug in the contents. You can expect a visit from the council enforcers too, you and your father.”
“Why are you doing this? Is it the money? Is Cari paying you to protect him? We can double your fee. This has nothing to do with you.”
Quaid caught a glimpse of a tiny white nose peeking out of the bottom of the couch and smiled. “The only thing I want from Caractacus Hudson, money can’t buy. If you think you’re getting your hands on one cent of Cari’s winnings, know that you’re going to have to go through me first.”
“This is a pack matter,” Lucy insisted one last time. “He petitioned our pack to join three months ago, well before he got his money.”
“And he got turned down,” Quaid roared. “He was made to feel inferior because he was an omega and not a wolf. This tiny apartment was the only place he could afford to live because he wasn’t welcome in pack territory at all. He came to your pack begging for help and you all turned him down. Your fucking therapist kept tabs on him, charging him exorbitant fees without so much as contacting Cari’s prickle like he asked. He never had protection from any of you. Instead, he was treated like a mildly amusing toy. Well, not anymore, do you understand? Not anymore.”
“Sheesh,” Lucy sneered. “Sounds like you’ve got the hots for the little lotto winner’s bank account too. This pack has got a lot of influence in this town. Let’s see what your boss has to say when he finds out you’re getting up close and personal with a client.”
Quaid could easily imagine what his boss would say. Fortunately, mates trumped everything. “Do your worst. I don’t give a shit. Now, get out and if you know what’s good for you, don’t come back.”
“I’ll be seeing you,” Lucy promised as she sauntered towards the door.
“Not if I see you first.” Slamming the door for the second time, Quaid leaned against it, letting out a long breath. Cari’s little nose was still twitching under the couch and after a moment to compose himself, Quaid crossed the floor, sinking down on his knees so he could peer under the couch. Look at that, no dust bunnies. “Are you coming out little mate? Even if I shift, I’m never going to get under there and I really need to be close to you right now.”
As he’d described, Cari’s shifted form was pure white. The only points of color were his pink nose and tiny feet. Only his eyes remained hazel, making Quaid question if he was a true albino – he always thought they had red eyes. But he realized it really didn’t matter at all, when Cari scuttled out from under the couch, and his naked human form emerged.
Chapter Nine
Cari hadn’t intended on shifting back into human form. The humiliation he’d suffered in front of Quaid was enough to make him want to stay in his hedgehog form forever. But the thought of a lion shifting in his tiny apartment didn’t sit well with him either, and besides, he couldn’t speak when he had prickles.
Reaching blindly for his clothes, Cari couldn’t even look at his mate. “How could he do that?” He shoved his head through the neck of his shirt. “How could that therapist take my money and not get in touch with my prickle?” Cari gasped as a thought hit him. “Maybe they’ve been waiting for me to go back all this time and they don’t know where I am. I thought Douglas was negotiating with them, but if he hasn’t….”
“In all that was said in the last thirty minutes, that’s what you’re fixating on? The prickle that banished you?”
Clearing his head from his shirt, Cari glared… at his pants, because it wasn’t in him to glare at Quaid. He wondered where his glasses had gone. Oh yeah, they’d fallen on the floor. Picking them up, Cari gave them a quick swipe with his shirt and perched them on his nose. “If you’d rather discuss my humiliation, go right ahead. If you wish to make fun of me for my undignified emotional display, I can’t stop you doing that either. The thought that any of my so-called friends would have to be paid to sleep with me, they’re dreaming if they thought I’d be interested. But if you have something to say about that too, speak now or forever hold your peace.”
Sugar snaps. Emotional overload. What on earth was I thinking? Forever hold his peace. I’m a moron. More stress Cari wasn’t sure how to deal with. Find my pants. Cari looked down. They were in his hands. This should be easy. One leg at a time. But when Cari tried to get his foot in the hole the way it was meant to go, his toe got caught in a seam and ripped the material. Could my night get any worse?
Cari knew, because he’d had therapy and did listen to his therapist even knowing the man ripped him off and tried to embezzle all his money away from him, that he needed to stop and do things one step at a time. That meant getting up off the floor, putting his pants in the trash, going over to his closet and getting another pair. So, get up.
I can’t. Quaid will see my skinny butt.
He doesn’t care about your skinny butt.
Great, now his inner self was criticizing him, but Cari had spent a lifetime facing the truths of his situation, from the first time he shifted and found he was the only white hedgehog, to when he was banished from his prickle with barely the clothes on his back. His inner self was right. Quaid was a proud creature – a fierce lion, who wasn’t going to be keen on mating him anymore because of the horrible things Lucy said. He would hardly be ogling his naked body.
Pushing himself to his feet, Cari refused to look at Quaid as he made his way to the trash can, deposited his pants and then walked, not ran, into the tiny bedroom where his spare clothes were kept. He hesitated between the closet and his chest of drawers. His closet held three pairs of work pants and one pair of jeans. His drawers were where he kept his pajama pants.
Stuff it. Cari allowed himself a rebellious moment and reached for his drawers. Wearing sleep pants when company was around was not the polite thing to do, but maybe Quaid would leave if he saw them, and then Cari could start making lists. He had a lot of things to work out.
“Cari, are you okay?” There Quaid was, lurking in another doorway. Lucy was right about that.
“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.” Cari got his sleep pants on with as much grace as he could muster. “I’ve had a rather trying evening. I think I’ll make some hot cocoa and get some sleep.”
“Why are you shutting me out?” Quaid sounded peeved.
Cari still couldn’t face him, but he tilted his body slightly in the direction of the voice. “Again, I don’t know what you mean. You’ve seen the truth of my life now and how people treat me. I don’t expect you to stay. I have to… I have to… I need my phone.”
“To call Lucy and her friends?” Quaid was blocking his way out of the room.
“Why would I call them?
” Maybe my mate was dropped on his head as a baby. “I need my list maker. It’s on my phone.”
“Isn’t there something else we’ve got to do first?” There was something in Quaid’s tone that made Cari look up. The lion was stalking towards him, stalking being the operative word. It was as if Quaid and he were locked in a slow-motion movie snippet. Quaid’s shoulders flexing, his thighs bulging – Cari could see the minutest details of each movement, and then the moment broke because Cari only had a small bedroom and Quaid was right up in his face.
“Are you saying you don’t want to be claimed by me tonight?” Quaid’s voice was deep, sending rumbles through Cari’s belly. A hand came out; Cari expected his head to be cupped again, but the hand went a lot lower, a lot lower, right over his ass low. Cari’s feet left the ground and he reached out, clinging to the only thing in front of him – which was Quaid. Sugar snaps. This close, Cari could sense the lion lurking under his mate’s skin. Predatory. Powerful. Cari tried to swallow but the lump in his throat was too big. Black spots danced in front of his eyes and his heart was racing for all the wrong reasons. BREATHE!
/~/~/~/~/
Shock, Quaid thought decisively. His little mate was suffering from shock. Given the lateness of the hour and the hugely stressful day Cari had been through, it wasn’t surprising. But his mate fainting on him wasn’t going to help the claiming process along. And Quaid was more determined than ever that Cari was going to wear his mark before the sun came up.
He had questions – a hundred of them – and yes, they needed to sit down and have a serious talk. But now was the time for butterfly kisses. Hundreds and hundreds of butterfly kisses instead of questions. Covering Cari’s soft cheeks, button nose, and tight jaw line. His mate was really quite delicious.