SHARK (Shifter Kings Nashville Book 3)

by Holly Gunn

  “What?” I ask, again perturbed.

  “The ‘seriously’, the hanging out in your king’s arms, the goofy bathing suit with a symbol on it that shows you’re a Trekkie.”

  “It is not a Star Trek bathing suit!” I shout in horrified offense. Then, turning to Rudy, I say, “If I’m related to a woman who thinks the Deathly Hallows symbol is from Star Trek, zap me to the Underworld now.”

  When I turn my head back to her, it’s to see another smile, this one breaking my heart because I can see it now. It’s not that she isn’t happy. It’s that she’s not at peace. Still, she tries. Okay, so she’s kind of growing on me. “I’m not a nerd, so you’ll have to forgive me,” she replies, and points to herself again with my beer bottle.

  “Do you have any sisters?” I ask. I don’t know why. It just comes to me.

  “Nope,” she replies. “Just two older brothers, a pet pig, Mom, Dad, me, and Wolf, my German shepherd I’ve had since I was thirteen and Mom and Dad wanted to teach me some responsibility.” I hear conversation stop across the way where Poison, Doc, Spider, and Lion are. Sera continues but even Shark seems more alert. “He’s an old grump now, though.”

  “Your dad, your brothers, or Wolf?” I ask.

  For some reason, Poison snorts and I hear a few chuckles.

  “Wha—” I start, but Shark shakes his head, smiles, and mouths, “I’ll tell you later.”

  Sera replies to my question. “They’re all grumpy, but Wolf especially.”

  Poison’s earlier snort turns to all out laughter.

  I feel as though I’ve missed something.

  I look to Sera. I see it then. We do look alike. Only right now, we’re both wearing what I call my angry face. It’s two parts fierce determination, one part seriously pissed, and one part, I will kick your ass, I just need to find a weapon first (I’m really not convincing anyone I’m nonviolent, am I?). She hates being on the outside as much as I do, and we have the same look to prove it.

  Because of that look, I smile at her.

  She smirks back.

  “You totally look like me,” I agree.

  “No,” she says, “you look like me.”

  I shake my head. “When’s your birthday?”

  “May eleventh,” she answers.

  “I’m May eleventh, too!”

  “I’m twenty-eight,” she counters.

  “Ha!” I jump up and do a little dance. My fingers point out into the air. My booty shakes. My face scrunches. And I throw my head back and forth like I’m at a rock concert, hair flying around.

  I am such a nerd.

  And I don’t care.

  When I stop, I point to her. “I totally win. I’m twenty-nine.”

  She’s laughing. It’s rusty and short, but it touches a place deep inside—because I’ve made her laugh.

  Then, something slithers into my belly and the negative Nelly in my head whispers of years of insecurity.

  Now, my thought is, Oh shit, she’s laughing. She thinks I’m a loser. I’ve met my cousin, and I’ve done a stupid dance in front of her and now she’s going to think I’m strange, and …

  “You’re kind of kickass, do you know that?”

  “Huh,” I reply. Not a question, a statement.

  She’s caught me off guard.

  I plop back down in the sand, and Shark pulls me in automatically.

  He also translates. “That’s what she says when she’s shocked but can’t deny the truth. In this case, it’s the fact that you like her.”

  My heart feels a sharp but pleasant tug at that comment. Because it’s not only true, but he’s known me twenty-four hours and he already gets things about me that I don’t even get about myself.

  “Something like that,” I mumble.

  But what I say is overshadowed by Sera’s, “Who wouldn’t like you? You’re hot but still cute. You’re a nerd but a queen. You’ve got killer hair, fantastic eyes, and just saying, but I’m sure your king will agree that, even with the shorts on, I’ve never seen someone who looks as awesome as you do in a one-piece.”

  “Aw, thanks,” I reply instantly, a genuine smile hitting my face. “That’s the sweetest thing anyone’s ever said to me.”

  “Hey,” Rudy yells out. “I tell you you’re pretty all the time.”

  I wave him off. “You’re gay … and my best friend. It doesn’t count.”

  Shark presses closer to my back, his breath at my ear. “What about me, babe? Does it count when I say you look hot in your one-piece?”

  “Uhhh,” I reply, my tongue tied up in knots. Okay, it’s not my tongue. It’s my belly, which is above my pussy, a body part that’s currently wet and not from swimming. I clear my throat and say, “Uh-huh. Totally.” I have no idea what I’m answering. Oh, about the one-piece. I twist my neck to glance back at him. “Okay, fine. You win on the one-piece.”

  “Score,” he says, but it’s whispered.

  “Not yet,” I reply, patting his cheek. “Later. Superhero promise.” I turn back to Sera before I’ve even realized the implication in my words.

  My eyes go wide and I turn back to look at him even as laughter sounds across the fire. Lots of male laughter.

  “I didn’t mean—”

  He shakes his head and cuts me off. “A promise is a promise, nerd. And I’m thinking a superhero promise is one that definitely can’t be broken.”

  My mouth is dry. My pussy still wet, and getting wetter if I’m being honest. My nipples are hard and kind of hurt. That’s never happened before. My heart is pounding. My body warming.

  “So, cousin. Want to help me save the world—or at least your little corner of it?”

  My head swings back toward Sera.

  “Huh?”

  “Sharks eating people … The water and the beings of the water all unhappy … Lots of change coming …”

  At my blank look, she moves her gaze to Shark. “You haven’t told her anything yet, have you?”

  “She nearly drowned yesterday, found out her best friend’s a witch, got knocked unconscious when her matching tattoo finally showed on her arm—after mine by the way, not at the same time. She’s found out she’s queen of the sharks, met me—which I think is pretty fucking important, and just found out she, herself, is a witch.” My king’s hot when he’s riled which I think is something that doesn’t happen often. Though, even riled, his voice has that relaxed tone like he’s talking baseball stats, or you know … some other relaxing bit of information. “So, no. I haven’t told her there are other things we need to deal with. Today was about chillin’, good friends, good food, beer, a roaring fire. Not trouble on the horizon.”

  Sera’s quiet for a minute. Then, she nods.

  “Fine, we’ll talk trouble-stuff tomorrow. But …” Smirking and turning to me. “Is he for real? You didn’t know you were a witch at all?”

  “That’s kind of what I’ve been saying …”

  Then she declares, “Tomorrow,” pointing to me then pushing the empty bottle of beer my way, “we’re going to talk about my plan and then we’re going to teach you some magic.”

  With this, she vanishes.

  “What … the … hell … just … happened?”

  That’s me.

  “Damn Sea witches.”

  That’s Rudy.

  My eyes flick to him.

  “Rudy-Rou, I’m a Sea witch. Don’t be a jackass.”

  “You don’t disappear on a dime leaving emotionally cryptic messages in your wake like the damage from a tsunami.”

  I make a face. He’s right. I’m not cryptic at all. Sometimes, I’m confusing. But not cryptic. Though I wouldn’t call Sera cryptic.

  “She’s more mysterious than cryptic. Like the woman who can catch a Batman.”

  Rudy nods in understanding. “Totally a woman who gets Batman.”

  “I know a Batman,” Henry chimes in.

  “Don’t even go there,” Poison tells her.

  “What?” Henry asks innocently, batting her
eyelashes at him.

  Spider hides his smile behind his beer and chuckles.

  Henry’s gaze is still on Poison, and full of a mixture of sass and laughter. “Okay, okay. Fine. But just saying, Batman can’t hide out in his wolf cave forever. Every Batman needs a kickass reporter with water powers.”

  Although I don’t know of such a story, it certainly sounds cool. So, I nod in agreement.

  “Preach,” I call out.

  “It’s so nice having girls around,” Henry says in exasperation.

  Turning to me and ignoring Doc’s laughing, “Hello, girl right here,” Henry adds, “Wait until you meet Jules and Chanty. They. Are. Awesome!”

  “Lion and Spider’s queens, right?”

  They’ve all filled me in on who is with who and how.

  All that drama. I’m hoping a near drowning and passing out are about as far as my rise to queendom drama goes.

  I also hope the majority of my story includes lots of sex and just a little magic.

  And I cannot believe I just thought that.

  I feel Shark at my back, pulling me closer. My body slides closer to his, naturally.

  Home.

  There it is.

  And I think, Yes. Yes, I can totally believe all I want is sex and a little magic.

  SHARK

  “You did not!”

  We’re sitting in my living room. Everyone else is gone—including Rudy and Henry. It’s just me and Lexie.

  Her hand is on my chest, and I can feel those long fingers right around the area of my heart. They’re also near my manly tit, something I’ve got to say I’m enjoying the shit out of. Not many men like a little nipple play, but fuck me, I do. It’s why I have the nipple rings. She likes them. I know this from the way her fingers absently play with them. The way she constantly moves her eyes to them, looking as if she wants to suck on them, solidifies my knowledge of her liking them. These are the thoughts running through my mind, while her hand is on my chest.

  These thoughts are also the reason I miss her next question.

  “Yo, surfer dude,” she says, waving a hand in my face. “Are you paying attention, or are you just going to stare at my lips?”

  I move my eyes to her tits—and grin.

  “You can touch them if you want.”

  I know she’s joking because she giggles right after.

  I’m not.

  I reach out and run my thumb along one of her nipples.

  Her giggle turns to a gasp of, “Oh.”

  Then, her body shudders.

  She’s so primed, I could probably slide right into the heat even a shark can smell. Slide right in and never leave.

  Quick as lighting, I’m no longer lounging on the floor but looming over her on the couch.

  One hand at her back, the other gliding back and forth across her tit, she’s so sensitive, it’s like she’s never been touched there.

  When she says, “Oh” again, her hands on my shoulders squeeze tight, I take my chance and devour her lips. I capture her, “Ohs” and gasps and consume her breaths like her very air is a commodity.

  I suck on her bottom lip, pulling on it with my teeth, laving it with my tongue, and slowly but surely, my hand, on the outside of her one-piece, moves south.

  My mouth tastes and trails along her jaw, her throat, the little crevice of her collar bone. Warm air against her sensitive points all leading to the most sensitive of them all.

  Calloused fingers that I’ve gotten from years of working in a lumber yard take the straps of her bathing suit down slowly. More gently, I pull down the top of the one-piece and I breathe in her scent. It’s perfection. Clean water and a spicy smell that’s all pussy begging for attention.

  At the same time, I finally let my lips touch light-brown nipples, as my hand makes it to its destination. I remove her shorts and pull aside the fabric. Warm, wet, fucking fantastic pussy is what I’m met with. I groan against her tit, feel her body jerk at the touch of my hand and my mouth.

  One finger inside her tight channel. One at her breast. My teeth nipping at one nipple then another. Her own hands hold my head to her chest and force my mouth closer. She’s demanding I meet her needs, and I’m more than up for the job.

  I fuck her with my finger and let her breast fuck my mouth.

  My dick’s hard, rubbing against the inside of my board shorts but right now, it’s all about Lexie getting there. It’s about her surprised “Ohs” and her wild heartbeat. It’s about her quick gasps, her jerks when I touch someplace new, and her sensitive skin shuddering at each new pass of my tongue, my teeth, my calloused fingers, my palms. Every time a part of me touches her, I can sense her excitement, her need, and it’s like it’s the first time.

  It is. It’s the first time I get to be with my queen. So, while my cock wants inside her so fucking bad I can taste it, instead I taste her. On my tongue. Her salty, sweet, clean, spicy flavor bursts in my mouth even as I use my thumb at her clit.

  The thumb rubbing against her clit is her undoing. She clenches around me, circling her legs around my sides and my, now two, fingers fuck her over and over again while my thumb holds tight to give her release.

  I’ve never known a woman to come so long.

  It’s fucking perfection, exactly like Lexie.

  Different and full of life.

  Her drawn out, “Ohhhh” is the best sound I’ve ever heard. I want to hear it again while my dick’s pounding so deep inside her, she can’t help but repeat that breathy word.

  When she comes down from her climax, her dark eyes are unfocused but they’re on me, totally sated. And yet, they ask for more. They ask for everything.

  “That … was … awesome!”

  My fingers still inside her, my body lifted and leaning over my queen, I chuckle. “Well, nerd. There’s more where that came from.”

  Unable to help myself, I remove my finger from her pussy, feel her warmth wanting to drag even that small part of me back in, and then lick my hand clean.

  Fuck me, she even tastes like fresh, clean water and summer spices.

  I must make a sound because she sort of stutters when she asks, “Uh, so y-you l-like the t-taste of … that?”

  That. She’s so damn cute.

  Eyes on her, I enunciate my words. “Babe, I don’t like the taste of that. I fucking love the taste of your pussy.”

  Her head tilts the side. “Huh,” she says.

  I tweak her nose with the hand I’ve not licked clean and give her a long, lingering kiss. I mean for it to be sweet. And it is. It’s also hot. My dick’s at full mast now, ready to have its way in her tight pussy.

  I, however, need to slow this shit down.

  I really fucking don’t want to, though.

  I drag her top up and replace her straps but notice she’s giving me a wary look.

  “D-did I ...?” She turns her head to the side before glancing up at me cautiously. “Did I do something wrong?”

  “Shit, no,” I reply quickly and pull her into my side, so we’re sitting on the couch, her tucked into me. “Nothing wrong.”

  But I’m quiet while I try to form the words.

  “Have you ever been with anyone, Lexie?”

  She tenses next to me. And … there’s my answer. I settle her front closer to my side and make sure I’ve got her eyes. She wants to duck her head. I can see it. Still, I think she’s learning she’s safe with me.

  “Lexie, babe. How has someone as sexy as you, as smart as you, as fucking responsive as you, not had a man?”

  She shrugs one shoulder and her head tilts that way. She’s quiet otherwise.

  “Babe, I’m happy to be your first. Hell, I’m fucking ecstatic, but I gotta know if there’s a reason you haven’t had sex.”

  Her face gets serious, which on her is like everything about her: cute. So cute, my dick thinks its time is nigh. I hate to disabuse the big guy, but I’m thinking my girl needs more prep and a little more time.

  She blows out a breath. “I just
…” one of her fingers starts to play with my nipple piercing, and I feel a jolt. Damn, she’s testing the waters, isn’t she? “I just …” Another breath. Then her eyes are on me. “I wanted to be with someone special, you know? Like a galactic spaceman, or Deadpool, or one of those aliens who are green but still sexy in the book series Rudy told me I just had to read. I read it, and it was übersexy. Like touch myself constantly sexy. Rudy calls them one-handed reads.”

  Her eyes go wide. “I mean—”

  I kiss her temple and tweak her nose. “Babe, I had my hand in your pussy and your tits in my mouth. Thinking you shouldn’t be embarrassed about talking books that make you so hot you touch yourself.” I get a visual of this, and add, “In fact, I’m thinking, once you’re more comfortable getting it on with your king, it might be fun to watch.”

  She gives me a look like I’m a few marbles short of a set. “You want to watch me read and touch myself? Are you insane?”

  “Nah,” I say with a smile. “Only a little weird, like my queen.”

  “I’ll say,” she mutters.

  “So, you were waiting for someone special …”

  “Yeah,” she replies, her hand back to playing with my nipple ring. “It’s nothing weird. I wanted someone who’s worth opening myself up to. Intimacy is kind of hard to find, in case you haven’t noticed.” Lexie’s eyes move from my hair to my dick. “Or maybe you haven’t.”

  She tries to back away, but I grab her hand and put it back on my chest and I take the other in mine, effectively sitting her back at my side, her front twisted toward me.

  “Don’t even think about it, nerd.”

  Her laugh is brief and followed by a snort. When she starts playing with my nipple ring again, though, I know we’re in the home stretch of this particular conversation. I still want to be clear.

  “I’m no virgin. But I haven’t been with a lot of women. I always knew I’d find my queen, and so I basically just used it as practice.”

  “How much practice?” she asks, one of her eyebrows raised but a small smile on her face.

  I tilt my head back and forth. “A fair amount.”

  She smacks my chest.

  “Honesty, Shark. Oh!” she cries out in an excited voice. “This is one of my twenty-one questions since our game was interrupt—”