Paranormal Dating Agency: Her Mane Men (Kindle Worlds Novella) Read online

  I rapped on the door of Human Resources and was shocked to find it full of brass and the company lawyer when they called me in. Suck. I was getting sacked. There were worse things, I lied to myself. At least I had savings and a strong skillset. I walked in, ready for my fate.

  “Please, have a seat. You know everyone here?” Sally, the director of Human Resources waved her arm, indicating who referred to. I did know them all, or at least who they were. It was intimidating, at best.

  “We are here to inform you, Ms. Solaris, that George Francis was terminated this morning, effective immediately. After you left on Friday, four more employees came forward about his inappropriate conduct.” She went on and on about who knew what, my mind unable to focus thanks to the lawyer watching me so intently.

  “Thank you?” Because how do you respond to that. Surely glee was frowned upon.

  “Ms. Solaris, as the corporate lawyer, I feel it my responsibility to explain to you your rights on how to precede.”

  Ha. Of course, they were worried about getting sued.

  “No worries. I just wanted not to be fired over his lies. Him being gone means I no longer have to worry. No suing from this girl.”

  The president chuckled at my response, earning him the evil eye from his lawyer.

  “If that is all?” I motioned to stand and was given a head shake by Sally. Not done. Ugg.

  “I think Ms. Solaris and I can finish the rest on our own.” Sally shooed them away with her hand and they immediately began to comply. She might not have a high-ranking position, but she sure held the power. They left mumbling that if I needed to talk or take some time just to let Sally know and she would arrange it, to which both Sally and I rolled our eyes.

  “They were all here in case I tried to sue?” Most of them hadn’t even opened their mouths once. Oh, how office life had changed since I first started.

  “Pretty much.” Sally leaned in conspiratorially, “When they discovered that this division had no breaks and was riddled with sexual harassment, that was the first place they went. Gotta get lawyered up.”

  “I’m just glad he’s gone.” If I’d realized the breaks were a huge thing, I’d have reported him long ago. Many of us would’ve since it was an easily provable offense, unlike the leering and accidental touches.

  “You and I both.” She reached to her shelf, grabbing a binder and handing it my way. “That leads me to the second reason you were called in.”

  By the time I left Sally’s office I’d gotten a brand-new job. George’s, to be specific. It wasn’t anything like the jobs I’d been putting my name in the hat for, but it was a huge raise and one that had transfer potential, which, in the back of my mind, was the best part of it. Our company had sister companies across the country, including in Maple Rivers. It put more options on the table for our future, for, after this weekend, there was no doubt we had a future.

  It was an hour before lunch when I finally left her office, and all I wanted to do was to call the guys and tell them all things. I promised not to say anything to the rest of the staff until the formal announcement was made, so I let Betsy know I was stepping out and went outside to call them. The patio was where the smokers took their breaks and had a few people doing just that, so I snuck around to the alley, dialing them as I did.

  “Everything all right?” Curtis answered the phone on speaker.

  The alley was exceptionally smelly, the scent of urine filling my nose.

  “Hello to you, too.” I blew a kiss because why not? They were mine, after all. “Everything’s great, I just wanted to let you know how things went because silly me I thought you might worry.”

  Parker’s laughter belted through the phone at my jibe.

  “What? Us? Worry?” He was still cracking up, and I could envision him shoulder bumping Curtis as he did. I was a worrier, so I got Curtis’s concern. I really did. It didn’t make it less funny.

  “We are close by. Can you take an early lunch?” He completely ignored our teasing. Lunch sounded perfect. I could easily get the rest of the afternoon off since my new job hadn’t started and they’d offered any time I might need.

  “I think so. I no longer have my position–”

  “What?” Parker cut me off before I could finish, leaving me feeling not at all bad about his concern “Oh baby, we’ll think of something.” He was sweet about it though, so bonus points for him.

  “I meant I no longer had mine. I now have George’s. He was canned this morning.” A growl filled the alley. Not the sexy growl of my future mates, but that of a dog.

  “Congratu…”

  I dropped the phone as I came eye to eye with the most enormous dog I’d ever seen, with the possible exception of a Newfoundland a neighbor had when I was a child. A blood-curdling scream escaped my lips. Unlike that Newfoundland, this dog looked feral, his teeth bared, his eyes on me as the growl grew louder with each step he took. Fuck. I might not know a lot about animals, but I knew that I was currently his prey. Thank the good human resource fairy, I had yet to go to my desk, and my keys which held my pepper spray dangled from my purse. Slowly taking baby steps back, I popped the pin of my pepper spray, praying it still worked. Roxanne and I got the little canisters years earlier at a women’s expo, so who knew? As he lurched forward, I pointed and sprayed, keeping my eyes closed to avoid accidentally incapacitating myself in the process. His yelp triggered my flight mechanism, and I bolted as fast as my feet could take me to the main street and into the insurance company, the first door I saw.

  “Miss, are you all right?” Stanley called as he ran over from his station.

  “No. No, I am not. There is a rabid dog in the alley set on eating me.”

  “Stay here, miss.” And with his hand at his holster, he ran out the front door.

  Feeling safer with a gun in the picture, I ran out just as a roar echoed through the streets. Running back, fearing it was my men about to be eaten by the rabid beast, I was stopped short as unfamiliar arms wrapped around me.

  “Stay put, miss. Your mates will handle this. The mutt doesn’t stand a chance.”

  He led me inside, and I let him, hearing the weakening whelps of that wretched beast. I was not one for animal cruelty, but I hoped that thing went down and fast.

  Stanley’s walkie talkie went off, my mind too focused on the front door and when the guys would come through it to even register what was being said.

  “Miss? Maddie?” Squeezing my shoulder, he started again. “The guys are on their way in, but through the back entrance. Follow me.”

  The short walk had us at the door just as it opened, another security guard in front, my men holding scraps of clothing but looking unscathed.

  I ran to them just as they made it through the threshold, throwing my arms around them both as they murmured words of comfort. They were fine. My men were fine.

  “What should we do with him?” an unknown voice called from the doorway where two security guards now waited for instructions, a bloody mess of a man between them.

  Double eff. That dog was a shifter. Scratch that, that dog was George. What the heck?

  “Holding cell,” was all Stanley said, and they marched him away, but not before he put his two cents in.

  “You will pay for this, bitch,” he hollered back, the guards dragging him, ignoring the remark completely.

  “I’ll go grab you guys some clothing and make sure we got the fence closed off before anyone saw. I’ll be right back.” Stanley ran off, leaving us alone in the small corridor.

  “I’m feeling like maybe you neglected to tell us something this weekend? Possibly?” Parker was right. My desire to have a nice weekend instead of dwelling on work put them in danger. I stank. Not that he said that, but I sure did.

  “To be fair, I figured I’d deal with it today, if I still had a job.” The truth of it didn’t make it better. “I’m sorry.”

  “And you put your life in danger.” Curtis’s arms tightened around me, their tattered clothing smushed b
etween us.

  “I had no idea he was a freaking dog.” A huge, rabid freaking dog.

  “Wolf. He was a wolf.” Curtis’s lips brushed the top of my head.

  “Which I’m thinking was something you might have told me about since you can smell them or whatever.” Or at least that was my assumption since they had once commented I didn’t smell shifter.

  Parker stiffened behind me, clarifying any uncertainty I had as to their knowledge.

  “We all jumped the shark on this one.” Parker’s finger ran down my arm before clasping his hand with mine.

  “Looks like.” I agreed, because Parker was right, we all did. “What is going to happen to him?”

  I had so many more questions than that, like why an insurance agency had a holding cell, but it was a start.

  “It’s up to his pack to decide, but given the fact he tried to kill a human in broad daylight in the city due to a vendetta, my bet is that we won’t see him around anymore.”

  Before I could inquire if that meant jail or death, Stanley returned with some sweats for the guys and a bottle of cola for me. I didn’t even drink soda, but the gesture warmed my heart.

  “Shall we take you home?” Curtis asked, already leading the way. Silly men hadn’t yet realized I was already home. They were my home. Mine.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “Sure about this?” Curtis’s eyes never left the paper in front of him.

  “Absolutely.” The transfer papers I had given him had been burning a hole in my purse waiting for them both to be there before springing the news on them. “We can live in Maple Springs. I want to live in Maple Springs.

  “We can live here,” Parker offered for the fifth time in as many minutes. He didn’t want to live here. He loved Maple Springs, making the gesture more special than he would ever truly know. They had spent over a month with me here, at a sacrifice to both their careers. I owed them this, and seeing Roxanne regularly wasn’t going to hurt.

  “Or you can bite me, make me yours, and let me start my new job in time for a Christmas bonus.” It had been an ongoing discussion. Them not wanting to rush me and me wanting to rush. It didn’t feel like rushing, though. The time was right. We were ready.

  “Pushy mate.” Parker pushed his chair out, which I took as an invitation to join him, taking a seat on his lap.

  “Eh eh eh.” I waggled my finger in front of his nose. “Not mate yet. You need to get more bitey for that.”

  “So how do you want to do this.” Curtis put down the paper, the moving conversation over, if the lust burning in his eyes was any indication.

  “With teeth, I think.”

  “I meant the mating. Do you want to go to a nice B&B for the weekend, or maybe a cabin in the mountains?”

  Oh. He meant the question literally.

  “You want to wait until we can make travel plans?” Parker was less than impressed with the planning phase of the discussion. Not surprisingly, given his erection pressing into my ass.

  “He can be an over planner,” I said. “How about this, you guys go make out, and I’ll hint of what to do next.”

  “You just want to watch us.” Parker observed, a glint in his eye.

  “Damn straight I do.” Which they both knew, and since they both liked taking their turn at watching, it was fair enough. I’d imagined the naked part of our relationship many ways before we even began, but none of my fantasies were half as satisfying as the reality turned out to be or, as creative. I was a lucky, lucky woman.

  “And then what?” Parker asked, helping me up so he could take Curtis’s hand and lead him to the bedroom, me scampering behind him.

  “And then what what?”

  They were already removing each other’s clothing. Naked making out for the win.

  “After you watch us making out? Then what?” Curtis winked.

  “Oh, you want details.” They loved it when I talked dirty, not that I was good at it, or maybe because I wasn’t and they had to pull every detail from me.

  “Preferably. You know, cause, math guy.” He shrugged before giving Parker’s nipple a little tweak, the way he liked.

  “Well, I was thinking you guys would be all making out, and I’d get so taken away by the sight I’d have to get naked because wet panties are so not comfortable.”

  I gave them a hurry-along wave, and they began to do exactly as I suggested: nice, slow making out—naked. Hands wandering, but never too low, tongues and lips everywhere. When I could no longer take it, I stood up, removing each garment as slowly as I could force myself. Initially they didn’t notice, but by the time my bra snapped open, their eyes were on me.

  “Then I would come over and help you two get naked because being naked alone is no fun.” I explained as if it were clear as the nose on my face.

  “She has a point,” Parker agreed, his cock bouncing and ready to go.

  “Shhh I want to hear this.” Curtis faux scolded as he ran a finger up the back side of Parker’s cock with every intent of torturing me. Yum.

  “And then I’d want to see you guys getting a little frisky with your mouths, you know, for research.” And because Curtis had his finger in his mouth after capturing the pre-cum off Parkers cock, making my thoughts go straight to naughty.

  “Research?”

  “The scientist in you should appreciate that. I would need to see if blow jobs were different when a man gave them.” With that, I pushed down my panties.

  “Obviously, we would need to show you that.” He swallowed deeply before getting down on his knees in front of Parker’s needy member, taking him down with one swift motion before looking up at me with a wink. Three more trips down and a swipe around the head later, I could no longer take it.

  “But then, sadly, the show would be over,” I announced, walking the few steps between us.

  “Over?” Parker was not impressed.

  “Yes, because by then I would need you inside me so bad, I’d be about ready to bust.” I ran my hand down his chest to where Curtis was still giving him his now-divided attention.

  “And how would that look? I need details if I’m going to get this right.”

  “Well, I was thinking, the closet door has that huge mirror.” Upon my insistence, but that was neither here nor there. In our new place, we were going to get a freaking mirrored room if I had any say about it. Not being able to see all things was pure torture at times.

  “I think I like where she is heading.” Parker always liked where things were going, especially when it came to mirrors. It was still nice to hear.

  “She is the best of us.”

  “Agreed.” He held his hand out to me, and we all made our way around the bed to the side facing the closet. “Continue.”

  “Hardly. Any who. Since we all need to get bitey, this will take more than one round, mathematically speaking.” We all needed to bite each other, and since none of us were Cirque Du Soleil trained, we won. At least two mating rounds, more if we chose. Yes, please.

  “True.”

  “And since we all agreed, this isn’t all about me, it’s about us…”

  “We never agreed—” Curtis was a stickler about me not putting words into their mouths, but these were sexy words, so he needed to be done.

  “Shhhh. We have.” I winked to let him know this was part of my game. Not that mating was a game, but still.

  “Since we have all agreed, I was thinking the best way to do this is you come inside me, Curtis, as Parker comes inside you. And then, you know, all the biting as we’re coming.” If I didn’t come before we started, because, damn, I was about to just from knowing what was next.

  I climbed onto the bed, spread my legs wide, and waggled my eyebrows up and down.

  “You, our sweet, delectable mate, are a genius.” Curtis spoke with such sincerity, completely ignoring my shenanigans, Parker mimicking him on my other side.

  They leaned in, kissing each other before each kissing me, slowly, lazily as if we had all the time in the worl
d, which we technically did, but my body wasn’t buying it. A primal part of me I’d only seen glimpses of before was pushing hard at me, pushing me to bite well before it was time.

  “I-I need,” I begged.

  “Yes, love.” Parker’s hand caressed my cheek, his words tender even as the desired built in his eyes. “We see that. The need to complete the bond is riding you hard, isn’t it?”

  “That’s what this is?”

  Yes. Bond. Now.

  “Then, yes. So very. I need you inside me—now.” More like five minutes earlier, but now worked.

  Curtis slipped inside me, filling me completely, molding his lips to mine as he leisurely made love to my mouth and gently rocked inside me. I wanted more, needed more, but when our kiss broke, I caught a glimpse of us in the mirror, the reason for his slow pace, and a wave of lust slammed into me. Behind him, Parker was stroking his cock with one hand as he prepped Curtis with the other, all while watching me. With a light glance at Curtis’s ass and a wink, Parker guided his cock into our soon-to-be mate, and I had to will myself not to come at the sight of it. I closed my eyes, thinking of anything not sexy I could, while I gained some semblance of control as Curtis’s movements became quicker and deeper.

  “I’m not going to last long.” I cried out at the same time Curtis did. At least I wasn’t alone in the predicament.

  “Good thing we need a second round,” Parker teased as he increased his speed again, throwing me over the edge, my teeth sinking into his shoulder before I made the conscious decision to do so. As Curtis’s sank into mine, the intensity of my climax increased to a level I had never reached before, my ears static-filled and eyes seeing stars.

  Roxanne had told me that when it came time for the actual mating, I would know what to do instinctually. I only half believed her at the time, but she was spot on. There was no thinking to it. They were mine, and I needed to claim them. They were mine. Mine to have. Mine to love. Mine to trust. Mine. There was no better feeling in this world than that.

  “Shower time?” I asked when we had finally caught our breaths.