Authors: Vanessa Devereaux
Hannah
nodded as she poured some for Ava. “I used to manage a restaurant and quit when
my son was born.” She topped up Nick’s glass. “The trout pate will be ready any
minute. Have you decided on
a main
course?”
“I
have, how about you, Ava?” asked Nick.
“I
think I’m going with the salmon.”
“Good
choice.
You have your pick of rice pilaf
or mashed potatoes, and it also comes with vegetable of the day which is
broccoli.”
“Definitely
the rice,” said Ava.
“And
I’ll try the meatloaf but I’ll go with the potatoes.”
“Great,
I’ll get these orders in and be right back with the trout.”
“So
are you a meat and potatoes type of guy?” asked Ava.
Nick
raised
his
hand. “Guilty as charged.”
“My
dad was too,” said Ava before she took a sip of wine.
“Was?
I take it he passed away?”
She
nodded. “Ten years ago and he never got to see me go through the
ac
…”
Nick
looked at her when she’d stopped in mid-sentence.
“Graduate
from university. How about you? Your parents still alive?”
Hannah
chose that moment to bring out their trout pate along with a plate of sliced
French bread and crackers.
“Enjoy,”
she said placing the plates in between them.
“Um,
this looks worthy of just diving into,” said Ava.
“Go
ahead, ladies first. And to answer your question,” said Nick setting the napkin
across his lap. “My parents died when I was a teenager.”
“Both
of them?” asked Ava spreading the
pate
across a thick slice of bread.
“Yes.”
“Accident?”
He
nodded. “Yeah, a collision,” said Nick knowing he wasn’t lying. They had died
in one of those just not the sort she probably thought. The
collision that had robbed him of his parents
had been caused by their planet crashing to Earth
“That
must have been horrible for you,” said Ava.
“Really
was life-altering.” That hadn’t been a lie. “And your mother is she still
alive?”
“I
don’t know because she just up and left my dad and me when I was five.”
“I’m
sorry to hear that.”
“I
guess some women aren’t cut out to be mothers.”
Boy
that had to be tough on a little kid. At least it didn’t seem like she harbored
any bad feelings.
“Siblings?”
he asked.
“None
and you?”
“Nope.”
They
finished the last of the
pate
just as
Hannah brought out their main courses.
“These
both look delicious,” said Ava.
“You
mind if I turn on some music?” asked Hannah. “I’m hoping to get someone in to
play piano a few nights a week. Don’t
suppose
either of you play.”
“Not
me,” said Nick.
“I
play, but so badly that people would leave,” said Ava.
“Dane
used to play. He’s one of our
group
.”
The
word group had slipped out before he’d realized it.
“My
running group,” added Nick.
“Dane
Reynolds?” asked Ava.
“Yeah,
you know him?”
“Maisey
mentioned him I think. His wife’s in her prenatal yoga class right?”
“That’s
them. He used to play, so did his first wife. Ask Charlotte for his number.”
“I’ll
do that and enjoy your meals,” said Hannah.
“Dane
was married before?” asked Ava.
Nick
took a bite of his meatloaf and looked at Ava. She really was
nosy
but maybe that’s what being a journalist
was all about. However, why the sudden interest in Dane’s life?
“Yes.”
The group always knew to give one-word answers if anyone asked about some other
shifter, just in case.
“Divorced?”
He
took another bite. “Widowed.”
“But
he’s young…I
mean,
I know it can happen
to anyone. Was she sick?”
He
stabbed at a piece of meatloaf. “No, she was killed by a hunter.”
“Geez,
I’m so sorry to hear that.”
He
was going to say these things happen to us more times than we’d care to
remember,
but stopped himself just in time. He
was beginning to realize just what he loved about hanging out with his fellow
shifters and not humans. This was all too hard and maybe he should stop
thinking of pursuing Ava
anymore
even if
she was obviously mate material. Nip it in the bud.
Well,
that’s what he thought until Ava put her hand under the table
and onto his thigh. The action turned him hard immediately. He fidgeted just a little
hoping she didn’t see how uneasy he’d become. He washed down the meatloaf with
a big gulp of wine, almost causing it down the wrong way.
“This
meatloaf is off the charts,” he said, hoping that would ease his libido that was
now in overdrive as she began to squeeze his leg, digging those cute pink
polished nails into his flesh. “Chock full of garlic so I might not
be fun
to be around in an hour’s time.”
“A
little garlic’s never put me off kissing a man.”
Her
hand edged
farther
up his leg, getting
dangerously close to his crotch. Then without warning her hand went right to
his dick. She held it.
“Wow,
this is
quite
something,” she said.
Nick had no idea if she was referring to his
size, or the fact that he was as hard as a rock.
She
gave his cock a playful pinch. Just enough to send the blood pumping to his shaft
at record speed. She had no idea just how dangerous it was to toy with a
shifter like this. He could easily rip off her clothes, flip her on top of the
table, and take her.
He
hadn’t thought about having sex with her. No, that wasn’t true. He’d seen her
as mate material and that meant sex on the first date, no waiting to see if you
were compatible between the sheets. Her sex drive was obviously on par with his
own as he continued eating the salmon with her right
hand
while her left one didn’t stray from his dick.
“You
enjoying that?” he asked her before he realized he should have been more specific
about which of the two things he was referring to.
“Both
are delicious.”
Had
it suddenly gotten hot in here or what? Nick ate the last of the meatloaf and
washed it down with the rest of his wine. Hannah returned to their table. She
glanced under the table and smiled. Oh yeah, she’d seen Ava’s hand on his
crotch.
“How
was everything?” she asked.
“Best
meal I’ve had in a long time,” said Ava.
“I’ll
definitely be a repeat customer,” said Nick.
“Glad
to hear that,” said Hannah, taking their plates. “You want to see the dessert
menu or are you in a hurry to get home?”
Had
there been a touch of sarcasm in that last question? Humans and their dry sense
of humor again.
“You
want to split one with me?” Nick asked Ava.
“I
think I’ve got room for just a little more,” she said.
“Anything
you recommend?” Nick asked Hannah.
“Black
Forest Cake which I’m thinking of renaming Charlotte’s Cake.”
“In
honor of the mother-to-be we’ll have one of those and two forks,” he said.
“Sounds
good and I’ll be right back with it.”
“I
have a little confession to make,” said Ava.
He
knew it had been too good to be true. She knew about the group and was fishing
for a story.
“Chocolate
makes me as horny as hell.”
This
time it wasn’t the wine that went down the wrong way but Nick’s own saliva. And
he thought she was already on the horny side when she’d grabbed his cock. Geez,
at this rate they
would
be doing it on
the tabletop. He coughed and Ava patted him on the back just as Hannah arrived
with the mile-high cake and two forks.
“You
okay? You want me to
top
your water up
for you?” Hannah asked him.
Nick
raised his hand and shook his head. “I’m fine, really.”
She
put the very generous slice of cake down between them and then handed them the
forks.
“Enjoy
it,” said Hannah.
She
walked away and within
seconds,
Ava dived
into the cake. Nick took a generous piece with lots of whipped cream and one of
the maroon-colored cherries.
“Delicious,”
said Ava. “And I think the chocolate’s already taking effect.”
This
time is was the cherry that almost choked him.
One
thought popped into his mind.
Condoms.
He’d
seen boxes of them in the store but had never needed to use one. Sex with a
human would be changing that. Darn. He was a guy that didn’t like anything
getting in the way of his dick and some pussy, but that’s what sex with these strange
creatures would entail.
Drugstore
was the
second thing that sprang into his head.
“You
mind if we make a quick stop on the way back your motel?”
Chapter Six
Ava
had guessed why he’d stopped at the drugstore on the way back to her room. When
he’d first gotten out of the
car,
she
thought that maybe he was heading into the liquor store to get them a nightcap
but then he’d made his way through the door at Mason’s Drugs.
He’d
spent what seemed to Ava like forever in there. She’d then guessed what he was
buying and knew it meant that they were going to have sex. She remembered what
Nick’s cock had felt like in her hand. The feel of his size and hardness had
made her grow more excited as the night wore on. She’d had an uncomfortable
walk from the car to her room due to the dampness in the crotch of her panties.
Since
that incident all those years ago—yes, she still referred to
it as
that and always would—she hadn’t been the
type of woman who slept with a guy on date number one. But she’d never met
anyone quite like Nick. There was something about him she couldn’t put her
finger on. Plus, she was only in town for a short time until this stupid dead-end
assignment came to its conclusion. She was going to make the most of being
around a good-looking man who took her out for a meal and bought her flowers.
No one had ever bought her flowers on a first date before.
Nick
ran his finger down the side of her face before leaning in and kissing her. She
didn’t,
as he’d predicted, detect any
garlic on his breath, but instead a pleasant minty odor followed by his tongue
passing over the threshold of her lips and then into her mouth. She
reciprocated and soon their tongues were getting acquainted and clearly
enjoying one another’s company.
She
ran her hands through his hair. Thickest she’d ever touched—wavy with a little
coarseness to it. Almost like a fur pelt. He pushed his hand up under her
sweater, quickly finding her right breast. He squeezed it, turning her nipple
into a hard little nub that ached for more of his attention.
Could we speed
things up
?
Hopefully
she hadn’t said that out loud but she had warned
him about chocolate’s effect on her libido. He kissed her again. Hurry, please
hurry. She didn’t know why she was in such a rush because normally her main
complaint with guys was their lack of consideration of foreplay, often
resulting in a dry pussy that hurt like hell when the real fun began.
Tonight
that wasn’t the problem. Just the opposite in fact. She was literally dripping,
causing both her panties and pants to become soggy. He playfully bit her lip
before pulling away.
“I
want to get you out of this sweater and bra,” he said.
She
wanted that too. Ava was about to help him lift it upward, when he held her
hands preventing her from going any further.
“Allow
me,” he said.
He
eased it up and over her body with such finesse that she guessed he’d had had
lots of practice with undressing women. Nick tossed it to one side, also with a
pizzazz that seemed to say,
I’m an expert
at this sort of thing
.
“Secures
at the front,” he said putting his hands on the front of her bra. “I like it.”
He’d
figured out that a bow concealed the clasp and with one hand popped it open.
Seemed he was just as adept at doing that as he was with removing a woman’s
sweater.
Cool
air touched her chest as the sides of the bra fell away and hung like two
holsters on her shoulders. Did he like what he saw? Had he already realized
that she was no skinny Lizzie? She didn’t take her gaze off Nick as he pushed
the sides of the bra completely away from her body and studied her.