Authors: Milly Taiden
THREE
Liv noticed the woman eyeing her with interest. “I’m Gerri Wilder.” She gave Liv her hand to shake. “Owner of the Paranormal Dating Agency.”
Liv gave her the clean hand she hadn’t used to eat. The last thing she wanted was to cover the poor woman in chocolate. “Nice to meet you, Gerri. I’m Alivia Vela, but please, call me Liv.”
“Do you mind if I sit down?” Gerri asked, her look more intense by the second.
She hadn’t been wanting to spend time with anyone, but what the hell. The older woman had a nice disposition and a welcoming smile. “No. Go right ahead.”
Gerri sat across from her. Her gaze roamed Liv’s face, her exposed arm tattoo and her colorful hair. Unlike most people, Gerri appeared to like how different Liv looked instead of frowning at her like she’d broken societal rules by doing whatever she wanted.
“Thanks for returning the card,” Gerri said, placing it on the table next to Liv’s plate. Why didn’t she take it? She should put it in her handbag. Someone would eventually need it.
“You’re welcome.” She bit into the second cookie. Aurelis brought coffee for Gerri and a plate with chocolate covered cream puffs. “A paranormal dating agency, huh?”
Gerri grinned, her blue eyes twinkling with humor. “Yes. You have heard of shifters, right?”
Who hadn’t? Everyone knew shifters were the badasses that shared the planet with humans. They were built like Mac trucks. Tall, strong, and caught everyone’s attention. Men wanted to be them. And women…well, women just wanted them. It was said shifters fucked like animals. Too bad Liv had never had the luck to date one.
“Shifters. The sexy, growly men women die for a taste of. Those guys? I’ve heard of them.”
Gerri laughed. “Are you single, Liv?”
She nodded and sipped her latte. “Have been for thirty-six years.” She lifted her shoulders in a careless shrug. “If my dating life keeps going downhill, I might buy myself a cat or ten.”
Gerri pushed a strand of blond hair behind her ear, her gold hoop glinting in the light. “Don’t say that. You’re much too young and beautiful.”
“Well,” she sighed, “I’m giving up on men on this planet. I swear I’d have better luck with aliens.”
“Why is it so hard for you to get a man?”
“Aside from the obvious?” she replied with a question.
“What exactly is the obvious?” Gerri asked.
“My size. My hair, my tattoos. I get either the ones who think I am a super freak willing to take on a gang of men or ones who think I am desperate and willing to accept any kind of treatment.”
Gerri sighed. “That’s just like men. Never really using their brains.”
“Men are generally stupid.”
“I agree with you there.” Gerri nodded. When she glanced at Liv’s face again, Liv noticed the gold rim around Gerri’s eyes. She was one of them!
“Shifters sound fascinating, but you must have lines of women dying to hook up with one.”
“Listen, let me set you up on a date,”
She shook her head firmly. “No way. I have bad luck at this shit. People always give me the ‘good’ qualities of the man and then I find out the bad ones within five minutes of meeting.”
“I wouldn’t lie to you,” Gerri told her. “My clients want curvy women they can love. It’s that simple.”
Nothing was ever that simple. “Look,” she smiled at Gerri, “I really appreciate what you’re offering, but my luck sucks balls. I mean, I’m at the point I might get artificially inseminated and forget men altogether.”
Gerri’s brows rose and the interest in her gaze spiked. “You want children?”
She nodded. “More than anything.” She wouldn’t go into being raised by her grandmother and treated like she didn’t belong in the family. No. This wasn’t the time for those conversations.
“What if I told you I can set you up with a shifter who wants a woman who wants babies too.”
Oh, that was a low blow. Children were her weakness. Growing up feeling unloved left her wanting someone to love unconditionally.
“Really?” she couldn’t help but ask, her fingers circling the edges of the business card.
A knowing grin spread over Gerri’s lips. “One date, Liv. That’s all I ask.”
She swallowed the knot in her throat. “If it doesn’t work--”
“Then I will back off and even help you find the best place to get artificially inseminated.” Gerri patted the hand she’d placed on the business card. “But wouldn’t you rather make a baby the old fashioned way?”
“Hell, yes!” She laughed. “Especially if he’s good at it.”
“Good is not the word, darling.”
She raised her brows high. “If you get me a man who can make my knees buckle, I will skinny dip in the local pond.”
Gerri shook her head. “Don’t make promises you will hate keeping later.”
“I’ve yet to meet a man who can get me all the way there.”
Gerri frowned, a horrified look taking over her face. “Oh, child, please tell me you don’t mean an orgasm.”
She giggled at the fact it was so sad that men couldn’t do that for her. Everyone must have better luck with sex than she did if she went by Gerri’s reaction. “Don’t feel bad. I can give them to myself, but sex is just not…it’s not been good to me. I think I am not relaxed enough, so it doesn’t happen.”
“So what do you do?” Gerri blinked. “You don’t…do you fake them?”
She bit her lip, her brows wrinkling and she nodded. “What else could I do? Not like I can get up and walk away and be all ‘hey you didn’t get me to come so I’m out of here.’”
“That’s a damn shame. Don’t worry.” Gerri’s voice lowered. “The man I have for you… He’s out of this world.”
Wow. Something about the way she said it made her skin tingle and her blood heat. Could Gerri succeed where others had failed? She sure as heck hoped so. Now to deal with the date she already had that night. That was a difficult one. Thankfully, they were going to a bar near her building. Liquor would either solve or create more problems.
FOUR
Liv readied herself for the date as she stepped out of the elevator and bumped into a man.
“I’m sorry,” she said as she was grabbed by a pair of hands before she fell on her ass. She glanced up, and up, to his heart-stopping face. What the fuck?
“Liv?” Gerri said with surprise. “You live here?”
Liv had a hard time detaching her tongue from the roof of her mouth. The man she’d bumped into was walking with Gerri. He was big. Really fucking big. With all kinds of delightful muscles shifting when he let go of her.
“Ah, yeah. I live here,” she said to Gerri, her gaze stuck on the man. His hazel eyes studied her with open appreciation. Her cheeks warmed and her breaths came faster the longer he looked at her.
“Going out?” Gerri inquired with a curious smile.
“Across the street for another…” She bit her lip and watched the big guy’s arms flex. Oh, my. “Another, uh, gathering.” She sighed, not wanting to say she was going on a date. She didn’t want to say those words when such a mesmerizing male specimen stood in front of her. So close she could touch him.
“Come on, Karel.” Gerri tugged on the big guy’s shirt. “Have fun, Liv.”
She nodded. Karel, the big guy, continued staring at her for a moment before stepping into the open elevator then watching her the entire time the doors closed.
Her cell phone buzzed. It was her date. He was at the bar and waiting. Let the good times roll.
* * *
Liv glared at her date, Gerard, for the millionth time. He’d gotten it in his head that she was playing games.
“When I said I’m not into being tied up and hit with a paddle, I meant that,” she snapped.
Instead of realizing her tone and look meant business, the idiot grinned and winked. “Sure you’re not.”
She almost slapped a hand to her forehead. There really were people this stupid in the world. She picked up her drink and glanced around the bar. Since it was right across from her building, she felt comfortable having a few and crossing the street to go home. No need for anyone to drive her anywhere.
She sipped the last of her drink and noticed heads turning toward a corner. Two women sat in front of her table, so she couldn’t make out what was going on. Music played and people talked through the noise.
She hadn’t bothered to come to this bar in years since Monica got married and had her kids. It wasn’t the same without someone to have fun with. Most of the time she stayed home. When she did go out, it was usually with her neighbor Cassie who was traveling on business that week.
A couple waitresses stopped close to her chair. “Did you see him?” Her question was directed at the other server about to take a tray from her. “Not yet. I’ll check him out now.”
“He’s fucking gorgeous. Big and muscular. I think he’s some kind of movie actor or something. The eyes on him are beautiful. They glow this gorgeous gold that made me stand there like an idiot for a while.”
That description sounded way too much like Karel. She scoped the bar, searching to see if he was there. Her attention rushed to the corner that had been blocked before. Sure enough, there he sat, a drink in one hand and his gaze firmly set on her.
“Do you want to go somewhere less crowded?” Gerard asked, intent clear in his eyes.
Not tonight, buddy. “No. I’m good here,” she lied. She’d been dying to go home before, but now that she saw Karel, her attention had been drawn to his table. “I need to go to the ladies room. I’ll be right back.”
FIVE
Karel watched her go. The one who belonged to him. Gerri had said human women didn’t appreciate being spoken about that way, but he couldn’t help it. She. Was. His. Not a single doubt existed in his mind that Liv was the one. He traveled from Aurora on an urgent mission and the first woman he met was his mate.
Mine.
She glanced at him, her gaze curious and puzzled. She entered a ladies restroom, her wide hips swinging in a primal calling that made his beast growl. The man she’d been sitting with ordered more drinks. Karel clenched his jaw. He hated that she was sitting with someone else, giving her company to another when he was low on time and wanted to meet her. She should be with him, letting him get to know her, giving him her time.
“Can I get you anything, handsome?” a waitress asked, pulling his attention from the man to her. She leaned forward, the neckline of her shirt pressing tightly against her tits, pushing them up to display more. “If you’re feeling lonely,” she said softly, placing a hand over his on the table, “I get off at eleven.”
The scent of desperation and lust clung to the waitress. He’d done enough language and custom analysis of earth people to know how they worked, especially in North America. From what he deduced of the waitress, she wanted sex and he wasn’t interested.
“I’m fine, thanks,” he grumbled. Besides, if he wanted female company, the only one he wanted in his bed was Liv.
The waitress pouted and shifted from foot to foot. Her heels had to hurt. He didn’t understand how women wore anything that looked like a torture device. With her movement, he got a glance of the man with his Liv.
From his seat, the man appeared to drop something into Liv’s drink. He glanced around as if to make sure nobody caught him. That told Karel whatever he put in her glass wasn’t good. It was a few minutes before his beautiful woman came out of the ladies room, her fingers pushing long shiny strands of hair over her shoulder.
Her lush figure became a beacon to his eyes. Karel couldn’t look away from her. Her hips swayed with every step. Her short dress flattered her waist and ass. The cold glass in his hand slickened from the heat of his palm.
She stood by the man. He grasped her hand. A slow, angry growl started at the center of Karel’s chest, working its way to his mouth. Liv tugged her hand from the man’s grasp, sighing and taking a seat. He pushed the drink toward her.
A new waitress stopped in front of Karel, blocking his view of what was happening with Liv and the man.
“This is on the house,” the young woman said with a wink, her voice throaty and soft. “I hope you like them.”
She placed a basket of meat in front of him. She’d called it chicken wings. He’d yet to eat, so he was hungry, but at the moment, all he wanted was her to move out of his fucking way to see Liv and the man.
“Thank you,” he rumbled.
She stood for a moment, not saying anything but staring at him. “If you need anything,” she whispered. “Anything at all…”
He nodded. “I’m fine.”
She took her time moving to the next table, her gaze lingering on him.
Karel’s vision landed on the Liv’s table. It was empty. Alarm spread through his system like a shot of tequila. He stood, tossing paper bills he’d gotten from Gerri onto the table.
A hazy red hue covered his vision. His anger came out of nowhere, clawing at his chest, and pushing the animal inside forward.
Where did they go? Marching through the crowded bar, he tried to sidestep patrons laughing and having a good time. He wasn’t a fan of loud noises and powerful perfumes, but he wanted more time looking at his mate. His Liv.
When he got outside, he saw her jerking out of the guy’s grasp in the quiet street, not another soul in sight.
“Let me go this instant, Gerard!” she snapped, her body tense and eyes spitting fire. “I swear to god, I will make you sorry if you don’t.”
“What will you do?” the guy she called Gerard asked. “All I want is a goodnight kiss.”
“And I said no.” She yanked out of his hold, stumbling backward, her heel catching in a crack in the parking lot. She fell against the car at her back.
Gerard laughed, looming over her. He was much bigger than Liv, making it easier for him to intimidate her. “Looks like I’m getting my kiss after all.” He approached her fast, caging her with his body.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” she growled, her hands pushing at the big man. She tried kneeing him in the groin, but Gerard defended quickly, stopping her move. “Nuh uh,” he warned. “That’s not a nice way to end the night.”
“You fucking idiot,” she hissed, but the sound of fear in her voice tore through Karel’s ability to approach peacefully.
She glanced to her left and her gaze met Karel’s. Terror and anger flashed through her eyes. The jaguar demanded to be let loose, to protect what was his. Liv. The shift transpired quickly, his jaguar taking control of his body and Karel letting him.
Her eyes widened. He’d bet she’d never seen a shifter change. Bones reshaped and fur sprouted over flesh. He landed on all fours and gave a loud roar. Time to play.