Shifters on Fire: A BBW Shifter Romance Boxed Set (33 page)

Kolani

This was all one huge tangled web, but for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out which string to cut—scared it would be the same one to make our noose.

“She’s coming, right?” My brother elbowed me in the ribs. No one else could hear him over the drums, but it pissed me off nonetheless. I laughed off the question, but grunted at the truth he pointed at. There was a good chance that Talia wouldn’t show up.

And despite his protest, my brother had always had his eye on Talia, claiming he was watching her for me—for my protection.

With the chorus of gasps, I finally let go of the pent up nervousness. The rest of this day would be a breeze. Tie the knot, act like we are happy, bring her home, deal with her feisty ass for three months.

Easy, right?

I allowed my eyes to dart to Raya’s face for a split second. She would’ve been the ideal wife for me. She didn’t want much. She was the Pinterest type—making the home cozier—making me the best meals she could—making lots of babies. She was a simple girl and I balled my fists in frustration that my parents hadn’t chosen her instead of the pistol who was taking her sweet-assed time making it to the altar.

Who was I kidding? No matter how long I had her for, I would cherish the time with Talia—attitude and all. The first time I wrote my own name in Kindergarten, I also drew a heart and wrote her name underneath. There had never been any other choice for me—my parents had chosen her and despite not knowing that much about her—my heart had chosen her as well.

“Well, damn. I’d be jealous if I didn’t know better.” My wolf growled at the intonation in his voice and he didn’t like the fact that even a sibling had his eyes on her.

Until my brother said that I’d purposely kept my eyes off Talia. I knew that no matter what she wore, it would be killer, but I never expected to be the one to die.

I didn’t need this shit. I needed her to be wearing some kind of mu-mu with elephant ear leaves on it. That was what I needed to get through this alive.

My breath caught in my lungs as I took the chance and looked at her anyway.

If there was a female made to excite me from twenty feet away, she was it. Her exaggerated hour glass figure didn’t quit as she flaunted it down the aisle. Her skin was caramel and in the light of the torches shone brighter than the sun skimming on top of the ocean.

I needed to stop looking. Looking wasn’t part of the deal.

Nothing but the ring and three months was part of the deal and she knew it.

Talia said nothing to me as her hand brushed mine while she stood beside me looking nervous despite her downturned mouth that read boredom.

She was shaking. My wolf didn’t appreciate the fact that I was letting it happen—even for a few seconds.

I linked my fingers with hers out of pure instinct alone. If I did love this female—and I didn’t—I wouldn’t want her to be nervous, least of all in front of me. I was practically harmless—especially to a woman. Her shoulders dropped little by little and relaxed as her grip on my hand tightened like a vice.

Songs, ancient and powerful, were sung to us as drums pounded again, to the gods and to the heavens for allowing us to join in this union. My chest swelled with pride in hearing the warrior’s calls and the howl’s to the light in the night sky. More than once, my impending mate brushed away a tear from her eye.

Our mouths repeated the words our hearts denied and before I could forgive the painful pulse in my head, it was done. She was mine and I was hers—at least in the eyes of the clansmen around us.

Of course, for wolves there was a lot more than words that went into mating. But none of that would be taking place tonight or any night for Talia and I. Our people only engaged in mating with our true mates—and Talia wasn’t it for me.

At one time I’d thought she was. I followed her through clan gossip and hearsay. I’d certainly been attracted to her long before I’d known what to do with that knowledge. All I knew was that one day this female would be mine.

And now we were running a sham that would bring her shame among my people.

The thing was—she didn’t give a damn. Talia wanted out of this marriage—out of our clan—and away from the ways of the wolf. I bet she hadn’t shifted in years. The need for her wolf to be freed was palpable and my own wolf wrestled with how she could stand to be pent up for so long.

Yeah, that was the other issue in this fake mating—my wolf didn’t give a mad fuck if it was fake—he wanted her more than he’d wanted anything in my life. It was all I could do to repeat the necessary phrases while holding him back from tearing through my skin and claiming her. More than my first shift, more than running under the full moon—nothing could compare to the sheer hold of his need for her.

He would just have to get over it—the animal.

“What now?” Talia says, hitting me in the gut with her flowers. “Sorry I didn’t mean to—here. Sorry.” Before I could say anything about how snotty she was being or the fact that my mother picked those flowers with her own two hands—she took it all back.

I chuckled instead and said, “There’s a celebration. But it will be dark. You can pretend that your sulking face is due to all the lust building up.”

Crossing my arms over my chest, I waited for her to give it back to me as hard as I’d given it. It felt like shit too—being mean like that. My mother would’ve knocked me six ways to Sunday if I’d even thought about talking to her like that. But this girl deserved it—I thought.

And it would make it easier for us both in the long run—for me to be mean to her. For her to be mean to me. To deny everything else cycloning inside me.

“I’m not sulking. Would you like me to hump your leg? Show everyone that I’m uncontrollably anxious to get you alone?” At least her own smart-ass comments made her smile.

Grabbing her hand, I pulled her toward the celebration which had already started. “Sure. You do that. I’m sure the wedding photographer would love that—and my mom.”

The snarky attitude was quelled. I’d blown out her candle with that one. Mothers, above all, were revered in our clans and our families.

One mention of my mother and she was done. I’d have to remember that. I had a feeling there would be a whole hell of a lot of cracking wise from those gorgeous lips.

Talia

There must’ve been a thousand people at the reception. Only a select few were invited to the mating ceremony but this many people drinking and watching the dancing was borderline insane.

“There’s so many people,” I whispered, pushing up onto my toes and breathing into Kolani’s ear. He shivered before clearing his throat. The male with his arms around me was unadulterated charm around these people. He smiled at the right times. He knew everyone’s names. He had evolved into a different creature and I hated it.

Plus, he’d put on a shirt.

Double strike.

His hands made a path to my waist and dragged me forward. “There’s always this many people. The only place I’m alone is at home and in my office. Even then the phone is ringing and meetings. Never mind, I doubt you want to hear that crap.” His hands kneaded the dip above my hips as he spoke and when the motion stopped, I felt cold.

Shaking my head, I replied, “No, that’s fine. We should—we should at least try to be friends through this, right?” His hold on me loosened and he took one step back, bringing us face to face. We hadn’t looked at each other most of the night. There were people to greet and smile at.

But mostly, there was a crowd to convince.

Forcing myself to look up and meet his brown, almond-shaped eyes, I gasped at the sight of him. I’d done such a good job of holding in those tiny gasps in the past but this one burst through without permission.

“What?” His chest rumbled with the words.

“Nothing.” I took a moment to collect my voice and the tremors in the core of me.  “So, friends? We can at least not hate each other through this.” I cringed at the words. I didn’t want to be friends with him, but there was no other choice. Kolani’s clan didn’t allow females to be educated and it certainly didn’t allow them to be anything other than baby producers.

That’s why my clan broke free from his—if the females aren’t happy, no one is happy.

He pushed one strand of hair behind my ear. “I don’t promise friends—but I don’t think I could hate you either.”

Words tried to tumble out of my mouth, but I severed their exit by clamping my jaw shut and settled for nodding instead. No, I couldn’t look at him that way. I couldn’t allow those thoughts to even attempt fruition.

We switched partners throughout the night, dancing and getting congratulations from everyone. I was ready to give up and declare that the night had exhausted me when a chubby hand with skin that felt more like ice than warmth took mine.

“You wouldn’t deny Kolani’s brother a dance with his new bride, would you?” Ahe had a sleazy way about him—there was something about the way he talked—about the way he slid his gaze over my body—that made my chest crawl with uncomfortable worms of emotion.

But he was Kolani’s family and I had to play nice-but not too nice.

Determined to make nice, I answered, “Of course, Ahe. This is my last dance, so you made it just in time.” I didn’t make eye contact and hope he caught the not-so-subtle nuance.

“That’s me.” He winked and his tone slithered down my spine. “Always on time.”

Even though our marriage was a sham, when Ahe turned me so that I could see Kolani, I shot him a look that hopefully told him that he should save me—even though saving probably wasn’t in our pact. Maybe it told him I was disgusted. Maybe it told him-anything that would make my new husband interrupt this dance that felt more like being eye-molested.

“I bet Kolani is very anxious to get you home.” He enunciated
you
and I shivered.

My new mate interrupted just in time. It saved his slimy brother from getting kneed in the nuts. “He is. I’ve allowed you a dance since you are my brother, but I find my wolf is—restless for his mate. I’ve tolerated the males in this room for long enough.”

I giggled only out of sheer anxiousness. My insides pulled taut at his bass voice—commanding and intent-driven.  It was all I could do to push away that inkling from my wolf, more like a shove off a cliff, that told me there was more truth in Kolani’s voice than I knew.

~~*~~

His house was like nothing I’d expected. In my mind, his home would mirror his office, shiny, and see-through, like living in an aquarium where he was the main attraction, the slithering eel that everyone feared yet were attracted to.

“So this is home, well, temporarily.” Uncharacteristically, he shrugged and tossed a set of keys into a carved bowl on a table near the entrance. I pushed down the disappointment that the charade had, temporarily, ended. We were no longer in front of other people and so there was no need for formalities like carrying me over the threshold. I looked back at the shutting door and wiped away a ridiculous falling tear.

“I’m starving. I know you are too.” My stomach answered his comment with a growl. My eyebrows bunched thinking about how he knew before the growl that I was famished but I shook the thought off. There had been more food to feed the crowd three times over, but over the course of the night, I hadn’t found the time to grab anything—apparently he hadn’t either. 

“Is there somewhere I can take this off?” One of his thick eyebrows perked up at my question, but instead of saying something snide, he bent in front of me, allowing his eyes to roam my entire form from head to toe, grabbed my suitcase in one hand and used the other to encase mine and drag me up the stairs.

Kolani

I had about seven different answers for the question of what I’d like her to do with that dress, number one being getting rid of it altogether.

I scrubbed my hand down my face, attempting to rub away my smirk as I thought about all the things that might happen here.

But nothing would happen other than me delivering her to her room and putting whatever fear she had about tonight to rest. Deep in my chest, I felt it, the stirring of unease—it belonged to her—I shouldn’t be feeling anything—this female wasn’t my true mate, she was just someone filling a position in my life that would benefit us both. The denial wouldn’t stick. Her stress ground in my chest like sand on my palm—needling and uncomfortable, commanding that my wolf put an end to it.

It must be my imagination, or my suppressed hope. Mates didn’t feel each other’s inner desires until they had properly mated—and only then between true mates.

Clearing my throat, I pushed all that aside. “Here’s your room. This bedroom has its own bathroom.” I set her suitcase on the dresser and peeked into the bathroom to make sure Marta had stocked it with everything my temporary bride would need. Towels and everything else stood in place, awaiting her arrival.

Talia’s gaze was fixated on the bed. “Thank you. Um, why aren’t you—I mean, where are you sleeping?”

Ignoring the slip, I pointed down the hall. She turned around, taking in the room and then said, “I’ll be down in a minute. I can make my own food.”

I grunted and shrugged, then left her to her devices.

Not giving a damn about her wanting make her own food, I ducked into the refrigerator and found food left for me by the chef who came in three times a week to cook for me. I’d never cared for eating out or fast food, so the investment was not only paying off, but I didn’t have to deal with the stares and gasps when I went somewhere a little less often.

Pushing two plates full of stir-fry into the microwave, my ears buzzed with the noises coming from upstairs. It couldn’t be helped. Not only were my shifter senses heightened with the full moon approaching, but my wolf was downright untamable with her so close. Her velvety-sensuous scent stuck to my nose and tempted the wolf over and over again as he rolled and wallowed in the sweet smell.

“This is not happening,” I barked, hunched over the counter, trying to get ahold of myself. The droll hum of the microwave hummed my incoming headache. Never had I reverted to using a kitchen appliance to calm myself. This female was wrecking me already.

“What’s not happening?” Talia bent and looked into the microwave, thinking that I was talking about something as trivial as the damned food. “Here, just heat one at a time. Boys think they can just shove everything into the microwave and it will just know that he means business.” She took one plate out and put it on the counter, stirred the contents of the other plate a bit and then started it over.

“Boys?” I squared my shoulders, needing to show her not only my height, but my biceps. I was no boy.

“Males, men, testosterone-fueled beings, boys, it’s all the same. May I?” She pointed to a bag of pistachios near the fruit bowl.

I handed them to her, making sure to touch her hand. “Of course. This is your home, at least, for the time being. Act like it.” It kind of pissed me off. We were mated, she could at least pretend a little.

A lot—I wanted her to pretend a whole hell of a lot.

“Thanks. These are my favorite. But they’re kind of pricey.” Dropping a handful in her mouth, she closed her eyes and my hands clenched. Her reaction to that tiny indulgence had me and my beast thinking about her potential reaction to other delights.

The ding of the microwave interrupted my thoughts and she took over the reheating of the food. “Sit down, I’ll bring it to you since ‘the boy’ can’t heat it properly.”

She giggled and I reveled in the sound. My wolf was entirely too giddy in hearing the lilt of her joy.

If calling me a boy made her create that sound, she could call me that all day long.

The food was good as always. She’d turned down wine in favor of water a little too forcefully and I wondered if there was a story behind it.

I took in every detail. She ate slow, savoring each bite. She waited until she’d swallowed her food before taking a dainty sip of water.

She kept her napkin in her lap even though it was one made of paper.

“You’re making me nervous,” she remarked, leaned over and stole one of my snow peas from the pile I’d set aside. I hated those things. For someone who was nervous, she was comfortable enough to take food from my plate and the urge to pull my chair next to hers and feed her from my hand was almost more than I could control.

Instead, I chose to engage her. “What am I doing that’s making you nervous?”

“That,” she said, pointing to me. “You’re watching me like prey.”

“Observing and hunting are very different beasts, Talia.” I picked up my plate and held it between us while she picked the rest of the snow peas from my plate and ate them one by one.

She averted her eyes first. “I’ll get the dishes.” My plate was taken from me before I could argue.

“I’ll help.” While we tag-teamed the dishes, her hand bumped mine and she’d flash me a smile and fake out handing me forks and cups. I liked the way she teased me and that smile would be my end. I just knew it.

But as the smiles continued, my wolf grew irritated. He wanted her and he couldn’t have her. He and I were at war and I was winning by nothing else but sheer will. She was stalling by wiping down already spotless counters.

With my hand on her shoulder, I stopped her and threw the cloth into the sink. “Look, we both know this is fake, right? I’m not expecting anything. You should…” I cleared my throat. “You should save that for your true mate. I’ll keep me and my wolf in my bedroom, okay?”

Her blush was furious as she answered, “Thank you.”

Ticking my head toward the stairs, I tried to ease her nerves. They were bunching my stomach into knots and my dinner threatened to be upheaved. “I’m exhausted. Tonight was good. Thank you. After tonight they will know it wasn’t me who ended this marriage. You shined out there. I must’ve been told how beautiful you were about a thousand times. No way a marriage with someone like me would last—everyone knows that.” One side of my mouth turned upward. I stalked up the stairs alone and fell into a restless sleep sometime later with my pretend mate forefront in my mind.