Batty for You (4 page)

“I noticed you are rather robust for a bat. Most that I have seen are the size of mice.”

She blinked and covered her eyes with her hand, muttering, “I am a giant golden-crowned flying fox.”

His delighted laugh made her blush.

She felt his fingers curl around hers as he eased her hand down, and he kept custody of it.

“I am a red fox. My origin is as mysterious to my parents as yours probably is to your people.”

She brushed her hair over one shoulder with her free hand. “The guess is that they are endangered in their natural habitat and their souls went looking for representation.”

The waiter brought in their meals, and Weller reluctantly released her hand.

The plate was gorgeous. Pasta was the base with a bloom of sliced chicken and a centre of baby vegetables and sauce. You had to destroy the blossom to eat it.

Weller chuckled. “A work of art.”

“Spike was right. Her mate can cook.”

“You haven’t tasted it yet.”

She smiled and met his gaze. “Sometimes you can tell something is good just by looking.”

To her amazement, he blushed, and then, they were both focussing on their meal.

Normally, pasta wasn’t on her list of items to eat on a first date, but it had just jumped out at her, and if it was a special, there was a reason for it. The chef had been inspired and that was good enough for her.

Ten minutes later, there was not a speck of food left on either of their plates and they were perusing the dessert menu.

Bets went for a trifle and Weller opted for a candied-bacon-crusted chocolate cake.

The waiter was positively gleeful as he nodded and returned to wherever he stored himself when not attending the patrons.

“I am glad you opted for dessert. I was terrified that you would turn your nose up at it.” He rolled his wineglass between his fingers.

“I never turn my nose up at fruit.” She smiled and reflexively leaned back to allow the waiter to place her trifle in front of her.

Now that she had what she really wanted, she took her time in consuming it. She nibbled at the fruit and sipped her wine with deliberate pleasure.

She was halfway through when Weller cleared his throat.

“Watching you eat that is almost indecent.”

She blushed but kept going. “I heard the happy growling when you were eating that cake, so we all enjoy desserts in our own way.”

She flicked a glance at him, and he was watching her eat with both his elbows on the table and his chin resting on his palms.

If he wanted to stare, she was going to make him pay attention. She morphed her tongue and flicked it rapidly over the spoon, wrapping around it and getting all the cream and fruit nectar off.

His pupils were completely dilated. He was staring at her with black eyes with narrow green rings around them.

She laughed and resumed her normal human tongue. She sipped at her wine and kept going.

“I would offer you some, but I am rather enamoured of it right now, so you will have to enjoy the memory of your cake.” Bets smiled smugly.

He swallowed. “I have a few memories that I will enjoy from this evening, and I hope to add to my collection if you will join me for an evening of dancing.”

She scraped her spoon along the bottom of her dish and took the last mouthful of cake, fruit and cream with a sigh of delight. “I think that is possible. I was going dancing with or without a partner.”

He raised his wineglass in a toast. She met him halfway.

“To women who don’t wait.”

She paused and nodded, sipping at the last of her Riesling before setting the glass down.

Weller paid for the meal and rose to his feet, offering her his hand.

With no hesitation, she took his hand and let him lead the way to the Crossed Star. It was time to see how well they could move together.

Bets had never had so much fun with a partner. Weller was graceful, quick and had a knack for moving out of the way when some of the clumsier shifters got too close.

For the first time she could remember, when she staggered off the dance floor, it wasn’t because she had been injured, she was simply exhausted.

Sitting in the booth, she smiled at Weller. “Thank you.”

He drew his brows together in confusion. “For what?”

“For a wonderful evening. I had a great time.” She watched to see if he caught on to what she was saying.

“The evening isn’t over.” He touched her cheek.

“It is for me. Rushing into things isn’t something I enjoy, especially not when it matters this much.”

He cocked his head. “Even if you are already certain?”

She nodded. “Definitely then. I can explain but not here.”

“Shall we leave?”

A surge of gratitude welled in her. “Please.”

He offered her his arm, and they left the bar where only the most die-hard of dancers were still on the floor.

Outside in the cool night air, she shivered, and he put his arm around her shoulders.

“Once upon a time, I was engaged by long-distance agreement. His name was Robert and he came to claim me when I was nineteen.”

“Arranged marriage?”

“It is common enough in closed communities. They contacted another colony and made a match.”

“They?”

“My parents. They did it when I was born because no one knew what I would become. I didn’t shift for the first time until I was twelve, and by then, no one wanted to tell Robert that his bride was a diversion.”

“I haven’t heard that term before. What is a diversion?”

“It is a random born within the same general species but vastly different evolutionary scales. I don’t eat the same foods or crave the same environments. It makes a difference.”

Weller nodded. “I suppose it would. I hadn’t realized that I was lucky in that respect.”

“My parents tried, but it was a wall between us. I took comfort in my knowledge that I had a mate and I just had to wait for it. It helped me think I had a place in their world.”

“I am guessing that Robert didn’t care for the differences in your beasts.”

She made a face. “He said it didn’t matter, but what I didn’t know is that he was having sex with my cousin while we were planning the wedding. I just wanted to jump, to lock in my place in bat society, to be part of them in a way I had never been before.”

“You wanted to rush.”

“Hell yes. Fortunately, my cousin got pregnant and came to me to gloat. It was two days before my wedding and Robert tried to deny that he was the father. My cousin didn’t take that well and there is now a feud between those colonies. Robert left and my cousin got a lecture about cows and milk.”

“A harsh lesson.”

“Yup. Her kid is cute though; he is nine now. It was Reggie that first hauled me into the Night Star Diner claiming that he wanted to show me a really big fairy.” She chuckled.

“Your cousin lets you see him?”

“If things had been different, he would have been my son, or so the colony believes. If I had been married to Robert, then the child I bore would have had the same soul.”

She shrugged. “It is natural for me to feel affection for him. He and I go rollerblading in the mall parking lots during the full moons.”

“Why full moons?”

“I don’t have sonar.” Bets laughed. “It hampers my ability to move in the dark though my sense of smell compensates.”

He made an odd noise. “I thought that the boys said that a high-pitched sound drove them from the diner.”

She rubbed the back of her neck. “That wasn’t sonar; that was a sonic blast. There is a difference. I can’t use it to see, I just drive off wildlife with it. Funnily enough, they don’t like the noise.”

He snorted. “I imagine not.”

“Anyway, Robert taught me the lesson that I need to confirm everything about a situation and wait to see if something else is going to raise its head and ruin my chance at happiness. Stupid but true.”

“Not stupid. You learn from your mistakes. It is admirable, if frustrating.” He smiled.

“I am sorry. One man’s infidelity makes a mark that rippled through all around him. The weird thing was that he still wanted to marry me.” She shook her head. “That always confused me.”

“It doesn’t confuse me. You are the ideal mate. Your cousin may have been easy, but you have strength that radiates from you. You are a woman who will stand next to her mate and not need constant attending. He probably thought that you would be so grateful to him that you would turn a blind eye to his philandering.”

“Oh, good word. Why would he think that? I would have kneecapped him in seconds.”

Weller’s face showed that he was uncomfortable. “I think he believed that you were so eager to buy your way into their society that you would put up with anything to be part of the group and so he would get a wife and you would get your place with your people. He guessed that you wouldn’t want to lose that.”

She tightened her lips. “He guessed wrong. I never would have put up with it. I might not have a place with my people, but I do have a family, and in their own way, they love and support me. When I said I wanted to head to the Crossroads, I was surprised my brother didn’t cut his own finger off, he was that eager to provide the sample. My parents were more restrained, but there was definitely enough for the transporter.”

She grinned. “My sister made the call. It was a group effort.”

“It sounds like they wanted you to find a mate.”

She sighed. “It is what I have wanted for as long as I can remember. My beast is lonely. She wants to fly through the woods and have her mate nearby, and I can’t offer her that.”

As if summoned, her inner beast rose up and tried to fling herself at Weller. Bets tensed and continued up the path to the Open Heart.

“She just spoke to you, didn’t she?” He smiled.

“In a way. She doesn’t make a lot of noise, so she is a little on the physical side. She tried to make me jump you.”

Weller paused for a second before mounting the steps with her. “I see. My own beast is rather interested in this outcome.”

“He will have to wait.”

She was ready to go inside, but he turned her toward him.

“If this is the end of our date, may I have a goodnight kiss?”

Bets looked at the curve of his lips and smiled. “Yes, thanks for ask—”

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her flush to his body. His mouth came down on hers and her beast rushed to the fore to taste him.

Bets held onto him, wrapping her arms around his neck as he licked at her lips, requesting entrance. She opened her mouth to let him in, and her body exploded in flame. The liquid thrust and retreat of his tongue caused her pussy to clench and relax in the same rhythm. Her clit throbbed and her blood pounded in her veins.

He pressed a hand to her lower back and pressed her against him, his erection hot and hard against her hip.

Bets let out a low moan and released him with shaking hands, sliding her palms to his shoulders and pushing gently.

Weller released her immediately. She mentally tallied another point in the positive column.

Bets stiffened her legs and smiled. “Good night, Weller.”

“Good night, Bethany. Would you go for a walk with me in the morning?”

She nodded. “That sounds like fun.”

He stroked her cheek. “Sleep well, Bethany.”

She used all of her self-control to open the door and make her way up the stairs with him trailing behind her. As she passed the first floor and kept going, he peeled off and must have headed to his room.

With regret, she made her way to her room and kicked off her heels. She opened the window and removed the dress, letting the fabric slide to her feet without a second thought.

The kiss had woken her up, and her inner beast was demanding a flight if it couldn’t mate.

In a few short movements, she shucked out of her underwear and stood naked in the moonlight as her fur overtook her. With the ease of practice, she climbed to the edge of the window using her wings and launched herself into the night.

* * * *

Weller paced in his room, and when the silhouette of a huge bat crossed the moon, he smiled.
Good.

If he had gotten her worked up enough to make her take a flight, then she had to be experiencing the same tension that he was wrestling with. His fox had wanted nothing more than to seduce her into compliance. Fortunately, Weller had sisters, and if they had been treated as Bethany had been, he would want their next courtship to follow their rules. Control had been taken from her and he was going to offer as much of it as she wanted to take, even if it turned his balls blue.

It was going to be a very long night.

After her flight, Bets was able to sleep. She dreamed of flying through the woods with a fox running beneath her. It was a sweet dream that she woke from with a smile on her lips.

She showered and pulled on underwear and a sundress. Her sandals were both sturdy and pretty, which was a combination she loved. She could go for a walk on pavement or hiking through the woods. They were up for anything.

She left her hair down and headed for the breakfast room. To her surprise, it was only Teebie in the room.

Teebie grinned and waved her hand, bringing the tea and coffee flying at a measured pace to settle on the table followed by a breakfast for one.

“No one else is awake yet, Bets. How was your evening?”

Bets smiled and poured some coffee. “It was entertaining, fun, and I think my beast has stopped looking.”

“That is wonderful news. Have you let Weller know?”

“Not officially, but I am demanding a little bit of time. Rushing a union has never been lucky for me.”

“Understandable. Well, stay here until you make that final move.”

“I recall the briefing.” Bets smiled and tucked in to the eggs, bacon, toast and the enormous fruit cup in front of her.

Teebie laughed. “It isn’t something that most folks forget. Once you have sex and you know you have your mate, get out.”

Bets shrugged. “Every place has its rules. At least the Crossroads lays them out when you get here. There is no ambiguity.”