ROMANCE: PARANORMAL ROMANCE: Coveted by the Werewolves (Paranormal MMF Bisexual Menage Romance) (New Adult Shifter Romance Short Stories) (327 page)

              Jody, Elias, and the rest of the posse came running down the hill. A few of the men were wounded and were quickly cuffed by the deputies. But Elias ignored them and ran straight for me.

              “That’s the last of them. Praise God you were unharmed.” He said, throwing his arms around me. I let the weapons slip from my grip, glad to no longer feel its deadly weight in my hand.

---

              “You sure you have all of that?” Abigail Monroe asked as Cyril nodded sagely from behind the counter.

              “Not a problem at all, Mrs. Monroe. No trouble at all. Minnie, can you lend me a hand?”

              I agreed readily enough, getting up from the corner where I’d been refilling the sugar. I preferred to handle much of the inventory, as it helped me keep a mental count of what we had and would need. Such efforts in the early history of the store are what has made Wilson’s what it is today, one of the finest dry good services in Northern California. Or so I imagine.

              But on that particular day, I was mostly still settling into the routine of managing my own store and being Mrs. Minnie Pierce. Elias wasn’t kept particularly busy as a deputy, but there were still enough disputes in the town to warrant his full and gainful employment. I must say it has suited him well.

              “Will this be charged to your account, Abby?” I asked.

              “No, I think we’ll settle up now. I do appreciate it, Minnie, and if you’d like me to return later I can do so. I realize it’s a rather large order. We’re entertaining, you see.”

              “Of course. Whatever you may need.” I smiled to my friend. But I was about to get an even bigger surprise, as two figures stepped through the shop door. My husband Elias blocked my view of the other.

              “Dear, I was asked where to find you and thought I’d bring her myself. May I present Miss Ida Johnson of San Francisco?”

              My travelling companion stepped forward looking quite lovely and happy. She was beaming and, from the small bump on her belly, had news to bring as well.

              “Ida! My, a baby on the way! I’m amazed you should travel at all!”

              “Well, I recalled you had invited me to stay with you and wanted to see you before things were too far along. A store? What a wonder!” She marveled looking about.

              Elias turned to go, but I bade him return in an hour, if he were able. After I’d enjoyed a friendly chat with Ida and then completed my work with Cyril, he returned as promised. We took a lunch, as was becoming our habit, by the river. Peace was settling into and returning to Chase, as the last vestiges of the wild mining town were fading away and the modern era entering. There were even rumors that the railway might find its way up to us soon, bringing in a boom.

              “When we first met, I couldn’t take my eyes off you.” He told me as we ate sandwiches. I poured him and I milk and I dipped my toes into the river water. “I was like a schoolboy, afraid I’d chase you away with the wrong words.”

              “I thought you handsome, but I had my doubts, dear.” I admitted.

              “And now?”

              “Still handsome. Still happy. Still mine. Well, not just mine.” I told him, kissing him on the cheek. “Well- seeing Ida has strengthened my resolve to tell you today.”

              “Tell me what?” He asked, suddenly very curious. I took his hand and placed it on my stomach.

              “Still ours.”

THE END

Three Between the Sheets

              Jen wanted to meet someone but wasn't sure how. It wasn't that she was unattractive or had a bad personality, she was just busy. She worked as a manager at the local youth shelter, organizing the kids and keeping track of resources. Recently there had been a huge influx due to a bad outbreak of some kind of West Nile like virus that had caused a tragic wave of death in the city. Many of the elderly and infirm just couldn't fight it off and were too poor to avoid the expensive treatment that would have saved them. So they slowly succumbed to the illness, often times leaving behind little ones they'd taken on out of charity and goodwill.

              Her time was almost completely consumed by the shelter, so instead of trying to get out once every couple of weeks she put up a profile on an online dating site. At first she was very skeptical at first that anything good would come of it, much less anything at all. She'd heard mixed things from her friends. Some of them said that they only had to wait a few weeks to get a decent response from a number of gentlemen, while others said that all they ever got were a bunch of lewd messages from creepers telling them how they should send nudes. Jen didn't plan on sending anyone her nudes, and even put a little blurb up stating such when she created the profile.

              For a few days it seemed that the blurb was going completely and totally unheeded as messages poured in telling her to send nudes. She ignored all of them, and was about to lose hope when a man sent her a message asking to meet up at the local sushi place. The guy was good looking, around Jen's age, and said that he was into women with curves. That was good, Jen though, because she had a lot of curves. Not that she was bigger in the sense of weight, she was just a woman with hips, ass, and a nice bust. Her black hair went well with her gray eyes and high cheekbones, so she figured that as far as she went looks wise she'd be all right. The guy she was going to meet, although she hadn't messaged him back yet she knew that she would in the affirmative, was good looking as well. He had light brown hair with eyes the color of fog over the ocean. His jaw line looked like a Greek sculptor had chiseled it out of granite, and one of the pictures he'd uploaded showed him on a boat that it appeared he owned, his abs rippling in the sunlight.

             
Hello! I'd love to meet you for sushi! The place is right around the corner from me so it wouldn't be a bother at all. What do you think about this Friday around seven in the evening? Maybe we could go out for drinks and dancing after? Let me know!

              After she hit send she realized that her hands were sweating and her heart racing. It wasn't like her to sweat guys, usually. She didn't think that this one was very much different except that it had been so long since she'd gone on a date. What was it like to date again? She wasn't sure. What was she supposed to do? Was she supposed to laugh at all his jokes no matter how funny they weren't. Was she supposed to pretend that she liked everything he liked? Jen hoped not because she could already tell that she didn't want to do any of those things. All she really wanted to do was be herself and try to make him laugh a little. Eventually she knew that they would have to talk about politics and all the things that everyone tells you not to talk about. She always found those things to be the best parts of conversation. Who cared what happened on television last night? Not her, and to her mind not most people. It just wasn't one of those things that mattered to Jen. Now if you got her talking about politics and socioeconomic policies, that was really her thing, as dry as that might sound to people that weren't into them.

              The day of the date quickly arrived and before Jen knew it she found herself standing in front of her vanity mirror, wondering what kind of makeup she should apply. What did guys want to see these days? Were they still into the heavily applied mascara? Or did they like it more subtle than that? Before she could stop herself she'd thrown her makeup kit across the room to land with a
thump
on her bed. She was over it already, not the date but caring about what guys thought about her. If the dude she was meeting didn't like how she looked he could fuck off as far as she was concerned. It then occurred to her that she didn't know his name. Not that she hadn't seen it a bunch while looking at his profile, she just couldn't recall it.

              As she left to walk down the block she smiled as the sun hit her face. She liked the way the warmth. The way the breeze ruffled the leaves in the trees made her smile. There wasn't anything like being outside on a cool day in late July in the Midwest. If she really tested the air with her nose she could smell the pollen wafting over the small capitol city of Des Moines from nearby fields. The traffic on the street beside her wasn't that bad. She liked it here. Jen had lived in Chicago for six years but then gone through a bad breakup with the asshole guy she'd been with. It had made her not only hate the guy but also hate the city. There wasn't anything comforting about Chicago, despite what people would tell you who lived there. Unless you liked fearing for your life while you walked home at night, or having to tell homeless people on the trains to respect your personal space, it just wasn't going to be your thing.

              She'd moved after the breakup, thinking that absconding with her cats and car to a small town to the west would be a good idea. She'd never planned on being in Des Moines long term. There just didn't seem to be anything to the place at first glance. But the more time she spent in the city that more she came to appreciate small town living. The lack of people driving like they thought they were in the bumper car ride at the local amusement park was one of the best things. She didn't miss the assholes driving like madmen in traffic at all. Another thing she didn't miss was the smog that had kept her up late into the night coughing for weeks at a time when the pollen count would combine forces with the pollution in the summer.

              But there were things she missed, she admitted to herself as she rounded the corner on the quaint little street and headed to the sushi place. First and foremost she missed how many single men used to hit her up on the regular when she lived in Chicago. There were so many guys worth dating that were single for reasons that didn't make sense. She'd once met a model who was single because he didn't drink. For whatever reason that always seemed to be a deal breaker, he'd told her. He'd bring it up on the first date and whoever was sitting across from him at the table would of course tell him that it didn't matter if he drank or not. Who cared about something like that. But then, as time went on, it became more and more of a wedge between them. He'd come home from a day of strutting his stuff on a runway, or posing for a photo shoot, and there whoever he was trying to kindle a relationship with would be, sitting on the couch, already drinking. He'd told her that it always went the same: he'd ignore it for a few weeks, but then, eventually, things would get so out of hand that he'd have to say something. There were times that he'd offer ultimatums, or even barter with them, but in the end the booze always won out. Always.

              And that was something that Jen just couldn't understand. She didn't drink a whole lot, not like some people, but she still had a few every now and then. But it wasn't like she wouldn't be able to walk away from the liquor of the super hot, super smart, awesome guy she'd been talking to had asked her to. But unfortunately she'd fun into this model right after the break up and sent her packing. But despite the lack of prospective suitors she didn't regret the move at all. It was one of those things that she knew would end up being something that made her grow much more than sitting around Chicago would have. And that's what a lot of people in Chicago did because there weren't many parks that were worth a damn, and going for a stroll after dark was often times a very bad idea. So people sat, either at the bar or at home, and often times drank.

              As she neared the sushi place her thoughts of Chicago faded. It was time to buckle down and make a good impression. Even though she hadn't put any makeup on, or really tried to dress to impress, she planned on wowing her date with a stunning smile and a quick wit. What else did a person need to leave a good impression?

              The sushi place was packed, something that Jen hadn't expected. She'd hoped that it would be just half full, enough so that if there were dead spots in their conversation they'd be drowned out by the murmur of others. She hoped there wouldn't be any dead spots in the conversation though. She really wanted someone who was able to challenge her, but not in the sophomoric way of just being belligerent to her ideas. She wanted someone that would create an awesome dynamic that would actually enhance her thoughts, make them sharper, more dynamic, and multifaceted. A guy like that would be hard to come by though, and Jen knew it. Des Moines wasn't exactly a hub for intellectuals, although it was much more progressive than many of the other flyover states.

              Jen sat down at a booth in the corner and peered out over the crowd. Everyone seemed to be in jovial spirits, eating sushi and drinking to their hearts content. It was really a great scene and she hoped that it carried over to her date. The water came and asked her what she wanted and she said a water, thinking about the model she'd met in Chicago who didn't drink. As she waited for the waiter to bring her the water she decided that as long as the conversation didn't have to revolve solely around sports and MMA then she'd give the guy an honest chance. It didn't make any sense for her to set the bar impossibly high for a complete and total stranger.