The Dragon's Mail Order Mate: A Paranormal Menage Romance (7 page)

She realized how nervous she was for tonight. This was going to be a huge event in the lives of both her and her friends in this house. She felt like she had just gotten used to the dynamic that was waiting for her. Mike and Will had their own lives that they participated in. They both did their own thing and they kind of kept to themselves. They had their own friends and when they came together, it seemed like they came only in the solidarity that they were roommates and that they were both Shifters. The fact that they were living together seemed to have little influence on their mutual friends. If they had mutual friends, she had yet to see any of them. Maybe she would meet more of them in the coming days, but right now, they seemed so separate and distant from each other.

Feeling her heart pounding in her chest, she wasn’t sure if it was from the nerves or the workout that she had just gone through. She walked toward the door, feeling like she was about to start something scary and intimidating to her. As she slowly walked toward the front of door and climbed the steps to the porch, she tried to calm herself down. It wasn’t going to be the worst thing she’d ever experienced. She was going to be just fine. As she opened the door and headed into the quiet of the house, she stopped and closed her eyes. Be calm, she told herself over and over again. She suddenly felt a chill rush down her spine as she stood there, sweaty in the cool of the house. It was still warmer than she thought six in the morning should be, but it was cooler with her body covered in sweat.

Climbing the steps to the second floor, she made sure to keep quiet and make her way to the bathroom like she was a ghost visiting the house. Opening the door, she snuck into the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. She remembered all the looks she would get at the gym, standing sweaty in the middle of the free weight area, her chest heaving, sweat running down her body, and her whole body feeling exhausted. She needed to get back to that. It was work to make men want you and she wanted Mike or Will to want her more than anything else in their lives. She always figured the key to a woman’s role in a relationship was to make sure that she never stopped flirting and that their eyes never wandered. She wanted to make sure that they were always interested in her. If they always wanted her and lusted after her, then they wouldn't wander or want something else. That was the key to every happy relationship. That had to be it.

Turning on the shower, she smelled the steam filling up the room and diving into her lungs. She loved the heat. She liked absorbing the warmth and holding it inside of her, like she was some kind of cold-blooded reptile, soaking up the rays of the sun before it was ready to get out into the world. She pulled back the curtain and stepped into the shower, feeling the water cascading over her and she tried her hardest not to think about the one thing that was on her mind right now more than anything else. She didn’t want to think about how very soon, she was going to be going on a date with a man that she thought was incredibly sexy and it was going to be her job to make sure that he liked her as much as she liked him.

“Let fate take its course,” she told herself over and over again.

She didn’t have to force anything. All she had to do was be herself.

Chapter Four

She walked down the stairs and found Will where he’d been pacing back and forth since he’d called her down the stairs. Mike was sitting in the overstuffed chair in the living room, looking like he was the calmest man in the history of the world. As he sat there, looking at how nervous Will was, she could see a sort of demented, cruel happiness in his eyes that was luminous and genuine. She had to admire how nervous Will was for all of this and she almost felt bad for him as he walked back and forth, anxiously rubbing his hands together and waiting for her. When she made it to the bottom of the stairs, she turned and looked at Mike, smiling at him before she made her way to the couch.

Sitting down she watched Will exhale sharply and turn to look at her.

“Okay,” Will said, sitting down on another chair across from Mike and making sure that she was seated directly in the middle of them.

She smiled at the symmetry and couldn’t help but want to laugh at how ridiculous all of this was. There was something fierce in this room that she was not given the opportunity to be a part of yet, but she was more than eager to find out what it was.

“What’s up?” she asked them with a pleasant smile on her lips.

“So, we’ve made some rules for the whole competition,” Will said with a smile. “After we’re done here, I’m going to go out and hang out with some friends, go see a movie, and then stay the night at our friend Ricky’s place so you two can have the house to yourselves for whatever reason. I’m sure you’ll be out doing stuff, but just in case, I won’t be around to bother you.”

“In case of what?” Oksana teased with a grin on her lips.

“You know,” Will said with an awkward expression on his face.

“No, could you clarify?” Mike pressed.

“Come on,” Will groaned. “In case, you know, you do the dirty business.”

“Do you think I’m dirty?” Oksana teased him.

She relished the shade of red his face burned into and she laughed at the sight of it and reached out, putting a hand on his leg to assure him there was nothing he should be worried about. Well, maybe there was, but she was just playing with him and wasn’t cruel. Will smiled at her and scowled at the grinning Mike who was totally enjoying himself right now.

As he stood up, he looked at the two of them nervously. “Good luck,” he said with a weak attempt at a lie. “I hope you have fun.” It was the sorriest lie he had tried to tell yet and she smiled at him.

“We will,” Oksana assured him. “Try and have some fun yourself.”

“Because we totally will be,” Mike jabbed.

Looking sickly and pale, Will made himself scarce and Oksana laughed at the sight before she turned her gaze to Mike who was sitting across from her. There was a look in his eyes that had so much potential to her. Maybe he would be willing to forego the date and would be even more interested in ravaging her right here and now. The silence of the house enveloped them and they could hear Will starting his car and pulling out of the garage before he vanished for good, leaving the two of them here in each other’s company. She looked at Mike. He looked at her. There was a quiet fire between the two of them and she was relishing it.

“So what’s the plan?” she asked him.

“You’ll see,” he said enigmatically; she hated every syllable of it.

“Is there something I should wear?” she asked him.

“Something you feel like dancing in,” he said to her.

She liked the sound of that. She smiled and slowly stood up from the couch and looked at him.  Part of her was primal and savage, wanting to take off her clothes right here in front of him, but she had to control herself. She had to make sure she didn’t do anything that would derail the night. She wanted to make sure she got to see the whole experience of what it would be like to date Mike and spend a romantic time with him rather than just fuck his brains out. God, she wanted that so badly though.

“Then I’ll be right back,” she said, turning and heading up the stairs. She walked slowly, making sure that he could see the sway of her ass as she walked, climbing the steps slowly and letting him really get a look of what he was going to have a shot with tonight.

When she closed the door to her room, she couldn’t rip her tank top off fast enough and as she threw it across the room, her bare breasts were bathed in warm sunlight. She shrugged off her shorts and quickly walked to the wardrobe and threw open the doors, finding a glittering, navy midi dress that she’d been waiting for a time just like this to put on. She dressed as quickly as she could, spending the majority of her time on make up and her hair. It was an hour before she decided she was ready to go out into the world.

Throwing open the door, she was slightly disappointed to see Mike was wearing the exact same thing, only he’d thrown on a button up shirt over it and rolled up the sleeves. Well, maybe she looked a little over dressed compared to him, but that was fine. She wanted to be his arm candy. Locking her arm in his, she smiled as he kept stealing glances of her.

“You look incredible,” he said when he opened the door to his car for her and she sat down with a smile.

She didn’t say anything to that. She knew how incredible she looked, but she did like the affect she was having on him. If she could keep that going, she would be just fine.

It took over an hour to get to the destination that they were bound for, but Mike seemed to know exactly where they were going. She would smile as she caught him stealing glances at her legs and several times he’d stared at her chest, no doubt fantasizing about grabbing her dress and pulling it down to free her breasts. She closed her eyes and imagined his hands on her and smiled at the sensation. God, it made her so hot.

When they finally reached their destination, she was pleased it was a concert and that she wasn’t the only woman who looked a bit over dressed compared to their dates. Maybe this was just an American guy thing. She smiled as they stood in line outside of the venue and chatted. She wanted to know everything about him, but Mike wasn’t exactly an open book. He was more of the guy who liked to keep things close and personal. He wasn’t going to open up about anything and let her have a look inside. She knew it was all part of the exterior he’d no doubt crafted after years and years of figuring out what the perfect man meant to him or in his mind. She would get to him eventually.

Inside, the venue was dark and the house music was pulsing through her veins as she stood at a small table he’d reserved on the balcony overlooking the dance floor and the stage. The lights swayed back and forth of all different colors and she felt like she was back in Ukraine at one of the great concerts she’d been to before.

“I figured you were a girl who liked to have fun,” he said to her, having to shout over the music.

“You guessed right,” she said with a smile, sitting close to him and feeling that familiar warmth wafting off of him.

She missed that feeling. She liked it so much. She wanted more of it. She realized how nervous she felt around him. There was something about him that made her want to really work hard to impress him. There was nothing specific about his personality that made her think that way, but she knew she craved his attention. Sure, his personality was crafted and fake which bothered her to no end, but it was something more than that. It was something deeper inside of her that longed for him.

When the music started, they ordered drinks and watched for a few songs. The band was loud and it was everything she wanted. It was fast, deep music that pulsed inside of her veins and made her bones rattle with excitement. Her whole body moved with the music and begged her to get up on her feet and to start dancing. After three songs and a single drink, she reached out and touched Mike’s hand, pulling him from his perch and dragging him to the stairs and down to the floor where she wanted to really get to know him better.

There was a lot you could learn from a way that a man could dance and Mike was telling her everything she wanted to know. He was the kind of man who wasn’t very good at dancing, but more importantly, he wasn’t afraid to give it a try, which she loved. As he danced, he knew that he was making a fool of himself, but he was going for it anyways. As they danced, she drew herself closer to him, working her body up against him as the music picked up and the whole environment changed. Everything was hot and sweaty, tight, and close. She loved the feeling of his hands on hers, his body moving in rhythm with hers, and the feeling of his presence so close to her. As the band continued to play, she felt like she was going to die without him being inside of her. She wanted nothing more than that. She knew she wasn’t going to be able to control herself.

She leaned in close to him as the band took a short break. His body was hot and she could feel the sweat through his shirt and she loved every second of it. His body was strong, cut and hewn in a gym, like a man who knew exactly how he wanted to look and how he wanted to impress a woman. It was working.

“You’re not much of a romantic, are you?” she asked him, making sure he was the only one that could hear her.

He looked at her nervously, like she’d pierced right through his armor and that this was the end of the game for him. She brought her hand to his hot cheek and drew in close to him, leaning in so that she could feel his muscular abs, his defined chest, and even his raging cock pressed against her thighs as her lips pressed against his. They locked and she brushed her tongue against his lips, not caring if anyone around them saw or had anything to say about this kiss. His hands wrapped around the small of her back, holding her close to him as they kissed.

She pulled back and looked him in the eyes. “There are other ways people can get to know each other,” she reminded him.

Before he could answer, she stepped back from him and the band picked up again, her eyes never left his. As they started to pick up, swaying and moving with the music, she never let his gaze go, refusing to let him look at anything else as her eyes met his and they were locked, silently communicating for what seemed like hours. They danced close, hard against each other, grinding their bodies against one another and she knew he could feel everything that he wanted and she was feeling everything that she could possibly want from him. She made sure there wasn’t a woman here who was more alluring, more sensual, and more enticing out on the dance floor for him to possibly desire more than her.

When the music was over, a DJ came out and set up while people continued to dance. Exhausted from dancing, Mike grabbed her hand and headed for the stairs. She smiled and followed him, willing to go wherever she could possibly imagine. There was nothing she wouldn’t do for him and she was overly excited to go and do anything with him. In the stairwell, he pushed her up against the wall and kissed her again. She arched her back, leaning into his chest again and feeling his tongue greeting her lips and she smiled, parting her lips and letting their tongues mingle together, dancing and playing together as she subtly reached out, feeling his cock through his jeans. She knew what he wanted. She knew what every man wanted.

Rubbing him harder and harder, she smiled as people passed them, too intoxicated or distracted by their friends or dates to care about the two making out in the corner. She smiled when he pulled back and looked at her.

“Are you a rough girl?” He asked her with a serious expression on his face. “Or do you like it soft?”

“I like it however you’re willing to give it to me,” she whispered into his ear, nibbling on his lobe and pulling away from him.

She held her hand out behind her, begging for him to take it. He did, after a moment, and she led him up the stairs and back to their table. Hot and excited from the dance, she wanted another drink. She needed something to cut how horny she was getting. She hadn’t felt this way for a long time about a man and it was getting to her.

“Are you having fun?” he asked her as they sat at the table.

“Yeah,” she said, looking at him with a smile.

“What’s wrong?” he asked her, seeing through the smile.

“Nothing,” Oksana shrugged.

“You’re lying to me,” he grinned. “I can tell when you’re lying to me.”

“Is that a Shifter secret power?” she asked him with her doubts.

“Maybe,” he said with a shrug. “But I can tell there’s something you’re not telling me and it’s clearly bugging you.”

Part of her told her not to say a word and not to mention anything. It was the part of her that was telling her that she was making too big of a deal out of something, but as she looked at him, she knew honesty was going to be an important part of this relationship. It was vital for every relationship that was serious. As she looked at him, she knew she would need to come forward about this now or it was going to be a huge problem later on down the road. She looked at him and took a deep breath.

“I feel like I don’t know you,” she said with a shrug. “I’m sure that tomorrow night, I’m going to be spending the whole time hearing about Will and what he thinks about things and about events. He’s the kind of guy that shares his soul with everyone he meets, but you’re not. You’re like a closed book, but even worse, you’re not even the real cover to your book. I feel like I’m trying to crack the shell of some armor and get a glimpse at who it is underneath.”

Mike shrugged. “I don’t know,” Mike told her. “I think you’re right earlier. I think there is more than one way to get to know someone and I’m not the kind of guy to pour his soul out to you. But I am willing to go have fun with you and I’m more than willing to have a drink and a laugh with you. That’s where Will and I are different.”