Page 6 of Hughes (Shifter Dating App)

6

HUGHES

L ike the previous nights before I found this city, I’ve slept in the forest. Parking somewhere discreet, I shift into my fox and dart between the thick trees. But this time, I don’t dawdle, watching the stars and hunting for dinner.

I explore the edge of the forest, sniffing around to catch any sign of her. A trail. A drop of her scent. If she doesn’t live close to the woods, I promise myself I’ll have to take a risk. I’ll have to leave the woods and search the city with my fox. The place is small enough it’s likely no one will see me. If I don’t find her soon enough, I’ll have to take these chances.

Not losing my mate. Not ever.

Thank goodness, I catch her trail to a neighborhood up a hill. There are some ten cabins spread out through a clearing, dispersed evenly so everyone gets their piece of privacy. It’s the perfect place for shifters to live. Careful not to catch anyone’s attention, I sniff around the houses. Three have fox shifters, two of them with mates and kids. Five others are taken by wolves, possibly an entire pack. All have wives, some have children.

It’s a shifter village. I’ve never heard of wolves and foxes sharing a place, so it has to be a tolerant group.

One of the houses is empty. The other has my mate’s smell all over.

I plod around the place, my nose pressed to the ground as I capture her smell. It’s divine. Her fragrance is perfect, and it makes me fucking horny. As hoped for, there are no other smells around, so she lives by herself. I would spend the entire night here. I’d lie down in front of her door and protect her. But one of the shifters around may smell me, and I don’t want trouble.

Striding to the empty house, I read the To Rent sign. Forcing myself to commit the phone number to memory, I dart back to my bike. I’ve never run this fast. I have to write down the number so I’ll call them in the morning. Anyone can see fate’s hand in this.

With my heart full, eager to see her again, I move to the house next to her. This way, I’ll be able to see her, win her over. Would I drop on one knee and propose right now? Yes, absolutely. But I’ve learned that’s not something human females appreciate.

Also, there’s the tiny secret of me being a shifter hanging in front of me. That will take some work to approach.

Looking around my newly rented place, I release a sigh. It’s great, all made of wood, spacious and with immense windows. Sunlight soaks every surface and it takes me a moment to realize I don’t even remember the last time I had somewhere to live in. All because of her. I’d change anything for her.

Luckily, there was some furniture. A table and chair, a TV stand-without the TV, of course. There are a showerhead and the frame of a bed. The mattress I yet have to buy and drive up here. There’s a fridge, but I must buy an oven. I’ll ride downtown later today to buy more stuff. The store will have to bring the stuff up here. But there’s no rush. I can sleep and hunt as my fox until I find my way into Heidi’s life. I don’t know if she likes to cook, but if she doesn’t, I’ll have to learn so I can take care of her.

So many things to do, so little time.

A knock comes upon my door. The alpha wolf who lives three houses down has already greeted me last night when the realtor came up with me to sign the contract. The wolf made it clear they’re peaceful and tolerant, but they’d rip me apart if I put a toe out of line. He didn’t use these words, but the veiled threats were clear. The realtor stood with me when he came by, and the shifter secret has to survive. We have developed nuanced ways of communicating without humans noticing.

There’s nothing like the smell of threat.

Striding, I clutch the doorknob. It has to be the fox. He also has to show up and intimidate me. If a new shifter isn’t careful enough, the entire community is jeopardized.

But when I open the door, there’s no shifter standing there with their teeth bared. No, the perfect face smiling at me is paired up with the most glorious body on the planet. My jaw drops as I meet her eyes.

“Hey,” Heidi greets me with the brightest smile I have ever seen and fucking hell, I’m falling for this woman. And she’s only said one word. “I saw you moving in earlier this morning. Welcome, neighbor!”

She stretches me a platter covered in a cloth. Not taking my eyes from hers, I smile and take it from her. “That’s... Wow, you didn’t have to, Heidi.”

She shudders and pulls her hands back, crossing her arms over her chest. “It’s all right. I owed you for the tea, after all.”

I chuckle, shaking my head. “Of course not. I never thought twice about it. What you owe me,” I watch the way light dances on her pupils, and how the sun catches on her curls, “is sharing a meal. Come in. I haven’t had lunch yet.”

Without waiting for her answer, I make a hundred-eighty and stride into my place, pausing the platter over my dining table. I flick the cloth from over it, glimpsing at a beautiful lasagna. The cheese glistens on top, and it still steams. My stomach rumbles.

“Um,” Heidi mumbles from the door. “I don’t want to bother you, Hughes.”

The way she says my name makes my cock stiffen inside my jeans. Fuck, I want to hear her moaning the word over and over. As soon as possible.

Chill out. Don’t scare her.

“Not a bother at all. I’d love your company, as I mentioned that day.” I watch her shyly entering my place and I hope her scent catches on every surface. Then my face drops as realization hits me. “In fact, I just remembered something.”

She halts, looking up at me with a cocked brow. “Is someone coming along? I should leave then.” Heidi whirls around and readies to leave.

Reaching out, I cup her elbow. Warmth ripples through me. “In fact... I don’t have cutlery.”

She snickers. “You don’t have a fork?”

I shake my head. “I don’t usually... You know, rent places. I was planning on riding downtown to purchase those later this evening.”

Heidi nods, relaxing. “Why don’t you come over my place then? I can lend you some and we can have a late lunch.” Her cheeks grow pink, but her gaze doesn’t waver. “Then I won’t owe you no longer.”

With a huge grin, I follow her out, carrying the lasagna. “Then I better think of something else. Maybe I’ll hang around your door so you’ll bump into me some other time.”

She laughs, the sound rich and addictive. Yeah, I want to hear more of that. All the time. “You make it sound like you did it on purpose.”

“I didn’t, but it gave me the chance of speaking to you. Worth it.”

Heidi tucks a strand of hair behind an ear, shyness crawling down her neck as we walk into her place. My eyes go huge as I take everything in, as subtly as I manage. She has a taste for decoration, and I can see red and oranges all over. Heidi takes the lasagna from me and pauses it on her dining table.

“I’ll grab cutlery and dishes. Be my guest,” she says, waving around the place. And I take her up for it.

Walking around, I study every portrait. There are paintings up a wall, some with tags next to them, appraising her work in museums. Wow, she painted these. She’s fantastic in what she does.

One of the doors gives to her bathroom, the other to a bedroom. I leave that for later. The smell of her body on the sheets might intoxicate me.

The extra door I open gives into an art studio. Paintings and drawings hang from every surface. There are pencils and paint and brushes. Easels and canvas, either blank or with distinct steps of a painting in progress.

All of them portray silver foxes.

I stand there, my heart hammering inside my chest. Tingles run down my spine, and a huge sense of awareness crashes into me. How does she know? Does she feel the connection? The absurd calling shoving us together?

Fate has pressed her in my direction too. That’s why she’s taken the leap and went after me with the food. She might have felt taken aback and scared at first, but she knows she can’t escape. Destiny has carved this path for us and we’ve been walking it our entire lives.

“Do you like them?” Her voice reaches me from behind. When I turn, she’s standing with a shoulder pressed to the doorframe, her gaze avoiding mine.

“Immensely,” I say in a weak voice. She has no idea what she does to me. “They’re beautiful.”

“I have a clear taste for foxes, as you can see.” She chuckles under her breath, intertwining her fingers together.

She wouldn’t say these kinds of things if she knew who I am. “Silver foxes, for sure,” I add, stepping closer to her. My gaze is fastened to her form, her perfect body, her kissable lips. My animal fighting to have her. And I’m not managing to hold him back. Hunger makes a hole in my stomach. Hunger for her.

“Yeah, I’ve dreamed of this silver fox ever since I was a kid. I don’t know why.”

It’s because we’re mates. Because it’s my fox, and that’s how fate has been telling you this.

The words die on my tongue and I don’t know how to tell her this without effectively telling her. The dangers are too big. She might leave, she might escape me. She might tell others, and then I’d ruin everything for several people.

My hand moving on its own, I capture a curl between my fingers. It’s smooth and shiny as it runs between my digits. Heidi releases a jittery breath, her eyes widening as she looks up at me. My body towers over hers as I take another step, my mind fuzzy with desire.

Heidi gasps as I press her to the doorframe, the subject forgotten.

“Hughes?” Her whimper is coated in lust as her little tongue darts out to lick at her bottom lip. She’s temptation in flesh.

I bury my hand in her locks. Grip the back of her skull and tilt her head back. Her mouth drops open, and her gaze glistens with desire. Her gaze darts between my eyes and my mouth. She gasps again, and I taste her breath on my tongue. Small hands come up my shirt and she fists it, standing on the tips of her toes.

My control about to snap, the words about to spill from my mouth, I lean over and take a deep inhale of her scent. A growl leaves my mouth as I cage her against the wall.

The smell of her arousal explodes in my senses, and I press myself to her and claim her lips. Heidi gives herself to me a second later, clinging to my body with everything she’s got. She answers to me, molding her form to mine.

It’s just a press of lips for a moment. Then I’m prying her mouth open and claiming her tongue. Sweep by slow sweep, I devour her. Mark her. Every day I lived without her comes crashing down now. The pent-up desire crashes on me. I hold her close and kiss the hell out of that delectable mouth.

And I’m only leaving this place when I find out the sounds she makes when she reaches her climax. That’s the only thing I wish for.