Page 13 of True Calling
“Books?” Chance asked with a tilt of his head.
“Paranormal Romance books. I love them. It’s what some might call a guilty pleasure. They’re supposed to be fiction, you know. However, I’m thinking that one of my books has come to life, and I’m one of those characters.” Berk muttered.
“Is he making any sense to you?” Linus asked Nolan in a quiet whisper.
Berk watched as Nolan shook his head, “Maybe he’s just overwhelmed or something. I’ve never seen any books about us.”
“If you’re shifters, like I think you are, then yes, there are a shit ton of books about you guys out there. When we’re done here, I’ll be happy to log you into a place that you can check them out. Hell, you can even borrow my Kindle.” Berk stated, turning to Garth. “You’re a dragon? Am I right?”
Garth nodded, but still didn’t speak. Berk looked at Bo, “And you?”
“A cross fox.” Bo said, then pulled Trevor into his arms, “My mate is a pygmy possum. Linus is a Viquita, they’re like a porpoise, and his mate, Nolan, is a Bengal Tiger. Micah is a dugong. That’s hard to explain but it’s kind of like a hippo meets a porpoise and has a baby? Anyway, maybe one day you can watch him shift when he takes a swim.”
Berk looked at Chance, “I take it you’re Micah’s mate. What do you shift into?”
“I’m a Galapagos giant tortoise.” Chance answered.
Nodding, Berk said, “Okay. I would love to see you guys shift, but I think we can put that off for a bit. I have some questions, first.”
“Of course. We’ll answer as best as we can.” Chance responded.
“Why is it no one wanted to talk to me? Is it because I’m only human?” Berk asked.
Garth growled low, “You are notonlyanything!”
Berk jerked back and Trevor quickly admonished, “Garth, you need to settle your damn dragon before you chase Berk out the damn door.”
Shaking his head, “I won’t run. The books say that’s the worst thing I could do. It would make his animal want to come for me and I wouldn’t stand a chance of getting away.”
Apparently, Bo agreed with Berk, because he went back to what they were talking about. “It had nothing to do with you being human, Berk. Yes, that kind of threw us all for a loop at first, but it wasn’t why we did our best to avoid you.”
“Okay, then why did you?” Berk asked.
“One of the reasons is because we didn’t know how to tell you we’re shifters. That’s also the reason we would sneak out. Normally we just head out back and shift there. The giant pool is for Linus and Micah, but we normally shift and run around there. However, with needing to hide it from you, we had to go to the lake just past the forest line, so Linus and Micah had a place to shift in their form, and we could shift into ours.” Chance explained.
Berk nodded, asking, “And the other reason?”
Bo looked at Garth, but the man didn’t say anything. When the others all looked his way, Berk did as well. It was interesting to see the man’s cheeks were red, as were his ears and neck. Holy crap, Garth was embarrassed, but why?
Finally, Garth looked down, “Because...” Licking his lips Berk almost forgot about his question, thinking about the kiss they had experienced together, but the man’s next words had him forgetting the kiss and rethinking the running part. “Because you’re my mate.”
Berk knew that term from his books, and if what he read was correct, Garth just more or less told him that they were to be like a married couple in his world. Two souls that would bind during sex and a bite.
Feeling his cock harden at the thought of getting up close and personal with such a hot ass man, Berk did what he could to make it stop. Thinking about Nort and Marla having sex, did the trick... thank god. Not only did his cock deflate, but it caused Berk to shiver in disgust. That was not a mental image he had needed. Yet, he couldn’t deny that it worked. Drawing in a deep breath, Berk said, “If that’s the case, why did you run whenever you saw me? Like I said, I read... a lot, and the past week I’ve had a lot of time to do just that. From what the books say, you’re supposed to want me so bad you wouldn’t be able to keep your hands off me. Yet, you didn’t seem to have that problem.”
“Trust me, he had the problem.” Bo muttered.
Garth did look at Berk then, “I have wanted you since the moment I scented you at the front door. My dragon is angry and confused with me right now.”
“Why’s that?” Berk asked in a hushed tone.
Garth snorted, “Because of my foolishness. I knew I needed to talk with you... to explain about our world, to tell you who and what we were, but fear kept me back.”
Berk was shocked by that admission. “Fear? What would someone as big and fierce looking as you, be afraid of?”
“Losing you. I had to tell you about our world, but I was afraid that if I did, you’d leave. I didn’t want that to happen. My actions have caused you great hurt, and for that I can never forgive myself. My dragon doesn’t understand my actions. Just being near you now, is taking everything I have to hold my dragon back from scooping you up and taking you to our lair and mating you. However, I know that’s not what you would want.” Garth stated in shame.
Berk sat there absorbing what Garth was saying. He needed to think, and he did his best thinking when he cooked. “I don’t know what I want, to be honest. I can say that I’ve found you sexy as fuck from the moment I set my eyes on you, too. That isn’t normal for me.”