3. I’ll show you mine
3
I’LL SHOW YOU MINE
Archer
Neil was giving me the rundown on all the plants in the patio garden and pointing out herbs and flowers. Some of the names I was familiar with, others I’d never heard of. I nodded and added, “Mmmm,” at appropriate moments, but my gaze swept toward Micah as he chatted with Daire.
The pair laughed at something, and Micah shoved Ryder along the chaise and sat beside him while the stag shifter ranted about his now ex-boyfriend. Each time Micah lifted the beer to his lips, my eyes locked on his fingers clenched around the bottle that was glistening with condensation, and I wished that hand was wrapped around part of me.
Once or twice, I glanced up as Neil chatted about flowers, and Micah’s eyes were on me. His gaze had my body heating up and my skin flushed, not just on my face but all over.
“Smell this, Archer.”
My attention was drawn away from the three men at the opposite end of the patio to Neil beckoning me toward a flowering bush. I caught a whiff of an overly sweet aroma, almost as intoxicating as Micah’s scent. “Jasmine. My dad had some in his garden.”
“Had?” Neil’s concerned tone had me glancing at him.
“Accident at work. Doesn’t get out much anymore.”
Neil must have picked up on the message my short, clipped answers were sending, and he changed the subject. “Daire’s so proud of his rooftop garden. He spends a lot of time up here.”
“He has a real talent,” I told him, not wanting to discuss my alpha dad’s disability and how he and my omega father struggled for money. That was the point of me getting this job and earning enough to help them. But poor Neil didn’t need to hear that while I loved my parents, being a personal assistant to a real estate bigwig hadn’t been on my bucket list.
“So, Neil,” I lowered my voice, “How is it knowing shifters exist and yet not being able to share that with other humans?” I regretted the words as soon as they were out of my mouth.
We’d met less than an hour ago—and I didn’t count him waving at me this morning as an official introduction—and here I was asking him deeply personal questions to avoid talking about my life. Not that he hadn’t been evading my queries about his work earlier. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry.”
“It’s cool,” he replied as he trailed his fingers over the thin, silky leaves of lemongrass—another plant I recognized thanks to my dad—and the familiar citrus aroma wafted into the air. “Both your question and living here surrounded by shifters are cool.”
I grinned at him. I’d just made my first friend at Sunshine Manor. But I couldn’t resist shooting another peek at Micah. A tiny whimper escaped my lips as a drop of beer spilled into his salt and pepper scruff. “I’ll get that for you,” was on the tip of my tongue, until Neil tucked his arm in mine.
“Our Micah is a little different from the others.”
I assumed he was referring to him being a unicorn. I’d noted the tank top the moment I’d set foot on the patio. “Ask me about my unicorn,” it said. No way was I going to take the advice and ply him with questions. But I really wanted to. I knew next to nothing about unicorns, never having met one. And our shifter history class at high school had barely touched on them.
“How so?”
Daire, who’d moseyed over to us, whispered, “It’s to do with being a shapeshifter as opposed to a shifter.”
“What does that mean exactly?”
But the bear shifter was inspecting and adjusting the tomato plants’ stakes, so it was left to Neil to answer. “I think it's to do with his beast. Or not a beast. Or whatever.” He shrugged as cheeks tinged with pink and he continued, “It’s probably best if Micah tells you himself.”
It struck me as ironic that a human was giving me, a wolf, deets on the shifter world. “But…” The rest of my sentence was cut off by Ryder staggering to his feet and slurring his words into the night sky, “Let’s shift!”
“Not a bad idea,” Daire agreed.
Ryder stumbled toward the stairs. “We’ll take my car.”
Daire, Micah, and Ivor shouted, “No,” and they grabbed Ryder before he tumbled headfirst down the staircase.
“I’ll drive my van,” Daire said. “Everybody coming? Archer? Ivor? Micah?”
Yes , my wolf agreed. I nodded, grateful for the opportunity to let my wolf take his fur before glancing at Neil. Poor guy, he was the odd one out. That was awkward having to leave him behind, but Daire had the situation in hand. “Come with us, Neil. It’s a beautiful night.”
Neil made a face. “I don’t know. I’m happy to put away the leftovers and then watch TV.” He gave me a lopsided smile. “I’m not a huge fan of going outside. Not… not anymore.”
I squeezed his hand. “It’d be nice if you came. All of us together.”
“Yes, come with us,” Ivor pleaded.
“Well,” Neil’s voice wavered, “Maybe.”
“Great. That’s settled,” Daire said. “We’ll go to my parents’ place. No one else will be there.” Turned out his folks lived in town and only went to their big estate on the weekends.
Daire’s van was a luxury one with heated seats and USB ports. And once we were buckled in, I yelped as the seat massaged me.
“That’s Daire’s party trick,” Ivor chuckled. “He does that to the first-timers.”
I caught Micah’s eye as he sat opposite me, but Daire switched off the interior light and closed the door, and the unicorn shifter turned and looked out the window.
“Ready, family?” Daire yelled.
“Yes!”
Him calling us family gave me the warm fuzzies. I missed my parents and worried about my alpha dad. While I’d barely gotten past the introduction stage with Ivor, Ryder, and Daire, I hoped Neil and I were going to be good friends. I couldn’t say what my relationship with Micah would look like. My wolf was clamoring to shift with him, and my dick was certainly paying attention to the man.
Being inside the van with four shifters, each with their own distinct aroma, wasn’t a problem. But Micah’s scent, which was overpowering, came with a delicate undertone that made me dizzy and had me wishing we could open the windows. And Daire’s driving didn’t help. Maybe he thought he was behind the wheel of his sports car.
“If you don’t slow down, I guarantee Ryder’s going to be sick,” Micah grumbled as the stag shifter murmured, “I don’t feel so good.”
“And you’ll be cleaning it up, Daire,” Neil laughed.
“As long as I don’t have to do it,” Ivor mumbled.
I gripped the back of the seat in front, thinking I might join Ryder in a vomit fest as my stomach lurched from side to side when the van veered left and then right. I couldn’t blame it all on the driving. It was the unicorn’s fault. Even my wolf was complaining, and I had to restrain him from shifting and breaking the windows.
When we arrived in a clearing beside a small lake, I was the first one out, gulping in the cool night air. Ryder practically fell out behind me, yelling, “I love this place. ”
“Do you get carsick, Archer?” Neil put a hand on my back as I bent over, swallowing mouthfuls of oxygen and hoping my racing pulse would slow.
“Not usually. Must have been that sandwich.”
I stood up in time to see Ryder flinging off his shirt, and not bothering with his pants, he charged toward the woods. Two legs became four and as his stag emerged, I was struck by his antlers outlined against the shimmering body of water.
“Magnificent,” I observed.
“Isn’t he?” Ivor chimed in as he undressed while Ryder’s stag charged into the forest.
Ivor’s face lit up as he closed his eyes and shifted, and I admired his beast’s dark brown fur that contrasted with the light and dark gray of my own wolf.
“Shifting’s the one time he can forget his troubles and be the confident being I know he should be,” Neil informed me. “He’s constantly worried about his lack of money and is aware of how much Daire has helped him by letting him share his apartment.”
“Poor guy.” I understood how money worries dominated your every waking minute. “That is one stunning wolf,” I said as Ivor raced away, and Daire’s huge grizzly ambled into the water. A rustling behind me told me Micah was removing his clothes.
“Are you going to wander down to the lake and watch Daire’s bear catch fish, Neil?” I asked as I toed off my shoes and placed my folded shirt inside the van.
“Nope. I have my music and a blanket and I’m staying in the van. Go have fun.” He stepped inside and slammed the door, and the distinctive click of the lock being activated broke the silence. Guess the rest of my clothes will stay outside.
Ivor’s wolf had disappeared into the trees and I slipped out of my pants, holding them awkwardly, knowing Micah was behind me. Shifters witnessed one another without clothes so often it wouldn’t be weird seeing him butt naked.
But the guy wasn’t any run of the mill shifter. He was making my pulse race, and my chest tightened. Sweat dotted my brow as I caught a glimpse of Micah still in human form, off to my left.
Don’t look at his cock. Don’t do it , I repeated in my head, and then ignored my own advice. The moon was in on the scheme to show the man’s dick in the best light. It came out from behind a cloud. It was huge. Not the moon, not the cloud. His length.
I shoved a hand over my mouth to stifle a gasp. Too late. He must have heard me as he swiveled his head in my direction, and I gave a feeble little wave. He didn’t react. Fuck, what is wrong with me? He must think I’m an idiot.
Micah strolled toward the water’s edge, and whereas the other three had wasted no time between getting undressed and shifting, he studied the moon. He was probably shaking a mental fist and saying, “Why did you shine on my cock?”
And then he shifted, and I was struck dumb. It was as though he and the moon were partners. The moonbeams danced on his skin, making it shimmer and glisten, as he took his unicorn form. My eyes went to his horn, sparkling with silver, and there was a hint of the palest pink on the tip. As his body was bathed in light, he reared up, and without a backward glance, tore into the trees. It brought tears to my eyes.
The van door slid open a tad. “Seeing Micah shift never gets old,” Neil said before shutting the door again.
I must have removed my underwear, but I had no memory of doing it as the image of Micah’s unicorn was seared into my brain. But with my wolf begging to shift, I scolded myself for considering that the guy, a unicorn shifter, and one at least ten years older than I was, might be interested in me. And even if he was, I couldn’t enter into a relationship, I reminded myself, instead having to concentrate on my work. I’d gotten this job to support my family, and I wouldn’t let them down.
Love wasn’t in my immediate future.
Ha ! My wolf had no notion of the human concept of love. There was mating or nothing in his world.
As I let my wolf off his leash, I allowed myself to entertain a relationship with Micah. But my practical side reminded me that it was a fantasy and would never happen. Nor could I let it happen. So, I took my daydream, tucked it in a box, and put it away.