Chapter 6 – Cerberus
CERBERUS
Smells rush over me as I enter the veterinary clinic.
It irritates the hellhound within me. So many smells: cats, dogs, other animals.
My hound strives to show them she’s dominate.
But she also has a soft spot beneath her tough exterior; she’s always quick to defend creatures in harm.
She always instinctually treats other animals like they’re part of her pack of misfits.
It’s one of the many things we have in common. A weakness for those who need our strength.
My gaze lands on an older woman. Mrs. Meyers has her old, sickly cat in her lap again.
The animal within me wants to put it down, to end its suffering.
But the human part of me understands that even a miserable life is often better than no life at all.
And so, I smile at the old woman, which I can sense makes her uneasy.
“You’re back?” I say.
She gives a tired smile. “I don’t have an appointment, but I told Kayla I’d wait until she was done with her morning work.”
I nod, knowing she’s a lonely woman. “It shouldn’t be too much longer.”
Then I glance back at Soren, hoping to read his expression.
He meets my gaze. “I thought there would be an animal doctor or someone here.”
It takes me a second to respond. His voice is so low and masculine. Even my hound seems to purr in response to his voice. He sounds like an alpha, and my hound loves a good alpha.
Although neither of us could help but tease him.
“She’s probably in the back.”
He grunts in acknowledgement and nothing more.
I walk through the tiny waiting room with its walls lined with chairs.
I push open the little swinging door that leads past the counters to the back rooms, and Soren catches it behind me and follows.
There are three small rooms for patients and their pets, and a hallway between them that leads to the back.
Here, cages line the walls, and we have little rooms for surgeries, and metal tables near the cages.
I don’t like most of this place. Cages make me uneasy.
They remind me of my collar and my chain.
But I push down my emotions, knowing this place is not a forever-prison for these animals.
They’ll only remain here while we either heal them, or they die.
Either way, it’s just a brief resting place in their lives.
The vet isn’t in any of the rooms, so I know the only place left that she’ll be. The backyard. My favorite place here. I steer toward the backdoor.
And I try to ignore the big man, trailing me like a shadow.
Because I haven’t completely decided what I think of him.
In the Underworld, I had visitors now and then.
Some gods. Some semi-immortal beings. Many of them became my friends over the many years, a few became my lovers.
I saw sex as a way to connect with people, to feel something other than loneliness and pain for a few minutes before reality came crashing back to me.
I like physical contact. More than words.
More than anything else. A touch never lies.
Never makes promises it can’t keep. It simply is what it is.
Two people who want to feel something. Even if afterwards the men leave me chained in the darkness, it doesn’t matter.
I didn’t need them to care about me, just to make me feel like I’m not alone.
Seeing Soren this morning reminded me of how long it’s been since I touched a man last. When I had looked at his massive body, his muscular arms, his delicious chest, smooth belly, and large cock, something had stirred within me.
Need. But then he’d looked at me, and I realized I had no idea how to show interest in a man in this world.
I don’t even know how sex works here. If I sleep with him, will he simply go away afterwards?
I have no desire to get him entangled in my situation.
Beside the back door is a large bag of dog food. Knowing how heavy it is for Kayla, I reach down and sweep it into my arms.
“I’ll get that!” Soren says behind me.
“I have it,” I say.
He makes a frustrated sound, and his arms come around me to grab the bag.
My hound, unable to back down from the challenge, holds the bag tighter. “Let go.”
“It’s too heavy for you!” he says.
“It’s not.” I lean forward, trying to keep it out of his grasp.
Suddenly, my ass is bumping against him. And I swear I feel his erection through his pants, hard and tempting.
We both freeze. His breath is hot beside my ear. “Give it to me.”
“You want it?” I say, and my voice is strangely husky, the question implying that what he wants has nothing to do with a bag of dog food.
He takes a long minute to answer. We both simply stand together, his arms around me and the bag, his cock pressed against my ass.
I close my eyes, and suddenly all I can imagine is what it would feel like if he suddenly tore our pants off and buried into me from behind. My hound and I would submit to him then. We’d let him ride us with his long, thick, delicious-looking cock.
All he has to do is give any sign that’s what he wants.
All he has to do is be the alpha his cock suggests and take control.
“I’m the man. I should carry it,” he says, but unlike before, he no longer sounds angry, just frustrated.
Doesn’t he understand that he needs to make the move now?
I frown. Perhaps I have to be more obvious with human men.
Rubbing my ass slowly against his erection, I glory in the feel of his arms tightening around me. “And here I thought men in this position usually like to grab a woman’s hair, not the items she’s carrying.”
He swears and jumps back from me.
I look at him, feeling strangely triumphant, while at the same time disappointed. Then I turn and open the door. Going into the backyard, I carry the bag easily and set it down near the others. When I stand, Soren is glaring at me, arms crossed in front of his chest.
“Want to look for that cat now?”
His glare darkens.
I move up to him and can’t help but put a hand on his thickly-corded arm. “Soren?”
His gaze darkens, and he leans a little closer. “Yeah?”
“If you ever need me to teach you how to carry heavy bags, or pull a woman’s hair the way she likes, just ask.”
His jaw drops open.
There. Now there’s no misunderstanding what I said.
Spinning away from him, I ignore his anger at losing our battle of wills and search for my friend.
Kennels line the back wall, and fences separate animals in different areas, while still giving them room to run and play.
These are the animals the vet cares for until they can find a permanent home.
This is where Soren can see animals without a home.
Although I’m not sure he’ll even look at them now. Not after I challenged his manhood.
Kayla is in the back, sitting in the middle of one fenced-in area.
Tiny puppies crawl and play all over her.
And in her face I see something I envy more than anything else in this world—pure and utter happiness.
This woman, with her short dark hair and deep purple tips, is beautiful.
She breaks every rule I’ve come to understand, with the tattoos that cover her arms and chest, and the piercings that race up and down her ears.
But that fact makes her even more beautiful.
It reminds me that it might even be possible for me, a scarred-up freak, to be beautiful to someone.
Maybe.
Kayla glances up at me and smiles.
I smile back.
And unlike every other person I smile at, she doesn’t flinch. “Cerce! All the puppies are doing great, even the runt!” Then, her gaze goes to the man behind me. “Who’s the stud? I hope he’s your new boy toy.”
A flash of warmth hits my cheeks, but I lift my chin a little higher. “He’s my neighbor. He might be looking for a dog… if he can handle the responsibility.”
I continue walking closer to her, trying not to look back at Soren. What did he think when she implied there was something romantic between us? He didn’t deny it. Could that mean he’s interested? Or did I just clear things up quickly enough?
If he was interested, he’d be plunging in and out of your pussy right now, a tiny voice whispers in the back of my mind.
I try to push the troubling thought away. That’s what it would mean if a man in the Underworld came to see me, but what does it mean to humans? Perhaps I really was being too subtle.
We stop before the pen, which was fenced off by metal posts that reach my chest. “Can we come in?”
She nods. “Just make sure none of the scamps run off!”
Soren and I scoot in and close the gate behind us.
Instantly, the puppies lift their heads, sniff the air, and run for me.
I kneel down, and they’re everywhere. I knew that some instinct within them thought I was their mother, from the moment they were born and their mother passed.
I pet them different than Kayla does. Like a dog, my palm dragging along their backs.
They roll over and show me their bellies, a sign that I’m dominate.
I stoke their tiny tummies covered in spots and pray that they never know cruelty. Such innocent babies never should.
Soren clears his throat, and I glance up at him. He’s staring at a couple puppies that are sniffing at his shoes. “I just came to town,” he says, sounding uncomfortable.
Kayla laughs and stands, grabbing a bag and continuing to fill their food bowls. “In a town this small, we all know each other, so no need to tell any of us you’re new.”
“Okay.” He hesitates. “I’ve been thinking of getting a dog for a while, but I have concerns.”
I glance up at him, and my mouth goes dry. The sun has peeked out from behind the building, bathing him in its glow. I’d thought his hair was brown, but in the sunlight, there’s a slight reddish hue. And the golden color in his eyes seems to grow deeper, giving him a godly air.
Something inside of me warms. This man is so big. So strong. So masculine.