When Chuck comes back with a glass of straight whiskey, I drain it on one burning gulp. I don’t even care that he’s a porpoise. He’s a good kid. He brings me the booze. Chuck is a keeper.
With a stiff drink on board, I’m able to face them. I set down my glass and adopt a no-nonsense approach. #OfficeRonnie, engage.
“Let’s pretend for a moment that I believe you about all of... this,” I gesture widely to the table, “How can you prove that this is Fate, or mates, or magic crystal mojo? Or am I supposed to just believe you that this is real and you aren’t actually some sort of weird sex cult?”
Earl smiles at me indulgently and my pussy quivers just a little. Goddamn he looks good when he smiles. I like him all broody and intense, but smiley Earl is even better. If podmates are conditioned to share a mate, does that mean...all things are shared? So many possibilities...
Whether or not this Matestone business is real, one thing is certain: these freaky men light my fire in a way that no one has ever, ever, lit it before.
My body craves them and I have a sinking feeling that is only going to get worse.
I think he notices my reaction because he smiles wider and looks back at his podmates with a satisfied look on his face. My desire quickly morphs into annoyance. It’s flexible like that.
“We are not a sex cult,” he starts carefully, unable to keep a smirk off his face. I sit on my hands so I’m not tempted to smack that smirk off his face in short order.
“We also can’t prove it to you—the Matestone is what it is. But we really do want to invite you to stay with us while your van gets fixed. Let us figure this out and protect you in the process. Like we said earlier, think of this as an impromptu beach vacation!”
I think about it. I actually really think about it. Which is insane. Who randomly goes home with four strange men and agrees to hang out with them for an indeterminate amount of time while figuring out if they may or may not be some sort of mystical soulmates.
Apparently I do.
“OK,” I nod my head at each of them. “I’ll stay for awhile but there are some ground rules. Number one: I get my own room. Two: no perving me in the bathroom in any form. Three: No expectations.”
They all nod vigorously and the relief on their faces is palpable.
Well, alrighty then. Guess I’m living with some marine manimals for a while.
CHAPTER ELEVEN: EARL
THAT LITTLE MINX IS going to be the death of us. I can feel it. If, and that is a very big IF, she doesn’t kill us and ruin everything we’ve built here, she could be the only thing that saves us.
The entire pod reacts to her and it puts me on edge. We still don’t know what she is or why Fate has chosen this particular moment to bring her to our doorstep. I have to give her credit, she’s feisty as hell and comes with a temper to match.
I like that she challenges me. She may try to hide it, but I see the heat in her eyes when she looks at us. At me. Living with her and knowing she wants us, even if she doesn’t understand why, is going to be its own special version of hell.
“Uh, Boss?” I glance up to see a nervous looking Chuck standing in the doorway. Chuck has been a twitchy little shit since the day we picked him up off the beach. He may not be Pod but he’s part of the Club and that makes him family.
“Yeah, Chuck, what is it?” I stare out the window at the peaceful waves and contemplate what new chapter our life is about to descend into.
“The guys have decided to give her your room...” Chuck begins, clearly anticipating some sort of pushback. I finally get it. He’s in the doorway in case he has to run.
But, strangely, I’m not surprised, or angry, about their decision.
I nod amiably, clearly startling the kid. “Once they get her settled in, you have them meet me at the Island. You come too. We need to make a plan and I want this settled by the time the Surf Festival comes around.”
Chuck blinks. “Sir, that’s in two weeks? Is that even possible?”
This time I pin him down with one of my fiercest looks.
“It better be. If you think I want to guard an unclaimed female with a goddamn Matestone at the largest West Coast Supernatural Surf Festival of the year, you’ve lost your damn mind.”
Chuck swallows hard and looks back down the hallway. “I’ll tell them, boss.”
He scurries back down the hall and I walk to the sliding door and out onto the deck. Pulling off my clothes, I drop them in a pile on the bench and shift. Diving down into the ocean, I let the soothing rhythm of the waves pull me further out to the tiny Island in the center of our cove.
Sometimes, the humans get it right. Any number of ills can be cured with some Vitamin Sea.
IT’S DARK BY THE TIME the rest of the Club makes it to the island and I’ve had plenty of time to get myself in a better frame of mind.
We don’t need to get emotional about this. This is biology with a little bit of magic. Either Ronnie will choose us, or she won’t. How she reacts to the Matestone is completely out of our control. If we take the emotions out of it, we just have a problem to solve. If there’s anything this Club knows how to do, it’s solve a problem.
The feelings we have for her? Nothing but a biological reaction to the Matestone. A compulsion. It doesn’t have to be
