Tall, Dark and Panther Read online

  The doorman met her by the security desk and handed her the cell phone. She thanked him and strolled to one of the seating areas. There were tables and chairs, and she headed straight for one with Gerri by her side.

  “Go on.”

  “I get to the place; the guy isn’t there. No big deal. He’s lost so I give him directions. I sit there waiting, and when he finally shows up, I know it’s him because Erica had described him to me. What she didn’t tell me was that he was short.”

  “Is that a problem?” Gerri frowned.

  “Oh, not really. I’m five-two, so I’m already short. Except, Hank is not short. Not really. He’s a little person.”

  Gerri’s eyes widened. “So he is more than just short.”

  She nodded. “I’m open-minded, really. I mean, I was willing to give him a chance. His being short isn’t a big deal, but when coupled with what came next, I was sitting there horrified. The entire time, he is talking about how big his penis is, and how he has a prince albert and I need to see it. Do you know what a prince albert is? A penis piercing!”

  “Oh, my.”

  “Wait. There’s more. When I’m getting ready to leave, he slaps my ass and asks when he can get the chance to ‘hit that.’”

  Gerri gasped. “He didn’t!”

  “He did. He most certainly did. And for the kicker, he was drenched in sweat from either nerves or just being someone who sweats a lot. He kept wanting to touch my hand with his hot, sweaty one. It was really gross.” She folded her arms on top of the table and let her head drop on them, with her forehead pressed on her forearms. “I should just go live in a convent. Sister can’t get a good man sounds like the perfect title. My dating life sucks balls. Not just balls. Hairy, stinky, sweaty balls.”

  “My, that’s an image,” Gerri choked. “Don’t be down, Maya. Why are you meeting all these strange men?”

  She lifted her head and shrugged. “I want to meet the man that’s right for me. Someone who will love me unconditionally. It’s hard to find someone like that when you’re as big as me.”

  She wasn’t under any delusions. She was a big girl. Well, more like real big. She was super curvy with a side of extra curves, and she was fine with that. Okay, she was more than fine with it. She enjoyed living in the body she had and didn’t see herself doing anything drastic to change it. It wasn’t like she had unhealthy habits. She was just big.

  “What’s wrong with your size?” Gerri asked.

  Maya stared at her for a moment, unsure if she was joking or what. “Bud, the ex, is one of the reasons I’m annoyed with men in general. I’m a big girl, and I have yet to meet a guy who doesn’t try to get me to lose weight. Or who won’t cheat on me with someone slimmer. Or who likes my curves. Most of them are not okay with my body.” She ran her fingers through her long hair, twisting the strands. “I don’t want a guy who tells me ‘you have a pretty face’ as the sexiest compliment. I want someone who worships my body. A man who will be as turned on with me as I am with him. Do you know what Bud said to me?”

  Gerri shook her head, but said nothing.

  “He said that I was fat, and it was okay. That he could accept that because he wasn’t with me for beauty. He said that I was ‘safe’ because he didn’t see other guys stealing me away from him.” She narrowed her eyes. “You know, because I’m so fat. Nobody else could possibly want me.”

  Gerri opened her hand bag and pulled out a card. “I can help you, Maya. I own a matchmaking service. Trust me, I would never pair you with a man who says anything like that.”

  She stared at the card Gerri had placed on the table in front of her. With a pair of golden eyes in the background, it said: Paranormal Dating Service. Wait. What?

  “You own a paranormal dating service?”

  “Yes. My male clients are strictly shifters. The big, sexy kind that can handle girls like you. In fact, they prefer big girls. According to my nephew, it’s best to have more to hold onto when you’re having sex.”

  Maya widened her eyes. Holy shit. She had no idea her venting session was going to turn into a matchmaking session with a possible shifter. Shifters for crying out loud. She’d heard of them but had yet to meet one. The whole idea was crazy. Maybe Gerri was crazy. Or Maya for even considering it. But she wasn’t having any luck with the human slugs. Maybe shifters had something that made them special. If she went for it. Should she go for it?

  “Your clients don’t mind that you have human females too?”

  Gerri leaned back on her seat, her smile wide and filled with excitement. “No. I have gotten some shifter females that are requesting my services, but most of my female clients are humans. It doesn’t really matter what species you are. A shifter knows his mate.”

  “So if I use your service, how will I know you’re not matching me with a taller version of Bud?”

  Gerri’s eyes flashed gold. “I would never match a client with a poor excuse for a male. Granted, I can’t guarantee he’ll be perfect, but anatomically speaking, he’ll be more than acceptable.”

  She giggled. “You sound so funny.” She sighed and glanced down at the card. Curiosity pushed her to agree. She wanted to know more about these shifter men. “Do your services come with a must-have-large-penis warranty or I get my money back?”

  Gerri’s lips quirked. “No. You get what you get, and trust me, you’ll enjoy it.”

  “Your smile makes me want to say yes.” She pouted for a moment, thinking the whole idea through.

  “My smile?”

  “Yeah. It’s like you know something I don’t. Now I want to know whatever it is you know.”

  “Curiosity killed the cat,” Gerri said.

  “Thankfully, I’m not a cat.”

  Gerri laughed. “No you’re not. Speaking of pussies, what do you think of them? Can you see yourself ever stroking one?”

  She didn’t know where the conversation had turned weird. “I... What?”

  “Feline shifters.” Gerri’s grin widened. “It’s really quite fun to mess with you.”

  Yeah. A real riot. “I have nothing against any shifter. Bring on the pussy.”

  Gerri gave a sharp nod. “I love an adventurous woman.”

  Screw it. For most of her life, she’d lived in a quiet hell of boredom she’d been dying to get out of. This was her chance. And maybe, just maybe, she might get someone as sexy as her neighbor on the other side of the building. Those gorgeous blue eyes got her every time. Never mind the fact that he didn’t smile. Ever. He just stared at her in a brooding way that was sexy as hell. He managed to make her ability to speak coherently disappear with a single look. She’d love to see someone like him in the shifter dating directory.

  She once rode up the elevator with him and stared at his arm muscles shifting from holding some boxes. She had to stop herself from taking her panties off and handing them to him. Twice. The worst part was that she didn’t even know his name. All she knew was that he was one of those guys you’d tie to your bed so you could stare at his naked body and he couldn’t leave. Okay, that right there was kind of creepy, but he was hot.

  Gerri cleared her throat, and she snapped out of her bondage daydreams and returned to the conversation.

  “Sign me up, Gerri. I don’t care who you match me with. It can’t be worse than what I’ve already had.”

  “Have faith, Maya. It will work out better than you imagine.”

  THREE

  Maya sang along to a popular song. She was ready for her date. Ms. Wilder had been adamant that the date happen at a charity ball. Maya couldn’t care less. She was tired from a sucky day at work. It was a long weekend, and she could think of nothing better than to dress up and go meet candidate number one, especially after the messages she’d gotten from her ex. The man still didn’t get it. Even after she’d changed her voicemail message to say that she wasn’t going to take him back so stop calling.

  The ball was being held in a mansion outside of town. She knew the place well. It wasn’t exactly on
her way to work, but she’d been by there a time or two. The mansion was massive, surrounded by iron gates and dense forest.

  She pulled the curling iron off her last curl and shifted her head to and fro in front of the mirror. This guy better be worth her shaving her legs, not to mention the two hours straightening her hair, only to curl it into big, fluffy curls after. People didn’t realize how much work it took her to make her hair look so nicely curled. If she left it natural, she would scare a man half to death. The tiny corkscrew curls tended to rise into a giant cloud of hair that used to frighten her as a kid. Now, though, she knew what to do to control it. Straighten it to death.

  The dress she’d gotten for the ball was another story. She’d chosen a golden yellow that made her brown skin appear vibrant and healthy. The strapless dress fell in a soft line down her body, hugging her curves. It wasn’t tight. It was loose, flowy, and comfortable. She’d gotten gold, heeled sandals to match. Though she didn’t normally wear heels to events, not that she ever went to balls, she hoped to look pretty while sitting and limit her walking so her feet wouldn’t hurt. It was a good plan. Unless her date was a dancer. Crap. If he liked dancing, she might have to lie and say she hurt her foot or something. Or they’d really end up with her hurting herself in those neck-breakers.

  * * *

  The gala was in full swing by the time she arrived. Limos lined the long driveway, dropping off guests. Butterflies flapped their wings in her chest, adding to the tension in her muscles. Her belly trembled, and for a second she thought she might be sick. The combination of excitement and fear of the unknown had her almost shaking in her heels.

  She walked into the ball, and a man appeared by her side to take her to Ms. Wilder, one of the hosts. Apparently, Gerri liked to host charitable functions for orphaned or disadvantaged youth.

  It took a few minutes to reach the other side of the ballroom where Gerri stood, surrounded by men. Maya had the urge to turn on her heel and walk out the door. Those guys weren’t just good looking; they were model material. Or wet-dream material.

  She cleared her throat, and the mountain of men parted so they could all look at her. Gerri smiled and glanced at Maya’s dress, nodding approvingly. “You look amazing, Maya.”

  She gave a small, nervous smile. “Thank you for inviting me.”

  “Maya, what a lovely name,” one of the gorgeous shifters said. She knew he was a shifter. He had the golden circle around his eyes she’d come to realize distinguished them from regular old humans. “I’m Slade. Would you like to dance?”

  “No. She’s only dancing with me.”

  The anger that rose at a man telling her she’d only dance with him fizzed to a sudden death when she turned to face the person who’d spoken.

  She turned to see her neighbor: God of every dirty dream in the world. Her throat turned drier than sandpaper while she stared at him. She didn’t even know his name, but her body knew his better than he could imagine. Too many erotic dreams did that to a girl. She’d started to think of him as her fantasy man. Though she’d only seen him sporadically in the building, in her dreams he was more than just some man. He did things to her no man could ever match.

  He wore a tux like nobody’s business. He was taller than any man she’d ever dated, and she had to lift her head to look into his eyes. His jaw was clenched tight, and his short blonde hair had been freshly cut into spikes.

  “Noah, darling. You’re going to scare Maya,” Gerri growled. “Stop acting like a Neanderthal.”

  “Um...” She knew his name now. Noah. It fit him. He didn’t glance away from her. Instead, he leaned closer, lowering his head toward hers.

  “You’re here for me.”

  She blinked. She had no idea what he meant by that. But if he wanted to arrange something with her, she’d be glad to once she got her date out of the way.

  “What?” Geez her voice had never sounded that husky. She cleared her throat. “I’m sorry, we haven’t really met before.” Not in person, but in her dreams, he was fucking her nightly. “I’m Maya.”

  She offered him a hand to shake. He curled his larger hand around hers, sending electricity shooting down her back. The quirk of his lips told her he’d noticed the effect his touch had on her. He lifted her hand to his lips and brushed his lips slowly, erotically over the back of her hand. “I know who you are.”

  Wow. The guy was deadly when he turned on the possessive charm. He gave her a panty-melting look and proceeded to act like he knew her body better than she did. At that moment, she couldn’t even remember her last name.

  A slow shiver caressed her back. Potent. All-consuming. Like a drug she’d been deprived of…and he hadn’t even kissed her. Yet. Something told her that was coming. Soon.

  “Noah, behave.” Gerri chuckled behind her.

  “You’re mine,” he said, his voice a low growl.

  She glanced over her shoulder and saw Gerri grinning from ear to ear. She knew there was something there. “Gerri, about my...um...”

  She had a hard time even saying the words. If Noah was really her date, she was going to be in such trouble. There was no way her brain cells could fight her attraction for him. She’d been living with it since she’d first seen him. And back then she’d had her ex up her ass like a damn enema. Bud didn’t know how to leave her alone. His belief that because she was big, she had no life, drove her bananas. It was his constant clinginess and need for attention that drove her away. That and his lack of effort in the romance department. Hell, even in sex, he’d taken the easy way out and stopped once he was done, like her needs didn’t matter. Not that she couldn’t take care of her own needs, but it was time to find a man who wanted to do that for her.

  “Sorry, Maya,” Gerri said. “Let me formally introduce you. Noah Wright, meet your date for the evening, Maya Zara. Maya, Noah will be your date, and hopefully, you two will hit it off.”

  If they hit it off more than they already had, they’d be naked and having sex in the middle of the ballroom. At the moment, that didn’t sound like a bad idea. Maya wanted so badly to watch Noah strip off that tux.

  “Thank you, Gerri. It’s nice to meet you, Noah.”

  “Noah, why don’t you take her to dance.” Gerri grinned.

  Sending them to dance was not a good idea. There was a slow song playing, and all Maya could think of was his body pressed up to hers.

  Noah grabbed her hand again, gently guiding her to the dance floor. A slow song played. He pulled her close, so close to him, their bodies flush even with the gauzy fabric of her dress in the way.

  The heat of his body lulled her into him. She glanced up, meeting his golden gaze, and scanned his facial features. Up close, he was even more devastatingly handsome. A short, scruffy beard covered his jaw.

  “Tell me about you, Maya.”

  That she wanted to bite his jaw and dry hump him was probably not a good thing to say on a first date, or ever. “I work at a bank. I’m a receptionist.”

  He nodded. “You’re single?”

  There was a flash of confusion in his eyes. “Yeah. I don’t normally have anyone set me up while in a relationship.”

  His entire demeanor changed then. He pierced her with his gaze, staring so deep into her eyes it frightened her a little. What could he see? Hopefully he couldn’t read minds, or he’d know they were fucking every which way in her brain.

  “Good to know. How is it a beautiful woman like you is single? I’d bet you have a few boyfriends in your back pocket.”

  He lifted both her hands to hold onto his neck. The move allowed him to slide his hands down her back, stopping at the curve of her ass. Her pulse pounded hard in her ears. She wanted to say something witty, but arousal had made her stupid. Stupid plus horny didn’t make witty. “No boyfriends. How is it a sexy man like you is still single?”

  Good work, Sherlock. Giving him his own question back was not dumb at all. Idiot. She only hoped his answer would help her zap her brain into working again.

 
; “There’s only one woman for me,” he said, lowering his head to speak by her ear. Goosebumps broke out over her flesh. “She is the only one I want in my bed. Legs spread open and me filling her.”

  The image of him doing just that to her took center stage in her mind. She realized after a moment that she was breathing hard. “Why is it just the one...woman?”

  “I’m a shifter. A panther. There’s only one mate for me and my animal. Only one woman whose body I want to take for the rest of my life. Only one pair of lips I want to taste,” he said, his voice growing rougher. “She is it. She’s everything.”

  He pressed her closer to him, letting her feel his hard-on. Oh lord, she was in trouble, big trouble of the tempting kind. She clearly hadn’t had good sex in so long she was ready to drag the big shifter off to a corner and have her way with him.

  “I love that smell,” he rumbled. “My words turn you on. We can do better than that, Maya. I can take you home, eat your pussy until you come on my face.” He licked her earlobe, and her pussy throbbed, aching to be filled. “Then, I’ll fuck you. I’ll fuck that sweet pussy of yours until you come so hard you don’t even know your name.”

  Yes! A million times yes! That’s what she wanted more than anything right now. A man who wanted to do those erotic things to her. But was he speaking just to speak, or did he find himself attracted to her curves?

  “I’m a big girl,” she breathed and waited for his reply.

  “Your body isn’t big. It’s got the right amount of cushion for me not to worry about how hard I take you.” He pulled back, staring into her eyes. “And I will take you. Hard. Rough. I’ll make you scream. I’ll make you beg. I’ll make it so fucking good you’ll never want me out of you.”