Mating Rituals [Impulse 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (17 page)

“Of course. I’m a big girl.”

Kane’s slow, sexy smile bypassed her twisted gut and went straight to her pussy.

“We know,” he said, standing up and stacking his empty plate in the dishwasher. “We’ll be back late afternoon to take you to Vilas’s party.”

“Oh yes, I’d forgotten about that,” she lied.

“Wear something pretty for us,” Tyrone said, dropping a kiss on the top of her head.

“And no bra,” Kane reminded her.

Left alone, Aisha banished thoughts of the evening to come from her head and returned to the work that grabbed her complete attention. Unaware of the passage of time, she looked up in surprise when someone tapped on the open door. She expected it to be either Kane or Tyrone come to check up on her. Instead Chantal and Layla stood there.

“Hey,” Chantal said. “Didn’t mean to interrupt, but we’re going shopping for something to wear to Vilas’s party. We wondered if you needed anything.”

“Well, I…to be honest, I hadn’t given any thought to what to wear.”

“Come along with us,” Layla said. “You could probably use a break. It’ll be fun.”

“Well okay, just so long as I don’t have to walk far outside.”

“No worries. We have it covered.”

Surprisingly ready to leave her dusty files behind, Aisha followed the ladies out to a golf cart, which Chantal drove in the direction of Impulse’s small shopping mall.

“It’s air conditioned,” Layla told her as they piled out of the cart.

“Thank goodness for that!”

“Do you remember meeting Irena last night?” Chantal asked.

“I’m not sure. There were so many faces.”

“You’ll remember her when you see her,” Layla said. “Irena isn’t easy to forget.”

“She runs Feline Fashions,” Chantal explained. “It’s
the
place to shop for clothes in Impulse.”

“Make that the only place,” Layla added, laughing.

“I’ve been meaning to ask why so many places in Impulse are named after cats. Apart from the Cat’s Whiskers, so far I’ve seen a kids’ nursery called Cat’s Cradle and now Feline Fashions.”

“We’re not really sure,” Chantal said, sounding evasive. “It’s a tradition that goes back years.”

“So many weird things about this place,” Aisha said quietly. “But I kinda like it.”

“It definitely grows on you,” Chantal agreed, linking her arm through Aisha’s as though they’d been friends for years.

“Here we are,” Layla said, pushing open the door to an upmarket shop. “Irena, wake up. You have paying customers.”

“My favorite type.”

The lady who appeared from the back room was familiar. Aisha had definitely seen her the night before.

“We need something sleek for tonight, all three of us,” Layla said.

But it seemed that Aisha was their priority. Did she really need fashion advice that badly? Aisha was unsure whether to feel insulted or grateful when Irena looked her up and down, a thoughtful expression on her face, as though she enjoyed a challenge.

“That hair of yours restricts your choice of color,” she said.

“Tell me about it.” Aisha rolled her eyes. “I usually stick to greens or blacks. Can’t go anywhere near pinks or reds, obviously.”

“What about this?”

Irena rummaged along a rack of dresses and came up with a sparkly silver number with a halter neck. All three ladies admired it.

“Try it on,” Chantal suggested.

“It won’t do for me because I need a bra,” she said, not prepared to do as Kane and Tyrone had suggested and actually go without one in public. Well, she had last night, she supposed, but only briefly and she was sure people noticed.

“The dress has built-in support,” Irena replied.

“Well, all right, but isn’t it a bit over-the-top for a birthday party?”

“Oh no, we Impulse ladies grab any excuse to dress up. It’s become normal, and the guys kind of expect us to pull out all the stops.”

Aisha wanted to say that it sounded rather sexist. But strangely it didn’t feel that way. What was wrong with dressing up and being admired? Holding that thought, Aisha went into the changing room, stripped down to her panties, and slipped the dress over her head. The fabric slithered over her bare skin and finished just above her knee. Irena was right about the bodice. It did hold her up, but it also displayed more cleavage than she was comfortable with showing. Aisha looked at herself in the glass and smiled.

Dare she?

She stepped out of the changing room to a chorus of approving comments from her new friends. That decided her. She’d buy the dress just to make herself feel good about the person she planned to become. She didn’t care if Kane and Tyrone approved or not. This was for her—the new, independent Aisha who would never again rely on the likes of Rick, or anyone else, to help her on her career path.

“You absolutely have to have it,” Chantal and Layla said together.

“Okay, but I need shoes.”

“I’m on it,” Irena said, producing high silver sandals that exactly matched the dress.

An hour later she was back at the apartment, showered, made up, and dressed. Nervously she waited for the guys to come and get her, angry with herself for feeling so edgy. It really didn’t matter what they thought.

At last she heard footsteps and Kane’s voice calling to her. When she stepped into the living room he looked up and did a double take. A lazy smile lit up his face and he let out a long, slow whistle.

“Chantal and Layla took me shopping,” she said. “They insisted this wasn’t over-the-top, but now I’m not so sure.”

“Baby, if we had more time I’d rip it off you and show you precisely how suitable I think it is. However—”

“Where’s Tyrone?”

Kane’s smile gave way to a scowl. “His meeting’s overrunning. He’ll see us there. You ready?”

“As I ever will be.”

“Just remember,” he whispered in her ear as they made their way down the stairs, “you belong to Tyrone and me. Don’t let any of those other young bucks lead you astray if we get separated tonight.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” she said with an impish smile that implied the precise opposite.

The Cat’s Whiskers was crowded when they arrived, but Aisha could see at once that all the ladies were at least as fancily dressed as she was and she blended right in. Chantal, beautiful in shimmering pink, sat on the birthday boy’s lap as he greeted his guests, but of Rafe there was no sign.

“Come on, babe,” Kane said once they’d gotten past Vilas and Chantal. “Let’s go and get ourselves a nice big drink.”

* * * *

Tyrone faced Maria across the table in Rafe’s living room. Rafe himself sat at the head of it but so far hadn’t uttered a word, leaving Tyrone and Maria to argue between themselves. They’d been going over the same old same old for over an hour. Maria refused to budge an inch, insisting that she had a right to raise
her
children any which way she chose.

“I can’t live in this place,” she said for the tenth time. “And I won’t have my kids living in a near-permanent siege situation. It’s no way to grow up. I should know.”

“You’re a shifter, Maria, whether you like it or not, and so are our kids.”

“They don’t know that yet and never will if I keep them away from this place.”

“You know it doesn’t work that way. Their shifter tendencies will surface, and if they don’t know what’s happening to them, their lives will be a whole lot worse than if they grow up amongst their fellow shifters and know who they really are.”

She tossed her head. “I’ll deal with their instincts when the time comes.”

Tyrone sent her a scathing glance. “How?”

“Tyrone, I love you, I always have. I knew I wanted to mate with you just as soon as I was old enough to understand what mating was all about. But I want a normal life for us all.” Her beautiful face was marred by a frown. “Move to St. Augustine with me and the kids. Let’s live together like an ordinary family without the threat of territorial battles hanging over our heads every second of every day.”

“It’s not that easy. I have responsibilities here. I’m an alpha leopard.”

“So is Kane. Impulse only needs one alpha leopard, or are you so into each other now that you prefer him to me?”

“You walked out on me, so you have no right to judge.” Tyrone ground his jaw, doing his utmost not to show how mad she was making him. Maria had lost none of her ability to ignore logic and twist circumstances to suit her own purpose. “Besides, this isn’t about you or me. The kids are the only ones who matter.”

“You think I don’t know that? It wasn’t easy to leave. I was close to a breaking point, and so I either had to get out or go crazy.”

“Bullshit! You just got mad because you couldn’t have things your way.”

Tyrone glanced at Rafe and shrugged his exasperation, unable to pheromone that this was getting them nowhere because Maria would hear the communication. Rafe took the hint, cleared his throat, and finally interceded.

“Maria, what you do is up to you. Our enemies know you’re a native Impulsarian, and that puts you in danger. You must be aware that if you’re abducted we won’t put ourselves at risk by coming to your rescue. You’ve made your choice as an adult to leave the colony, and we respect that.”

She gulped, more subdued, aware of the respect due to the leader of the colony. “I understand that,” she said sullenly.

“You also know that your kids aren’t safe anywhere except in Impulse.”

She glowered at a point above Rafe’s head. “They would be if Tyrone left the colony. If he cut his ties to this place, he’d be of no interest to your enemies. So perhaps, instead of putting the blame on me, you should ask
him
how much he loves the kids. It obviously isn’t enough to walk out on Impulse.”

Rafe sighed. “You’ve decided that you can’t live together, that much is obvious.”

“I can live with Tyrone, I
want
to live with Tyrone more than anything, but not here in this goldfish bowl.”

Tyrone folded his arms across his chest, wondering how he could ever have imagined that a mating between him and Maria would survive the test of time. They’d grown up together, and he supposed in retrospect that their mating had been a foregone conclusion. Maria had done all the pursuing. She was beautiful, intelligent, funny, and he’d been keen enough to go along with her. Perhaps if he’d thought it through before letting testosterone rule his world he would have seen the selfishness she’d been at pains to disguise before he’d made that fateful move.

“I can’t leave my responsibilities here,” he said evenly. “What’s more, I don’t want to. This is where I belong.”

“What about—”

“Enough!” Rafe raised a hand, and Tyrone knew he’d decided to issue a colonial edict, which all Impulse shifters were programmed to obey, even when they didn’t want to. It was something that only Rafe, as ultimate alpha, could do, but he seldom did. It required psychic energy that could be put to better use elsewhere. Tyrone also knew that Rafe preferred persuasion over coercion. “I was hoping you wouldn’t put me in this position, Maria, but you leave me with no other choice. The children must come back to Impulse. You know deep in your shifter soul that it’s the only way to ensure their safety.”

“Yes, but—”

“However, rather than issue an edict, I’m prepared to suggest a compromise. You can have reasonable access to them in Impulse, but for their own safety you can’t remove them from the colony, not even for a vacation. When they’re old enough to understand you can explain to them why you left, why you felt so strongly about it that you were prepared to sacrifice your enhanced lifespan by living outside of our atmosphere. Tyrone won’t stop you telling them anything you want them to hear.” Rafe looked at Tyrone, who nodded. “The kids can then decide what they want to do, having both sides of the story and the maturity to make their own minds up. You know very well that shifters often decide to leave the colony when they reach maturity, mate with outsiders, and sacrifice their shifter abilities.”

Maria dropped her head, and tears leaked from the corners of her eyes. “I wish I could come back but—”

“But I wouldn’t have you, Maria. You broke the shifter code, and that goes against our mating ritual.”

“I was tempted by one of our enemies. You know it’s only you I’ve ever really loved.”

“You had the power within you to resist if you’d really wanted to. You were just trying to make me jealous.”

“I was trying to get your fucking attention away from Kane and the Impulse politics!”

Tyrone shook his head. “I’m sorry it’s come to this, but I don’t think there’s anything more to be said.”

“Very well,” she said abruptly. “You leave me with no choice but to come back.”

“What!” Tyrone and Rafe said together.

Maria’s smile was laced with malice. “I won’t be parted from my kids.”

“Are you sure?” Rafe asked, looking as perplexed as Tyrone felt.

“Why not?” She fixed Tyrone with an evil smile. “I’m sure you have room for me and the kids in that huge apartment you share with Kane.”