Publicly Exhibited [Werewolves of Hanson Mall 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (13 page)

Willow had never seen his apartment. It wasn’t anywhere near as nice as Cadfael’s, but he had a meal table and he could cook. Maybe she and Cadfael could come to his apartment for dinner. And bed. Especially bed.

Rhion’s office was on the sixth floor, which was where most of the “for show” offices were located, as the conference room was on that level. It meant he had a spacious office, with a big window overlooking the city, and shared a secretary with several other managers. But it was also a nuisance because he mostly worked with Cadfael, on level ten, and Dylan, the center manager, on level four, so he was going from floor to floor all day long.

He’d even considered—for about five minutes—asking to be relocated to the fourth floor, but there would be far too many interruptions there. Also, since humans and bystanders could be around, he’d have to constantly monitor everything he said and lock up every file he wanted to use. The sixth floor, while it did have visitors coming into the conference room, was much more secure. His shared secretary’s office was the portal which provided access to enter four offices, one of which was his, so no one could just walk in on him or look at his paperwork while he was away from his desk.

Since he wasn’t certain he’d be back tonight, he logged off his computer and locked the files he was working on in his desk drawer, before hurrying out to the elevator and swiping his card for level eight, where his apartment was. Level eight was all apartments. Although most of the families in the pack lived in an apartment block away from the mall, most of the single managers lived here on-site simply to avoid the commute and to be on hand whenever they were needed.

His living room was spacious, and had a good view. That was the advantage of living above a mall. Since the stores only rose to four levels, the apartments had an uninterrupted view out over the city. His kitchen was small but functional, with a counter, stove, cooktop, refrigerator, microwave, and plenty of storage space. He only had the one bedroom, but his bed was large and there was more than enough closet space just for him. Hastily, Rhion pulled the linens off his bed, shoved them in his dirty clothes hamper, and remade the bed with his nicest sheets. Then he went into his kitchen and checked his refrigerator, putting three large steaks on a plate in his microwave oven on “defrost” while he wrote himself a shopping list, and headed downstairs to the supermarket which had an excellent grocery section.

In the elevator he texted Cadfael and Willow.

Please come to dinner at my apartment tonight. Satisfaction guaranteed.

He was loading his trolley with fresh salad greens when his cell phone buzzed.
Thank you. What time?
asked Willow.

He really should check with Cadfael before he answered, but seven ought to be safe, he thought. Almost immediately Cadfael’s message came though.
Snort
.

Seven
, he texted Willow, and
I hope that’s a positive snort. C U @ 7
,
he sent to Cadfael.

Carrying his bags of groceries, Rhion walked through the food court, stopping at the ice cream stand. Unsure of what Willow would like he bought a quart of lemon sorbet, and a second quart of the decadent triple chocolate swirl. Hopefully one of them would suit her tastes.

Back in his apartment he marinated his now defrosted steaks, and tore up his salad greens, washing them carefully before piling them into a bowl. Again he dithered, this time unsure of whether or not to add dressing. Better to let her do that herself if she wants, he decided.

By the time he’d taken a shower and gotten dressed again, it was only half an hour before he needed to go downstairs and collect Willow. Rhion leaned against the wall, her image as clear in his mind as if she was in the room with him. Her gray eyes sometimes sparkled with fun. At other times they were darker as she sat and thought. Usually her body was hidden under a T-shirt and jeans, but the dress she’d worn to the movies had made the most of her delicious curves, hugging her breasts and her hips, displaying the line of her long legs. The woman was truly beautiful and her body everything a red-blooded wolf could want. But he liked her tenacious attitude, her fortitude, and her sharp mind as well. Other men might prefer a woman who would sit and hang off his every word, but Rhion’s taste was for one who would argue with him, and add comments to the conversation that made him think.

It was early, but he was too tense with the need to see her again to wait passively in his apartment. He ran down the single flight of stairs to her apartment, and knocked on the door. Hawthorne opened it, saying, “Oh, good. You’re early. Willow and I have a few tidbits of information we learned today to share with you.”

“Wait until I call Cadfael. That’ll save you saying it twice.”

“Okay. We bookmarked the website.” He noticed the two laptops sitting on the table. That’s right. Cadfael had gotten them a second one when they started doing the Facebook checks so they could work faster by sharing out the tasks. They must have found a link on Facebook.

He was also pleased to see Hawthorne opening the door and acting so freely. Her natural self-confidence was coming back, which was wonderful.

Rhion texted Cadfael.
I’m at 7C they have some tidbits of news to share with us.

Almost immediately Cadfael replied,
I’m on my way.

“He’s coming.”

Hawthorne nodded and very soon Willow appeared, back in her jeans again unfortunately. He wondered if she missed not having her personal possessions. It had to be like living out of a suitcase on vacation. After the first few days he always started noticing things he hadn’t brought with him that he wished he could wear, or use, or refer to. Likely the women felt the same. Probably they also felt it wasn’t worth buying a whole lot of stuff for the short-term when they’d have access to all the things they wanted again soon. At least, he hoped for their peace of mind it was soon.

Cadfael arrived and Hawthorne showed them Jackson Hamilton’s Facebook page, of which they could see very little as most of it was blocked. Willow then referred them to his LinkedIn profile, which was visible, and Hawthorne brought up the clinic’s website, which again said almost nothing.

Rhion scribbled down the URLs for Jackson’s profile and the clinic. “I don’t know if there’s anything more we can find out without risking being considered stalkers, but these links might be useful.”

“A friend mentioned Harry Harrison’s security company to me today. It might not hurt to refer the search on both Bailey and Jackson to him. Likely they’re both perfectly law abiding citizens, but a brief check of their backgrounds by someone with access to information we don’t have, might not hurt,” said Cadfael.

“Harry Harrison? That huge, enormous—” Rhion stopped himself before saying “bear.” Harry Harrison was a bear shape-shifter.

“Yes, that’s the one. His security firm is second to none.”

“It could be good to have someone check out Bailey’s company. I don’t understand why he isn’t constantly promoting it,” said Willow.

“He’s quite secretive. We dated for months, on and off, yet when it comes right down to it, I don’t know very much about him at all. At first I thought it was because I was in awe of him being older and powerful. Then I wondered if it was because our relationship wasn’t very deep. But now I think he deliberately kept himself aloof. We talked about the day’s news, the event we were at. Not personal things. Yet with my other boyfriends we usually talked about each other. We wanted to learn about the other person,” said Hawthorne.

Rhion nodded. Hawthorne had hit the nail on the head with that perceptive statement. To him, the whole Bailey Hamilton situation stank. But the man was innocent until legally found guilty, and thoughts, ideas, feelings had very little weight in a court of law. “I agree. Hiring Harry’s people is a good idea.”

Rhion and Cadfael stood up to leave, then Rhion thought about Hawthorne. “Will you be all right here alone?” he asked.

“Of course. Neither Willow nor Eilidh likes jazz. I plan to put the jazz channel on and enjoy it.”

Willow laughed and hugged her sister as Cadfael opened the door.

Rhion feasted his gaze on Willow. She was so beautiful and soon she’d be his. Theirs forever.

* * * *

Willow was under no misapprehension about tonight. They were going to Rhion’s apartment and they’d fuck like bunnies. She’d never had so many orgasms in a day as she’d had the night she’d spent with them. Even now she had trouble remembering how many climaxes she’d achieved. Way more than ever before. In fact two in one night had been her previous record and they’d surpassed that in the blink of an eye. Of course, she was interested to see what kind of a meal Rhion had provided for them, but personally, the sooner they got to dessert the better, in her mind.

Cadfael pushed the door to the stairs open, but Rhion ignored him and kept a grip on her elbow, guiding her to the elevator. Willow giggled. She didn’t mind taking the stairs. It was only three flights up to—Oh wait. The tenth floor was Cadfael’s apartment. She didn’t know where Rhion’s apartment was. Maybe they were going downstairs somewhere, not up. She was always confused when she got in the elevator and there were no numbers or directions beside the buttons. It was weird. She found herself counting them, even though she knew for most people that was unnecessary, as their card would only let them out at the floor which held their office.

“Can you access every floor, Rhion, or is it only Cadfael who can?”

“Yes, I can, as can the head security guard, Maelor, and the center manager, Dylan, of course, and a few others.”

“It’s a neat way to ensure security, I suppose. If the bad guy is standing here counting buttons and trying to figure out which one to press, it’d make him pretty easy to catch.”

“And for him to even get inside the elevator presumes he snatched a swipe card to get the door open and convinced Sophie he was supposed to be here. Fortunately we’ve never had any trouble. Sophie keeps a good look out for clients coming to visit us and usually has someone ready to escort them where they need to go. But most salespeople and company representatives go straight to the store they deal with and never even come to this area.”

Willow was surprised how fast the lift took them to Rhion’s floor. “Is this the eighth floor?”

“Yes.”

“Wow. And to think Cadfael didn’t force us to take the stairs.”

Cadfael swatted her ass and her pussy creamed.
Hmm yes. I wouldn’t mind a little bit of ass paddling and some ass fucking either.

Willow and Cadfael sat at the table as Rhion grilled the steaks and took the salad out of the refrigerator. He handed them plates and cutlery, then brought out sodas which they sipped as the meat cooked. And all the while they talked about lighthearted and happy things. Everyday conversation. Nothing about shape-shifters, or angry ex-boyfriends, or even security conscious malls. Willow relaxed and enjoyed herself, laughing at the men’s jokes and feeling weeks of tension slide off her shoulders, leaving her to unwind and luxuriate in their company.

When she was offered lemon sorbet or triple chocolate swirl ice cream, Willow very deliberately licked her lips and said, “Both.” Everyone knew that it wasn’t just the two desserts she wanted, but the two men as well.

Ever since Hawthorne had first seen the shape-shifter, her life and her sister’s had been racing along faster than the speed of light, and mostly out of their control. But since they’d come into the mall, their lives had slowed down from warp speed to something they could control again. No, nothing was settled. No, they weren’t safe. No, they couldn’t even walk around the stores during opening hours. But Willow herself felt more in control. Looking for clues about their situation empowered her. Being listened to by these men soothed and settled her. Knowing she aroused them and that they wanted her made her feel like a woman again, not a bug fleeing from a boot about to squash her.

Willow gasped as four hands pulled her to her feet, and began stripping her clothes off her. The two men worked together as a team, Cadfael removing her shoes and socks, then her jeans, while Rhion had her sweater and T-shirt off and was unsnapping her bra faster than she could think. Willow tried to reach for his belt buckle but he swatted her fingers away. She was lifted up onto the counter as her panties were dragged off, and Rhion handed Cadfael the quart container of sorbet, while keeping the ice cream for himself.

Two spoons landed on her belly and Willow giggled. “Where’s mine?”

“We’ll feed you,” promised Cadfael in a deep, husky tone.

Willow watched as Cadfael placed little piles of sorbet over each breast, then a spoonful in her belly button. Meanwhile Rhion was trailing the ice-cold container over her thighs, leaving cold, wet stripes which he then kissed.

Cadfael was sucking sorbet off her breasts by the time Rhion coated her pussy lips in ice cream. “Damn that’s cold,” she complained.

“You’re so hot it’s melting fast,” Rhion replied.

Willow grasped Cadfael’s hair and held his head to her breasts as he licked and sucked at the sorbet, but he pulled away to lick the delicacy out of her belly button. This time he held a spoonful up to her lips so she could eat some. “If you took your pants off I can think of a better way to serve it,” she said.