Taming the Enforcer’s Flirt

Into the paranormal world: When Fate pairs opposites, will the magnetism push them apart or draw them together?

Cornelius Roister is a flirt, has been since coming out. He lives loud, proud, and for the moment. What only his best friend, Gustav
Gus
Hermance, knows is that it’s a defense mechanism, an act, used to keep people from getting too close. People that are close can hurt you, and he’s had enough pain to last him a lifetime.

When Cornelius
visits Gus at his new home, he is ecstatic to discover his mate in Einan, a gargoyle enforcer. Until him and
large-and-in-charge
Einan have their first personality clash…and then their second. They just can’t seem to carry on a conversation without disagreeing or arguing. Is Cornelius’s mating doomed before it even gets started? Or can Cornelius and Einan find some common ground?

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Taming the Enforcer’s Flirt

Copyright © 2013 Charlie Richards

ISBN: 978-1-77111-705-0

Cover art by Scott Carpenter

All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

Published by eXtasy Books

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Taming the Enforcer’s Flirt

A Paranormal’s Love: Book Four

By

Charlie Richards

To my fans—your encouragement and enthusiasm keep me going during the stressful times.

Cornelius squealed and launched himself at Gus. His best friend caught him in his huge arms and spun him around, his deep chuckles rumbling through his chest. A second later, Gus put him down and another man grabbed him. To his pleasure, Cornelius found himself wrapped in strong, lean arms, pulling him into a hard hug.

“Welcome,” Tible murmured into his ear

Laughing, Cornelius then squealed at being lifted off his feet by the man whose strength gave him away as a paranormal. Even though Tible stood a couple of inches shorter than him, the gargoyle still managed to swing him around in his excitement.

“It’s about time the damn bus got here,” the slender, white-haired man said, finally resting Cornelius on his own two feet. “I detest these hard benches after only a half an hour, so I can’t imagine how you feel squished into one of those horrid buses!”

Standing six foot even and nowhere near as broad as his buddy Gus—also a rhino shifter, although a white rhino instead of a Sumatran, like himself—Cornelius hadn’t found the seats that bad. However, they were padded, the bus depot waiting benches…not so much. Plus, since Cornelius didn’t have wings like gargoyles, he’d never felt the freedom of flying. He didn’t have a problem with being in enclosed spaces like a bus.

Besides, he’d ridden on several buses, most of them during the year and a half when he’d lost track of Gus—through no fault of his friend, of course. The huge rhino had been captured and experimented on by evil scientists. Poor guy!

His greatest association with a bus was when it’d taken him away from a bad situation and out of harm’s way. Buses were a good thing.

Focusing on happier thoughts, Cornelius grinned and slung his arm over Tible’s shoulders, and wrapped his other arm around Gus’s waist. “Well, I’m here now. Has the little one made an appearance, yet?” he asked, focusing on what had prompted this bus ride…visiting his friends in anticipation of their egg hatching.

Cornelius immediately rolled his eyes at his foolish question. “Of course not,” he stated, interrupting before either could answer in the negative anyway. “If little Vaclar had made an appearance, one of you wouldn’t be here. You’d be home watching the little tyke.”

It still blew Cornelius’s mind that if a male was mated to a gargoyle, they could produce a child together. He couldn’t help but feel a small stab of jealousy that his friend would soon have a baby—something Cornelius had always wanted. He’d always wanted a whole armful of kids, right after finding his mate, of course. He’d even be willing to endure the pain of having to lay the egg if it meant children.

Why couldn’t I have been born straight?

Not understanding Fate, Cornelius had tried to change—more than once, in fact. He’d dated girls for years, trying to find one that would turn him on more than the pictures of the males in the underwear ads he’d had stashed under his bed. It’d never happened, and Cornelius had been forced to give up on one of his dreams. The one about finding a mate seemed pretty bleak, too, but at least with that one, he still had some hope.

“Let’s get back to the manor,” Gus stated, urging Cornelius. “You’ll be just in time for lunch—a gargoyle lunch.”

Cornelius grinned at his big friend. Standing six foot six with thick ropes of muscles bulging from his arms and tree trunks for legs, Gus could totally pass for a body builder. He had the strength for it, too—probably even without his added shifter strength, Cornelius silently mused. Except, Gus wouldn’t hurt a fly.

His bus had gotten in at about midnight and he was hungry. He’d have been worried about the late arrival time, but since gargoyles were stone during the day, only becoming flesh and blood at night, it had turned out perfect. He was arriving right in the middle of their
day
.

“Oh, yeah,” Tible responded, a spring in his step as he pulled away from Cornelius and practically skipped ahead with excitement.

Tible had been raised by reclusive shifter parents. About nine months before, he’d left them in search of more of his kind, wanting to learn more about himself. Instead, he’d stumbled upon Gus, and they’d mated. Now, when Tible went out, he sometimes ogled new things without even realizing it.

Grinning, Cornelius bumped shoulders with Gus as they watched the rhino shifter’s mate peer at…everything. Gus glanced down, meeting his gaze, a warm smile in his eyes.

“Thanks for having me out,” Cornelius stated, suddenly serious. “Don’t get me wrong, I love the wolves, but there’s something to be said for getting to hang out with your own kind.”

Gus nodded solemnly. “I hear you.”

Blanching, Cornelius realized how that could sound. Gus lived with a small clutch of gargoyles. He hadn’t mentioned any other shifters in the group.

“Sorry,” Cornelius mumbled, knowing he’d put his foot in his mouth on that one. He glanced over and spotted Tible busily inspecting a greyhound information board. Relief flooded him that the slender gargoyle hadn’t heard. “I—sorry.”

Chuckling, Gus grinned and patted him on the shoulder. Cornelius just kept from stumbling. Evidently, living with a crap-load of gargoyles allowed Gus to relax his vigil on curbing his strength.

About time Gus relaxed some, Cornelius decided.

“I’m gonna try to talk you into moving down here,” Gus stated bluntly.

Cornelius’s brows shot up. “Really?”

“Yep.” Gus grinned and pulled open the bus depot door for him, leading him into the evening air. “I already talked to Tobias. He’s the beta,” he explained. “He’s cleared it with Maelgwn and he thinks he’s got a line on an apartment and a job at a daycare center. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

At one time, that had been his dream job, working with kids. “Oh, uh—I n-never finished my degree,” he admitted, fighting embarrassment.

Gus stopped beside his old truck. “Really? What happened?”

Cornelius had been in school, planning to graduate the following year with a degree in childcare development the following year. After Gus had disappeared—and consequently, Tible lost his support and protection—his herd had decided to refuse to pay for any further education for him. He’d moved to the city and found a job to pay for it. It had been going well until he’d made a really, really bad decision and became involved with the wrong man, Corbin.

The fox shifter had used him, degraded him, then passed him around to his friends. He’d almost lost all sense of self-worth. Fortunately, being contacted by his sister, Natalie, had reminded him there were people out there who valued him. He’d fled and hid, knowing Corbin would be looking for him. Cornelius had tried to flee once before, unsuccessfully.

Shrugging, Cornelius decided on, “The herd voted to cut me off.”

His friend growled angrily. “I’m sorry, Tible,” Gus rumbled, glaring at nothing.

Cornelius rested his hand on Gus’s arm. “It wasn’t your fault,” he assured—although, at the time, he sure as hell had blamed Gus for ditching him without warning. Now, he knew better.

“Let’s talk to Raymond,” Tible cut in, right before he leaped and draped himself over Gus’s back like a monkey, his long white hair flowing wildly around both men’s shoulders. “I bet he could help you find some classes to complete your degree.”

“Who’s that?” Cornelius asked.

He brightened at the idea of completing something he’d always wanted. Following Tible, he climbed into the cab of the truck and sandwiched the lean gargoyle between himself and Gus, who had slipped behind the wheel.

Since Gus currently concentrated on driving, Tible answered. “He’s the clutch’s computer guru, hacker, nerd…whatever you want to call him.”

Gus risked leaning forward to look at Cornelius as he told him, “He could totally figure out how to make it look like you got your degree.”

Wrinkling his nose, Cornelius shook his head.

“What is it?” Tible asked, cocking his head.

“It may sound silly but, I’d really like to actually
earn
my degree.” He nibbled his lip, glancing between his two friends. It had been so long, surely Corbin wasn’t still looking for him…it’d been over a year and a half. “If there’s a college around that focuses on my area, maybe he could hack in and sign me up for classes instead. You know,” he added, “insert my transcripts or something.”

“Sure, Corny,” Gus encouraged.

Cornelius snorted at the ancient nickname from childhood. Smiling, he peered out the window, warmed by the knowledge that his friend still wanted to watch his back. He’d missed his friend so much, first when he’d disappeared—captured by the scientists—then again when he’d moved from Stone Ridge to Durango to live with Maelgwn’s gargoyle clutch.

Thinking of the big, huge, sexy gargoyle, Cornelius grinned and lowered his voice to ask huskily, “How is Bobby settling in? He keeping Maelgwn happy?” He waggled his eyebrows and his friends laughed, knowing exactly what he was fishing for.

“Gods, you’d think they’d reinvented sex with how often those two disappear,” Tible hooted.

Smirking, Cornelius turned a bit to lean against the door. He lifted a brow and attempted an imperious look. “And that would be different than you two how?”

Gus flushed scarlet, his pale skin unable to hide anything.

Tible shrugged, grinning unabashedly. “Well, it was brand new for me. Gus had plenty to teach me,” he quipped.

Cornelius groaned and rolled his eyes. Yep, he’d walked right into that one. He lifted a hand. “You win. TMI. I so don’t want to hear about my best friend’s, uh…abilities.” He cringed, then muttered, “Gods, it’s like hearing about my brother.”

Except, his brother refused to speak to him. His mother had died giving birth to Natalie almost two decades before and his father and brother disowned him. Only his sister spoke with him, but now that he had Gus, and by extension Tible, Cornelius didn’t mind.

After another round of laughter, they switched to safer topics, telling what they’d all been up to. Gus had started at a local construction company as a site manager. Tible was learning web design, hoping to start doing freelance work, allowing him to pitch in with clutch expenses while still being available to care for Vaclar. In return, Cornelius had worked as a barista in a coffee shop at the mall in Colin City, meeting loads of interesting people.

“Speaking of interesting people!” Cornelius straightened in his seat, his gaze dancing between the other men’s faces. “You would not believe who ended up finding a shifter mate!”

When both men just stared blankly at him—well, in Gus’s instance, he lifted a brow as he looked at Cornelius out of the corner of his eye—Cornelius rolled his eyes. “Okay, so, you remember Vee’s friend, Brice? The guy who avoided anyone he knew was a shifter?”