Dancing Around The Cop Read online

  him away from all that he loved without some serious talking on

  both their parts. They would have to move one day, that was a

  given because of their lifespans and lack of aging. But Terry had

  only just found his feet in Houston and he didn’t want to give

  that up.

  Chapter Twenty Four

  Zander really didn’t want to let his little Omega out of the house

  the next morning, his wolf was still in high protection mode.

  Unfortunately he hadn’t counted on Terry’s amazing powers of

  persuasion. Apparently Zander would agree to just about

  anything when he was getting his brain sucked out of the slit in

  his dick. He’d never known that about himself until he had met

  his mate and he knew from the chuckle Terry had given him as

  he skipped out of the door, that he would have to be a bit more

  careful about his mate’s powers of manipulation. Or not, he

  thought with a grin. It was a damn good blowjob and Terry

  assured him he would be with friends all day.

  Hitting the coffee pot for a refill, Zander tried to relax. His

  Captain had given him a day off, something about not following

  established procedures in a hostage situation or some other such

  crap, and he wasn’t sure what he was going to do with himself

  until lunchtime, which is the earliest possible time Terry had said

  he could see him. Now that all of Terry’s client’s had seen each

  other’s costumes, apparently he had more than a few ruffled

  feathers to smooth down. Zander didn’t envy his mate at all.

  He was just about to sit on the couch, now complete with multi-

  colored cushions and blankets, when someone pounded at his

  front door. Zander frowned. He wasn’t expecting anyone. The

  only visitor he used to get before Terry, was Sully and Sully had

  a key. Fixing his face to give the Jehovah Witnesses a damn good

  fright, because who else could it be, Zander felt his mouth drop

  open when he opened the door and found Sully standing on his

  porch. He quickly shut his mouth again, no point in looking like

  an idiot, especially when he wasn’t sure what his ex-friend

  wanted.

  For a long moment the two men looked at each other. Sully

  seemed nervous, which was not something Zander was used to

  seeing. But he didn’t seem angry or aggressive so finally Zander

  stepped back, letting Sully go past him into the house. He didn’t

  want a knock-down drag out fight on his front lawn if he could

  help it. Although…nope, he had no idea why his friend had

  decided to turn up after damn near three months of shunning

  him and trying to wreck his career. Only one way to find out.

  Plunking himself back on the couch, Zander nodded to the chair.

  He didn’t want to say anything, although he had a lot he could

  say. He’d been in wolf form the last time Sully had confronted

  him and the memory of Sully pointing his gun at his mate, still

  caused his wolf to growl in his chest.

  Sully sat, and looked around, a half-smile on his face. “Wow, I

  see Terry must have rubbed off on you.” Zander shrugged

  although he had to admit that Terry had turned his house into

  something far more comfortable. There was art work on the

  walls, cushions and rugs on the floor, plants on the window sill

  and even flowers in a gaudily colored vase on the dining room

  table. Terry had managed to unearth some old photos of him

  and his father, and had placed them discretely on his television

  stand. Freshly printed, no one would know the pictures were

  almost a hundred years old.

  “I’m sure you didn’t come here to talk about interior decorating,”

  Zander said. “Besides Terry is the one you would have to talk to

  about that. I just let him get on with it. I like it.”

  “So you two are living together?”

  “Since the last time you were here,” Zander replied, still not sure

  what Sully actually wanted. “It’s good. We fit. I protect him, and

  he looks after me. I’m not about to give him up.”

  Zander wasn’t used to feeling unsure around his friend. He and

  Sully had always got on together and Zander could admit to

  himself that he really missed their camaraderie. Sure, he’d met

  a lot more new people since he’d been living with Terry, and they

  all accepted him with only a few reservations. But Sully had been

  a big part of his life for a long time, and his absence still hurt.

  Sully’s shoulders were hunched, his fingers were meshed

  together as though he didn’t want to fidget, and the overall look

  was tense.

  “Yeah, about that,” Sully said at last – Zander more than happy

  to wait the man out. “I’m sorry, okay. I…I…handled things badly.

  The business with the gun. Making a false complaint to the

  Captain.” Sully jumped up and started pacing the floor, a move

  Zander had seen a hundred times. Long strides, hair being

  punished by hands that didn’t seem to know what to do with

  themselves. Sully was going through some deep shit.

  “I panicked okay,” Sully said. “I panicked and then I opened my

  mouth and crap came out…”

  “My wolf?” Zander thought he’d better address the elephant, or

  wolf in this case, in the room. He wanted Sully to feel

  comfortable talking about that at least. But Sully surprised him.

  “No, not the wolf thing. So you can turn into a wolf, big deal. If

  I hadn’t have been so freaked out about the jealousy thing, I

  probably would have sat down and learned more about it all.

  You’re hiding some wicked shit there.”

  “You’re jealous about my wolf? I got to tell you Sully I was born

  this way. It’s not something you can pick up or learn.”

  “Not the wolf thing. Terry!” Sully had stopped pacing and was

  standing there, facing him, but Zander still had no idea what

  Sully was talking about. Then a horrible thought crossed

  Zander’s mind and he glared at his friend.

  “You fancy Terry?”

  But Sully shook his head. “Not Terry, no, although he’s sweet

  and sexy and all, but no. What you have with Terry.”

  Right. A relationship. Zander cocked a grin. “You could have a

  relationship with any of the women you go out with, if you just

  tried dating them more than once.”

  “I don’t want any of the women I’ve been out with. That’s why I

  don’t go out with them more than once.”

  “Well keep looking. That Suzy seemed nice and you went out

  with her a couple of times.”

  “Suzy’s lovely,” Sully said distractedly, “But you’re not getting

  it. I don’t want a woman in my life. Emphasis on woman.”

  Zander eyes widened and then he narrowed them again. He

  wasn’t going to make any assumptions about something so

  important.

  “Spit it out. Tell me the truth.”

  For one moment it looked like Sully was going to bolt. Zander

  could see the man’s leg muscles tensing, his eyes wild, his hands

  clenched. But then, just as suddenly, Sully seemed to collapse

  in on himself and he sat with a heavy thump on the nearest
<
br />   chair.

  “I’m gay, okay? I’ve always been gay, but I’m not allowed to be

  gay, so I hide it.”

  “How long?”

  “I’ve been hiding it?” Sully shrugged. “Since just before the

  academy. My Dad caught me in a compromising position with a

  guy I really liked, a lot. Threatened me with everything he could

  think of – disowning me, not giving me any support while I was

  at the academy, even threatened to get me kicked out of the

  police training program before I had even got there. I crumbled,

  told my Dad I could go either way and that I would stick to

  women from then on. I didn’t want to lose contact with my

  mother.”

  “Your Mother wouldn’t have let you go, she adores you and you

  know that.” Zander had only met Sully’ parents a few times and

  while he could agree that Sully’s father was an asshole of the

  highest order, Sully’s mother was kind and caring and seemed

  to love everyone, no matter who they were.

  “I didn’t dare take the risk,” Sully continued. “But my Dad was

  friends with the Chief at the academy, so I knew all my exploits

  with women would get back to him and that would keep him off

  my back, which it did. Then when we graduated and I couldn’t

  seem to stop. My folks were happy, I could go home for

  Christmas. I’ve never had trouble attracting women. I guess I

  got so caught up in my own lie, I couldn’t help myself. But I

  could never feel anything for any of them if you catch my drift.”

  “But why, why attack me? Why the fucking slurs, the lies? Why

  the attitude? You pointed your gun at my mate.” Zander wanted

  to be understanding, he really did. He knew only too well how

  hard coming out could be, but Sully had done some stupid shit

  to try and hide who he really was. Had been doing it for years

  as the most rampant homophobic idiot on the force and Zander

  was still paying for some of the fallout from that.

  “I pointed the gun at you. You turned into a freaking wolf, man,

  what did you expect me to do? I wasn’t going to shoot or

  anything. It was just instinct. You’re fucking big in that form and

  I didn’t know those teeth of yours weren’t going to tear me to

  bits.”

  Zander chuckled even though he didn’t mean to. Sully was a

  good detective, homophobic bent aside, and yeah, he probably

  would have done the same thing in similar circumstances.

  Besides, at the time he did want to tear his friend to bits, not

  something that Sully needed to know while he was in confession

  mode.

  “My old man’s been putting the wedding pressure on me. Get

  married, have kids, carry on the family name,” Sully went on,

  shaking his head. “It’s been going on for months. I tried to tell

  him I still liked men, and that I couldn’t get it sorted with a

  woman. I told him that my sexual orientation didn’t matter in

  the department, that I was a grown man and could live my own

  life. That just set him off again, ranting and raving at me that no

  son of his will be seen to be gay. I was a fucking mess I tell you.

  Then I came here to find you in bed with the prettiest man I’ve

  ever seen…”

  “And you snapped.” Zander could understand that too. Sully had

  clearly been under a lot of pressure and wouldn’t have been able

  to share his secret any more than Zander had.

  “I’ll apologize, I will. To Terry I mean. I’ve already admitted I

  misread things during my visit here to the Department and I’ve

  been temporarily transferred to Armed Defenders squad because

  they think I’m gun happy and need more training. But after last

  night, working together again for such a tiny minute just the way

  we used to…and then seeing the way you were with him…no

  shame, nothing but caring for your man. Fuck Zander, I didn’t

  think it was possible for love to be like that. I’ve never felt that

  with a woman.”

  “It’s almost impossible not to love our mates, and Terry – well,

  he found his way under my skin pretty quickly. It’s a wolf thing

  although it could also have a lot to do with Terry being who he

  is. He’s easy to love,” Zander said, his smile genuine for the first

  time since Sully had arrived.

  “So you knew, from the first moment you saw him? At that bar

  brawl?” Sully was leaning forward on his chair now, his face alive

  with curiosity.

  “From the moment I scented him at the bar brawl,” Zander

  clarified. “Shifter’s know their mate through their smell. My cock

  got hard in an instant, and the longing I had to take him into my

  arms to protect him, and then fuck him through the floor was

  unmistakable. There’s no getting away from that for shifters.”

  “Cuts through all the dating game rubbish.”

  “A lot of shifters don’t find their mates,” Zander said. “So they

  play around like I did. Men, women, I didn’t really care although

  I’ve always preferred men. You just don’t commit to anyone

  though, cos if you find your mate and you’re already with

  someone…”

  “That could get messy.” Sully looked like he understood. “So this

  biting thing, it’s permanent, no more double dating for us?”

  “I can’t get a hard-on for anyone else. That night with Rebecca,

  when I got sick. I’d only scented Terry and I got sick from her

  being all over me like a rash.”

  “You’re forced to be faithful? Are you sure it’s not a curse?” Sully

  sounded incredulous.

  “I want to be faithful,” Zander corrected. “How can it be a curse

  when you find that one person in your life who will be everything

  you ever need? The one you know was born to be exactly what

  you want, who will complement you perfectly in every way so

  that you could never think of having anyone else again. You’re

  immediately drawn to them, you’re consumed by them and you

  don’t want to think of anyone else. And when you make them

  yours, fuck the need to protect, to cherish, it never goes away.

  Not to mention the sex is off the charts good. Far better than

  with anyone else. Terry’s a blessing in my life, never a curse.”

  “I want that,” Sully said, slumping back in the chair. “If I had a

  relationship like that I could tell my father to fuck himself, and

  just be happy with a solid partner in my life.”

  “You can tell your father that anyway.” Zander looked Sully

  straight in the eye. “The man I know wouldn’t live a lie for a

  moment longer. You tell your dad, you stop with the gay-hating

  and I’ll…” Zander thought for a moment. “Terry and I will take

  you to the clubs I used to go to out of town, and see if we can’t

  find someone for you. Or, if you’re really prepared to embrace

  your true self, there are plenty of places here we can go.”

  “You and Terry would still be my friends?” Sully sounded unsure

  and Zander remembered that his work partner was a lot like him

  and didn’t have many other people he could count on. Perhaps

  that was why h
e had never rebelled against his father’s wishes.

  “You can spend Christmas with us. I never wanted to stop being

  friends. You’ve had my back for years, as I had yours,” Zander

  said. “You put me in the position where I had to choose between

  living with my life mate, and being friends with you, and I didn’t

  like it, but Terry will always come first. Doesn’t mean I didn’t

  miss having you around. Terry doesn’t spend a lot of time

  watching sports and more than two beers gives him the giggles.”

  Sully grinned and just like that, Zander had his friend back. A

  friend who knew all of his secrets this time and who one day

  hopefully be back by his side on the force. Looking more like his

  old self, Sully said, “So, is there any coffee in the pot?”

  Chapter Twenty Five

  Terry was tired. Helping twenty odd men go through their

  transformations from normal working class males into drop-dead

  gorgeous females was hard work. Heel’s split fabric, a couple of

  cat fights over who should go first at the makeup table, more

  complaints about outfits, that had fit perfectly two days

  previously, no longer hugging the men like they wanted the

  dresses to. He could hear the faint noises from the crowd as the

  winners for the various competitions were announced, and

  looked around for his jacket. It didn’t really matter to him who

  won the competition. All of the clothing, for the ladies and their

  escorts, had been made by him, and that was going to be

  acknowledged at the end of the night. It was the Diva’s

  personalities and talents that were being judged – Terry’s work

  was just part of the show.

  In deference to the bright costumes he’d created, Terry had

  opted to wear basic black for his evening. Admittedly his

  sleeveless t-shirt was skin-tight, as were his jeans. He

  completed his look with black boots, but planned to wear his

  multi-colored jacket as a confidence booster. He’d met Zander

  wearing that jacket, and yeah, Terry could be a bit superstitious

  sometimes.

  Slipping his well-fitted jacket on over his shoulders, Terry bent

  down to check the buckles on his boots. The last thing he wanted

  was for one of them to go flying off on stage. A loud wolf whistle

  had him straightening up in a hurry and Terry looked over to see

  Zander coming into the room, followed by Sully. As pleased as