Dancing Around The Cop Read online

  imagined the softness he’d heard before. There was nothing soft

  about the man in front of him.

  He fumbled in the pocket of his skin tight jeans for his driver’s

  license and handed it over, keeping his eyes on the floor.

  Moments later it was handed back to him and the voice said,

  “You’re free to go.”

  With a snort, Roy grabbed Terrance’s arm again and propelled

  him past the policeman. Taking one last sniff, Terry didn’t

  imagine the growl he heard as Roy led him away. He couldn’t

  even think about what that might have meant. All he knew was

  Roy was taking him away from the one man who was meant to

  be his for all eternity, and the big fucking Alpha hadn’t even

  noticed him. He hadn’t even offered his name. Bastard.

  /~/~/~/~/

  Zander stood motionless as he watched the two young men pick

  their way through the debris towards the exit of the club. The

  mouthy one, Roy was apparently still talking loudly to his friend,

  Terrence, according to his license. Zander’s head had already

  reduced that to Terry, or baby, or... He shook his head. Not

  going to happen. But nothing could stop Zander from watching

  the slight wisp of perfection walking out of the door. Terry kept

  his head down, probably not even listening to his friend, his

  stance hunched and almost…broken. Yes that was the word, and

  Zander knew he was to blame for the young man’s mood.

  He couldn’t believe it when he spotted Terry for the first time.

  With Sully ragging on in his ear about two Detectives having to

  attend a bar brawl, Zander just wanted to get in, get the job

  done and head out for something to eat. The radio call had said

  anyone in the area had to respond, and he had turned the car

  around and responded. He didn’t care about Sully’s comments

  on how it was beneath their pay code. Zander had been working

  twelve hour shifts trying to crack a drug ring that was being

  operated out of the inner city area, and he needed sleep and

  food not necessarily in that order.

  From what they’d been told, the fight started simply enough.

  Four big men against four smaller, more colorful ones, was how

  the bartender had put it. But then for some reason other patrons

  had joined in, and all hell had broken lose. By the time Sully and

  Zander had rolled up, uniforms were trying to break up some of

  the outer fringes of the fight, but Zander’s eyes had been

  immediately drawn to the center of it. A flash of color, multiple

  colors actually, stood out from the drab greens, blues and

  browns of the other patrons clothing. Zander felt drawn to the

  little man wearing it, and didn’t resist.

  By the time he had gotten up behind Terry, the small man was

  kneeling on the ground, checking out someone who was

  obviously a friend. The pink t-shirt was a dead giveaway, along

  with the kohl ringed eyes, the lip gloss and what used to be

  coiffed hair. The friend with the blood on his face was clearly

  gay. But it was Terry who grabbed his attention, or more

  specifically, Terry’s scent – berries heated under the sun with

  cream, alongside the unmistakable undertones of Omega wolf.

  Even among the smell of spilled booze, sweat and dirt engrained

  in the carpet, Zander’s nose could pick up Terry’s signature

  scent.

  Zander had never gotten an erection so fast. It was as if every

  molecule of blood headed south to his pants and when Terry had

  looked over his shoulder, his shy dark eyes registering shock and

  confusion, it took every single ounce of Zander’s control not to

  leap on the man then and there. Terry was perfect in every way.

  Tiny, slim, but with toned arms that suggested muscles

  everywhere else, slender hips, and the most perfectly formed

  full lips Zander had ever seen. But he stopped himself. He could

  never make a move on this man, his mate. No matter how much

  his wolf snarled and fought in his head, no matter how much

  Zander yearned to grab that slim body and pull it towards

  him…he couldn’t.

  “Hopefully that’s the last we’ll see of those little queens around

  here. Want to get a pizza?” Sully’s arm wrapped over his

  shoulder as his longtime partner on the force broke Zander out

  of his trance. Right there was his reason that Zander was

  watching his mate walk out the door. Sully hated gays and he

  was Zander’s partner. They had protected each other’s backs for

  more than ten years, since they had met in the academy. Zander

  had never tried to change his friend’s attitude – he knew there

  was no point. But right now, if Sully didn’t shut his mouth,

  Zander was going to shut it for him.

  “Hey, what’s wrong? One of those little flamers give you a bit

  too much lip? Did you get a load of the jacket on the little one?

  Fuck, who dresses those people?”

  Zander breathed deeply, and then again. He’d had years of

  perfecting the art of controlling his emotions. As an Alpha wolf

  choosing to live a human life, he had no choice. But he’d never

  struggled like he was in that moment. His anger was roaring up

  inside of him and he wanted nothing more than to grab Sully’s

  neck and tear out his throat. It was bad enough when Sully took

  any opportunity he could to slander the gay community, but

  insulting his mate was more than Zander could stand.

  “I’m going home,” he said, trying to keep the snarl out of his

  voice. “Long day, catch you tomorrow, yes?”

  “You sure? We haven’t eaten yet, but hey, okay. See you at

  eight.”

  Sully had a puzzled look on his clean cut all American face, but

  he dropped his arm from Zander’s shoulder and Zander moved

  purposefully towards the door. There was a part of him that

  longed to see that sweet little man just one more time. His mate,

  his one and only. Another part hoped he wouldn’t because if he

  did, Zander wasn’t sure how much longer he’d be able to control

  himself.

  But as he burst through the door of the bar and scanned the

  street, there was no sign of his colorful little Omega and a pain

  zinged through Zander’s heart, even as he breathed a sigh of

  relief. Houston was a big place, there was no reason for his and

  Terry’s path to ever cross again. So why the hell did he feel like

  his reason for living had just disappeared? Oh yeah. Because he

  had.

  Chapter Two

  After a night spent crying, Terry got up with the sun, determined

  to pull himself together. His mate didn’t want him. He would

  have to live with that. Mr. Perfection was probably straight, and

  it really didn’t matter if there were shades of gay in the man,

  lurking in the darkness, nothing was going to change the fact

  that his Alpha let him walk away. In fact, told him to go. Terry

  shook his head as his mind wandered over the night before.

  There would have to be some gay element in the big policeman

  otherwise the Fates wouldn’t have paired them together, but

  clearly Mr. Perfection
was never going to acknowledge it. What

  Terry should be worrying about was himself. A wolf could get

  really depressed super-fast if their mate rejected them.

  Flicking a quick look at the huge clock on his apartment wall,

  Terry saw that it was after six in the morning. Picking up his

  phone, he plopped down into his one armchair and clicked the

  top contact listing. The ring tone sounded just twice before the

  call was answered.

  “Terry, is that you? What’s wrong sweetie?”

  Letting out a sigh, Terry said quickly. “I met my mate, Mom, but

  he doesn’t want me.”

  “Oh honey, that can’t be true. How could anyone not want you?”

  God bless his mother. Terry knew he was lucky. Born in the

  backwaters of Ohio, his parents had been surprised but

  staunchly supportive when he had shifted into his pure white

  wolf form for the first time. They were lone wolves, true mates,

  and while they had always warned Terry of the dangers of

  wandering into any wolf pack territory, they had totally

  supported his decision to go to college at the Art Institute in

  Houston, which was where he had met Roy, Joel and Charlie.

  When the four men decided to stay on in Houston and get work,

  Terry’s parents had supported that decision too. There were no

  known wolf packs in the area, so his parents thought he would

  be safe. The chances of ever meeting his mate were slim, but

  they were more concerned with his safety. Male Omegas weren’t

  usually treated well in a pack situation and Terry’s parents made

  sure that he knew that as much as he knew how much they loved

  him and accepted him the way he was.

  “He’s an Alpha wolf, Mom. A Detective. I’m guessing he’s

  straight.”

  His mother laughed. “He might look like he’s straight, hon, and

  he might act like it, but believe me, if you two are mates then

  he ain’t straight. Now tell me what happened. Where did you

  meet him, and what did he do?”

  Terry told his story, his heart warming when his mother got

  upset that he and his friends had been attacked, and being

  encouraging when Terry explained meeting Mr. Perfection.

  “Did he sniff you?”

  Terry thought back. “Yes, I’m fairly sure he did, when he said he

  liked my jacket.”

  His mother laughed again and as much as Terry loved the sound,

  his own heart was breaking. And his mother, being a Mom,

  seemed to understand.

  “Sweetie, he won’t be able to stay away from you.”

  “How can you be so sure?” The way Terry remembered things

  his so-called mate was a man with an iron will – not the type to

  break easily.

  “He’s not going to be able to have sex unless it’s with you. One

  sniff, and the bonding process starts to take hold. That’s what

  happens with an Omega, hon. He can try, but his dick isn’t going

  to respond to anyone but you.”

  Terry giggled, and then he laughed. And just as quickly he

  stopped. “Hang on a minute,” he said in a rush. “That means I

  won’t be able to either.” Gods, he was going to die a virgin.

  “No hon, you won’t, not now you have his scent in your nose.

  Your wolf won’t allow it and you’ll get sick if anyone tries to touch

  you intimately.”

  “But I’ve never…That’s not fair. I thought that rule only applied

  when wolves had been intimate with their mate. I’ll never get

  the chance…” Terry wailed.

  “Oh hon, I so am glad you have saved yourself,” his mother’s

  voice certainly sounded happy over the phone, but Terry didn’t

  think he had anything to be happy about. His mate was straight

  and Terry couldn’t experience even a bit of sex, not even the

  fringes of it, with anyone else now. How freaking unfair was that?

  “Sweetie, your mate is an Alpha wolf. When he realizes you’re

  untouched, believe me, it’s going to blow his mind. You will be

  so glad you waited. And you’re right, with other wolves they

  have to be claimed first, but an Alpha and Omega pairing – the

  Fates decided to work a little harder on those because they are

  so special and quite rare.”

  “That is so old fashioned, and so unfair,” Terry grumbled even

  as he thought of giving his virginity to someone like Mr.

  Perfection. Would the man be sweet and gentle? Would he really

  prefer Terry’s inexperience to someone like Roy? Knowing his

  luck the answer was a big fat no, on both counts.

  “There’s nothing wrong with waiting for the right person. At least

  you know you have a mate. Now all you have to do is wait for

  him to sort his shit out.” his mother reminded him.

  “But what if he never…”

  “He will,” Terry’s mother cut him off firmly. “Take my word for

  it. He’s an Alpha wolf. You won’t want to hear it, but he’s

  probably been having sex since before you were born. He’s not

  going to want to go without it and he’ll come running to you soon

  enough.”

  “So it will just be sex?” Could Terry feel any worse? He’d spent

  his years at college devouring romance novels and he knew he

  was holding out for true love. His friends, all human, thought it

  was a sappy idea and totally unrealistic. But Terry knew just how

  possible it was in the shifter world. His parents were a shining

  example of it.

  “Just because he comes running to you for sex, doesn’t mean

  you have to give in to him. Remember all wolf shifters love their

  mates, and usually fairly quickly too. The sex is a means to

  connect with a person, the love will happen in its’ own time. If

  you want to wait for love with this mate of yours, then he will

  have no choice but to wait for you. He can never hurt you, and

  I promise you sweetie, he will love you, just like we do,” his

  mother said, and on his end of the phone Terry grinned.

  His mother was right. He knew what true love looked like. If Mr.

  Perfection was going to come running, expecting him to roll over

  and present his ass, well that man had another thing coming.

  There was a good reason he’d never gone with the bar pickups

  who seemed to come onto him in droves. He was waiting for love

  and he would keep waiting for it, until it hit his Mr. Fucking

  Perfection in the head.

  “Thanks Mom,” he said warmly, feeling a lot better.

  “Keep me posted, hon,” his mother said as she rang off.

  /~/~/~/~/

  “I’ve got us dates for tonight – dinner and dancing. I’ll pick you

  up at eight. Sound good?”

  Zander had been working at his desk for more than two hours

  when Sully walked in. Not that he was getting anything done. All

  he could think about was Terry. He’d checked up the man on the

  police computer and found out where he lived and that he had

  no criminal record at all. He had traced the man through his birth

  certificate and learned his mate had never been in a pack, which

  was a good thing, given his Omega status. Academic records

  showed that Terry had studied at the Arts Institute here in
/>
  Houston and graduated with honors in fashion design. Tax

  records showed he was working as a costume designer for Club

  Blue.

  Quickly minimizing his screen that showed a collection of dresses

  that Terry had submitted for a drag queen competition the year

  before, Zander forced a smile to his face. A date. That is what

  he needed. With a girl no less, which would keep his partner

  happy. Sully was good at securing Zander his random fucks –

  neither men were interested in permanent partners and Zander

  wasn’t that fussy with where he stuck his dick. Sully might not

  know about the men he’d visited over the years in a neighboring

  town, but so long as he went out on dates with his partner and

  friend, then no one ever had to know about his secret desires.

  He planned to keep it that way.

  “Sounds good. They know the score right?” He said because it

  was expected of him and because for the first time ever, he really

  needed to know. Any guilt he felt about betraying his mate,

  Zander quickly pushed to the back of his mind. He hadn’t even

  touched the man, so Terry had no hold over him and nor should

  he expect to. He couldn’t have a mate, and if he was thinking

  about Terry’s perfect buns, and shy expression when he put his

  moves on this unsuspecting girl, then no one would worry about

  it except him. But there was no way he was going with a girl who

  expected more than dinner and a roll in the sheets.

  “Two air hostesses in town for one night. Met them at the coffee

  shop,” Sully said with a leer. “They even have hotel rooms –

  separate ones, so we don’t have to fork out for anything but

  dinner.”

  Zander’s smile got bigger. Absolutely perfect. Closing out the

  screen he had open, Zander got back to work. He had a date, he

  was going to get laid, which would be a relief to his blue balls,

  and maybe his wolf would give stop giving him so much grief

  about letting his male mate go.

  /~/~/~/~/

  “Damn, shit and fucking hell!”

  Zander swore as he fought with the locks on the front door of

  his house, slamming his way inside. The neighborhood was

  silent, everyone fast asleep, but Zander wasn’t sure if he would

  ever sleep again. Still cursing, Zander crossed his living room in

  the dark, his wolf eyesight keeping him clear of the furniture.

  Reaching into his kitchen cupboard, Zander pulled out a bottle