Boone's Baby
Scent of a Mate 9
By Stormy Glenn
As sheriff of Potter's Creek, Boone Marshall was just doing his job when he went to investigate a report of vandalism. He never expected to find his future. When he discovers Jackie is his mate, he's overjoyed.
Jackie is not. His fear of shifters sends him into a panic, uncaring that they have already mated. He wants nothing to do with shifters, even if he is one. After being tortured by a madman bent on creating omega shifters, the last thing Jackie wants to do is get involved with someone on four paws.
But fate will not be denied. Suffering from a mating heat gone wild, both men give into their desires for each other. When truths are spoken, they both discover that they have a lot more to learn about the world than they thought they knew. Shifters and humans come in all shapes and sizes, some good, some not so good. Boone and Jackie just have to figure out who they can trust before the past destroys what they are trying to build together.
STORY EXCERPT
The first thing Boone noticed was the long auburn hair that fell in gentle waves down to a beautifully curved butt. He could just imagine those gorgeous strands brushing against his skin as he fucked that perfect little ass.
The second thing that Boone noticed was that the gorgeous ass he was dreaming about were dressed in tight denim shorts that curved down over nicely rounded ass cheeks to a beautiful set of long tanned legs and a pair of hot pink stiletto heels.
And that sent all of Boone’s sexual fantasies up in a huge puff of smoke.
He didn’t do women.
Ever!
And wasn’t that damn sad ‘cause that really was a fantastic ass.
Boone cleared his throat so that he didn’t startle the woman as she was bent over a box and facing away from him. “Ma’am.”
He hoped he got that right.
“Oh!” The figure swung around, thick auburn hair flying everywhere.
Boone’s jaw dropped as he watched a thin-boned hand flutter at a delicate swan like neck. He slowly raised his gaze up until he met the oddest grey colored eyes he had ever seen. They were almost pale grey like summer clouds right before a violent rainstorm.
And they were staring right back at him.
“I didn’t mean to startle you,” Boone said carefully, not real sure if he was dealing with a man or a woman at this point. His guess could go in either direction. “I received a call that there had been some vandalism.”
“You’re the sheriff?”
“Yes, ma–uh, yes. Sheriff Boone Marshall.” Boone almost groaned when the man or woman’s lush lips spread into a glorious smile. He so did not need to be obsessing over a woman. And if this was a man, he needed to rethink his thoughts on how men were supposed to look.
“Jackie Lee.”
The name didn’t help at all. Jackie was kind of a unisex name. Boone held out his hand instead. A handshake might be able to give him more of a clue.
Damn.
The hand that was held out to him was delicately boned and had hot pink painted nails. Boone tried not to swear or curse–in case it was a woman–as he shook Jackie’s hand. There was a grip, but it wasn’t tight. It wasn’t limp either.
It was no help at all.
Maybe he could fish for information.
“You’re new to Potter’s Creek. Am I right?”
“Yes. I just moved in.” Pink fingernail polish flashed through the air as Jackie waved a hand back toward the box he or she had been leaning over. “As you can see, I’m still unpacking.”
It was only as Boone looked at the boxes that Jackie indicated that he noticed all of the stuff stacked all over the place. There were shelves of pottery and dishes, and clothing. Colorful quilts hung from the walls as did paintings. Jewelry hung from small turning displays on top of the counters. Handmade brick-o-brack lined every other available space. There were even jars of jam stacked on one shelf.
“Just what kind of place is this?”
Jackie’s perfectly white teeth gleamed in the daylight. “It’s a craft store, sort of. For a commission, I provide space for local artists to sell their wares.”
Boone smiled as he walked over to rub his fingers over one of the quilts. “I thought I recognized this. Kye Hara made it, right?”
“Yes.”
“He’s good.” Boone could see how carefully each stitch was made on the handmade quilt. Kye really was good. He was still smiling as he turned to face Jackie. “Kye is sewing stuff all of the time. You should see his sewing room. It’s filled with things he’s working on. I’ll bet you’ll get a lot of business from him.”
The broad smile on Jackie’s lips seemed to wobble just a bit. “You know Kye Hara?”
“Oh yeah. We live together.”
“Oh.” Jackie clasped his hands together and stared anywhere except at Boone. He acted like he was suddenly nervous. “He seems really nice.”
“He is, although he drives my brother and Neumus crazy on a regular basis.”
“Your brother and Neumus?”
Oops!
How in the hell was he supposed to explain his brother’s relationship to a stranger? It wasn’t like he could tell Jackie that Hugh, Neumus, and Kye were all mated to each other. He hadn’t been able to get close enough to Jackie to scent whether he was a shifter or not. Well, he had when they shook hands, but he had been too distracted by Jackie’s looks to concentrate on how Jackie smelled.
“Kye is my brother-in-law.”
There.
That was simple.
“Oh?”
“He’s married to my brother Hugh and then they have a third in their relationship, a man named Neumus.”
Yes!
The glorious smile was back.
Oh wait. Boone scratched the side of his head. Why in the hell did he care if Jackie smiled or not? He couldn’t even tell if Jackie was a man or woman and he needed to know that before he got interested–except a little voice in the back of his head said it was too late for that.
He was already interested.
In a woman...maybe.
Hell, he needed his head examined.
