Falk Clan Tales - Chapter 93: Chapter 93

Minerva gasped, turning in a circle, mindful of her injured foot, as she took in the terrible state of her childhood summer home.
This place was once her haven. Her grandmother had loved having the children stay with her during those long summer days, and Minnie fondly remembered making iced tea with the older she-Wolf.
More memories came racing through her brain as her gaze roamed around the place—sitting on the porch swing with her cousins, watching the sunset after a long day of swimming, eating bowls of moussaka while binge-reading romance novels with Sunny in the tent Granny used to set up for them in the yard.
Her best friend had often been included in their adventures, and all in all, it was a wonderful childhood. How many years had passed since she’d been entrusted with this place? How long since she’d left it to rot?
Shit. Minnie had fucked up, big time. She’d let Gran down, and the guilt was so fucking thick it threatened to strangle her. Wiping her face, she concentrated, making a mental list of everything that needed fixing.
Outside, the stairs on the porch were sagging, the siding was cracked and falling off, and several windows were broken, not to mention a rather hilarious cartoon portrayal of a walking dick with enormous balls as his feet and a silly grin on his penile face adorned the front door. The graffiti artist had tagged some of the inside too, and Minnie wondered if he or she had left their signature.
She loved street art. In her not so humble opinion, graffiti was not vandalism. It was the voice of the people displayed in public venues for the enjoyment of all. Graffiti could be traced back to ancient Rome, and if they were doing it, well, it had to be important.
Didn’t most of modern society base itself on what those crazy toga wearing dudes touted? That was an oversimplification, of course. But Minnie was fine with it. Her art history classes had taught her much, and even though she’d gone into sculpting for her career, Minnie loved all forms of artistic expression.
Whoever had drawn the image was good, if a little immature. Still, it did not mean Minnie wanted his or her work adorning the outside of her house. So, step one, remove the dick from her door. Or maybe that was step two since she’d only just removed a major dick in Roger from her life. Yeah. That made sense.
Step one—kick Roger to the curb—was complete.
Step two—remove door dick—was next.
Step three—fix house—but how?
Minnie heaved a sigh and turned in a circle, blatantly ignoring Roger, who was still yelling through the cell phone about how unfair she was to ruin his life like this.
As if.
Inside had fared little better. The wallpaper was falling down, and the carpets stunk like feral cat piss. Obvious signs of water damage darkened the ceiling in huge, unsightly spots that dripped down the corners of each room. There was a certain unmistakable mildewy presence in the air, amidst the cat urine and rodent droppings.
“Sonovamotherfuckingwhorebitch,” she grumbled, spying what was obviously a rat’s nest boldly sitting on the floor beside the refrigerator.
She wondered if the rats were still there, or if the cats had chased them away. Both presented quite the problem. Minnie might be a Werewolf, but she was not messing with rats.
Nuh uh. No way.
Roger sucked in a sharp breath, drawing her attention back to the phone dangling in her hand.
“What did you call me? This is why I had to look elsewhere for comfort, Min. You are just a mean person with a filthy mouth. I did right by you, and you took my car and my home, stole both of them. What kind of woman does that?”
Really? Minerva could not believe this asshole. Now he was claiming her perpetual potty mouth was why he cheated. Okay. She’d had it, and when Minnie had it, that meant all hell was about to break loose. She growled deep in her chest, careful not to let the moron hear her. Last thing she needed was him being in on her Wolfish secret.
“Suck my balls, you two-timing, cheat! My lawyer is gonna rip you a new asshole by the time he gets through with you, you lowlife. My money, my car, my condo. Just get out of my face, dipshit!”
The hair on the back of her neck started tingling, but she was so riled it took her a moment to catch up. Her Wolf was already taking notice—good little beastie always had her back. Still, Minnie was not dumb enough to act on her Shifter instincts.
Instead, she turned slowly and took in the six and a half foot giant standing in her doorway with one long glance. Christ, he was gorgeous. And he was other—like her.
Minnie pulled in a deep, long breath, and her Wolf perked up, interested. She smelled smoke and fire, and something else clinging to his deliciously bronzed skin. His hair was short and dark, but she could make out thick strands of silver at the tips.
The stranger was supernatural, and hot as fuck, but what the hell was he doing darkening her doorway? She’d hung up on Roger, and her puny ex-everything had all but left her head as she exchanged a few brief sentences with the man.
Before she knew it, he had her on the counter and was tending to her injury. Protective. Caring, though guarded, she could tell. Most supes were, and Minnie was not holding it against him as he bathed and cleaned her injury. He needn’t have bothered, but she allowed it.
Minnie always was a sucker for beauty, and right now, she could not stop staring at the striking figure he made in the decaying kitchen. If Mr. Tall Dark and Sexy wanted to, he could handle her feet all dang day.
His touch was gentle, efficient, and when his thumb stroked along her instep, certain ignored girl bits swelled and moistened, demanding attention. She licked her lips, an idea forming in her head.
“Where do you want these?” the stranger asked, returning from her car with the rest of her things.
“Just put them down there,” she said, hopping off the counter.
“You really should not stay here tonight, Miss⁠—”
“Minerva Lykos,” she replied, and extended her hand. The giant took it, shaking slowly as he cocked one elegant eyebrow. “I can tell you’re like me, not a Wolf, but something, so we have that in common⁠—”
“I thought it was bad etiquette to ask after a person’s nature?” he asked, a haughty, and decidedly sexy, expression in place.
“Maybe, but I’m not a fan of wasting time. I’m an artist, a sculptor, actually—I use various mediums like wood, stone, clay, glass, just about anything really—anyway, I think you and I can help each other.”
“Help each other? How?” he asked, crossing his arms over his incredible pecs.
It was freezing out, but he only had on a pair of perfectly worn jeans, hanging off trim hips and showcasing that deliciously sexy v that led the way to heaven as far as she was concerned.
Minerva growled softly in appreciation. The strange Shifter was all smooth skin and curved muscles. He had dips and bulges in all the right places, including that very tempting spot between his muscular thighs.
Oh yeah, handsome. Come to mama.
This was just what she needed. Minerva smiled as she walked a circle around the male, her growl growing in volume as she noted his spectacular glutes.
Nice. Very nice.
“I’m starting to feel like a piece of meat, she-Wolf,” he growled, eyes flashing at her. They were the most unique color, silver circled in a ring of fire. Gorgeous.
“If you were meat, you would be prime Olive Wagyu, handsome.”
“I have no idea what you are talking about,” he grunted, but she noticed his jeans seemed a tad bit tighter.
Awesomesauce.
“Well, since we don’t have to work around secrets, I’ll just come out and say it. I’m in a tight spot,” she hedged, biting her lip. “That argument you overheard was with my former manager, ex-boyfriend, and general mistake⁠—”
“Seems harsh, Minerva.”
“Nah. Just facts. He’s human and doesn’t know about me. Thought I couldn’t smell his lies, and well, I let him get away with it for far too long. I recently discovered he was stealing from me as well as cheating⁠—”
“Want me to eat him?” he growled the question.
“Ha ha ha,” she chuckled, tucking her hair behind her ears. “Oh, you’re serious.” Minnie stopped laughing abruptly, a ghost of a smile on her lips. Was it wrong she found his bloodthirsty ways sexy?
Probably.
Okay, fine—she had issues. Whatevah.
“Your animal must be fearsome. Bear? Tiger? Lion, maybe?” she asked, but she already knew the answer. Minnie did not smell fur on him.
“Nope. But you can keep guessing if you like, minx. So, eat him or not?”
“Um, not, thanks though. Does your kind usually eat humans?”
“Not recently, but we’ve been known to. Continue, please.”
“Okayyyy,” she replied and huffed out a breath before coming out with her proposal. “Look, I’m the family fuck up. The black sheep, er, Wolf. Everyone else is happily paired up or mated with kids, and here I am—thirty-three years old, totally alone, and I’ve just been made a fool by a freaking human.”
“That sucks, but what does it have to do with me?”
“I am getting to that. I came back home to recoup and work on some stuff I owe this NYC gallery, but I’m tense, and my best friend has invited me to like half a dozen holiday get-togethers to show off her new mate⁠—”
“Failing to see the connection, minx,” he grumbled.
“Well, you’re healthy, and a Shifter, and you are interested in my property, right?”
“Yes,” he replied and nodded.
“Then I have a proposition for you. Be my plus one during the holidays and I will consider your bid on my house.”
“What?”
“Look, I’m gonna be here all month, I need to straighten out this place—make it livable even if temporarily, so I will be living here for the next few weeks at least. My family is away, but I have friends—my best friend, actually, in town, and she’s invited me to a ton of parties.”
“So?”
“Well, I hate those things. Especially when I have to go alone. But if you are interested, and from the sizeable evidence you’re rocking behind your fly there, pal—congrats, by the way—I would say you are very interested. That said, you can help me with this. Be my plus one, and we can work out each other’s tension during this extremely busy and troublesome holiday season. After New Year’s Day, I will consider selling this place to you.”
The giant man cocked his head to the side, as if considering her offer. Minnie waited, holding her breath for his reply. A rolling growl-like purr started low in his belly and built up till it spilled from his thick, masculine lips. She had never heard anything like it, but her body reacted to it all the same.
Nipples hardened, sex warmed, and the butterflies in her stomach started flapping around excitedly. Even her Wolf was watching, waiting for him to respond to her blatant proposal. Minnie did not like to beat around the bush. She’d always been aggressive—a real go-getter with stuff she wanted, and yes, that included men, too.
“Let me get this straight,” he said, his deep voice gritty with his beast, and fuck, she’d be lying if she said it didn’t turn her on. “You are asking me, a virtual stranger, to be your holiday fuck buddy, no strings attached, just mutual carnal satiation and the occasional dinner party, and afterwards, we part ways, none the worse for wear. Afterwards, maybe you’ll discuss selling this property to me?”
“Yeah, that about sums it up.”
She waited a beat, hoping he would follow up with something other than the confused look on his face. Crap. Had she done this wrong? His nostrils flared, breathing in the air as if testing it for something. Whatever it was, his beast seemed satisfied. His gaze was full of silver and orange fire as he stalked across the room and placed his enormous hands on her waist. Then he pulled her in close.
Minnie hissed as her palms flattened against his chest. Her fingertips sizzled and so did the rest of her, pressed up against the naked skin of his torso with all those bulging bronzed muscles everywhere. Christ, he was even hotter than she’d thought. Potent, sexy, and the cocky bastard knew it if his crooked grin was anything to go by.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Seeing if we’re compatible,” he grumbled, dipping his head to steal a kiss.
She expected rough, but what he gave her was anything but. The giant was gentle as he sipped from her lips like he was tasting fine wine instead of making her wet with his soft, insistent kisses. The smoky spice fragrance she’d noted earlier flavored his kisses, and hell, she loved the taste, opened for him to devour even more of it.
On and on, the sexy stranger kissed Minnie, hands never straying from her waist. Without a word, the fucker broke away from her and turned around, leaving her to stare after him as he strode purposefully to the door.
“Well, come on, minx. I’ll be damned if I’m taking my clothes off in this place,” he said, and walked outside.
He was sending a message on his cell phone, but Minnie couldn’t see what he was saying from where she stood. She was frozen with shock. Sex was not a big deal for her, but this, this felt heavier than that. Nerves threatened to disrupt her reserve.
What’s the big deal? It’s just sex.
He turned slightly, a questioning look in his eyes, and she swallowed down her doubts. This was her idea, after all. She’d be damned if he was going to take charge of this thing and follow him around like some brainless dolt. He grinned and turned, still texting as he took off behind the house.
“Damn my short, stubby legs,” she grumbled as she locked the door to the house and raced after him across the sand dunes behind her property.
He was moving towards a trailer that was sitting in what looked like a construction lot, and Minnie frowned. When had they started building there?
She knew someone had bought the land bumping up against her inherited property a couple of years back, but they’d left it alone for so long, she’d forgotten all about it.
“Coming or not, minx?” he asked, standing in the doorway of his trailer, gorgeous body lit up from whatever was on behind him.
Minnie bit her tongue to keep from sighing. This was a purely pleasurable, no strings attached, fun smexy times kinda thing. Eyes narrowed, it was her turn to grin.
“If you can hold up your end of the bargain, handsome, I will be,” she replied, and sauntered past him like she owned the place.
Hopefully more than once, she added silently.