The Maverick Pride Tales - Chapter 65: Chapter 65

She paused, waiting for her pals to fill her in. After all, no sense borrowing trouble. Uncle Uzzi turned his electric blue gaze on her.
“I am talking about Reginald Cray, dear. Didn’t he take you out a few days ago?”
The old man waited for her to respond, but all she could do was blink. Shit. What could she say?
Well, the dinner was good, the sex was better, but he turned out to be a crazy mofo, after all?
“Oh,” Gretchen said after a moment. She couldn’t hide her shock or her sorrow. “I am sorry, Uncle Uzzi, but that didn’t exactly pan out. Maybe there is someone else in your client list for me.”
“What?” Jessica gasped.
“No way,” Kylie whispered.
“Honey, what happened?” Elissa asked.
“Shhh, ladies. I am not infallible. Now, Gretchen, if you do not mind telling us, what happened?”
“Excuse me?”
She was not sure how to respond. She didn’t want to hurt his reputation with the people of Maverick Point. He lived and worked there, for fuck’s sake. Her bleeding heart was going to be the death of her, she thought, closing her eyes on a new wave of cramping.
“Well? What happened? He took you to dinner. Did he chew with his mouth open? Fart at the table? Make you pay?” Uncle Uzzi asked.
“No! Of course not,” she said, and snorted at the very idea. “Reg has impeccable table manners, and he would never have asked me to pay the bill.”
“I see. So, was he bad in bed? To, uh, insufficient to fill the position?” the old man pressed.
“What?” Gretchen couldn’t believe how outspoken Uncle Uzzi was.
It was different and refreshing, if a little strange, but still. Should she talk about her bedroom activities with Reg with a stranger? She’d always imagined herself as a little forward, but the older man positively blew her away for sheer pluck alone.
It’s not that she was keeping secrets, but how could she tell them all the truth? That Reg was delusional. A madman. A nutjob.
“Come on, you’re among friends,” Uncle Uzzi coaxed with an open and friendly smile.
“I know he took you out to dinner, but maybe he forgot to make you dessert.”
“Oh, uh, that is not—” Gretchen hesitated.
“I don’t know about you younger people, but that was always a definite deal-breaker with my liebling. She would always emphasize the importance of a good, solid sexual relationship between lovers. She would always say, when a man has sex with a woman if he’s not leaving her legs too weak to stand, then he did something wrong. So, can I assume he didn’t put your needs first, if so then he will be talked to and will attend proper counseling and instructional—-” Uncle Uzzi said so rapidly, it took a moment for Gretchen to catch up. It sounded as if the man was making a list or something.
“Wait! No! I mean there is nothing wrong with Reg’s equipment or technique⁠—”
“Then tell us what is wrong with him,” Elissa begged.
“I’m sorry, I just don’t think gossiping about him is right,” Gretchen replied, starting to blush.
“Oooh! Did that selfish bastard make you do the heavy lifting without a little oral reward?” Jessica asked and narrowed her eyes.
Gretchen moaned heavily. This was not going to be easy, but she supposed she better just tell them.
“Ladies, and Uncle Uzzi, please stop this. Reg was perfect. I mean the sex was fine-”
“Oh good! So, he did make you orgasm then?” Uncle Uzzi asked.
“Yes, okay! Sheesh, people, yes, okay? YES! Reg rocked my world. I orgasmed frequently. Are you happy, now?”
“Oh yay! I knew he couldn’t be that bad,” Elissa whispered.
“Get it, girl! Our Gretchen took a trip to slut-town,” Jessica joked, breaking the tension. Everyone giggled, Gretchen included.
“Good for you. I’m so jealous. It’s been a long, long time since I visited slut-town myself,” Kylie sighed.
“Ladies, please,” Elissa held up her hands to shush everyone. “I for one don’t think name calling is necessary when a woman chooses to have intercourse with someone on their first date it is their choice⁠—”
“Um, yeah, Liss, we know you feel that way seeing as how you were banging my brother in like minutes of meeting him,” snorted Jessica.
“What was that?” Elissa raised an eyebrow, and for a moment, she looked exactly like a schoolteacher about to lay down the law. But then, she ruined the whole thing by giggling.
“Okay, fine. Hell to the yeah, I did have sex with your brother as soon as we met, and let me tell you something, it was fan-fucking-tastic! Sex is important in any relationship. Who’s with me?”
Elissa held up her hand for a fist-bump which Kylie obliged.
“Ew. Like TMI, Liss,” Jessica said then made some faux barfing noises.
“Ladies,” Uncle Uzzi interrupted, and nodded back at Gretchen.
“You can just shut up,” Elissa returned to Jessica, then looked back at Uncle Uzzi and Gretchen. “I’m sorry, Uncle Uzzi. So, Gretch, you had sex with him, then what?”
Gretchen rolled her eyes. There was only one way to shut her bestie up. That was with the truth.
“Okay, yes, we had sex, but the guy is certifiable.”
“How do you mean? Did he hurt you?” Uncle Uzzi sat up straighter, and Gretchen swore she saw fire in his blue depths.
“No, not at all! He was very sweet, wonderful really, but then, well—” she hedged.
“What’s the problem then? Don’t you like sex?”
“Yes, I like sex,” she exhaled, and turned to everyone.
“Gretch?” Elissa’s worried expression met hers. She knew she had to tell her best friend the truth.
“Okay, first, Elissa, I need you to promise you will not tell Hunter what I say here. Whatever is up with Reggie, he deserves to keep his job.”
“Okay,” Elissa snorted. “OMG! You call him Reggie?”
“Shaddup,” Gretchen shook her head. “Okay, Reg and I had sex⁠—”
“And? Just to reiterate, was he considerate? Did he fail in the orgasm department or the equipment department?” Uncle Uzzi asked.
“What? No. NO! NO! The equipment was fine, better than fine. It was great. Like this great.”
Gretchen held her hands apart and got a few wolf whistles that made a new and terrifying green-eyed monster of a bitch rear its ugly head from deep inside her.
Grrrrrrr.
Where the hell did that come from? She’d never felt such a furious flash of jealousy. Her cramps were back, and she wondered if she should run to put a tampon on. No, she still had days before her period should arrive.
Gretchen shook it off and took a sip of tea to clear her head. A wave of nausea hit her, but she ignored it. Gretchen needed to focus on what she was saying. This was it, the heartbreaking truth about this whole incident with Reg.
“Okay, yes, so size-wise the guy is a dream. And yes, he made me orgasm. Several times,” she informed them, her face flaming, but for some reason she didn’t want these women thinking Reg was a slouch in any way, shape, or form.
“Good,” Uncle Uzzi nodded, encouraging her to continue.
“He was very, very thorough and considerate.”
Truth was he’d blown away all her other sexual experiences. Even before the carnal part of the evening, the date had been awesome. The food was good, the restaurant nice, and the company even better. He’d made her smile and laugh easily with his quick wit and humor.
Plus, Reg had listened to her. Like really listened. When had a guy ever done that? It had been a wonderful date. Talking to him was just so easy. She sighed sadly thinking about that amazing night. Where did it go wrong? How had she missed the signs?
“Then what’s the problem?” Uncle Uzzi cocked his head to the side, watching Gretchen intently.
“This is harder than I thought it would be to say out loud,” she confided in the older man, who was essentially a stranger, but seemed to have no qualms about discussing all things personal. “The weirdness came afterwards. You see, Reg said some things that were, well, a bit crazy.”
“Like what?”
“Guys, I don’t know.”
“Come on, Gretch, tell us.”
“Fine. You really want to know?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact, I do,” Uncle Uzzi insisted, and Gretchen could tell he meant it. Something about the older man made her want to trust him.
“After the sex and everything Reg sort of said he could turn into a Tiger,” she said in a rush.
“I see,” Uncle Uzzi said, calmly. “Did he explain what he meant?”
“He claimed he was a Shifter. I mean, he could have seen some books on my shelf earlier, but then he was saying he bit me because I’m his soulmate, or something like that, and he was shouting that I needed to let him explain but I could not take it. I didn’t know what to do, so I kicked him out of my apartment, and asked him to leave me alone.”
“Oh, Gretchen,” Elissa said, and covered her mouth.
“He bit you?” Uncle Uzzi asked.
“Yeah. It didn’t hurt at the time. In fact, it felt great,” she shrugged.
Her stomach was really bothering her again. She placed a napkin over her uneaten food and put a hand to her stomach.
“Oh Gretch, you should’ve let him explain,” Elissa began, her expression worried.
“Explain what? He’s crazy Liss. People don’t turn into Tigers.”
“Gretchen, I need to make sure he didn’t hurt you in any way,” Uncle Uzzi wiped his hands with a napkin before leaning closer to Gretchen.
“No, he didn’t hurt me.”
“Good. Okay. What I am about to tell you is going to sound strange at first,” the older man began. “But I swear to you that everything I tell you is the truth. I don’t lie, Gretchen. Not ever.”
“Okay,” Gretchen took a second to glance at him, then at the other women.
They all wore the same sympathetic expressions on their faces, and she couldn’t for the life of her figure out why. What exactly was going on here? And what was that smell?
It was sharp and strong, and it made her nose twitch. She rubbed it with a clean napkin while listening to Uncle Uzzi. Maybe she was coming down with something, she thought as she tried to stay focused on the conversation.
“Reginald didn’t lie to you, dear, and he is not crazy.”
“What is he then?”
She huffed and shook her head. The smell was really bothering her, why didn’t anyone else notice it? And of course, Reg was crazy. People did not turn into animals!
“Want the truth?”
Uncle Uzzi’s electric blue eyes zeroed in on her, making Gretchen shiver. Still, she nodded. Yes, she wanted the truth. She’d been searching for someone special for so long, and for a moment she thought it was him. All Gretchen had ever wanted was someone to love her for who she was, flaws and all. Emailing Uncle Uzzi had been a spur-of-the-moment decision, but she knew how happy Elissa was, and yes, Gretchen had wanted some of that for herself.
She deserved the truth, especially since things moved so fast with Reg. Perhaps that was where she’d gone wrong. Either way, she never had a man make up something like that before.
A tiger? It’s nuts, right?
Her thoughts were all jumbled. Gretchen’s stomach clenched. Confusion clouded her brain as exhaustion threatened to take over. Shit, when had she become so very tired?
“Okay, Gretchen, I want you to brace yourself,” Uncle Uzzi began claiming her attention once more,
“Reg really is a Shifter. A Tiger Shifter to be precise. You see Shifters exist in the real world.”
“That’s not possible,” she said, shaking her head.
“Of course it is, Gretchen. Humans simply tend to ignore things they can’t explain. I assure you Shifters are real, and Reg is one of them. If he claimed you with a bite, as you say he did, then he must be suffering greatly at this moment.”
“What? Why? Did something happen to him?”
She felt alarm well up inside of her. She didn’t want him hurt. Not in any way.
“Easy, there, no one has hurt him. You see, Shifters have fated mates. A mate is someone, or sometimes multiple someones, created by the universe specifically for that Shifter. They are soulmates, and a bite is what physically binds them together. Think marriage but stronger than the human ties you know of.”
“So, you’re saying Reg is a Tiger and I am his mate?”
Gretchen’s mouth opened and closed on a dozen questions that popped in and out of her mind. Why wasn’t she more upset? She wondered.
Mine.
A voice inside her, the same one who’d erupted in jealousy earlier, whispered inside her head. Could it be because deep down she’d known the truth? Her breathing became shallow as she tried to stem the pain rising in her stomach.
“Yes, that is what I am saying. Really, he knew better than to behave this way. I told him to tell you all this before he gave you the claiming bite and believe me when I say I will take him to task about that! I assure you I will,” Uncle Uzzi said and stopped with a wide smile on his face.
He opened his arms, a gesture of peace, she knew, though why his fingertips were sparking with little lightning bolts of blue lights she had no idea. Then she heard herself and Gretchen realized she was growling at the man. And it apparently amused him.
“Excuse me,” she said, and grabbed her teacup.
That certainly never happened to her before, but the second Uncle Uzzi had said he was going to yell at Reg, all these protective feelings got stirred up.
Mine.
“I see,” Uncle Uzzi continued. “Gretchen, there are other things you should know before deciding whether you want to go through with all this.”
“Like what?” Gretchen sipped her tea.
Part of her wanted to run screaming, but another part of her insisted she sit and listen. Her stomach clenched again, and suddenly, she felt very, very warm.
“Well a fated mate is the one person in the entire universe who will love you like no other. He will be unwavering in his devotion and his loyalty. You see, Shifters are not like humans. The moment he met you, and scented you, you became the most important thing in the world to Reg.”
“What?”
Could that be true?
Oh please, let it be true.
“I mean it. His entire world revolves around you now, Gretchen. He will protect you, provide for you, and be there for you through thick and thin. I imagine Reg has been trying to contact you.”
“Yes, he calls every couple of hours, and he’s come by, but I’ve avoided him,” she said in a low voice.
“Gretch, are you okay?” Elissa asked, stepping forward.
Gretchen turned around to look at her best friend and felt a spark of happiness ignite inside her. Unfortunately, it was quickly squashed by a brighter flash of dizziness. Something wasn’t right. She felt awful.
Maybe the food was bad? With a loud groan she collapsed to the floor, noticing everyone had backed up a few feet. Uncle Uzzi’s face was concerned, but Kylie and Jessica had blanched.
“Elissa?”
“Oh. damn it. Someone, call Hunter now. Gretchen, I need you to look at me,” she said.
Gretchen turned to see her friend staring at her with glowing eyes. She backed up and tried to stand, but her legs refused to cooperate. More pain coursed through her veins, like a river of lava was flowing through her instead of blood.
Everything hurt, and Gretchen was scared. She wanted Reg. She wanted her mate.
“It’s gonna be okay, Gretchen. I know what’s happening to you. Jessica, tell Hunter to send Reg here now.”
Jessica obeyed and spoke into her cell phone. She already had it pressed to her ear when Elissa gave her the orders. Kylie had cleared away the food and was moving the furniture out of the way.
Gretchen did not know why, but she was in too much pain to think about that now. She growled, a loud animalistic sound that sent her careening down a river of hurt. More cramping followed by extreme nausea. Gretchen got to her knees and was dry heaving on the tiled floor.
“She’s close,” Uncle Uzzi said, and wiped her brow with a damp towel.
That felt good, but something was missing. She needed something else.
“Reggie,” she whimpered, and clutched her middle before darkness claimed her.
Mate!
Something inside her called out to Reg. Whatever it was, whoever that voice belonged to, Gretchen instinctually trusted it would not harm her. The voice wanted Reggie and so did she.
He was the only one she wanted. The only man she had ever needed. And she needed him now.