They had only to join hands and speak the words together for their wolves to begin the search.
Will twined his fingers with Monty’s and his lover gave him a squeeze. It was right. He felt it deep within and his wolf agreed wholeheartedly. Swallowing hard, he opened his mouth and Monty did the same. They whispered the few words which gave their wolves permission to search for another.
“I open this sacred link to find the one who would be true to us both.”
The sound, too low for normal beings to hear at such a distance, reverberated through the ground, slithering along Kat’s spine and waking every nerve. A wolf’s cry. Clear as day turning to night, she felt the howl. She fought the urge to crawl into a corner and cower. The need to hide nearly overwhelmed her, but she held her inner feline at bay.
She’d been assured by more than one person since her arrival that she had nothing to fear from the other employees. Heart’s Haven stood as neutral ground among the paranormals. Felidae and lupines could live in harmony. Riiight.
Kat kicked off her shoes, shivering as her feet made contact with the cool wood floor of her new living room. Her jaw had dropped open wide when she’d been escorted to her apartment. Madeline had told her the job came with room and board, but she hadn’t expected a fully furnished apartment overlooking the beach. Waves crashed against the rocky shore just outside her back door, reminding her of the journey to the island.
Someone had probably thought the apartment would be a woman’s paradise. It probably would be paradise to come home after a long night’s work and watch the sun rise above the sea; for anyone but her. Then again, maybe this would enable her to get over her fear of water. Maybe.
Throwing one of her bags over her shoulder, she grabbed another and trudged toward the bedroom. First things first, she needed to unpack. Then she could go about cleaning the apartment. Whoever they had hired to clean did a good enough job… for anyone else. Kat wouldn’t be able to sleep until the whole apartment shined.
The minute she walked through the bedroom door, she froze.
Oh wow.
Someone had been in the apartment earlier in the day and had left a welcome basket,
several
welcome baskets, for her.
Placing her bags on the floor near the end of the bed, she went to the basket closest to her, which sat on the bedside table. Opening the attached card, she quickly found this basket was from Heart’s Haven Toys and contained wine, cheeses, and assorted fruits.
Already her new employer showed class and unparalleled appreciation for their employees. Between the welcome basket and the initial orientation she received where the Director of Human Resources assured her she would never be terminated due to her tendencies to groom herself often, she’d been awed by their caring.
Replacing the card just as she’d found it, she moved to the basket on the table near the window. A quick scan of the card and the contents of the basket left her with a wide smile on her face. Her new bosses had sent her a basket of cleaning supplies which were specifically tailored for felines. They were scent-free, but still carried the germ-killing power of other highly scented commercial cleaners.
How sweet.
The card was signed by Will and Monty, but it appeared both signatures had been done by the same person. Well, at least one of them seemed considerate.
Banishing her wayward thoughts, she went to inspect the third basket, so large it took up much of the space on the dresser. She admired the beautiful pink fabric and bows that adorned the basket. A quick read of the card had her blushing in an instant, the rush of blood to her cheeks heating her skin. She read the card again to make sure she hadn’t mistaken the message.
Welcome to Heart’s Haven Toys!
As the head developer in the sex toy division, I wanted to extend my welcome and offer you a few of our most recent products for your use. Feel free to let me know if there are any particular items from our catalog you would enjoy. If possible, please complete the included survey letting me know which toy you enjoyed the most and why.
Have fun!
Mina
Good. Lord. The head developer in sex toys had sent her a basket of… Kat pulled on the bow holding the fabric in place and the covering fell away to reveal more sex toys than Kat could count. All of them were wrapped in their original packaging. And just as the note said, a small survey was tucked inside. In addition to the toys, there were several different types of Heart’s Haven brand lubricant. What did the woman think? That she’d be sitting around playing with toys all the time?
Then again, it wasn’t as if Kat had anyone special on the island. It definitely looked as if her new boyfriend would be battery operated. Unfortunately.
With a sigh, Kat turned from the toys which promised hours of pleasure and began the task of settling in to her new home. Thankful for the new cleaning supplies her bosses had provided, Kat didn’t waste any time in jumping into her task of making her apartment suitable for her. It didn’t take much time at all to scrub every nook, cranny and surface she could find; only a few hours or five.
Exhausted but invigorated, Kat showered away the sweat she’d worked up and prepared herself for work for the evening. During her orientation she’d been told she wouldn’t be expected to start working until the following evening, but she couldn’t help herself. Somewhere there was a room just waiting for her to clean and she wasn’t about to disappoint.
After donning another outfit from her “cleaning wear” drawer, Kat grabbed her map of the Heart’s Haven Toys compound and was ready to begin her new adventure. The thought had her pausing at her apartment door.
New adventure—in cleaning? When had her life turned into moving from one thorough cleaning to the next? Damn. She’d turned into the pitiful, cleaning cat lady, just like her adoptive mother had told her she would. Double damn.
While the realization that she was turning out as her adoptive parents expected rocked her to her soul, she wasn’t about to skimp on her job, but she decided then and there to make an effort to meet the people on the island and mingle. Kat didn’t think she’d find Mr. Right, but maybe she could find Mr. Right-now-as-long-as-he-showered-regularly.
It didn’t take Kat long to find the lab building. While she had been given the official title of lab assistant to Doctors Slade and Thorpe, she knew her place. Kat was the cleaning lady, plain and simple. The only difference between her and the other workers was that she had one lab to clean from top to bottom every night. Apparently the doctors were as anal as she was when it came to their workspace. Well, one of the doctors anyway.
After double-checking the lab number where she’d be working, Kat jogged up the stairs to the second floor. The moment her feet touched the landing, the subdued scents of sex and catnip tickled her senses. Somebody had been using their labs for experiments all right.
Lucky bastards.
The closer she got to lab twenty-eight, the stronger the scents became. Catnip had always had an effect on Kat, but this was something else altogether. With the strong odors of sweat and sex, coupled with catnip, she felt ready to jump the next man she saw. Shaking her head, she tried to dislodge the sudden urge to strip and rub her body all over every surface. Her cat wanted to claim this area as its own and warn off any other Felidae in the area. Kat stopped her trek toward the lab and leaned against the wall.
A few deep, cleansing breaths later and she managed to get her inner cat under control. Barely. Pushing away from the wall, she rounded the corner and came face to face with the door to lab twenty-eight. It looked like any other door on the floor, but those scents which had nearly driven her crazy with lust seemed stronger there.
Oh damn.
Maybe she’d get lucky and suddenly become immune to catnip.
The scents of sweat and sex she could deal with. Would she be jealous someone else was getting action when she wasn’t? Absolutely. But she’d get over it and go back to her apartment to test out the toys Mina had given her.
Smiling at the thought of spending quality time with her numerous new toys, Kat pushed open the door to the lab and froze in her tracks.
Oh, my.
Men. Two men. Two men embracing and kissing and licking and oh, Lord… Part of her brain screamed at her that she should be embarrassed for walking in on such a private moment, but the lust-hazed side of her brain urged her to keep watching.
Lust won.
One man, with pale brown hair and a lithe body, leaned against one of the tables while the other, dark where his lover was fair, held him captive. Lips kissed and tongues tangled as she watched. Their hips rocked against each other and Kat would have given anything to be sandwiched between them. After they’d all showered and were clean, of course. But yeah, she wanted to wiggle between their hard bodies and have them plunder her the way they devoured each other.
Cleanliness aside, the two men seemed completely taken with each other and totally oblivious to her presence. Not that she minded. The larger man, with his midnight black hair, wide shoulders and absolute air of dominance he seemed to carry, called to her in a completely primal way. Her cat wanted to be subdued by this man and made to submit. Not that she’d get the chance, considering how into his partner he seemed, but a girl could dream.
The quickening of her breath, or perhaps the shuffle of her feet as she shifted her weight, drew the larger man’s attention. He pulled his lips away from the other man and his lust-filled gaze met hers. Startled, she did what the timid half of her brain had been screaming at her to do from the moment she walked in. Spinning on her heel, she turned her back to the men and rushed out an apology. “I’m so sorry. I’m just here to clean. I didn’t mean to intrude.”
Kat reached for the door, but a warm hand on her upper arm stopped her just as a deep, soothing voice met her ears. “Slow down. No harm, no foul. You must be Katerina.” She allowed the man to turn her around. “I’m Monty Slade and this gentleman is Will Thorpe. We, ah, weren’t expecting you until tomorrow.”
Kat shifted her attention between the men she now knew were her bosses and nibbled her lip. Did Will know he hadn’t tucked
not so little Will
back into his pants? The man’s cock hung pale, thick and heavy out of the opening of his slacks, and her heightened eyesight picked up little droplets of white on the smooth khaki trousers. Oh, she’d interrupted something all right.
Unbidden, her tongue flicked her lower lip. She’d love a taste. After the appropriate tests, of course. Cleanliness was number one in her rule book.
Will spoke next, taking her attention away from his cock and back to his face. “
We?
Since when were we expecting anyone?” His eyes, a pale, startling blue, burned with annoyance.
Well, it seemed she’d walked in on more than just some loving between partners. Kat backed away from Monty, putting more space between herself and the two men.
“Okay, maybe
we
is the wrong word to use.
I
wasn’t expecting you until tomorrow, which would have given me plenty of time to explain you to Will.”
Monty smiled at her and she was sure he probably meant the smile to soothe her—it did anything but. It did manage to make her catch her breath, and her fingers itched to push a stray lock of hair back out of his eyes.
Damn catnip!
“Will…” Monty turned away from her, giving her a chance to study the man and his many, many muscles. “This is Katerina Pawslowski. She’s here to help keep the lab clean and, with luck, keep us from killing each other over empty bags of Doritos. Now, love, why don’t you put your cock away so that Kat can think about something other than what you’ve got between your legs?”
Monty watched as Will mixed and measured yet another batch of Sexnip. He knew the eventual outcome even if his lover didn’t want to admit the truth.
Monty’s plan, perfect in theory and horrible in application, had failed. Miserably. Kat had been brought in to make their working in the lab together easier. Sure, the place sparkled more than ever before, but after a month of having her around, they were still where they started: at each other’s throats and Sexnip-less.
It wouldn’t have been so bad if her damned scent wasn’t so enthralling. Even when mixed with the strong smells of disinfectant and bleach, she called to him. Monty had a feeling the little kitten called to Will as well, even if his lover wouldn’t admit to his attraction.
He’d tried to discuss his feelings with Will a few times and each time he’d gotten shot down. “A lupine and a Felidae? Have you lost your mind? She is a
cat,
for God’s sake!” Will’s voice had risen to a point where Monty didn’t doubt that the whole island heard his lover’s exclamation. But when all was said and done, Monty noted that Will had never said he
wasn’t
attracted to their obsessive-compulsive kitten. Will just pointed out that their kitten was a cat. His lover’s omission left Monty with one burning feeling: hope.
Tired of dancing around the subject and ignoring his own wolf’s howls each time Kat’s scent tickled his nose, Monty decided the torment would end. Today. He and Will were going to have a “discussion” about Kat even if it destroyed the lab.
Having highly developed senses, courtesy of their wolves, meant that both men went rock-hard each time the slightest hint of Kat’s musk drifted their way. Considering they
were
trying to develop catnip sure to arouse most Felidae, Kat was
always
aroused in their lab and her delicious feminine musk lingered. No, she wasn’t out of her mind with arousal to the point that she was going crazy each time she entered the lab, but that simply meant they hadn’t gotten the formula right. Yet.
Monty licked his lips as Will dispensed with his standard white lab coat. His lover was getting frustrated. When Will gripped the counter and dropped his head down, taking deep breaths, Monty knew it was time to make his move.