The Dragon's Mail Order Mate: A Paranormal Menage Romance (2 page)

“Good luck,” Mike said with a cocky smile on his lips, already certain he was going to win.

“Thanks,” Will said, wishing that he could think of something cocky and confident to say to Mike that would make him just as nervous as he was. There was nothing in his mind that he could use against him and so he just hopped up and made his way toward the door, feeling jittery and worried.

This was it. This was the biggest moment in his life.

*

It was impossible to really comprehend what it meant to be in America right now. This was the dream that she had had since she watched television for the first time, watching the handsome Americans and all of their grand adventures, harshly dubbed over in Ukrainian, always feeling slightly off. She remembered all the times she had snuck down the hallway to Mrs. Vanistov’s apartment and listened as she taught her the language of English and how to say the funny things Americans were always so interested in saying to each other to make one another laugh. She would watch American programs and smile, grinning as they laughed and said their idioms and other funny sayings.

“Oksana, smile more,” her mother would say when she would drive her to the modeling competitions and get her picture taken for everything from soda brands to telephone services.

She could see herself all around Ukraine, but she was never the starlet people had told her she would be. She ended up in advertisements or in photo shoots that were highlighting something other than her. One week she would be practically naked to highlight a diamond bracelet she’d never own or try to inspire the sensual allure of perfume, never herself. They promised her one day she would be on the cover of something like Vogue, like all the American and British models that had started out in humble beginnings. But that hope had faded in her life. She had never been the star of her life it seemed, but right now, standing in front of this house, she felt like she was finally the star of her own life.

They had an immaculate green lawn that looked like someone had come by their home with a dozen different cans of paint and made it look so perfect that no one could really have a lawn like this. When she looked at it, she just wanted to drop down on it and feel the blades poking and bending against her skin. She felt it and she thought that it was the perfect day to come to America.

She'd been in New York City for six hours, but she’d stayed in the airport, looking outside at all the buildings, all the twinkling lights while the sky rained down more water than she thought was possible. She had walked around, smiling at the cute boys that stared at her from all around the world and ate with what little money she had with her. She tried on hats and looked at bottles of liquor, even going into the Ferrari clothing shop and trying on jackets for cars she would never be able to afford. It was a wonderful feeling to be here, to be in America and to be able to experience what her parents had never dreamed of.

Ukraine wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t what she wanted. It was a dreary world to her where no matter how much she did or how beautiful she was, there were always people out there that would have infinitely more because they weren’t in Ukraine. That had hurt her the most. The thought of not being able to have as much or have that kind of a life was terrifying. She wanted to have everything she dreamt of, and that was where Will Stewart came in.

As far as she knew, he was her savior. Will Stewart had contacted her on the website and had told her he was a Shifter, something she didn’t believe at first, but when he sent the pictures, she was a true believer. He said his friend was helping bring her over and that had also been exciting. As far as she was concerned, she would do whatever it took to have a new life, to get a job in America and to find a man who could be her mate.

It was hard for her to explain to others why she was going to America to meet a man she had never met and try to be his eternal partner. They told her that it was ridiculous, that they were going to kidnap her and make her a sex slave, or that they would kill her. She wasn’t afraid of that. She honestly didn’t even think this was going to be a possibility in the future. She had met Shifters before. She had made love to a Shifter and experienced the raw power of his love. He had vanished before she could go away with him. She had seen the intensity of Shifter mates and that was something she craved more than anything else. That was why she would risk everything to come to America.

Her fate was in America.

She wanted them to like her so badly that it had been hell trying to figure out what it was that she was going to wear. She knew San Francisco was going to be sunny, golden, and it was going to be paradise for every day that came afterwards. So obviously, she was going to wear shorts and that much was the beginning for her. So, she had dressed in white short shorts with gold stitch work and all the zippers were shiny gold. She wore modest heels that confined her long, elegant legs that seemed to stretch for miles. Men loved her legs and she couldn’t blame them. She had always been very happy with her legs. When she sat down and thanked God for what he’d given her, it was usually her long legs, her perky, large breasts, beautiful face, and fantastic hair. She had been given the package deal of beauty, but the legs were what most men started staring at first and then followed down their trail to all the wonderful features that belonged to her as well.

To maintain your beauty, you have to work at it and you have to work hard. Her hours of working in the gym left her with an ass that made men drool and a flat stomach she decided to show off with a shirt that didn’t cling to her, but hung off of her large breasts and showed off her flat stomach and subtle abs. One of her shoulders was revealed by the shirt and she wore bangles on her wrists. Her hair was styled and flirty, but her make up was what occupied the last three hours at the airport in New York City while she was waiting for her connection. When she looked at herself in the mirror of the airplane’s bathroom, she was happy with what she saw and she just prayed they would be happy with her.

Their friend Katy had been nice, but she hadn’t been what Oksana had been expecting. She wore thick framed glasses and a strange sort of hat that hid most of her hair and a sweatshirt even though it was sunny and beautiful outside. She was just a slouchy person who looked like she didn’t care much about life, or like her heart had just been severely broken. She felt badly for the woman and offered to talk with her on the ride home. Mostly, the woman named Katy turned out to be super suspicious and extremely opinionated about everything. Oksana really didn’t care about the political problems America had with Russia. In fact, Oksana rarely thought about Russia or World War Three, which this woman, Katy, seemed obsessed with.

When Katy dropped her off in front of the house on the corner, she couldn’t help but feel excited. She just had a duffel bag and a suitcase with her, everything she needed in America before she started her new life and began to build the relationship of her dreams with a Shifter who was, no doubt, the most charming and wonderful man in the world. She would get a job modeling and she would make sure she worked hard to be his eye candy and to be his heart’s desire. She would keep him satisfied and hungry at the same time in bed. There was no doubt in her mind this was the best thing that ever happened to her.

Standing on the porch of the two story building surrounded by the beautiful and well maintained yard, she pressed the doorbell and smiled nervously, praying that they didn’t have more beautiful women in their life that would shame her.

“Please like me,” she prayed, closing her eyes and opening them as she heard the movement inside the house. They were coming closer.

Through the beveled glass, she could see figures moving and as the two figures approached, she could feel butterflies in her stomach. She didn’t want to let anyone down. She couldn’t go back to Ukraine. She couldn’t do anything other than this.

The door opened and two men stood before her, both of them about her age, which made her very excited as she looked at them, smiling nervously and watching as one of them stood there, staring like he’d been turned into stone with a flattering, yet alarming expression on his face. The other looked at her and grinned like he was a man who had tried to seduce very many women before. She looked at them nervously, anxiously waiting for one of them to say something to her. God, she would kill for one of them just to say something to her.

“Hi,” she said, deciding to make the first move.

“Sup,” the one with the cocky grin on his face said.

He was a handsome guy who knew how to dress right, but there was something apathetic about him. His hair was a messy spike of brown and mahogany that matched the field of brown stubble across his cheeks and tracing his jaw line. There wasn’t anything about his face that didn’t look like he’d been sculpted by someone who loved the male anatomy. He was seemingly perfect, but his eyes were almost mean looking, like he drank too deep of sarcasm and cynicism. She could tell just by looking at him, and the tone of his voice when he said just one word made her recognize it instantly. This was a guy that she could have fun with, but she wasn’t sure if he was Will Stewart, the one that she knew she was destined to be the mate of.

This one’s style was really immaculate and perfect, but it was his body that interested her more than anything. He looked like he was very fit and that he took a lot of care of himself. She looked at him as he carried himself naturally and cool, leaning against the corner of a wall, looking at her with his smoldering eyes. She smiled at him and could only imagine what his body looked like underneath all of those clothes. If he was Will Stewart, she was certain that tonight, she was going to sneak into his room and see what it was that he was capable of.

“Hello,” the other guy said with a nervous, quivering voice and she looked at him with a smile on her lips.

For what the other guy made up for in confidence, this one doubled in a lack of it. He was wearing tan pants and a polo that was tucked in. He had the clean cut look down to an art and she realized this was his work uniform. He had a lean build that the other didn’t have and as she looked at him, she realized his attire and his lack of confidence was a distraction. His hair was styled well, clean and efficient and his face was truly handsome to look at. His glasses reminded her of the woman Katy who had picked her up, but when he smiled, his whole face illuminated sweetly and made her feel confident and welcomed. She liked him. She liked him a lot.

Sure, she didn’t want to rip his clothes off immediately, but he was the one that she wanted to have on her arm as they explored the city. He was the one she wanted to cuddle up with immediately and watch something on TV as the cool weather settled in. She felt torn, not sure which one she liked more upon her first impression, but she knew she couldn’t just melt a person down to their first impression. That would be wrong.

“I’m Oksana,” she said, holding out her hand to the nearest one, the nervous, less confident one.

“Will,” he said and she felt a bit of a bite in the back of her mind that the really confident one wasn’t Will. “Sorry about the uniform. I have to go to work in a few hours.”

“You wear it well,” Oksana said with a friendly smile, not wanting him to be embarrassed by what it was he was wearing.

She wanted him to feel comfortable and she wanted him to believe he was something that she was definitely interested in, because the truth was that she was definitely interested in him. She wanted him to absolutely believe she liked him. There was nothing worse she could think of than him not being confident around her. She was going to do everything she could to make both of them feel comfortable around her.

There was no doubt this was the strangest thing anyone had done before, because she had actually come from halfway across the world to be with them. That was strange. That was the craziest thing that she had ever done. She wanted to make sure everything went smoothly for them. Comfort was a huge factor here. Comfort was going to make all the difference here and it was painfully obvious these two had lost all of their confidence. Well, at least their mental functions.

“Thanks,” he said with a grin.

She liked his smile. It wasn’t a refined, practiced smile like the other man here. He had the smile that looked like it had been polished in front of a mirror over and over again. Will, he had a smile that could win over anyone, the kind of smile that illuminated and beamed all over his face. It was something that made her feel warm inside.

“This is Mike,” Will said to her with a grin. “He’s not much of a talker.”

“I’m more of a lover,” he said with a cocky voice that suggested he thought more of himself than he was probably actually able to do.

She had known men like him before, men who were overly cocky and sure of themselves. She knew he was probably more than willing to give it a try and show her what he was capable of. She looked at the man named Mike and thought she was a little more than willing to give him the chance to show what it was he was capable of. She smiled at him.

“Is that so?” She asked with a grin.

“So he likes to claim,” Will said, coming back for a chance to win her over.

She liked how there was already a little banter and bickering between the two of them. There was no doubt there was going to be a healthy bit of competition here and that was going to be something she looked forward to.

There was something about the two of them that made her excited about this arrangement. They were cute together, clearly comfortable with one another, and both together on this. That was something that was truly difficult to find when you were looking for a sponsor. In the chat rooms and forums of the website she had used, people had told horror stories about groups of shifters looking to bring new mates into their clan or family and that it had worked out horribly. Jealousy, fights, and even threats were usually what led to the inevitable downfall of everyone that was part of that kind of a lifestyle. As far as she was concerned, she was going to make sure all of this worked out for the best. She wanted this to succeed and they did too, clearly.