Chapter Four

Burke

The trouble with me is, I overthink everything. Like everything. Bovines were supposed to be simple creatures. Even the shifters. I'd missed that memo. Which was why I was in the middle of a meltdown over a rhubarb stalk.

I had made an idiot of myself in front of Apollo. I knew that. What bull wanted to be wooed like a sweet cow? I needed to learn to keep my mouth shut in future. But, strangely, he didn't give me grief for it. He just patted my back until I told him to get off me and I headed for the door. Then I turned back, hugged Apollo without a word for being so kind, and left the kitchen. I'd never been in a herd like this one.

Now I needed to do something physical, and that did not mean making an idiot of myself on the pole. I sighed and grumbled about my misfortune. I needed lessons from an expert before I tried to show Ricky what I could do.

I'd promised Maximus I'd dig out another bed for vegetables as Tim had co-opted the first bed. Who knew rhubarb shifters slept and ate in the soil? I wasn't the only vegan in the pride. The lions were carnivores, of course, but most of us were vegan. Yeah, we could have just eaten grass. One advantage of our house was that, out the back, there were acres of fresh green grass and Drew, Randy, Gordon, and I spent a lot of time out there, chewing the cud. Who needed a mower when we had four herbivores in the herd? But we were humans too and loved our food. It was great using mealtimes to connect around the table as a pride.

Then I remembered my previous confrontation with Ricky and grimaced. Food! How did I convince the stalk that I didn't want to eat him? At least, not like that. For a moment I imagined being on my knees, my mouth around his stalk, pleasuring him. My rhubarb scent increased as I got more aroused. He was rhubarb, would he like that? Rhubarb smelling rhubarb? Even the thought made me release a little rhubarb aroma.

I had to quit thinking about that luscious stalk. He wanted, no, he needed an alpha like Leonidis. Not a teeny-tiny cow like me. I clenched my jaw. Ricky's throwaway comment to Tim still rankled. I was all bull…even if I did want to be wooed.

I banged my head against the wall by the mudroom and instantly regretted it. My nose, head, and eyes went for maximum pain reminder. I was in a mess.

I shuffled outside and spent the afternoon grunting and sweating, digging up the bed. Every time my gaze slid to the rusty pole, I looked away and slogged through more of the weeds. No way was I going to try my luck on the pole again. I had the grace of a barge pretending to be a yacht…or something like that.

"Burke? Where are you?"

I was tempted to ignore Maximus's call, but he was the pride leader and I knew better.

"Behind the greenhouse," I yelled back.

Maximus appeared, Tim by his side as always. They looked and smelled like mates who'd been screwing each other's brains out all afternoon. I tried not to be jealous.

It was an epic fail, so I swallowed a sigh and forced my lips into a half smile.

"Get showered," he ordered. "We're going out." He squinted at me. "Have you shifted yet?"

"Uh, no." I'd forgotten about that. I was too busy brooding. "Where are we going?"

Maximus ignored my question. "Shift, shower, shave, whatever. You've got thirty minutes."

I slammed my fork into the dirt, grimacing at Tim's wince. He was always urging us to be gentle to the soil. "What are we doing? We don't go out."

"Today we are. Hurry up."

"Okay, big guy." Tim left Maximus's side and joined me and wiggled. "Get along, little doggies."

I stared at him. Maximus stared at him.

Tim threw his hands in the air. "It's an old cowboy song about herding cows. I'm gonna herd you back to the house."

I scowled at him, ignoring the pain from my swollen eyes and nose. "But you said doggies. I'm not a dog."

He put his hands on his hips. "Do you want me to make it about rhubarb, Burkie? Because I will."

Oh, hell no. After all the days of wooing Maximus? Not that. Anything but that. I fled to the house, his mocking laughter behind me. I only breathed again when I shut my bedroom door.

Catching sight of myself in the mirror, I realized they were right about one thing. I needed to shift. My face was a mess. I stripped off my clothes, kicked them to one side so I wouldn't fall over, and shifted into my bull form. I bellowed as my broken nose reformed and the bruising hurt like hell. Then I was on four legs, and I trotted up to the mirror to inspect myself. I was kinda pretty, even if I said so myself. All golden brown with fluffy ears. I may have been small, but I had a decent set of balls. Would Ricky like playing with them?

Gah! Quit thinking about the hot rhubarb.

What was it about Ricky and my balls?

I shifted to distract myself, pleased to see there was minimal bruising left and my nose was fixed. I showered quickly, trying to ignore my hard-as-nails dick and taut balls. I could deal with that later.

I was drying my head when Maximus bellowed from the first floor. "Move it, Burke."

Seriously, what was his issue? He was never that bothered about leaving the pride house.

I dressed in tight jeans and a tight green shirt with tiny pineapples wearing shades. I left the rhubarb shirt behind.

"Let's go," Tim said as I jogged down the stairs.

"Where is everyone?" I asked, noting it was just Maximus, Tim, and me by the door.

"They're busy," Maximus said, avoiding looking me directly in the eye.

I frowned as we piled into the minivan and he drove us into town. Outside what looked like a club, I followed Tim and got out of the van to stare up at the sign. "Rhurbarella?" I glanced about, trying to figure what kind of place this was. "Why are we here?"

"You'll see," Maximus muttered evasively, which was so unlike him it made my stomach turn into a pile of knotted fur.

He looked resigned, while Tim's amused smirk made no sense at all to me. Until we stepped inside, and then we got confronted with a ginormous pole. I turned to leave, ready to storm outside and well away from whoever could be going to use the pole.

Ricky!

It wasn't rocket science. I knew who the pole dancer was.

Tim laid a gentle hand on my shoulder, making me pause and look at him. "Just watch how it's done," he suggested. "Maybe you can get some pointers from whoever is performing."

I was kinda offended that he thought I was stupid not to know that Ricky was the stalk of the town when it came to pole dancing. It had to be him because I'd done a little investigating… stalking. But I was also touched that they were thinking of me. Did that mean Apollo had said something to them?

Maximus herded me to a table in front of the pole before I could decide if it annoyed me or not. The club was empty apart from us. I felt sorry for Ricky if he was indeed performing and no one else had bothered to turn up, meaning he'd be dancing to just the three of us.

Maybe it wasn't Ricky, and I'd jumped to the wrong conclusion?

Then the lights dimmed.

A spotlight focused on the man wrapped around the pole. The performer turned to face me… us.

I stopped breathing at the sight he made. I was right…

Any thoughts I had after that disappeared at seeing the man in front of me. Ricky was beautiful, dressed in the shortest of shorts, the rest of him bare to my greedy gaze. He was a stalk of perfection, lithe muscle flexing as he worked the pole. Everything faded, there was no one else in the club, just me and him.

My mouth watered. His junk was framed perfectly. He was everything I'd dreamed of and so much more. My balls tightened just thinking about him.

Did he just wobble a little?

Nah! He was all grace swinging around the pole, so elegant. He wrapped one leg around the pole, and I wished it was me when he turned upside down, his mouth in a perfect place to…

His gaze locked with mine, and I swore my balls became the size of watermelons.