Savage Shifters Box Set, page 58
They traveled by foot and train, with Lili explaining everything they passed by, the terms she used, and all the things that weren’t in Merland. It was a spontaneous crash course, really. Oscar listened to every word in silence, taking it all in and stunning her when he repeated most of them to her, indicating that he got it all in one take. While he was fascinated with everything, he seemed to take it well, those blue eyes always looking around as if he was filing everything in his head.
New York was probably the best place for him, considering it was filled with people from all walks of life and they could easily blend in, even with their weird silk robes. No one batted an eye, and even while some eyed Oscar up and down, she knew it had to do with his stunning looks more than anything.
With all the lazy stops they took, they still managed to get to SoHo in a few hours, and the sight of her neighborhood had her almost weak in relief. In all that had happened, thought had crossed her mind that she would never see this place again—and while Merland was beautiful and all, home was still home.
And she didn’t want to give up home, not yet.
She allowed him a few minutes to bask in the neighborhood’s bright lights, arrays of cast iron buildings, fancy boutiques, and art galleries before she had to practically drag him to her apartment, which was just a few minutes away from where she worked. It was a studio loft that had a pretty neat view of the outside, and she grinned at the sight of its organized familiarity.
Her stomach grumbled. In response to Oscar’s raised brows and still fascinated expression, she grinned wider.
“I’ll order pizza and take a shower. The first one’s food in our world, and you already know what the second one is. Make yourself comfortable.” She pointed at her windows. “Appreciate the view. I’ll be back shortly.”
With that, she left him to take a shower and give herself time alone to think. The hot water felt like bliss, removing any muscle ache and sand left in her body, along with the sea water. She wanted to get to reading right away, excited about the scrolls she selected from Merland and amazed that while there were some differences in their alphabets, they were still similar and could be learned in time. It was so cool, too, how Merland’s scrolls were made of seaweed flattened, colored white and stacked together in a rough pattern, so soft that you could just fold them up—which was why she managed to fill both their bags with enough to last her a few months.
After the shower and getting dressed, she was confronted with a sight she didn’t expect to see: Oscar holding a knife as he hissed threateningly at her open front door. The sound had her hair standing on end, right before she realized there was someone on the other end.
She could also smell the pizza from here.
Lili sprinted to his side before he could do any damage, snatching the knife from him and the box from the pale, frightened delivery boy. She distracted the boy with extra money and a short explanation of mental health issues followed by some friendly words before she slammed the door shut and leveled Oscar with a look.
“First off, this is my world, and they don’t know you’re a prince, so you’re not going to get assassinated by some random fellow. Chill. What you did is illegal here and you will be lucky if that boy doesn’t call the cops.”
“Cops?”
“Law enforcers. Now come on. Let’s eat. Is there anything you eat other than those sweet dried things?”
“We eat fish and squid. Shark.”
She blinked as she led the way to her kitchen counter. “Oh, well. We have fish here, but cooked. Anyway, I’ll let you try this first.” She opened the box, carefully watching his expression.
Nothing.
“What is this?”
“It’s the best food in the world,” she said. She took a bite and practically moaned at how hot and cheesy it was. She kept watching him as he tentatively got a slice and put it in his mouth.
“It’s…different.”
“Different is good,” she encouraged. Suddenly the prospect of introducing all the different foods here got to her, and she began to bounce excitedly as she took out stuff from her fridge—soda, chocolates, milk. At the last second, she made a call to order some sushi and got the box within half an hour, which she opened in front of him and watched as he chewed on bits of it.
“This is better than that round thing,” he said. “And those sweet things.”
Lili sat back, satisfied and full. “You’ll love it here.”
“I’m not staying long here.” He downed soda straight from the bottle, obviously enjoying the taste of it. Then he leaned forward, blond hair framing that angular face. Blue eyes pinned her in place all over again, so intense and focused that her stomach jolted. She flushed at her reaction but tried to rein it in. “I need to find my mate soon. Help me.”
It wasn’t an order, but it wasn’t a pleading, either. Since she entered this bargain and he kept the promise of his favors so far, she couldn’t exactly back down.
“Okay. Then we’d better get a chunk of what’s needed done tonight before we go to sleep.” She eyed his hair, regret filling her as she said her next words. “And we might need to trim that hair down if we want the women here not to think you’re some wild savage.”
He frowned at that but nodded his head. “Fine. Do what you need to.”
Oh, boy.
Free rein was the last thing she needed.
*****
Lili did the best she could with the limited time she had, bombarding him with questions to keep him distracted and learn more about Merland and that magical dry world he talked about—a world that he and his people apparently hadn’t visited yet, but only knew through their ancestors. While she kept him preoccupied, she also began to talk about how dating in the human world was like, particularly in New York, where blind dates were practically a given with all the hustle and bustle of all the busy people.
She ordered online clothes, figuring his size out and the colors and patterns that looked best on him—which, honestly, seemed to be anything, since that kind of body and face could wear anything. She then proceeded to take a photo of him and upload it online, letting him watch as she set up an online dating account with his picture and made up details, which she had him memorize as his so-called background. Explaining the internet and technology was another thing altogether, one that had him confused, but he was pretty quick to catch up with everything else.
With the clothing orders finalized for a rush delivery and his online dating account set up, Lili then focused on the last task: that damn hair of his. She got him to sit on the kitchen stool, got a pair of scissors out, and stood in front of him, already having a hairstyle in mind that she had browsed through on the internet earlier. Blue eyes watched her with full trust, even while his jaw tensed when the scissors came near.
“Do you know what you’re doing with this?” he asked.
“I cut my own hair,” she replied softly. “And I know the basics.”
“But aren’t you a librarian? Which is also a scroll writer in our world?”
“Being a librarian doesn’t mean I don’t know anything else,” she pointed out. She really did know how to trim, and she held on to that knowledge now as she stepped even closer and eyed his hair critically. It was even lighter up front, and so soft that her fingers felt like it was sliding through silk.
Lili took a deep breath. Then she started snipping the ends off here and there, trimming it down as slowly as she could until what was near his elbows now stood just past his shoulders. She massaged his hair a bit, fluffing it here and there and trying to ignore her racing heart as his eyes met hers from time to time. This close, she could see his full profile, including those firm lips and the way that large, straight nose brought every perfect feature together.
Unreal.
He smelled like the ocean—something that should have been a given, except she hadn’t expected it to smell this good. The scent slid in her nostrils and inside her body, a presence that brought on calmness and thrill at the same time.
Those lips moved, and she had to force her mind to back off to keep from getting distracted by their shape.
“Don’t trim it too short,” he muttered.
“No, I’m done,” she said. Lili stepped back, satisfied that the trim was pretty neat. He had that Jason Momoa look about him now, only hotter.
Way hotter.
Their eyes met again, and she gulped. The air began to grow hot around them as tension filled the room—probably just on her end. He stood up and towered over her, a frown marring those lips and making her wonder—
“You look great, here,” she blurted out before the thought could fully form. She practically threw a mirror at him and kept backing away until she was out of the kitchen. “I’m really sleepy. I think we should call it a night?”
She heard nothing but a yes from the kitchen, and the relief was instantaneous. But the hot feeling was still inside her, so Lili busied herself with preparing the couch with pillows and a blanket for him—then, some instructions of where he could find basic stuff if he needed it for the night.
“Is there anything else you needed?”
He sat on the couch in his robe, with that new haircut and looking like he occupied the space and the air itself.
“No. Thank you again, Lili,” he said in that deep voice.
“You’re welcome,” she muttered.
Then she escaped to her room.
*****
The next morning, the first thing she did was check the dating account she set up.
Fifty responses. Wow.
She sighed. Then she got out of bed and started preparing for a long day ahead.
Chapter 86
“So you’re really a painter? Perhaps you can take me to your studio so I can see your work and we can spend some quality time together.”
The words were said with a hint of slyness in the tone that only meant one thing, and that one thing was similar to the same one thing in Merland. It looked like the dance of flirtation before people crashed into bed together was just the same here, and that had relief surging inside Oscar as he got through his first blind date really blind, then managed to ease through the rest. There was no shortage of females in this place called New York, and he supposed that was to his advantage.
Five days later, that positivity went down the drain as he surmised three things: that half the females in that dating computer thing wanted to have sex with him, the other half wanted a commitment before going into anything else, and none of the kisses he gave or received within the multiple dates he had gave out any spark at all.
“My studio is still a mess, and I’m more a businessman who collects paintings now,” he replied smoothly but firmly. “I would rather take you around SoHo so we can enjoy the area. I’ve only settled here, but I hear the lights are beautiful at night. I would love some company for it.”
Thirty minutes later, he had the woman named Margaret backed against a wall between an art gallery and a coffee shop, where he proceeded to kiss her and distract her from her repeated invitations to head to her place in Queens. Normally, Oscar was down for any type of mindless sex, but he couldn’t proceed with this one for two reasons: he just wasn’t attracted to her enough, and he really needed to be serious about this finding-his-mate thing.
So yes, no sex until he did.
He kissed her for a good few minutes before making some excuse that he had an emergency and taking her as far as the taxi stand, where he watched her frown and pout but eventually settle for a “Call me.” Relief poured out of him as he got out of that quickly with no tears, and he found his feet taking him to the place where Lili worked.
The human world was sturdier than he expected, as they had technology in the place of magic and all kinds of rich background and mixes of so many races. And the food…wow. His daily diet of seafood and sweets was just blown out of the water as he found himself getting addicted to all that this world had to offer, taking a very special liking to Japanese and Italian cuisine in particular.
And burgers. He wanted to take burgers back to Merland, except bread couldn’t exactly survive the harsher climate they had there and all that water.
It was also fascinating how this particular place was brimming with artistry, from the buildings to the landscape to the shops and art galleries scattered everywhere. Apparently, this was a tourist spot, and Oscar found himself touring around in between his dates and getting immersed in a culture that was so very similar yet so different from the tales his uncle had told him. He tried to find Byron, but it was almost impossible, and Oscar settled for knowing that only a few of Byron’s paintings contained direct access to Merland and that the man was somewhere happy and thriving in this world.
He slipped in the coffee shop beside the library and got one of those chocolate drink concoctions that was just too good before finally stepping inside Lili’s workplace—basically a scroll room filled with their version of books. There was a large group of tourists there, and the woman he was looking for was right in the middle of the group, talking about SoHo and everything that it had to offer.
He watched her from his spot by the door, noting her black pencil skirt and plain white blouse. Based on human standards of dressing, what she had would be considered conservative, though it didn’t hide the subtle curves she had that fit her short frame perfectly. The way she talked was animated, and her hazel eyes sparkled—an indication that she loved what she was doing.
She often had the same sparkle when they sat side by side on the couch and read their books: him the history books she provided, and her the scrolls she got from Merland. It was perhaps one of his favorite pastimes after his failed dates, just reading and asking her questions about her world and answering hers in return. Lili was filled with knowledge about pretty much everything, and she would have been a terrific scroll writer had she lived in Merland. In fact, she could easily head the team and would probably be skipping with excitement all over it.
The tourists left, and she closed her eyes and stretched her hands in the air. The action had her blouse tightening against her chest area, a sight he didn’t miss as his eyes strayed there. Something in his stomach jolted, then settled. His gaze snapped up when she yawned, focusing on her mouth and the way it pursed before her brows furrowed in concentration. She stretched some more, doing ill-fitting postures for someone dressed so formally, and amusement slid inside him as he kept watching the rather dorky female.
When her eyes opened, they locked in on him right away. The first reaction he saw was those eyes lighting up as if the sight of him pleased her thoroughly.
The second reaction was horror as she realized something else.
“How long have you been standing there?” she asked.
Oscar couldn’t help the grin. “A while. You’re pretty stretchy.”
Her cheeks turned red at that before she cleared her throat. Then she glared at him. “It wasn’t for public eyes.”
He held up his hands. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to.”
Her eyes softened, and she reluctantly grinned back at him. Lili wasn’t particularly drop dead gorgeous, but that prettiness leveled up insanely when she smiled, which she did so often in his presence. She often made his mood light, and he honestly couldn’t have asked for a better person to help him navigate this foreign world.
“How was the date?”
“Bust,” he muttered. “She wasn’t my mate.”
“Oh? How did you know?”
There was no need to tell her that he made out with all of his dates, as he had a feeling women here were just as tricky in that department. “I just know. Were you about to head home?”
“In a bit. Kitty will be here in a few minutes. She had a date, so I’m covering extra hours for her.”
“Great. I’ll walk you home.”
“Sweet.”
Kitty arrived fifteen minutes later, looking flushed and happy as she chattered about her date with some cute guy. She stammered when she noticed Oscar but bounced back and waved them goodbye as they slid out and into the streets, where the moon was shining brightly.
“I’m sorry your date was a bust,” she said once they were with the crowd, getting into the topic right off. “We still have some responses to your account, so I’ll screen through them tonight. You can screen them with me if you want. Maybe the pictures can help you get a feel for who you’d want to kiss on a date?”
“It doesn’t exactly work that way.”
“I know it doesn’t, but maybe it will.”
“I don’t think blind dates are for me,” he admitted. “Is there any way we can find a mate through alternatives?”
Lili tilted her head, thinking. They stopped by an ice cream shop, where she got them two cones of vanilla before they proceeded walking.
“There are lots of bars here—places like your tavern, except with music where people can dance and mingle, not just drink.” She hesitated. “There will be glamorous women there, and you can take your pick of who you find attractive and…well, hook up.”
He frowned at her choice of words, not entirely ready to discuss hooking up with her. The idea of mingling and socializing didn’t appeal to him, either, even when it normally did.
“Anything else?”
“That and blind dating are the only things I know,” she said. “I don’t know many people here to set you up with. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. I’ll think it over.”
They walked the rest of the way in silence.
*****
The night was filled with more reading and Lili screening through the dating account, then even more reading as they ordered two boxes of pizza. Even while he was thoroughly enjoying his stay here and would love to explore what else was beyond New York, worry nagged at him at what he left behind and what was to come. He could feel Lili eyeing him with the same worry every now and then, and something unspoken slid between them as he finally asked her to stop looking through the dating account.
“Oscar, if I may ask, what do you plan to do once you find someone you have a spark with?”
