Whoopsie Daisy Read online

  I know he is struggling to hold himself back. He nibbles on my lip again, trailing his way over to my ear. He bites on my ear lobe and then slowly trails his way down my neck, making me giggle. He smiles against my neck, enjoying the way my body responds to his touch, as he trails back up to my lips. I bite his lip seductively and he lets out a deep growl that rumbles through my chest, causing my body to tremble.

  “Tell me you want me to make you mine, Kitten,” he commands while looking deep into my eyes.

  “Make me yours, Kace,” I reply with a desperate moan.

  I let out another whimper and feel the full force of his body press against me as we fall to the sand. The things he does to me make me feel things I didn’t know you could feel. My body shakes with every touch. Every movement. Electricity courses through my body as his hands and mouth explore every inch of me.

  He presses himself against me, our excitement is palpable. I tilt my head back, unable to make a sound. He pulls back and I feel a slight sense of panic, longing for him to be against me. He sees the look on my face and smirks before bringing his body back to mine with pure hunger in his eyes. The passion combined with his growls makes me feel like I am no longer in my body—like something else has taken over. Our passionate lovemaking continues for hours until we completely exhaust our bodies. Kace was right, he made me feel things I couldn’t have dreamed of. We fall asleep on the beach in each other’s arms.

  This is where I wish the dream would end.

  But it doesn’t.

  Hours later, we wake up on the beach, and that’s when things take a drastic turn.

  We stand up, still naked but without any sand venturing where it doesn’t belong—this is a dream after all. I look around the beach and then at Kace.

  “Ummm, Kace?” I ask, tilting my head slightly. “Where are our clothes?”

  “What are you talking about?” He asks with a confused look on his face. “We don’t wear clothes, most animals don’t.” He shrugs and furrows his brow.

  “We are humans though and humans wear clothes,” I state. “Also, didn’t you have tattoos last night?” As I think back to our passionate romp in the sand, I recall seeing and running my fingers along various tattoos that were covering his body, including sleeve tattoos and a distinct wolf tattoo on his chest. But now his body is completely ink-free.

  “Sorry, Kitten, I don’t have any tattoos.” He leans in towards me and continues in that irresistibly low, sensual voice, “But if that turns you on then I would gladly get some.” Just the sound of his voice is enough to send a surge of electricity back through my body causing me to blush. I close my eyes and take a deep breath to calm myself.

  I open my eyes to another surprise. “Ummm, Kace?”

  “Yes, Kitten?” He says with a warm smile.

  “I don’t want you to panic or anything, but you seem to have something sticking out of your head.” I continue with a shocked look on my face, “It looks like ears.”

  He rolls his eyes, annoyed with my comment—not the response I was expecting.

  “Aren’t you a vet?” He asks, rhetorically. “Shouldn’t you know basic anatomy? I’m pretty sure we all have ears but I’m not a medical, veterinary, biological, or zoological expert.”

  The way he says that to me immediately puts me into a defensive mode.

  Excuse me, asshole?!

  “No, you idiot,” I retort. “You have furry ears. Not human ears.”

  “Of course I wouldn’t have human ears,” he says while curling his upper lip and scrunching his nose—his agitation growing by the minute. “You don’t either.”

  “What are you talking about?!” I reply. “Of course I have human ears. They’re right-”

  I glare at him while I reach up and brush the hair away from both sides of my head before taking my index fingers and touching them to my ears. Except, they aren’t there. I slowly move my hands up higher on my head.

  Then I feel them. Small, soft, furry, triangular ears. Like something you would see on a husky.

  “What the hell?!” I shout. “What happened to my ears?” I look to Kace for answers, holding back tears stemming from a combination of confusion, fear, and frustration.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” A big smile forms on his face. “My Lily has the most beautiful little, black, furry ears in the world. With the most stunning icy blue eyes and beautiful white hair.” The look on his face does not match the concern I feel. He looks happy? In… love?

  “Who is Lily?” I ask, getting more confused and frustrated by the second. “And why are we talking about her right now?”

  “You’re Lily,” he replies, looking at me like that was the dumbest question he has ever heard. “I really don’t know what has gotten into you. If you didn’t want to be with me, then you should have told me last night before we completed the mating process. We are mates now and I expect my mate to not act crazy. If we’re going to spend the rest of our lives together, then you’ll have to get your shit together.”

  Is he seriously lecturing me right now?!

  “What? The? Fuck? Are you talking about?” I ask angrily. “First off, my name is Whoopsie! W. H. O. O. P. S. I. E. Always has been and always will be.” The rage within me continues to build.

  “Second, spend the rest of our lives together?” I repeat using both hands to signal air quotes, aggressive air quotes at that. “We just slept together. At absolutely no point last night did we vow to spend the rest of our lives together!” I take a breath noting that his anger is also building.

  “And third, if I am crazy and I am your mate, like you say,” I continue, wagging my finger between us. “Then I would expect you to be more supportive of my mental health needs. There is no way I would want to spend my life with someone who supports anyone in their lives by saying they have to get their shit together.”

  Every part of my body is relaying the disgust I feel for Kace right now. My hands are shaking. My eyes feel like they are on fire. I’m literally spitting as I speak.

  “You clearly are not the person I thought you were, and I want nothing to do with you,” I spit. “We’re done and whatever this is, is done!”

  With that, my eyes change colour to a mixture of vibrant greens and my hair changes to a charcoal colour.

  Kace lets out a loud growl and I respond by hissing. That’s right, now I hiss too, add that to the list of strange sounds I make. Based on Kace’s response, hissing is a bad thing to do.

  The next thing I know, Kace is snarling at me. He is baring his teeth and looks like he is ready to go for the kill. My back hunches over and that’s when it happens… I reach out and scratch his face.

  Oh, the shame.

  After all my years of self-defence, kick-boxing, and martial arts classes, I resort to scratching his face.

  Kill.

  Me.

  Now.

  And that is exactly what Kace looks like he is about to do. Just as he lunges towards me and wraps his teeth around my throat... my alarm clock goes off, bringing a sudden end to this nightmare.

  What was that? Such an odd dream. I don’t know if I need a cold shower or a therapy session. I must be nervous about my date with Kace.

  “You’ve gotta shake it off, girl,” I mutter as I tip my neck side to side to crack it.

  I mean, when is the last time I went on a date. I think for a second before remembering Josh, also known as Stinky Pits Josh, as Bel and I called him. His body odour could take down a horse. The date with Josh was the first time I’ve ever left a movie before it was over. It was also the last time I let Bel set me up on a blind date.

  Yeah, nerves. That has to be it. Our mind can be quite the trickster when we’re nervous.

  I shake my hands back and forth beside me as if I’m flicking all the nerves away from me.

  The last day of the conference is only a half-day. I take a few moments to calm myself before heading out to the conference and then making my way home… to sleep in my bed and prep
are myself for the big date.

  Once home, I express my appreciation for my beautiful, soft, fluffy bed. I crawl in expecting to make a full recovery from my exhausting week. Things don’t always go as we hope; that night, I couldn’t sleep at all. I just kept tossing and turning. All. Night. Long.

  “Oh, for fudge sakes,” I say while sitting up on the edge of my bed. “This is getting ridiculous.”

  After a few more hours of tossing and turning, I finally fall asleep. My dream is more vivid that night. I remember specific details, and everything feels so real. Like how the sand feels as I play with it between my toes, my insatiable desire to be with Kace, how his muscular body feels as my hands explore his every inch of his body, and every goosebump and tingle I get from his touch.

  Then the anger and betrayal I feel at the end of the dream becomes overwhelming—practically blinding. It’s so powerful that I growl repeatedly in my sleep, waking myself up each time.

  FIVE

  I awake in the morning feeling drained.

  This dream needs to stop. How am I supposed to get my beauty rest with this nonsense going on?

  I drag my exhausted ass out of bed and go downstairs to eat. I don’t want my stomach growling for the entire date.

  “Welcome home, Sie,” Bel says as she walks through the kitchen entry. “Are you ready for-” She stops herself short and stares at me with her mouth slightly agape.

  “Ummm, can I help you, Bel?” I ask after several seconds of her staring. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

  “Have you looked in a mirror yet today, Sie?” She asks, squinting her eyes.

  I knew it, my lack of sleep is obvious.

  “I know, I know,” I say as I hang my head in disappointment. “I look absolutely horrible. I haven’t had a good night’s sleep all week.” I look up at Bel while clutching my chest for dramatic effect. “Give it to me straight Bel, how bad are the bags under my eyes? ‘I’m going to need lots of make-up’ bad? Or ‘cancel the date’ bad? Does my hair look like a family of rats has moved in?”

  “You mean the bags under your green eyes?” She asks while gesturing at my face. “And the long, dark rat's nest on your head?”

  Wait, what?

  “Bel, are you messing with me?!” I ask her with a look that tells her I’m not someone to be messed with. “You’re messing with me, again. Right?” I mutter a string of curse words and threats under my breath. I glare at her before adding, “You are such a dick.”

  Bel coughs at my rant with an amused look on her face.

  “Your mouth is so dirty right now it’s making me cough,” she says. “I told you that your newfound potty-mouth would cause you trouble. But sure, I’m totally messing with you.” She says, not impressed with the attitude I’m throwing at her. “Good thing you love me, right?” She shrugs, sighs, and then looks back at me with a smile. “You should probably go get ready for your date though. Isn’t Mr. Hot Man-Candy going to be here soon?” She snickers and I glare in response.

  Why am I so moody lately?

  I glance at the clock on the wall and realise she’s right.

  “Thanks for keeping me on track, Bel. I don’t know what I would do without you. Even when you’re being a dick.” I smile, turn, and head to my room with a bounce in my step.

  As I leave the room, I hear Bel muttering something under her breath about talking to my parents to let them know what is going on. I choose to ignore it for now and focus on my date with Kace. I wonder how things would have turned out if I had chosen differently.

  I’m surprisingly excited about this date—my history with dates is more than dismal. I run into my bathroom and have the fastest, hottest shower ever, I steam my bathroom and bedroom room right up. I head to my closet and toss on my favourite bathing suit with a pair of cute denim shorts and a white slightly see-through, loose-fitting shirt. I wasn’t sure what Kace had planned for today, but I figured this would be a safe option in case there was water involved. People around here usually make use of the warm weather before it cools down as summer ends.

  “Ahhh! Bel! Get in here!” I scream as I stare at my reflection in disbelief. Vibrant green eyes stare back at me. I reach up and run my fingers through the charcoal coloured hair falling over my shoulders, running the ends between my finger and thumb.

  “Sie are you ok?” Bel asks as she barges into my room, almost planting my door into the drywall beside it.

  “M... my... my h… hair and… my eyes,” I choke out between sobs. “You weren’t just fucking with me earlier. Bel, what is happening to me? I’m a freak!”

  She walks over and wraps her arms around me. I try to push away, but she keeps me in her tight embrace until I stop sobbing.

  “Oh, Sie,” she says with a soothing voice. “You are not a freak. We’ll figure out what is happening. I promise you’ll be fine. Okay, sweetie?”

  She loosens her embrace a bit to brush some hair away from my face and lock her eyes on mine. She smiles warmly as I look into her eyes.

  “Okay,” I whisper before a slight flash of panic graces my face. “What am I going to do about Kace? He’ll be here any minute.” My gaze drops to Bel’s shoulder as I imagine Kace running away from the freak that is me.

  Why is a date what’s on my mind right now? This shouldn’t be a priority, yet for some reason, my brain thinks it is.

  She lifts my chin so I’m looking at her again.

  “Now, listen here, Sie,” She says with a confident, soothing voice. “Are your eyes different? Yes, and they look amazing. Is your hair different? Also, yes, and it looks amazing too. So, we are going to wipe away those tears, put on some make-up, do something with that hair of yours, and that hot piece of man-candy will be drooling all over you. Just like he always does.” She winks playfully at me and my body relaxes.

  “I don’t know, Bel,” I reply, shrugging my shoulders in defeat. “Won’t he think I’m a freak? I really like him and don’t want to scare him off with whatever voodoo curse this is.” I wave my hands around my head and Bel snickers.

  “Oh, my sweet, sweet Sie,” she says lovingly. “You already have that boy wrapped around your little finger. He knows your eyes got lighter before, and that didn’t scare him off. Just tell him you coloured your hair and bought some coloured contacts while you were away for the conference. Keep it simple. You have nothing to worry about. Trust me, I know a thing or two about men.”

  I smile and nod reluctantly. My rational brain thinks it’s insane to ignore what is happening to me, but Bel seems so confident that everything will be okay.

  Bel hasn’t given me a reason to not trust her even once in all the years we’ve known each other, so maybe I should take her advice.

  “I want you to just relax and focus on your date. I’ll do some research on what’s happening to you, and we can talk about it when you get back. So, let’s get you cleaned up and ready to go!”

  I pause for a moment, reading Bel for any signs of uncertainty. All I need is a tiny sign that she isn’t completely confident in what she’s saying and I’m taking myself straight to the hospital, possibly the psych ward.

  “Okay, Bel, you’re right,” I say with a sigh. “Let’s do this.”

  “That’s my girl!” She passes me a make-up wipe, and I turn and chuckle at my reflection.

  “If I leave my make-up like this, he probably won’t even notice my hair and eyes.” We both laugh and begin freshening up my make-up.

  “Well, hot damn, Sie,” Bel says moments later. “You look so good. I’m thinking you and I should consider being a couple.”

  She winks at me, and I bring my hand up, swiping like a cat. The laughter that came afterwards was the final piece I needed to bring my anxiety down to more acceptable levels.

  “I love you, Bel. If this date doesn’t go well, I might take you up on that offer. Thank you for cheering me up.”

  “So, you’re saying I have a chance?” She wiggles her eyebrows at me and we laugh. Our laughter is cut off s
econds later by the sound of the doorbell.

  “He’s here...” I mutter, as a mixture of emotions flashes across my face.

  My hands are clammy. He’s here, at the door, ready to go on our date. I have so many questions going through my mind.

  What if he doesn’t like my hair? What if he changes his mind about the date? What if my body decides to do some other random change, like grow an extra arm out of my forehead?

  I’m so busy driving myself crazy that I didn’t notice Bel has already left my room and let the boys in.

  “Damn it,” I mumble as I run towards the door. I come around the corner too fast and catch my toe on that stupid rug again. I was so close to catching myself before I hit the ground, but fate just isn’t that kind to me. At least this time I only fell to one knee instead of my face.

  “Holy fudge pops, why must I fall every freaking time they come over?” I mutter under my breath as I quickly pop up and dust myself off, looking for any signs of damage.

  “Oh look, our sweet, ever-so-graceful Whoopsie is here,” Bel says with a big smile. I roll my eyes at her and chuckle.

  “Ha. Ha. Ha. You are so funny, Bel.” I say and stick my tongue out at her.

  I pause and look at everyone, noting that all three of them, Kace, Jay, and Bel, look like they’re ready to head to the beach.

  “It looks like we have a double-date going on here. What do you two and your matching cockatoo hairdos have planned for today?” I gesture to the matching messy mohawk hairstyles adorning Jay’s and Bel’s heads, wondering if that played a role in their initial attraction to each other.

  Rebel smirks before she replies, “Oh, we have lots of activities planned for our beach date. Who knows, maybe we will all get a little action today.” She raises her eyebrow and smirks at me and Kace.

  “You okay, Bel?” I ask. “You look like you’re going to sneeze.”

  Kace and Jay snicker as Bel rolls her eyes at me.