Rhino You Love Me (4 page)

“This is a disaster,” Lily whispered as soon as the lights were out.

Addison agreed, but there was nothing they could do about it now. The first part of the dinner had gone great. She had learned a lot about Chet, Finn, and Max. All three actually seemed like okay enough men, but they weren’t people she would want to date. Contrary to Chet’s opinion, she was not in love with him. In lust, maybe. He was infuriating, but also very good-looking—the best-looking guy she’d seen while on vacation. But just because she wouldn’t be opposed to a fun vacation romp didn’t mean she loved him.

They’d even gotten some good pictures for the deal they’d made with Ward. All in all, it had been a very good day until the food started arriving. They started talking about school and Lily said that she didn’t understand why anyone wouldn’t get a college degree. It was laziness, she said. Addison had heard that particular opinion many times. It was naïve and very short-sighted, but it didn’t upset her. When Lily went on her little rant, Addison didn’t even look up from her bleu cheese and grape starter salad.

Finn was very offended. His mood had switched almost immediately. Then when the waitress was bringing out their soups, she spilled Chet’s all over his lap. It was scalding hot, and Addison had no idea how he could walk. He excused himself to the bathroom and when he came back the waitress dropped his bean burrito all over him. It was comical, but Chet stood up and swore at the poor girl.

It was out of frustration, of course, but Addison couldn’t believe the outburst. The whole restaurant got quiet and looked at them. It was so embarrassing. The show had started late, so they were going to be stuck sitting with the men until the wee hours of the morning. Then there was going to be the awkward drive home.

To add to the list of surprises that evening, the leads in the show were complaining of sore throats, so the understudies were performing—and the understudy for the lead actress was obviously sick too. It was an utter disappointment.

“I have to go to the ladies’ room,” she told Chet. Lily gave her an imploring look, but Addison shook her head. She didn’t need a bathroom buddy.

The ladies’ room was empty, as she expected. The show had just begun, so she figured she had a while before anyone bothered her.

She sat on the sink and kicked off her heels. Using her phone, she checked to see what buses were running after the show and was happy to see there was one back going to their resort. There was no need to ride back with Chet and the twins.

She could hear the opening number ending and figured she’d better get back to the table. When she opened the door, she ran smack into Chet’s solid chest.

“Oh!” She tottered on her heels, but Chet grabbed her before she could fall.

“Hey. You were taking a long time.”

“I had to use the bathroom.” Addison smoothed her curls back into place.

“Or you were utterly bored by this performance.” Chet shook his head. “You guys got screwed. This is a first for the restaurant, according to the hostess. The lead actors and their understudies are probably all drunk.”

“I thought you weren’t allowed to get drunk while you were working.”

“You aren’t, but this is a special occasion. It’s Parker’s first night. Unprofessional, but it isn’t like they have anything to worry about. None of them will get fired, and messing up one show won’t piss off their bosses. I’m really sorry.”

“It isn’t your fault.”

Chet looked at his watch. “I have an idea. Why don’t we get out of here? We can take a walk on the beach.”

“I can’t leave Lily. You’re our ride home, too, you know.”

“We’ll be back before the show is over. It’ll be a lot more fun on the beach than watching that woman attempt to sing for two hours.”

Judging by the opening warbles of the next song, Addison had to agree. She nodded. “Fine.”

Chet pointed to the door to her left. “We need to go out that way so Lily and the twins don’t see us.”

Addison followed him through the busy kitchen and outside. There, she breathed in the warm air.

Chet grabbed her hand. “This way. I know a hidden little spot on the beach.”

They walked about a quarter of a mile and went through some sparse trees. Then, Chet hung his blazer on a tree branch and started unbuttoning his shirt.

“What are you doing?” Addison asked, amused. “I think you got the wrong idea.”

“Want a ride?” He hung his shirt up on top of his blazer and kicked off his shoes.

Addison couldn’t help but stare at his rippling abs. He was bronze all over, and so muscular. Her eyes couldn’t help but follow the deep V down to the treasure below. She licked her bottom lip as he slid his jeans off his hips.

“Eyes up here.” He gave her a wicked smile. “Did you hear my question, or am I distracting you too much?”

Her face was hot. “One more time.”

“Want a ride? I haven’t shifted in ages, and it’s a beautiful night for a walk on the beach.”

He was standing in front of her in just his boxer-briefs. She knew shifters were very open with their bodies, but this was ridiculous. How was she supposed to follow the conversation when his bulge was right there? She could imagine slipping the briefs down and seeing exactly what he was working with, and she didn’t think he would stop her.

She twirled a curl around her finger. They were completely alone. No one would disturb them, and they had lots of time.

“Sure.” She snapped out of her trance. She did want to see him shift, though. She’d only watched videos of shifting on the internet. Here was a chance to see it up close and personal.

He turned around and slipped down his boxers, and Addison groaned inwardly at his sudden shyness. She still got a very good view of his toned buns, which looked nice enough to take a bite out of. Not that she would...probably.

With his back to her, he began to change. His skin thickened and he fell forward onto his hands and knees.

His shoulders widen impossibly and his skin deepened in color. It was breathtaking. When the shift was finished, there was a giant rhinoceros standing on the sand in front of her. Even knowing it had moments earlier been Chet, her heart still raced. It was a giant animal, at least fifteen feet long and taller than her, at least six feet high at its shoulders.

The giant rhino shook its head and turned to face her. He dropped down to sit and waited for her.

Addison stepped forward with trepidation. She’d seen similar animals earlier in the day, but she’d been safely inside a car and this was very different. She didn’t feel threatened by Chet, but her instincts screamed at her to run away as fast as she could.

She touched the skin around his broad, flat lips. It was firm and leathery. Then her hands swept over his two horns. She would have to ask him what they were for. Did he use them to dig in the dirt, or were they only for fighting? The smaller one in back had to be for decoration.

His giant gray eyes watched her as she explored his face, and she realized she was wasting time. They only had so long until the show ended, and Lily was already going to be mad enough.

Addison put her purse under Chet’s blazer on the tree and then climbed atop his back. He stood up and started walking slowly down the beach. She realized quickly that she needed to lie down on top of him. Without a saddle, it was hard to stay on his back upright, and her dress made it difficult to straddle him.

He picked up speed to a trot once she was secure on his back. Her curls whipped in the light wind, and she grabbed on tighter and giggled. She was riding a rhino down the beach—a giant, two-ton rhino shifter. And she was having a great time.

The beach was fairly empty. She only spotted a few couples in the shadows as they went. She couldn’t blame them. Nights like this begged for some outside lovemaking.

She had no idea how far they had traveled when he stopped at some dunes and sat down again. Addison slid off his back and looked out at the ocean. By the time she turned back around, a very naked Chet was starting a fire.

“Where are we?” she asked.

“Near Safari Town. Me and the guys come drinking out here all the time.” He pointed to an alcove where there was a stack of beer cans. “Nobody else comes down here. We can sit for a while and still get back in time if I run. Cool?”

She nodded. “Cool.”

He got a blanket from their secret stash and spread it out for her. She sat down near the fire while he stayed standing.

He stretched. “Feels good to get down on four legs again. It’s been way too long since I shifted.”

“You don’t do it every day?”

“No way. I forget about it all the time. It’s only when I start getting restless that I remember that I gotta let the beast free.”

He sat down next to her on the blanket. She tried to keep her eyes trained on the fire, but it was no use. She was surprised to find him staring at her intently. She brushed her neck. “What?”

“Does a man need an excuse to look at a beautiful woman?”

She blushed. “Stop.”

“I know. Sorry. I’m sure you get sick of hearing it.”

Addison laughed. She didn’t want to sound like she was fishing for compliments, but she didn’t. Not often enough, anyway. Maybe she was hanging around the wrong men. “I’m sure you do too.”

He shrugged. “I get ladies on the tour every day. Most of them aren’t afraid to tell me how hot I am. I sure don’t get sick of hearing it.”

“Of course you don’t. Do you ever tire of talking about how great you are?”

“I am that great. Why should I pretend I’m not?” He ran a finger down her arm. “I’m sure you’re looking in the mirror every chance you get.”

She laughed. “Not exactly.”

“Well, you should be. They couldn’t drag me away from a reflective surface if I had your face.” He put his hand on her cheek. “Maybe you’ve just gotten used to seeing yourself all the time. Make no mistake, everyone you meet is lucky to be able to gaze upon your lovely smile and those kind eyes.”

His words were so corny. So ridiculous. She wanted to laugh and shoo him away, but it was so sweet, probably the nicest thing anyone had ever said about her… which was why she let him lean in and kiss her. It was a slow and gentle kiss, but his free hand wandered down to her chest. He squeezed her breast through her clothes.

Addison moaned and leaned in to him, but Chet leaned back. He ran his hand up her thigh to the hem of her dress, then pressed back on her shoulder gently until she was lying on her back on the blanket. Addison’s heart was pounding and she thought her lungs would explode as he raised the hem of her dress slowly.

Her cheeks flushed with both lust and embarrassment. She never let a man she barely knew see her this way, but she didn’t want him to stop as his breath trailed up between her legs.

Chet pulled her thong down her legs slowly and pulled her feet out of them one at a time. Then he put his hands under her knees and pulled her legs even further apart. Once she was spread before him, he moved until his mouth was pressed against her opening.

He spread her lips with one hand and licked around her opening, and Addison shivered and bucked. Her ass lifted off the ground as Chet’s tongue danced around her clit. She cried out like she’d been hit with a bolt of electricity, and he chuckled and held her down. He licked at her until she was pressing her face into his mouth.

“Please,” Addison begged. It was right there; her whole body was one tense ball of pleasure teetering on the edge. She was desperate for release. She twined her fingers in his hair and pulled. “Put your finger inside me.”

As commanded, Chet pushed one thick finger inside of her and sucked hard at her clit. That was enough. She screamed as her orgasm raced through her. Her toes curled, and she pulled hard on Chet’s hair.

When she quieted down, he kissed her on the thigh. “You can boss me around any night, beautiful.”

She was going to answer, but something over his shoulder caught her attention. There was something bobbing in the water. She pointed to it and asked, “What is that?”

He looked behind him and then got up on his knees. “Oh, damn.”

Chet walked to the water and pulled a small dingy onto the shore. The small boats had been found along the coast of Safari Island before, and every time it had been protesters. He was going to have to talk to security and PR as soon as possible.

“We’re going to have to go back,” he told Addison sadly.

Those protestors were going to be in for a world of hurt. There was nothing he wanted to do less than stop right now. Addison’s dress was bunched up around her hips and she was completely blissed out. Her eyes had a sexy, dreamy quality to them now that she’d come hard. He wanted to climb back up between her legs and do it all again.

“Are you sure that’s what you want to do right now?” Her eyes traveled down to his painfully hard cock.

“Hell, no, it isn’t what I want. But I think the island has some intruders. I can’t risk someone hurting the animals or any of our guests.” He went back and kissed her. “But I’m not nearly done with you. As soon as this is all worked out, you better believe I’m going to be kicking down your door.”

“Promise?” She nipped his lower lip playfully.

“I promise. And make sure you’re waiting for me wearing another pair of these cute little thongs and nothing else.”

She bit her lip. “Okay.”

The shift was painful since he was still so aroused. It was even worse for his rhino. Addison lay on top of him just like before as they made their way back. He could smell her dripping wet pussy, and all he wanted to do was bury himself deep inside her. The company had better hand him a huge bonus for this sacrifice, he decided. He was putting the park over his own needs.

His clothes were right where he’d left them. He pulled his phone out and called island security while he dressed. He told them about the dingy he’d found and they asked to speak to him right away.

“I’m really sorry about this,” he told her when they got back to the theater. She’d texted Lily that they were outside. There was no point trying to sneak back in so close to the end of the performance. “I thought this night was going to go differently.”

“I had fun.” She smirked. “We aren’t leaving for a few more days. We have lots of time to see each other.”

Chet nodded, but he didn’t want a few more days. He wanted a lifetime. Addison belonged at his side. He wasn’t sure how he was going to tell her that, since there was so little time. She seemed to like him just fine now, but how would she feel once the afterglow wore off? Would she go back to scowling at him?

“We should go out tomorrow,” he said. “Where do you want to go?”

“Don’t you have to work?”

“Not all day. After we spend some time in your room alone, we’ve got the whole night.”

“We could go back to Club Safari. Lily was dying to go, anyway. That way I won’t feel like I’m ditching her on our girls’ vacation.”

People were exiting the restaurant. He wanted to wrap up their plans quickly. It wasn’t going to be a fun drive home, judging by Finn’s face. “What about the bar in Safari Town?” he suggested. “I don’t like the club that much. You guys can dance at the bar and we won’t have to deal with all the club guys.”

“That sounds great! We wanted to check out the bar in town. I’d love to see how you guys are living out here.”

“You can take the six o’clock bus out. I’ll meet you at the drop-off point.”

“Perfect.” Addison’s face fell as Lily and the twins walked up.

“Glad to see you again.” Lily’s voice was colder than a polar bear’s living room. She looked at Chet like he was something she’d scrape off her shoe.

They rode back in silence to Addison and Lily’s room. There, Chet gave Addison his number, then he pulled away from the curb.

As soon as the tires hit the road, Finn exploded. “What the hell was that? You left us by ourselves with that woman.”

“I thought you guys liked her.”

“We did.” Finn crossed his arms. “She’s just not what she seemed. Way too uptight and whiney.”

“Kind of boring, too,” Max added. “But hey, no big. Plenty of fish in the sea.”

Finn didn’t talk to Chet for the rest of the drive, which was fine by Chet. He had a lot on his mind, and he wanted to be clear-headed when he talked to security. At least his lust had receded during the tense car drive. He didn’t want to get drawn into Finn’s and Max’s drama. They didn’t have to date Lily. He didn’t have a horse in that race.

Once he’d dropped them off, he headed home, where he found Shane waiting on his front step.

Shane stood up as Chet parked. “Hey, we got the boat. Can we talk inside?”

Chet nodded. “What did you want to know?”

Shane sat down on the couch and took out a small pad. “Did you guys see anything unusual?” 

“Nothing besides the boat.”

“You didn’t smell anything or see any unusual footprints?”

Chet shook his head. “Nope. Can’t say I did.”

“Okay. Thanks for telling us so quickly.”

“This has to be one of the stupider groups,” Chet said as he saw Shane to the door. “How do they think they’re going to get off the island?”

“With the tourists, I guess.” Shane shook his hand. “Thanks for the help, man.”

The more Chet thought about it, the more nervous he got. The only good reasoning he could come up with was that they didn’t plan on leaving anytime soon. The protest groups that had come to the island before had been pretty harmless. They’d stash a boat, sneak onto the island, and leave some banners hanging everywhere. Another team came and left pamphlets on everyone’s doors.  It wasn’t ever anything big, and it didn’t do much harm to the island.

That didn’t make him feel any better. Maybe this was a group they hadn’t seen before or heard about. There were a lot of groups that didn’t care for shifters keeping animals in a zoo. There were both humans and shifters who found the whole resort/theme park island idea repulsive. It was all a load of crap to Chet. They took great care of all their animals and never exploited any shifters. The people who worked on the island loved the animals and their jobs.

He couldn’t understand the sentiment the protesters shared, but he didn’t begrudge them their right to protest if they played it safe. This didn’t feel the same way, though. His instincts told him that this group had other plans.

He went to speak with Ward Langston before his shift and found Ward on his back porch having breakfast. He grabbed a cup of coffee for Chet before they sat down to talk. “What can I do for you this morning?”

“I’m worried about the boat that washed up last night.”

Ward nodded. It had only been a few hours, but he had likely been notified as soon as it happened. As the public relations man on the ground, it was his job to keep on top of this stuff. He and Chet were close acquaintances who shared a respect for each other. You wouldn’t ever find them partying together on the weekend, but they both took their jobs very seriously and were proud of their work.

“Why do you think that?” Ward asked.

“It doesn’t make sense for them to come all this way and not have a way to escape. They won’t be able to get a plane off the island easily.”

Ward nodded. “You’re right. We found two men from an anti-poacher group in the rhino pens this morning.”

“That was fast.” Chet was relieved. His worst fears were confirmed, but at least nothing had come of it. “We aren’t going to get that lucky again.”

“I don’t think so either. We’re going to be doing a major security overhaul. It isn’t my area, but I’ll be working with them on the best way to inform our guests of the change.”

“That sounds great. I’m glad we’re going to be doing more. These guys are getting crazier and crazier. I mean, poachers? Who the heck would mistake us for those guys?”

“People who want to make a name for themselves.” Ward sighed. “If anything goes wrong here, we’re screwed. We’re the biggest shifter-owned entertainment venue in the world right now. The parks would take a major hit if anything happened to a human. But that group would get a lot of publicity.”

“We’re not going to let that happen, are we?”

“Nope. Not on my watch, anyway. I don’t want to have to do that kind of damage control.” He took sip of coffee. “You have good instincts, Chet. This is why I wanted you to take a bigger role on Safari Island. We could really use your knowledge, and you’re a great public speaker.”

“You know I’m thinking of leaving the island.” Chet didn’t mention that it would be sooner rather than later. He didn’t think Addison would want to stay on the island.

“I heard you were out with my new models,” Ward said. “Rumor has it you ran off from the show with the little blonde hottie.”

Chet shrugged. “So?”

Ward put his cup down and leaned forward. “You know we’ve been talking about making the new resort a prime honeymoon destination.”

Chet groaned. “Come on. You’re not going to pitch this to me right now.”

“Just hear me out. This girl shoots so well. She’s just a vision in pictures. And you’re a very handsome man. The two of you would make a great commercial for the island.”

“Sure. Of course we would. First, I have to get her to believe that she’s my mate. And then I’ll get right to work on convincing her to do more modeling for you. That’s exactly what she’s looking to do.”

“If I remember right, she has no real job yet. She has a college degree and a shitty part-time job at a grocery store.”

“Sounds about right. But that doesn’t mean she wants to live on the island. There are no jobs for her here.”

“Oh, but there are.” Ward leaned back in his seat, satisfied. “She’d have a ready-made job here with Safari Island. We like to keep things in the family here. What better place to raise a family than the most fun place on Earth? We have a great school in Safari Town, too.”

Chet stood up. “I’m going to be late for my first tour. I’ll talk to you later.”

“You sure will,” Ward called after him.

It was a very attractive offer. Safari Town was getting more family-friendly by the day. It was hard to get good veterinarians and doctors to join the staff without good schools and the other amenities their families would need. While the majority of the staff was single, the tides were turning—but that didn’t mean Addison would go for it. That was a lot to ask of a woman.

He would take it one step at a time. First, he had to convince her to stay with him, or at least date him long distance. He’d worry about the rest later.