Rio's Fire (3 page)

Satisfied, Rio turned around to see Brad eating the sand. “Brad!”

Brad dropped the container and spun around, hiding his hands behind his back. There were tiny speckles around his mouth, pink and
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blue, the color of the sand he had been working with. This wasn’t the first time Rio caught the little munchkin eating the stuff. “What did I tell you about eating sand?”

“I didn’t eat the sand,” Brad protested.

Rio headed over toward the child when he paused, hearing a loud racket coming from next door. It sounded like a zoo over there. He knew that a new art teacher was starting today, and that was the room next to his.

“Are they having a party?” Brad asked as he glanced toward the wall that separated their classrooms.

Todd jumped up from the table, his eyes bright with barely contained excitement. “I want to go to the party!”

The rest of Rio’s class chimed in. It didn’t sound like a party to Rio. The noise was closer to out-of-control kids. Curious, Rio walked toward the door. He turned at the last second to look at his class. “I want everyone to have a seat at their table. Do not get up.”

The kids groaned, but did as Rio asked. When he saw everyone sitting, he walked out into the hallway and peeked into the small glass window in the wooden door. His eyes took in the children. Most of them he knew from last year. What Rio was staring at shocked him.

They were running around wild, dumping art supplies on the floor, squirting the bottles of glue everywhere, and one child was coming behind the other students, sprinkling glitter in the white mess.

Where on earth was the new teacher? Grabbing the door handle, Rio walked in. The place was a disaster. Crayons lay broken on the floor and the small containers of sand were unscrewed and spilt all over the place. Never before had he seen anything like this, and he had started his teaching career ten years ago.

His eyes swept the room once more, landing on a tall and slender man sitting off in a corner, thumbing through a magazine, seemingly oblivious to what was going on all around him. Rio instantly felt his anger spike. Striding across the room, Rio snatched the magazine out
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of the teacher’s hand. “Can you tell me why your classroom is a zoo?”

Eyes the color of brown sugar rose up to meet his, anger lines filling out around the man’s mouth. “You try telling them to sit down.

The little hellions don’t listen.”

Rio dropped the magazine in the guy’s lap and turned. “Quiet!”

He had to speak with a raised tone. The noise level was deafening.

Rio was a black panther, his hearing attuned to the smallest sound.

The shrills and screams were killing his ears.

The students paused, as if seeing Rio for the first time. Those who were in his class last year quickly took a seat, their eyes filled with guilt. Those who didn’t know him just stood there like a deer caught in headlights.

“I want everyone at their assigned tables, now.”

Rebecca Henderson raised her hand.

“Yes, Becky?”

“We don’t have assigned seats, Mr. Blanc.” It seemed the kids always had a hard time saying Rio’s last name. He had learned long ago to pick and choose his battles. Constantly correcting them was a losing battle, so he had given up on it.

Rio turned back toward the teacher. “Why haven’t you assigned them seats?”

Standing to his full height, which was about six feet, the guy looked Rio in his eyes and shrugged. “Didn’t know I had to.”

Seriously? Who hired this man?
“You need to clean this mess up.”

The man looked at him with furrowed brows. “Isn’t that the cleaning lady’s job?”

Rio groaned at the man’s ignorance. “There is no cleaning lady.

You
clean up behind your kids.”

“What!”

Knowing he didn’t have time to question the teacher, Rio started heading back toward the door. He had a classroom of his own, and he
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needed to get back to his students. “Give them something to do and they should behave, Mr.…”

“Veneto. Fire Veneto.”

Did the guy just say his first name was Fire? “As I said, Mr.

Veneto, give them something to do and they should behave.” And Rio was going to have a talk with Principal Fishman. From the looks of this room, and the way the children had been acting, Rio highly doubted Mr. Veneto was qualified for the position as art teacher.

“Aye, aye, captain.”

Rio stared confusingly at Mr. Veneto for a second longer and then walked back to his classroom. As soon as he stepped in, the kids glanced his way.

“There is no party,” he announced, hearing the unison groan. “But it is lunchtime. I want everyone to clean up their tables, wash their hands, and line up at the door.”

As the students did what Rio instructed, his mind went back to the art teacher. Rio had picked up a strange scent from the guy. He wasn’t human. Rio lived in a town full of shifters, but he knew that Mr.

Veneto wasn’t that species either. Although he had lived here since the beginning of school last year, Rio hadn’t done any socializing. He lived alone in a house outside of town, keeping to himself. It was better that way.

Besides, he never had any luck making friends. He had grown up in a loving family, but Rio’s cat liked his solitude. Panthers were loners. They liked wide open spaces and being left alone. Rio liked being sociable, but his cat didn’t.

The one place he and his panther found common ground was here, at school, in this classroom. His cat loved the kids, loved playing with them. But as soon as his panther scented an adult, it backed away.

Which really made for one lonely social life.

The kids were at the door in a single-file line. Pushing the art teacher from his mind, Rio opened the door and led his classroom out into the hallway. As they walked, Rio couldn’t stop himself from
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peeking once again into the small glass in the wooden door. Mr.

Veneto was still in the same chair, only this time his arms were crossed over his chest, and he looked bored.

Shaking his head, Rio took his kids to the lunch room where he handed them off to the cafeteria staff. He had an entire hour to himself now. Rio had planned on using his free time to read, but when he didn’t see Mr. Veneto leading his class into the lunchroom, Rio felt it best to see what was going on.

He walked back through the hallways decorated in vibrant hand-drawn pictures and awards for perfect attendance.

“Mr. LeBlanc,” Principal Fishman called out from the doorway of the office. “Can I have a word with you?”

Rio paused, turned, and then gave the human a warm smile. “Of course.”

Principal Fishman led Rio into his office. “Have a seat.”

Rio had always gotten along with the principal. The man never had a bad word to say to him. So why did Rio get an uneasy feeling as he sat down in the green padded chair? His panther sniffed and then turned his nose up when it realized that Rio was around someone who didn’t interest it. His cat tried to make Rio get up and leave, but Rio fought the urge. “How can I help you?”

Principal Fishman entwined his stubby fingers together on the desk and gave Rio a cheery smile. Rio could see that it was fake, or more precisely, the man was about to ask for something.

“There is a new art teacher here at Brac Elementary. His name is Fire Veneto.”

Rio noticed how the guy gave a slight curl of his upper lip at the art teacher’s name. So his first name
was
Fire. Interesting. “We’ve met.”

Reaching out to straighten something on his desk, Principal Fishman cleared his throat. “Yes, well, then I take it you’ve seen how he runs his classroom?”

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It seemed Rio hadn’t been the only one spying on Fire through the glass. “Yes.”

“We here at Brac Elementary strive to be the best. We have teachers, just like yourself, who are dedicated to their students and love what they do. I’m afraid I was forced to take Mr. Veneto on. But between you and I, he isn’t our type of teacher, if you know what I mean.”

Rio was shocked when his cat yowled loudly, as if he were defending Fire and taking exception to what the principal was saying.

His panther had never acted that way before. Rio shifted in his chair, pushing his cat back. “I was not aware we looked for
certain
people to fill the jobs.”

He didn’t like the tone Mr. Fishman was using. It wasn’t any of Rio’s business. Just as long as Fire did his job, it really didn’t matter.

The problem was, Fire wasn’t doing his job. The man had let the kids run buck wild, seeming uninterested in teaching them anything.

Principal Fishman got straight to the point. “I want you to talk to him. Befriend Mr. Veneto and find out why Mayor Brac gave him such a shiny recommendation. I won’t have his
kind
in one of my classrooms.”

The only
kind
Rio could think of was lazy. Other than that, he had no clue what the man was talking about. He had a feeling that the principal knew more than he was letting on. Rio would have argued that he was nobody’s spy, but he had been around the principal enough to know the guy had friends in high places. If he wanted Rio gone, he would be gone.

Rio loved his job. He nodded, but didn’t plan on doing any spying. It goaded him to even agree to anything that underhanded. He may be a loner because of his cat, but Rio was nobody’s snitch. He was a predator, plain and simple. To become aligned with such a sneaky human went against everything Rio believed in.

“Fine, fine.” Principal Fishman stood, extending his hand. “I knew hiring you was a wise choice.”

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Rio headed toward the door, ignoring the hand stretched out to him. “Just so you know, I am totally against this.” He didn’t wait for the guy to answer him or say anything at all. Rio stepped out into the hallway, furious. Fire may need to learn how to handle his classroom, but Rio did not like head games.

He walked back toward his classroom and at the last minute, gazed into the room next door. It was empty. Thank goodness Fire had taken his classroom to lunch. It seemed Fishman had it out for the guy.

As Rio entered his room, he immediately knew he wasn’t alone in his classroom.

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Fire let his gaze fall over the man as he entered the classroom.

“What’s your name?”

The teacher turned at Fire’s voice. “Mr. LeBlanc.”

“Your
first
name.” Fire was sitting at the shifter’s desk, his hands entwined behind his head. When Mr. LeBlanc had entered his room, Fire knew his day had improved dramatically. Maybe working here wasn’t going to be so bad after all.

The teacher had mysterious dark looks any man would appreciate.

His hair was the color of nightfall, his eyes a deep azure. Fire wanted to run his tongue over the stubble on the man’s jaw. It was a scant shadow, but enough to drive Fire crazy. He loved a rugged-looking man. It seemed Mr. LeBlanc fit that bill perfectly.

“Why do you want to know?” Mr. LeBlanc asked as he moved further into the classroom, narrowing his eyes at Fire for sitting behind his desk. At least, that was the only reason Fire could think of.

Or maybe it was the fact that he couldn’t control his classroom.

Thank fuck for lunch. Fire wasn’t sure how he had survived the morning. He knew the only reason he didn’t have the upper hand with the kids was because he didn’t know how to teach. Hadn’t he warned Maverick that this would happen? He just didn’t know what to do in order to get them under control. “We’re both adults. Why can’t we be on a first name basis?”

“I’m not sure that would be a good idea.” As the shifter rounded the desk, Fire leaned back. God, he was sexier up close. “I prefer to keep things professional.”

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Sexy or not, this guy seemed like a real prick. Fire wasn’t that desperate. He had had his fair share of hot guys and gals. There was no way he was begging this man for anything. And he could tell from
Mr. LeBlanc’s
reserved expression that it would take work to crack this nut. Standing, Fire was ready to walk out of the room. Maybe his day wasn’t improving after all.

Just as Fire brushed past the arrogant bastard, his entire form went rigid. His body heat rose as he felt fluttering in the stomach. Fire began to feel overheated, his thoughts freezing and his mind racing.

He needed to get out of there, to escape quickly, but his traitorous body was trying to move closer to the teacher. Looking downward, Fire felt trapped.

There was no way fate had paired him up with this man. The guy seemed unapproachable, rigid, and as unfriendly as a man could get.

Fire had always imagined that when he met his mate he would be just as fun-loving, carefree, and a total mess as he was. Why would fate give him such a sourpuss? “Oh hell no.”

The teacher looked just as stunned, his eyes widening as his head tilted to the side. “No fucking way!”

Fire wasn’t sure if he should be offended or not. He wasn’t that bad looking. As a matter of fact, many men and women had told him how gorgeous he was. So why was this asshole looking at him like he had drawn the short straw?

“Trust me, I’m not that thrilled either.” Fire walk toward the door, his steps angry.
Fuck Mr. LeBlanc.
If he didn’t want to be mated, then screw him. Again, Fire was not going to beg at anybody’s feet.

Granted, the man was a nice piece of eye candy, but his attitude sucked.

“Where are you going?”

“Away from you.” Fire opened the door with a heavy jerk and strode out into the hallway. He had only gone into Mr. LeBlanc’s classroom to find out more about the intriguing man. It looked like he got more than he bargained for. Once again Fire stared down at his
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bracelet and wished like hell he could rip it off. He didn’t want to be here, but he knew he couldn’t just walk out.