Page 5 of Act of Command

Did women prefer men who looked like that? If so, he was certainly out of his element. The designer button-down, long-sleeved shirt he wore had trimmed cuffs that, when rolled, showed a checked pattern, setting off the blue of the shirt. He’d paired it with charcoal-gray chinos. The black loafers he wore retailed for around five hundred dollars per foot and didn’t look anything like what the young men on campus were wearing.

Corbin’s long blond hair was fastened at the nape of his neck with a leather band, and while he was normally clean-shaven, he’d taken to wearing a close-cut beard. It was several shades darker than his hair.

He looked nothing like the men here.

Because they are boys, he thought, calming somewhat.You’re a man.

As a group of women approached, he chanced a glance at them, noting they were dressed as casually, if not more so, than the boys. He sighed. Yes, he was certainly a man who did not belong there. How his mother could even begin to think he would have anything in common with a woman so young was beyond him.

The smell that had caught his attention before hit him again, this time stronger. There was no way he could ignore it. He looked in the direction it was coming from and froze. The single most beautiful creature he’d ever laid eyes upon was there, off in the distance, but not too far that his preternatural eyes could not pick up on every detail of her. Her sable-colored hair was piled high upon her head and fell loosely in long, semi-waves down her back. Eyes so dark a brown they reminded him of fine chocolates, hid partially behind black-framed glasses. Never before had he thought he had a thing for a woman in glasses, but seeing her fast changed his mind.

She wasn’t dressed as the others around her. She wore a long, light yellow, flowing dress that somehow managed to hug every curve she had. And did she ever have curves! They were glorious. His cock responded at once, hardening as his cat made an attempt to surface. He couldn’t move. Couldn’t draw in air. Couldn’t do anything beyond stare as the goddess made her way in his direction. The dress had a slit in the side, gifting him a view of her long, creamy, pale legs. As she neared, his gaze drew up her slowly, memorizing her shape, the soft, sultry sway of her hips and her breasts. Her full lips had red lipstick on them, and while he wasn’t usually a fan of lipstick, he had to admit the color was stunning on her.

There was an elegance about the tall beauty that set her apart from the woman near her, though the other woman wasn’t anything a man would call unattractive. Quite the opposite. With her red hair, pale skin and bright blue eyes, she was very attractive, but the brunette was stunning. Possibly the most attractive woman he’d ever seen in all his years.

He wanted to stop heading in the direction where he’d been told to meet Mae and go to the brunette instead. As wrong as it sounded, his cock didn’t care. It wanted the woman in the yellow dress. Wanted to know what it felt like to sink into her, and he wanted to know what those bespectacled eyes would look like as she reached culmination.

He nearly did the unthinkable. He almost went to the woman, to hell with the blind date his mother had arranged. Had his phone not begun to buzz at that moment, indicating a call was coming in, he might very well have abandoned his date for the evening.

A total tosser move.

It went against everything he stood for. Yet the compulsion to go to the woman, to meet her and to know her in a carnal way, nearly did him in. He lifted his phone, seeing Striker’s number there, thankful for the distraction. “Yes?”

Striker (Dougal to his mother only) McCracken spoke, “You dinnae get to yer date’s place yet, did you? Please tell me I’m nae interruptin’ hot monkey sex. If I am, why the hell did you answer yer phone? When I’m havin’ sex, aside from a selfie, I do nae have my phone near me.”

Striker was addicted to social media. It had become a serious problem. Supernaturals had to avoid picture trails whenever possible. It wasn’t easy to explain away their lack of aging, and with the advancements in technology it was getting harder and harder. All had hoped he’d learned his lesson when he’d nearly ended up the star of a furry fetish fantasy, but the stubborn Scotsman hadn’t learned anything from the experience.

As not only a member of Corbin’s PSI-Op team, but as a close friend, Striker knew of Corbin’s date. He didn’t know the date came by way of Corbin’s mother though. Corbin cleared his throat, willing his hard-on for the woman in yellow down. “No. Not yet, why?”

“General Newman is here in the office,” said Striker, his Scottish accent as thick as it ever was. “He wants the team in now. Says it cannae wait. I did explain you were about to get laid, but he dinnae seem to much care. Sorry. Yer dick will have to wait for another day to get some release. Unless yer up for wanking, then that is on you.”

“Asshole,” snapped Corbin.

“Aye, I’ve one. So do you. What of it?”

With a groan, Corbin pivoted, turning back in the direction he’d only just come from. If General Jack C. Newman was in the office, it was serious. The matter couldn’t wait. A tiny pang of guilt hit Corbin as he walked, remembering how he’d been secretly hoping for a work crisis.

Be careful what you wish for.

“I’m just under two hours away,” he offered, accelerating his pace.

“Long way to drive for a piece of arse,” returned Striker with a snort. “There is great pussy to be had around here. I told you I’d take you out for a night on the town. We could throw back some beers, pick up women and see to our needs. We’re single. Us non-mated ones need to stick together. We’ll be outnumbered soon if another of us falls. Do me a favor and do nae go findin’ yer mate or anythin’.”

For supernaturals, a mate was more even than just a spouse. They were the one person who would complete a supernatural, make them feel whole, and someone they could reproduce with. Supernaturals mated for life.

Corbin had no interest in such distractions. He had a job to do. Bad guys needed to be handled, and he enjoyed stopping them. He didn’t have the time or inclination to mate.

Though, at the mention of mate, he found himself glancing in the direction the woman in the yellow dress had been. She wasn’t there anymore. “I’ll need to phone my date for the evening to inform her I won’t be able to keep our scheduled plans. I’ll be in shortly.”

“Might nae want to refer to yer date as a scheduled anythin’,” said Striker. “Make her think yer broken up about missin’ out. Women like to feel wanted and needed. They’re faster into the sack that way. And remember, the more they believe you want ‘em, the quicker they are to offer anal sex. Best kind of sex.”

Rolling his eyes, Corbin hung up on his friend and searched his recent calls for the number his mother had given him. He thought of calling Mae, but so far their back and forth had all been done via text message. He wasn’t sure why younger people preferred it. Going against what they’d established so far, he called her, forgoing messaging. Her phone went to an automated voice mail answering service. He left a short but informative message alerting her that their date would need to be rescheduled and that a matter at work couldn’t wait.

He considered seeking her out to give her the flowers and explain in person, but since he didn’t want to go on the damn date to start with, he kept walking in the direction of the lot where he’d parked his vehicle. With each step he took, his mind was drawn back to the woman in the yellow dress. He had to force one foot in front of the other to get himself to the parking lot once more—the need to seek out the mysterious woman was that great.

Corbin made it to his vehicle and glanced around, noting he was alone in the parking lot except for some men near a large black van at the opposite end. He paid them little mind as he reached down to adjust his cock. It was hard from seeing the woman in the yellow dress and didn’t seem to want to go down anytime soon. He had a decent drive ahead of him and he wasn’t about to attempt it sporting a twenty-five centimeter hard on.

Groaning, he lowered his head, trying his best to get his dick to obey. It wasn’t having any part of listening to him. He chanced another look around, making sure he was indeed alone before he did something he couldn’t believe he was about to do.

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