Falling for the Shifter

7

The beach bar had twinkle lights everywhere, sparkling away, wrapped around every pillar and around the bar top. It was beautiful, and as night began to fall, it would definitely kick up the atmosphere a couple of notches and turn the fun holiday vibes into a very romantic feel.

Romance.

Nope. That couldn’t be for her. Not if her daughters would be succubi and her sons incubi.

Stop thinking about it. It’s fine. I’m fine. This is a fun holiday for myself. Chill a bit, and then you’ll know what to do.

“Sit here,” Portia indicated a bar stool at one of the high tables.

“Why?” She narrowed her eyes. There were half a dozen tables, and each one was occupied by a lone woman. Some looked confident, almost bored, while others looked ready to run for the door.

Portia gave them a smile, one by one. She turned the full force of her powerful gaze to her niece. “Don’t argue, sweetie. Just listen. Trust me on this. You’re gonna be great. You are now on my speed dating list.”

“What? No!” The bottom fell out of her stomach. This was the very last thing she expected her aunt to say. “I’d rather gouge out my eyes with a spoon.” She patted the table, looking for cutlery, but seeing as it was a bar, Ruby came up empty-handed.

Portia ignored the hysterics. “Shh. Let me explain. One of our guests dropped out. Apparently, one hour in my resort, and she’s found her soul mate.” Portia giggled like a schoolgirl, pleased with herself. “It’s great for them, but it leaves me in a pickle. Not enough women. One poor guy will always be on his own. Not just tonight, but all weekend. I can’t have a rotating loneliness spot. I’m trying to make people happy here.”

“Too bad,” Ruby grumbled. “Life is full of disappointments.” Wasn’t this her holiday too? Didn’t she get to choose what to do with her time?

No. The answer was no. Not when Portia was around with a mission in her head.

Portia blinked those classic Flemming hazel eyes. “Ruby baby, it’s opening week. I need help. For me?”

Ruby sighed. “Fine. Because I love you. No reason other than that. Now put those puppy dog eyes away. You got your way.”

Her aunt held up her hands in celebration. “Fine, of course. Thanks, sweetie.”

Ruby settled on the high stool, uncomfortably fidgeting as she looked around at the other women. Some were just as nervous, but others impatiently tapped their fingers or legs.

They couldn’t know, the poor dears, that Portia’s flare for the dramatic was not to be messed with. As if on cue, Portia clapped her hands, smiling at the single ladies like Beyonce about the deliver the gospel.

Straight-up powerful.

“Ladies, ladies. When you chose Hellscape Holiday Resort, you wanted something different. Something that was made for magnificent supernatural creatures like yourselves. Well, you made the right choice. Tonight’s singles’ event is speed dating, but there’s a twist. All of the men are creatures. We’ve got a shifter, a werewolf, a vampire, and a couple of demons. There is literally someone for every taste.” She giggled suggestively, tossing her red hair over her shoulder.

One thing was damn obvious.

Portia was really enjoying this. Just because she had retired from her succubus gig, having aged out … yeah, that was a thing because the world is unfair to women, even the paranormal realm … Portia still wanted to see people get their happy endings.

Both kinds. The sweet love type, and then the naked and satiated kind.

Portia made a great big hand gesture, and a stream of men appeared out of one of the half walls that divided the beach bar from the rest of the beach. They stood beside her. Just like the women sitting in the chairs, the men were various degrees of nervousness.

It was obvious to Ruby that her aunt had manipulated a few of them into this event, and she wasn’t even surprised about that. It was just her aunt’s way.

“Go on, you hunks. Pick one of the tiles from this bag.” Portia jiggled a black velvet black bag at them, and one by one, they pulled out a tile. It was only then that Ruby noticed a little statuette on each table that matched up with one of the tiles. “Find the statue that matches your tile,” Portia indicated with a sly grin. “And then you have thirty minutes to talk.”

“Thirty minutes isn’t speed dating,” Ruby mumbled just loud enough for Portia to hear.

“It is when you’re like us and have a longer life.” She winked and then clicked her fingers.

One of the men, the tallest and hunkiest of the bunch, made his way over to Portia, dipped his hand into the black velvet bag, and took out a little tile.

“f**k me,” the guy growled. “This isn’t exactly subtle, is it?” He arched a brow at Portia.

“Whatever do you mean?” She blinked at him innocently.

Ruby rolled her eyes, and when she finally stopped letting her peepers travel around her head, she noticed that the man was sitting right in front of her. He held up the tile on which a couple was clearly going at it from behind.

It matched the little statue on her table perfectly.

“This is a little intense, even for Hell.”

Ruby snorted. “We’re not in Hell, but I totally get what you mean. Pay no attention to Portia. She is about as subtle as a bus with a blaring horn.”

“Ya don’t say. I’m Ethan, by the way.”

“Ruby.”

He snorted. “No way your name is Ruby.”

“Why would I lie?” she challenged.

“Why wouldn’t you? You’re a single woman who has clearly been asked to participate against her will. You don’t want to talk to a bunch of strangers for thirty minutes at a time.”

“Fair point. The name is still Ruby, though.” She twirled some of her long red hair around her finger. “All of the women in my family have red hair, and because my mother is the most creative and clever of all beings, we get names in line with the whole red theme.”

“Got it,” Ethan chuckled at her sarcasm. “Ruby. It suits you. The red hair, I mean.”

Ruby inhaled sharply.

And there it is.

The succubus power that made men everywhere fall in love with her, even if they didn’t want to.