Trickster

By Nicola Cameron

"I'm gonna do things to you that no one has ever done, baby. That's a promise."

Delaney Smith, coyote shifter and CTO at Trickster Technologies, thinks humans are bland and unexciting. So he gets the shock of his life when he finds his mate in the Trickster offices—a mate who is not only male, but quite human.

Mark Fellowes, a programmer with a career-minded girlfriend, is shocked when his new CTO makes a pass at him, and even more surprised when he feels an irresistible craving for the tall, gorgeous Delaney.

When Mark is attacked by thieves, Delaney must put aside his own beliefs to protect his mate. But can they survive the criminal who is bent on destroying Trickster Tech before Delaney can stake his claim?

If you enjoyed books such as "Shifters and Spice" by L.L. Frost, then you'll love the thrilling romance of "Trickster."

Note: This book was previously released by Evernight Publishing in 2014. The Belaurient Press edition has been re-edited.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nicola M. Cameron
• Release date: Feb 22, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463535202

Nicola Cameron

Nicola Cameron is a married woman of a certain age who really likes writing about science fiction, fantasy, and romance. When not writing about those things, she likes to make StuffTM. And she may be rather fond of absinthe.While possessing a healthy interest in romance (and sex) since puberty, it wasn’t until 2012 that she decided to write about it. The skills picked up during her SF writing career transferred quite nicely to speculative romance. Her To Be Written work queue currently stands at around nineteen books, and her mojito-sodden Muse swans in from Bali every so often to add to the list, cackling to herself all the while.

Book preview

1

Mate.

The scent hit Delaney Smith the moment he walked into the Trickster Technologies reception area. Delicious, mouthwatering mate pheromones teased his sensitive shifter nose, kicking his libido into overdrive. My mate. He’s here.

Delaney looked around the room, disappointed to find it empty except for the receptionist. As much as he loved Aimee, both for her Army-trained organizational skills and her filthy sense of humor, he knew damn well that the mating scent wasn’t coming from her. He took a deeper sniff, and suppressed a howl. His mate had been in that very room not less than ten minutes ago. Goddamn it, I go on my first vacation in years and I miss him by ten minutes?

Aimee looked up at his approach. Welcome back, my liege, she said, smacking a fist over her ample chest. How were the Bahamas? More importantly, where’s my souvenir?

He gave her a distracted smile. Nice to see you, too, Aims. The Bahamas were fine, and let me get into my office first before you start sucking up for presents. He leaned closer over the curved reception desk, lowering his voice. Did we get a delivery or something in the last ten minutes or so? Or a visitor?

Aimee frowned. Nope. Why?

The scent teased his nose, sending tendrils of need winding down into his balls. He mentally blessed Trickster’s CEO Scott Devlin and his foresight to staff the company with fellow coyote shifters. I can smell my mate.

The receptionist’s eyes went wide. You’re shitting me. Dude, I’ve been here since eight and I can tell you nobody’s been through here but employees— She blinked, her expression changing to one of comprehension. Including the new contract programmers. Scott hired them last week for the Lone Star Credit Union job.

Delaney relaxed. That had to be it. It was just his luck that Scott had also hired the shifter who would become Delaney’s mate, the other half of his heart. That’s great. They’re over in Engineering, right?

Yeah, but—

He was already heading towards the open plan area where the system developers worked. The thread of his mate’s scent hung in the air like a gorgeous ribbon of pure sex, tugging him closer. Oh, God, he smells so good. Scott had better not give me shit for taking tomorrow off so we can bond, especially after what happened with him and Carmen.

Del, wait. Behind him he could hear Aimee hurrying after him.

He couldn’t stop, lured on by that amazing scent. I’ll track him down, introduce myself, get us set up for dinner, and by midnight we’ll be fucking our brains out and bonded. Poor guy, has he been scenting me all this week from my office? He must be half-crazy by now—maybe I’d better take Tuesday off, as well.

Del!

Somehow Aimee had gotten in front of him, one small hand firmly planted in his chest. Stop! she ordered.

What? Delaney scowled down at her. Why?

About the programmers. She glanced over her shoulder, then dropped her voice. Del, I’m sorry. But they’re human.

You’ve got to be fucking kidding me, Delaney said hollowly, staring across the expensive oak desk at his business partner and pack Alpha. "They can’t all be human."

I’m telling you, Del, none of them are shifters, Scott said, spreading his hands. The CEO of Trickster Technologies was dressed in a tailored suit and looked like any of the other C-level executives that ran companies in north Dallas’s tech corridor. We ran the standard background check, plus that new blood test that we pass off as a drug screen. All three of the programmers tested out as pure human, not even a trace of shifter DNA.

Shit. Delaney scrubbed at his face with both hands, repressing the urge to growl. He could still smell his mate: sharp salt, a hint of iron, overlaid by the musk of clean, healthy male and some (thank God) mild deodorant and body wash that didn’t shrivel his nose hairs.

And that luscious ribbon of pheromones that grabbed him by the dick and made his coyote want to yip with glee. His balls ached, and the urge to shift and hunt down the source of that scent produced a full body shiver. He took a deep breath through his mouth, but even cutting his nose out of the equation didn’t help. Now he could taste his mate.

His human mate. Who had no idea that shifters existed and would not only have to be introduced to the idea, but convinced not to tell the rest of the world.

Words dragged his attention back to Scott. What?

I was just saying, it could be worse, the CEO pointed out. At least she’s not a bobcat or lynx shifter.

He.

He? Scott’s eyebrows rose at that. Okay, that’s a change.

Delaney shrugged impatiently. He usually dated females, but like many shifters he’d had same sex lovers, and the mating bond itself had no respect for sexual orientation. It happens. I don’t care. I just want to meet him.

Well, it does narrow things down since we only hired one male programmer. Scott rummaged through the papers on his desk, locating one and passing it over. Name’s Mark Fellowes. Here’s his CV.

Delaney sniffed the paper and groaned. Oh, God. Yeah, it’s him. He forced himself to read the CV instead of licking at the traces of skin oil left on the paper. Damn. He’s really good, too. Please tell me he’s not married.

Scott winced. He’s not married, but he said something about a girlfriend finding the job listing for him.

Great, because things weren’t complicated enough. Yeah, hi, nice to meet you, I’m your mate. I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to dump your girlfriend and learn how to take it up the ass. Oh, by the way, I can change into a coyote at will. How ‘bout them Cowboys?

It had to be some huge cosmic joke that his mate, the other half of his heart, turned out to be human. Delaney wasn’t speciesist or anything, but humans were just so ... bland, for lack of a better word. They never seemed to have the raw sensuality and gusto for life that shifters possessed. When it came to sex partners, he had always found it far more satisfying to stick to his own kind.

Until now. He sniffed again, and whimpered softly as the pheromones sent shocks of desire through his nervous system. Oh, God, I don’t care. I need him. Now.

Scott had leaned back in his chair, giving him a sympathetic look. "Look, dude, I know what you’re going through. You remember how I