Andrew Dorincourt has the blood of powerful shifters in his veins. It’s his job to take care of his siblings, who are his pack, and he has no intention of letting anything get in the way. However, he’s seen the love shared not only by his parents but by the Papas, the men who raised his mother, and he wants that for himself. The problem is none of the young women he’s dated have left him wanting anything more than to go home alone. Perhaps he’d have more success by dating men, as his brother does. Only it seems he’s not very successful at that, either. Da’ric is the son of Ric’u, a Brachi who’d been stranded on Terra for decades, and David Knight, an ichthyologist who traveled up the Amazon in search of his heart’s desire. Seeing the deep love his fathers have for each other, Da’ric determines to settle for nothing less. At any rate, the dating pool is pretty much empty in the Lagoon of Dreams, and so he goes to the States, where he intends to become a herpetologist. In order to do that, he must mingle with normals, Terrans who have no idea extraterrestrials share the planet with them. When he walks among Terrans, he must disguise his heritage by wearing sunglasses to conceal his rainbow-colored eyes and long-sleeved shirts to hide his scale-patterned skin. After being kidnapped and sold to a high-ranking member of the London underworld to be displayed as the Snake Boy, Da’ despairs of ever seeing his beloved family again, until Drew wanders into the House of Oddities and helps Da’ escape. Is it fate, kismet, or destiny that brings together the offspring of two very unique families? Have these two been waiting for each other, and will the future hold the love they’d both been seeking?

Rainbows in Your Eyes

Not wanting to disturb the family, I stopped for a meal on the road. As a result, it was rather late when I drove the little MG my parents had given me for my seventeenth birthday up the winding drive of Dorincourt Place. The house was dark, indicating everyone had already gone to bed, so I parked round the back and let myself into the house through the kitchen door. The odor of Mrs. Cook’s fine cooking—we were all aware of the irony of her name and often teased her about it, to which she responded with amusement and threats to make us prepare our own meals—hung in the huge room, and I was filled with nostalgia. The food at Ravensgate, while decent, couldn’t compare with Mrs. Cook’s.


With a final, appreciative inhalation, I went up to my bedroom.


Perhaps it was being in my own bed, in my own home, surrounded by my loved ones, but for the first time in months, I slept well.


Chapter 19