Claws (15 page)

~ ~ ~

Jericho walked in behind her and set
down her two suitcases, staring into the middle of her trim back
until she turned around. Her sad smile twisted something inside of
him. Her green eyes met his and he felt the breath clench in his
chest.

“I’ll bring Justice by when they get
here,” she told him, her gaze avoiding direct contact with his. “We
can work this out.”

“Yeah, we can work it out,” he replied
and felt hurt to know he couldn’t claim is son.

Jericho knew she refused to regard what
happened between them as real. He accepted it. She was back with
Eli and wanted no part of him. He went through this before. It
still hurt.

Vivvie’s angry reaction to learning of
his son confused him. He knew she was upset. What did she expect
him to do? He knew Eli. He would never forgive what happened
between his mate and closest friend. It was for the best they make
light of it and pretend nothing happened and leave it alone. The
hurt look in her eyes as she looked up at him made him want to do
more than walk out of the suite.

Jericho got around the compound long
enough to know whatever lingered between them was no good for
either of them. He got back to his room and composed an email to
Ty, inviting himself to Florida. He’d always wanted to learn to
surf. Leaving was all he could do.

Vivvie had to understand. He couldn’t
be here and watch her with Eli and pretend everything was the same.
Thoughts of how the tribe would suffer kept him from hitting send
at the last minute. Down another teacher and a doctor would be a
blow Eli didn’t need right now. He rubbed his eyes and cussed under
his breath, knowing better than to act on what he felt.

~ ~ ~

Within the dreamscape the sleek, black
panther took down the buck in one lunge, slamming the creature to
the earth’s floor, teeth locked on its throat. One savage twist and
it was over. The sounds of the animal ripping meat from the deer
were enough to draw some company.

“
Are you gonna eat all
that?” Jericho asked pleasantly as he stripped down in front of
her. “A midnight snack is just what I needed. Thanks for coming to
get me.”

She hissed back at him and went back to
devouring the deer. He shifted and joined her. They ate quietly,
each avoiding the other.

Later, Vivvie sat cleaning herself,
licking her paws, her green eyes glowing and annoyed, her tail
swishing back and forth in agitation. Jericho lay next to her in
the meadow, his eyes amused, his tongue lolling outside his
mouth.

She inched away from him then and
hissed as he followed her, stalking her with obvious intent. She
ran from him, loping across the field. He followed, growling loudly
at her back. He pounced and rolled her into the tall grasses, his
large paws holding her thrashing form still.

Loud excited growls escaped her as he
mounted her and entered her roughly, locking onto her urgently.
Soon, she was quiet, purring as he mated with her more slowly.
Jericho eased his fangs at her neck and growled with his head
thrown back. Vivvie pawed at the ground in rapture.

He kneed her black silky coat with his
forepaws as he moved, pumping deep and long within her, low growls
emanating from his throat. The she cat sprawled in abandon under
him, her hind quarters raised to receive him so fully it continued
for some time.

Jericho jerked and fell forward onto
her back, licking her neck where he’d bit it, his seed shooting
within her in warm hot spurts. He eased out of her and watched as
she shifted back to her human form, rolling over and staring up at
him in sadness.

He returned to human form and lay with
her in the tall grasses. He drew her to his hard chest and kissed
her shoulder, glad the scratches already faded before his eyes. She
was breathing raggedly, eyes closed now, her heart hammering
against his.

“
I have to leave, Vivvie,”
he told her in a tortured voice, staring up into the star-filled
sky. “If I stay here, this will keep happening. I won’t do that to
Eli. He loves you too much.”

“I’ll miss you,” she whispered and
smiled against his strong chest, her hand knotted in his long
golden hair, her thigh wedged between his.

Jericho rolled her up on top of him and
kissed her hungrily, his hands sliding through her long, streaked
mane with hunger. She gasped as he set her upon his long rigid
length and jerked her down hard, until he was deeply impaled within
her.

“Show me how much you’ll miss me,
Vivvie,” he demanded as he urged her to grind upon him with a
hunger that made her cry out against his lips. “Show me everything
isn’t just a dream to you.”

The tall grasses swayed and moved as
the night wore on. Low muffled cries and moans were heard but were
lost as the wind picked up. Jericho held her tightly against his
chest, staring up at the sky.

Vivvie sat up finally and wiped tears
from her cheek as Jericho rubbed her back. She wouldn’t look at him
to show him what was in her eyes, on her lips. He knew her pain too
well. Leaving was the only answer for them both. She loved Eli,
even if her feelings for Jericho were confused. It was more than
friendship and lust.

“When are you leaving?” she asked
softly after a time.

“As soon as Eli returns,” Jericho
replied and sighed as he sat up and dropped a kiss on her lips.
“It’s for the best. You can’t work on your marriage this way,
Vivvie.”

Vivvie said nothing and leaned back
against him as they stared up at the full moon. She stayed with
him. Her children slept; content to know their Mother was home. Her
husband called from a hotel on the road to say he was stopping for
the night. She stayed in the dreamscape to watch the sunrise with
him.

When the sun came up and illuminated
her tears, he regarded her sadly. Vivvie cried as he shifted back
into his animal form and left her side. She fell back into the
grass, eyes closed with self-loathing.

She wished for him to stay, even
knowing what they did was very real now. When next she opened her
eyes, she clutched a pillow to her chest, wishing it was the man
left within the dream.

~ ~ ~

Eli arrived back to the compound in the
shiny new red Charger a day later. He got out and the three baby
panthers in the back seat shot out, rolling and skidding across the
parking garage floor. They chased one another around.

Jericho was wrenching under his hood
and looked over with a reluctant but ready grin. “Welcome home,
Boss.”

Eli smiled and grimaced at the
Chevelle. “What do you see in this bucket of bolts, Jericho? You
work on it more than you ride in it.”

Jericho smiled sadly and wiped his
hands on a rag, looking away from his leader’s eyes. “It makes the
ride that much more memorable.”

Eli chuckled and shook his head,
stretching from the long ride. “Where’s Vivvie?”

“Sleeping, I would guess. She was up
late hunting for your welcome home dinner.”

Eli frowned. “And Tania? Tell me she’s
gone? I don’t need a cat fight with Vivvie home now.”

“She moved out before Vivvie got here.
I moved her myself. She’s at the penthouse driving the maids all
ape shit.”

Eli looked relieved to know he didn’t
have to deal with any scenes. He left Jericho to find his mate, his
eyes filled with mischief. The present in his pocket reminded him
he owed her a new start. Taking the kids on the road trip was just
one of the promises he made his mate.

It gave her a much needed break. She
needed him now more than ever. It was obvious. He knew whatever
possessed her to do what she intended the night of her fall was a
cry for help. Instead of being angry and hurt at what she tried to
do; he should have realized she wasn’t one of them.

She was born human, thought
like one, and acted like one. She wasn’t in full acceptance of her
nature yet.
Too much, too soon,
he thought. He vowed to wear the dreaded condoms
he bought on the way home, knowing another litter any time soon
would push her back to that rock ledge.

He let himself into their suite and
held the door open for the three panther kittens that followed.
Devon was dozing on the coach. Elaina was peering over the side of
the other. She let out a delighted mewl when she saw him and jumped
down. She ran to him, leaping into his arms. He chuckled and
cuddled his daughter close.

Elaina purred against his chest as she
looked down at the three new siblings.

Where are they going to
sleep, Father?

We’ll make room,
sweetheart

His daughter hissed at the trio then
and jumped down, tail swishing as she kept her distance. Soon, she
couldn’t resist her new siblings. Eli watched her rolling, biting,
and frolicking with them.

“Looks like they hit it off,” Vivvie
commented as she joined him, looking attractive in a purple velour
sweat suit with her hair in a ponytail.

Eli grinned and grabbed his petite
wife, lifting her off the floor to kiss her with such hunger she
sighed. Finally, she shoved her elbows between them and tore her
mouth free. Her green eyes were startled with the way he looked at
her. He was like the old Eli again. No doubts or anger remained in
his deep blue stare as he set her down.

“Looks like Justice is getting the
worst of it,” Eli noted in amusement as he watched Elaina tear up
on his new son.

Vivvie saw that Elaina was getting too
rough and went to disengage him from her daughters clutches.
Justice mewled loudly and leapt into her arms and purred against
her neck, trembling against her. She frowned as she looked at
Eli.

“Where are we going to put them all? If
I put them all in the same room; they’ll destroy it.”

“All in good time, wife,” Eli informed
her as he grabbed his son up by his scruff and put him on his
shoulder. Justice looked content, licking his ear and purring. “But
first, I heard something about a special dinner.”

Vivvie grinned and picked up Izzie and
Margie, cuddling them both. “I took down a buck last night in your
honor.”

“All by your lonesome?” he asked with
pride in his gaze. “My little wife; the big game
hunter.”

Vivvie smiled and looked away with a
guilty flush. “I had a little bit of help.”

“I’m starving, let’s eat and then I’ll
give you your present. We have to drive to get there.”

Vivvie put Izzie and Margie in the
nursery for the litter box and returned to the kitchen island,
hopping up onto a bar stool. “What did you do now?”

“You’ll see,” Eli said and grinned and
gave Justice a scratch behind his ears. “Now don’t ask for any
hints. I’m not telling you.”

Vivvie smiled at his obvious excitement
and opened the refrigerator to make him a plate of venison. After
he was done and licking his fingers, she woke up Devon and insisted
that he eat. Elaina and her brother ate from the same bowl on the
kitchen floor. Eli fed Justice from his own plate, his pride in his
new son shining in his eyes.

Vivvie retrieved Izzie and Margie and
gave them bits of venison and bowls of goat’s milk. She smiled as
she watched her daughters devour their dinner. She cleaned up the
kitchen and put the three young ones down for a nap, smiling to see
them fall out immediately. It was too bad they only stayed in human
form only the first month after they were born. She longed to see
the changes in them like any other parent would.

Eli leashed Elaina and Devon and they
left. He insisted she drive her new car. He programmed the
destination into the GPS already. Vivvie drove away from the
compound and followed the automated directions.

She turned off onto a private drive
miles down the mountain road. She slowed as they approached a huge
log cabin-style home. It was beautiful with lush landscaping, fruit
trees, and an enviable rose arbor. She remarked on it, eyes wide.
It was on fifty acres of woodland surrounding the house, he told
her as they got out. He let their children out of the car to roam
the yard.

Vivvie followed him with obvious
reluctance as he walked to the front door. “Do you even know the
people who live here, Eli?”

Eli smiled wickedly down at his wife.
“I have a thing for the woman who owns the house. She’s kinda
hot.”

Vivvie glared up at him. “Why are we
here, Eli? So you can introduce me to some hot babe down the road?
This isn’t funny.”

Eli took the key and the deed out of
his pocket and handed them to her. She looked stunned as she saw
the house was theirs. Tears filled her eyes and she jumped into his
arms, covering his face with kisses.

“It’s ours! You bought us our own
house! I love you, Eli! Thank you!” she cried and wrapped her arms
around his neck.

He hauled her up into his arms, taking
the key and opening the door, carrying her inside and setting her
down, his eyes filled with love. “Welcome home, Vivvie.”

Jericho left in the middle of the
night. He didn’t want a crowd. He only wanted to say goodbye to one
person. She arrived at the parking garage with his son in her arms.
Justice went to Jericho readily, sniffing at him and purring
against his chest. Jericho smiled as he cuddled the baby
panther.