Southern Shifters: Pryde and Precious (Kindle Worlds Novella) (8 page)

I didn’t ask for that.

“No, but you didn’t need waste your time on a worthless scientist distraction…”

The growl rumbled from his chest and she blinked.
You’re not worthless. You are a great distraction. Don’t read so much into what I reported. I wanted my clan off your trail as much as yours.

“Oh.”

Now, it’s going to get cold, and I don’t want you to leave.

“No?”

No.

Her frown faltered then she glanced up the mountain. “Well…great, now I have to walk back.”

If not for the mournful tone in her voice, he would have tried to laugh. Bumping her lightly, he concentrated.
Put the bag over your shoulder then climb on my back. I’ll carry you.

“I can’t…”

No, he wasn’t going to have this argument for ten minutes.
Just get on my back, kitten.
Pushing his dominance into the command, he enjoyed the way her chin lifted. She wanted to fight back, and he looked forward to future arguments.
Now.

“Okay, but if I say giddy-up horsey, you have only yourself to blame.” Yes, his kitten definitely had claws. To his immense pleasure, however, she let go of the argument and put her messenger bag over her shoulder before climbing on his back. She wrapped her arms around him and locked her legs. He took a couple of steps to test her grip then began his ascent with the beautiful woman wrapped around him.

There were certainly worse ways to travel.

C
linging
to John’s back as he ran up the hill she’d walked down exhilarated her. A part of her wanted to laugh aloud. With a firm grip, she fought to stay centered along him and at the same time she didn’t want to hurt him by squeezing too hard.

You can’t hurt me.
The reassurance purred through her mind as startling and clear as when he spoke to her the first time. She’d heard him, when he’d sent to her. Not only that, but his mental voice hadn’t stabbed at her brain. The experience was one she could barely define. Her telepathy never previously made mind-to-mind speech comfortable, much less pleasant.

In far less time than it had taken her to hike down, they were back at his house. The sun began to dip along the mountains, casting the meadow and the house in a gorgeous, red-gold glow. It was stunning. John slowed his pace to a walk, the sinuous bunch and stretch of his muscles beneath her almost rocking her. Sitting up slowly, she drank in the view. Though it was chillier than when she’d set out earlier, John’s heat soaked through her clothing and chased away the cold.

As if he’d picked up on her fascination with the sunset, he paused and faced it. When he stood absolutely still, she sat up and let her legs dangle along his sides. Her feet didn’t quite reach the ground. Some distant part of her mind acknowledged his massive size. Reconciling shifter with the nearly ten-foot long animal whom she could sit astride as though he were a horse rather than a cat should have awoken a primal need to flee within her. One swipe of his massive paw could break her neck. His claws were like razors, sliding free of their sheathes to grip the land.

I would never hurt you, Arianna.
The purr shivered through her, an almost carnal stroke of his thoughts inside her mind.

All her life, she wanted to understand why others preferred mind speech to talking. For her it had always meant pain…
I’m not hurting you, right?
Worry decorated his thought, and she glanced down to find he’d swung his head so he could gaze at her.

The stunning blue of his eyes arrested her. They’d been the first thing she’d noticed about him. The first thing she’d memorized and adored. That he shared the same eye color as his beast offered another nuance to her fascination.

“No,” she whispered, not wanting to break the moment. “You purr in my mind.”

Surprise kindled in his thoughts, or maybe she imagined it. She couldn’t read his expression…did felines have expressions? The light continued to fade, but not the glimmer of his eyes. They seemed to have been lit from within. Beneath her, his chest rumbled and the purr she’d heard in her mind began to vibrate along her body.

A laugh escaped her at the tickling sensation and she clapped a hand over her mouth. The purr continued, a low thrum in the rapidly cooling air as she tried to keep her gaze on the sunset but repeatedly returned to looking in his eyes.

“I’m sorry I ran away.”

I’m not. It gave me an excuse to chase you.

“Is that something you like to do?”

Yes, when the prey is worth catching.

Heat bloomed in her belly. “I thought I was a waste of time.” She couldn’t help it. Those words had hurt.

Not to me… To the hunt for what your clan was up to and to my clan for their need to end the research.
Firm conviction populated every word.
I’m glad they set you as the red herring, else I might not have been the one to find you.

“Do you really mean that?” How she wanted to believe him. Internally, she didn’t understand the desire, yet it seemed to deepen with every breath. She’d never met anyone like John Brandon. Truthfully, she didn’t care much for others. Being around them hurt her, but not him. No with him she felt…safe…

You’re precious.
The words drifted over her, the purr a caress against her mind soothing those aching lonely places she hadn’t even realized were there. Bruises from a lifetime of trying to keep her mind shuttered eased and her shields, always something she had to fight to maintain solidified, a fur coat against the noise the of the world.
From the first moment I saw you…
He cast an image of her wide-eyes, pupils dilating and her face paling before she crumpled. His memory of entering her apartment—somehow she seemed truly lovely, if fragile. He’d caught her, cradled her face in his large hand.
I wanted to take you with me. So I did. I brought you here…to my place. My home. My escape. I bring no one here.

“You don’t like other people much, either?” Curiosity filled her. She wanted to ask him a dozen questions.

Most tigers are solitary beings. We don’t choose prides or packs the way other cats do. My brother is one of the few cats I can tolerate around me for extended periods of time.

“Brother… Is he nearby?”

No. Dominic travels. He’s a nomad. He comes and goes as it pleases him.

“I’d love to meet him someday.” Someday? Was she planning on tomorrow? Earlier, all she’d wanted to do was leave. Now she wanted to stay?

Yes, someday.
The last rays of the sun vanished behind the mountain.
Hold on
. The warning was the only one he gave her before turning to trot toward the porch. Clinging to him again, she bit down on her lip to try and contain her delighted laughter. Even while walking, he didn’t cease his purring. He prowled up the steps onto the wooden porch, then hit the door with his broad head. She slid down and her legs felt like jelly. Leaning on the door, she grinned at him as she twisted the knob to let them in. He stared at her until she entered first.

Once inside, she set her bag down on the table and descended the short step into the living room. The white tiger paced her, following her until she sat on the sofa. In the light, she could really appreciate his massive size.

“So, I’m here.”

Yes.

“What do we do next?”

Do you promise to stay there?

“I’m not going anywhere.” She didn’t even have to fake laugh. Exhaustion eddied along her exhilaration. “Between walking down the hill and riding you, my legs are spaghetti.”

Good. I will go shift…

“Do you have to leave to do that?” Inquisitiveness speared through her tired. “I’ve never seen a shifter change.”

I’ll be naked.
It was almost conversational, the way he imparted the information. Heat flooded her face, and she glanced down at her workout clothes then at his gorgeous white and silver body with its heavy black stripes.

“Does it make you uncomfortable?” The way he stared at her reminded her that a man existed within the beast. Or perhaps it was the beast within the man?

No, but you are shy and beautiful, and I won’t be hiding the reaction I have to you.

His reaction to her? “Oh!” Pleasure tangled with surprise. “You’re attracted to me.”

She needed to amend her earlier thoughts on feline expressions. The one he gave her clearly said
duh.
The heat flushing her cheeks seemed to scald her, and she tried to cover the reaction with her hands. John didn’t push, nor did he stride away. He seemed to be waiting for her to make a decision.

The last twenty-four hours—or had it been forty-eight? She’d lost track. Since meeting him, everything seemed to have spun out of her control. No, not just since meeting him. Since she’d received the assignment. They’d intruded on her work, pulled her off to do something else. Then left her to flounder. John surfaced in her life like a buoy, anchoring her and offering her safe harbor from the storm she’d encountered.

“I want to see.” She admitted, giving in to the impulse. “I want to know you, John.”

The cat rubbed against her with careful steps until his head rested in her lap. The temptation to pet him overwhelmed her. His fur was silky beneath her fingertips. When she stroked her hand over his head, he raised his chin then she began to give him light scratches.

Harder.

Obeying the demand, she alternated between strokes and scratches until he purred so loudly she had to laugh.

“I’ve never had a cat before. Never had any pets.” Then considering what she just said, she tacked on. “Not that I think of you as my pet.”

He rubbed his whiskered cheek against her leg once more then withdrew without answering. Hopefully her careless words weren’t taken as insult. Though, everything she’d learned about John over the last two days didn’t suggest he insulted easily. He moved to a clear space and stopped. Head lifted high and feet braced, he looked for all the world like he posed. Then he began to shimmer as his body changed. Easing forward on the sofa, she clasped her hands to watch as the enormous tiger became a man once more.

It was the most amazing thing she’d ever seen, and she’d once watched as a seedling she cultivated sprouted for the first time and later, when its first bloom unfurled. The fur slid away to reveal a man. The ripped cord of his muscles tightened then flexed as he rose from his crouch and stood. As she’d noticed before, a fine pelt of hair coated his chest and arms as well as his legs. His cock jutted out proudly, thick and engorged. He hadn’t been kidding when he said he wouldn’t be able to hide his reaction.

The eyes though, they remained the same—the pupils long and slitted as though the cat continued to gaze at her from the man. He really was quite beautiful.

“I don’t mind being your pet, kitten.” The rumble of his voice made her grin. He sounded more beast than man.

“I’m not a cat.” A sense of wistfulness invaded her. “I can’t imagine how magical it must feel to change that way—to experience that sensation of power.”

He shrugged once then closed the distance between them until he knelt on the floor before her. Resting his hands on the sofa on either side of her, he tipped his head to the side. Why hadn’t she noticed how catlike he was before? Had she really been so preoccupied? Of course, she hadn’t been sure why he’d taken her.

“Arianna, you’re thinking very hard.” No admonishment existed in his tone. If anything, he sounded equal parts wary and curious.

“I’m not an impulsive person. I told you that. I’m not someone who gets out much. I’ve certainly never been kidnapped before.” Slowly, so he could withdraw if he didn’t want the contact she reached out to explore the softness of the pelt on his skin. Unlike the fur on the tiger, it wasn’t thick but it was extraordinarily silky. “I feel like I’ve known you forever and at the same time I’m terrified that I’ve made some kind of critical error in judgment.”

“I took away your control.” Was that a shadow of apology? “When I took you from your apartment and brought you here. I took your control. I told myself it was to learn what you were up to—it was to discover your part of the project. It was for the clan. I lied to myself.”

When she rested her palm against his chest, she could feel the steady cadence of his heart. “From the moment I woke up, you’ve been trying to take care of me…”

“Yes.” He didn’t deny the charge. “I wanted to protect you. That was why I lied to myself. I didn’t want to leave you in that apartment or alone. I didn’t know who you were or what you were up to, but I did know who would try to get to you if they thought you could give them what they wanted. Taking you meant I could keep them away.”

“So, telling them I was a waste of time…”

“A measure of protection. I swear.” Shame filled his eyes, and his mouth firmed into a thin line. “If you believe nothing of me ever again, believe this—you fascinate me. I will do everything I can to protect you, whether you choose to stay with me or not. If you want a place for your plants, we will build it. If you want to research the scent, then I will help you. If you never want to see me again, I will try to stay out of your line of sight, but I will not promise to go away.”

Her heart twisted at the declaration.

“I was a solitary creature until I met you—now I want to be nothing more than with you or near you as I can be.” The possession in his words should have frightened her on some level, but they echoed what she experienced in her heart.

“I can hear you in my mind, and your voice doesn’t hurt me…it’s like you’re there, shielding me.” How could she explain it…? “I’ve never been terribly skilled at my shields. It takes real effort and constant thought to get them to stay in place, but I can feel them—like fur around my mind. Kind of when you were rubbing against me.”

His mouth softened into a smile. “Do you know that we always know our mate by the mark they bear?”

She had no marks. “No.”

“We always know—our mates carry a mark we’re bound to recognize. Sometimes it’s here,” he raised his hand to her throat and traced his fingers lightly over her skin. The barest of contact, yet it left heated awareness in its wake. “Or here.” He grazed his touch over her collarbone. “Sometimes it’s hidden—on a thigh or the wrist.”

Moistening her lips, she tried to suck in a noisy breath of air. His nearness and touch did crazy things to her system. “I don’t have any marks—not even a mole.”

“No, your mark is hidden even deeper.” Rising on his knees, he cupped her nape then pressed his forehead to hers.
Your mark is in your mind…

A quiet kind of ecstasy unfurled within her at the brush of his thoughts against hers. Satisfaction so deep and visceral it defied description.

When I wanted you to hear me, you did.
His thoughts whispered loving things to her. She could see how he viewed her. More, she could feel the wealth of emotion which seemed to rise like a fountain.
Your mind was made for mine. I’ve always been alone, but I can feel you in my thoughts, and I want you there. So if my mind can provide the shroud for yours, then I am twice blessed.

“I’m your mate?” She wanted to believe it so badly. She hungered to know this man—this cat.

“Mine.” He agreed, then his mouth closed over hers.
And I am yours.

T
en Days Later
…

J
ohn closed
his laptop after verifying it had been wiped securely. Exiting the army would take a little longer, but he had enough accrued leave, they made it simple for his retirement. His terminal leave began that day, and he would be fully separated into his retirement within thirty days. Neither the clan nor the army had been entirely happy with his decision. Fortunately, his land bordered on neutral territory, so the clan had given him one concession. He and Arianna could remain on his property unmolested. Her clan continued to play dumb on the subject of Project Pryde, but he left it to others.