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Reece
The second floor of Wilson’s house is traditionally beautiful. With vintage furniture and lovely paintings hanging on the walls, it’s no wonder that Sabrina seems to be a little overwhelmed with everything. I was, too, when I first arrived at his home.
I hold her hand and lead her up the stairs and down the hallway. We walk past several paintings and rooms, but we finally arrive at my bedroom.
“You have separate rooms,” she says.
“Well, he and I aren’t lovers,” I point out. “Although we did both love sharing you last night.”
“I liked it too,” she blushes.
“Tell me, Sabrina. Was that your first threesome?”
“Nope,” she shakes her head. “But it was my first one like that.”
“Like what?”
“That was magic, Reece. Pure and simple magic.”
“I felt it, too.”
“It’s cheesy, but it was everything that I wanted and needed and then it was just so much fucking more.”
“It’s not cheesy to know what you want or to go after it.”
“It is when you’re me.”
She’s speaking like she doesn’t know just how fucking lovely she is. What happened to all the confidence and bravado she had last night? That’s what I’m wondering. Sabrina knows me very well, but I’m well aware of the fact that as my therapist, she’s kind of a closed book to me.
Well, we have all day.
All of that changes now.
“What does that mean?”
I lead her into the room, and we walk over to the bed. I sit down, but she stays on her feet. She crosses her arms over herself in a silent shield, but that’s not what I want. Sabrina has been guarded for a very long time. This is supposed to be a safe place where she can let those shields down.
“I mean, sometimes life can be pretty scary, Reece.”
“I think I’m aware of this,” I say drily.
“There are things about me that you don’t know,” she says.
“Do you want to tell me about it?”
“No,” she says, and I honestly feel a little hurt at first. I shouldn’t because she doesn’t owe me anything. She owes me nothing. She doesn’t owe anyone a single thing. Being her lover doesn’t make me entitled to her private thoughts or trauma. “But I will anyway,” she says.
“Why’s that? You don’t have to.”
“I trust you, Reece.”
“You have no idea what that means to me.”
“Oh,” she smiles. “I think I do.”
“Come here while you tell me,” I murmur. I motion for her to come to the bed and she basically throws herself at me. We tumble backwards onto the comforter and lay with her on my belly. She rests her head against my chest. It’s very comfortable and very heart-warming to me. This is exactly what I was hoping for today. This is exactly the kind of intimacy I want with her. I want all of this and so much more.
“I was married,” she says, and I stiffen.
Married?
Really?
I had no idea.
I’ve never been married before. I suppose I never met the right person. I thought about it many times, but I never took the leap. I never regretted it, either. Something always held me back from proposing.
Now that I know, Sabrina, though, the idea of marriage seems...within reach. My inner-tiger has always longed for a mate and although I’ve considered asking people to marry me before, it always felt just a little bit wrong.
It always felt just not quite right.
With her, it feels more right than I could possibly imagine.
My tiger hums as she speaks, desperate to know more.
“I know this is weird,” she says. “But...Reece, will you shift? I think it will be easier to talk about if I know you can’t say anything.”
For her?
Anything.
“I’ve never shifted in front of you before.”
“Are you nervous?”
“A little.”
“Afraid I won’t like you?”
“On the contrary,” I smile. “I think you’ll like the tiger version of myself a little too much and you won’t want me to change back.”
“Impossible,” she laughs.
“Okay, scoot back.”
She slides off of me and climbs off the bed. She moves backward as I strip off my clothing. She’s still naked from our antics last night, but I got up early, made coffee, dressed, and just thought about what changes we’re going to see in our relationship.
Once I’m naked, I close my eyes. The beds in Fablestone are sturdy and designed for shifters. Well, maybe not dragons. Those of us who aren’t blessed with wings are fine shifting inside, though. Me included. I haven’t even told Wilson this, but sometimes, when things get to be too much to bear, I’ll shift and sleep in my tiger form. Sometimes it’s just easier to deal with things when I’m a big, magnificent creature.
Sometimes being a cat makes dealing with my pain easier than remaining in my human gentleman form.
Think shifting thoughts.
I’ve shifted in front of other people before, but never her.
Never Sabrina.
There’s a part of me that’s wildly insecure about this gesture. What’s going to happen to us? What’s going to happen when I do this? What secret is she going to drop on me?
Sabrina doesn’t seem like the cheating type, so I don’t think she’s going to tell me that she’s still married or that what happened last night was the result of unfaithfulness.
No, I think what she has to say is something else.
And I think I need to be ready.
Finally, my body relaxes enough for the change to take place. My hair disappears and is replaced with thick, wonderful fur. My hands vanish and in their place are big, heavy paws. Within seconds, my man body is gone and I’m just a tiger.
I’m just me.
I’m just sprawled on the bed.
And oh, Sabrina doesn’t seem to mind the way I look at all.
She smiles as she walks over to me. I’m not sure what to expect from her. It’s one thing to shift in front of somebody in general, but this? This is wildly erotic and intimate. My body wants her. My heart, too. I know she wants both me and Wilson, as well, and she’ll have us. She can have everything we have to offer her.
Sabrina comes over to the bed and climbs up beside me. She pets my head gently, and then she lies down next to me and just looks at me.
“Pretty kitty,” she murmurs, and she traces her fingers over my paw. The affection she has to offer is a wonderful reward for me. For a long time in Fablestone, I felt broken.
Lost.
Unwanted.
She manages to make me feel like I’m not a total fuck-up.
Sabrina does that.
Somehow, when she sees the good in me, it makes me see the good in myself, and that’s a wonderful feeling.
“I was married before,” she repeats again. “But I’m not now.”
I listen carefully, wondering where this is going.
Did her partner die, like Wilson’s did?
Did her spouse walk away from their relationship?
Was Sabrina caught off guard?
Was she the one that left?
“I was married for two years,” she says. “And we had a very long and very wonderful romance. Everything was special. Perfect,” she tears up. “And then one day, it wasn’t.”
I want to ask her what happened.
I want to ask her where this guy is so I can beat him up.
Every protective instinct wells up inside of me and a little growl escapes.
“You want to talk,” she chuckles. “That’s why I asked you to shift.” She shakes her head. “Sometimes it’s easier to talk when nobody can say anything.”
We’re silent for a minute. She gathers her thoughts, keeps touching my paw, and then she tries again.
“My wife left me,” she says.
Wife?
“We were high school sweethearts and I thought the hardest thing we’d ever have to deal with was the fact that we weren’t straight,” she shakes her head. “Nope.”
Now Sabrina does start to cry.
She’s not a quiet crier, either.
She sobs loudly, unbearably loudly, and I can’t handle it a second longer.
I shift back, and I pull her into my arms.
“It’s going to be okay,” I tell her.
“Hey, you said you would shift.”
“What happened, Sabrina?”
“She left me, Reece.”
“She messed up.”
“She said I was worthless.”
“She lied.”
“She found someone better.”
“Impossible,” says a voice from the doorway, and we turn to see Wilson standing there.
“I didn’t even hear you come in,” she whispers, and he strides across the room, yanks her up off the bed and into his arms, and kisses her very, very deeply.
“There is no one better than you, Sabrina. Not a single fucking person.”
Then he kisses her again.
And again.
And again.
