Things didn’t entirely go as Melly had imagined. Theo wasn’t overjoyed to see her. He did, however, take the news of her being a shapeshifter better than expected. Until she actually shifted for the walk back to the house.
He yelped. “Holy jumping Jiminy Crickets.”
If she could have laughed, she would have. Instead she sat down and stared at him. Might as well get this part out of the way. It took him a long moment where he stood frozen and watching, and then he reached out a hesitant hand. Finding his nerve, he rubbed the top of her head, stroking her fur and ears, having a natural instinct for what she liked. Soon she was turning into his caress, almost tapping a paw on the ground in pleasure.
“You’re soft,” he said.
Soft all over.
“And you don’t smell bad.”
A remark that had her drag her teeth along his arm.
He stilled. “You’re pretty?”
She’d accept it even with the hesitancy. This was a lot for him to take in.
When she stood to walk, he kept one hand on her and spoke aloud, “I never had a chance to tell you, but I’ve missed you. Which is dumb. I know. I mean it’s been like what, forty-eight hours since we saw each other? And yet…it felt longer.”
Like an eternity.
“I went looking for you at the condo. To promise no more secrets and see if you wanted to maybe see each other.”
Her heart pounded, and she almost knocked him down for a head-to-toe lick, but the farm wasn’t too far now. She could wait a little bit longer.
“I guess I can understand why you avoided me.”
Not out of choice, but she couldn’t tell him that yet.
“So what happens now? I get the impression Percy and the others weren’t joking about killing me and burying my body somewhere no one would find it.”
“Growr.”
It startled him, but he understood it wasn’t for him. “A good thing I’m not planning to tell anyone about this. And not just because they wouldn’t believe me. I won’t do anything that hurts you, Melly. You have my word.”
She’d wager that word was worth its weight in gold.
He glanced down. “Is it weird that it feels like we were meant to be?”
What do you know? Even humans could feel the hand of fate.
Arriving at the house, no one thought it strange at all that her furry ass had a human following it. If anyone had dared to say a word, things might have gotten clawy, but lips were sealed, and for once, Theo kept his mouth zipped.
Until they reached her room and she shifted. Twice in one day. It left her tired, and she flopped on the bed, naked. “I need a nap.”
“I thought I was getting answers.”
She peeked at him out of one eye. “I was born this way. My people have existed since the dawn of man. You won’t change into an animal, unless it’s during sex with me.” She winked.
“Only you, right?”
“Were you eyeballing someone else?” she snarled, suddenly awake.
He smiled. “No. Just making sure we’re exclusive.”
As in a couple.
A mated couple.
That quickly, the fatigue left her, and she crooked a finger. “Come here.”
“Are we done talking?”
“For now. I missed you.”
He fell on her, his mouth hot and ravenous, his cock hard and ready.
He rode her, and then she rode him. They spent the night making up for the two days they’d spent apart and fell asleep in a tangle of limbs on her small bed.
The door to the attic slammed open, causing them both to jolt. Theo, on the bottom, didn’t have to worry about falling out of bed, but lying on top, she didn’t have a chance to move before someone grabbed her by the ankle and dangled her in the air.
The joys of being the shortest in a family of tall, blonde giants.
Her mother scowled at her. “So it’s true. You’ve taken up with a human.”
“Mated him actually. Mother, meet Theo.”
The head of the pride army, known as Goldie the killer, sneered. “There’s no point in learning his name given he won’t be living past breakfast.”