Authors: Tamsin Baker
A soft purring noise escaped through his lips as she nuzzled his
cheek and kissed the place beneath his ear.
What the hell is that noise? Brandon does that, too!
“What are you, Tyler?”
He drew back and stared down at her, his brown eyes wide and
searching. She held his intense gaze and didn’t back down. There was something
weird about Tyler and Brandon, and it wasn’t just the fact that they believed
they belonged in some ménage relationship, like some backward sister-wives.
“I…don’t know what you mean…” Tyler stepped back and swallowed
awkwardly, his throat working hard.
Laura placed her hands on her hips and tapped her foot against
the concrete. She didn’t like being lied to. She was a big girl, she could
handle the truth, and she’d prefer to hear it before she fell head over heels
for these guys.
“Yes, you do. You said something about our relationship being
normal for your kind? What kind is that, Tyler?”
Tyler took another step back and bit his lip. Laura continued to
stare at him, putting as much strength into her gaze as she could. He'd
crack,
she'd make sure of it.
“We’re…” Tyler cleared his throat and looked around as though
checking to make sure no one was watching. Laura glanced around, too, before
looking back at Tyler and watching as he squared his shoulders.
“We’re animal shape-shifters.”
Laura
tapped her foot again.
What a crock of
shit.
“Seriously,
Tyler, I trusted you to tell me the truth and you come up with some bullshit
like that?”
Her
rage mounting, Laura turned around and began marching back to her clinic. She
must have been kidding herself to believe she was special to them.
Tyler’s
strong hands grabbed her arm and whirled her around.
“I’m
not joking, Laura. Would you come to our place for dinner tonight and we’ll
show you?”
He
didn’t look like he was lying. His eyes were guileless, his hands moving over
his hips and thighs with restless abandon. The longer she looked at him, the
more she saw the truth. He actually looked hurt.
She
huffed out a breath and tried to be as reasonable as possible, considering the
circumstances.
“Okay,
I’m sorry. But you cannot expect me to believe that you are a…what did you
say?”
Tyler
let go of her arm slowly, as though expecting her to bolt again.
“Animal shape-shifters.
It means that all of my family
can turn into Rocky Mountain lions.”
Shock
had Laura’s mouth gaping open before she closed it with a snap.
“You’ve
got to be bloody kidding me.”
Tyler
shook his head.
“No.
It doesn’t change who we are, it’s just… an extra skill we have. We have full
control over our lions when we shift. We’re not dangerous to you. We have
complete control over our brains in lion form.
Laura
stared at him as she struggled to wrap her mind around it. She blinked and
waited for the apparition before her to disappear.
“I…ah…don’t
know what to say, Tyler.”
Tyler
stepped away, lifting his hands in supplication. “Don’t say anything yet, just
keep an open mind. We would never hurt you.”
Laura
nodded numbly, her mind falling all over itself to assemble the broken jigsaw
puzzle in front of her. They’d had her alone more than once, and if they’d
wanted to hurt her, they could have then. As far as her safety, she believed
she could trust them.
“Um,
what time am I coming over?”
Seeing
is believing
, after all.
His
story was crazy, but what proof did she have that he was lying, other than her
belief in the normal laws of biology? There were many things on this planet
that she didn’t understand, and she’d been wrong before.
“Do
you want to come for dinner, like seven?”
Laura
opened her mouth to agree,
then
her memory kicked in
and flashed up her schedule for the day.
“Crap.
I’m doing a late shift tonight.”
She
frowned and tapped her foot again, thinking quickly.
“Okay,
I brought something to eat here, so I’ll eat before surgery and head over
straight after. I should be there about eight-thirty?”
Tyler’s
mouth quirked up into a half grin
.
“You
won’t regret it, Laura.”
Hmmm, not sure about that.
“Can I kiss you good-bye?”
Laura
shrugged and looked away, not sure how she was feeling and whether she wanted
this man to touch her at the moment.
Tyler’s
warm hands cupped her jaw and tipped up her head, instantly soothing her
nerves. His soft lips touched hers with a reverence that made her resistance
melt into a puddle at her feet. He pulled back and kissed her nose in a
protective way.
Laura
sighed and reached out for him, holding onto his waist, and resting her head
against his shoulder as that strange contentment stole over her.
He
stepped away after a moment and she looked up, wanting him back as soon as her
hands held nothing but empty air. Despite everything that had been said, her
heart still yearned for this man.
“See
you tonight, beautiful.”
Tyler
turned and walked away. Laura couldn’t help the way her eyes dropped to his
ass. Those buttocks clenched and moved in his jeans in a way that was just
delicious. Her belly gave an almost-vicious kick and she groaned, pushing
herself away from the wall and heading toward the front door of her clinic.
It
was going to be a long afternoon.
Chapter Eight
Brandon
soaped up his hands and massaged his balls, groaning with the ache that
throbbed in his gut. He needed a fuck, a good, long root.
“Then
why the hell did you turn Stacey down again, you idiot?” he muttered to himself
and washed the soap off his body.
Stacey
was hot and she was easy. He just flipped her over and fucked her, and she came
all over him. It was satisfying, “and fucking dirty.”
Yeah,
and not in the good way.
He
growled in disgust and stepped out of the shower, toweling himself down, and
heading into his bedroom.
“What
time did she say she’d be here?” he called out to his twin, his voice deep and
rough.
He’d
never felt this unsettled before, even when he was twenty-one and wild. He
wanted to run. He wanted to fight, and oh God, did he need a fuck!
This
was all Laura’s fault.
“About
eight-thirty,” Tyler called back. Brandon looked at the clock and saw eight
twenty-two. Not much longer and she’d be here.
In their home,
where she belonged.
He
pulled on some new tight jeans and a white singlet that clung to his chest,
foregoing any underwear. That’d only slow her down. He glanced in the mirror
and flexed his biceps to make the muscles bulge. Laura liked his body, so he
may as well show it off to his best advantage. He adjusted his stiff cock in
his pants and groaned as pleasure tingled over him.
“I
think she’s here.”
Brandon
closed his eyes and tilted his head back to listen with his acute hearing. He
could hear an engine turn off, a door open, then close, and shoes moving on
their path.
The
doorbell chimed and Brandon opened his eyes again and rolled his shoulders as
though getting ready for a sparring match. She better be worth all this
torture.
Tyler
had headed to the front door, so Brandon padded out into the lounge, feeling
his cat raise its head and purr. She was here.
Laura
stepped into the sunlit hallway and Brandon’s heart kicked out like a horse’s
hoof against a barn door.
He groaned, pressed a hand to his chest, and
stared at her. What was it about this woman that made him feel like this?
Her
lovely, long hair was tied up, harshly drawn back away from her face. Her
usually glowing skin was pale and slightly sweaty, yet Brandon couldn’t imagine
her looking more beautiful.
“Hey, Brandon.
You okay?” Laura looked straight
at him, concern written over her face. She dropped her bag and stepped toward
him.
His
cat leapt up and took control. He didn’t expect it and gasped, pushing down
with all his strength, but he lost the battle. He felt his control slip away
from his fingers like a dream disappearing back into the night.
“Tyler!”
Brandon groaned and staggered back, feeling the shift come upon him.
Every
inch of his skin heated and changed, cinnamon fur sprouting out as he fell onto
his knees, his limbs morphing into the lean legs of the Rocky Mountain lion.
He
looked up to see his brother holding their woman. She was staring at him, her
mouth gaped open but not speaking.
Brandon
stared at her through his lion eyes, damning himself for slipping like that.
Such an adolescent move.
He
dropped to the floor in the most nonthreatening position he could manage and
flicked his eyes up at her. She continued to stare at him and something within
him stirred to life. He began to purr with happiness, his lion half supremely
happy to finally be within reach of her.
“
It’s
okay, Laura. I’m sorry, I meant to explain before
Brandon shifted, but he couldn’t control it.”
Laura
stared at him unblinkingly and he stared back. He didn’t dare move in case he
spooked her. He’d never forgive himself if she ran now.
“He…what?”
Laura moved back and forward on
her feet, shuffling like someone deciding whether she wanted to run or stay.
Please stay, sweetheart. I need
to feel your pussy around my cock at least once.
Brandon
was feeling calmer now, his blood was cooler, and he could feel his humanity
within reach. It was time to shift back. They needed to talk.
He
leaned back on his hind legs and let it happen naturally, without forcing it.
Watching his brother with Laura in human form made him yearn to touch her, too,
with his own hands.
He
rolled up and into his body, feeling his bulk stretch and fill out his skin.
His clothes were in a puddle on the floor and he didn’t want to step back into
them.
Laura
screamed and bolted around the couch, holding onto the leather with both hands
as she glared at him.
“Don’t
you ever do that again without warning me
first!
Do
you understand?”
Brandon
laughed, shocked into it by Laura’s characteristically unusual reaction. Fuck,
he loved that woman.
No! Oh, hell, I do.
Brandon
sobered quickly and nodded. “Yeah, okay.” The fact that she was inferring to
the future made him smile, but he tried to remember how strange it must have
been for her to see such a thing.
Laura
blew out a breath and stood up straighter, her hands relaxing their death grip
on the couch.
“Okay,
wow. Okay…”
Brandon
looked at his brother for help. What were they meant to do now?
“So, okay.
Your family, all
of them?
Can they do that?” Laura rattled off the questions, her voice
high and squeaky. Brandon watched her with pride. She was obviously confused
and freaking out, yet she was still here in their home. She got major credit
for that.
“Ah,
yeah, they can.”
“Okay,
okay…” Laura began to pace, muttering to herself. “So it really is true.
My...whatever you guys are…you turn into mountain lions. I can deal with that.
I am a vet, after all.”
A
hysterical giggle burst forward and she turned to stare at Brandon with wide,
bright eyes. He was beginning to feel uncomfortable standing in the middle of
the room, naked. If they weren’t going to get into anything, he better cover
up.
“Oh,
wow.”
Laura’s
eyes ran up and down his body and his cock began to react. Brandon groaned
aloud as heat and blood flowed to his groin and he began to harden once again.
He released a gasp and reached a hand out to the woman that
supposedly
was his perfect match.
Let’s see how you handle this,
beautiful.
“You
gonna
’ help me out with this? Coz I’ve been hard for
you since the minute I laid eyes on you.”
Laura’s
tongue snuck out and wet her full pink lips, making them glisten. He may be
pushing her, but he needed her and he wasn’t afraid to ask. Brandon reached
down and began stroking himself. Hot, hard flesh ran between his hands and he
stared into Laura’s green eyes. She looked hungry and aroused. Why wasn’t she
moving?