by Tia Louise
Southern Indiana has never been on my radar. It’s never even entered my realm of possibilities. I’d been making good time across the continent. The weather had cooperated, and I’d only stopped to eat and sleep. Still, when I crossed the Kentucky border, I felt a climactic pull to the north.
I say “climactic” because it had been like a strong wind pushing against my face, forcing me to deflect and move northward into this forest. Slowing my pace, I walk through the darkness, sniffing the damp leaves.
I’m far from the proud panther I should be. Loss and isolation twist together in my chest, making my head hang low. No shifter should be alone. Our kind craves touch, contact. It’s part of who we are, and spending the past decade in isolation almost broke me.
Is that why I went to Slayer? Or Slayde, I guess. We would know to embrace. The shifter way is to touch, whether it’s wolf to panther to bear, any other form.
I needed a hug from my best friend. God, I sound like a fucking pussy. I should kick my own ass. I’m so tired, the thought evokes a loose laugh from me as I continue loping in the darkness.
The ache in my chest is intense, but the fact I can laugh at myself means I’ll survive it. I’ve been surviving so far. I’ll make it back to what I once was.
I round a corner, and an unexpected scent assaults my nose, stopping me in my tracks. I don’t know where I am, but I know what that smell is.
Shifters are never alone in the woods. Deer, owl, bear, squirrel—all types of forest inhabitants surround us, but this is different. This is another of my kind, and it’s a female.
Slowing my walk, I carefully place my paws on the fallen leaves and forest debris. Lifting my large, black head, I turn my green eyes to the sliver of a moon. Not a full moon by a longshot.
SNAP! A dry twig echoes in the silence like a thunderclap, and I freeze on the spot. That’s when I see her eyes. Shimmering blue eyes track me from the underbrush. Another inhale, and I can almost place her breed. I know she’s a cat like me.
Squaring my stance, I sit, facing the place where she’s watching. Show yourself, little cat, I think. That much I’m sure of—every cat is smaller than me.
A few moments pass. Wind moves through the trees overhead making a soft hushing sound. While I haven’t seen her, it’s intimate somehow, knowing we’re here together in this dark space, secluded from the outside world. She’s curious by nature, as am I.
Clouds move over the moon, casting odd shadows, but as they move away, I realize she’s come out of hiding. She’s walked out into the small meadow where I sit. Not too far—only a few steps into the clearing. Now she’s exposed, facing me.
Her sitting position mirrors mine, and I can’t help another internal grin. I like this female. She’s bold. She’s a third my size, but I don’t intimidate her. I see she’s a cute little lynx. Their funny ears have always intrigued me.
Taking a deep breath, I allow my magic to fall away. In a matter of half-seconds, my shifter nature departs, and I’m sitting in my human form with my legs strategically bent to cover my nudity. I’m not modest, but I don’t want to appear overly aggressive.
As I watch, her small head shakes and she does the same thing. As her magic dissipates around her, I’m glad for my position. Blood floods my pelvis as the most beautiful female I’ve ever seen materializes before me.
Her breasts are small and perky. Her hair hangs in long, dark waves around her toned shoulders. It’s like a glossy cape, and her body is pure muscle, with lines across her arms, abdomen, and legs. Instinctively, a growl rumbles through my throat. I want her.
“Who are you?” she asks, and I smile at the soft strength in her voice. “What are you doing here?”
Clearing my throat, I take control. I’m a loner, which makes me an alpha in my own right.
“My name is Koa. I’m traveling. Passing through. Who are you?”
I can’t help noticing the way her eyes blink slowly. I can almost see her back arch, feel the smooth skin of her body brushing the length of mine, catlike. For starters, she would touch my cheek with that perfect little nose. I wouldn’t stop her.
“Mercy,” she says softly. “My name is Mercy. I live here in Woodland Creek.”
“What is Woodland Creek?”
A small laugh whispers from her throat, distracting my eyes. They’re pulled down to her beautiful neck. I allow my gaze to trace her slim collarbone before dropping again to steal a glance at her breasts. My mouth actually waters.
“It’s the tiny, god-forsaken little hamlet you’ve found yourself skirting.”
She’s a beautiful, smart, cat-shifter female, and fuck, I want to end my dry spell with her now.
“What are you doing out here, Mercy?” The lust is thick in my voice. I can’t help it. It’s been so long since I’ve been with a female of any kind, much less a gorgeous shifter.
Apparently, she hears it because she stands and walks toward me. My insides clench at her movements. Her lined stomach is flat, and her hips are rounded and womanly, yet slim. My eyes move to the center of her legs, to her bare pussy.
“Hoping to find a little escape.” A purr is in her voice, and my muscles tense as anticipation builds.
I stand, and her eyes widen ever so slightly as I reach my full height. The top of her head is at the center of my chest, and my broad shoulders dwarf her. Not to mention my erection is pointed straight at her. No use hiding it.
“I could use a little escape myself.”
She blinks up at me, and her blue eyes are dewy. “What did you have in mind, panther?”
I’m pretty sure we’re on the same page, still it seems polite to ask. “May I have you?”
“Yes.” The word is a breath across her lips as she steps forward, sliding her palm across my tense stomach, teasing me as it travels lower.
In a flash, I reach for her cheeks, leaning down to claim her full lips, pushing them apart with mine. Our tongues touch, and electric sparks fly between us. She’s delicious, like cool spring water, and a moan scrapes from her throat. Easily, I lift her off her feet, light as a kitten, and her legs go around my waist as I hold her in my arms.
Her nails graze the sides of my hair, and she’s kissing me over and over, tasting me as if I’m a savory meal and she’s starving. My mouth matches her pace. God knows I’m starving.
“Mercy…” Her name is perfect, because I surrender completely to this beautiful little seductress I’m holding.
Lifting her ass slightly, I catch the head of my throbbing dick and line it up with her entrance. A swift drop, and I’m plunged deep into her hot, slippery core.
“Oh, god, yes!” She cries, dropping her gorgeous head back.
“Fuck me,” I groan. She’s so tight, she’s like a virgin, but I know that isn’t the case. She knows exactly what she’s doing here. No virginal shyness or hesitation. She fucks me like an alpha female.
Moonlight spills across her neck, and I lean forward to bite her. She moans and all her insides clench. Taking her blood is orgasmic for her. It also gives me a glimpse of what’s inside her mind, who she is—sheltered, privileged, elite.
Hmm, what is this princess doing in the woods hooking up with me? I don’t really give a shit. Her thighs flex over my pelvis, and she’s riding my cock hard as I brace us, holding her ass tight in my large hands, moving her up and down against my hips. My eyes squeeze as the incredible pleasure rises in my thighs, focusing in my groin.
“Shit, Mercy, shit.” I’m about to come so hard.
Thankfully, we don’t have to worry about things like pregnancy or disease. Human diseases don’t affect us, and shifter females can only get pregnant if they’re mated and it’s a full moon.
Mercy and I can lie back and enjoy the fuck out of this little rendezvous, and damn if I’m not feeling like the luckiest guy on the planet as she breaks into shudders on my dick.
“Koa! Oh, god… oh… Oh god!” she gasps as her soft body quivers in my arms.
Her pussy clenches and milk
s me, and it’s all I need to let go, filling her as the pulses of orgasm blank my mind. It’s the greatest sensation on the planet.
By the time I’ve managed to come down, I notice she’s completely relaxed in my arms. I’m not quite finished with her, but I take a moment to savor the sensation of this soft creature holding me, her arms around my shoulders, her face pressed against my neck.
My arms are tight around her, and as I hold her, a thought passes through my head, This is what it would be like…
Instantly I cut off that shit. What the hell?
This is what it would be like if I weren’t a rogue? If I weren’t traveling across the continent hoping to pick up the pieces of my life? If I were even looking for a mate? Which I’m not.
Lowering her to her feet, I notice her legs wobble. A cute little smile is on her lips, and it fans my hunger. I’m far from done here.
“Turn around.” My voice is a low command, and she complies, dropping to her hands and knees on the soft grass. Her heart-shaped ass tilts up at me in the moonlight in an eager invitation.
“Fuck me,” I whisper again, kneeling behind her.
The pink folds of her pussy face me in the silvery light. They’re clenched together by her thighs, and I can’t help my instinctual urge to scent her.
I lean forward and press my nose right into that soft little mouth. A moan comes from her throat, and I begin to lick, tasting her unique flavor. She’s moaning louder as I taste deeper, sending my tongue into every part of her sex before returning to tease her clit.
Human or shifter, all women want the same thing. I spread her cheeks apart, exploring her roughly, nipping and sucking as her moans intensify and her hips rock against me. I keep going, not letting up until her thighs again erupt into shudders, and her shoulders drop with a long wail.
Grinning, I rise up and send my cock straight into her. She’s swollen and throbbing, and I can tell I’m scratching an itch for her as well. She immediately responds by pumping her hips back against me, jerking her ass up and down on my dick.
“Fuck, yeah,” I growl, giving her sweet behind a hard slap. She jumps and moves faster, and I’m meeting her thrust for thrust. A few more slaps, a few more twerks, and sparks start to shoot behind my closed eyes. My balls tighten, and my head drops back as the orgasm rips through my pelvis.
“Oh, fuck!” It’s a ragged shout, and I grip her hips to keep my balance. “Mercy, Mercy me…”
I’m holding her, savoring the pulses of pleasure as she lifts up, arching her back against my chest. I can feel by the spasms around my shaft she came again, and I slide my palms up her flat stomach to cup her breasts. They’re perfect handfuls. Dropping my face to her shoulder, I kiss the crook of her neck.
“Thank you,” I whisper against her skin.
Her body ripples with a laugh, and her voice is a sigh. “Why are you thanking me?”
“You are a beautiful, sexy lynx. You’re strong, and you probably have shifter alphas eating from your hand. Thank you for giving me a piece of your time.”
Her palms cover my hands on her breasts, and she gives them a squeeze as her head rolls against my shoulder. “You don’t know anything about me, Koa.”
“I know a little. I tasted your blood.”
“Mm, yes.” She kisses my cheek. “Then you know you were exactly what I needed tonight. Something I’ve needed for a long time.” A deep inhale and she starts to move away. “So you see? I should be thanking you.”
I love the naughty gleam in her crystal eyes. She stands and walks toward the tree line, and I watch her slim body moving away from me. Her beautiful dark hair skims the top of her ass, and an empty feeling passes through my stomach.
“Wait,” I say, standing.
She pauses and looks over her shoulder. I take a few steps toward her, unsure what I’m doing. It’s been so long since I’ve pursued a female, I feel stupidly out of practice.
“Spend the night with me. We can go our separate ways in the morning.”
It’s a blunt proposal, and her chin drops as she seems to consider what I’ve said. I’m about to take it back, try to polish my delivery and say it in better way, when a beautiful smile curls the side of her soft cheek. She steps to me, lifting her hand and running a finger along the line of my bicep.
Her next words fill me with warmth. “I can’t think of anything I’d rather do more.”
3
Staying
Mercy
I’m in my bed when I open my eyes again. My body is tender from last night’s encounter… or encounters. Multiple encounters. Pausing for a moment, I slide down in my plush king-sized bed, grinning as my thoughts travel over how I spent the last eight hours.
It’s not unusual for shifters to have casual hook-ups. Sexual relations are how shifters find their mates; although, it takes time, more than one meeting, and it’s usually shifters of the same species.
Still, as I lie here, the satin coverlet touching my lips, just below my nose, I can’t help remembering Koa, the gorgeous black panther. His body is a mountain of hard muscle, and his huge hands gripping my ass, moving me up and down his cock… Oh, god, that cock!
A little shiver, and I can’t stop a blissed-out giggle. I’ve been with human males a few times. I’ve even slept with a coyote of a separate shifter clan in a nearby town a few times. None of it prepared me for last night. Pleasure doesn’t even begin to describe it.
Everything about him was so… BIG. I couldn’t even spread my entire hands around his biceps. I had to hold on as best as I could while he explored every part of me in the most erotic way.
Again, my eyes squeeze shut, and I giggle. Oh man! He was incredible. With my eyes closed, I remember his face. Green eyes so intense—too intense. I had to look away from his penetrating gaze. Straight white teeth and luscious scruff of beard on his square jaw… so sexy.
I’ve never been with a big cat. His power is overwhelming, yet he’d been graceful and took his time with me… Except when he didn’t. The memory of him turning me around and roughly exploring me with his nose and tongue floods my brain. It was so primitive and animal.
Of course, it’s what we are, but I’ve never been eaten out… Even thinking those words sends a burning flush through my breasts and shoots heat straight to my core. I came so hard. I can’t stop a shiver at the memory. He awakened every nerve ending in my body.
I almost wish he weren’t just passing through. No. I shake my head. No, Mercy, it’s for the best. Something as amazing as him would only distract me from what I really want, which is to get out of here. It’s best Koa the Panther remains in a special place in my memory as hopefully not the only mind-blowing panther sex I’ll ever have.
With a sigh, I wonder what it will be like when I’m in San Francisco. Will I meet other shifter males there? Koa said he was on his way to California. Would I possibly be able to find him once I’m there? It’s a ridiculous thought. California is vast and extends for miles, and I didn’t even ask which city he’s headed to.
Stretching out, I push my hands over my head into the pillows. I had a hideous Thursday night dinner followed by the best sex of my life. I suppose things could be worse. Sitting up, it’s time to face the day. I have to find Dylan.
Koa
Opening my eyes in the darkness, I’m cold and wishing that little lynx was still curled into my side. Fuck sleeping on the ground. Why did I let her go?
Because she said she had to get home, that’s why. What the fuck am I thinking? For that matter, what the fuck am I doing here? I’ve never even heard of Woodland Creek.
Thanks to Mercy… beautiful Mercy… I know it’s a tiny town close to a national forest, and it alternates between hills and farms. Again, I have to wonder what the fuck I’m doing here. At least I’m not as sexually starved as I was eight hours ago.
I should shift again and keep going. Keep moving southwest until I reach the ocean. For whatever reason, I can’t seem to do it. Something drew me here, and I have to fi
gure out what it was, why this place pulled me to it.
As a shifter, I know things like this are significant. Everything happens for a reason. Even fucking beautiful Mercy last night—it all has a purpose. I sound like a freaking philosopher, and maybe it’s partly my Hawaiian heritage. All I know is I have to stay here until the place lets me go.
Shifting again, I creep toward the town. I can’t decide which is more dangerous: entering Woodland Creek in my panther form or entering as an oversized naked black man. Truth, I’m only half-black, but I know sure as hell the white people don’t give a shit about that. If I’ve got any tan in my skin, they’ll keep wary eyes on me.
I slink around the edge of the forest, doing my best to keep my dark form hidden in the shadows until I find a clothes line with what looks like jeans and a tee that will fit me. I have to move fast to steal the clothes and get out before the wife sees me or the husband leaves for work.
Luck is on my side this time, and I’m in the woods with the clothes in my mouth before anyone even notices. Ducking my head, I let the magic shimmer around my skin, changing me back into the oversized male I am.
As I step into the jeans, I can’t help remembering Mercy’s small body. She was so sexy and beautiful last night. I should look her up if I’m going to be here a while.
No, I shake that thought away. She’s upper class, white bread. Even if we have great chemistry, there is no way in hell a girl like her could even think about spending time with a rogue like me. I have to focus on figuring this place out and then get the hell on the road.
Shoes. I don’t have shoes.
I learned early shoes are pretty vital necessities. I can wear shabby clothes and be a rich man, but no rich man walks around barefoot. In a town this size, I don’t expect to find a Goodwill I can hit up for a pair of used Chucks.
Slipping into an alley, I cling to the side of a strip mall consisting of a real estate office, a twenty-four hour copy shop, and a dry cleaner when I spot my saving grace across the street: Andy’s Gym.