by Zara Chase
Chapter Seven
“Say something, babe.” Jared rested a large hand on her knee. “Have we completely freaked you out?”
“Just give me a moment.”
“Take all the time you need.” Bryce sent her a reassuring smile. “What we’ve just told you must come as one hell of a shock.”
The warmth from Jared’s palm seeped through the denim of her jeans, heating her thigh. It was a comforting distraction, both helping and hindering her as Caitlyn struggled to compute all she’d just learned. Shape shifting felines? Pleeease! Something so off-the-wall couldn’t possibly be true. They seemed perfectly sane but were obviously barking mad. She’d be better off taking her chances somewhere…anywhere, else. At least she’d be able to breathe the damned air.
And yet she didn’t move. Something stronger than her own will and the hypnotic comfort of Jared’s hand kept her right where she was. Worse, she was starting to believe what they’d just told her. Talk about truth being stranger than fiction. Caitlyn put her reaction down to delayed shock. Given all she’d been through over the past twenty-four hours, she was entitled to a temporary meltdown.
But they’d offered her a demonstration, hadn’t they? Presumably they wouldn’t have done that if they couldn’t deliver. Or was she so gullible that they’d gambled on her not asking? Besides, it made sense of some of the odd stuff she’d noticed about this place, to say nothing of Marvin’s character transplant. A case of cross-species feline bonding?
“Let’s just pretend for a moment that I believe you,” she said slowly. “It seems to me that by being here I’m threatening the safety of your…er, entire colony. Why don’t you just send me packing?”
“And condemn you and Mia to a death sentence?” Jared asked bluntly. “What do you take us for?”
“You said shifters can clear memories. If they can’t use us to get to you, why would they kill us?”
“Because they’re rogues, darlin’,” Bryce replied. “Decent shifters wouldn’t abuse their powers by doing what they’ve done in the first place. If, for reasons beyond our control, we found ourselves in their situation, that’s precisely what we’d do. We’d clear your memories and set you free.”
“But,” Jared said, grinding his jaw, “you’ve already seen for yourself what this rogue bear, whose name by the way is Salter, is capable of. He shot Tony because he wanted to send you a message. He could have found another way to do it, but it seems he enjoys using his power.”
“And he enjoys killing,” Bryce added. “That’s why the majority of rouge shifters go rogue. They can’t live by the laws that govern decent shifters.”
Caitlyn shuddered. “Yes, he’s certainly psychotic. I’ll never forget those eyes of his, but I still don’t get why you feel obligated. You barely know me and you’ve never even met Mia.” She frowned. “Why risk everything that matters to you, everything you’ve worked to achieve here in Impulse, for the sake of a couple of strangers?”
Jared regarded her with unnerving stillness, heating the air between them with his intense, unwavering gaze. She felt as though she was drowning in the depths of his velvety brown eyes and didn’t have the strength to look away. She wished she understood the sub-text, whatever it was he was trying to tell her without using words, but her head was too full of other stuff to go there.
“You’ve never had anyone do anything for you before, have you, sweetheart?” he asked softly. “You’ve always been essentially alone because you grew up in care.”
“In Impulse,” Bryce added before she could respond, “we look after our own. If one of us is in danger, then we’re all in danger.”
“But I’m not one of you.”
“We saved your life, darlin’,” Jared said, his palm still swirling around on her thigh. “That makes you our responsibility.”
She managed a stuttered laugh. “That’s silly. I can’t be the one who causes Impulse’s downfall just because I happened to turn up here.”
“You don’t have any choice,” Bryce said with authority. “We’re one big family, in case you hadn’t noticed.”
She had noticed. Her brief time in the Cat’s Whiskers with Chantal had opened her eyes. She had felt a sense of warmth and well-being she’d never experienced before, but hadn’t immediately recognized it for what it was. It had wrapped itself around her like the comfort blanket that had been her only constant during her childhood when she was pushed from one family to another without warning or explanation. All the people here depended upon one another, looked out for each other, and actually cared. It was an alien concept to Caitlyn since all she’d seen of the world was selfishness. That was one of the reasons why she mentored others in care. What she would have given for a friendly, non-judgmental presence in her life during her most impressionable years.
She knew now that there was another side to the coin but still didn’t believe this entire community would put itself in the firing line for her sake.
“I can’t let you risk yourselves,” she said. “I think it would be better if I left.”
“Out of the question!” Jared and Bryce said together.
“Do you have such little faith in our abilities?” Jared asked.
“I have no idea what your abilities are, but you’re a cheetah, right?”
“I’m just your average, common-as-muck spotty cat,” Bryce said grinning. “But Jared is a king cheetah.”
Caitlyn rolled her eyes. “Of course he is!”
“No, really,” Bryce said, laughing with her. “King cheetahs are rarer than honest politicians. He has spots like me but wide stripes down his back, too, and he never lets anyone forget his superiority.”
“The stripes in your hair,” she said, reaching up to touch it. “The color of your eyes, both of you, reminds me of a cat’s.”
“Well, there you are then.”
“If you’re an endangered species,” she said to Jared, wondering if she was losing her mind by even having this conversation, “then I definitely can’t let you risk yourself. A cat against a bear.” She shook her head decisively. “It sounds like a pretty uneven fight to me. From what I remember of seeing bears in the zoo, they’re enormous and have the most vicious talons.”
“Size ain’t everything,” Jared replied. “Us cheetahs are the fastest felines on the planet, and we can jump pretty damned high.”
“Bears can climb trees, too, can’t they?”
“Sure, but they don’t have our speed. Don’t worry, we’ve fought bears before and come out on the winning side.”
“You sound as if you want to fight.” She rolled her eyes. “Men!”
“We don’t want to, but we frequently have to,” Jared replied. “Like we said before, we’re constantly under attack.”
Caitlyn noticed Bryce regarding Jared with a frown but not contributing to the conversation.
“Bryce doesn’t seem to share your confidence,” she said.
“There’s nothing we can do now except wait for Mia’s call,” Bryce said.
Caitlyn had expected him to join in Jared’s efforts to reassure. The fact that he didn’t, that he clearly shared her concerns about Jared’s ability to fight a bear, added to her feelings of unease. And it would be Jared who fought. These two were both aggressive alphas, but Jared was literally king cheetah.
Marvin leapt from the floor and balanced on the back of the settee Caitlyn and Jared were sharing. She could tell he was in one of his rare affectionate moods by the way he brushed his body against the back of her head. She reached up to stoke him, expecting him to drape himself around her neck, the way he normally did when he felt the need to commune. To her astonishment, he landed on Jared’s shoulder instead and rubbed his head against his neck, purring like a traction engine.
“So much for loyalty,” Caitlyn said, trying to sound peeved.
“Don’t take it personally,” Jared replied, scratching the exposed part of the cat’s belly and winking at her. “He’s in the mood for a little male bonding, is all
.”
Caitlyn watched their mutual admiration jag as she turned her problem over in her mind. These guys had saved her life, no question. Could she in all conscience allow them to risk theirs in her defense? In spite of what they’d said, she didn’t think she and Mia were in any real danger. Jared and Bryce couldn’t keep her here against her will. Perhaps she’d wait for the call from Mia, not tell the guys about it when it came through on her cell and quietly take off.
For the first time in her life she felt as though she really belonged. It created a warm sensation deep inside her that made Caitlyn feel good about herself. But her brief time in Impulse had also taught her a hard lesson about belonging.
You don’t put people you love at risk.
And she did love Jared, and Bryce, too. She’d been attracted to Jared the moment she saw him in Fort Lauderdale, and her feelings had intensified since waking up and finding him sitting guard beside her bed. He was weak, and she could fix that for him. Hadn’t he said they needed a committed human to mate with them and remain in Impulse for the rest of her days? Well, she qualified for the position and would step up to the plate in a heartbeat. Only problem was, Jared had already made it clear her feelings weren’t reciprocated.
Caitlyn tried not to feel insulted, aware that she wasn’t an easy person to love. Why else would she have been passed around so many foster families? None of the social workers had been able to explain her constant moves, but Caitlyn had always suspected the truth. She’d been a quiet child, scared of giving offense, gangly and unattractive, interested only in art. Who would want her when she showed so little promise?
“It’s lunchtime,” Bryce said. “Anyone hungry?”
Caitlyn shook her head. “No, I’m good.”
“Me too,” Jared said.
“Okay, I have a client in ten minutes. I’ll leave you two to it.”
Bryce blew a kiss Caitlyn’s way and strode from the room.
“You’re fond of him, aren’t you?” Caitlyn asked, watching Bryce as he left them.
“Yeah, he and I go way back.”
“Because you’re both cheetah shifters? I guess the species tend to stick together.”
“Pretty much.”
“Tell me how it was for you growing up in this community.”
“We had our share of problems, just like any adolescents, only different ones.” Jared leaned his shoulder in the corner of the high-backed settee. Marvin refused to be dislodged and, with a mew of protest, resettled himself. They both laughed.
“You’ve got a fan.”
“So it seems.”
He pulled Caitlyn’s shoulder, sending her head tumbling into his lap, which was where he seemed to want it to remain. She was too comfortable to argue, so she brought her legs up and stretched full-length. Jared was erect and her head was resting right on his rigid cock. She tried to move but he stopped her.
“You’re okay,” he said.
Her hair was spread across his thigh and he ran strands repeatedly through his fingers.
“You were telling me about growing up here.”
“Right. My dad was the resident shrink, and it was always supposed that I’d follow in his footsteps.”
“And you did.”
“Yeah, I did, after a lot of soul-searching.”
She blinked, surprised. He’d seemed dedicated to what he did when she met him in Fort Lauderdale. “You didn’t feel drawn to the profession?”
“I did and I didn’t. It’s tough for young shifters. They can’t indulge in all the usual youthful misbehavior that’s part and parcel of growing up.”
“Sexual indiscretions?”
“Right. Most of them go to college and mix with normal kids.” He made quote marks with his fingers around the word “normal.” “They go to parties, get drunk, do mad stuff and, because feline shifters tend to be good-looking—”
“And modest?”
“That, too.” He grinned. “I’m only telling you like it is. I know from experience that the girls are drawn to us big cats, even if they don’t know why. It would make our lives a hell of a lot easier if they weren’t.”
Shit, was he trying to warn her off? Had he picked up on her interest in them both? Caitlyn had seen them both naked, so she had a pretty good idea what drew the female eye. Not that she was about to share her thoughts with Jared.
“Okay, you were saying.”
“A lot of youngsters get tempted to leave for good. They’re prepared to give up on all those extra years of life just to be able to live somewhere that’s not under constant threat of attack.”
Caitlyn shuddered when she recalled Tony’s murder. “I can relate to that.”
“Those that want to stay are expected to mate. If they need a human mate, it’s part of my job to make sure the humans know what they’re getting themselves into. There’s no divorce in this colony. The life can be rewarding, but outsiders have to give up a hell of a lot if they really want to be a part of it.”
“Family and stuff.”
“No, humans with strong family ties are never considered. It’s just too dangerous.”
“I suppose so.”
Jared shifted his position and continued to stroke her hair. “The majority of humans aren’t suitable, even though they think they are. We can wipe the unsuitable ones’ memories and send them back to their lives, but that often leaves very resentful would-be mates here in Impulse.”
“I can imagine, but surely you’re providing a service to the community? Why do you look so glum, even if it isn’t always easy and doesn’t make you popular? Do you have siblings here?”
“No, I was the only one. My mom and dad were real happy together, or so I thought.” Jared expelled a deep sigh, and Caitlyn sensed he was touching on territory he rarely visited. “Then, out of the blue, Mom upped and left without saying a word to anyone. Dad was totally devastated. He tried to track her down because, obviously, he needed to know what had gone wrong. When he couldn’t find her, he went into decline and gave up his practice here. I’d just passed my exams so felt obliged to take up the slack.”
“Did you ever find out what happened to you mom?”
“Only after Dad passed and I became alpha cheetah. The doctor we had here at the time, Mikael’s predecessor, knew why she’d left but was bound by patient confidentiality. With Dad gone, he didn’t see any harm in letting me know.” Jared paused, clearly lost in the past, and Caitlyn waited out the silence. “Mum had an inoperable brain tumor and wasn’t given long to live. She told old Doc Carter that my dad wouldn’t be satisfied with his diagnosis and would drag her from specialist to specialist, seeking multiple opinions instead of letting her live out her final months in peace.”
“Is that what he would have done?”
“Probably.” Jared ground his jaw. “But she still should have told him.”
“Yes, I believe she should. It was cruel what she did.”
“Mom apparently told the doc that she couldn’t bear to see us grieving. She’d prefer to let Dad think she’d gotten fed up and left him.”
“That was cruel!” Caitlyn cried.
“Yeah, it was. Or cowardly. I’ve never been able to forgive her myself because I saw what it did to my dad. I blame Doc Carter, too. He found a place for Mom in a hospice and knew she died less than a year after she left. You’d think he would have told us then, but my dad died without ever knowing what happened to the love of his life.”
“That’s so sad.” Caitlyn wiped a tear from her face. “Perhaps I was the lucky one after all. I grew up with no one to love, but at least that meant I didn’t get to be disappointed.”
“Such cynicism in one so young.” He stroked the curve of her cheek with a touch so light, so sensuous, that it brought her entire body to life.
“Not cynicism, realism.”
“Life’s not been kind to you, has it, sweet Caitlyn?”
He regarded her with an expression of naked longing that both compelled and confused her. Desire flo
wed between them like the rippling waters of a crystal mountain stream, bubbling along to an inevitable conclusion. She tried to deny her awareness of him, the want she could see in his eyes, because she knew it was transitory. He didn’t actually want her at all, he’d made that abundantly clear, but when he lowered his head she knew he was going to kiss her. Marvin meowed and leapt down to the floor, tail erect, and curled up in a patch of sun where he industriously set about washing his face. What was it with felines, she wondered. How did they always manage to make themselves comfortable, no matter what their circumstances?
Such random thoughts couldn’t distract her for long. Jared’s lips now covered hers, as soft as a butterfly’s wing, motionless, waiting for her to respond. Or not. She absolutely shouldn’t give him any reason to suppose that she wanted him to champion her cause, which was what he would think if she reacted in a positive way. In fact, it would be safer not to respond at all. Her emotions were invested, but she’d spent her entire life suppressing her feelings. She could do it again when it mattered more than it ever had, couldn’t she?
Caitlyn’s lips were having none of it and parted beneath his, as though they had a mind of their own. It was apparently all the invitation Jared required. With a soft growl he devoured her mouth, his actions assured and demanding, practiced and persuasive. Caitlyn was a lost cause. The hell with the consequences! She kissed him back, responding to the seductive strokes of his tongue with urgent intensity. A fine tremor passed through her, and she felt the aftershock all the way to her leaking pussy and painfully solidified nipples. As though sensing her desperate need, his hand wandered to one breast and softly caressed, his long fingers sinking into the flesh through the fabric of her bra. It felt sublime and made her feel so complete, so alive, it was as though they’d done this a thousand times before.
It felt as though it was meant to be. Everything she’d done in her life up until this point had been leading up to this.
The moment he deepened the kiss Caitlyn forgot why she shouldn’t allow it to happen. Something that felt so right surely couldn’t be wrong? She gloried in the warmth that flooded her body, in the touch of his capable hands as they probed and explored. He tantalized with a soft touch, and then a harsh, needy one, seeming to know exactly when to make the switch. Her senses rebelled against stopping this exquisite torture. Caitlyn couldn’t remember a time when she’d ever felt secure enough to allow her heart to rule her head. Finally that time had come and she ceded control to Jared, content to go with the flow.