Black Silk

by Jan Gordon

  “Yeah. It’s kind of weird that my boyfriend knows more about my cycle than I do.” The word ‘boyfriend’ had rolled off my tongue with such ease, and I realized that I really liked the sound of it, as well as the comfort his presence gave me.

  “I did tell you that I have a highly developed sense of smell, even before you found out what I really am.”

  I flushed. “I know, I know. And I should’ve believed you.” I gave his thigh a squeeze and left my hand resting on his leg. We were almost home when I remembered something that had been tickling at the edge of my mind all day. “You do know that there really isn’t any one hundred percent safe time to have sex, don’t you?”

  “If I were a one hundred percent human, I’d agree with you. But I’m not.” We’d arrived at my house and he pulled up in front of my garage. He jumped out of the vehicle first and came around to my side to open the passenger door for me. I smiled my thanks up at him as I stepped out.

  “Are you going to expand on that or am I expected to just believe it’s magic?” I asked sarcastically as I reached the front door. I unlocked it and entered before dumping my purse on the hall table. I smiled at him over my shoulder and led the way into the kitchen.

  “To be absolutely honest I don’t really know the details. I do know that it’s half science and half hocus pocus. I can smell when you’re fertile and when you’re not – that much is science. The magic comes into play when the timing isn’t right.” He opened my refrigerator and peered inside at the meager offerings for dinner. He grabbed a beer and closed the door. “Here’s what I was told, and I have no idea if it’s true or not. Back when weres and ancient man were living in caves, picking each other off, both species trying to survive, weres would only conceive in late Fall. That allowed the females to carry their young through the winter and give birth when the warm weather came. Humans would conceive all the time and many a human infant would die in the cold of winter.” He pulled the tab of the can and drank. “Similarly, when there was danger from man or food was scarce, our females would not conceive.”

  “Cole your story just doesn’t hold water. We’re not in danger of being attacked by other humans and food isn’t scarce.” I sat down on one of the kitchen chairs.

  “Are you not in danger? Is Kincaid not threatening you?”

  “Well, yes he is. But he wasn’t over the weekend.” I was feeling smug; I felt I was winning this battle of logic.

  “There’s one more fact. I would be able to tell if you conceive. Your scent would change.”

  “By then it would be too late; I’d be pregnant.” I felt like punching the air. I’d had the last word. At least I thought I had.

  “Look, Vic. All I know is that weres don’t have unwanted pregnancies, no accidents. It just doesn’t happen.” He put his beer down on the counter with such a sharp movement that beer slopped out of the top.

  “But I’m not a full were am I?” Yes!

  He ignored my indisputable logic. “I’m going to dash home and get some clothes. I’m not going to take the truck because I don’t want it known that you’re here alone. I’ll be back soon.” With that, he faded out of my kitchen. Coward! And damn him, he got the last word after all. But at least I’d won the argument.

  I swore to myself that I wasn’t going to allow him to persuade me to have unprotected sex again, that is, unless our relationship grew serious and permanent. I stood and went to investigate the contents of the fridge and freezer. Whatever else was happening in our lives we still had to eat. I saw the leftover Chinese food from Friday evening; I really should have frozen it. It was probably well past its prime and decided to throw it out along with the rest of the beer that Cole had left on the counter.

  I found some tuna steak in the freezer; I took out the package and unwrapped it. I’d let it defrost a little before pan-frying it. I popped it in the microwave to keep it safe from Mister while I let it defrost naturally.

  Mister! Where was he? He hadn’t seen me since the previous morning. Normally he would be waiting to greet me at the door. I opened the back door, whistled and called his name. Nothing. I stepped out the back door and called his name again. I barely suppressed a scream when strong hands grabbed my shoulders from behind, pulling me back inside.

  “What the hell do you think you were doing?” Cole was livid and his eyes were sparking fire.

  “I was looking for Mister. He’s usually here to greet me and I got worried when I realized he hadn’t turned up. I’m starting to get really concerned about him.” I made a move to go back out the door to call again.

  Cole put out a hand and shut the door, keeping his hand on it to stop me from opening it. “You don’t go outside on your own again until we’ve caught Kincaid, do you hear?”

  I stood ramrod straight and lifted my chin so I could look directly into his eyes. “Oh I hear you. Not going to listen to you, but I hear you. How dare you order me around.”

  “That mother has already threatened you; you go outside on your own, you’re asking for trouble.”

  “Really, Cole. If he’d been watching the house, then he would have seen your truck out front. You didn’t leave by any normal means, so he would think you were still here. He’s hardly going to attack me when you’re here is he?” I pushed my way past him and got a bottle of wine down off the rack to the side of the refrigerator. I put it on the counter and opened a drawer to get out the opener.

  Cole’s big hand covered mine and gently took the opener out of my grip. He laid the corkscrew on the counter and pulled me into his embrace. “I’m sorry, Mouse. That’s the second time I’ve blown up at you since we got home. I’m on edge because I’m worried about you. In such a short space of time you’ve become very important to me, I don’t want to lose you.”

  “Kincaid is not going to get me. He can’t. I have the best bodyguards in the world.” I pecked him on the lips. “A wonderful man and... oh there you are.” Mister had dashed through his cat flap and was winding himself around our legs. “As I was saying, I have a wonderful man and a ferociously friendly black cat to watch over me.” I leaned down and scratched said animal on the head. “Where have you been, cat? I was worried about you.”

  “His food bowl is still full.” Cole knelt down next to me and scratched him under the chin. “I bet he’s been eating his meals somewhere else. Perhaps you’ve got a neighbor who has a pampered pet that doesn’t mind sharing her meals.”

  I nodded. “It’s possible, Mister has always been an opportunist.” I lifted my hand from my pet’s fur and sunk my fingers into my man’s silky mane. “Cole. You’re not totally off the hook. Please don’t pull the caveman act on me again.”

  “I’ll try not to. I know I’m a little old fashioned at times, but we live for such a long time, it’s often difficult to keep up with the changes in manners and accepted behavior.” He straightened and picked up the corkscrew from the counter.

  While he opened the bottle of wine, I picked up Mister and sat on a chair with him on my lap. “Cole, I’ve been meaning to ask you something. How much can you understand when you shift? Yesterday, I was talking to you while you lay next to me in panther form; did you understand what I was saying?”

  “Every word. I can’t reply of course. The larynx changes along with everything else, but my brain, that stays the same.” He poured the wine into a glass for me, but he took another beer from the refrigerator for himself. “This wine should have breathed a bit before I poured it out, but it won’t kill you.” He handed me the glass and I pushed Mister off my lap before I took it.

  “Can you communicate with other were-panthers while you’re in cat form?”

  “Only on the level of any big cat; using facial and body language. Other cats, regular cats like Mister, recognize that I’m feline but they also see me as human so they usually back off in confusion. As you saw with Mister, the first time he met me.” Cole went over to a brown paper bag that he’d set down just inside the kitchen door and brought it over to the counter. �
�I brought over all the fresh produce I had in the house, plus any dairy stuff. We might as well eat it here.”

  “Good idea. I took some tuna steaks out of the freezer for dinner, they’re defrosting. Pan-fried tuna and salad okay with you?”

  “Sounds good.”

  I checked the tuna and reckoned that in another half an hour or so it would be soft enough for me to cook without totally ruining the flavor. I took my wine and went to sit down in the living room. Cole followed me and settled next to me on the couch. My grandmother’s album was still on the coffee table from the other day and seeing it jogged my memory again.

  I scooted back against the side cushion and rested my feet on his lap. “I’m sure you’re going to get tired of me asking questions, but there’s so much I still don’t know about your world.”

  “It’s the only way to understand, so ask away.”

  Cole started to massage my feet, and I had to concentrate hard on what I wanted to ask. “What was my great-grandfather like?” It wasn’t what I’d meant to ask, but it suddenly seemed more important.

  “Michael…your great-grandfather, was a good man. A man, not a cat. He hardly ever shifted, but he didn’t hide what he was from the people who loved him either. He adored your great-grandmother and would do anything for her. Anything that is, except not go off to war.” He stopped talking and seemed to sink back into his memories as his hands stilled on my feet. I jiggled my feet to bring his attention back to the present, and he glanced up at me before continuing his ministrations and his story. “The only other male were I’d met up until then had been my father, and that experience hadn’t made me a fan of were-panthers. The last time I saw him was when he visited my mother and stayed about a week, got her pregnant and then disappeared. When my mother was about six months gone, she kicked me out.”

  I sat forward and put a hand on his bicep, trying to convey comfort with my touch. He covered my hand with his own and squeezed lightly, accepting my offering. “When I first met Michael, I didn’t know he was a were. I was young and completely inexperienced; I couldn’t identify weres by scent. I guess there was something instinctual in me because I immediately trusted him. He knew what I was of course, and he helped me refine and control my powers. He taught me that not all were-panthers were like my parents; that most modern weres didn’t go tomcatting around the world impregnating females.”

  I nodded in understanding. “He was faithful to my great-grandmother, and my grandmother hero-worshiped him. I remember her telling me stories about him; they were my favorite bedtime tales.” My memories of my grandmother were only happy ones.

  “I’ve met other were-panthers since then, and I know what Michael told me is true. My mother and father are in a minority. Weres do not kick their young out of the home anymore. The parents send their children to school; support them and love them. We live in a modern world now with modern customs, we have to abide by the rules or our whole world could be exposed.”

  I nodded. The nightmare that would be unleashed if the weres were discovered, would be unimaginable. At the best there would be a witch-hunt. At the worst... I shuddered, I didn’t want to think about what the worst would be. “Do you know where your parents are now?”

  “No.”

  His bald answer conveyed a lot of feeling and I wisely left further questions for another time. I swung my legs off his lap and rose to go back to the kitchen. “Come on, you can make the salad while I cook the tuna.”

  ooOOOoo

  Later, we were back sitting on the couch with some light jazz playing softly on the stereo. I was snuggled into the crook of his shoulder and his arm was around me, his fingers playing lightly up and down my arm. It was nice, comfortable, and I had a flash of what life could be like with this man. Man? That posed an instant question. I raised my head to look at his face. “Cole. Are you human? Or are you a panther?”

  He had his head resting back against the cushions and his eyes were closed. He looked relaxed and content. “I’m neither.” Opening his eyes he slanted a glance down at me. “We’re a different species. We evolved alongside Homo sapiens and the animal kingdom. Not just us but others too. There are many different races of weres.”

  “And yet humans know nothing about you.” I shook my head slightly in disbelief at the ignorance of the human race. “How is that?

  “They used to. That’s why there are so many legends of werewolves. When mankind started writing things down, we went into hiding. Humans are cruel, to each other and to things they don’t understand.” I felt his shoulder move as he shrugged. “We’ve survived. Not in the numbers that humans have but we’re here and we’re here to stay.”

  “You won’t be able to stay hidden forever. The way technology is progressing these days, some anomaly is going to pop up and somebody somewhere is going to be curious, and start poking around in places they shouldn’t.”

  Cole sighed. “I know. But we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.” He sounded resigned to the inevitable. “The were community is powerful, we’ll be able to weather the storm when it comes.” He stroked my cheek with a finger before bending his head and capturing my lips with his in a soft kiss. “It’s getting late, sweetheart, let’s go to bed.”

  I put my arm across his chest and hugged him to me. The thought of the future and what the human race might do to people like Cole, scared me half to death. But I had to trust Cole, if he thought that things would work out, then I had to believe him because I had no other point of reference. I sighed and rose from the couch to check the locks before climbing the stairs.

  I was brushing my teeth when Cole stepped into the bathroom. He put his arms around my waist and I watched him in the mirror as he eyeballed my huge claw foot tub. He let go of me as I rinsed the toothpaste out of my mouth and wiped my mouth.

  “Someday, I want to make love to you in that.” He grinned at me and winked, indicating the tub.

  “That was one of my fantasies when I had the bathroom renovated. Of course, at the time I didn’t think my lover would be quite as exotic as you turned out to be.” I skipped away from him and went back into the bedroom. By the time he came out of the bathroom, I was in bed, and he turned off the bedside light before climbing in next to me.

  I moved into his arms and kissed him, marveling at how, in less than a week, he had gone from being a stranger, to a comforting and loving presence in my life. Cole pulled me in tighter and deepened the kiss. “Good night, Mouse. Sleep well.”

  “Night”

  I was just drifting off to sleep when I remembered Kincaid. “Cole? You asleep?”

  “Almost, what’s wrong?”

  “Kincaid. What are we going to do about him?”

  “We wait until he makes his next move. I’ve a hunch you’ll be hearing from him again. Now... turn over and go to sleep.” He pushed on my shoulder to make me roll over allowing him to spoon around me. I fell asleep with his hand, big, warm, and heavy, on my abdomen.

  Chapter Twelve

  Tuesday morning started out great, but once I made it into work and opened the store, things went downhill fast.

  Waking up with Cole had definitely been a good way to start the day. We didn’t have much time to snuggle but we made good use of what time we had. We opted not to shower together; we knew I’d be late opening up if we’d done that.

  Cole had put his car in my garage after I drove mine out. We’d decided that his car didn’t have to be on display outside my house all day. If he needed it, he could always zap back and pick it up.

  Cole followed me into the store and was the one who picked up the note that had been slipped under the door. The note was folded in half with my name scrawled on the outside. Cole wordlessly passed it to me and, curiously, I unfolded it and read the contents. I swallowed hard and silently handed it back to Cole. It only took him a second to read it before he crushed it in his hand.

  I grabbed at the hand that held the note. “He’s threatening Mister. Kincaid knows he likes to go out at
night. But he also goes out during the day and his cat door is unlocked.” I looked up at him and pleaded. “Cole, please go and check on him.”

  “Okay, but I’ll leave from the back room. If anyone’s watching they’ll think I’m still here. I’ll be right back.”

  “Oh, thank you.” As he went into the back room to hide his exit, I sat down heavily on my chair. Mister wasn’t just my pet, he was my family. If anything happened to him... I couldn’t finish the thought. I rested my forehead on my clasped hands and waited.

  The sound of the door opening to the back room made me look up. I searched his face for news. “Well?”

  “He was fast asleep on your bed. I don’t think he even twitched an ear when I went into the room.”

  I was so relieved that if I could’ve vaulted the counter I would have; instead I settled for running into his arms. “Thank you.”

  He hugged me back and gave me a quick kiss. “I locked the cat flap and put out some extra water and food for him. He’ll be fine.”

  “But Kincaid got into the house the other night, and I’d locked up then too.”

  “Perhaps you forgot to lock the deadbolt on Saturday. Or maybe he’s just damned good at lock picking. Either way, Vic, I don’t think he’ll try anything in daylight.” He set me away from him. “As much as I love having you in my arms, you’re about to get some customers.”

  I turned around and saw that Mrs. Weston and Mrs. Monroe were peering in the window at us. I turned back to Cole, gave him a weak smile. “You’re about to meet the two women in this town who are better than the radio at broadcasting the news.” I turned and walked back to the front of the store, flipped the open sign over and opened the door. “Good morning, ladies.”

  “Good morning, Victoria. We could see you had a visitor so we knew you wouldn’t mind opening up a few minutes early for us.” Mrs. Weston’s smile was broad and her eyes were full of curiosity.