Shadow

by Jan Stryvant

  Shadow smiled and nodded. She hadn't said no, which meant as long as he didn't do anything stupid, she just might say yes. And if she didn't? Well, he'd just have to figure out how to convince her.

  He kissed her, "Love you."

  She smiled and kissed him back, "I know."

  Introductions

  "Everybody, I have something I must tell you," Shirley had said to the group as they entered the bar. It wasn't very crowded as bars go, but still enough people to be public and keep them inline, good guys were always careful about their behavior in public, only the bad guys didn't care and she had to admit Sean had been right about that one.

  "What Shirl?" Centurion had asked. His real name was Bill, but he insisted on being called Centurion. Before the feds got involved he'd had a secret identity, it wasn't exactly secret anymore, though to the public he was still the Centurion, and only the team and the feds knew his real identity. She guessed old habits died hard, though a few in her group did have real secret identities still, even from the rest of the team.

  "I have a mate, and I'm getting married to him soon." She said, noticing the surprised looks on the other team members as well as the two regular agents who worked with the team and had accompanied them here at her request tonight. She also noticed Jimmy looked a tad jealous. He'd tried to get in her pants a number of times, he was a good kid, but he was a kid and she preferred men.

  "Where is he?" Thadieus said looking around.

  "Promise me you'll behave first, all of you." She said turning to them.

  "Why?" Centurion asked.

  "Cause you all know him and don't like him. Simple." She said giving each one of them a hard look.

  "Everyone behave, that's an order!" Tomas, the group's leader said softly, but in a voice that brooked no insubordination. He was one of the few with a real secret identity, not even the feds knew who he really was.

  They all nodded.

  "Why thank you Tomas" Shirley heard behind her as Sean, her new mate, slid out of the shadows to stand behind her, his furry hands on her shoulders. She wished she knew how he did that, no one had been able to see him there in the shadows and she'd even known which one he'd be in, as he'd told her.

  Most of the rest looked shocked, even Tomas looked a bit surprised, and Jimmy looked livid. The two agents, both normals, twitched a little, but behaved as well.

  "Shadow Cat!" Jimmy spat out.

  "The one and the only," Shadow said smiling.

  Shirley leaned back against him, her arms spreading a bit, making it clear that she was putting herself in the way of any ideas anyone might be having.

  "But Shirl, he's a bad guy!" Jimmy had said shocked.

  "Not bad, just misunderstood," Shadow said chuckling.

  "What have you done to her?" Jimmy demanded loudly.

  "Jimmy!" Shirley said, "Shut UP!"

  "Shut up Jimmy, you're being rude," Tomas put in suddenly, shutting Jimmy up with a stern glance, and causing the rest to look back and forth from Tomas to Shadow and back again as Jimmy closed his mouth and just scowled.

  "Why him?" Tomas continued.

  "He saved my life." Shirley blushed, leaning back a bit more and smiling a little as Sean wrapped his strong feline arms around her. She was the only one here who now knew his true name of course, the rest just knew him as Shadow Cat, and he'd definitely saved her from a fate worse than death.

  "That's all? I'd say he's done more than that from the way you're leaning into him," Tomas said smiling suddenly.

  "Well, ummm, he is my mate now you know...."

  "We'll come back to that." He looked up at Shadow, "Let's go for a walk, I want to chat a bit."

  "You can't go out with him all by yourself!" Jimmy blurted out.

  "I agree Tomas," Centurion said looking concerned, "it wouldn't be safe."

  "Don't worry; I can deal with the Shadow here." Tomas turned to Shadow. "Come on."

  And Shirley and the rest watched as they walked out of the bar alone.

  "Why him?" Centurion asked, putting a strong hand on Jimmy's shoulder to silence him, the other members of her team and the two regular agents still kept their silence, all looking rather shocked.

  "Because I love him, and I know he cares about me."

  "That's all?"

  "He treats me good too. He's willing to give up everything he's got and switch sides for me. Would any of you do that for me?"

  They all blinked.

  "He probably just wants to steal our secrets." Jimmy grumbled.

  "No one can lie to Shirley, you know that Jimmy," Fiona finally spoke up. "Besides, I've dealt with Shadow in the past. He's not actually evil; he'd be a good ally."

  Shirley noticed Centurion and the two agents nodded a little to that. The rest looked at Fiona a little surprised by her change in tune. It wasn't what they expected to hear her say at all.

  "Well whatever the rest of you decide, he's my man now and I'll quit the team before I give him up." She looked at all of them, one at a time. "And I mean that."

  "Why her?" Tomas asked him as they strolled away from the bar. "I thought you had a nice little harem going."

  "She puts them all to shame." Shadow chuckled.

  "Really?" Tomas said raising an eyebrow, "I'd never have suspected that, she's usually Miss Proper."

  "Oh don't let her fool you; she's quite the animal in bed."

  "Don't tell me this is all just about sex? I thought I had you figured out better than that!" Tomas laughed.

  Shadow snorted, "Of course there is more to it. When I found out they had her I set about planning on how to get her out. It's going to be a bit harder now to get away with that kind of stuff however, since that Jimmy idiot opened his mouth at the wrong time last week."

  "Yeah I guess I'm going to have to have a little talk with him about that. He doesn't seem to realize that the underground isn't a unified front."

  Shadow nodded, "Anyway, first chance she got, she did some real nasty shit to me, not the kind of stuff I thought any of you were capable of."

  "Really? Wow. Care to say what?" Tomas looked curious as they came to the coffee shop. He held the door and Shadow passed inside turning his back to Tomas as he walked by.

  "Not a chance. I guess someone had told her what they were going to do to her. But I was impressed. Not only could she do it, but she actually would do it. She was quite embarrassed later when she found out I was planning to help her from the first."

  "And of course you took complete advantage of it."

  "Oh of course, I mean come on, look at her, quite the knockout. Besides, after what she had done I'm not exactly sure who took advantage of whom." Shadow laughed, "She likes cats. A lot."

  Tomas laughed as well at that. "Any girl that would have you must." He turned to the lady behind the counter and ordered one cup of coffee and another of tea. "All these years I've been trying to turn you and Shirley does it in a night."

  "More like a couple of nights," Shadow laughed, the inside of his cat ears flushing red and flicking a bit.

  Tomas looked at the big feline morph. He'd crossed paths with him the first time over ten years ago. They said having a black cat cross your path was bad luck, and Shadow had quite the reputation in the underground, he was definitely a super. But on the other hand Shadow had been feeding him information on those who committed certain murders and rapes for almost eight years now. And he'd secretly helped in the rescue of several agents and super heroes who'd been caught. He’d been a valuable asset for many years, but he still wasn't exactly sure he had the guy figured out.

  "So again, why? Why her? Why now? Why'd you even run with the underground in the first place?"

  Shadow took his tea and sipped it. "I've always told you, the bad guys get all the hot chicks." He looked up at Tomas and shrugged, "As for Shirley? She's the one for me. I guess it's a cat thing or some such. But we were lying there together, talking, and I could smell her, her lusts, her fears, her desires, and her hopes. And I just knew."
<
br />   "So just like that?" Tomas looked skeptical.

  "For me, yes. For her, no. I had to prove myself a bit first. Then she had to make up her own mind. Let me tell you, it was twelve hours of hell. It she had rejected me, it would have been pretty rough."

  "Now there's a confession. But only twelve hours? Sounds like a whirlwind to me."

  Shadow shrugged, "The fact that she can tell if you're lying probably helped."

  "You know there are going to be a lot of repercussions over this, don't you?"

  "I'm not wanted for anything, and most of what I'm suspected on I had nothing to do with. I just didn't discourage the rumor. Again, I really wasn't hanging with the underground for the crime, just the chicks and the atmosphere."

  "Oh please, I know you're not some innocent."

  "Welllll, there's nothing out there anyone can prove. So I wouldn't worry about it."

  "What about 'Laughing Boy'? I heard he was on the warpath for you after Jimmy's little comment to the press that you had helped her escape."

  Shadow sighed and looked around, "Let's go back to the bar."

  Tomas nodded and followed him out of the coffee shop.

  "Listen," Shadow said as they walked down the street, his voice pitched low, "Laughing Boy tried to kill me almost two days ago. It was pretty nasty - a few others got hurt in the attempt on me. And there were a lot of witnesses around so he could demonstrate what happens to those who cross him."

  "I hadn't heard anything about that." Tomas looked a little concerned.

  "And you won't for a while," Shadow confided. "He's dead. I wiped him out, gutted, shredded, D&C'd. I told everyone there if I heard a peep about it I'd do the same to them. By the time they finally do talk about it I'm sure it'll be exaggerated way out of proportion. 'Good guys' don't do that shit. So no one in the underground is going to question my motives or my past. Laughing Boy was a vicious sociopath, and a pretty powerful super, after what I did to him no one down there is going to want to fuck with me for a long, long time."

  He nodded. "If you work with us, you'll have to cut down on that kind of thing."

  "Don't worry, as long as Shirley's life isn't on the line, I won't. But if it is," Shadow growled suddenly, "I'll kill everything and anyone in my way."

  Tomas nodded again as they walked into the bar. "I can respect that."

  Meeting with Liz

  "So I hear you've changed sides." Liz made it a simple statement.

  Shadow laughed, "Oh come on, Liz. I was never exactly on anybody's side in the first place."

  She gave him a raised eyebrow, "Oh?"

  He nodded, leaning back into the cushions of the couch on which he was sprawled looking rather boneless in a typical feline way. He smiled warmly, the shorts he wore barely kept him decent; he knew she found him enticing still, even after all these years of being lovers. Just as he found her to still be very desirable as well.

  "Going to explain?" she prompted after a few moments, a little annoyed at having to concede him this point. Of course this conversation had gone on longer than most of theirs in the past. Normally by now he'd be out of those shorts and mounting her equally naked form. Their relationship was complicated in many ways, they had several business arrangements that they had both found profitable over the years. Then there were the things about his private life that he'd confide in her about, things he wouldn't even tell Circe who seemed to all but own him at times. She knew that she was his closest friend and oldest lover, and after all these years, he was now one of her closest friends as well.

  Since that day he'd come to her establishment all those years ago and actually paid her to teach him how to be an expert lover, sex had become a very enjoyable part of their relationship. He really had gotten to be amazingly good at it.

  "I found a mate." He purred from the couch, dark furry tail curling coyly as he examined a rather sharp claw. "I really did have my way with The Angel after I stole her away, and well, we're getting married."

  Liz's first reaction was to sigh loudly, if he was getting married he probably wouldn't want to have sex with her anymore, and he was a rather good partner, his catlike body and fur making him rather sexy and exotic. Her second reaction was to look up at him sharply meeting his eyes as he said the last.

  "Are you here to...?" She let the question hang unanswered in the air between them a moment.

  "Arrest you, or fuck you?" He drawled out slowly, a smile appearing slowly on his cat like muzzle.

  "Yes," she answered a little breathlessly. She knew he was tough, and he was already well within her defenses. If he was here to arrest her, she wouldn't be able to resist him.

  He saw her worried looks and laughed, reaching down to start undoing his shorts. "The only taking I have planned I'll be doing in your bed," he purred. "I don't sell out my lovers, Liz, and I especially don't sell out my friends."

  She gave a large sigh of relief, no small part of which was due to that she wouldn't have to fight him. However the larger part was that once again, a six foot two, two hundred pound black furred cat-man was going to screw her senseless. He was very good at it and the fact that he might now be married to someone on the city's super team didn't reduce her desire or willingness to have sex with him in the slightest.

  "What about your new wife?" She asked as he pressed his warm furry body against her warm smooth skinned and very female one.

  He smiled and looked down at her naked form; she was very well endowed, yet trim with a flat stomach, and a tight round ass. He could smell her arousal and wondered once again why so many beautiful women ended up in crime. He pulled her against his furry chest and bent his head to hers.

  "I'm allowed a certain amount of roaming. I am after all, a cat." He purred and then kissed her.

  She rubbed her body against his reaching down to stroke his aroused sex. He was definitely blessed. Not the largest she'd ever had no, but still a rather good size, plus he knew how to use it well. She had been the one to teach him, after all.

  For his part he spent the next hour using it very well on her indeed, along with using a good deal of the rest of his body against and on hers as well.

  "I can sense a spell on you." She said to him much later, as they both relaxed in the afterglow of some very enjoyable sex.

  "Yes, she put it there, it's nice, I like it." He said softly cuddling her.

  "It's a compulsion spell; you might want to get it removed." She warned him, "Probably why you joined up with her."

  He laughed again, and pinched her in a spot that made her shiver. "Oh no, I joined up with her cause she's what I want, possessing her is without a doubt one of my greatest pleasures. The spell is just an added bonus. You see it not only adds to what I feel, but it has an affect on her as well."

  "Still, you should be free of it."

  He shook his head, "We did that once already for her friends," he chuckled at her astonished look, "Yes, they do hold to their own morals even amongst themselves. Anyway, they made her remove it the first time. Then I had her put it back on."

  "Why?" She looked surprised. From everything she knew about him, he was not the type to tie up with one woman.

  "Cause she's what I want," He shrugged. "If she had told me I had to give up all my other lovers, I would have, that she's told me I can keep a few if I want shows me I made the right choice."

  "Maybe she just wants to keep a few of her own around!" she laughed at him.

  He growled. "I told her I will not allow her to have any other lovers and will kill anyone she sleeps with!"

  She blinked at the ferocity of his statement, giving a little gasp as his hold on her had tightened considerably, making his claws prick at her skin.

  "Rather two faced, isn't that?" She shot back.

  He nodded and smiled relaxing once more, "Yes, but I am willing to give up all but her if she asks. But she doesn't mind, she knows where my heart lies and is satisfied with that."

  "So is the sex any good?"

  He grinned, "Unbeli
evable!"

  "Then why are you here?" She blinked.

  "Because you're a pretty good lay yourself," He leered at her. "Though don't expect me around as much as I've been in the past." He stole a kiss from her then, "Besides, I care about you, Hon. Even if I couldn't sleep with you, I'd still want to be your friend and talk."

  She nodded, "What are her friends going to think when they find out you're putting it to some of their enemies?"

  He shrugged, "None of their damn business. She's already made it clear, that our relationship isn't their concern."

  "Yeah, but now that the lust has worn off it's a bit disconcerting to me to have someone who is now allied with my enemies lying in bed with me."

  He chuckled and kissed her. "Unless you do something really really bad, I don't expect to see them coming after you. I mean really, Hon, you run a bordello. It's not the kind of thing that they'd use the city's supers to go after. But if I ever do, I'll give you fair warning first," he promised. "And I'd be sure to keep seeing you in jail. Wouldn't want you to get too tight!" he snickered and ran a finger down her sweaty body unworried, the chances of her getting in that kind of trouble were pretty much zero. Liz ran a bordello, not a violent criminal enterprise, and most of her customers where the city's upper class elite and leaders. Liz was Shadow's oldest friend in the city, and perversely, probably his oldest friend, period. The odds of him letting anyone put her in jail were pretty slim. He genuinely cared about her, after all.

  She smiled and snuggled up against him, enjoying the loud purr that escaped his muzzle. "You would too, wouldn't you?"

  He laughed and gave her another pinch and one thing led to another, and then they were busy again.

  After he had left, Liz thought about what he'd told her and what she'd learned. She knew he had two others he was close to, Nance, who Liz actually did business with as they both brokered information, and Circe. Liz didn't do much business with Circe, she was a bit too violent for Liz's taste. She could only imagine what would happen when she found out about this.