Flying Fur

by Zenina Masters

  She turned in Samuel’s arms and looked up into his sleepy gaze. “I am hungry, how about you?”

  He grinned. “Please. I was trying not to move. I didn’t want to wake you.”

  She sat up and went to get the hamper.

  Samuel stretched on the blanket and wiggled like a huge, naked kitten.

  Laughing, she returned with the gourmet selection that Teebie had provided them. It was impressive for someone who specialized in muffins.

  Once he had finished wiggling, he sat up and she set out the food across the fabric, and then, she sat in front of him, on his lap, while they both reached around for food and the glass of wine.

  It was a romantic lunch with a lot of fumbling and giggling. When they got to the fruit for dessert, the juice dripped down her chin and he followed the trail across her breasts. She moaned and arched her head back across his arm, surrendering to the hot, wet worship of his lips and tongue.

  She lay back as he crushed berries and peach slices in his hand, spreading them over her breasts and belly, rubbing the juice between her thighs.

  Once he had coated her in the sticky stuff, he used the rough pad of his feline tongue to scrape the sweetness from her with slow and deliberate strokes.

  She wove her fingers into his hair and held on with a light touch as he moved down her body until his lips pressed against her opening and his tongue scraped inside. He was purring madly with his nose pressed to her clit, and she mewled in surrender.

  He bent her knees, widening the spread of her thighs, and pulled her in tight as he licked and purred until she was bucking against him, her thighs flexing in short jerks.

  Misty shrieked in surprise when the nearly painful release rushed through her from her clit outward in an electric wave that burned her nerves.

  She quivered in shock as he moved up her body, slipping inside her with ease. The smug look on his face turned into one of rapt attention as he stroked into her completely, rocking on her and giving her soothing shadow to hide in.

  Sex and shadows, my favourite things.

  Misty took in the lines of his body, the strength and the care he was taking with it. It was as hot as the luxurious thrusts that she was receiving and enjoying with her frazzled senses.

  When he thrust deep and moaned through gritted teeth, she caught him in her arms and pulled him down on top of her.

  She clung to him until his muscles went limp, and she smiled as she stroked the deep, slick groove in his back over and over, ending at the perky curve of his ass before returning to his shoulders.

  He lifted his head and kissed her softly. “You are going to be the death of me.”

  “Is that a complaint?”

  Samuel rubbed noses with her and smiled. “No, I am bragging.”

  She laughed and kissed him quickly. “I think we are stuck together. You didn’t get all the juice.”

  “Back to the pond?”

  She laughed, “Or just stay on top of me for a while. I kinda like it.”

  He smiled. “Next time it is your turn.”

  “Deal.” She looped her arms around him and held on with as much effort as she could. She hugged her mate with complete focus and nodded off with him inside her.

  * * * *

  The most unmistakable sensation in the world woke Samuel from his sleep. The extra sensation of a warm, slippery tongue wrapped completely around his shaft and tugged slowly all the way down.

  He was lying on his side, and Misty was near his waist, her mouth working on him with hot, wet, slick attention.

  He threaded his fingers through her hair as her mouth enveloped his cock, her tongue wrapped around him from shaft to head, and squeezed and stroked with every motion.

  He shuddered, his balls drawing tight against his body. With a groan, he jetted into her mouth.

  Stunned by the speed, he dropped back to the ground as Misty sat up and licked her lips with a tongue that was far longer than was normal in the girls he had dated.

  She smiled, “Sugar glider. Long tongue. I thought fair was fair.”

  He reached out and pulled her against him, laughing tiredly. He was going to die a very happy and exhausted man, but he hoped that was decades in their future.

  * * * *

  After Samuel dozed off, Misty returned to the pond and rinsed herself from neck to knees. She hoped that he had room for her to move in at his home. She lived with her family and starting a new household was a pain in the ass.

  Asking him if she could move in seemed remarkably intimate, but she smacked herself when she reminded her inner human that this was her mate. He had agreed to share his life with her the moment that their beasts met.

  She let the sun dry her skin and gathered their clothing, folding it neatly for when they decided to leave this one moment of absolute privacy. Misty finger combed her hair and sat while she braided chunks of hair around her head at random.

  When she felt fingers up her spine, she turned to smile at Samuel. He took her hand and wove her fingers with his.

  “What were you thinking?”

  She gave him a narrow-eyed look and opted for honesty. “I was wondering if your place has enough room for me and if you would mind me moving in? I currently live with my family, so I am starting from nothing.”

  He smiled shyly. “I have plenty of room. I live in the country, so there is room for expansion as well. I don’t mind. I designed the house with a family in mind. It was finished last year.”

  He kissed the back of her hand. “I would love to see you take the home over.”

  “I don’t want to do that. I am starting over; I just need a base to do it from.” She smiled.

  His sleepy eyes twinkled. “Then, use the house as your base and find your new direction. I will help you where I can, but you are a strong woman and you need to beat your own path.”

  She leaned toward him and kissed him softly. “Yes; yes, I do.”

  Chapter Seven

  Yes, Samuel definitely had room. Misty stared at the mansion with wide eyes and felt like the country mouse in the face of the elegant home with the woman coming down the steps.

  Samuel quickly put his arm around Misty’s waist. “Leda, this is my—uh—fiancé, Misty.”

  Leda, the elegant blonde, stopped short. “Fiancé? You have been gone for seven months without a word, and then, today, you tell me to get the house ready and you have a fiancé?”

  Misty blinked in surprise.

  “Misty, this is my personal assistant, Leda McIntyre.”

  Misty nodded to the woman who was recovering from her shock. There was a distinct scent in the air, and if Leda wasn’t at least half fey, Misty would eat her shoes.

  Leda extended her hand, “Pleased to meet you.”

  Misty smiled brightly. “Thank you. It is nice to meet you as well.”

  “Come inside, please. The sheets are changed, the bedroom has been aired out and everything has been dusted with water and power back on.” Leda led the way into the house.

  Samuel ushered Misty into the house, and she looked around. It was perfect. The main floor was open concept with couches, a desk and several occasional tables. The dining area was right next to the kitchen and the open spaces made it easy to imagine cooking and carrying on a conversation.

  When Leda headed up the stairs, Misty whispered, “Does she know what you are?”

  He shook his head.

  Misty bit her lip. She had a problem. Leda was definitely fey of some extraction, and she didn’t remark on Samuel’s sudden departure for more than a casual comment. That was rather suspect in Misty’s mind. She was still looking for the link to the collector and it might just be Leda.

  Leda opened doors down the hall and began to chatter at Samuel. “Now that you are back, you have stockholder meetings in two days. I have been voting your shares using the proxy you had written up, but since you are back, you can do it yourself.”

  “Where are my comput
ers, Leda?”

  “When you took off, I had them put into secure storage. I will retrieve them when I leave tonight.”

  “Can you go and get them now?”

  Leda scowled, but she read something in his face. “Fine. I will be back in an hour. Did you want dinner? Your larder is basic.”

  Samuel nodded. “Chinese, please.”

  Leda grumbled, “You know how I hate that smell.”

  He shrugged and kept his arm around Misty. “It is my favourite.”

  Misty piped up, “Mine too.”

  Leda’s face darkened for a moment, and then, she put her professional face on again. “Fine. I will be back in an hour and half.”

  The moment that she left the house, Misty could breathe again. She swatted Samuel. “You couldn’t have warned me that you have a half-elf working for you?”

  He blinked. “Is she?”

  “Yes, and she has a huge crush on you. She was more upset by me showing up than by your disappearance. Do you take off often?”

  He scowled. “No. I don’t. You are right. She should have mentioned reporting it to the police or something.”

  Misty nodded. “Yes, she should. Do you mind if I make a call?”

  “Please. My home is your home.”

  On a hunch, Misty went to the landline and picked it up. No tone. She opened her cell and dialled Randal.

  “Randal, I am in a weird situation. Can I get some hunters to my location as quickly as possible? I get the feeling I am about to be attacked by some sort of fey. My instincts are going crazy.”

  “I am activating your locator now, and I will send a team as quickly as I can. Expect them in ten minutes.”

  “Righto. Tell them to knock.”

  “Take care. Hide, if you can, until we get there.”

  “No can do. My mate can’t hide that well. He already got caught once.”

  “The cougar?”

  “The very same. Why, did he come around there?”

  “He wanted to know everything about you, and Jenner was helpful.”

  “Of course he was. You have nine minutes.”

  She hung up and looked at a curious Samuel.

  She sat on the edge of the bed and raised her eyebrows. “You quizzed them about me?”

  “I did. What is going on?”

  “My instincts tell me that something is about to happen and I am never wrong.”

  He scowled. “Why do you think that?”

  “Your landline is dead, so is your alarm system. No offense but that doesn’t go offline even if you are missing. I am guessing that you have a business manager to handle your accounts?”

  “I do.”

  “Then everything should have remained on. There would have been no reason to turn them off if you were expected to be found or to return any day.”

  He frowned. “I never thought of it like that.”

  “Of course not. You were surviving. This was the sort of thing that was my job. I am in a new environment, so I am looking at everything and this looks wrong.”

  Samuel looked around. “Come to think of it, I never leave my computers out if I am leaving. I always take at least one with me. She is behaving wrong.”

  Misty exhaled now that he was seeing it as well.

  She went to him and took his hand. “I am sure she is fine and that I am just paranoid.”

  Just as she finished those words, the door opened downstairs and nearly silent footfalls came up the stairs.

  Samuel mouthed the words, “Your team?”

  She shook her head and waved a finger around her. Her team would come in by transport centred on her signal.

  He nodded and pointed to a wall. With a few deft touches, he opened the door and the footfalls picked up speed.

  She heard the words, “The damned panic room!”

  Samuel pulled her inside the room, and he yanked the door shut just as three elves barged into the bedroom, with Leda leading the way.

  The door bolts clanged into place and Samuel slid the secondary lock to hold the bolts. It had all been done manually and only Samuel had enough strength to carry it off.

  In the silence of the lined space, Misty looked around at the ambient lighting and nodded. “Very nice, but why do you have a panic room? This isn’t what our kind normally do when confronted.”

  He grinned and took a seat at the table. “It came with the house. Well, you had some dead-on instincts. That explains my abduction as well.”

  “Yup, but we are now down to the why, even though we have the who and the how.”

  Thuds struck the outer wall in a repetitive pattern.

  “It will take them hours to get through here. What shall we do while we wait?”

  She sighed. “I was hoping for a drink of water.”

  He got up and opened a bar along one wall. “Ask and you shall receive. We also have snacks and dried fruit.”

  She smiled. “Oh, fruit please.”

  He brought her a bottle of water and a package of dried fruit.

  “The bathroom folds out from that panel against the wall. I can turn my back if needed.”

  She opened the package of dried fruit and dug out an apricot. “We won’t be here that long.”

  Smiling, she looked at her phone. “Five minutes.”

  “What happens in five minutes?”

  “We are joined by a hunter team. The elves think they have caught you flat with no communications. That isn’t the case. I called the right people, and they will send help by targeting my Council locator and emergency transport implant.”

  “You have an implant.”

  She nodded and smiled brightly. “It comes with the job.”

  “But you don’t do that job anymore.”

  “Would you mind if I did? You seem to have a full life, and I don’t want to interrupt it.”

  He kissed her quickly, stealing the apricot from her lips deftly. “I think I am in the need for a personal assistant and security officer.”

  She giggled. “Let’s get out of this today and I will consider that offer. You might need more help than I can manage.”

  He caressed her cheek. “You manage me just fine.”

  Bright lights sprouted around them and the panic room got a lot more crowded. Six hunters oriented themselves and started talking.

  Misty made the sign for silence, and she said, “We are in the panic room; it has to be manually opened and there are three elves and one half-elf on the other side of this wall. Is everyone ready?”

  Jenner nodded and winked at her.

  “Easy, cuz.”

  Samuel spoke, “Is everyone ready?”

  The hunters got into attack formation and crouched down. Samuel unlocked the door and used the wheel to retract the bolts. With a mighty push, it slammed open and the hunters streamed out.

  Fighting and shouting echoed in the bedroom as the surprised elves were taken down and into custody by the hunters. Leda was on the floor with the rest of them.

  She looked to Samuel, “I just wanted you to myself. That was all. Just myself. I would have gotten you free. I just needed a little more time to negotiate with my father. He would have given you up, and we could have resumed your life with me as your partner.”

  Samuel looked at her in shock. “But we couldn’t have kids.”

  Her tone was a desperate whine, “Are they so important?”

  Samuel stared at her. “You don’t know me at all. I made this place for the family I would have, the shifter family. We need a lot of space to grow and shift and play. You knew what I was and you never said a thing.”

  He was having this conversation with her while she was being bound and prepped for transport.

  “We could be so happy. Just you and me.” It was a wail of desperation that made her companions stare at her in shock.

  “And now I will be happy with my mate. I was never your type and you were never mine. There was no chance for us
, Leda. No chance at all.”

  Misty watched all of it with a practiced gaze. It was not the first, nor the ninth time, that she had seen elves arrested for preying on shifters. This was the first time that love seemed to be the motivation.

  It was sad and satisfying to see Leda transported away with the others.

  Chapter Eight

  Her first night in her new house was spent filling out reports for the Council and giving them a start to the investigation.

  When she was finished with the reports on the emergency laptop that Samuel kept around, she sent them to the Council and headed up to join Samuel in bed.

  The door was bolted, her cell phone was charged and the alarms and phones were back on. The house was a house again and not just a trap.

  Samuel was sitting up in bed and reading, making notes as he went. She laughed lightly and removed her clothing, folding it neatly in a pile before she crawled into bed with her mate.

  He wrapped his arm around her the moment she got close. He kept his gaze on the paperwork while he stroked her shoulder.

  “This is not the day I had anticipated for bringing my mate to my home. I am sorry it didn’t go so well.”

  She chuckled. “We are both alive an uninjured. That counts for a lot in my book.”

  “You are quite right. Thank you.”

  She looked up into his sleepy, sexy gaze. “Why?”

  “You saved me from coming home with another mate and having us both taken. Mind you, I went to the Crossroads to find you, so Leda never had a chance.”

  “A chance?”

  “A chance to take me and my mate and keep control of my company.”

  She thought about it. “If she couldn’t have you, she might have settled for your company, but that isn’t really fey style. If she knew you were a shifter, she would know that you couldn’t be her mate.”