Stranded With The Snow Leopard: A Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance

by Jade White

  There was a polite knock at the door. Kim finished putting her kitchen in order and went to see who it was. It could have been either Keith or Tony, to be honest. It was Tony and he was carrying a few grocery bags full of food. He had a big grin on his chiseled face.

  “Here you go. A few pounds of deer and elk, a bit of bear, and some rabbit and pheasant. I think that should tide us over. If not, I can go out and get us a bit more. Also had some frozen veggies from my garden last year. Oh, and a bag of potatoes from the store.”

  “Awesome! Lemme grab one of those bags.” She picked up the bag of potatoes from the step. Tony slid through the door and brought the rest of the food to the kitchen. He put the stuff away and noted how much Kim hadn’t unpacked yet.

  “Are you gonna need help with all this? I’ll be glad to help unpack some things.”

  “Sure I’ve been too busy up until now to get to it, with the new job and Smiley’s bullshit, you get the idea.”

  “Sure do,” Tony replied. “Anywhere you want me to start?”

  “Just start in the kitchen. I tried to do some, but there’s still a bunch of dishes to unpack. Just toss them in the dishwasher until it’s full. I think there are still some dishwasher tabs in one of the boxes in there.”

  “Roger that.” He got started on one of the smaller boxes.

  “I’ll be in my room, unpacking my clothes.”

  Tony nodded as he carefully unwrapped each dish from the brown paper that cushioned it. The dishwasher was open and he carefully loaded each dish in the waiting racks. “If there are any left I’ll just wash them in the sink.”

  “Sounds good!” Kim replied as she turned down the hall into her bedroom.

  She opened one of the wardrobe boxes and pulled out her dresses, one by one, and hung them up in her large closet. Cute little sun dresses, long flowing formal gowns, all of which she picked up from the various stores she worked at in the course of her life. She liked to support the stores that helped support her. She was also a sucker for cute clothes.

  She moved on to a box containing her casual wear. Jeans, T-shirts, shorts, all got stuffed unceremoniously in the proper drawers in her mirrored dresser. Her bed was still in pieces, propped up against the far wall, and the mattress on the ground, with the bolts and the Allen key attached to one of the metal rails. Well, with Tony here, maybe he could help her put it together. She needed to take care of the boxes first to give them some room, though.

  She found the box containing her lingerie. She opened it up and took out each piece, one by one and folded the delicate items properly and placed them in a drawer she had reserved for them. Delicate lace bras, bustiers, lacy thongs, all went in her special drawer. At the bottom of the lingerie box she found her rabbit vibrator. Why did she wait so long to unpack this box, she wondered. She quickly stashed the vibe in the drawer when she heard Tony clear his throat before entering the open bedroom door.

  “I’m done in the kitchen, is there anything else you want me to do?”

  “Wow, didn’t take you very long. Well, I’m done with the boxes in here, I could use some help putting this bed together.”

  Tony tried not to wrinkle his nose at the lingering scent of the encounter between Keith and her. “Sure I’d love to.” He couldn’t stand to be in the same room in which she and his cousin had mated. He promised her he wouldn’t make a pass, but her intoxicating female aroma that wafted through her bedroom tugged at his self-control and he felt his cock stirring in his pants.

  Kim smiled at him. “Thanks. Can you help me lift up this mattress to get it out of the way?”

  “Sure,” Tony said in a strained voice, trying not to let his irritation and arousal show. He grasped the mattress edge and lifted it up in unison with Kim. He propped it up against the wall and made sure it wouldn’t fall down.

  Kim grabbed the bed rails, headboard and footboard from their place against the wall and moved them to where she wanted the bed to go. Tony went to work putting together the bed. He started at the headboard. She held the rails up off of the floor until Tony affixed them to the footboard. When they were finished, they both moved the mattress back onto the bed frame.

  “There we go, all finished,” Tony announced. Not soon enough, he thought to himself.

  “Nice,” she said. She looked at her phone to see what time it was. “Hey, it’s getting to be around dinner time, I think I’ll go fix us something to eat.”

  Tony grinned and nodded. “That works fine for me. I’ll see what I can get on the TV.”

  “Satellite is already hooked up. The remote’s on the table,” Kim called from the kitchen. She decided to make smothered venison steaks with chopped vegetables, gravy and some mashed potatoes.

  Tony closed the blinds and then channel surfed as Kim puttered in the kitchen. A news station caught his eye.

  The report was about a man who had broken into a house in the next town over and murdered the family who lived there. He sat up as the story grabbed his attention.

  “The family of four were murdered in their own home last night. The police won’t tell us how they were killed, or what the motive was. They did tell us, however, there was a message painted on the wall. It said 'Kim, you’re next'. Police have speculated that the person responsible for this brutal crime is none other than Smiley Rockborne, who is still at large for the murder of a couple from Golden, roughly six hours away from this sleepy little community. There was only one survivor of the previous attack, Kim Smith, Smiley’s estranged ex fiancée.”

  “Hey, Kim,” Tony called out.

  “Yeah?” she answered.

  “Do you have any family living at the band about an hour away?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I have an aunt, uncle and a couple of young cousins, why do you ask?”

  “You might want to come in here, then,” he said sadly.

  Kim walked into the living room carrying a spatula, which she promptly dropped as she saw the news story unfold. She immediately recognized the house that was behind the red headed news anchor. “No, no, no,” she moaned as she collapsed on the floor. “It can’t be...”

  “They think it was Smiley. It was clearly a message for you,” Tony gently informed her.

  Kim’s grief swiftly turned to anger and resolve towards Smiley. “You know, I hope they catch the son of a bitch.”

  “We will, don’t worry. He’s trying to psych you out, to go to him so you can stop him from killing any more of your family.”

  “I have no more family,” she said sadly. “They’re all dead now. The only people who are important to me now are here in Predator Springs.”

  Tony was touched by her sadness. He turned off the TV and got up from the couch and took her by the shoulders. She looked up at him and he said, “Look, I promise, I swear we’ll get this guy. He’s tried so hard to take everything away from you, but he’s failed. You have us, this band, Keith, and me. He can’t take that away from you. This is your new home now, and we’ll protect you.” He drew her in for a hug.

  Kim placed her head on Tony’s lean chest. His strong heartbeat soothed her turbulent emotions. She inhaled deeply to keep herself from crying and caught a whiff of Tony’s male musk. Her brain began to fog over again. This time she was determined to fight it. What was it with the men around here, smelling so much of maleness? The ones who were married, such as Rusty and Mike never did. Unless she didn’t notice it. Junior gave it off, but for some reason it didn’t dumb her down like Keith and Tony did.

  Her body woke up as Tony’s strong hands caressed her back. Not again, she groaned inwardly. What is wrong with me? She looked up at his handsome face, eyes filled with vulnerable confusion. He touched her cheek and wiped the tears that flowed after she found out her aunt’s family were murdered.

  Kim was mesmerized by his touch. She closed her eyes and rested her head in his palm, feeling it’s warmth against her cheek, his other arm held her tight around her waist. She opened her eyes again and saw Tony’s sharp features soften as
she reached up and drew his face down to hers for a kiss. She had no control over what her body was doing, and at that point she didn’t care. The comfort of another person during this time was all she wanted.

  Tony was more than happy to offer all the comfort he could to this stunning woman. As his lips met hers, she felt an electric current of desire run through her body. His agile tongue darted across her lips seeking entry. Kim opened her mouth eagerly as Tony strengthened his embrace. She noticed his tongue had a slight roughness to it as well.

  She moaned into Tony’s mouth as she felt his strong hand move under her shirt and squeeze one of her perky breasts through her bra. Tony broke the kiss, and began to nuzzle and nip at Kim’s neck. With each sharp nip, Kim grew more and more aroused. This was odd since she wasn’t into the pain thing.

  Tony couldn’t control himself. He had wanted Kim since the day he had met her. He was intensely jealous that Keith got to her first. His feline nature couldn’t stand the competition. He needed to mark her for himself. He growled as he lifted Kim’s shirt over her head and unhooked her bra. He threw both into the corner of the living room before picking Kim up in his powerful arms and taking her to the couch.

  He lay her down on the couch, and stared down at her beautiful, half naked body. The scent of her arousal filled his nostrils, driving him mad. He didn’t want to change in front of her, but oh, that woman was something else. Rusty was right. She was a very special lady indeed. There was something inside her that called to him. It called to every single male shifter of his tribe. Rusty refused to tell him exactly what it was, but whatever it was, it drove male shifters wild. He hungrily dove for her breasts.

  Kim gasped as she felt Tony’s mouth clamp down on her nipple. She grasped his long black hair as he nuzzled, nipped and licked at her sensitive nipples causing jolts of pleasure to surge through her body. He wasn’t as gentle as Keith, but at that moment she didn’t care. With each breath she inhaled more of Tony’s intoxicating musky male scent, driving her further into animalistic passion.

  As his mouth nuzzled at her breasts, she felt his hands tugging at her pants in an attempt to remove them. She lifted her butt off of the couch and Tony tugged them off in one swift motion, tossing them in the corner of the room with the rest of her clothes. He wasted no time and ripped the delicate panties from her body, and then started grazing her sex with his long, sensitive fingers.

  Kim cried out and squirmed as Tony touched her most intimate place. He found her pleasure bud and rubbed it with one of his long fingers, building her up to a crescendo of pleasure. She sat up and kissed him passionately as he massaged her sex, while her hips ground into his palm. She clutched to his strong neck as he pleasured her with his sensitive fingers and tried not to cry out as wave upon wave of erotic tension built up within her body.

  “Hey, it’s not fair for you to be naked and not me,” Tony whispered huskily in her ear. In response, she fumbled at the buttons of his uniform shirt, popping one or two from the threads in the process. He didn’t care, though. He just wanted to take this wild woman and ride her hard.

  Kim whimpered as he removed his hand from her womanhood so he could undress. He pulled off his shirt, revealing his tan, muscular torso and six pack abs. He pulled his pants and boxers off in one swift motion, kicking them out of the way.

  He turned her around. He grasped her breasts firmly from behind as he nipped her neck some more. She felt his large, hot manhood grind against the crack of her tight buttocks as he growled into her neck.

  She felt one of his hands let go of her breast and then his thick hot sex probing at the entrance of her sopping wet tunnel. She arched her back up and felt him plunge home.

  She cried out as he filled her from behind. He reached around with one hand and massaged her clit while he slowly thrust deep in her. Driven with animalistic passion, she bucked up and met each one of Tony’s movements thrust for thrust, as his fingers wove their magic on her sensitive clit.

  Her orgasm built more and more as the combination of his fingers and dick moved her into sensory overload. She couldn’t handle it anymore. After ten minutes or so of Tony’s ministrations, she yelled out as an incredibly powerful orgasm washed over her.

  Tony felt her muscles contract and grip his rock hard cock as she came around him. It was too much; he couldn’t control himself any longer. He removed his fingers from her overly sensitive clit and braced himself on the wall behind the sofa.

  He started thrusting hard and fast inside of Kim, feeling her muscles contract and grip him as she was taken by her orgasm. He then wrapped one of his hands around her waist, bent down and bit her hard on her neck while pumping furiously inside her.

  Kim felt another orgasm building shortly after the first one hit. She felt Tony’s teeth sink in as he drove himself home. She ground back, giving him added pleasure as he finally growled into her neck, and emptied himself deep inside her. She felt the same strange pressure with Tony as she did with Keith. Must be a genetic thing, she thought, as their encounter drew to a close.

  They stood panting and naked while bent over the sofa. Kim started to gradually come to her senses. What on earth had she done? First Keith, now Tony. She wasn’t like this at all. She didn’t even want one relationship, let alone two. “Hey,” She managed to utter. “I think we should stay in separate rooms tonight. Just because.”

  Tony was a little disappointed but understood. “Yeah, in case Smiley shows up, right?” he asked.

  “Yeah, that’s right,” Kim lied. Her desire to sleep alone had nothing to do with Smiley, but everything to do with the fact she didn’t want Tony falling for her as hard as Keith had. It might be too late, actually. Why couldn’t she just keep herself under control? She asked herself.

  They straightened themselves out. Tony put his underwear back on, and Kim grabbed her bathrobe from the hook in her bathroom. Kim reheated the dinner and Tony grabbed himself a plate and devoured it in no time.

  “Mmmm, this is good,” he said as he licked the plate clean. “Almost better than my mom’s cooking.”

  “Thanks, you don’t have to flatter me that much,” Kim said, smiling as she tried to accept the compliment.

  She was put off at how Tony didn’t think anything of what had just happened. She decided to try to keep him at arm’s length, as well. Her body was getting her into more trouble than she needed to be in at this particular point in her life. She needed to stop it cold in its tracks.

  A few hours later, Kim began to feel tired. “I think it’s time to go to bed,” she yawned. “Today’s just been all over the place and I need to get some shut-eye. If you go for a walk or whatever, the key is hanging up by the door.”

  “Cool, thanks,” Tony replied while flicking through the channels. “See you in the morning.” He could tell that the sex had upset her. Not the fact that it was bad sex, she seemed to have really been into it, but for some reason her emotions were all over the place. Hopefully, she can sort herself out. It’s getting close to the day where she has to talk to Rusty about the mating ceremony. Whether she wanted to or not, she had a choice coming up.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Kim woke up the next morning sore from last night’s escapades. She stretched out on her bed, reluctant to get out because she didn’t want to face Tony this morning. She wrapped herself in her duvet, put the pillow over her head and groaned to herself. How could she be so stupid? Not one, but two guys in a month. That was totally not like her. Not only that, it seemed that at least both men had some sort of feelings for her.

  Her nostrils were tickled by the scent of cooking bacon and brewing coffee. Her stomach growled in response to the delicious scents. No... Just no. Fuck you stomach. Fuck you, body, you betraying whore. Just ugh, she thought to herself. What the hell do those guys have over her anyway? She had no idea, but the smell of that bacon was driving her insane, she had to get up or she’d wind up eating her pillow at this rate.

  Kim threw on her pink terry cloth bathrobe and wande
red to the kitchen. At her table sat Tony, and at the stove stood Keith, cooking away.

  “Umm, good morning?” she inquired, arching an eyebrow.

  “Hey, you slept pretty late,” Tony said. “I asked Keith over because we needed to talk to you about something. Rusty is coming over in a bit too. Don’t worry, it’s nothing really bad.”

  Keith’s shoulders were tense as he whisked the eggs in the pan. He was able to smell what went on the night before. He was not impressed. He needed to talk to Tony about it, outside, away from Kim, before it ate him alive inside. Hot jealousy had a way of causing shifters to permanently stay in their animal forms, his dad told him. It was one of the reasons why he stayed single for so long. He couldn’t risk it, but now here he was, falling in love with this beautiful and kind woman, and she was pushing him away in favor of Tony.

  Tony put his feet up on one of the empty kitchen chairs. He was more difficult to read, but was just as tense under his lackadaisical facade. He knew Keith was pissed at him. He just needed to explain to his cousin that he really couldn’t control himself. Keith laid with the woman so he knows what kind of power she has over un-mated males. She had a greater pull than most.

  Keith put a scoop of scrambled eggs along with a couple of rashers of bacon and some toast on a plate for Kim. He looked at her and smiled shyly as he handed it to her. She met his gaze and couldn’t help but return his genuine affection with a smile of her own. At that moment, she felt horrible for sleeping with Tony.

  Kim sat down at the kitchen table and ate her breakfast. Keith came over and put a cup of coffee on the table for her. She gently touched his hand as she went to pick up the cup.

  Keith’s eyes widened as he felt her soft hand touch his. If he were alone with her, he would probably have taken her right then and there. With that single touch, his anger evaporated. He was no longer mad at his cousin. He understood completely what had happened.