Shifting Too

by Shifting Too (anth. )(Rob

  He nudged the kill under the Tall Grasses, saving it and being a Good Rishi, before bounding over to get his Nuzzles.

  He got nuzzles and licks and cheek rubbing, Malik chuffing and batting at his neck. He was Beautiful Rishi and Strong Rishi and his Raj was Proud Malik.

  Oh. Oh, yes. He Purrrrrrrrrred, rolling and offering his Raj his soft belly.

  Malik nibbled his belly, purring, making him vibrate. He was Loved and Needed and Malik was so happy they had Found each other.

  Rishi chuffed. Yes. Loved and Needed and Malik's Very Own Rishi Who Hunted.

  They wandered toward their rock, full bellies demanding a nap. His Raj just kept rubbing on him, twining tails.

  Rishi leapt up on the Rock, circling, waiting for his Raj to take his own place. This Rock was too big for just one tiger. It needed two.

  It was a good thing his Raj had come along, even if he had been scared at first. And even if he was Not Real sometimes. Because his Malik?

  Was just the right size.

  Here Kitty, Kitty: Whiskers to Tail

  BA Tortuga

  Jax shifted, scratching his nose. Damn it, the stupid thing itched. He scratched again, wincing as his whiskers caught on his fingers, and painfully.

  Whiskers...

  Shit.

  Jax got up, scratching his back just above his butt, heading for the bathroom and the mirror. Yup. Whiskers. On one side. Damned if it wasn't getting worse. Good thing Adam didn't let him out in public much, the way he lost control.

  Bad thing was he needed deodorant and toothpaste.

  "Adam? You going to the grocery store today, hon?"

  Adam sort of grunted, head bent over the drawing table, the sound of the pencil scratching not even stuttering.

  Grinning, Jax wandered over that way, collapsing bonelessly on the floor at Adam's feet, rubbing his damned itchy whiskers against one leg. "Well, we'll need to sometime."

  "Need to what, pretty?" Adam reached down, fingers stroking his head, his neck. "You're whiskery. Tickles."

  "No shit. Get groceries. We need to get stuff." He lost the thread somewhere in the purrs, lifting his chin to let Adam scratch beneath.

  "Okay. We can do that. We'll go late, yeah? When the place isn't busy. Get cream..." Adam's pencil dropped, fingers moving to love on him, find each and every single spot. Oh. Oh, good man. So good.

  Jax oozed a little, arms wrapping around Adam's waist, head in Adam's lap. His purrs got louder and louder and his ear got, well. Itchy. Jax sighed. "I just lost the ear, didn't I?"

  "Uh-huh." Adam scratched it, chuckling softly. "Relax, pretty. Stress makes it worse, remember. Your Aunt Kathy said so."

  "Then I won't think about going out." He had to, though, being cooped up all the time wasn't good for him either, and poor Adam needed to let him run off some steam and chase a bird or two. He arched his back as Adam scratched his ear, his muscles just drawing up all the way down to his ass. Mmmm. Damn that felt good.

  "You can change tonight, late; we'll go to the park. There's trees." Adam's voice was rich, happy, vibrating all the way down to his tail.

  Tail.

  Damnit.

  "Yeah? Okay. And then we can come home on the subway and watch bums for you to draw." Give and take. That was what it was about.

  "Sounds good." Oh. Oh. Those fingers found the base of his tail and shorted him right out.

  Just sort of climbing Adam and the chair, Jax nodded, licking at Adam's chin, his lips. That was right up there with a good blowjob, the whole tail scratching thing. Uhn.

  "Mmm... here, kitty kitty." Adam leaned back, head tilting for his tongue. "Sexy bastard."

  It took him like two seconds to climb the rest of the way up and straddle Adam's lap. After they'd broken the second chair they'd gotten Adam one of those fancy ergonomic pod things. So comfy for nappage. Jax kissed Adam's mouth, hands sinking into Adam's hair.

  Adam moaned, the sound almost tickling. Opening up, Adam sucked on his tongue, fingers constantly scratching. He had the best man on the planet. Rubbing, Jax panted, licking Adam's lips, his teeth. He started touching, too, remembering he had hands. Look ma, opposable thumbs and no claws.

  "Mmm..." Adam's body was familiar and right, shoulders tapering down into lean hips, dark hair sprinkled over the pale skin of the flat belly. Pale as cream. Mmm... Cream. He almost bent to taste, but he was too happy where he was. Kissing. He did pet that milk pale belly, though, just letting his fingers hang on the trail of hair.

  That got him a purr, deep and low and just pretty. Adam did pretty good at that, for a human.

  "Tasty." Adam was tasty. Jax nipped at one ear. "Pretty, too. Love having you around, hon." He purred, too, wiggling to get more of that scratch right there.

  "Of course you do. No one understands your... habits like I do." Those dark eyes just danced.

  "Nope. No one would. Just you." Sometimes he didn't even get it. Thank goodness Adam and Aunt Kathy talked. A lot. Licking down the side of Adam's neck, he slipped his fingers down to Adam's waistband.

  Adam arched, rubbing up against him, hands starting to pull him down, rub them together. He moaned, the sound a little growly, but oh. Cool. The ear had gone away. He could feel Adam's fingers tracing the outside edge of his very human one.

  "Love you, pretty. Stop thinking. Just stop and feel."

  "'Kay." He could do that. Especially when he was getting his hand down Adam's pants, getting hold of that short, wide cock. He loved the feel of it, all tight and good, life pulsing in the big vein.

  "Uhn." The sound was all desire, thick and rich and all man. "Yeah, pretty. Right like that."

  "You're something, Adam. So good." He bit a little, just letting his teeth scrape, then rubbing his cheek against the bite, scenting.

  "Hungry beast." The tease was fond, needy, the swallow against his lips telling.

  "Always." He stroked a little harder, then a little softer, varying the pace. He wiggled some more, finding purchase on Adam's thigh and huffing out a happy sigh.

  "Mmhmm." Adam moved them, rocked them together, the chair shifting, creaking.

  Growling, he pushed harder, his fingers tightening as he pulled. "Love you."

  "I love you, pretty. Tail to whiskers." That hand landed at the base of his tail again, rubbing and scratching and making him arch.

  Biting his lip to stifle a yowl, Jax rubbed and pulled and pulled and rubbed, just looking to get them off. Needing to smell Adam as he came.

  "Oh. Oh, Jax. Pretty. Soon. Soon, love." Adam's cries got louder, sharper.

  "Uh huh. Need. I can't. Damn." He was gonna come so good. Especially when Adam touched the base of his tail right there. Right there. Oh, fuck. He squeezed Adam's cock tight, hips rocking hard as he shot. Adam followed along, jerking and throbbing and rocking, seed spraying over his fingers.

  "Oh." He licked his fingers clean as soon as Adam was done, moaning at the taste even as he went all mushy. "Oh, hon. That's way better than deodorant and toothpaste."

  "Uh... thanks?" Adam grinned, held him. "You're something else."

  Jax purred, flicking the end of his tail up to tease Adam's chin. "Yup. Thank goodness you don't mind."

  Adam chuckled, blew air at the tip of his tail, sending shivers through him. "Not a bit, fuzzy."

  He wasn't sure how he'd gotten so darned lucky. Jax rubbed the whiskers that had popped out on the other side against Adam's cheek. He was just happy as anything that he had.

  Not Pride Sean Michael

  The woods near the cities smelled... off. Not like the strong loamy earth smell of the deep forest.

  Still, Syl had to admit he liked the touches of civilization that the town of Sufring afforded. And the fact that there was no Pride here. He didn't belong to any Pride and never would. He had no desire to either bow to an Alpha or put up with the crap of being one himself.

  He was a free spirit.

  A loose cat.

  His was the purrrrfect life.

  So he was un
derstandably concerned when the Beast picked up the scent of Others on the air. He sniffed, followed the smells, growling low as the Others were elusive, moving away from him, teasing him. He followed their scent to a motel at the edge of town.

  Batting down the instinct to batter down the door, he knocked.

  "What do you want?" The voice was low and soft, the door not opening. "We don't want trouble."

  "Then you'd better open the door," he growled. Dammit, if the Prides thought they could encroach on all the free places left in the world...

  A low growl answered him. "Go away."

  "Who is it, Nat?" Another voice, softer, sleepy.

  "No one important, love. He's going away."

  He growled menacingly, the Beast growing impatient. "I said open it."

  There were some low whispers, then the door cracked and a gold eye peered out. "What do you want?"

  The scent hit him hard, pure male, sex, sweet, hot. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. "Let me in. Our business is best kept off the streets."

  "No. I'll meet you in another room. This one is mine." The male was slender, almost vibrating with worry, with tension.

  Oh, that was it.

  With a snarl, he pushed open the door, sending the man stumbling back. He left the door open behind him in case there were more than two and he needed to get out in a hurry.

  Gold eyes flashed and the man snapped at him, the beast just under control. "I'm not causing any harm."

  Syl growled low, in warning, eyes sweeping the room. "Where's the others?" He knew there were more than one, he'd heard this one talking and he could smell it, could smell the scent of at least two of them on the air, though it was strange, unlike any two he'd ever scented.

  "Others?" The room looked empty, even the clothes lying about were all obviously for the same man -- jeans and sweaters in greens and blues.

  He growled again, scenting the air, his instincts telling him no matter how different there was at least one more here.

  The man growled back, thin cheeked and pale, the long, pitch-black hair ruffled and on end.

  If he wasn't so riled up, Sylvan would have been enjoying the pretty boy, but he kept expecting someone to come slinking out of the shadows, ready to cut him down. The reek of Pride was all over the room and it made him leery.

  "What're you doing here? There's no Pride here."

  "We... I'm not looking for a Pride. I'm traveling. Needed to rest. We're not Pride."

  "We?" he asked, pouncing on the slip. He knew it.

  "Me." The man shivered, pacing a little.

  He slowly moved around the young one, for this one was younger than him, there was no doubt of it. "Oh, no. You definitely said 'we'."

  "Did I?" The young one shifted away, rumbling in warning.

  He nodded, purring. Oh, he was beginning to enjoy this game. Might even enjoy being pounced.

  He took a step out of the slow circle he'd been traveling, nose back in the air. "I see that you and your companion like games. Hide and seek has always been one of my favorites." He headed slowly toward the beds in the middle of the room. "Here kitty, kitty."

  A low fierce growl sounded, the young one moving so fast to intercept him. "You leave him alone."

  He raised an eyebrow. "So you aren't alone, after all."

  "Nat..." He blinked as an exact double of the young one before him slid from under the bed. "Make him go away."

  Oh my. He looked them up and down. "All right. So there's two of you." He was purring softly, unable to help himself. They were hot. Very hot. "What's your business?"

  The second one draped himself over the first, four golden eyes watching him warily. "We don’t have any."

  "None."

  "We're just resting."

  "For a while."

  "Yes, just a while. We're..."

  "Tired. Tired of running."

  He was torn between turned on at the sight of them and worried at what they might be running from. "What's chasing you? What are you leading here?" He liked it here. He didn't want to have to retreat or fight to keep his access to the town.

  "No one." They spoke together, cheeks nuzzling together.

  "We were part of a Pride."

  "But they wanted to separate us."

  "And we won't be separated."

  "So we left and we're looking."

  "For a place."

  He tilted his head. Oh, they were adorable. Why would you want to separate them? He bet they were a lot of fun together. "So no one's following you? You're sure?"

  Two heads bobbed, eyes bright. "We're sure."

  "Well then. I suppose that's all right." He walked slowly around them, purring softly.

  They cuddled together, twined together. "Will you go now? We don't want to fight."

  "Oh, I don't want to fight either." He looked around. "This is a pretty lousy place. You interested in staying somewhere a little more... homey?"

  Oh, they were so young, so pretty. "Homey?"

  The second one cuddled closer. "Nat?"

  "Yes, love?"

  "Is he safe?"

  "I don't know, love."

  "Oh."

  He moved right in front of them, leaning in to share scent with them. "I'm Sylvan."

  "Nat."

  "Cris."

  Nostrils flared, the twins rubbing each other, their scent heady.

  Oh, they were slinky, sexy. He wanted them. It had been a long time since he'd had one of his own. Eyes half closing, he rubbed his cheeks along theirs, purring. The answering purrs vibrated through him, settling in his balls and starting a burn.

  He pulled back just far enough to look into one set of golden eyes and then the other. Damn, they were sexy. "My place isn't that far from here. It's nice. Set up for one of us instead of a human."

  He could feel the ripple of want move through them both. "For one of us?"

  "The moon's filling."

  "Yes."

  "We'll have to hunt."

  "Yes."

  He nodded. "I know, I can feel it, too. My place backs onto the forest. It's easy to come and go without being seen. There's no boxbeds, there's a carpet tree. It's nice. You could come stay with me." Maybe it was that full moon pulling on him, making him eager to be among his kind, to mate.

  The first young one -- Nat -- nodded and then his brother started grabbing bags and stuffing clothes and toiletries into them, dark hair hiding the thin face.

  He licked his lips, bouncing on his legs, watching Cris move, watching Nat watch Cris move. "So you two together together?"

  Nat's eyes flashed. "Do you have a problem with that?" Cris leaned up and nuzzled Nat's shoulder, purring softly.

  He purred at the sight of them. "No. I want in. Have you got a problem with that?"

  "We don't know you."

  "We don't know your scent."

  "We can't say yes."

  "We won't say no."

  Oh, their voices twined together, all purrs and rumbles and sex.

  "Well as long as it's not a no, you can still come and stay with me. Long as you know I'm looking. The two of you make me purr, make the Beast want out."

  Cris smiled, eyes flirting and hot, and Nat nodded. "It's not a no."

  "Come on then, let's get moving." They didn't have far to go, but he could hear the wind picking up, knew the weather could turn nasty and cold with little warning and he wanted to be home, wanted to feed one hunger if he couldn't feed the other.

  It didn't take them long before there were two men in jeans and white sweaters with blue backpacks following him, moving as one.

  He nodded to them and led them out of the motel room. "You two paid up?"

  "For two"

  "More days."

  They nodded.

  "Until the moon calls."

  "All right, drop the keys at the desk, and we'll get out of here. A storm's coming in."

  He waited until they'd taken care of the keys and then lead them down the street, toward the
forest and his home.

  ***