by Zoe Chant
Justin smiled. For the very first time, those dark eyes looked familiar. “Yeah. I can always find you now.”
He walked into the woods. Shane stood watching the forest after he disappeared from sight. A few minutes later, a snow leopard stalked out from between the trees. He leaped onto an overhanging branch and stared at Shane with eyes green as pine needles, green as Justin’s eyes used to be. Then he climbed away through the trees until the white of his coat was lost against the snow of the distant mountains.
Shane walked back to Dr. Bedford’s office, wondering if Justin had told her he was leaving. He doubted it. Shane leaned against a towering redwood near the parking lot, trying to decide how much to tell her.
He felt a disturbance in the air, and turned to see that Catalina had come up beside him.
“I didn’t hear you,” he said. “Creeping up on little cat’s feet.”
She laughed and tipped her head back, inviting his kiss. Her lips were as warm and sweet as the first time, her body soft and responsive as it pressed against his.
“He’s gone, isn’t he?” Catalina asked.
“Yeah. I invited him to join Protection, Inc., but he said he had stuff he needed to do.” Shane was less disappointed than he would have expected. It had taken him a year, a team, and finding his mate to come to terms with what had happened to him at Apex. He understood why Justin too needed time.
“Come home with me now,” Catalina said, slipping her hand into his. “I want you to meet the family.”
***
Shane spent the entire drive bracing himself to meet her family. If they didn’t approve of a paramedic, they wouldn’t approve of a bodyguard, even one who probably made better money than the average lawyer. But instead of the big family home she’d described, she pulled up at an apartment building.
Shane laughed. “Oh. This family.”
Catalina grinned at him. “You can run the gauntlet of my relatives later. It’ll be just like me meeting your team, except once they finish harassing you, they’ll feed you to make up for it. I hope you like tamales.”
“Love ‘em.”
“How about cats?”
“To eat?”
Catalina rolled her eyes at him, then punched him in the arm. She’d gotten more used to her power by then; it didn’t hurt at all.
“I like cats,” Shane said. “I don’t know how they’ll feel about me, though. I don’t think I’ve met any since I became one myself.”
“Then this should be interesting.” Catalina unlocked the door.
Her apartment was small but cozy, lived-in but not cluttered. There was a comfy-looking sofa, photos of her family, a TV and video game console, and a bookcase mostly filled with video games and DVDs. An elaborate, multi-story cat house was in one corner.
Catalina crouched down, and Shane followed her. Catalina’s family appeared to be lurking under the sofa.
He patted the floor. “Here, kitty, kitty.”
Three sets of glowing eyes stared back at him. One cat spat loudly, one hissed, and a third darted out from under the couch and leaped into Catalina’s arms.
“Poor baby,” said Catalina, but she was laughing, too. She rubbed the black and white cat behind its ears. It purred, banging its head hard into her arm, then turned to Shane and let out an angry yowl. “Maybe give them time to get used to you?”
They’re jealous, said Shane’s panther with satisfaction. Now they have to share.
“Good idea,” Shane said aloud. “Maybe they’ll like me better if I stay in the bedroom for a while.”
“By yourself,” Catalina said, nodding. “Give me some quality alone time with them.”
Shane put his hand on the small of her back and gave her a gentle shove. “Into the bedroom with you, woman.”
Clutching the cat tight to her chest, she did a backflip across the room, out of his reach. The cat yowled again, but it sounded more excited than scared. Shane bet it was saying, One of us!
“You stay in the bedroom,” Catalina retorted. “I wasn’t kidding about the alone time. My kitties and I haven’t seen each other in months! Don’t forget, there was all that time I spent in Loredana.”
Shane had forgotten about that. “Okay. Have your reunion. I’ll entertain myself. I got lots of practice with that at Apex.”
“It’s on the left,” Catalina called, over a chorus of happy meows.
Her bedroom was also small and cozy, but the bed was big enough for two. A backpack of emergency supplies was stashed under the bed, alongside a full duffel bag that Shane had no doubt was her go-bag, already packed with everything she’d need if she was called up to go abroad into a disaster zone on an hour’s notice and with no idea how long she’d stay. He’d had one too when he’d been a PJ. He had one still, out of habit, even though his bodyguard assignments were never that rushed.
Just how similar are we? Shane wondered.
He felt along the bed until he found the dent where Catalina usually slept, then lay in it and reached out into the bed frame. His first try found nothing, but then he remembered that his arms were much longer than hers. When he felt in the place that would be within her arm’s reach, he found a heavy flashlight, perfect for knocking out an intruder.
Catalina opened the door. Three cats skulked warily behind her, then drew back and hissed at the sight of Shane.
Shane held up the flashlight. “I found your weapon.”
“It’s actually in case there’s an earthquake,” she said, looking embarrassed.
“Catalina. It’s exactly where I keep my gun.”
“Okay, yeah, it’s my weapon,” she confessed. “I’ve never had to use it, but I like having it, just in case. I don’t need it any more now, I guess. Still... If there was an earthquake...”
“Of course you should keep it.” Shane replaced the heavy flashlight. “Who gave you a hard time about it?”
“A jerk who never got invited back again,” she said. “He called me paranoid and said I’d never be able to fight off a man anyway. He’d have had a nice night with me if he’d just kept his mouth shut. We were already undressed. I picked up his clothes and threw them and him out the front door.”
“I hope it was a cold night,” Shane said.
Catalina smiled. “The next morning, I found footprints in the frost. Barefoot. I accidentally dropped his shoes on our way out.”
She came into the room and beckoned to the cats. They hung back, staring balefully at Shane. He crouched down, trying to make himself seem less threatening. It didn’t work. They backed away, their fur puffed up and their tails lashing.
“They hate me,” Shane said.
“They’ll get over it,” replied Catalina.
They bow before their proper lord and master, hissed Shane’s panther smugly.
Don’t be ridiculous, Shane replied. Cats don’t have lords or masters. Not even housecats.
“Did you show them your leopard?” Shane asked Catalina.
“I did! They were thrilled. I foresee lots of time with us all sleeping in a pile on the sofa. If my leopard fits on the sofa.” She grinned at him. “Maybe I’ll buy a giant deluxe couch so we can all fit. Your panther too.”
That sounded pretty good to Shane. “What are their names?”
“The black one is Jessica Jones, the orange tabby is Natasha Romanova, and the black and white one is Rogue.”
His mate’s pets were all named after superheroines. Of course they were.
He offered the cats his hand. Jessica spat at him and ran away. Rogue gave him a cautious sniff. Natasha tilted her head, considered him silently with her brilliant green eyes, and then nudged his palm. When he petted her, she bit him and fled.
Shane wryly examined his bleeding hand. “We’re going to need a demilitarized zone.”
Catalina lifted his hand and kissed it. “That’ll be the bedroom.”
She kicked the door shut. It slammed behind her back, making the frame shake. The atmosphere in the room altered in an instant, s
witching from easy playfulness to a charged intensity.
Shane remembered how he’d showed her his kata in their prison at Apex. He’d known halfway through that this was the moment, this was how he’d lose control, this was when they’d kiss for the very first time. When she’d pressed herself against his hard-on, he’d known that he had to offer to step away, but he’d also known that she’d refuse. He’d known that in just seconds, they’d be making love, him inside her, her enveloping him, their bodies and hearts changing a place of cold and fear into one of heat and passion.
He could feel that same knowing urgency now. Catalina’s breasts were heaving beneath her low-cut blouse, her breath loud enough to hear. They snatched at each other, falling hard against the door. The frame shook again, sending a vibration through their bodies.
He bent to kiss her, smelling the cinnamon spice of her hair as it fell across his face, cool against his burning skin. Then he bent lower, pressing his mouth into the delicious curve where her shoulder met her throat. He flicked his tongue across that soft flesh, tasting salt, feeling nothing but smooth skin. She was a shifter too now, quick to heal. The scar of his last bite was long since gone.
She gripped his upper arms, fingers digging in tight. The sensation was more intense than painful, though it was hard enough to bruise. He wondered if she knew, and meant to leave her marks on him. They’d be gone soon enough, but he liked the idea of having the imprint of her fingers on his body.
“Go on,” she whispered. “I want you to.”
He bit down, quick and hard, tasting copper. She gasped, her fingers tightening even harder, but he knew it was from excitement, not from pain. Or at least, not from the bad kind of pain. Even with his human senses, he could smell her arousal, hot and musky and very, very female. It had to be soaking through her panties.
His cock pressed up against her belly, rubbing into her soft flesh with every inhale and exhale of her breath. He didn’t know how much more he could stand. His blood had been replaced with pure adrenaline. He couldn’t control his breathing. He was shaking with desire, tremors running up and down his body like he was freezing to death. He had to get in from the cold.
Catalina licked a drop of sweat from the hollow of his throat. Her voice was a throaty purr as she said, “This is why I wore a skirt.”
Shane had assumed she’d dressed more formally to see her family. The real explanation excited him so much that his hands shook as he unzipped his jeans. His cock had been so tight against the denim, releasing it was a tremendous relief. The sensitive head was slick and glistening, the shaft rock-hard and throbbing.
He reached under her skirt to pull off her panties. His fingers slipped between her slick thighs, then sank into wet heat. She wasn’t wearing any panties.
A bolt of lightning shot up his spine. He heard himself groan, even as she gasped and thrust herself against his fingers. He wanted to be inside her so much, so much, now. But she was gasping in his ear, her face flushed, her eyes closed and her black eyelashes fluttering. Her hot juices ran down his hand, and he could feel her clit swell and pulse.
She was so close to coming, just from his fingers inside her, it was all he could do to not come himself, without even being touched. He buried his face in her shoulder, biting her again, marking her as his own, as she cried out her climax and her inner walls pulsed against his fingers.
“Shane...” she gasped. “Shane...”
“I— I have to—” He couldn’t even get the words out. He grabbed her under the hips, lifted her off her feet, and pushed her up against the door.
His fingers were wet with her juices. He could smell her arousal, her own unique scent, as strongly as if he was going down on her. The taste of copper was in his mouth. He thrust into her, burying himself in that liquid heat. Now he was in her, as she was in him.
In the entire time they’d been making love, she’d never let go of his arms, not once. Her grip tightened to the point of pain as he thrust inside her, but that only made him more excited. Her smell, her tight wet heat, her soft gasps, her responsiveness to his every thrust, the contrast between her soft flesh and the iron grip of her fingers— all of it was driving him wild. They were two of a kind, halves of a whole, mates who needed to live on the edge, in the place where pain and pleasure met, where danger made you feel alive, where you and your beast were one.
Shane let go of control, abandoning himself to the wildness within him. And not only wildness, but pleasure and passion and freedom and love. His climax shattered his senses, then reknit him new and whole. He and Catalina were so close as to be one heart in two bodies, and yet he felt more himself than he had in years.
Finding your mate is finding yourself, he thought. This is me. I’m finally back.
He set Catalina down. She staggered, clutching at his arm for support. Shane didn’t feel too steady himself. Luckily, the bed was right there beside them. They collapsed on it and lay together, gasping and sweaty and content.
Catalina gave a long sigh of pleasure and ran her fingers through his hair. “It’s good to be home.”
Shane knew she wasn’t just talking about her apartment. He was her home, the place where she was loved and safe, respected and treasured. And she was his.
Her soft breasts pressed into Shane’s chest, and her strong legs curled around his. He’d never felt such a sense of belonging in his life.
She ran her fingers around his upper arm, tracing the marks she’d left. Before Apex had taken and remade him, such new bruises would have been red. But with his accelerated healing, they were already black against his pale skin, the outlines of her fingers sharp as tattoos. By the next morning, they’d be gone, just like the closing bites he’d left on her shoulder.
Catalina knew him too well to apologize or ask if he minded. Instead, she said, “I saw a king’s armlets in a museum once. They were pure gold. From the size of them, he’d have worn them right there.”
“Lucas probably has some of those,” Shane said. “But I like yours better. Property of Catalina Mendez.”
“All others keep out.” She bent to kiss them, her lips hot against his sensitized skin. Then she rested her head on his shoulder, turning deliberately so he could smell her hair.
He never wanted to move from that spot, but he did have one arm free. Without disturbing her, he reached out across the bed to the opposite side from where Catalina kept her flashlight. It was empty, of course, but there was a space where his gun would fit.
“You could keep your gun there, if you like,” Catalina said.
Shane was no longer surprised that she’d known what he’d been thinking. After all, he’d known that her flashlight was as much a weapon as a tool.
Mates know, he thought.
Finally, hissed his panther.
“Want to move in?” Catalina asked, her eyes bright with hope. “I know it’s small and the neighborhood’s not that great— it was the best I could do on a paramedic’s salary— but I like it. But if you hate it, we could both keep our own places. Or I could move in with you, if you really wanted me to and you’re okay with the cats moving in too. Your place is probably much nicer.”
“Not even close,” Shane replied. “Yeah, it’s bigger and I’m sure the rent is higher. But I’ve lived there for a year and it still looks like a hotel room. I’ve seen barracks with more individual character. Now that I know I’m not going to just vanish some day and never be seen again, I’d like to have a real home. And you’ve already got one. I’d rather live here, if you want me here.”
“Of course I want you here. The kitties will just have to deal.”
Shane heard a scratching noise that was almost certainly an annoyed cat, but just maybe could be something more sinister. He moved to get up.
Catalina tightened her arms around him. “Where’re you going?”
“To check the front door.”
“I locked it,” she said. “That’s just Natasha trying to get into the cupboard where I keep the catnip. That’s
locked, too, but she never gives up.”
Shane relaxed, trusting her. Her hair fell across his face in tickling strands and smooth locks, soft as cream. He held her tight, utterly content. He didn’t need to go anywhere. He had everything he needed, right here.
The soft huff of Catalina’s chuckle warmed his cheek. “I can hear you purring.”
***
A note from Zoe Chant
Thank you for reading Protector Panther! I hope you enjoyed it. If you’re starting the series here and would like to know more about Shane’s team, the first book is Bodyguard Bear and the second is Defender Dragon. Please click here to review Protector Panther, even if you only write a line or two. I love hearing what my readers think.
I’ll write more stories about Protection, Inc., but I haven’t decided who should star in the next one. Can you help me figure it out? If you know whose story you’d like to see next, please leave a comment in an Amazon review or email me. Your votes last time helped me decide to have Shane and Catalina star in this book.
If you’d like to be emailed when I release my next book, please click here to be added to my mailing list.
Please keep paging down to read a special sneak preview of Laura’s Wolf (Werewolf Marines). If you enjoy Protection, Inc, I highly recommend Lia Silver’s Werewolf Marines and Lauren Esker’s Shifter Agents. All three series have hot romances, exciting action, brave heroines who stand up for their men, hunky heroes who protect their mates with their lives, and teams of shifters who are as close as families.
The cover of Protector Panther was designed by Augusta Scarlett. The kata Shane shows Catalina is called Tomari Bassai, which means “Storming the Fortress.” Click here to see it performed by Japanese champion Rika Usami. The Sea of Stars is a real place.
***
More Paranormal Romance by Zoe Chant
Bodyguard Bear. (Protection, Inc. # 1). A curvy paramedic who witnesses a murder + the sexy bear shifter bodyguard sworn to protect her with his life + firefights and fiery passion = one hot thrill ride!
Defender Dragon. (Protection, Inc. # 2). A curvy backpacker who loses a shoe at a ball + a lonely dragon prince facing an arranged marriage to a princess he doesn’t love + magnificent castles and deadly assassins = one thrilling romance!