by A. Star
But what my fellow pussycats didn’t know was that I didn’t want to “service” anybody else. As long as Luke was around, my shop was closed for business.
Luke was rambling on about something or other concerning his business trip, and I nodded and “hm-mm’d” at all the right times, but I wasn’t really listening. I was too busy studying him. I just didn’t understand how a man this wealthy, this powerful, and this damn adorable could still be single. But he was. He wasn’t married, never had been, and he didn’t have a girlfriend. I’d spent a lot of time thinking about that and could only come up with one reason why.
Luke was too powerful and rich for the average woman; too nerdy and unusual for the upper class ones. But what they didn’t know, what he hid from them so damn well, was when he slipped those glasses off, ripped the bow tie from beneath his over-starched collar, popped the suspenders holding up his designer pants and let all of his tailored clothes hit the floor, he was a man. A warm-blooded, feral man with a libido like I had never encountered, not even in male shifters. The sex was good, the sex was great, and I honestly could not get enough of him.
The server reappeared with our entrees. I examined my steak as it was set down in front of me. After a moment, I nodded at our server to let them know it passed inspection and they left. I liked my steaks as rare as they could be without grossing out everyone in the room. Sure, I was half-human, but I was a jaguar first and jags didn’t cook their meat in the wild. They ripped it right out of some poor buffalo’s ass and didn’t think twice about it.
“I think I just heard your meal ‘moo’,” Luke said.
“Oh hush,” I replied. Luke always poked fun at my craving for raw meat, so I’d come to expect it whenever we dined together.
“So, tell me again how shifter DNA works,” he said as we ate. “The gene is passed down through your mothers, right?”
See, this is what made Luke a dork. He knew how the shifter gene worked. I’d told him a thousand times and he had read only about a dozen books on the subject, yet and still, he wanted me to tell him again.
“Yes,” I said, trying not to roll my eyes. Or smile. He was so fucking adorable, regardless. “No matter if our father is a shifter or not, if our mother is, we will be too. Well, girls will. It’s a toss up for boys.”
“Your father was a human, right?”
I stiffened a bit, though talking about my parents wasn’t new territory for us. “Yes.”
“And your mother is a jaguar?”
I nodded once. “Yes.”
“So if you and I had a daughter, she would be a shifter?”
“Most likely. I’m a half-breed myself so there’s a chance she might be human, but a boy would definitely be human. Not enough jag juice between the two of us to turn him.”
Luke put his utensils down and leaned back in his chair. “Interesting.”
Again, I didn’t know why Luke was acting like this was new information. Female DNA was more susceptible to the shifter gene than male. He already knew this. Why did he seem so fascinated?
We finished our meal in perpetual silence and waited for dessert. It arrived on silver platters with dome lids. That was new, but I figured the restaurant was just trying to upgrade our dining experience.
“After you, princess,” Luke said after our server had gone.
With a shrug, I lifted the lid. I gasped. “What the–”
Sitting on top of my favorite dessert of all time, espresso-flavored gelato covered in fresh strawberries and chocolate shavings, was a ring. A fucking ring. Like an engagement ring. My heart turned a somersault in my chest and landed right on its ass.
All I could do was stare. The little horror was fucking beautiful. The diamond was huge and pale blue–3 carats, at least–and was surrounded by smaller diamonds. The white gold band was thin and unblemished, and I knew right away that it was already sized to fit my finger. And damn this moment to hell, but blue was my absolute favorite color.
It was perfect.
“Luke...” I breathed.
“Marry me, Selene,” he replied. I looked up to find his eyes boring into mine. “I love you and I want you to be my wife.”
I started to shake my head.
“Don’t say no,” he said. Pleaded. “I already knew you wouldn’t say yes, but please don’t tell me no.”
I swallowed. “If you knew I wouldn’t say yes, then why are you asking me?”
He shrugged and pushed his dessert away from him. “Because I’m an idiot.”
“You’re not an idiot. You’re the mastermind behind some of the best security technology in the world. You’re brilliant.”
A corner of his mouth rose. “Yes, I am pretty brilliant, aren’t I?”
I couldn’t help but smile. “Modesty. Not your strong suit.”
He chuckled, but then his tone became serious. “Marry me, Selene.”
I took a shaky breath. “I can’t.”
His head drooped a bit. He couldn’t meet my eyes. “Don’t you care for me?”
“You know I do.”
“Then why won’t you marry me?”
“You know why.”
“Do I?” He lifted his head. “I know I don’t know the entire story about what happened to your parents. I’ve started to wonder if I’ll ever know.”
“Luke...” I looked down at the ring, and fuck, it took my breath away once again. I reached down and plucked it out of my gelato. With delicate fingers, I wiped the cream away and then just stared at it.
“Do you want me to sing?”
“What?”
“Sing.” Luke threw an arm out to one side. “I’ll get up and perform in front of everyone if that’ll get you to reconsider.”
I laughed. “Please don’t. You couldn’t keep a tune even if it had been surgically attached to your vocal chords. I’ve heard you in the shower.”
“Hmmph, I’m not that bad.” He pretended to sulk, but soon got over it. “But just think, we could make love every day and every night and wouldn’t have to be on any stupid schedule. Doesn’t that sound nice?”
I smiled. “Of course it does.”
“And don’t you like my love making?”
“Best I ever had.”
“How about my massages?”
“They’re amazing.”
“And my cooking?”
“Exquisite.”
“Don’t you like that I hang my towel up after I shower and always put the toilet seat down?”
“Most definitely.”
“And wouldn’t you agree that I’m never sexier than first thing in the AM with bedhead and morning breath? Don’t you want to be there for that every morning?”
I giggled. “Yes, Lucas.”
“I love it when you call me Lucas,” he growled.
My body instantly responded. To a cat-shifter, a purr said, I want you. Let’s go so I can get you home and into my bed where I’ll make sweet, passionate love to you. A growl said, if you bend over this table right now, I’ll fuck you in front of everybody.
Luke had indeed growled at me.
I stared at him, taking in his expression. It was very easy to read. All I had to do was lift up my dress.
“Um, may we have the check please?” I asked our server the second they reappeared at the table.
“Of course, ma’am.”
As we waited for the check, we stared at each other in silence. The ring was still sitting pretty in my hand. Luke eventually reached into his pocket, pulled out a beautiful case, and handed it to me, open. Feeling awkward, I gently slipped the ring into its cushioned holder, closed the case, and slid it back across the table to him. He returned it to his pocket without saying a word.
We left in his chauffeured car and arrived at his penthouse, the one I had a key to, only a short while later. We nodded at the concierge and rode the elevator up in silence. We entered the penthouse and headed straight for the bedroom, still not speaking. Usually I began shedding my clothes as soon as I hit the door, but
this time, I hesitated.
“I’m sorry, Luke,” I said, tossing my peacoat and clutch onto a plush chair in his bedroom suite.
He slipped off his glasses and set them on his night table. His tie and suspenders also came off before he answered. “For what?”
“For saying no.”
He smirked. “Don’t be sorry, my little jaguar princess. I’ll have you screaming ‘yes’ soon enough.” He winked and started unbuttoning his shirt.
I tried to hide my relief and headed toward Luke’s marbled bathroom. “I’ll only be a minute.”
“Not a second longer,” he replied in a low, desirous tone that caused a beautiful ache to pulse in the spot that mattered most. My fangs elongated in my mouth and my claws came out. That’s what Luke did to me. Kitty was ready to come out and play.
I made sure to leave the bathroom door cracked and stripped down to my bare skin. I stared at myself for a minute, then let the beast take over.
Most people would have screamed like a banshee if they had witnessed me walk into the bathroom as a woman and prowl out of it on four furry paws. But not Luke. Seeing me in my true form was nothing new to him.
He was already lying on his stomach across his bed when I stalked out and leapt up beside him, landing so expertly, I knew he barely felt it.
“Whenever you’re ready, I am,” he said, looking back over his shoulder at me. I purred and licked a spot on his lower back where some of my previous marks remained. He groaned into the comforter and begged me to get on with it. I obliged him.
I struck hard and fast with my claws, digging them into his shoulders and scouring his entire back in one unapologetic swipe. Luke moaned because he liked it, and feeling bold, I scoured him again. This time in a criss-cross pattern. It wasn’t enough to call for a hospital visit, but he was going to feel these for more than just a week this time. I don’t know what came over me. I’d never marked him like this. I was claiming him because he was mine. I...loved him. So why wasn’t that enough? Why couldn’t I just say yes?
I purred and stretched out beside him, licking his arms and rubbing my scent into his skin. He was mine, and fuck, that felt good to say.
“You’re so beautiful,” he said, raising up and stroking my back. I growled with satisfaction and arched into it. He didn’t even miss a beat as I shifted back into my human form, unable to wait another second to have him inside of me.
“Now,” he said, pulling me closer, “let the screaming begin.”
“You do know prostitution is illegal, right?” I teased as I nipped his chin with my fangs.
Luke froze. He frowned as he pulled away. “I told you before, Selene. I don’t see you as a prostitute.”
I giggled, not knowing how else to play off the fact that I’d clearly upset him. “It was just a joke, Luke.”
“It wasn’t funny.”
I let my laughter fade away. I shrugged. “It’s what I am.”
Luke’s jaw jumped as he clenched it. “I’d never propose marriage to a prostitute.”
I couldn’t hold his gaze. “But you did.”
Suddenly, Luke’s body was on mine, pinning me to the bed. He wedged his hips in-between my thighs and took my face in his hands. “Selene. You are not a prostitute.”
He wouldn’t let me look away like I wanted to. “Then what am I? You bought me from a an escort service, which is nothing more than a fancy brothel for cat-shifters. You pay me to show up here every week and do crazy, wonderful things with you. Sex. We have sex, Luke. I’m sleeping with you, even though I’m not supposed to. With that evidence, if I’m not a prostitute, then what am I?”
Luke leaned in until our lips were practically touching. “You’re mine,” he said.
We didn’t speak again for several hours.
Later as we lay together, tangled in the sheets with Luke’s proposal still hanging over us, I couldn’t help but think about where this was going. What were we doing? Was this no longer a long-term fling, but a relationship? How had I let it get this far? How had Lucas King gone from being my john to being my fucking boyfriend?
Even after he fell asleep, I stayed up trying to pinpoint the moment this...relationship...had jackknifed onto the road to marriage. When had I stopped being Luke’s infatuation and become a matrimonial prospect?
Fuck. I needed to talk to someone about this. My mother was out of the question. I didn’t think she’d be mad about Luke, but I didn’t want to make her sad with memories of my father. So that left the next best shifter. Or the worst.
Jazelle, the Madam of Purr, Inc.
*****
Purr, Inc. was all abuzz when I showed up the next day.
“Did you hear?” Morgan, a panther-shifter, stalked up to me and said before I’d even shut the second security door. We kept the cathouse locked up tight because more than a few of the girls had had stalkers over the years. “We’re getting a new cheet.”
Cheet, as in a cheetah-shifter.
“You don’t say,” I replied, not really giving a shit. All I had on the brain was Luke and his marriage proposal.
We walked past the client lounge where our receptionist, Nadia, was deep in conversation with someone on the phone. She waved to me before dipping her head to write something down.
“Piper is all in an uproar,” Morgan said as a smirk spread across her pretty, dark chocolate face. “Literally.”
Piper was our lone cheetah-shifter and I could only imagine the bitch fit she had thrown when she had heard the news. She had gotten quite used to being the most prized shifter among us and wasn’t going to give it up without a fight. I didn’t envy this new kitty one bit.
“I’m surprised Jazelle accepted another one with Piper being such the spoiled little bitch that she is.”
Morgan rubbed her fingers together. “Money, baby. Mo’ money, mo’ power, and Jazelle wants it all.”
I could only nod. No truer words had been spoken about our Madam.
“Where is Jazelle anyway? I need to speak with her.”
We rounded the corner leading away from the lounge and came to a stop when I saw something like ten to fifteen bronze-toned men in suits and sunglasses crowded around the large bar located in another chic lounge we called “Election Headquarters.” This was where the girls campaigned for potential clients and where said potentials usually cast the ballots for their favorites. A bit of that was going on now, but most of men seemed uninterested in the girls, which was surprising to say the least.
“Who the hell are they?” I questioned, tossing my peacoat over a chair in the corner and signaling to our jaguar bartender, Claudia, for my usual cosmopolitan. She threw me the thumbs up as she handed one of the suits a snifter of brandy.
Morgan flung her manicured hand behind her. “They’re with that lame ass Egyptian diamond douchebag Jazelle has in her office. And let me tell you, there’s like another twenty assholes in there with them. I mean, who brings an entourage this size to a fucking cathouse? Losers. And why the hell do they still have their sunglasses on? There’s no sun in here!”
“You know how those tycoon types are,” I said, smoothing down my dress even though it was too tight to have any wrinkles. “They live for trying to make people believe they’re more important than they really are.” Except for Luke, I thought. He was different. “Did you at least see what he looked like?”
She shook her head. “Like I said, there were too many assholes blocking my view. But how much you wanna bet the douche was wearing shades?”
More girls gathered around me, expressing their excitement or ire over the new cheetah that would be joining us and asking what I knew about the Egyptian. Hardly any of the men in his posse would speak, let alone give up the goods on their boss. I listened, laughed and consoled when needed, just like the big sister they all considered me to be. I told them I didn’t know shit about the Egyptian and that I thought a new girl would be a welcome addition to Purr, Inc. Amberly, one of our young lynxes, was especially worried about another high
-in-demand cheetah coming to the party. It was competition she couldn’t afford. I told her she had nothing to worry about and assured her that the new cheetah would be fat and missing all the fur on her tail. She, of course, knew I was just joking, but it made her laugh and that was the point.
The door to Jazelle’s office eventually opened and a horde of bronze men spilled out. Creating a sort of soul train line outside the door, they parted like the Red Sea for their boss, who sported an exquisite gray suit over his tall frame, and of course, sunglasses. I saw Morgan roll her eyes and shake her head.
The Egyptian moved quickly toward the exit, like he was late for an appointment at another brothel or something. His entourage gathered in behind him and headed in the same direction. Halfway to the exit, his head turned in our direction and he halted in his tracks. The men behind him collided, one after the other, but none with the Egyptian. Turning fully toward us, he slid his glasses off his face, revealing handsome eyes as dark as his hair, and stared for several moments. His gaze was so hot and intrusive, even I started to sweat after a while.
“Who the hell is he looking at like that?” Morgan mumbled a minute later.
“You,” I breathed.
Morgan was stunning, so I wasn’t shocked. Her jet black hair was ironed straight and hung to her shoulders. Thick bangs were draped over her eyebrows and made her deep brown eyes that much more entrancing. Her beautiful, plump lips were only shown up by her to-die-for cheekbones, and she hardly wore any makeup that day, so her natural beauty was all the more prevalent.
My curves didn’t have anything on Morgan’s curves, and her red dress accentuated every single one of them. And her legs? Smooth and shapely in all the right places. The woman could wear a pair of heels like no female, shifter or not, that I had ever seen, so the fact that the Egyptian’s eyes had started there was no surprise to me.
Never taking those heated eyes of his off of Morgan, he slowly walked up to her, and in the most suave of gestures, took her hand, brought it up to his lips and kissed it.
That was all. Then his glasses were back on and he was barreling out of the room with his entourage in tow. For a moment, no one knew what to say.