Cristían's head ached from the pressure. The more he fought the light, the more it hurt. He begged for the euphoria he'd had before. A tendril of white light slipped past his meager defenses down to his throat. He gasped for breath and felt the light wrap around his heart. The caress soothed his pain, calmed the panic, and told him all would be well.
With a psychic nod, he let go. And the knowledge of the ages and all the worlds that had ever existed became his. Information poured into his brain, too fast to comprehend. Cristían didn't try to make sense of it. He merely accepted. Strength came with the knowledge. He felt it in his muscles, in the structure of his cells. He knew everything…was everything.
“Cristían?”
Jeremy's voice…in his head. The reason why came to him instantly, as did other revelations. Jeremy needed him now, or he'd die.
Cristían begged the powers that be—if that's what this was called—to hurry. The tendrils zipped to all parts of his body and just as quickly retreated, resetting his system as they went. The vortices of energy spun in sync, great cogs in the force of which he was now a part. White petals folded back into the gold ball and reconnected with the violet cloud. Its mission complete, Cristían expected a door to slam between it and him. But while the gold dispersed into a shower of gold sparkles, the violet cloud and the link it forged remained. He didn't ask why. He knew. He knew everything, and the weight tore a hole in his heart.
That's when the veil slipped into place. The information was gone, leaving only snippets at the edges of his mind to access when he was ready…and not a moment before. He'd been tested and had failed. Cristían wasn't sure if that devastated or relieved him. He'd go with relieved for now. Having the collective knowledge of the universe was an onerous burden.
He flexed his fingers and felt new strength coursing through him. The powers had blessed him with a gift from their encounter. Cristían nodded, accepting the honor, and vowed he'd use it wisely.
A pained rrawow! bolted him upright. Glass shards rained to the floor. His lab coat looked like it had been bathed in acid. It hung in tatters from his shoulders. Holes punctured the dark blue pullover underneath, but his jeans and sneakers were still intact. He held out no hope that any of the vials or petri dishes had survived. The gods only knew where his laptop had landed.
Cristían shoved through the debris trail toward where he'd last seen Jeremy. Desks, chairs, and equipment moved from his path with the merest flick of his hands. The new strength, though it served him well, was also a bit unnerving. Daunting, even.
Jeremy lay in a ten-foot-wide depression carved into the floor from the blast. He twisted in the throes of his first shift, an erection waving above his jeans, which had been shoved down to his hips, his lab coat and T-shirt bunched up to his chest, and a naked woman kneeling at his feet.
Dear gods! He blinked. Lupe? The green eyes, petite build, and tumble of multicolored hair left little doubt. Well, well. If Jeremy could be transformed, why not the little cat?
A sea of glass surrounded them. Any movement would cut them, and neither would understand how to deal with the wounds in their present state. Both were caught up in the wonder and lust of first shift.
Cristían ripped off what remained of his lab coat to brush the area clear. One sweep of his arm scattered the glass to the edge of the crater. The power he possessed shocked him in his tracks. It seemed he'd been blessed with more than just the gift of enhanced strength. Shit. How would he know if the next ability he discovered would kill the two he longed to save?
A single word filtered into his head. Trust.
In who? Or what? Myself? Or others?
The answer never came, and he wasn't going to stand there waiting for it. One thing he did know—Jeremy would be suffocated by his clothing if Cristían didn't help him undress. If his helping contributed to Jeremy's demise, he prayed it would be a merciful death and take him as well.
And what about Lupe? his conscience asked.
One thing at a time, damn it! He hurried onward.
Lupe's startled green eyes jerked his way, momentarily freezing him. She was a pretty cat, but she was a beautiful woman.
“It's okay, little warrior. It's okay.” He cupped her cheek, then grabbed Jeremy's sneaker and yanked it off. Claws sprang through his socks.
“Can you help me undress him?” he asked Lupe. “His clothes will suffocate him otherwise.”
He shifted his hand into a jaguar paw and used his razor-sharp talons to rip Jeremy's jeans up the leg.
“I can't. I don't have those anymore, Cristían.”
The fact that she could talk shocked the hell out of him, but there would be time to analyze that later. “It's okay, little one. Grab the socks and try to pull them off.” He sliced down the other jeans leg and yanked off the second shoe. Lupe snagged the socks by the tops and rolled them free of his feet and claws. Jeremy's paws expanded, and he yowled again.
“Hang in there, buddy. Inward and calm. You'll learn to control it in no time.” Cristían grabbed Jeremy's T-shirt and lab coat and ripped both up the front. Buttons shot skyward and clattered to the bare concrete.
“I can't move, Cristían.”
Cristían managed a smile. “You're scared, that's all. We all are our first time, even if we're prepared.”
“You can hear me!”
“I can.” He tapped his head. “In here. You'll also be able to understand me when I speak. Hang in there. After the first shift, there's no further pain involved.” He ripped the sleeves and ran his hand down the newly sprouted black fur. “You did it, Jeremy. Your experiment worked.” He wouldn't allow himself to think beyond that.
Jeremy's brown eyes glowed amber, the color partly from shifting and partly from the joy that he'd succeeded. His body shimmered, and he whipped to all fours in full black jaguar form.
“Beautiful.” Cristían ran his hand down Jeremy's spine.
Jeremy arched his back into the caress and butted his head against Cristían's. “Thank God you're all right.”
He dug his fingers into Jeremy's soft ears. “I can't believe you managed to start undressing. You had to be half paralyzed with fear.”
“I was. She's the one who got the jeans down.” He curled his jaguar body around Cristían to stare at Lupe. “She…uhm…”
Her head popped up on a puzzled frown. “You told Barry you wanted a blowjob. Did you not? Did I not do it correctly? I made it spit like I've seen you make it do.”
Jeremy's tail fanned the air. Clearly he had no response. Embarrassment was the same, no matter what the species. Cristían was shocked she had heard them mindspeak. It wasn't a skill the other shifters, the mountain lions, possessed, as far as he knew.
“I'm sure you did it just fine, Lupe,” Cristían answered for him.
“I've watched Frieda do that to you many times. There's very little blowing involved.” She gave them a look of cat disdain that was pure Lupe. “I don't care for her, you know. I would be pleased to see her go. I certainly did not wish to have to share Jeremy with Barry on top of that. You both are mine. I love you.”
“It is Lupe. I thought I was hallucinating.” Jeremy's black head jerked Cristían's way. “How?”
“We'll figure that out soon,” Cristían said. “Right now we have to help you control your shifting and get you back to human form before we can get out of here.” If they could get out of there.
“And me?” Lupe asked. “Will I have to go back to what I was?” She glanced down at her breasts. “Because I'm very fond of these.” She cupped her breasts and thumbed her nipples. “This feels so good!”
Cristían's cock surged to life. Pheromones peppered the air. Jeremy quivered with the need to mate, a feeling Cristían knew all too well at the moment.
“No wonder you like to touch them so much.” She thrust her bosom toward him. “Do you want to touch mine?”
Jeremy rumbled a response for both of them and curled around Cristían. Cristían dug his fingers into Jeremy's thick
fur to keep them off Lupe's tempting tits. Driven by the heady lust of sex pheromones from two newly minted shifters, he wanted her more than anything. The craving to mate had them all in its grip. Duty prevailed. As an experienced shifter, his obligation was to see that they transitioned well.
Cristían reached for her hands and pulled them down. “Not right—”
Jeremy mounted him from behind, barbed jaguar cock hard and stabbing for entry, despite the fact Cristían still had his jeans on. The need to shift and claim the dominant role crawled over Cristían. “Not now, buddy.” He batted Jeremy's ears and pushed him off. Jeremy snarled.
Cristían cuffed his head. “Control. We need to get out of here, and you need to—”
“Ooo, Cristían!” Lupe squealed. “Touch me here!” She had her hands shoved in her crotch, working her clit.
He grabbed her wrists and jabbed his foot in Jeremy's chest. “No, Lupe, not now.” He pulled her hands to her sides. “No touching of anyone. Focus, please.”
That earned a snort from Jeremy, now pacing a short circuit behind him.
Lupe's lower lip trembled. “You touch Frieda there, but you won't touch me?” Her big green eyes puddled with tears.
Cristían struggled for words to explain. Until a short while ago, Lupe had been a cat. Her world had revolved around instant gratification. Now she was starting to cry, and he'd never felt more helpless.
“Do you not love me? You said you did.”
“Of course I do.” He tried to draw her onto his lap.
Lupe halfheartedly fought the embrace and kicked out at him as she crawled back a few inches. “You said you would always take care of me. Called me your pretty little warrior.” Tears slipped down her cheeks. Lupe frantically batted at them. “No! Water! I'm leaking water!”
Jeremy shoved past him and butted his head between her legs. Lupe toppled backward and wrapped her fingers around his ears. Cristían grabbed Jeremy's haunches. Before he could pull him off her, Jeremy nudged his nose deeper. Lupe gasped and tried to hook her ankles over his thick neck.
“Stop! Now!” Cristían sprouted claws, dug them into Jeremy's back legs, and hauled him back. “You, lie down!”
Jeremy settled at Lupe's toes, tail waving in annoyance. Cristían blessed the stars that Jeremy accepted his alpha role. Had they not already established a close bond, they could have come to blows. They still could, if Cristían didn't diffuse the sex situation.
“Come here, little warrior.” He pulled Lupe upright. “There's no need to fear. That's not water. Those are tears. You're crying. You've seen it before. Humans do that when they experience deep emotion.” Like the kind he was sure he was going to get when she realized humans needed to bathe. Her fear of water might be enough to make her willing to shift back into a cat.
She scrubbed her fists over her cheeks. “I…need.”
“I'll take care of it.” He brushed his hand down her tangle of hair.
There was really no other choice. They needed clear heads to get out of there and to return to their original forms. The ramifications of discovery…
A door in his mind opened, letting in a piece of the information he'd received minutes before. The weight sagged his shoulders, scattering the effects the pheromones had on him.
Lupe crawled into his lap. Jeremy edged closer, nudging his nose against Cristían's foot. This was friendship and devotion. But would it last in the time to come, the choices to be made? He sighed. Their immediate needs had to come first, or they'd never make it out of the lab.
“Let's get you comfortable.” Using Jeremy's clothing as padding, he turned Lupe around and tucked her hips between his open thighs.
She settled her back into his chest with a contented sigh and stretched her legs next to his. Her ass was warm as rain-forest heat nestled against his crotch. Jeremy sniffed her toes, then licked his raspy tongue over the sole of her foot.
Lupe giggled and lifted her other foot to his mouth. Jeremy playfully caught it between his sharp white teeth. Cristían cupped his hand to her wet pussy and palmed her breast. Lupe bowed into the touch on a half mewl, half groan. His cock pulsed, wanting more than ever to be with the other two, rather than a frustrated bystander.
“Have a care, my friend. Your jaws are powerful.”
“I need too, Cristían. So bad, my balls are burning.”
“Mine too!” Lupe cried out. “The one right here.” She shoved her hand under Cristían's to reach her clit.
“I've got it, little one.” He eased her fingers away and rubbed slowly.
Another sigh settled her once more.
He remembered how he felt his first time shifting. Then, there'd been a ceremony and others to guide him through the shift and the sex. All Jeremy had were Cristían and the little she-cat writhing between Cristían's legs.
“It's the pheromones from the first shifting. Both of you are overwhelmed and need the release. You need to shift into human form, Jeremy. Focus. Pull in for human. Push out for jaguar. Like a tide that ebbs and flows.”
Jeremy dipped his jaguar head in a nod. “I've been feeling that rock me. It's hard to control right now. All I can think about is sex.” He closed his amber-colored eyes. “I don't want to hurt her.”
Another thought occurred to Cristían. “Have you mated before, Lupe?”
“Oh yes. But it felt nothing like this. Please…more…” She rolled her hips against his erection.
“Then don't do what I just told Jeremy to do.” If it would even work for her.
“Never.” She twisted her head around to look at him. “I don't want to go back. I want to stay this way. To be with you, both of you.”
Crazy as it sounded, he wanted that too. Now that he'd seen her, held her, Cristían never wanted to let her go. For now he wouldn't think about the obstacles to come. He'd grab this moment and live it…if he could just figure out how to get out of his clothes without having to release her.
“Shh, little one.” He brushed his thumb over her full mouth and smiled when her tongue darted out to lick it. His cock pulsed against her hip. His clothing was a blessing in disguise. Without it, what little control he possessed would be screwed. Maybe it already was in this sex-charged atmosphere.
Lupe swung around, astride his lap. He cupped her breast, kneading it until it felt like the hard nipple pierced through to the other side. She tossed her head back and tried to push her breast deeper into his palm, eyes closed, mouth agape, her long hair tickling the hand he pressed against her ass. Her thighs locked her in place over the ridge of his erection.
Jeremy released a rumbled groan. Cristían felt the sound in his balls. A shimmer built around Jeremy's body as he struggled to master the complexities of shifting while in the throes of first heat. Seeing Lupe ride Cristían's zipper probably didn't help either, though it was doing sweet things to Cristían.
Hand cradling her shoulders, he rolled them forward and sucked Lupe's nipple into his mouth. She cried out and tried to use her legs to drag his pelvis back to hers. He wedged his fingers between them and slid into her wet pussy. Her walls clamped onto his fingers when he burrowed them inside. His cock screamed in protest at being excluded when he thumbed her slippery clit. Nails gripped his shoulders, feeling very much like claws. The sensation called to the jaguar inside. It was the distraction he needed to keep from coming.
He circled her clit and thrust his fingers into her tight body. Sharp pants hitched her breath. Her arms and legs were locked tight around him. Cristían flicked his tongue around her nipple, mimicking the action below. He felt the quake build inside her. The ripple as an orgasm overcame her nearly did him in, but it was nothing compared to the feel of her opening and letting go.
He clutched her close and let her ride it out, burying his face into her neck to inhale her scent. Another groan pulled his head up. Jeremy had done it—finally managed the shift back to human form. He lay sprawled on the floor, panting, his eyes locked on them, his erection beyond full and more than ready.
She blinked up at him. “And you?”
He cupped her chin and traced her mouth again. Gods, how he wanted to kiss her, to lose himself in her! “I'll be right behind you. Hurry, little one. The man's in true pain.”
She crawled from his lap and over to Jeremy. Jeremy reached for her when she straddled his hips; then he grabbed his cock to guide it to her pussy. Cristían expected her to question what to do, then realized she'd apparently watched humans enough over the years to know. Without hesitation, she slid onto Jeremy's erection. Their moans sliced through Cristían's gut.
Clothes be damned, he couldn't wait a second longer! The pheromones had a choke hold on him, squeezing and squeezing until he could barely breathe from their clutch.
Cristían fumbled to pull down his jeans and briefs while he edged toward the couple on his knees. They were too lost in the wonder of each other to notice him. His cock sprang free when he reached Jeremy's feet. Cristían touched Jeremy's leg to keep him from being startled. All Jeremy did was open wider to give him room. Cristían glided his hand over Lupe's hip. Her skin was hot and smooth.
Jeremy spanned his fingers over her back and pulled her down. She lifted her hips to Cristían. His cock watered for a taste of her tight ass and the feel of Jeremy's cock fucking her from the other side. He traced his finger over the rosette. It clenched under the touch, but she whimpered slightly when he tried to press inside. There would be other times for such play, when they could better prepare her.
Cristían shoved his jeans and briefs down to his knees. Braced on his hands, he leaned over them and aimed his dick for the space between their bodies. He eased in until his balls kissed Jeremy's and the heat from their stomachs cradled his erection.
“Ride us, Lupe.”
And she did, fucking them like she'd done this for years, rather than being a first-timer. Blood filled his pelvis and rushed to his cock and balls. He loved the heat of her body between them, the cushion of Jeremy's sac against his, the scent of sex and pheromones twirling around them.
Into the Heart 3: Into the Wild Page 3