The Panther's Rival

by Emilia Hartley

  “What?” she said, her voice airy as she tried to catch her breath.

  She was beautiful, even silhouetted. Merk ran his fingers through her hair. He hesitated a moment, anticipating some pain before he lifted up and leaned forward to kiss her. Their lips touched, sparks flew as their mouths opened and their tongues found each other. Merk felt a surge of energy rush through him, his feral nature rising. He put his hands on her waist and pulled her closer to him.

  Her waistline was bare. As he eased his hands lower he felt her bare skin then a slither of something stringy that wrapped around her ass, G-Strings were always sexy. Merk slid those off and then sat her on top of him, careful to ease her down, guiding her so that she could feel every bit of the protrusion. Kara moaned immediately and their bodies found a rhythm and dance that was tribal and sensual.

  She moaned. Merk pushed deeper inside her, his hand on her waist, then her ass, he slapped hard and he could feel the ripples of her cheeks against his thighs, her body shuddering each time. He watched her intensely, captivated by the way she moved on top of him. She seemed so controlled yet free. He didn’t understand how she could be both simultaneously. Kara leaned forward; her dark brown hair fell onto his chest, tickling him some. He could feel her body tightening, the strain was in the way she was now moving her body; her head was lowered as if something was being forced on her, but she liked it, the force, she called for it.

  “Fuck. More. More,” she moaned to him.

  Kara’s hands were flat on his chest as he rocked her back and forth on top of him with him deep inside of her and, feeling the depth. She was close.

  “I’m close,” she echoed his thoughts.

  Merk smiled to himself and kept the same pace. Kara began to move faster.

  “Yessss,” she hissed.

  Her body moved feverishly until… And then with each thrust of his, Kara rode and bumped and dropped down hard on him until she came. Her climax sent her leaning backwards, her body bent fully, reared back. She whinnied and once the orgasm had finished, her eyes fell to Merk’s.

  “Fuck…” she said breathlessly, looking at him.

  But they weren’t finished. The panther in him wouldn’t allow that.

  ***

  Sunlight filtered through the curtains. The light was faint, but it was enough to stir Kara. Merk watched her from the corner of his eye – he had been awake for a while just looking at her. With no make-up, her hair all tossed and unkempt, tearstains still on her cheeks that he imagined were for him made her look magnificent. He tried to imagine what it would feel like if it had been him seeing her hurt as badly as he had been, near death and maybe thinking she was going to die. He shuddered at the prospect.

  She was the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on, not to mention to have slept with. But it was about more than her looks – which were not glamorous at all but wholesome and full, a prettiness that one could easily call quiet. Yet her beauty was also so vibrant. Watching her stir and now opening her eyes to see him, he relived the night, her touch, how she felt to him, the places her mouth had been and where his was, and finally them making love. The raw passion. Pure. He loved every bit of it because he knew that he loved her. There was no more falling for her, he had already done that.

  “What – What time is it?” she yawned. “Oh my God! School! We – We’re late!”

  Merk smiled.

  “I called in for us,” he answered simply, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into him.

  “Wait. You called in for us both? You know how that’s gonna look?” she queried, sitting up, freely letting her breasts and nakedness come into view.

  “Well, I called in for you – I don’t have to be there as early. I coach,” he tried to reassure her.

  And it worked some. She still tried to hold on to the concern but Merk quickly took hold of her and pulled her to him. He kissed her. She kissed him back. But then she stopped.

  “Wait,” she said. “We need to talk.”

  Merk knew about what. He vaguely recalled hearing her last night talking to herself while she was bandaging him. He had believed that it was real but wasn’t all the way sure.

  “What are you?”

  It was surreal. To be asked such a question and knowing the answer to be supernatural or otherworldly. Merk hesitated. He had never had this conversation with anyone that wasn’t a shifter. Kara was just a human. In his past relationships, he had done everything and anything to hide what and who he was from the other person. He did this to the detriment of all of his relationships because there was always a void, an apparent disassociation between him and the other person because of the decision not to reveal all his identity; in many ways, it was like him not being true to himself.

  He wondered had the wolf not happened whether he would have tried to continue keeping Kara in the dark? Would he have done that as he had done with countless other people? Whatever the answer, Merk was glad that Kara knew. He was even gladder that she seemed okay with it and could handle it. But then that led to his own questions about her and just how familiar was she with shifters.

  “I’m a Panther Shifter.”

  Kara exhaled.

  “What?” Merk asked curiously.

  “I just didn’t want you to be something really weird – panther is okay,” she answered plainly.

  Merk didn’t want to laugh but the way she had answered – how she thought – nothing too weird? There was no one in the world like Kara and he was so grateful to have her in his life.

  “Wait,” he stopped her as she was about to get of the bed. “I need to know something.”

  He could see it in her eyes. It was the first time that he had noticed it, something behind those caring and thoughtful pearls, sometime layered and hidden, dark and foreboding. Kara knew more than she had let on. She knew about Ratty and his crew of Wolf Shifters, the question now was how much did she know and just how deep had she be in with them?

  “Yes, I knew,” she answered before Merk could ask.

  There were a few moments of silence as Merk let it wash over him.

  “You knew? How -? How long have you known? Wh – What’s your connection with him?” Merk had a lot of questions, and he didn’t want to come off as too abrasive with Kara. They were just finding themselves in their relationship and despite a disastrous night had found a way to salvage it, making love for the first time.

  Yet, Kara wasn’t a fickle woman, she had resolve and strength about her, so much was obvious. Merk knew that about her, it was one of the many reasons why he was attracted to her; she didn’t mind toughness and from the time that he had known her, she always seemed ready. He had seen her in her classroom, the way she dealt with the high schoolers in her class and around the school. He had also seen it earlier that day when Ratty confronted her and tried to call her out in front of him and the principal. Kara stood firm, there was no backing down or slinking away for her, and she wasn’t running from Merk’s questioning either.

  “I used to date him,” she answered, there was no shame in her voice. Merk was slightly bothered by this for he found Ratty a disgusting man in every way possible. He just couldn’t see his Kara with a man like Ratty.

  “Is that what all of this was about earlier? In your classroom?” Merk asked.

  She nodded.

  “We broke up well over a year before you came to town. A clean break. I had had enough of him and his crew – I knew what they were about – I was done with that.”

  Her words played around in his head. He tried to make sense of the woman in front of him. How she could ever have been with a guy like Ratty Fairweather? Merk had only met the man once in person and once as a wolf, but he knew from both those occasions that he was not good. He was an arrogant pith of a man, despicable, and he was ruthless as the wolf that he was. It wasn’t a surprise to him really, most shifters were like Ratty in some form or another. Being different, having that kind of power and uniqueness, abilities beyond that of the average human mo
ved most to the brink of madness and insanity. That was why shifters fought each other so much.

  There were always two kinds of schisms within shifters: Fighting among themselves for more power and control and then the battle to protect humanity and the code of what was good and bad, right and wrong. Most shifters were takers, purveyors of all things, and the world and the people and things in it were theirs for the pilfering. From the moment Merk had met Ratty and smelled wolf on him, he had known what kind of Shifter he was, a wolf and a narcissistic one.

  “If I had known that you were a shifter, I would have told you, especially after today,” she added. “I’m sorry.”

  Merk understood. Kara was one of those few humans that had been made privy to the other world that existed - the world of monsters and things that truly do go bump in the night. However, most humans were never free after knowing that the supernatural existed. It was even worse when they had been involved with one. The fact that Kara had been able to break from Ratty in the way that she had, and for her to freely walk around the same town, had to be a testament to who she was as a woman and a person.

  Shifters were possessive, even more so after a human had been brought into the fold of knowing their secret. Merk wondered how she did it, if there had been a struggle of some kind, a fight, even a sacrifice. No one usually left unscathed.

  Kara crawled across the bed to him. She reached for his tank, pulling on its ribbing, she pulled him closer to her. Kara brought his face to hers. She had a look on her. Her eyes met his and she stared into them, searching, seeking, it was like she was burrowing into his head, his mind. Merk felt odd, dizzy almost as he looked back at her, trying to hold her gaze.

  She kissed him. Her lips were soft and moist, even more so than before. Her breath was hard and earthy, different from the night before. Kara kissed him fully – her lips seemed fuller and he felt as if he was being swallowed whole. Somewhere, he lost time. When the kiss ended, he felt refreshed, fulfilled, and energized, as if he had just had the best sleep of his life. Kara pulled back from him. She had never been sexier. Her hands were gripping on to his arms, tight, firm and unusually forceful.

  “What -? What’s going on?” he asked, curious of the feeling he was experiencing. He was almost euphoric.

  “Nothing,” Kara answered back. He could see the sex in her eyes, pulling him to her, compelling him towards her. “I just want you to know that I am with you – only you – and that we are now in this together. Okay?”

  Merk understood what she was saying. This thing that was between him and Ratty wasn’t over. Ratty and his wolf pack had almost killed him. Even if Merk wanted to, there was no way to turn the other cheek or something like that. And now that he knew for certain that Kara and Ratty had been involved, he surmised that the old pack leader only had it out for him even more. Everything was about territory and even though somehow Kara had broken free from it and gotten out of the pack’s clutches, her absconding hadn’t reset what was primal and natural to the doggish troupe. Undoubtedly, Ratty still saw her as his and the pack would follow him.

  “Okay,” Merk answered.

  But he didn’t believe she knew the trouble that was coming their way just because he was a shifter, a Panther Shifter at that. Also that she happened to be the ex of the leader of the local wolf pack. Merk wondered if he could protect her. She was strong and brave, but he had seen shifters like Ratty before, and they were vicious and they would stop at nothing to bring down any and everyone that they believed threatened their authority and possibly stood in the way of a goal or something they wanted. Merk saw that easily: Ratty’s paw prints were all over the football team and then Kara.

  Kara climbed out of the bed. She was naked. Damn, she had a nice body. Her ass was full and her hips curvy. He could feel himself getting hard. She looked over her shoulder as she moved towards the doorway nearest her. She stopped just before stepping out.

  “Shower?”

  That wasn’t even a question. Kara smiled slyly and disappeared through the doorway, leaving the residue of seduction in her wake. It was a strange sensation. Merk could feel it, the seduction, it was literally palpable, like a misty and light spray that hovered and blanketed the room. He knew that he should be concerned about Ratty and his wolf brothers, but for some reason, he couldn’t focus. All he could think about was Kara at the moment, and rightfully so, she had just walked into his bathroom completely naked, expecting him to follow.

  Merk gave up on trying to form any other thought but of his and Kara’s bodies grinding against one another’s’ in the shower. He could feel it, taste it, it was such a weird sensation that literally kept coming over him with each thought of Kara. He surrendered. He took off his tank top as he moved in the direction of the bathroom. By the time he reached the door, he was completely naked and he could hear the water running through the door. He entered.

  ***

  Merk sat at the kitchen table eating breakfast, a bowl of cereal, grains, and a banana. He felt unusually and exceptionally drained since getting out of the shower with Kara. The sex had been amazing. Better than the first time, and that was good in its own right. This time had been different though. Merk felt completely in tune with Kara’s body, as if he was not only inside of her but as if he was her. It was a crazy feeling, surreal, he had never experienced anything like that before. It was a total displacement of himself. It was like he was in two places at once and none of it made sense; it only felt fuckin’ amazing! But right afterword, he felt exhausted and the worse of it had come a few minutes after she left out the door to go into work, she had to at least do the half of day that he had called in for her. So Merk fixed a small breakfast, hoping to get some much needed energy.

  As he sat there and ate, some strength began to come back to him; he could feel his energy levels returning to normal and with it clarity of mind. Merk hadn’t noticed but he had been in a kind of a daze, more like a fog, but he couldn’t remember when he had started feeling that way. He just remembered kissing Kara and then…

  Kara.

  Flashes of her naked body shot through his head. Suddenly, he could smell her and taste her. He all of sudden wanted her, insanely. He could feel his penis growing with every breath and each shooting memory of her in the shower. The sex had been good. She was an incredible lover. He could feel her. She wasn’t there but he could still feel her. Merk couldn’t control himself. He reached into his pants. He grabbed himself. He leaned back. Closed his eyes. Kara. He didn’t know what had come over him but it was an insatiable rush and as he jerked and moved all he could think about was Kara. Merk followed the rhythm and the sound of his voice calling her name as visions of her naked body in the shower danced and moved, gyrated and grinded in his mind. Merk could feel himself getting close to the release that he so desperately needed…

  ***

  Merk woke up with his head down on the table staring at his unfinished bowl of cereal. He had fallen asleep – at the table? Eating breakfast? Merk didn’t know what to make of it, of any of the strange things that had been happening to him since… Maybe he had a concussion. But that didn’t explain the surges of energy that he’d been experiencing and the sudden tiredness and draining of energy that was occurring, and then the insatiable lust for Kara that even for him had surpassed his own sex drive.

  No. Something else was happening and Merk didn’t know what. But at the moment he felt normal. Himself. His mind was clear and his body felt completely healed from the previous night’s injuries. He looked at his watch. It was almost noon. He had to get to school, there were things that he had to take care of at practice.

  Chapter Seven

  The locker room was quiet when he walked in. Mr. Hews probably had the kids outside running for P.E. class. Merk didn’t mind the silence. He needed a moment to decide on the approach that he wanted to take with Coach Winston. From what Merk could gather, he was a sympathizer, a human that wanted desperately to be a shifter, so they did the shifters’ dirty work for them
, always on their side and carrying out errands for them; they were the servants of shifters, they did the shifter’s bidding. Coach Winston was undoubtedly indebted to Ratty, which meant that as long as he was around, there would be problems for Merk.

  Merk sat his desk. He began to go through some papers; he had a mountain of student progress sheets to go through. The end of the quarter was getting close and with that came report cards and whether or not players were eligible for the playoffs – district, regionals, and beyond. Merk skipped through the pile to find RJ’s. This had been his concern since the day before, and what really had started the interaction with Ratty Fairweather.

  Damn. The kid fucking sucked in mostly all of his classes. The highest grade he had was a ‘C’ and that was in P.E. He couldn’t even get an ‘A’ in the class that he had with his father’s crony and sympathizer? No. Wait. Mrs. Longburress was his P.E. teacher. Merk didn’t really know her that well, but had heard rumors about her Sergeant Slaughter like tendencies. Still, a ‘C’ in P.E. and you’re the starting quarterback of the high school football team?

  When Merk was in school that would have been just fucking embarrassing. But not for RJ. No. He had Ratty and the Fairweather name to back him up, no doubt there was a sense of entitlement that governed RJ’s life and there really wasn’t a need to try to do better, to be better, no drive except to make sure that he truly got what he already thought belonged to him. That was the feeling that Merk had gotten from Ratty. And he had experienced the depths and means and lengths by which Ratty would go to secure and engender those things that he thought belonged to him.

  A knock came on the door. Merk looked at his watch. Kara was still teaching. Her last class didn’t end for a few minutes, so it couldn’t be her. For some reason, Merk didn’t want to be disturbed. There was too much to do and there was too much to think about – from football to the wolf shifters, he had to figure the shit out.