Larson: McCullough’s Jamboree – Erotic Jaguar Shapeshifter Romance

by Kathi S. Barton

  “I hadn’t been aware that he’d been hurt.” Mom told her that he’d been banged around too, but nothing too serious. “You have to wonder about a person that would do that to his wife and child. I never did like him. And his father wasn’t any better. He’d egg him on when we were children. Like it was some sort of game for him.”

  “Are his parents still alive? I know that they were trying to find next of kin, and didn’t have much to go on. This Axel, your cousin, he’s sort of a non-entity as far as paperwork goes.” She told him that his mom was alive but his dad was dead. “I wonder why Lauren couldn’t find her.”

  “Probably because she’d had enough of them. The two of them together, father and son, were too much for anyone. But she changed her name when Norine caught him with a bunch of child pornography. It was a huge scandal that left her without much. To the town, she died, killed herself, but all she did was change her name and leave the country. I don’t think she wants to be found. I think my mom has some contact with her, but you’d have to ask her about it.”

  Larson made a mental note to let Lauren know that. Virginia pushed her plate away and said she was stuffed. She’d done well, he thought, for someone that hadn’t eaten in a while.

  “You’ll have some pecan rolls, won’t you?” Virginia moaned and his cock ached. “I have two left, but you have to eat yours quickly or Larson will take it. He’s sort of selfish when it comes to sweets. Not that he eats that many of them, but when there are pecan rolls, he gets in over his head and has a sugar crash a few hours later.”

  After she ate her roll and most of his, they retired to the living room. He wanted to actually retire with her, but thought he was moving too fast. Mom left them there, saying that she had things to see to for tomorrow.

  “She’s trying to set us up.” He nodded. “Okay, I’m ready for some answers. Not too much detail, if you don’t mind, just answers.”

  “All right. But for each of your questions I answer, you have to answer one of mine.” She said that she could do that. “Okay, you go first.”

  “This thing between us. It’s permanent, isn’t it? I know that you told me that your mom said I got most of it right, but that was one of them?” He said that it was. “Yeah, I thought that would be too good if I was wrong about that part.”

  “You’re my mate. I can tell you what that means if you want.” She said that would be good. “All right. For my kind, shifters and such, we find one person that completes us. That sounds like a greeting card, I know, but the other person does really do that. My cat is stronger. He’s more protective, and he loves you like I do. And that’s another thing…we love with all our being, and immediately.”

  “In my books I say that they bond. I guess maybe it’s different with you. To bond with someone, they have sex.” Her face turned a pretty pink and he held his humor to himself, not wanting to embarrass her more.

  “That’s to mate. We have sex to mate. To bond with your mate, you exchange blood. I’ve not read your books, so I’m only guessing here that you don’t have them bite, or that they do something more.” She told him that she had only guessed on that part, but no, no one mated like he said. “There are different kinds of shifters. Are you aware of that?”

  “No. Just...I’m not sure what you mean.” He nodded and got up to go to the books on the shelf. “There are books about this?”

  “My mom and dad have written some things up that would be useful to someone that has been turned. You can save someone’s life if they’re mortally wounded and there is no help for them. But sometimes, because of the trauma that happens when the conversion occurs, they die anyway.” He handed her the book. “This might help. But don’t take it from here, please. My parents could get into a great deal of trouble for letting something like this get away from them. I think the rest of the women of the family have read it, but to take it away from here would be bad for all of us.”

  “I’d never do that.” She didn’t open the book, but looked at him. “I’m terrified, if you want to know the truth. I wrote about them for so long, and now I now find out that they’re real. Are there others out there?”

  “You mean vampires and such?” She nodded. “Oh yes. We have a good friend, as I mentioned before, that is a vampire. Her name is Anastasia. Her mate is a shifter too, but a tiger.”

  “You mentioned him. Tony the tiger. It took me a moment to realize why that was so familiar to me. I think mostly because I was trying to wrap my head around you being a shifter, but you said there were different kinds. I’m not ready for that right now.” He sat beside her. “Your turn.”

  “How long have you been a writer?” He didn’t think she was going to answer, even though it wasn’t hard, and a very normal question, but she really had to think about it, he thought. “If you don’t want to tell me, I understand.”

  “It’s not that. I have a hard time thinking of myself as a writer. I just do it. I guess it would be better if I told you something else. My mom and I were broke. Broken too, I suppose you could say, but we had nothing. For a while we lived in a car, then when winter came, we moved around a lot. Mostly old buildings that still had windows to keep the cold out. Then someone left a computer in one of the places.” He asked her if she still had it. “I do, as a matter of fact, though it’s out of date and rarely comes on unless I sweet talk to it, but I have it. How did you know that?”

  “You don’t strike me as a person that would just toss something out that was important to you.” He told her about the boxes of things his mom had given him. “So you see, you and I have that in common as well.”

  ~~~

  Virginia had never felt this comfortable around someone before. Her mother, she supposed, but not like she did with this man. And it took her a few moments to realize that if she wanted, she could be relaxed around him for the rest of her life. That made her embarrassed again when she thought of waking up beside him every day.

  They were headed to his new home. He was telling her about it, the things that he’d found out about it. How it was getting worked on and who was doing it. And the rose garden in the back. She couldn’t wait to see it.

  As soon as they pulled into the large circular drive, she fell in love with the old mansion. Even with all the large construction containers and equipment lying around, she could see the beauty of the home. He held her hand as they walked up to the house, and she had to stop and just look.

  “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” She nodded and ran her hand over the stone pillars that would hold the iron trellis that served as the railing for the house. “My dad said we’d have to paint them. I was going to go with black—I figured it would match the shutters—but whatever you think.”

  “Blue. A very dark blue, and the shutters too.” She turned to look at him and saw his smile. “That was very rude, wasn’t it?”

  “No, it’s perfect. The stained glass that is throughout the house has a great deal of blue in it too. So I think that will be perfect.” They walked around the entire wraparound porch, and Larson pointed out the things that were being fixed as well as the garden that was in disarray, but she could see what he was talking about. “They tell me that there are a lot of heirloom roses there, as well as an herb garden that was used for the kitchen. I know less about roses than the average person, so I’m happy for the help.”

  “I bet when they’re in full bloom, with the windows open back here, you can smell them throughout the entire house. I bet the colors would be just as bright as their scent too.” He smiled at her and squeezed her hand. “I do wax on, don’t I? But I can’t wait to see them. And the other flowers that are back there.”

  The barn was just beyond them, hidden behind a group of trees. She wasn’t ready for that, wanting to just be with Larson. If she got to pull open just one of the boxes he’d told her about, then she’d be done. That would be all she could think about.

  “I have no furniture here. I mean, there are some things in the house. A few things left behind, but nothing m
uch else.” She asked him about a bed. “No, no bed. Do I need to add one soon?”

  “Yes.” She moved away from him, not sure she wanted to see what was written on his face. “I’m not the type of woman that just sleeps with anyone that comes along. I’ve had sex, and while it was all right, it wasn’t all that fulfilling. Do you understand?”

  “I do. And as much as I’d like to say it was because you weren’t with me, it’s probably only about half right. I know that I’ve been waiting for you forever.” He laughed. “That’s not quite true. I was terrified to find my mate. I’m very organized. Set in my ways. It’s why I love what I do. Numbers never lie to you. And no matter what you do, add or subtract, they still come out with a true answer.”

  “That thing that happened today, that was because of some of your job?” He told her what had happened. “And this man, this Wells person, he thinks to lay blame of their deaths, as well as the missing money, at your doorstep. That doesn’t seem right. I mean, there are laws about that, correct?”

  “Yes. He admitted to me that he’d killed them. But as he said, there is little I can do at the moment. Lauren has some pretty good connections, and she’s working on that end. I’ve had to shut down for a few days, just to avoid the press or whatever else he sends my way. I have a service that is fielding calls for me.” Virginia asked him if it would hurt him financially. “No, I have more than enough money, even if I have to close up for good, but I don’t foresee that happening.”

  “I had nothing when I started writing, as I said before. It was a way for me to escape the things that were going on around us at the time. When I sent my first story, what I call them, in to a publisher, I fully expected to get back a rejection letter. Imagine my surprise when he sent me a letter asking if I had any more.” She laughed a little. “The first thing I got for us was a house. My mom didn’t live with me then, but I have since come to depend on her. Housekeepers want to clean up my office. I can’t have that happen when I’m in a zone. But I do clean it between each book. Sort of clean slating it, my mom calls it. But she keeps me sane by not bothering me much, and making sure that she slips a meal or two at me daily. And tea. When I am writing, I might drink as many as twenty cups of tea a day.”

  “I’ll remember not to bother you in your office then.” She turned and looked at him as he leaned against the house. “I want you. But if you’re still not sure, then I can wait. There are hundreds of questions that I can see circling around your eyes.”

  “Yes. I do have a great many of them. But I want you as well. As I said, sex is all right with me, but don’t expect anything earth shattering from me.” He laughed and told her she just needed the right man. “I think all men think that.”

  “Come here.” She moved toward him and he stood tall. “Christ, you’re so beautiful. I cannot wait to have you naked in my arms.”

  “How does this work?” He started telling her about how a man inserts his penis into a woman, and she smacked him. “I mean without a bed, you idiot.”

  “Ah. Well, that is a little bit different, but no less fun for us. My cat would like to mark your skin and in turn have you come hard.” Her body burned with a fire of need she’d never felt before for a man. “I can smell you. How you’re wet for me. How much you want him to do that to you. That would mate you to him, in the event that he has to find you for some reason or another.”

  “I do. But no sex, right?” He said that was for him. “I want you, Larson. So desperately.” He pulled her into his arms and kissed her. It was soft yet hungry, consuming yet tender too. When he lifted his head from hers, she knew then that this man was going to be right for her. That all others before him, and in the future should they part, would be nothing compared to him. “I love you, Larson.”

  “I love you as well.” He picked her up and carried her into the house. She got a brief glimpse of what was going on in this part of the house, and marveled, but only for a moment, at the tall bookshelves that lined the walls. The fireplace that could roast an entire side of beef in it, and the long table that he sat her upon. “I don’t know what you think of me shifting, but if you strip down to your lovely bare skin, my cat will show you, in his own way, how much he enjoys having you as our mate by marking your skin.”

  She stood up and started pulling her clothing off. He stood there, his breathing ragged and his cock hard against the fabric of his jeans. Virginia wanted to ask him if he was going to leave his clothing on or what when he was just gone. In his place was the most beautiful cat she’d ever seen. Not sure what to do, she just waited until she got her fear under control.

  “Can you understand me?” The big cat nodded. “Okay, this is odd. Can you, I don’t know, talk to me? Wait, I wrote about that once. You have to…I guess you have to taste my blood, right?”

  He nodded and pawed at her pants. She wondered if Larson was going to be as impatient as his cat was, and decided that she hoped so. To keep her nerves from getting the best of her, she started to talk. It was that or run screaming from the room.

  “I have only a few dressy clothes. Mostly I just wear jogging pants and tees, or sleep pants while I work. And big fuzzy socks. My mom finds them on sale after the holidays, and I have a horde of them.” She didn’t want to talk about her mom right now, but Virginia thought it was better than talking about how sorry she was going to be after failing him with sex. “I’m not sure what we’re going to do about the holidays, but my mom and I go all out with gifts. I think it stems from not having any money for so long. Damn it, I wasn’t going to talk about my mom right now.”

  He licked her thigh and she moaned. Then when he clawed on her skin, she was surprised that it didn’t really hurt, but it did bleed a little. Before she could wipe if off, the cat licked it clean and she watched, stupefied, while it healed up without a mark.

  I don’t want to talk about either of our mothers right now. And if you don’t hurry and be naked for him, he’s going to tear off your clothing and you’ll be naked all the time. She looked at the cat. Would you like to be naked with me all the time?

  “Yes.” Larson laughed in her head. “Now what? Do I still strip down or did he want to bite me this time?”

  Strip and I’ll show you. Virginia barely had her pants and panties completely off when the cat pushed her back on the table. She was just pulling off her bra when he licked her leg, then her calf. Suddenly, Larson was there again. “That’s delicious, love. Just what we needed.”

  Virginia came six times before he finally sat back on his butt and looked at her. She had long since given up on keeping her releases quiet. Screaming each time that he brought her, she knew that she was going to be hoarse in the morning. But it wasn’t like she needed her voice to work. When Larson was standing over her again, she wasn’t sure that she had any more in her, but the moment he stripped out of his pants and shirt, she felt renewed, her body ready for more. Much more.

  He touched his mouth to her with small nips. Each time his teeth grazed over a part of her, she felt her breath hitch, her heartrate double. By the time he got to her breasts, taking each tip into his mouth and suckling, Virginia was aching with the need to come. For him to come inside of her. And when he entered her, it was like she’d been plugged in to something hot and sexy. This was right. This was what making love with a man who loved you felt like.

  Larson told her over and over how much he loved her. How he was going to make sure she was safe and happy for the rest of her days. All she wanted him to do was make her his. And when he bared his throat to her, she could see the pounding pulse there, the way his skin and vein twitched, and she wanted to taste him.

  Biting him was much harder than she’d thought it would be. And when he cried out, she was sure that she’d hurt him when he told her to come. Blood filled her mouth when she bit down harder, and lights sparkled in her vision. Her body bowed up off the table and she screamed out his name.

  “Again,” was all it took for her to come the second, then a third time. She near
ly begged him to stop when he threw back his head in his own release.

  It was spectacular, moving, and sexy. His throat tightened and he cried out, his cat racing over his skin like he had come too. Virginia cried out again when joining him in another release. It was too much, simply too much for her body to handle, and she lost her fight to stay conscious.

  Chapter 4

  Harley Wells wasn’t happy. But then, he rarely was anymore. And now he had some asshole doing things that pissed him off more. Larson McCullough had made his plan to be rich all fucked up when he sold off the shares of Ranger Mountains. They were his shares, damn it, and Tom should have known better than to sell them off. Of course, he was dead now too, but that didn’t mean he should have left him hanging around without any money.

  They were going to be his life’s work, those shares. But now he had nothing to show for all the work he’d done, and the money he’d spent on killing off his partner and changing the will to suit himself. To his thoughts, the children could have the considerable insurance and he’d take the million-dollar shares.

  “There is the report you wanted on that McCullough guy. He’s as clean as a whistle, by the way.” Harley said that everyone had skeletons in their closet, and Dusty said not this guy. Dusty had worked for him since he’d been right out of college, and knew that he didn’t have a sense of humor about jobs. “He’s clean, I tell you. The entire family is. Even heroes to a lot of the townspeople here about. And his sister-in-law is rumored to have the ear of the president.”

  “You mean to tell me that he doesn’t even have a parking ticket, or even a little scandal from when he was in college? Impossible.” Dusty told him to read the report. “He’s going to go down, even if I have to make shit up about him.”

  “I don’t think that’ll work either, just so you know. I’m telling you, there isn’t anyone out there that hasn’t had some sort of contact with this family in some way that benefited them. The mother has this charity event that pays for a lot of Christmas for a lot of these kids. Then there’s the bookbag drive that they have. Hell, one of the boys, as she calls them, has a pantry in his classroom that helps kids out when it comes to not having enough to eat.” Harley asked why someone would do that. “Because they’re nice people, I guess.”