Larson: McCullough’s Jamboree – Erotic Jaguar Shapeshifter Romance

by Kathi S. Barton

  “Yeah, okay. Have you told anyone, besides me?” Boyd shook his head and said that he’d not. “Well, I’d at least tell Dad. He’ll tell everyone, then you won’t have to worry about them shoving women at you every ten minutes.”

  They were laughing when dinner was called. As he entered the huge dining room he marveled at first the size of it, then the beauty. Larson had said that he’d done some improvements on the place, and it looked amazing. The table, however, wasn’t nearly big enough for them all, and there was some ribbing at Larson for not thinking ahead.

  “Oh, but I did. The people at the table will be served, the rest of you are going to be out of luck.” There was a playful rush to the table and he opened the doors to the deck. “Nah, I was joking. But I did think ahead. Guys, your table awaits.”

  The deck at this side of the house was enclosed, with windows for the warmer months. The room was as toasty warm as the dining room, and once the doors were opened, it looked like a massive room. Sitting at the outdoor table, Boyd fell in love with the big house. He might just be looking for one in the future.

  ~~~

  Trying on names was a lot different than trying on clothing, she soon discovered. While the family was away, she watched television. The remote wasn’t really all that complicated, but she only had to move around the stations with her mind. But she held it in her hand while she did this so as not to give away some of her secrets.

  They’re trustworthy. She smiled at Jon’s voice. You don’t have to hide when you’re here. They’re very accepting and generous with their friendship and help when you need it. They’re not like the people that we used to have to endure.

  Do they know all about you? He told her that for the most part he was still learning what he could do, but yes, they knew it all. And that you’ve changed them, do they know that?

  Yes. And while some are very happy with the idea, there are a couple that aren’t so sure. My blood is very powerful, and it can kill too. She said that she’d not been given anything like him. No one has. I’m different, more so than even the people at the lab know.

  I’m older than you are as well. Even older than the man that they call Father. Do they need to know that? He said that it wouldn’t be important to them, but yes, they should know. I have so much to say, I think. They’re going to wish they’d never met me, Jon. What will I do then? Leave and start again?

  You were a test subject, the same as me. You were the seed while I was the plant; that is the only difference between us. She said she wasn’t so sure. I am. Have you picked a name yet? It’s very important, as we said, but it can be fun as well. I’ve had two now. My name from the lab was S-8, which was changed to Savage. But now I’m a McCullough.

  I have not. I’ve been watching the television. There is a lot of violence in the world now, isn’t there? I was in the lab for so long, I missed a great many things going on. Now I wish I hadn’t bothered looking. It’s a frightening place here. He said that it had been, but he was safe now. They say that too. You’re safe. Or you’ll be safe. I don’t even know what that means.

  It means that every waking breath, you don’t have to worry that someone will come for you. Cut into you for things that you were born with. And that you can be warm when you need it, get a hug or even just enjoy them. They are a loud and comical group. But they can be just as deadly when necessary.

  As am I. And you for that matter. We were made this way. I was just a lowly witch. Nothing bothered me. Until one day a man came and took me away from all that I loved. Put me into a locked cage and made me have sex with everything and anything. I was ruined for any other person in the world after that. He told her he was sorry. They put things into me. Chemicals and other creatures’ blood. They made me this way, and then were surprised when I fought back, using the same powers that they wanted from me.

  You have suffered enough, I think. Now you can be safe. So long as you do what I told you. You must be careful. She asked him why he bothered with her. Because you were a victim, just as I was. Perhaps not the same way nor in the same lab, but just as badly. Tomorrow, I will explain to them what has happened to you, and you’ll see that they’re not going to care.

  This mating thing. Do you suppose they really think that I’m to belong to one of them? I have no desire to, Jon. It’s hard to think of anyone wanting me without some kind of agenda. He told her that she’d be so loved, it would make her smile more than ever before. I don’t have that in me any longer. I’m used up and dead inside.

  If that were true, you’d not be in that lovely home with nice people watching television, trying to find yourself a new name to please them. She turned off the set and heard him laugh at her. You are so predictable. I think I have a name you can try on. How about you call yourself Sandra? It means helper of mankind. I think that suits you. Or even Sandy. I think either of them will work.

  She liked it. It was simple and easy to say. She even liked the meaning of the world. It made her sound as if she might have worth. Not that she did, but the name Sandra did. As she said it over and over again, Sandra liked it even more.

  There you go. One less thing you have to worry about. I think, as I said, that it suits you. Is there anything else I can do for you this fine day? She told him he could leave her alone. Nay, my sister, I cannot do that. You are mine to protect, just as the rest of them are. And you won’t be able to not love them. They’re wonderfully amazing.

  She moved around the room once she had her name and touched some of the objects there. A picture of a cherubic baby. There was a little bottle of sand on a stand. Sandra loved the old furniture in the house. It was a beautiful mixture of old and new. Touching things, she could feel what it had suffered, where it had been, and who else had touched it.

  When darkness began to settle around the house, she made her way to the deck and sat in the chair there. Since the deck was covered, it was cooler than it might have been outside of it, but there wasn’t any snow on the furniture, nor did she have to worry about her prints showing up on the decking floor.

  Just as she was settling down for a little while she saw the wolves, natural to this part of the state, moving around the yard. Also, some deer came out to play, and neither of the two natural enemies seemed to mind each other. It occurred to her that they might not be natural wolves, and watched them play in the snow.

  At darkness, she went into the house. There was a fireplace in the room she had come into, and she lit it with her magic. There wasn’t any way for her to have gone out to the woodpile at the back of the property, not without startling the other animals, so she brought it to her.

  Just as she was bringing in the last armload, she saw the two men standing at the edge of the property. One she knew to be a McCullough. He was stout like Dustin, and seemed to have the same hair color. The other man, bigger than the McCulloughs, had his back to her, but she was sure they weren’t related. It took her several minutes of watching them before she remembered that she was hiding out and made her way into the house. She kept an eye on the two men.

  When McCullough started to turn away, the bigger man grabbed for him. It was scary for her, to see them together, and Sandra wasn’t even sure why. But when McCullough fell to the ground, his body limp after hitting it, she shifted to a small bird to help. As soon as she saw the gun, she landed on the big man and clawed deep into his bare head.

  It took her ten minutes of dodging and swooping down at the man and his gun before he finally fell back on the ground. Almost as soon as he was down, he was up and running away. She was afraid of him, that he might come back, when she turned back to herself to check on McCullough. The snow was stained with his blood, and she thought that his arm might be broken from the rock he’d landed on.

  As soon as she touched his arm, he opened his eyes and stared at her. She asked him if he was all right. He nodded, then moaned with the movement.

  “It’s hard to tell, I think.” She helped him sit up, careful of his arm. “If I shift, is it goin
g to upset you?”

  “No, since that is how I got here to assist you.” He nodded, but only laid back on the snow. The wolves that had been around the property earlier came toward them, and she had to shoo them away when they got too close. “Go away. Don’t you see that he’s been hurt?”

  “They’re the pack that roams around here. They’re making sure I’m not going to be harmed by you. They can smell that you’re not human.” She watched them as they ran to the man and licked his face. “I’m going to shift now.”

  He went from man to cat in seconds. It was a beautiful jaguar, and his fur looked shiny soft. It was all she could do not to touch him, to allow her fingers to run though his fur to see if it was as soft as it looked. When he turned back to a man, she was surprised to see that he was fully dressed. His wounds were gone as well, and his arm looked to have mended properly.

  “My name is Boyd.” She remembered them talking about him. He was a doctor. “I’m guessing that you’re not from around here.”

  “No. I guess sort of. I’ve been at the lab, and then since I escaped from there, I have been roaming the countryside. It’s beautiful, and has grown up so much since I was captured.” He nodded and stood up. She was glad for it; he was much taller than she’d thought he was. “That man, he meant to kill you.”

  “Yes, but he was not going to be able to. He wanted something and I don’t have it.” She asked him if he was going to get it for him. “No. I don’t think I will. I think he’s looking for you.”

  “Me?” She looked back the way the man had gone and was suddenly very afraid. “I don’t know why he’d want me. I’m just a regular person.”

  “I don’t doubt that, but you’re also a friend of Jon’s, and someone like him. But not quite, correct?” She shook her head and wanted to cry. “Don’t cry, we’ll keep you safe.”

  “They said I was your mate. The others. I don’t think that we’d work out as one, do you? But it matters little now. I have to be going. Jon told me that I’d be safe here so long as I was careful. But how could I have stayed back when you were hurt? I couldn’t. So now here I am, on the run again, and I’ve only just gotten a name. And now I have to go—”

  He put his hand over her mouth, and she realized that she’d been talking a great deal. And she, for the life of her, couldn’t remember what she’d said. Instead of telling him that, she watched his face for any sign that he wasn’t happy.

  “First of all, you’re not my mate. Not that it matters on the large scheme of things, but there you have it. I had one once, but I was too stupid to realize that life goes on and things happen.” She had no idea what he was talking about, but she let him speak. “You are safe here. The man that was here? He doesn’t even know what you look like, nor what sex you are. He is just looking for someone magical.”

  “How did he know to come here?” He told her that since they were cats, he figured that they had an inside peg on everything. “What a stupid man. How would that even work?”

  “I don’t know either. But that’s why you’re going to be safe.” He looked back at the wooded area around them. “Have you eaten yet? My mom ordered this fantastic dinner, and there are tons of leftovers. How about you come back this way with me, meet my overbearing family, and have some great food?”

  “I should go back to the house and wait for Dustin.” He asked her why she was at his house. “I don’t know. Jon told me to go there, and that I could rest and be healed. I have been hurt. Jon thought that should I need extra help, there was a doctor there that might be able to help me. I don’t know why he didn’t send me to you.”

  “More than likely, he thought if we were mates that you and I wouldn’t make it to dinner.” He started to lead her back through the woods when it occurred to her what he meant. Sandra asked him about it. “Just what you’re thinking. I’d not be able to stop from having my way with you. But, as I said, I’ve lost my mate, and while you’re a very lovely woman, I had my chance and messed it up.”

  By the time they were at the big house, she decided that she wished that he was her mate. He was a kind and funny man. She supposed that she couldn’t be as lucky as to have a mate in the first place, much less one like this one.

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  Kathi Barton, winner of the Pinnacle Book Achievement award as well as a best-selling author on Amazon and All Romance books, lives in Nashport, Ohio with her husband Paul. When not creating new worlds and romance, Kathi and her husband enjoy camping and going to auctions. She can also be seen at county fairs with her husband who is an artist and potter.

  Her muse, a cross between Jimmy Stewart and Hugh Jackman, brings her stories to life for her readers in a way that has them coming back time and again for more. Her favorite genre is paranormal romance with a great deal of spice. You can visit Kathi online and drop her an email if you’d like. She loves hearing from her fans. aaronskiss@gmail.com.

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