Panther Magic

by Doris O'Connor

  Another gasp escaped her when he allowed his eyes to bleed briefly back to their human form, and she stood up abruptly and took several steps away from him.

  What the fuck, bro?

  Arran’s annoyed voice in his head made him turn his back on her, and he prowled the stage one last time for the benefit of the audience, before the curtain fell. Jumping into the compartment he used for shifting under the stage, he threw his clothes back on, and joined his brother, Kate, and Natasha, as she re-appeared from the back of the stage, just as the curtains went back up again for their final bow.

  Kate stiffened as he drew near her, but kept a polite smile fixed on her face, while they all bowed to the audience one last time. The bumbling Siberian tiger she shared a flat with bounced in excitement and babbled nonsense as they exited the stage.

  “Oh, that was so cool. Thanks so much for inviting us. Wasn’t it just fantastic, Kate? I told you, you’d like it. This was the best fun, ever…”

  Natasha kept up her monologue, all the way through the myriad of corridors until they reached the safety of their dressing rooms, when she finally seemed to pick up on her friend’s monosyllabic responses, and an awkward silence descended among them all.

  Arran threw Zeb a worried look over Kate’s bent head, and she jumped when Zeb put a hand on her arm.

  She shook it off, stepped away from both of them, and glared.

  “Do you take me for a fucking fool? You better explain to me what the hell is going on, before I scream blue murder.”

  Chapter Three

  Fuck it all to hell and back. This certainly wasn’t going the way they’d intended. Arran ran a hand through his hair and threw Zeb another this is your fault look.

  His brother’s growl in his head of sue me, little bro, did nothing to make him feel better. So much for Arran’s carefully thought out plan of seduction. He should have known that Zeb would jump the gun, and let Kate see his true self. The plan had been to show her that the panthers they used were not in any way harmed, and to blow her mind a little, not let her see they were shifters. His hothead brother, of course, had shifted too close to her, even with the distractions of the music and the smoke. Their girl was no fool, and only a fool would have missed the way his eyes changed in his panther form.

  “Erm, Kate, what has you so riled? This is not—”

  Natasha’s attempt at soothing the waters was interrupted by Kate’s growl. It made Arran grin, and Zeb’s lips, too, curled up into a smile. That feminine sound was sexy as hell and would have done any female panther proud. Not that their girl was a shifter. No, she was very much human, and pissed as fuck right now. She was almost shaking in anger, waves of fury coming off her that made the little Siberian tiger take several steps back and put her hands up in a defensive gesture, as she shook her head.

  “This is not what, Tash? Not completely fucked up? But then you would say that, wouldn’t you?” In her distress Natasha blinked, and Arran groaned when the woman’s eyes turned into the catlike slits of her inner animal. Not helpful right now. Sure enough Kate shook her head and pinched the bridge of her nose. Her slight shoulders were heaving with the effort it seemed to take for her to control her breathing, and the intriguing line of her piercings twinkled in the harsh lighting reflected off the big mirrors on the wall. It had been an interesting discovery when he’d put his hand on her neck back in the stalls. Her long hair had covered those modifications when they’d first seen her at the spa. Now they called to him like a beacon. He wanted to kiss his way down the curve of her spine until he reached the firm globes of her ass, and…

  Arran shook his head and with a rueful grin at his brother adjusted his cock. He’d been in a state of arousal ever since he’d first scented their girl, and he knew Zeb was in the same predicament. He glanced over at him briefly and then focused his attention back on their girl.

  “God, you’re one of them, aren’t you? It all makes sense now, and there was me thinking I was imagining things. Fuck it, all that sniffing, and the…” She swung round, and the look she threw at Zeb when he tried to grasp her shoulder made Arran instinctively cover his balls. Damn she was fucking hot this fired up, mind you. The most delightful blush had spread over her pale skin, and her pert little breasts quivered in outrage. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the way the clingy fabric of her dress clearly outlined her nipples, and he grew hard as nails when it dawned on him that she was definitely not wearing a bra. Garter belt or hold up stockings, that was the question? The sheer black encasing her long legs in those fuck me stiletto sandals made him wonder, and his panther purred at the thought of finding out what she was hiding under there. Not that it looked as though either he or Zeb were going to ascertain this any time soon, and he smirked at his thought processes.

  “I’m glad you find this all so amusing, Arran Harris. What? Is this all a game to you? Have fun at the clueless human’s expense, is that it? What the hell are you?” The way her eyes filled with tears when she said that made his chest feel tight, and ignoring Natasha he stepped closer to Kate. She retreated only to be stopped by the wall of muscle that was Zeb, and she flinched when his brother pinned her arms to her side, and growled, “Enough, girl. It’s not like that.”

  Arran gently grasped her chin to make her look up at him, and he had to clear his throat several times to get his voice to work. Kate looked utterly miserable, confused and hurt, and he wanted to take that pain away. The urge to run his lips over hers, and to kiss her senseless was almost too much to resist. She wouldn’t fight him for long, he knew that. Already her body was growing pliant, the musk of her arousal heavy in the air. She might be pissed at them both, but she also wanted them with the same fierce need that coursed through his and Zeb’s veins right now, and that meant they both kept messing this up.

  It would be so easy to simply claim her and be done with it, but his panther wanted forever, and he wanted her submission freely given, not foisted on her by the magic of a bond whose workings no one could explain.

  When she looked as though she was going to say something else, he ran his thumb over her lips lightly, and Kate froze.

  “Shh, my sweet, Zeb is right. No one is laughing here, and certainly not at your expense.”

  “Certainly not.” Natasha’s tearful voice focused all of their attention back on Kate’s roommate. “I’m sorry, Kate, maybe I should have told you, but I didn’t know how. It’s not something you can bring up in conversation now, is it, especially after all the time we’ve known each other?”

  All the fight seemed to go out of Kate at her friend’s hastily delivered words, and at Zeb’s silent nod they gently steered their girl over to the comfortable settee taking up one corner of their dressing room. The fact that she let them without even a moment’s hesitation spoke volumes of her state of mind right now, and bile rose in Arran’s gut. Zeb swore softly under his breath, when Kate sank into the cushions, and Arran and Zeb both sat down next to their precious girl, and took one of her hands each. A shudder went through Kate, but she didn’t snatch her hands away, and Arran breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Perhaps you ought to explain first, Natasha, and we’ll take up the slack,” he said, and Kate startled and looked at him. He gave her a small smile, and her friend stopped her agitated pacing in front of the settee, when Kate cleared her throat.

  “Why didn’t you tell me the minute we met?” she asked, and Natasha paled.

  “I didn’t know I was a shifter then,” she whispered, and Kate tensed.

  “Bullshit. You don’t just wake up one morning and turn into a shifter, do you? Or do you? God, I have no idea.” Kate tried to pull her hands out of theirs, but Arran held firm, and Zeb followed through. Having her here, sitting between them, there was no way they would simply let her walk away, not before she knew everything and could make an informed decision.

  “Actually, in theory you could,” Arran said, and he gestured for Natasha to sit down. The tiger shifter did so, with an inelegant thump that made A
rran grin. No, she had definitely not been blessed with the inherent grace of her species, but there was something very endearing about Natasha nonetheless.

  In the past both he and Zeb would have been drawn to her. Now, of course, their inner animals only had eyes for Kate. He could only hope that her friend would find her own mate soon. The rules might have been relaxed, and working for the new head of the Mating Project as she did offered Natasha some protection, but considering how rare Siberian tiger shifters had become, the pressure would be on her friend soon to mate with some of the large cats, now that she could shift, even it was a poor imitation of the skill it took.

  “What do you mean in theory?” Kate asked, and she looked among them all with a frown.

  “You know I was adopted,” Natasha said, and Kate’s attention focused back on her friend. At her tight nod in response Natasha offered Kate a weak smile.

  “Well, my adopted family was human, as was my birthmother. I’m pretty sure she had no idea my father was a shifter. At least that’s what I choose to believe. Anyway, my inner animal has only recently made itself known, and I’m still learning how to control her. Cole says that—”

  “Cole, as in your new boss?” Kate interrupted her friend, and Natasha blushed furiously. Amusement bubbled up inside Arran at Natasha’s reaction, and Zeb chuckled softly. It seemed the Siberian tiger had a bit of a crush on her boss. Not that it would do her much good. Cole was mated to his own human, and they had recently welcomed their first baby, which had caused rather a stir in the council, to say the least.

  “Is he a shifter, too?” Kate asked, and Natasha nodded.

  “Yes, he shifts into a grizzly bear.”

  A strangled sound escaped from the back of Kate’s throat, and she swayed slightly. It made both men scoot closer to her, and Natasha shot back to her feet.

  “Are you okay there, Kate? Shall I fetch a glass of water or something? I’m sorry, this must all be such a shock to you, but you see, I couldn’t tell you. I was too busy wrapping my head around it all myself, and, well, I just didn’t know how. I’m sorry, okay, and besides we’ve got to keep this quiet, because…” She ran out of steam and sat back down heavily, when Kate shook her head and mumbled something under her breath that neither one of them caught.

  Zeb exchanged a worried look with Arran over Kate’s bent head and then addressed her friend.

  “We’ll take this from here, Natasha. I’m sorry this evening isn’t turning out as we’d planned. Let me phone Zach, and he’ll take you home.”

  Natasha sniffed and wiped away the tears falling down her face.

  “Okay,” she said, and Kate stiffened between them. “Are you coming with me, Kate?”

  “Oh no, we’re not done with your friend yet, and we’ll need privacy for that, little kitten,” Zeb said.

  Predictably Kate’s head shot up at that statement, and Arran was half expecting her to kick off, yet she didn’t, just sat there and stared into space.

  “Only if that’s what Kate wants.” Natasha surprised them all by squaring up to Zeb, and even when his annoyed growl filled the room, the tiger didn’t back down. She moved until she was in Kate’s vision instead.

  “Kate, are you okay? Please answer me. I’m sorry, I feel responsible for all this. And I’m sorry, I never meant to hurt you, or lie to you. Please talk to me. I’ll stay here if you want me to, or I’ll leave, just please, for the love of God say something, Kate.”

  ****

  Kate heard the words, and she knew she ought to respond, but this was all too much to take in. The friend she’d known since knee high was in fact a shifter, and the men she was lusting after changed into freaking panthers. Well, Zeb did at any rate, so it was reasonable to assume that his brother did, too, and there she had been worried about the large cats they used in their act. You couldn’t mistreat an animal that was in fact a human, could you?

  “Kate, please…” Natasha’s tearful plea finally broke through her befuddled brain, and she looked up at her friend. It all made sense now in a weird way. Natasha had changed recently, and all the subtle differences hadn’t been in Kate’s imagination. It was somewhat of a relief, because it meant she wasn’t going crazy, and maybe it also explained this unreasonable attraction she felt for the two men who still refused to let go of her hands. It was comforting in a way, having them both this close to her, their attention so focused on her that it made it hard to breathe.

  As much as she wanted to stay, she couldn’t. Her brain just didn’t work, when she was this close to her men. Kate shut her eyes and shook her head. Here she went again. They weren’t hers, were they? With a frustrated sigh she pushed up and away from the settee. She half expected the men to stop her, and when they didn’t it made her feel all sorts of wretched inside. At least Zeb looked as though he was barely containing his urge to grab her and pull her back. She flinched when he shot off the settee, and started pacing the room, hands in white knuckled fists by his side. His panther’s furious growls vibrated up through the soles of her feet and made her pussy clench in desperate need.

  To mask her reaction she grabbed hold of Natasha’s arm and forced the words past her parched throat.

  “Let’s get out of here, Tash.”

  Natasha breathed a sigh of relief, and pulled her in for a hug, but they sprang apart at Zeb’s furious growl.

  “The fuck you’ll leave. We need to sort this out. We—”

  “Zeb, now is not the time.” Arran’s quiet voice held an edge of steel, as he, too, got up and put a hand on his brother’s arm to stop him. “This has got to be her choice, bro, you know that.”

  Kate’s heart beat faster when she saw the expression in Arran’s eyes when he turned round to face her. She was looking into the eyes of his panther, and try as she might she couldn’t look away. Lust, possessiveness, and anger blasted her, but also some deeper, much more powerful emotion that had her taking several steps toward him before she’d even realized what she was doing.

  Arran smiled and cupped her face with one of his large hands, while he pulled his phone out of his trouser pocket and hit a button.

  “Zach, change of plan. The ladies are going home. … Yes, now. Okay, will do.”

  He pushed the phone back in his pocket, and brought his other hand up to cup her nape, as he closed the remaining distance between them, until they were so close that his body heat scorched her skin through the fabric of her clothing. Her dress felt too tight. It made breathing difficult, as she fell effortlessly under his spell, and rose on tiptoes to cross the distance between them, all her focus on the full lips she was suddenly desperate to taste. Their breaths mingled, and his delicious scent increased. It really should be illegal for any man to smell this good.

  The knock on the door broke the spell, and Arran kissed her nose and released her. Zeb grasped her elbow when she stumbled, and his deep voice right behind her made her jump. She hadn’t even realized he was there, too caught up in Arran.

  “Come in,” he said, and the door opened to reveal a burly looking, long haired guy. The man was huge and filled the doorway. A scar ran down one side of his face, and Kate swallowed nervously when his steely grey gaze connected with hers. She didn’t miss the subtle way in which this man sniffed the air, and his eyes narrowed, as he seemed to assess the situation in front of him in one fell swoop.

  “The ladies still leaving?” he asked, and there was no mistaking the deep growl in his voice. Definitely another shifter then. Jeez, she was surrounded by them.

  “Yes, they are, Zach,” Arran said, and the man nodded and stepped fully into the room.

  Zeb’s hand dug into her arm, and Kate couldn’t suppress her wince of pain as his claws ran out. He immediately released her with a muttered curse under his breath and stormed past this Zach, who shook his head and smiled grimly.

  “He’s got it bad then,” he said, and Kate wanted the ground to swallow her up, as this shifter ran his gaze slowly up and down her body, as though he was mentally undressing
her. Arran stiffened next to her, and a warning growl erupted from him, which made all the fine hair on Kate’s arms stand to attention. She could have sworn she heard a distinct mine in that growl. Zach’s attention snapped back to Arran, and he smiled and bowed his head.

  “Zach, here, will take you and Natasha home? You can trust him,” Arran said. “Despite appearances.”

  Zach threw his head back and laughed, and Natasha scooted closer to Kate.

  “Let’s get out of here,” she whispered. When Kate couldn’t bring her feet to move, her friend frowned at her. “Unless you’ve changed your mind and want to stay?”

  “I-I … I don’t … I mean…” Kate gave up trying to talk, and simply rolled her eyes. Zach smirked, and Arran put his hand in the small of her back and gave her a gentle shove.

  “Go, my sweet. You have a lot to think about, and if you stay here, we all know what’s going to happen. As much as I ache to sink my cock balls deep into your body, sex would only complicate things right now, and besides, there is no way Zeb wouldn’t bite you, and I don’t think you’re ready for that yet.”

  Natasha gasped, Zach laughed, and Kate could do nothing but stare at Arran after those outrageous words.

  “Bite me?” she finally managed to ask, after doing goldfish impressions for what seemed like ages.

  A small smile played around Arran’s lips, but there was no mistaking the fact that he meant every word he had just said. It was there in the intensity of his gaze, the tight set of his shoulders, and his breathing. It was too controlled, as though he was barely holding himself in check, and if she looked closely she could almost see his panther prowling under his skin. It made her want to jump him even more, which all things considering meant she had to be out of her mind.