Feral Read online

  “But then you found the man you loved. Tell me more about him. What’s his name?”

  “Cayo. He is strong and quiet, with eyes the color of the sky. All Sky Dwellers have blue eyes, even when they transform into lions.”

  “How did he feel about the spell that Taika cast? Was he worried about you desiring other men or harming them?”

  “I convinced him that I wouldn’t react that way. Later, he was devastated when he’d discovered what I’d done. It almost destroyed us. Sky Dwellers are not violent by nature, and he struggled to forgive me. But eventually he did.”

  “What do you think he’ll say when you tell him that you’re helping me become a shapeshifter?”

  “He won’t approve of your method, but he won’t try to stop me from getting involved. He’ll understand the risk you’re willing to take and how much Noah means to you.”

  “He means everything.” And this was something she knew she had to do. To her, it wasn’t a risk at all.

  At six in the morning, Noah got a gut-wrenching phone call from Coyote.

  The other man said, “Jenny discovered that Lareina can turn her. Something about a loophole in the spell. I was supposed to keep it a secret, but you know me. I just couldn’t resist blabbing to you. Oh, and guess what? I get to be there when it happens. I’m so excited I can hardly stand it.”

  The wrenching worsened. “Do you realize how dangerous this is? Lareina could maim her for life. Or kill her. She could fucking die, and you’re treating it like a spectator sport?”

  “It’s Jenny’s choice.”

  “I’m not going to let her do this.”

  “You can’t stop her. I’m leaving for the rescue now. It’s going to be closed all day, but Jenny gave me a key to the main gate.”

  “Come and get me. I’m going with you.”

  “Jenny will be pissed if I do that.”

  “Since when do you care about pissing someone off? If you don’t bring me with you, I’ll follow you in my car and take the key away from you, even if I have to pound you into the ground to do it.”

  “Okay. Geez. I’ll pick you up in front of the club. But I’m telling Jenny that you forced me into this.”

  Noah got out of bed and threw on a T-shirt and jeans. Soon he was riding shotgun in Coyote’s luxury hybrid.

  “Where on the rescue is it taking place?” Noah asked.

  “In the empty enclosure where Lareina first appeared. Apparently Jenny and Lareina have struck up quite a friendship. Isn’t that wild? The sapiya trusts Lareina, too.”

  Noah didn’t. He knew what it was like to be her victim.

  They arrived at the rescue in just less than an hour. Coyote unlocked the gate, and Noah took off in the direction of where the insanity was scheduled to take place.

  “Wait up.” Coyote sprinted behind him.

  Noah increased his pace, leaving the out-of-shape shapeshifter in the dust.

  When he saw Jenny alone in the cage, he rushed forward, intending to drag her out of it. The enclosure had two doors, with a secure area in between, designed to give caregivers a door between them and the animal inside. But Noah couldn’t get through the first door, let alone gain entrance.

  Both locks snapped magically into place, courtesy of the sapiya. The stone was hovering high in the air. If Noah could’ve caught it, he would have crushed it.

  “What are you doing here?” Jenny asked, as he rattled the exterior door.

  “Please don’t do this.” He gripped the metal. She looked soft and pretty, and oh, so fragile, like a dove that was about to be eaten by a lion.

  “I have to,” she responded.

  Coyote finally showed up, huffing and puffing. “What did I miss?”

  Neither of them answered him.

  In the next god-awful moment, Lareina appeared.

  Exactly as Noah remembered her.

  Sixteen

  Jenny saw the anguish in Noah’s eyes. Clearly he believed the danger was real. Later, she would apologize for tricking him. But for now, this ruse was necessary.

  Lareina didn’t waste time. She shifted halfway, and with her feline features and the tawny streaks in her long dark hair, she looked similar to Noah when he was in that form. Jenny thought it made her wildly beautiful.

  Her transformation continued, and once she was a full lion, she hissed at Noah, then turned and snarled at Jenny.

  Pretending to be startled and frightened by Lareina’s aggressiveness, Jenny gasped, then went perfectly still.

  The two of them had rehearsed this scene, choreographing every movement. With another growl, Lareina bunched her body, as if she intended to strike.

  And strike hard.

  Jenny screamed at the sapiya. “Take her away!”

  Zip.

  Lareina disappeared, and Jenny started to shake, feigning an adrenaline overload. Or partially feigning it. She was experiencing an adrenaline rush, hoping the rest of it went according to plan.

  Luckily it did. As soon as the sapiya unlocked the enclosure, Noah came dashing in.

  He drew her into his arms. “I told you not to trust her.”

  “I know. I know. You were right.” She held on to him, taking a deep breath and preparing for the next phase.

  Together, they headed for the double doors.

  Click. Click. The sapiya relocked them.

  For a moment, Noah seemed confused.

  Jenny didn’t say anything. She waited for him to make the connection and realize he’d been duped. It didn’t take long.

  His temper exploded. “There wasn’t a loophole in the spell. You scammed me. You fucking scammed me. How could you do something like that?”

  “I did it because I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” She spoke in a tranquil tone, trying to keep him calm. “I’m sorry, but it was my only choice.”

  “Your only choice? You know I can’t handle being locked up. Let me out of here. Now!”

  She explained, as softly as she could. “Being locked up is going to help you shift all the way so you can turn me.”

  “According to who? You? The sapiya? That bitch Lareina? You’re wrong. I already told you that I would never do it.” He ignored her and slammed his gaze at Coyote. “I should have known it was bullshit since you were involved.”

  The other man responded, “Even if you’d suspected that it was a trick from the beginning, you still would have come here, just in case it was real.”

  “Yes, but I wouldn’t have walked into this trap. This cage.”

  “I don’t know about that,” Coyote said. “I’ve heard that people in love do stupid things. But whatever the case, it’ll be better for you if I’m not here. More sensual.”

  Noah narrowed his eyes. “What are you talking about?”

  “Jenny is going to seduce you, nice and slow. That’s the other little trick that’s going to help you shift.”

  Noah shook his head. “No way. No frigging way.”

  Yes way, Jenny thought. After Coyote left, she moved closer to Noah.

  “Don’t touch me,” he warned.

  She didn’t listen. She backed him into a corner and pressed her body against his. She kissed him, too, determined to make this happen.

  Noah knew that he shouldn’t return the kiss, but everything about her stirred temptation: the warmth of her mouth, the sweetly familiar scent of her skin, the flirty lines of her cotton summer dress.

  She parted her lips, and their tongues met and mated. This wasn’t right. She’d betrayed him. He should push her away. But he kept kissing her.

  She toyed with his T-shirt, lifting it from the waistband of his jeans so she could run her fingers along his stomach. He sucked in his navel.

  His cock was getting hard.

  She put her hand against his fly and cupped the bulge. Smart girl. Stupid guy. How could he fall for her ploy?

  She unzipped his pants. He needed to end it. Now. But he didn’t.

  While she stroked him, his breath rushed out. When
she got down on her knees and freed him from his jeans, he prayed for someone to save him from the madness. She was going to give him a blow job inside the cage. Coyote was right. It was sensual as hell.

  Jenny laved his cock, slowly, meticulously, as if his penis were her favorite flavor of ice cream.

  Vanilla? Chocolate? Raspberry swirl?

  Cripes, it felt good. She paid special attention to the head, rolling her tongue around. Then she went back to the shaft and licked out her name, letter by letter.

  “I’ve wanted to do this to you ever since you did it to me,” she said.

  He shivered all the way to his toes.

  She took him in her mouth, and he tunneled his hands through her hair. She pleasured him with sweet precision, but she didn’t make him come.

  She stood up, leaving him wanting more.

  He watched her remove her clothes. She lowered the straps on her dress and slid the garment down.

  Naked, she beckoned him to the ground. Noah couldn’t seem to refuse. He stripped off his clothes and settled between her thighs.

  Jenny put her arms around him, and he entered her, thrusting warm and deep. Her cunt contracted around his cock. They moved in unison.

  The penetration got deeper, wetter, so damn perfect. Noah rocked back and forth, and she arched her hips.

  “I want to be what you are,” she said.

  “No.” He wouldn’t let it go beyond sex. “I’m not going to turn you.”

  “But it only has to be a few scratches. A little blood.”

  Her words sounded hot, exciting. A few scratches. A little blood. Could it be that easy?

  “No,” he said again. No. No. No.

  “Yes,” she countered. “You’re going to become a lion, a full lion, and you’re going to skim your claws along my skin. Softly, and I’m going to moan when you do it.”

  Fuck, he thought. “Don’t talk like that.”

  “I trust you.”

  “But you shouldn’t. I have it in me to be brutal, Jenny. I’ve tied you to the bed. I’ve ripped a corset and petticoat off of your body. I’ve fucked you so hard, I’ve made you scream.”

  “But you never went too far, and you won’t this time, either. Look how tenderly you’re making love to me now.”

  That was true. He’d never had sex this gently before.

  Jenny skimmed his jaw. “I love how it feels.”

  Noah’s cock pulsed. His balls went unbelievably tight. He loved how it felt, too.

  Desire. Full and thick.

  Jenny made breathy sounds, and he captured her mouth in a kiss. She held on to him, pulling him closer.

  Sweet synchronicity.

  It didn’t matter whose climax triggered whose. It simply happened at the same time. While she shuddered beneath him, he spilled into her, bathing her with his seed.

  She didn’t give him time to recuperate.

  “Just a few scratches,” she said again. “Just a little blood.”

  His brain short-circuited. She was gloriously bare, fresh from an orgasm, and ravenously alluring.

  The intensity was too much to bear.

  He shifted into half-lion form, but he felt the vicious urge to shift all the way, too. To tear into human flesh.

  No!

  He couldn’t let himself become that kind of beast. He had to stop it.

  Because the cage walls were closing in, he stood up, leaving Jenny on the ground. He started to pace, fighting the hunger.

  He tried to call upon his tiger medicine to help him, to control the feeling. But it didn’t help.

  The craving roared through his veins.

  “Get up,” he told Jenny. “Stop being my prey.”

  She didn’t budge. She remained on the dirt floor, offering herself to him like a sacrifice.

  The scent from their lovemaking hung in the air. Romantic sex smelled the same as feral sex. His semen. Her juices. It made his appetite worse.

  He snapped at the sapiya. “Get me the fuck out of here!”

  The stone did nothing.

  Noah was closer and closer to shifting.

  Jenny reached out to him. Beckoning . . .

  “Don’t do this to me,” he warned. “Don’t make me want you again.”

  Too late. He did want her again. He wanted to put his mouth all over her. He got down on his hands and knees and ran his tongue along her flesh, filling himself with her mortal flavor.

  She shivered at his touch, giving him permission to be primal. His instincts betrayed him, and he lifted his head and growled, becoming what he’d been fighting.

  A full-blown lion.

  He could feel the reshaping and forming: his muscles growing stronger, his teeth getting sharper, his hands and feet turning into paws. It happened so quickly, he barely had time to separate his mind from the tawny pelt that covered his body.

  God save Jenny, he thought. She lay beneath him, so quiet, so trusting. She would never make herself vulnerable to a wild animal, yet she was doing it with him.

  How could she have that kind faith in him? He wanted to attack her, to slash and bite, to see her blood spill, to taste its liquid warmth.

  Noah growled again. He was trapped within the cage. There was no way out. He couldn’t run from the hunger.

  He looked into her face. He could tell that her heart was pounding, but even so, she wasn’t afraid. How could she not fear him? Didn’t she know what he was thinking? How badly he wanted to rip into her?

  If Lareina was beneath him, he would’ve already attacked her. He would’ve eaten her heart right out of her chest.

  But it wasn’t Lareina. It was Jenny. The woman he loved. Yes, loved.

  He couldn’t deny it any longer, and this was his chance to make her immortal, to be together forever. But could he scratch her softly? Could he control his urges?

  Brave and beautiful, she reached up to stroke the side of his neck, reinforcing her trust in him.

  Love. Faith. Togetherness.

  While she petted him, he leaned into her touch and purred. If she trusted him that much, he could do it. He could be gentle. He knew he could. But where was the safest place to scratch her?

  Not her breasts, not her stomach. Those areas were too sensitive. He zeroed in on her arm. The left one. She was still petting him with her right hand.

  Noah bared his claws and lifted one paw in the air, reminding himself of how strong he was in this form. He had to be extremely careful.

  Slowly, he swiped his claws down her skin. He heard her sharp intake of breath. No matter how gentle he was, he’d still cause her pain. He pulled back and saw lines of blood.

  He’d done it. Oh, God, he’d done it.

  He shifted back into human form, and she scooted quickly away from him. She was afraid now that it was over? Had he inflicted more damage than he’d realized? The cuts didn’t look that deep, but how could he know for sure? Maybe he’d sliced her bone-deep.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked. “Oh, Jesus, Jenny. What did I do?”

  “Don’t worry. You did everything right. You just can’t be around me right now.”

  “But I want to take you into the house and bandage your wounds, like I did when you hurt your knee.”

  “You can’t help with the healing process. You can’t tend to the person you’re trying to turn. It’s one of the rules of the spell.”

  He frowned. “What am I supposed to do? Leave you here by yourself?”

  “I’m going to help her.” Lareina appeared next to Jenny. The sapiya had brought her back.

  “You?” He snapped at her.

  She replied, “I’m sorry for what I did to you, Noah, but I promise I’ll take good care of Jenny.”

  He didn’t accept her apology, but he didn’t argue with her, either. While he stayed silent, Lareina helped Jenny to her feet and aided her in getting dressed, or partially clothed, so as to not disturb her arm.

  “I’ll call Coyote and he’ll come back for you,” Jenny said.

  He pulled on
his jeans and yanked his shirt over his head. “How long do I have to wait to see you?”

  “Until the transformation is complete. I’ll get in touch with you when it happens.”

  She smiled at him, but it didn’t ease his discomfort. He was leaving her with Lareina. It just seemed so twisted.

  “I love you,” he said to Jenny.

  She smiled again. “I love you, too.”

  The sapiya unlocked the enclosure, and the women walked away with the little stone in tow. He watched them until they disappeared from view.

  A moment later, he glanced down at his hands and noticed that he had Jenny’s blood under his nails.

  He was in for a long and grueling wait.

  The day finally came. Jenny was so excited she couldn’t sit still. Noah was on his way to her house.

  She peered out the window, anxious to catch a glimpse of his vehicle as it entered her long, graveled driveway.

  What would he be driving today? The Jaguar? The truck? Or another of his cars?

  It was the truck, the big, red four-wheel drive.

  She rushed onto the porch to greet him and smoothed her dress, the same one she’d worn the last time he’d seen her. The day he’d turned into a lion and scratched her. The day he’d told her that he loved her.

  He parked the truck and got out. He was in human form, and so was Jenny. She descended the porch steps, and they gazed longingly at each other.

  “I missed you,” he said.

  “I missed you, too.” It had been only a few weeks, but the time had passed excruciatingly slowly. She extended her arm. “The marks are all gone.”

  He examined her unmarred skin. “How do you feel?”

  “Wonderful.” She smiled. “Immortal.”

  He smiled, too. Then he embraced her. Jenny couldn’t have asked for a more thrilling reunion.

  “Ready?” she asked.

  He nodded, and they walked along her property, stopping at a secluded spot. She was anxious to show him how she’d changed.

  She shifted halfway, giving him the opportunity to view her in that form. Because she’d been studying herself in the mirror since her transformation, she knew exactly what he was seeing. The tawny streaks in her hair were almost the same shade as her natural color, but the rest of her looked remarkably different. Her normally blue eyes were greenish gold and feline shaped. Every feature had a felid quality. She lifted her hands and extended her claws. She flashed her canine teeth, too.