Page 13 of Angry Lion's Naughty Little Neighbor
“I’ve never felt more okay in my life. I want you to be mine forever.”
“I’m totally going to have on the sexiest lingerie you’ve ever seen when you get here!”
“No, no!” I say, “I want that, sure but wear jeans. We have to take a ride.”
“Jeans, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“Can I wear a shirt, too?”
The banter eventually ends and in about an hour we’re in the woods forty miles from the city, standing in a clearing.
Chapter Eleven
Kelsey
Aaron starts undressing and I can’t understand why. I mean, why, in the middle of the flippin’ forest, is he getting naked? What could he have to tell me that involves being completely naked?Does he have some outdoor fetish? Is that even a fetish, actually? I mean, if that’s what he wants, I don’t mind. Might be sexy. But why in the world does he need to tell me like this? Naked in the forest?
Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s a beautiful sight, but I don’t know what to think. “Aaron, what’s ...?”
I start to ask him but then, he just holds up a hand, gives me a smile and says, “It’s me. It’s still me.”
I glance over his body and I say, “I know it’s you. Believe me I know. Come on, Aaron. What’s going on?”
He smiles and says again, “It’s still me.” Then, things get fuzzy. I feel like I must be having a stroke because the place where Aaron is standing wavers like the heat waves coming off asphalt on a hot day.
Then, “Oh, holy fuck!”
I jump back and my heart catapults into my throat and starts clawing to escape. I feel like my legs have turned to Jello.
Aaron is gone. That’s the first thing.
The second thing is something else entirely! Where he was standing there is now a super-sized panther. Sleek and muscled. Huge. Its large head swings in my direction and I can see its teeth.
It makes a low rumbling sound, and I almost pee my pants.
“Aaron, where are you?”I whisper his name hoping he’ll come save me like he has before. I feel frozen. Any ability I may have to get going and run is just switched off.
The panther makes a small huffing sound and then, just casually lowers onto its belly and sits there, staring at me.
“Aaron, I need you. Come back because…”My mind begins to work again and I remember something. It was a news segment on the announcement of shifters in our world and whether we could take it at face value or consider it to be some political ploy.
Well, this big cat switching its tail is not just a political statement, let me tell you.“It’s still me,” I whisper. “It’s me. It’s still me.”
My heart begins to work at a more normal rhythm and I take a step forward.I’m nervous but the edge of the terror is gone. The terror isn’t gone. It’s just not debilitating. “Aaron. It’s… it’s still you.” I swallow hard and take another step. “Aaron, is that you?”
The cat lifts its head androwls. I don’t say growl because it’s a soft sound, not an aggressive one.
It looks at me again, and something in me feels that connection. Crazy, I know, but it’s there.I walk up to the huge thing and reach out a hand. It presses its nose into my palm and I laugh.“I’m going to have to think of you like those dragons in that cartoon.” I slap his big cat face. “You should have told mebefore!” I swear it sounds like the giant cat is laughing at me. “Asshole,” I whisper, “I can’t stay mad at you.”
I cradle his hand in my face and kiss between his eyes. His head is as big as my whole torso! That gives me an idea. I mean, he’s as big as a horse. Maybe bigger. “Can I...ride you?”
It’s a crazy question. I still can’t be sure about anything here and I’m now thinking of jumping on board Bagheera. What’s wrong with me?
But I get a nudge from the huge head and laugh again.
“Okay, then.”
