Page 39 of Pleasured By the Panther
“Our day and night are over,” she said thickly. “I need to get home and help my daughter get ready for her wedding.”
Korrath inclined his head slowly.
“All right. I’ll take you back.”
“No,” she said sharply, her chest aching. “Find someone else to bring me home. I think we’re done here.”
His expression crumpled, but he nodded.
“As you wish.”
27
MIRANDA
Miranda took a quick shower and got dressed as quickly as possible. She chose one of the dresses the Spider Monstrum had made for her and pulled it on, packing the rest in their tiny garment bag in her purse. Before she knew it, Korrath was leading her silently back to the Docking Bay where rows of golden Monstrum ships stood waiting.
Her heart was aching as a massive Monstrum with the horns and bulk of a bull—a Taurus Monstrum, she thought hazily—prepared to take her back to Earth. Korrath stood a few paces away, his face shadowed.
“I care for you deeply, Miranda,” he said at last, his voice hoarse. “I hope you’ll forgive me in time.”
She clenched her fists and looked away. Her time with the big Monstrum had been a beautiful dream, but that dream was over now—broken by reality. And she couldn’t forgive him for giving Hanna so much unnecessary stress right before her wedding.
A wave of guilt swamped her—god, the wedding! She ought to be down there right now. She should have been there all along, supporting her daughter through this stressful time—not up here orbiting Mars and getting her fantasies fulfilled by a huge, anthropomorphic panther-man!
“I have to go,” she said tightly, barely looking at Korrath. “Please don’t try to contact me.”
And then she turned away from him, climbing onto the shuttle, forcing herself not to look back.
It was over…forever. And she wasn’t going to let herself cry about it.
28
KORRATH
Korrath stood in the Docking Bay, his fists clenched at his sides, watching the shuttle rise from the platform. The Taurus Monstrum sat at the controls, broad shoulders hunched with concentration as the small craft lifted towards the atmosphere shield in the ceiling. A moment later, the shuttle cleared the shield and shot into the blackness of space—carrying Miranda away from him.
His chest ached as though someone had driven a blade straight through it. He had faced battles…wounds…even death before as a warrior, but nothing had ever hollowed him out like this.
I should have waited. I shouldn’t have called her when I knew her daughter was in the middle of such a seminal life event.
The thought circled endlessly in his mind, a carrion bird picking his bones clean. He should have waited for another Draft…another chance. But General Drafts only came once a year. The moment had been too perfect—the Dream Sharing too vivid…too undeniable.
He had seen Miranda’s face every night in his sleep… felt her presence like a ghost in his arms—her scent lingering on the edge of memory. After so long, he hadn’t believed he could endure another season of emptiness without trying to reach her.
And yet, in his haste, he had wounded her.
Korrath dragged a hand down his face, his claws biting into his jaw.
“Mother of Life, help me,” he muttered, voice hoarse. “I never wanted to hurt her. Never.”
But what choice had he had? He had no legal standing to call her directly. Her name wasn’t in the Draft. She was past the human age of eligibility, overlooked by the system. The only loophole—the only thread he could tug—was Hanna. Calling the daughter had been the only way to bring Miranda close enough to touch…close enough that he could show her how they belonged together.
Now he wondered if it had cost him everything.
He bowed his head, remembering the fire of her body wrapped around his cock…the way her soft curves had yielded to his touch…the sound of her moaning his name like a prayer.
He remembered her laughter too—the spark of challenge in her eyes—the warmth of her smile when she wasn’t holding herself back.
