Page 27 of A Cougar's Kiss
Chapter 10
The cougar moved alongside the jaguar, rubbing its flanks against hers. The touch of their fur was electric, the feel of same but different blossoming inside it. A chuff sounded and then the jaguar moved, walking to the windows where chairs lay tumbled on the floor. It went up on its hind legs, two paws pressing against the window and just as fast sliding down until the cat was on all fours again.
The cougar took measured steps, easing across the room in the same manner it would in the wild. The jaguar did not move until the cougar rubbed against it once more, opening its mouth to graze its teeth over an ear and then rub its face against the jaguar’s. The skittish spotted cat moved away again.
Keller shifted back. He walked to where Shya’s cat now stood and sat down on the floor beside it. Seconds passed but they seemed like hours with him remaining silent and her cat standing perfectly still. It was a beautiful creature, its fur looking as smooth and soft as velvet. He reached up a hand and touched it, watching his fingers easing over the spots that even though were darker still blended seamlessly with the golden-brown hue.
The jaguar’s breaths were coming slower now, its large head still held high when it went into a sitting position. She was calming down and he was going to stay with her until it was done.
“You shifted because you were afraid. I’m sorry. I should have thought of that. I should have said something to you before I left the room.” But he hadn’t because he wasn’t in the habit of reporting his whereabouts to anyone. Besides, they were still in the same building together, he just hadn’t considered that waking up in this room alone would frighten her so much that she’d allow her cat to take over.
“I don’t know how to do this,” he admitted. “Hell, I don’t even know what this is. I told you to come along because I didn’t know what else to say and now that you’re here I don’t know what to do about it. It just…you weren’t…I mean, it’s not in the plan. It never was meant to be part of any of my plans.”
And he was babbling, making absolutely no sense to himself and most likely not to her either. He was going to run his hand through his hair, something he’d done often as a kid when he was confused or flustered. His mother would always be there to brush his hand away and comfort him, make him feel less of a loner and more of the strong Shadow Shifter he was born to be. But instead of touching his own hair, this time Keller put his other hand on her cat as well. Now both his hands were rubbing over the jaguar as it sat on its hind legs.
He rubbed from the top of her head all the way down to her tail and she sat still while he did it. For more endless moments he simply sat with his hands on her, until the jaguar turned and looked at him before stretching out on the floor beside where he sat.
“I don’t know what you want, little cat, but whatever it is, whatever you need, you can tell me and I’ll do it.” It wasn’t meant to be, but it was, a promise that he’d spoken with more honesty and compassion than he’d ever felt before.
In the next seconds, the cat’s body shifted. The fur disappeared, its back curving and then straightening until a human spine arched at the center of tawny-hued skin. Her legs curled up to her chest, the head of curly black hair tucked low before a soft whimper escaped. He reached for her then, scooping her up into his arms and settling his back against the wall while cradling her to his chest. His lips pressed into her forehead when she looked up and his heart clenched when he saw the sheen of tears in her eyes.
“You locked the doors,” she said in a soft voice. “I felt like I was trapped in a cage. When I was a little girl complaining about not being able to shift and go above ground to run wild in the forest like my parents used to do when they were little, a boy whose father was a Lead Guard told me that jaguars caught running above ground would be captured and put into cages at the SIC where they were starved to death and tortured. For weeks after that I had nightmares and when my parents asked what the dreams were about, I was too afraid to tell them. Because I didn’t want them to think I was weak and afraid especially when I’d never seen anything to be afraid of.”
And yet she still knew fear. The girl held that deep inside of her until it manifested into the adult. He wanted to curse the young boy for telling her a story that was unfortunately true, and he still detested the parents who had not prepared her for this world.
“Why didn’t they teach you, Shya? Did you ever ask them why you were treated differently than the other Shadows?”
She lay her head on his chest but did not look up at him again. They were both naked, their bodies sharing an intense and comforting heat that cocooned them into a space that seemed safe and separate from anything around them.
“I was different. From the moment I was born I was destined to be different. The poison that my mother ingested during her pregnancy had seen to that. And even after the procedure that was said to have removed all the poison, I was still different. Special. That’s what my mother used to call me, her special jaguar. And for a while that was good. I liked being special and loved by my parents. Except all the other shifter children were special and loved by their parents as well, but they were growing and learning in ways that I wasn’t.
“My father didn’t want me physically hurt, so training was out. My mother didn’t want my health compromised so going above ground or too far away from Headquarters where I could be immediately rushed into the medical center under her watchful eye, was out. I lived vicariously through Nisa and my books.”
She shrugged and he rubbed his hand down her arm.
“They wanted to protect you, but it hindered you.” The realization took the edge off his dislike of Nick and Ary Delgado, but that was about it. They were her parents and they were experienced in the world above and below ground, they should have known that keeping her with them could not be safe forever.
“I wanted more and eventually I started to get it so when you asked me to come with you, I jumped at the opportunity. You don’t look at me like I’m about to shatter into pieces if you roar or yell. And you don’t treat me like I’m an idiot. You listen to what I have to say, even if you don’t answer all of my questions.”
“You have a lot of questions,” he said with a grin.
She had lots of questions and he liked hearing her voice, not providing answers almost always assured she’d speak to him again.
She pulled away slightly and looked at him. “Because there’s so much I still don’t know or understand. So much I want to learn before—”
He watched her blink and clap her lips shut as if she’d said something wrong but instead of asking her to say what she was feeling, Keller brushed a hand over her hair and let that hand move down to her cheek.
“I’ll teach you. Whatever you want to learn, I’ll teach you, little cat.”
When her lips lifted in a smile Keller lost his breath. The sensation was vaguely similar to when he’d heard her roar and thought for an instant that it was because she was in danger, but different. Bigger, more encompassing and warmer than any other emotion he’d ever felt.
“I’d like that,” she replied.
* * *
Shya had never felt better in her life. After spending the day in the room Keller was going to designate as the gym, going through what he called simulations and feeling super good about how well she did without having any previous training, she was now ready to do something nice for him and his friends.
While they’d been in the gym, some furniture had been delivered so that in a room just off the large kitchen on the first floor, there was now a big screen television, three couches, a rug and end tables. It looked oddly homey and she hummed as she moved into the kitchen pulling things out of the refrigerator to prepare the stuffed peppers she’d promised Keller last night.
