Page 61 of Purrfectly Trapped

Imagine not explaining about Shifters to your own best friend! Hmph!

The fact Shifters existed, and Elissa could now get all stripey and furry, were things she should have told her as her best friend. She could have sharedsomething, for fuck’s sake. At least, she should have in Gretchen’s opinion.

The nerve of Elissa! It broke all the best friend rules, but it was water under the bridge now. She’d already forgiven Liss. And now, she understood the need for secrecy.

The supernatural world had to remain secret. It was vital to their survival, and very few humans were in the know. Gretchen couldn’t even begin to grasp the many wonders and marvels that she had yet to discover.

That was all fine and good. Exciting even. There was just one thing that bothered her. Not knowing where she fit exactly. If only she could guarantee Reg would want her and be there with her for always.

Sigh.

Life didn’t come with guarantees, so she’d have to learn to enjoy this while she could. Her Tiger hissed and growled. The animal didn’t like it when Gretchen’s thoughts turned dark, but she couldn’t help it.

Her future was tenuous at best. Hunter mentioned an induction ceremony into the Pride, but that was in passing. Reg seemed to like being with her, but he’d never said a thing about what came next for them.

Hint hint.

How about something sparkly for that third finger on her left hand?

Gretchen might be a Shifter now, but she’d been a human for thirty-years before that. She had very human expectations of how relationships progressed. There had been plenty of growling, kissing, tearing each other’s clothes off, and hot, sweaty sex that ended in super amazing orgasms, and even biting, but she had yet to hear him say those oh so important three little words.

And yet, their absence hurt. Funny how three words could mean so much.

Why hadn’t he said them? That was the thing truly driving her nuts. It was not like he was shy about anything else. Her sweet Reggie was always touching her and telling her she was beautiful.

She wasn’t complaining, but she needed a little verbal affirmation. Maybe it was a Shifter thing. Maybe they were secretcommitment-phobes.

Shifter society rules were out of her range of experience. Meeting the other Pride Mates had gone alright. The men were all sexy and huge, and the females gorgeous.

No one was as handsome as Reg, but still, they were a very good looking bunch. She had already met some of the women from the Pride.

They’d come toCut It Outto either welcome her or just to look around her salon. Some of them, she hadn’t recognized as Shifters since they’d visited before she went through thePuspa.

Others she’d met at the Pride House. In fact, one of them was her two o’clock. She glanced at the microwave and sighed.

“You have an appointment coming in,shona?”

“Yeah, a cut and blow dry at two with Pamela Brown, but I would rather stay here with you,” she said regretfully.

“Pamela?”

“Yes, she’s a Tiger from the Pride, right?” she asked missing the worried expression on his face.

“Yeah, she is. Be careful, okay? Pamela doesn’t play nicely with others. She can be a bit rude,” he told her, frowning.

“Of course. Don’t worry. I’m used to dealing with waspish females,” she replied and smiled at him.

“Alright, well, I have to get going too. The crew is working on a repair to the exit ramp off I-95 to Barvale,” Reg said, reaching for a kiss.

“You be careful too,” she said.

“Uh huh,” he nodded, and brushed her lips with his.

Shivers of anticipation made Gretchen tremble just before his lips, soft and firm, melded to hers. She swayed closer to him, loving the feel of all his rippling muscles against her softness.

There was just something about the man that knocked her completely off balance. Gretchen wiggled on his lap and felt the hard bar of his evident arousal beneath her ass. Desire flared between them, hot and quick as lightning, but the buzzing of the intercom broke them apart.

“That’s Marion,” she said, breathing heavy as Reg was.

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