Page 22 of Dangerous Stakes

Killian chuckled. “I know the feeling all too well. But she only has to be turned if you want to breed her. You can use your barbs without her being a panther.”

“But how do I tell her? Oh, by the way sweetheart, all those times I got after you about playing loose with the truth? I forgot to mention—I’m not quite human.”

“And the longer you wait, the worse it’ll get.”

“Aye. You’re right. We don’t have a competition this weekend. I guess now is as good a time as any.”

“She loves you, Rory. It’ll be fine.”

Later that night as they sat on the back patio, Rory had pulled on a pair of jeans, Susan was curled up naked in his lap and they watched as the fireflies danced like fairies in the rolling pastures below. Rory felt he could no longer keep the truth from her.

“Susan, I need to tell you something…”

“I know my tempi changes were sloppy this afternoon.”

Rory nodded. “They were but I could tell you had a headache. That’s not it, though. I have kept something from you far too long, and I want there to be no secrets between us.”

She sat up, looking at him. “Whatever it is, you’d better tell me because you are scaring the shit out of me. Please don’t tell me you’re going to become part of the family business.”

“What? Oh, you mean become part of my brother’s organization? Not in the way you mean. But I would like to do some work in conjunction with the family farm.

He watched as she relaxed. She got out of her chair and knelt between his legs. Susan had found when he was stressed that having her sit at his feet and allowing him to just stroke her hair often soothed them both.

“Whatever it is, I love you. I may not like it, but I’m here.”

He nodded. “For thousands of years, there have been two humanoid lifeforms inhabiting the Earth…”

She looked up at him, confused at first and then annoyed. “I thought you were being serious, Rory. If you just wanted me to sit at your feet, all you had to do was ask.”

As she started to rise, he growled low and pushed down on her shoulder. “You stay where you are and I’m trying to tell you something important, but you need to have a little background to understand. Trust me?”

“Of course,” she said, settling back down.

“Humans are not the only humanoids that live here on Earth. There are others who are part human and are indistinguishable from humans. The others can shift between their human and animal selves.”

“Okay, I know you think the PNR romance books that I like are silly, but I really enjoy them.”

He chuckled. “I’m counting on that. What I’m telling you isn’t fiction. Those of my kind have existed alongside humans for millennia. We can shift between human and black panther.”

She searched his face, fear and a bit of horror flashing through her and revealing itself in her eyes as she realized this wasn’t a joke.

“And no, sweetheart, I haven’t gone mad.”

“You want me to believe that you have the ability to change into a black panther? Even if that were true, how could I not know this?”

“Because I have kept it from you for far longer than I should have. I never meant to lie to you, but as I’m sure you can guess, it’s not something we share with those outside our kind…”

She nodded. “No. They’d either lock you up in a mental hospital or take you to some lab to experiment on.”

“Unfortunately, yes. But I know now that you would never betray me…”

“Then why?”

“Fear. Pure and simple. I feared you wouldn’t be able to handle it and would leave me. You are my fated mate. I have known since that first show in Devon and yet I lacked the faith in us to be straight with you. Forgive me.”

“Okay, I’m having a little trouble here. I mean I can’t for the life of me figure out why you’d say this if it wasn’t true, but still…”

“Perhaps it is best that I show you.”

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