Page 183 of Drama Queen

“This dose is less sedative, and more a counter to the hormone surge he’s experiencing. One to inhibit the mating urge, another to chelate the excess hormones, and the third is a calming agent which will help with his instincts. It will make him a little fuzzy, but allow him to function at an executive level.”

“Thank you, Doctor,” Charlotte said, as the man backed away and she approached the table. In order to do so, she had to walk right past him, and he felt his paws twitch with the urge to reach out and pull her to their side.

Dr Watson swallowed hard. “Sooner rather than later, Ms Bailey, he’s already shrugging off the first dose faster than I’d like. It’s been a while since I examined him in his shifted form, something I will remedy when things are calmer. It seems his beast has put on a bit of weight.”

Leonard’s heart thumped at the comment. His doctor thought he was fat? Was that why Charlotte wouldn’t accept him? Her next words, however, stopped that thought in its tracks.

“Really? I think he looks perfect. I’ve never seen him shifted, but he’s a magnificent beast,” she commented casually, even as she rubbed his shoulder, looking for the best injection site.

“Oh, I didn’t mean he was overweight,” Dr Watson said quickly. “He’s just finally come into his own. He’s always been a bit lean and rangy, but now you can see the magnificence of hisform in perfect health. It just means that my dosage calculation based on his last recorded weight was a little low.”

“Ah, that makes sense.”

There was a sting in his shoulder, and his lion whimpered, but didn’t move as his mate tended to him. The feel of her hands smoothing across his fur was the most heady sensation, second only to how she would feel sheathing his cock in his human form. Pleased with that idea, his beast began to purr.

“Aww,” Charlotte murmured. “I’m glad shifting beasts are the exception to the rule. I think it would be tragic to have a lion form and not be able to purr. It’s not fair that only the small cats have the ability in the wild. I’d love to hear all the large cats rumble in contentment like this.”

The purr stopped. She wanted to listen to other men purr?

“You mean wild ones, right?” the doctor thankfully clarified. “Not shifters, but wild big cats.”

“Oh goodness, yes,” Charlotte agreed. “Not other shifters, ick, no. It’s a very comforting sound, I could only imagine how nice it would be to snuggle up against him.”

The doctor chuckled. “In other circumstances, I’d suggest you do so now, but we really need him to shift back. I fear any sign of affection from you right now would undo the drugs you just gave him.”

“Really? He’ll be that sensitive?”

No! He couldn’t allow this to happen. With his brain starting to come back online, he could already see where she was going with this. She would refrain from touching him at all, the fear he would revert and turn into his beast form again prevailing over all common sense.

The shift back to his human form happened as quickly as the one to his beast. The flow of his muscle and bone from one shape to another seamless and smooth. Something he was inordinately proud of. Leonard and his lion had worked hard to achieve that,building muscle and their relationship, until they were almost one, no matter what form they took. Right now, they needed the human shape, the one with the mouth parts to speak for them both.

“No,” he protested, as soon as his mouth was capable of speech. “The drugs are helping, I’ll be fine. How long will they last?”

Dr Watson sighed. “Probably twelve hours at best. I’ll have to double check the half-life, and the dosages I’ve just given you against your estimated weight?—”

Leonard wanted to cringe at the reprimanding look the doctor gave him. While he’d had his annual physical examination in human form, he had put off having one in his shifted form for far too long, not seeing the importance when he only shifted under controlled conditions. Clearly that was no longer the case. The thought he could have killed the man made him so ashamed, his scalp stung as the last of his made retracted in haste.

“I’m sorry, deeply sorry,” he apologised. “In my arrogance and impatience, I failed to consider the possibility of my being a threat to others.”

“Forgiven, old friend,” the doctor replied. “I need to check your mate, are you going to be alright with that?”

He nodded, sitting up slowly — the drugs indeed were making him a little fuzzy. Yet when he turned to see why Charlotte wasn’t protesting their talking around her, his thoughts clarified instantly.

Ignoring their conversation entirely, her gaze was fixed on him, more specifically his lap. His very naked lap, where the crowning glory of his cock stood very erect and very ready to fill her. Even as he followed her gaze, he saw a bead of pre-cum slowly gathering at the tip, and it thrilled him no end when he looked up in time to see his mate licking her lips in anticipation.

“Wilson,” Dr Watson called, interrupting the tableau. “Don’t come in, but I’m going to need a replacement change of clothes for the president, and myself. We’ll also need enough descenter to flood a swimming pool.”

There was a snicker on the other side of the door, but the aide simply made some comment about being on it, before Leonard heard the man’s steps retreating.

“Charlotte?” Dr Watson said next. “Can you hear me?”

“Mm?”

“Charlotte? I want you to look at me,” he said next.

Leonard’s gaze snapped to him, watching him for a sign of trying to separate them, but instead of looking at Charlotte, the doctor was watching him.

“Good,” he said, nodding in approval. “I’m not going to take your mate, Leonard, but I do need to take care of her in a way you are unable to. You want your mate to get the help she needs, right?”

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