Page 18 of A Cougar's Kiss
Chapter 7
“I’ll sleep on the couch.”
“Why? Because you’d rather have your legs bunched up on a piece of furniture that clearly wasn’t made for a shifter over six feet tall?”
Was he purposely trying to make this uncomfortable? No, she’d seen that spark of pity in his eyes the moment he realized she’d panicked at coming above ground and that she didn’t know how to scent. The latter wasn’t exactly true, she could scent—her nose and senses worked quite well, as with any shifter. She’d just never learned to use the gift for strategic purposes, meaning she didn’t know how to use what she smelled to help her figure out what type of person she was dealing with or what that person might be going through. But she could learn, she’d learned so much in the last year and she planned to continue. What she wasn’t going to stand for was him treating her different than he would have any other shifter.
“Because it’s better that way,” he replied.
“Says who?” When he frowned instead of responding she continued. “Look I’m not a prude, nor am I a child. I thought you’d figured that out by now. Anyway, this bed is huge, half a dozen shifters could fit comfortably on it, so the two of us will do just fine. And if you don’t want to touch me, that works too because once we’re asleep you probably won’t even be able to find me.”
But she wanted him to find her, just as she’d wanted him to take her last night. The need hadn’t died down as she’d expected and now that they were actually in a bedroom, she felt the heat rising slowly, but surely, once again.
He grabbed his shirt pulling it from his pants and lifted it over his head. “If you say so.”
Bare chested Keller in the middle of a bedroom agreeing to get into a bed with her was a totally different story than how she’d perceived this night would end. She turned away quickly and went to her bag that he’d brought into the bedroom because a distraction was needed.
“I’m going to close and lock this door,” he said from behind her. “There’s a bathroom around that corner and nobody can see through these windows.”
She nodded and pulled out shorts and a nightshirt, debating whether she should be as bold as he was and change right in front of him. Tucking them beneath her arm she turned in the direction of the bathroom because she may have used her supply of bravado for the night. The persistent press of her cat had her pausing a few steps before turning the corner to the bathroom. She changed direction and went to the side of the bed instead.
Keller was pulling the belt through the loops on his pants and she dropped the night clothes onto the bed before taking a quick breath. Without another moment’s hesitation she lifted her shirt over her head. Because she’d worn no bra her nipples grew hard the moment cool air hit them, but she kept moving, leaning down to untie and take off her boots, before unbuttoning her pants and pushing them down her legs. She pulled on the shorts and nightshirt and then put her other clothes back into her bag before returning to the bed. When she looked up again, Keller was still standing in the same spot, one part of his belt in his hand, the other hanging down to the floor.
He watched her ease back the thick comforter and slip beneath it and the sheet. She felt naked beneath his gaze, although she was dressed and covered by bedding. His piercing stare went straight through her and the cat inside preened with desire.
“Do you sleep on the right side or the left?”
It was an oddly comfortable question to ask this shifter she’d known from a distance for three months and was now about to share a bed with.
“Either is fine.” The words were spoken tightly as he finally looked away from her and finished undressing.
It was her turn to watch him unbutton his pants then sit down on the bed to lean over and work on his boots. Muscles in his back bunched and she licked her lips at the thought of dropping open-mouth kisses down the line of his spine. The tattoo on his right shoulder caught her gaze before she could go into anymore salacious thoughts about jumping on him. Well, not exactly because in the next seconds she’d pushed the comforter and sheet back and was crawling across the expansive bed until she reached him. Her hand was moving, fingers shaking slightly as she touched the black ink etched into his skin.
The Bosinian insignia was different from the Topètenia one she’d seen on her father, mother and Nisa. He went still at her touch but did not tell her to stop. She continued her perusal, dragging her fingers along the outside circle made of three thin lines. Inside that circle was the profile of a cougar, its teeth bared in a ferocious growl. The tattoo was all black ink except for the eye of the cat, which was green, almost exactly like his. Around the circle were sharp-tipped tribal markings that formed an outer perimeter that marked the only resemblance to the Topètenia insignia. Each of the Shadow tribes had their own mark, but those particular etchings were a signature of the Gungi rainforest, their home.
“Show me yours,” he said without turning back to look at her.
Shya pulled her hand away from him quickly and sat back on her knees. When she didn’t respond he stood and removed his pants. He wore gray and white striped boxers that rode low on his hips so that now she could see even more of his olive-hued skin and magnificent muscles.
“I know you’re not shy.”
She shook her head and then cleared her throat. “Not really. I don’t have a tattoo.”
He frowned and she felt a quick stab in her chest. How was he going to react to this admission? She had no clue but she prayed it wasn’t pity, she couldn’t take any more of that tonight.
“My parents were afraid the ink might cause more damage to my already compromised health. So, when everyone else went through their acordado and had received their tattoo after that first shift, I didn’t.”
He continued to watch her, and she resisted the urge to clasp her hands.
“I spent most of my fourteenth year in the medical center being monitored by my mother and other curanderos until my shift finally came. They had me hooked up to so many machines by that point I thought I might kill myself by turning into a jaguar. Instead, my cat broke most of those annoying machines. I guess it knew how sick and tired I was of all the attention to my health.”
He folded his arms over his chest, an act that made those his biceps look bigger, stronger.
She’d never told this story before and wasn’t sure why she was doing so now, but figured it was going to be way more awkward to stop without finishing, so she continued.
“The cat destroyed a good portion of that room before it calmed down enough to lay down and rest. I could see through its eyes, the fear and concern on my parents faces. My mother had been there when it began but she’d had to call for my dad and when he came he’d looked terrified. I hated seeing them like that, but then again, I was used to it because whenever they looked at me, it was the same.” And so was the pain that came with that look. The hurt that was so deeply embedded in her that it was a part of her like another limb. Hurt because she was not what they expected and they didn’t believe she ever could be.
“My father almost shifted when one of the curanderos suggested they use a tranquilizer to sedate me. My mother was the one who calmed him, while Nisa came over to help me. She did that a lot and it made being different much easier.”
