Catnipped

by Olivia Myers

“I’ll watch over her,” he says. “Sleep now, Cassie.”

  ***

  When I wake up in the morning, Evan is motionless beside me. His chest is covered in a sticky redness, and I hold a knife in my hand covered in the same goo. I know it isn’t really blood—this was part of our plan—but I can’t help the horror I feel at the sight of him.

  Choking back bile, I rise from the bed. I wish I could rouse him, see his smile and make sure he’s alive. But that would ruin the illusion, and today will be all about illusions. Instead, I kiss his brow and smooth some of his sandy hair from his temple.

  Then I shower off some of the red, blood-like liquid, and dress myself in an old shirt of Evan’s.

  I’m shaking by the time I reach the door to Phantom Phil’s Quirky Books and Doodads. Inside, Phil is waiting for me. I try not to shudder, and I press one hand protectively to comfort little Jackson.

  Phil’s at the front of the bookstore. “Cassie? Are you all right?”

  “Phil…I’m so confused. I don’t know what’s happened, and I don’t know why—”

  “It’s okay, shh,” he says. He puts what he probably thinks is a comforting arm over my shoulders, but it takes every power I have not to shrug it off in disgust.

  “Phil, Evan was so awful. I killed him to protect you, to protect us. But…I don’t know why, and I’m confused about my childhood. When did you find me?”

  He leads me up the stairs and into the room with the pentagram and the eye. There, he helps me sit in a comfortable chair, and he sits next to me. “Poor Cassie,” he says. “I can help you figure things out. Will you let me make a connection with you? It’ll help ease your fears. You can trust me, you know.”

  “I know, Phil.” I lean into him as if he were a father figure, or a favorite uncle. It feels so wrong, but I won’t allow myself to shift away.

  He touches my hand gently, and I see faint silver trails of psychic energy gathering around his fingers. My own faint yellow energy wisps respond, twining with his, and I feed him the images of Evan, motionless in the bed, covered in blood. I feed him the image of the knife in my hand, and the red liquid swirling down the shower drain. I feed him my distress and my fear.

  He takes it in, and our energy wisps twine together even stronger. As soon as he initiates the bond to manipulate my psychic consciousness, I lock down onto him. Baby Jackson’s powers, combined with mine, make me stronger than Phil ever could have imagined. Instead of allowing Phil to manipulate my consciousness, I manipulate his.

  I make him think he’s a little boy, dependent on his mother. I make him believe that I am his mother.

  “Your favorite babysitter, Suza, will take you to the toy store now, Philip,” I say in a soothing tone.

  “Yes. Yes, Mama, please!” His voice sounds younger, and less cynical and controlling. I almost feel sorry for him, until I remember he tried to make me kill Evan.

  He follows me eagerly downstairs. “I can’t wait to see Suza again. What does she look like?”

  “She’s very pretty. And she loves spending time with you almost as much as I do!” I feed him images of Suza’s dark hair and kind smile.

  She’s waiting at the door, along with Evan. Phil stares at Evan in confusion. He recognizes Evan, but his childlike mind won’t allow him to even entertain the thought that he’d mentored Evan before trying to have him killed.

  “It’s okay,” Suza says. “Evan’s a friend of ours.”

  “Oh, okay,” Phil says.

  Suza leads him away, and he reaches out to hold her hand. It’s a tragic image, and I lean into Evan’s strong chest, letting him hold me.

  “Are you okay?” Evan asks.

  “What’s going to happen to Phil? He’s just a little kid now…”

  “No, that’ll wear off, don’t worry. He’ll go to trial. The Rebels have set up a system for dealing with transgressors. He’ll have a jury and a judge of other psychics.”

  I nod. It sounds fair, and fitting. So unlike what Phil wanted to do to others—punishing them with death if he felt they stepped out of line.

  “I was wondering about Tristan,” Evan says. “I know it’s not really the time for this conversation, but…”

  “No, it’s okay,” I say. “I’ve been thinking about it, too. He might want to be involved with his son, but he’s not going to be involved with me. Not after what he and Sara did.”

  “I think you’re making the right decision, especially because it means we can be together.” He gives me a kiss on the forehead.

  Phil and Suza join a few other people, other Rebels, I assume. They get in a van and drive out of sight.

  “So what now?” I ask.

  “Now we can relax, until next time we notice a psychic or human about to start trouble. Didn’t you want to be a superhero? I’m sure they have downtime, too.”

  I smile up at him. “And how do they fill that downtime?”

  “I have a few ideas.”

  He touches my chin, tilting it upward for a kiss. After seeing him pretending to be dead this morning, seeing him alive like this causes relief and joy to washes through me. Our lips meet and I melt into him, appreciating his joy, his loyalty, and his love.

  I may not be able to see the future, but I have a feeling that things are going to turn out well for us, and for Jackson.

  THE END

  Bearly Saved Christmas

  Krista Voss stood staring at her family ranch from the front porch. The lights were up, and the wreath was centered on the front door. The problem was, it wasn’t the same without her parents.

  She had just finished filling up the barn with wrapped gifts, and decorating for Christmas. She wasn’t sure if her adoptive brother would stay for the holidays or not, but she hoped he would. With her adoptive parents recently passed away, and her biological father not at all interested in seeing her, she needed a familiar face around here, someone who understood what this ranch meant to her, and cared enough about her to smile when he saw her. She was sad and lonely, and she ached inside from losing the only parents she’d really known.

  Growing up, she’d learned all their secrets. As bear shifters, they had reasons to be extremely private and very selective in who they let in their family.

  She couldn’t wait for Leo to arrive. She could use his help with the toy donation she organized every year. The barn was full of gifts, waiting for Christmas Eve when she would drive them into town, hopefully with Leo’s help.

  As far as decorations, all that was missing was the topper for the tree. She was saving it for Leo. She was hoping that he’d put it on the top of the tree like he’d done when she was a child. She needed good memories right now. Losing her parents and being rejected by her birth family had broken her spirit. She was already judged enough, being one of the only black women in the small rural Texas town. Some people might have thought that being adopted by a white family would have changed the way people treated her. Those who’d known the family well treated her pretty well, but she stood out like a sore thumb whenever she went into town. What was worse, Cory Boyd was in town, always mouthing off about what an abomination Krista and her adoptive family were. “Whites and blacks, living in the same house, it’s a sin,” he’d grouse, just loud enough for her. It used to fill her with shame, but now it just made her sad that such a racist man had the support of at least a small handful of townspeople.

  There were times where she wondered if she should just sell her half of the ranch and go to a bigger city where she wasn’t a minority that drew attention every time she turned around, someone who could stay out of Cory Boyd’s radar. Her chocolate skin was a huge contrast compared to the blond haired, blue-eyed people who dominated their small town.

  A small blue Porsche pulled up to the main house. Krista’s heart pounded in anticipation, and her brother Leo got out. He pulled two luggage bags and a computer bag from the passenger seat and she wondered how he’d made it all fit in such a small car. Krista was used to driving the big pickups from the ranch
. A tiny car like Leo’s made her giggle inside. It would get ruined out here on these bumpy, dusty roads.

  “Hi, Leo, hope the drive was okay?” she asked as she took one of his bags from him.

  “Yeah, it was fine,” he said, looking down at her.

  She was tall at five foot ten, but Leo towered over her at almost six and a half feet tall. He had dark blue eyes, which seemed to gaze right into her. His light brown hair was streaked with blond and looked soft to the touch. She realized that the years had turned him into an attractive man, and he stirred something in her that had her taking a step back and catching her breath. She shouldn’t feel any attraction to her adoptive brother, even though there was no blood relation. It wasn’t socially acceptable. Trying to push the attraction she felt for him when she saw him out of her mind, she helped him carry his bags in to his old room.

  “You doing your gift giveaway again this year?” he asked. There was something in his eyes, something about the way he was looking at her.

  No, she must be imagining it. “Yeah. I was hoping you’d go into town with me again.”

  “Sure thing. It’s really sweet of you to do that.”

  “I just want to help other kids, the way you and your parents helped me.” She tried to keep her voice even, although he looked up sharply, probably hearing subtle cues. Shifter senses had made him and his parents too keen on her feelings, but she was used to it.

  Brushing up against him when she took the bags and set them on the bed, she gasped when he put his arm out to give her a half-hug and press a kiss to her temple in greeting. It was innocent enough, but it stirred her passions and had her face feeling hot. She was glad that her skin was dark and he wouldn’t easily see her blushing. The last thing she needed was to make her brother feel uncomfortable around her.

  What was wrong with her? Krista hurried away from him before even asking him to put the tree topper on the Christmas tree. She needed to put some space between them and let her brain reset.

  ***

  Leo stayed in his bedroom the rest of the night. Seeing Krista all grown up had surprised him. She was tall and lithe in a way that a dancer would be, agile and feminine looking. She moved with a grace that had him wanting to touch her in ways that weren’t appropriate for a brother to be thinking about. Lying down on his childhood bed, he really missed his parents. His natural instinct was to go out on the ranch and shift to his bear and scratch at the trees and roll in the dirt to mourn their loss. It was an animal instinct thing, and he felt his family’s loss all the way through his heart to his gut.

  Krista wasn’t a shifter but she knew about him, which gave him an advantage over staying with his girlfriend back home in California. They were in the “off” phase of off-again-on-again, and he knew that when the holidays were over, he really needed to end it with Melody. If he was attracted to his adoptive sister, there was no way Melody was the girl for him anyway, and it wasn’t fair to keep dragging it out. He was ready to settle down, start a family. Especially after losing what was left of his. He had been considering leaving his company and coming home to his family ranch. He needed to think about it. Krista had mentioned trying to buy his share out if he didn’t want to help run the ranch, and he’d come here to make a decision either way.

  Seeing Krista had caused feelings to flare up—feelings he hadn’t known he had—mostly for her, but also for the ranch. He’d been toying with the idea of becoming a rancher and settling down to raise a family now that he’d made all his money and could retire young.

  The problem was, if he stayed here, and his attraction to Krista grew, then what would happen? Would it be fair to either of them to have his adoptive sister be the object of his desire, a woman that he wanted and shouldn’t want?

  Scratching his head in mild confusion, he tried to figure out how to handle the situation. He hadn’t been raised with her for very long, so he didn’t have the brotherly feelings toward her even though they had a legal family tie. Deciding to get some food, he went downstairs to the kitchen and almost walked right into her. She was wearing bunny slippers and had on a fuzzy white bathrobe. She held a carton of ice cream in one hand, and a spoon in the other. She looked up at him guiltily.

  “Hi,” he said, watching her lick the spoon with her tongue. He had to look away quickly. It was just too sensual of an action, and he wanted to press her against the cupboards and have her lick him like that.

  “Hi, Leo. Any chance you want to put the tree topper on the tree?” she asked, setting the ice cream down on the counter. “I promise I don’t eat out of all the cartons, just this one. We have others.”

  “Doesn’t bother me,” Leo said, laughing. She looked so young and innocent but there was a wariness to her face that gave him the urge to comfort her. Their parents had meant a lot to her, too, in some ways more, because she was chosen by them, not just given to them by the genetic lottery of birth. “How are you holding up?”

  “I’m hanging in there, I guess. I miss them a lot. I’m glad you’re here.” She walked over and hugged him, surprising him. He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her back. When she looked up at him, she had a smudge of vanilla ice cream on her upper lip and he wiped it off with his thumb.

  Before he could stop himself, Leo lowered his mouth and kissed her. He wasn’t sure who was more shocked—him, or Krista. What surprised him was the fact that she started to kiss him back. Her arms reached up and wrapped around his neck and held him close. He let himself get lost in her warm embrace. Their tongues mingled as he deepened the kiss. When he finally pulled back, he stared at her, not sure if he should apologize, or kiss her again while she was still receptive to it.

  “Leo?” Krista asked.

  Cringing, Leo waited for her to blast him for stepping over boundaries that should never be crossed.

  “Yes, Krista?” He waited for the tongue-lashing he rightfully deserved.

  “I liked that. If you want to do it again, I promise I won’t say no.” Krista gently traced the stubble on his cheek. “I was attracted to you, too, from the moment you walked through the front door tonight. I’m glad it’s mutual because I thought I would go insane being this close to you and not able to touch you.”

  Leo just stared at her for a moment and then dipped his head. They’d have to figure out the rest of the family business, and the ranch, but for right now, tonight, they weren’t brother and sister. They were just a man and a woman who’d been brought together by the loss of family and needed to be comforted by someone they trusted and liked.

  Backing her up until she bumped into the kitchen counter he pushed her robe open slightly and put his hand inside of the fabric to touch her. Finding her with no shirt on, he closed his eyes and groaned softly. Her hot skin teased his fingers as he lowered his hand until he found one of her large, perky breasts. She was curvy in all the right places and it had him hot and hard. She had never seemed obsessed with clothes or makeup, or being supermodel thin. Krista was healthy and active and it showed.

  Her soft moans were egging him on, and he pushed himself between her legs so that she could feel his arousal against her inner thighs.

  Leo pulled back long enough to look at her; he wanted to give her a chance to change her mind. If they went through with where this was headed, there was no going back. When she looked up at him with big eyes, he forgot all his good intentions and covered her mouth with his again, this time giving no mercy. He devoured her mouth as his hands roamed her body, touching her intimately until she was gasping and grinding up against him.

  “Leo,” she whispered. She pulled her head back to look at him, giving him a gentle smile. She reached down, pulled off his shirt, and then lowered her hands to work on undoing his belt to get his pants off. Leo didn’t stop her, but he did pick her up and set her on the counter so her pelvis was even with his.

  Krista pulled his cock out of his pants and stroked it with her fingers. She looked into his eyes as she touched him, and it drove him wild.

 
After all the sadness and loss, seeing something so simple, primal, and exciting helped him block out all the pain of losing his parents, and he wanted to lose himself in her arms. Scooting her toward him on the counter, his hands dropped lower to touch her wetness between her legs. She tilted her head back, her eyes half-closed in passion. He touched her gently, working her up into an excited frenzy and then worked two fingers inside of her, stretching her out, getting her ready for him.

  Leo let his cock press up against her leg, and rubbed himself against her soft skin. He knew that if he did this, he’d never be able to go back, or see her as family again. She’d be his lover, a woman he was physically attracted too, a woman he wanted to seduce. A woman who would be his. Realizing where his thoughts went, they’d need to talk about this after. This wasn’t a onetime thing for him; he wouldn’t risk his family on a one-night stand.

  “Krista, before we do this, I just want you to know that if we go down this road, there’s no going back.”

  “I know what we are doing, Leo. We’re both grown adults.” She wrapped her hand around his girth and squeezed him gently. “I need you, please, no more talking.”

  Leo took a deep breath and kissed her hard, accepting her feelings on the matter; they matched his own. He hoped they wouldn’t have regrets for doing this, but right now in the heat of the moment, he wanted her. He picked her up in his arms and took her to the living room. She clung to him with her arms wrapped around his neck and her legs around his waist holding on so he wouldn’t drop her. He grabbed a blanket off the couch and tossed it on the floor before laying her down next to the Christmas tree.

  Looking down at her, he smiled. The lights of the tree lit her skin up in a way that had him tracing the shadows with his fingers as he lay next to her.

  He rolled up against her, his lips against hers, and spread the sides of her bathrobe further apart. He let his hands glide up and down her body, cupping one breast, then the other. He put his hands between her legs and stroked her until she soaked his fingers. He played with her clit until it was swollen and she was grinding her hips up against his hand.