by Kit Tunstall
You weren’t scared? he asked, fighting back the urge to declare his love here and now. He’d been falling for Liddy since the day they’d met, but as much as he knew how authentic that love was he wasn’t certain if she was ready to hear the words.
I was scared of telling my family or pretty much anyone else, yes, but otherwise, no. I was happy, content in a way I’d never felt before. For the first time, I felt truly comfortable in my own skin. At least, behind closed doors.
Some of Kevin’s happiness faded. No matter how great his feelings for Liddy, there were some things he couldn’t accomplish for her or anyone else. I wish we could feel that way with those doors open, but you know that’s going to take years to accomplish. If your mother felt differently about shifters it would help, but obviously she isn’t going to change overnight. You would have told her long ago, if you thought there was a chance of that happening.
Mama struggles with accepting people from different ethnic backgrounds dating. She’ll never accept shapeshifters into her city, let alone her life.
Her eyes shimmered with tears of unhappiness. He wished he could make them go away, but all he could do was speak his heart. I’m sorry your mother is so old-fashioned, but I won’t hide my feelings for you, Liddy. I already have to hide my identity.
A smile pulled back her lips and reached into her eyes, banishing the tears. Oh Kevin, I don’t want you to hide anything. Mama loves me and she’s going to learn to accept you in my life. And if she doesn’t… She would. Liddy would make her. But if for some reason she couldn’t… Fresh tears pricked her eyes. I hate the idea of her not speaking to me, respecting me, but I won’t give you up for her beliefs. I want you. I need you to teach me.
Everything I know, Kevin promised, closing the short distance between them to nuzzle her nose reassuringly. You can count on that, Liddy.
I know I can. I trust you. I care about you so much.
He ceased his nuzzling to stroke his tongue along her lips. Slipping inside her mouth, her taste ignited his senses and brought his cock to aching awareness. He had once dreamed of the day he would find his mate and make her his. In some ways he had already done that when he’d taken Liddy in her lioness form at the gathering. But he hadn’t really known it was Liddy, hadn’t known what they were meant to be. This time he knew and he planned to lavish her with every carnal indulgence she deserved.
*
Liddy knew falling asleep each night and waking each morning in Kevin’s bed was not the best way to keep it secret from her mama that she was dating a white man. Still, she couldn’t make herself leave him after they made love. Not only did that lovemaking lead to more lovemaking, but talk of both the mundane and things about her and what she was capable of as a shifter that she had never known.
Now wasn’t a moment for talking though, Liddy acknowledged with a laugh as Kevin returned to the bedroom and rejoined her on the bed. He’d gone to find food. She had believed to eat. The playful gleam in his eyes as he set the plate of fruit next to him on the bed and plucked a grape off the plentiful vine suggested otherwise.
“Hungry?” he asked, raising a dark eyebrow.
For what she could guess he had in mind, definitely. She returned his sensual smile with one of her own. “Always.”
“Then open up.” He didn’t direct that question to her mouth, but her legs. The momentary thought to be embarrassed passed through Liddy’s mind, but then was quickly forgotten as she spread her thighs.
Kevin’s expression went from playful to carnal as he moved between her legs. He slid the cool grape along the inside of her thigh and upward until it caressed the length of her slit.
She shivered against the hedonistic sensation. “That feels so…”
“Good,” he supplied, using one hand to splay her labia wide and the other to dip the grape into her sex.
Her pussy pulsed forth a stream of juices, and her fingers dug into the sheets. “Fucking amazing,” she bit out as he rubbed the fruit against her sex.
With a chuckle, he brought the grape to his mouth and popped it inside.
Liddy squirmed with the bliss that stole over his face as he chewed. How could it be possible watching him eat that grape, knowing her juices coated it, was more arousing than watching him fuck her with his mouth?
The answer was forgotten as Kevin returned to the plate of fruit and lifted a peeled banana. She gasped as he skimmed the soft banana along her thigh and toward her dripping pussy. “You aren’t serious?”
He looked at her face, dark desire written in the depths of his eyes. “I’m never not serious about making love with you, Liddy. I want to taste your arousal on this banana. I want to lick it from your delicious pussy.”
Heat flared in her cheeks while tension tightened her limbs. Liquid warmth coiled in her belly. Her pussy pulsed. Maybe it was strange of her, but she suddenly wanted that banana in her more than her next breath. “Do it.”
Kevin moved back between her thighs. Dipping his head, he ran his tongue over her pussy once, just enough to have her spinning with the ache for more, then pulled back and pushed the banana deep.
It felt like nothing she’d ever experienced, soft yet warm, small yet firm. His mouth returned, nibbling at the end of the banana while his hands drew lazy circles along her thighs. The sluggish action didn’t suit the mood, and yet managed to send her spinning all that much higher. His teeth brushed her pussy lips and he ate at the banana until the hot press of his tongue mingled with the warm, soft fruit.
With each lick, each nip the difference between tongue and fruit became harder to decipher. The feel of his hands caressing her thighs more difficult to distinguish from that of the rest of his body. Sound was all she was aware of, that of his lapping tongue and the slippery suction of her pussy as he continued to feast. Then even sound slipped away and all Liddy could do was hang on as Kevin consumed her into soul blistering climax.
An arrogant grin she’d come to see more regularly the past few days tugged his mouth wide as he pulled back. “Hungry for more?”
Breathless, floating, Liddy could only nod. And then gasp as he reached for the plate and came back with not a fruit but a vegetable. His grin became wicked as he produced a long, thick cucumber his human teeth could never bite into the way they had the banana. Even as she thought it, his teeth shifted, transforming into fangs that the mere sight of sent a pang of desperate want and urgency racing through her.
Those delectable fangs teased her inner thighs as the head of the cucumber brushed her dripping pussy, and Liddy knew there was no doubt about it. She was in love.
*
“Your mother is here to see you.”
Liddy tensed at the sanctuary receptionist’s words. The smile that had claimed her lips the moment she thought of Kevin and the incredible night they’d spent together again last night disappeared as she swiveled in her chair to nod at Ann. “Thanks. Give me a minute and then send her back.”
She did not want to see her mama. She had been putting if off for the last several days, though she knew doing so was pointless. As she’d already surmised, Hanover was only so big and her spending every night at Kevin’s home wouldn’t go unnoticed for long. Particularly not when those sleepovers were bound to rile the mayor.
“You don’t make your mama wait, Liddy Marie.”
Her thoughts burst with her mama’s words, and she focused on the heat coming off her mama’s aura. Annette didn’t look any happier to see Liddy than what Liddy was to see her. Too bad Liddy knew her mama wouldn’t go away until she got whatever was on her chest off it. As if she couldn’t guess what that something was.
Self-consciously, Liddy tugged at the turtleneck she wore beneath her work sweatshirt. Shifters healed fast from normal wounds, but the bite marks Kevin had left behind their first night together in their human form were still fresh. She would be thrilled to keep them that way forever. Looking at the marks made her happy, like she finally had someone in her life who both cared for her and understoo
d her. The thought of Mama questioning her about the marks, however, didn’t make her happy in the least. She already had enough on her hands making Mama see how right she and Kevin were together, regardless of skin color.
Satisfied the marks were covered, Liddy gestured to the seat across the desk from her, struggling to maintain a casual air. “Sorry. I just wanted to straighten up a bit first.”
Annette ignored the gesture and pinned her with a disappointed glare. “If there’s one thing you’ve always been, it’s neat. I had believed you were sensible, too, but now I wonder. What is this I’m hearing about you being seen with Kevin Montcalm? He’s a nice man, baby. Well off and respected in this city, but he’s not for you.”
Liddy’s tension threatened to turn to temper with her mama’s expression. She forced her voice to remain even. If she was to convince Mama of anything, she needed to be level-headed. “You don’t even know him, Mama. You’re basing your opinion on the color of his skin. It’s not the twentieth century any longer. People of mixed color date all the time. They even get married and have babies together.”
Annette bristled. “Not in this city, they don’t.”
Oh God! How was she supposed to stay calm, when her mama was tossing out such idiotic remarks? “Because you make it seem like a crime,” Liddy managed just a little hotly. “It’s a free country, Mama. For everyone, including shifters.”
Her nose went up. “This isn’t about those…things.”
So much for her temper. It was far too combustible to keep in check when she could guess damn well that Mama’s next accusation would be about shifters being freaks.
Liddy pounded her fist down on her desk. “They are not things and it should be about them. You would react the same way if I was dating a shifter or a white man.”
“You will not date a shifter! The thought of you letting one of those animals touch you…” Annette shuddered. “Oh Liddy, how can you even say something so awful? You’re not in your right mind, baby. All the time you spend around this place has gotten to you. You need a vacation, somewhere you can meet a nice black man.”
“I don’t want a vacation or a nice black man! I want Kevin!” Liddy winced at the knowledge she was both acting like a child and yelling loudly enough for the entire office and most of the sanctuary to hear. Why couldn’t Mama just understand?
“I can’t stop you from seeing him, but you won’t bring him by my house. So long as you’re with that man, you won’t come by the house, either. I’ve worked hard to get where I am, Liddy. I won’t jeopardize it over your wild behavior.”
The air pushed out of Liddy’s lungs in a hard wheeze. She’d known dating Kevin would come to this, her mama not speaking to her until the truth of how right Liddy and Kevin were together finally sank in. Still, Annette’s answer to her unspoken question hit her like a physical blow.
The last threads of Liddy’s control snapped. She rounded the desk, ready to throw her mama out of the office. “You have no idea about my wild behavior, Mama. If—”
“Sorry to interrupt,” Ann cut her off loudly, “but Detective Riggs is here and demanding to see you, Liddy.”
Great. Just great. As if this morning needed to get any worse.
“Send him in,” Liddy growled to the receptionist.
The cop appeared in the office seconds later, his mouth set in a hard line and his aura giving off enough blackness to tighten Liddy’s belly in knots. Ignoring her mama, she forced a smile for Tanner. “What can I help you with this wonderful morning, Detective?”
“We caught the shifter responsible for the attacks.”
The knotting sensation turned to painful burning with the accusing way the cop looked at her as he spoke. Before Liddy could question him, Annette said severely, “Not possible. You cannot tell me that you have proof the attacker is a shifter?”
“We have proof, Mayor Freeman.” Tanner’s eyes never left Liddy’s face as he responded to her mama. “We also have reason to believe your daughter’s known the attacker’s identity for some time and failed to come forward. Abetting a felon is a crime, Ms. Freeman. Depending on exactly how much you know and how much you’ve taken part in these attacks, a jail cell could be the least of your worries.”
A jail cell… “Oh God, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I know nothing about the attacker. I’ve told you that a hundred times.”
The cop’s lips firmed into a smirk. “You know nothing about Kevin Montcalm? Way you two were carrying on when I walked in to ask for a jump the other day, I find that hard to believe.”
Shock. Horror. Disbelief. Denial. They all clawed at Liddy’s stomach as the detective’s words sank in. She gasped, “Kevin?”
Tanner nodded. “He is the shifter responsible.”
“Oh Liddy,” Annette moaned. “What is wrong with you? It isn’t bad enough to be dating a white man, but he has to be a shifter on top of it? I know I raised you smarter than that, baby.”
The detective’s eyes narrowed and Liddy caught the flicker of amusement as he added, “You forgot the part about him being a killer.”
“No.” Liddy gave her head a fierce shake. “Kevin is not a killer.” He couldn’t be. She would know. After all they had shared, she believed in him, trusted him. “Kevin only wants equality for everyone.”
“I hate to be the one to break it to you, Ms. Freeman, but DNA doesn’t lie. After coming up empty on matching the DNA we pulled off the last victim with anyone on file, we started doing random checks. There was blood left behind on my hood latch from when Mr. Montcalm cut his hand. I noticed it last night and had the lab run it. Results came in this morning, a perfect match.”
Liar. He was lying. The truth was in the gleam of his eyes. The sarcastic curve of his lips. Somehow Tanner had learned about Kevin being a shifter and was now trying to blame him for the attacks as a way to expunge him and the entire pride from the area. “Someone set him up. They had to have. Kevin is not a killer. I would know.”
“I look forward to hearing how as soon as we get back to the station.” With a last smirk, the cop looked down at his hip where a pair of cuffs dangled. “Now you planning to go freely, or do I need to assist?”
*
I’m not responsible for the attacks. You have to trust me, Liddy.
Liddy’s heart squeezed painfully at the sight of Kevin behind bars. Before he’d always looked so clean cut and put together. Now he looked tired and, if she was to admit the truth, worried, like he thought he might not get off. Or maybe like he was guilty.
Chastising herself for that faithless thought, she started to reach for his hand through the cell bars, then stopped. Touching of any kind would have the guards pulling her out of here before she even had a chance to share anything important with Kevin. I believe you. It’s just that if you didn’t do it…who did? And why did your blood match the DNA they found on the dead woman? Detective Riggs—
Whatever he’s saying is wrong. The DNA had to have been planted there. By who…? Remember that lion who came to the gathering last week? He made it clear he thought shifters should rule humans. He also made it clear he thought I was running the pride wrong, that taking human lives should be okay. My guess would be he has something to do with this.
Maybe. And if it was that lion responsible, then Liddy had no idea how to do anything about getting him to own up to the truth. She didn’t even know where to look for him, or what he looked like in his human form.
Helplessness brought tears to the back of her eyes. She’d felt alone many times since being turned, but she’d never felt this powerless to help someone she cared for. I don’t know how to help you, Kevin. The cops are already trying to lock me up right beside you. They think that I know something, that I covered for you. They don’t have anything to hold me with, but if I start snooping around and get caught, they’re going to assume that I’m guilty.
Kevin’s eyes went cool blue and he fisted his hands around the bars of the cell door. Quiet command radiated from his body
. I won’t have you in here beside me, Liddy. That isn’t a request. His gaze softened along with his thoughts. They want this case taken care of immediately. They’re going to start trying me the day after tomorrow. Maybe I’ll get lucky and the jury will have a shifter or two on it. Any one of them who believes in me, would help to see that I get off.
Liddy smiled weakly. It would be so nice to think that could happen, but she couldn’t believe it any more than she could stop thoughts of snooping around despite the potential consequences. Yes, she could get caught and prosecuted. But maybe—no matter how slim the odds—she also could locate the lion who was really responsible for the attacks. If the worst happened, at least she would end up beside Kevin.
But what if you don’t get lucky? What if there isn’t a shifter on the jury? she pressed. They aren’t going to give you a trial, Kevin. They’re going to give you a lion lynching.
“Time’s up,” one of the guards called from where he stood sentinel at the door which lead into the cell area.
Kevin looked toward the guard, then back at Liddy and smiled reassuringly. I’ll figure something out, Liddy. Just have faith in me.
I do. I trust you. I… Had come in here intending to share her feelings with him, to show him her support in the strongest way she knew how. Knowing she would have to go against his order to help him made sharing her feelings now seem not quite sincere. Still, she had to do it, in case she didn’t get another opportunity.
Fresh tears threatened with the thought. She shook them back and chanced brushing her hand against his knuckles. I love you, Kevin.
His worry lifted for an instant as happiness filled his eyes. The worry returned as concern with his next thoughts. I love you, Liddy. Too much to see you hurt. Promise me you won’t try to find the real attacker.
