Caged

by Diana DeRicci

“Not bad today. Hey, I’ve been thinking.”

  “And I have something to tell you about this weekend.”

  “Oh? You first.”

  Seated still, Rhys bent over his knees, he described the conversation he’d had with his mother. A forlorn sigh told him he wasn’t going to like what she had to share, probably on the same unwanted scale of what his mother had told him not twenty minutes before.

  “That makes sense,” Mira said. “I didn’t think about it then. I just wanted to get away.”

  “Stop. Don’t feel guilty. You have a right to do what you have to do, to feel your own feelings, no matter what. So, what happened?” He dragged a finger over his lip as he listened.

  “I wasn’t paying attention to the direction, just…going. I thought I had heard something, I can’t remember now what it was that tipped me off, but I tore off in another direction.”

  “And that was likely when you ran into me, when I was searching for you.”

  “I think so,” she replied. “But that something could have been, most likely was, that man, Seth. He really did see me, and was expecting to catch me.”

  “And he did, just not the tiger.” And he probably thinks one of us has a wild cat as close as that net had been to the cabin. No wonder Seth called his mother. He probably was digging for information.

  “Right. And now he thinks he caught a cheetah and there’s still a tiger out there somewhere.”

  He murmured his agreement. “I think I need to call Robbie.”

  “Your friend on the force?”

  Her voice wobbled. Rhys knew she was terrified of being found out, but he was starting to get an idea. Robbie was from his old neighborhood, before he’d bought the townhouse. It was nice having a cop living three doors down from his parents’. It was also a bonus that Rhys’s was one of the few shops where his precinct had their vehicles worked on, so it wasn’t uncommon to see him still, even though Rhys had moved. Mira knew who Robbie was, but hadn’t met him. She knew Rhys would never let anything harm her. His first priority was to see her protected. He hoped he could do it without exposing even the littlest about her.

  “I have to let them know what I think Seth is doing. If he’s hunting, it’s out of season to begin with. If he’s poaching, then he’s breaking a ton of laws. At least if I tell him, it’s not an actual report, because I have no evidence. I can’t tell him I was the one who let you out of the cage.”

  And turkey or not, why would Seth have a need for a cage big enough for a large cat to begin with? The possibilities made the gnawing heat in his stomach return. The odd cougar sighting had been in the media, as well as hikers stumbling across foxes and bobcats. It made the possibility of his crime too easy to envision.

  “I know you do,” Mira said, relenting. “I’m going to call home. I haven’t talked to Mom in a week or two.”

  “Let them know their baby is still okay,” he teased her. He got a raspberry over the phone for it. “I’ll call on my way home. Dinner?”

  “I plan on eating something, yes.”

  “Smartass.”

  “You love me anyway.”

  Rhys grinned. “I do. See you tonight.”

  Feeling at least a little better, he called and left a message on Robbie’s cell voicemail. That done, it was time to get his head back into work gear. He had an emissions failure he had to have fixed by the end of the day.

  * * * *

  “I just had an awful thought,” Mira said, standing next to Rhys washing dishes while he straightened up the kitchen from dinner. Her mind hadn’t quit running since the call they’d shared that afternoon.

  “What?” He paused, glancing over his shoulder.

  “What if he isn’t poaching? If he saw me that night, in any form, maybe he does know.” Mira felt her hands trembling and fisted them in the soapy water to hide it. “He told your mom about both cats, and admitted to her he was the one who netted the cheetah. Why would he bother calling your mother with those kinds of details knowing it would be assumed he could be hunting illegally unless he knew you were there? Unless he’s expecting some kind of reaction? Unless he knows,” she whispered, fear making her voice crack. Her stomach twisted on itself, dinner turning into a solid sour rock as the threat to her became real.

  Rhys turned from the counter to stand behind her and enfolded her into his embrace, his cheek on her shoulder. His strong chest molded to her back. Trembles vibrated her in his arms, regardless. Somehow, she knew she was right. “I don’t know what he was going to do with me, but he had to know something to have set the net to begin with.”

  Rhys nodded against her. “You’re right. He set the net close to our cabin, not out on the range somewhere where a wild cat is more likely to be, not near an occupied house.”

  “So that means all he had to do was watch for when we would go north again.”

  “Shit,” he breathed. Rhys pressed his forehead to her, giving her a light squeeze. “He had told Mom he’d seen the truck on the road to the cabins. He was watching for us. The road isn’t private, but it’s not heavily used either. And it’s viewable from several heights. His personal cabin is one of them. He’s probably been going every weekend just waiting for us to come back.”

  “He has patience,” she muttered crossly. “And he’s seen both cats now.” She gulped. “If he’s seen me change…”

  He tugged her from the sink, ignoring her dripping hands to loop them around his waist and hold her closer. “Shh. No one would believe him.”

  “Unless he has one.”

  His brown eyes shot open. He knew what that meant for Mira. “I’m not going to let that happen.”

  “Maybe we shouldn’t go back to the cabin,” she told him.

  Rhys snorted. “I’m not letting that ass-hat dictate what we do. I talked to Robbie this afternoon.” He pressed a warm kiss to her neck when she tensed. She couldn’t help it. “It’s okay, baby. We will stop him, and find out what he wants. Robbie is going to let me know in a day or two if there are any reports on him or suspicions of poaching. No one is going to turn you into an experiment. I promise that.”

  She nuzzled into the crook of his shoulder. Mira wanted to believe him, desperately.

  Chapter Five

  Wednesday afternoon, Rhys hung up the phone, a frown evident in the tight pull of his forehead. A tapped knock yanked his attention to the door of his office. “Hey, the rebuilt transmission just arrived. Where do you want the tow-truck to put it?”

  “Bay three. It’s open.”

  With a nod, Lance left to unload the minivan.

  Rhys followed him from his seat, watching though his mind wasn’t on his crew’s work. Robbie had just laid a damn bombshell on him. He let out a slow breath.

  Seth Bellham didn’t exist. None of the information that Rhys gave him to search came back positive, with any match to the man he and his family knew from their encounters at the cabin. The property in the Catskills belonged to a company name, a private retreat. The lumber yard belonged to someone two cities over, a confirmed member of the Better Business Bureau. More and more, Rhys was beginning to think Mira was on the right track about what had happened. Whoever Seth was, he was trying to get her, not a cat. Rhys wanted to cuss up a storm, but didn’t.

  It had been months since the incident where she’d run as her tiger. He’d taken her this last weekend because she’d been going stir-crazy at home, looking for work. Not that he could blame her. Her nature made certain options impossible. She couldn’t work inside for eight or ten hours a day. She’d go insane with walls all around her. Rhys had told her she didn’t have to work, or if she wanted to do something from home, where she could get up and go outside for a break or walk, he was fine with it. Mira was determined to give her half toward the relationship. It was only one small reason he loved her as much as he did.

  Rhys’s mother had probably thought Seth had called her as a courtesy when he’d ‘bought’ the neighboring property. Snorting, he realized he was looking for inf
ormation even then, wanting to know who owned the next cabin. He probably was up there poaching on the weekends, then stumbling across Mira that night, thought he’d work his way up to bigger game. While it was still a shot in the dark, it made enough sense to Rhys to twist his stomach into knots.

  He looked at the clock; it was after three.

  He was going home. Rhys had to know Mira was okay. He’d make it up to Lance and the guys tomorrow. They were solid, and he had cleared his workload that morning to start on the transmission. Well, that would wait until tomorrow, too.

  It was quiet when he walked in forty minutes later, so in case she was napping or busy, he didn’t make a lot of noise. He untied and kicked off his boots, pulling his t-shirt off to hit the shower. He was used to the stink of motor fluids and the grime, but it still wasn’t pleasant.

  He was surprised to find the bedroom empty when he cleared the last steps to the upstairs. Tossing his clothes in the work clothes hamper, he finished stripping, then hearing a splash in the bathroom, opened the door. And couldn’t resist the smile.

  “You know, we’ll have to just get you a pool.” He leaned on the door jamb and crossed his arms.

  The striped head whipped around, a paw poised over the water, rivulets and droplets all over the bath walls. She was soaked. Water dripped from her head and jaws like she’d been face first in it. Could tigers blow bubbles? He’d have to ask her.

  “No wonder you didn’t hear me come in,” he teased her. “Did you catch anything?”

  A low growl made him laugh. It was shocking to find a tiger in his tub, or it would have been if he’d been anyone else, and if the cat before him were anyone other than Mira.

  He knelt and put his hands on her head. “You’re really sick of being in this house, aren’t you?”

  A huffed breath was his answer. Liquid golden eyes stared at him, then dropped. Slowly, the form he held began to change. Hair disappeared, as though sucked into skin, color evened out and limbs returned to human until blue eyes were in front of him. Her hair hung in a wet sheet.

  Her cheeks were crimson red.

  “What’s the matter?” He stroked her face, her neck, everywhere with his fingertips.

  “I’m usually done and have the bathroom dried before you get home.”

  “Every day?” he asked, suddenly realizing that what she dealt with was more than just needing a weekend to run. She needed freedom. “Is your cat that uncomfortable, or the both of you?”

  Her lashes swept up, her appalled outburst echoing in the bathroom. “No!”

  “Don’t lie to me, baby,” he told her tenderly. “Both, or the cat?”

  She sagged into the tub and he followed her down, sitting with her on the drenched floor. “It’s both, really. I can handle it, but the cats…”

  “I bet your home world wasn’t as developed as Earth,” he guessed. “You could come and go as you pleased, and the form was irrelevant.”

  Mira shrugged. He knew she had no idea.

  “We’ll find a way,” he told her, brushing caring kisses over her eyelids. Putting his hands under her arms, he tugged her up, both standing. He bent and turned on the water, pulling the drain to empty the water she’d been playing in. Stepping over the tub, he enclosed them in with the curtain. “I still need a shower, and since you’re already wet,” he said, with a suggestive wiggle of his eyebrows.

  “But the floor,” she cried, apologetic and guilt-ridden.

  Rhys shook his head, unconcerned. “Later.” Adjusting the water, he flipped on the shower, closing his eyes as the first wave doused him. Hot water eased tired muscles, which jumped at the sensation of the shower loofah being swept with easy strokes over his back and shoulders. Soap suds slicked his skin as she roamed.

  “I was going to do that to you,” Rhys murmured, though he didn’t tell her to stop, arching into her caresses.

  “You will.” Her throaty reply sent blood right to his dick, and his breathing quickened.

  With her prodding, he braced his palms on the wall. The trail of her hands left fire in their wake as she washed his day off his skin. She seemed to move with patient care over his ass, her touch teasing between his legs, reaching. He gasped loudly when she cupped tender flesh.

  “Turn around.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he answered. Like I’d say no?

  He followed her hands as she did the exact same thing to his chest and arms that she’d done to his back. Long, slow, deliberate motions. Pants escaped when she followed the trail of bubbles down his stomach with her fingers, the curls around his groin catching them. She brushed her tips through the thick nest, scraping lightly at heated flesh. He had to lock his knees to not crumble.

  She lowered before him in the tub, carefully scrubbing downward from his hips to his feet. His jaw snapped shut when her tongue darted out, licking at the tip of his shaft.

  Threading a hand through her hair, he tugged her gently to her feet. His skin felt tight, even under the water’s spray, every touch sending shocks radiating through his nerves. Cradling her to his body, he gathered her for a kiss, feeling the smolder of his arousal burst into a wildfire. Her hands glided over his chest, forming to his shoulders to finally dig like claws into his hair, capturing him. The soft roundness of her breasts mashed into his chest, sending a heavy quiver down his spine.

  When she parted her lips on a soft mewl, he dove in, tasting her, devouring her kiss. She rubbed against him, a low purr vibrating her chest. Lowering the hand from her waist, he cupped her ass, molding her and driving her harder into his arousal. Her gasps were growing sharper.

  Suddenly, a shower was the last thing he wanted to waste time doing. After releasing her enough to shut off the spray, he reached for a towel. He dried her then him before carefully helping her out of the tub.

  When she looked at the remaining mess, he shook his head and tossed the towel on top of it.

  “Later,” he repeated. Much later.

  He guided her out of the bathroom into the adjacent bedroom where he stopped her beneath his chin-up bar near where his dumbbells and press bench sat. The windows and blinds were closed because he hated working out and having gawkers stop for the show when he exercised.

  “Stretch,” he told her, lifting her arms to the bar. She gripped it, stringing her body tight. He traced her taut form with his eyes, his fingers drifting down her ribcage, relishing the texture of her skin beneath his wandering. “Gorgeous.” Pale, lightly tan skin over toned muscles, plump breasts that he loved to put his mouth on, and the sexiest waist and ass he’d ever known on a woman. And she was all his. Mine, he thought with a deep possessiveness.

  Capturing her gaze, he told her, “You can’t move until I say you can let go. Understood?”

  She followed him, her expression thoughtful, curious. “If I get tired?”

  “Nope.” Looking closely, he asked her, “Are you holding your weight, or standing on your feet?”

  “Standing.”

  “Good.” Adjusting her stance, he spread her legs until he could see the slick petal softness of her sex and widened her grip a couple inches. He licked his lips, then circled her, feeling the anticipation all but leaping between them. Stopping behind her, he raised his hands and formed claws with his fingers. Stiff, unforgiving. Though not deadly, he knew what it would convey.

  A sharp cry filled the room, ending on a long hiss when he dug into her shoulders, slowly dragging them down her back, creating long, red welts in her skin. She trembled, her body undulating in waves as arousal and desire slammed into her. They looked bad, but they’d be gone in a couple of hours. Mira had an incredible body, and not just for what she could do with it. Rhys also knew how physical her feline side was. She wanted to be touched, caressed, stroked, aroused. He would give her what she wanted, his own way.

  He had, in no uncertain terms, just told her tiger who reigned supreme. Harsh breaths raced in and out of her lungs, her head hanging loosely on her neck. Standing behind her, he pressed his body along
hers, his cock tight against her ass. She trembled along his frame, rapid breaths a sign of her arousal. Raising his hands, he clasped them over her arms, slowly bringing them down, stroking her in long sweeps from her wrists to her waist. She shook with each stroke, silently begging for the pleasurable sensation.

  “Do you have any idea how beautiful you are, standing here for me?” he whispered into her ear, purposely.

  She moaned, rocking her head in answer. Wrapping his arms around her body, he cupped her breasts. “I can’t wait to suck these.” He tugged and rolled her nipples, shudders dropping down her spine, making her ass clench and push into him. Sliding her hair off her neck, he teased her, running shoulder to shoulder with slow, open mouth kisses and flicks of his tongue, never letting his hands stop what they were doing.