"That's right." Adam nudged his chin up, tongue licking his lips, so hot.
Mmmmm. Pressing Adam against the still closed door, Jax purred, nipping and rubbing. "Right..."
"Hungry one." Adam's fingers found his hot-spot, right above his tail, scratching good and steady.
His back arched, and he pulled his claws back in, and started stroking Adam's chest. "Itchy. And always hungry for you."
"Come on, then. We'll play. Together." Adam took off shoes and shirt, then unlocked the door, pushing it open for them.
He bounced right in, tearing around the room a few time before coming back to butt his head against Adam's chest. "Mmm. Smells like us."
Adam grinned, stretched out over a carpeted tier, tugging a soft pillow under his head. "You already look more relaxed. Nice tail, too."
"Yeah?" He looked. Damn, there it was. Jax grinned. "I need to scratch and run. I'll be cool."
"Run then. I'll catch you." Adam chuckled, hand scratching his belly, right above his cock.
"Yeah?" Oh. He liked that. He took off at a dead run, waving his tail like a banner. He loved it. To hell with like.
And he couldn't believe it took his cock like, ten seconds to tell his brain that Adam had almost touched it. He must really be restless.
Adam was... Where was Adam? Jax stopped, turned and immediately got pounced and kissed before Adam let him go. "Tag. You're it."
"Cheat!" He grinned and bounced after, his claws tearing into the carpet for purchase.
Adam didn't have a chance, but his lover gave it a try, scrambling up onto one tier, then another. Leaping to the very top level, Jax waited for Adam to get about halfway up before jumping all the way down and tickling Adam's ankle.
"Show-off!" Adam laughed, rolled away, eyes just teasing.
His tail flicked as he watched which way Adam went, gauging his next move. Yeah. Right. He went the other way, avoiding the fingers that reached for him. Adam slipped down, leaping for him, fingers grazing his ankle before Adam fell to the ground with a grunt.
Shit. Jax scrambled down, peering at Adam's face and feeling him for bumps. "You okay, hon?"
Adam nodded, eyes rolling just a little. "I'm good. Just knocked the wind out of me."
He bent down and sniffed, knowing his nose would tell him if Adam was lying and was actually hurting. But he smelled fine. So Jax licked his cheek. "Sorry, babe."
Adam smiled. "It's why we padded the floor so well, yeah? So I could fall and be safe." Adam's hands stroked his belly, his nipples.
"Uh huh..." Unh. Rolling, he went to his back and sorta just wallowed in the scritches. "Never want to hurt you though."
"Just scratch and bite a little, huh?" Adam leaned down, nipped him a little, almost marking him.
Oh, man. Jax moaned, just wiggling to get closer. "Like that, Adam."
Adam bit again, teeth sinking into his skin and bruising him, making his claws dig into the carpet.
The scraaaaatch as his claws scrabbled almost startled him, but the way his cock went so hard even he couldn't scratch it didn't surprise him at all. He always wanted Adam. Greedy, he pushed up again, making some kind of noise, not really all that manly, but effective.
"Mmm... just like that." Those teeth found his shoulder, his nipple. Twisting against Adam, Jax willed the claws away and lifted one hand to pull Adam closer. That whole nipple thing just made him crazy.
"Love you, pretty one." Adam cuddled in, one hand scratching down his spine.
"Mmmhmm. Love the way you do." That was just making him all dreamy. Not sleepy, but sure enough slowing him down. He touched Adam more, tickling the small of Adam's back, the nape of his neck.
"Pretty kitty." Adam nuzzled his throat, fingers finding that spot at the small of his back, rubbing in lazy circles.
"Pretty?" Not when his mangy ear was doing that popping in and out thing. Adam was a fucking unique man, he was, to ignore shit like that. Turning, he pressed Adam down on his back, tracing his cheeks and lips. "You're the pretty one, babe. So good."
Adam reached up, scratching his ears. Oh. Oh, right there. Right there. Uhn. To return the favor he bent down to give Adam a kiss, just like Jax knew he liked it, brushing, then licking.
Adam fed him a low, happy sound, fingers pulling him in close as they rocked together. Just purring, he took the kiss deeper, the restlessness morphing into need. Damn he loved this man.
They rolled, Adam rubbing against him before letting him back on top. He let his cock rub Adam's belly, moaning at the feel. Good. So good. There was still Adam's bottom layers of clothes in his way, though, and Jax went to work on shredding them.
"Fuck. Fuck, it always stuns me, how you do that and don't hurt me..." Adam watched, wide-eyed.
He grinned, feeling a little toothy. "You're my Adam," he said, before bending to butt his cheek against Adam's cock.
Adam nodded and that hard cock bobbed, both bits agreeing. "Yours."
Musky, salty, it was Adam all the way as Jax tasted, licking like he would a bowl of cream. Mmm. Warm. He nuzzled down against Adam's balls too, loving the difference in texture.
"Jax. Oh. I... I want. You make me so hard." Adam spread wide, thighs rasping against the carpet.
"Want me inside?" That little hole just called his tongue, and Jax licked and licked. "Or want me to ride you?"
"Uhn. In me. Then I'll do you next, bent...bent over the tier." Okay. Yeah. He could surely do that. Jax set to really getting Adam good and wet, stretching him with fingers and tongue. Working on driving his man crazy.
Adam arched, little mewls sounding that made him smile, made him nod. He drew those sounds from his human, from his Adam. They did say that the longer you lived with a cat, the more personality you shared with them, after all.
Jax huffed and laughed, pushing in deep one last time with his tongue before rolling up and hovering over Adam's body. "Now?"
"Now. Please. Love. Need." Adam rippled, begged.
He didn't tease anymore, just slid right in, groaning at how tight Adam was, how hot. Reaching up, he pinched Adam's nipples, pushing the sensation. He loved how Adam arched and rolled, how Adam wanted him, responded to him.
His hips moved faster and faster, his cock pushing in over and over. His tail just lashed back and forth and Jax growled, feeling possessive as hell and on top of the world. Adam's cries filled the air, body just rocking, riding him.
"Love. Love you. Touch... touch yourself." He wanted that. Wanted to see.
Those long fingers wrapped around a long, full cock, pulling hard, working without any hesitation, any worry. Uhn. Moving faster, he wrapped one hand around Adam's, helping out, feeling it in the way Adam tightened around him.
"Jax. Oh. Oh, I'm gonna. I..." Those muscles went tight-tight, body shaking hard.
Eyes going wide, Jax shot, watching Adam's face the whole while. So, so pretty. Adam was definitely the pretty one.
"Yours. Damn." Adam's fingers traced his face, his ear.
"Mmmine." He licked his lips before kissing Adam again, loving the taste. "And I'm yours. And you can have me over the jungle gym soon."
"Uh-huh. When your tail goes down."
A chuckle burst out. "Yeah, otherwise I'd be whapping you in the face."
"That would be painful." Adam grabbed his tail, petting it.
His tail disappeared, leaving Adam petting air. Jax grinned hugely. "All gone. Wanna do me?"
"Impressive!" Alex laughed, looking down at his own cock. "Give me some recovery time and I'm right there."
He laughed, the itchiness that had plagued him all gone. He bounced into Adam's arms. "Love you, hon."
"Mmm... hey, pretty one! I love you, too." Adam smiled, kissing him silly and breathless.
He purred, not really caring what they did now as long as they did it together. "Thank you, babe."
"Thank me? For what? Playing?" Adam's fingers rested on his throat, drawn by the purrs.
"For putting up with me? For loving me?" For everything
?
"No one else on Earth I'd rather be with, pretty one. No one."
He felt exactly the same way. There was no one on earth he would rather be with.
Hell, who else would devote a whole room to a cat condo?
Hunting
Lorne Rodman
Ropur ran full out, leg muscles screaming. The jungle was but a blur, green and brown flashing by, his feet barely leaving tracks he was running so fast.
For nine moons he had been alone, moving slowly through the jungle, looking for a place to call his own. Or for someone who could remove his curse so that he might return to his people. He had grown lonely, pining for the company of others, be they shifters or humans. Lonely enough that he became careless, drifted too close to the villages that lined the plains and now he was hunted.
He should have left his hunter behind long ago, but the man was persistent, following him through the night, quick and bright. It was almost as if the man had the senses of one of his own kind.
He crossed a river and stopped, pacing at the other side, growls in his belly. He silenced them and closed his eyes to slits, scenting the air, listening for noises that did not belong. He growled again as he caught the scent of the man, sharp and savory, upon the air. Close. Too close.
He did not know where he was, had been driven deep into the jungle by his hunter. He knew he could find his way back, but only if he was able to take his time and track himself backward. He had to shake loose this hunter first.
And it would not be long before dawn's fingers painted the sky and the change would be upon him.
While he would be safe from the hunter's bow when he no longer held his cat form, his belongings were far from here and he would be naked, vulnerable. There would be no hiding the mark of the changeling upon him, his bare skin as mottled as his fur, the three small dots just behind his jaw below his right ear. Nor would he be able to hide the birthmark above his right ass cheek, the mark of his clan.
Humans did not treat his people with kindness.
The only solution was to keep as far from this hunter as he could and then to find a place to hide as soon as he changed. The man would not be expecting that and, Leopana willing, would become confused by his tracks.
Ropur knew he had no more than a handful of moments before the sky began to light and he lost the advantage of his night vision.
He loped away into the jungle, looping around to cross the river again. He raced up a tree, leaping from one to another and then taking to the ground again, running parallel to the way he had come, pushing as hard as he could. He could feel the burn in his muscles, the leaves and branches slapping him as he passed through them.
The jungle stank with the human, fear and worry chasing along his spine as he ran.
Away. Away. He had to get away.
***
The cat was clever.
Darien could not remember a time when he had hunted such a beast. Truly, it seemed almost to reason against him, looping back on itself, straying far from what had to be its den.
He had heard of the cat, even from far away. It was reputed to be a ghost, the local hunters unable to kill it, unable even to catch a long enough glimpse to get a shot off. That was why he had come. Darien preferred only the most worthy prey.
Instinct drove him to retrace his steps all of a sudden, making him turn back before he crossed the river. He would go upstream, find where the cat might have turned back. That was what he would do, and this cat seemed to be more... Darien paused.
Generally cats were lazy when hunted. They would find a tree and hole up, and expect their camouflage to work for them. This one acted like the one thing Darien hated to hunt, but loved the challenge of nonetheless.
A man.
He rounded a corner and stopped dead, a clearing before him, a very wet cat in it, its eyes closed, head up, scenting the air. He knelt, unstringing his bow. Now was his chance. He notched an arrow, ready to let fly, just as the first, filtered rays of sunlight broke through to the jungle floor.
There was a tortured sound, half growl, half childlike cry and the cat... shimmered.
Darien stilled his hand, staring, wondering if perhaps the long night's hunt had addled his brain. But no, the cat shimmered again and then stretched, arms and body changing, head, too. Another of those strange, pained sounds filled the air and then a man lay where the cat had been, panting loudly, chest rising and falling rapidly.
He practically dropped his bow. Darien rose and went to the man, looking down at him, staring.
He appeared young -- maybe twenty summers. Maybe. And startled, scrambling away from him and going to his feet, looking ready to bolt. The man's eyes were the color of a cat's.
The bow came back up, arrow still ready. "Run and I will skewer you."
The man froze, swallowed. Those eyes held his, fear in them, but also courage, pride. This one would fight death, but in the end face it head on. He had no wish to kill this one now, however. At least not until he knew what he had seen was real. Darien drew close, looking at the young man carefully.
The golden skin appeared almost mottled in the sunlight, the markings familiar. The youth's hair was short, brown and gold and orange and standing up this way and that. Slim, but muscled, the slender limbs seemed graceful. Most intriguing of all, perhaps were the three black dots beneath one ear that almost looked like a triangle. They seemed quite deliberate.
The man still did not speak, did not move, but for those eyes which watched him.
"What are you?" He knew that was the worst way to ask, but it popped out before he could stop it.
"I am a man." The voice was surprisingly low.
"You are now. You were not before." He lowered the arrow, just slightly toward the ground. "You are not of the village nearby."
Fear flared for a moment in the strange eyes and then the man shook his head. "I am from far away."
"As am I. Will you promise not to run if I unstring my bow?" He did not want to shoot this intriguing creature.
A head tilt was his answer, the man's nostril's flaring for a moment and then he received a nod. "I will not run."
Nodding in return, he unstrung his bow and put the arrow back in his quiver, taking off his long over tunic and offering it. A slender hand reached out and took the tunic from him, the man's fingers surprisingly long.
"Thank you," murmured his mystery as the lovely body was hidden from view.
Sad, but easier to concentrate this way. "Were you born like this?"
"Like what?" Oh, that face looked so innocent, but those eyes were strange, not quite human.
He moved even closer. Darien was a large man, tall and intimidating. He used it to every advantage. "Half man and half cat."
The creature swallowed and took several stumbling steps backward. "I... No."
"I see." Not that he did. He simply could not wrap his mind around it. "How do you..."
"I just do." Those eyes were watching him, still very wary.
"Does it hurt?" He should be doing... something. But he was infinitely curious.
That head tilted again and then nodded. "Though it should not, it does."
"It should not?" His belly rumbled, reminding him that he had been tracking all night with no food. "We should find food."
At the mention of food, the youth's stomach also grumbled and something new appeared in those eyes. "I have not eaten in... awhile."
"Food then. We shall stay away from the village, however. You make them nervous." Nervous was not even close to the hysterical stories.
"The feeling is mutual," murmured his companion.
"Yes, well. They fear you will eat them." He held out his hand. "Come. Let us find food."
His hand was regarded for a long moment and then the long-fingered slender one slid into his. The skin was soft, but the pads of the fingers were rough, the nails a bit too dark. He wrapped his own fingers about it, pulling the man-cat with him. His camp was well outside the village. They would eat there.
He helped ease the man down, for now there was little of the cat's grace about him, and went to get hard bread and cheese. Meat. He handed over half his share. "What is your name?"
"Rrropurr." The food was taken, his guest eating quickly, teeth tearing at the meat.
He ate more slowly, working the purrs out of the name. Ropur. Yes. "I am Darien the Hunter."
Shifting Too Page 14
