Shifting Too

by Shifting Too (anth. )(Rob

  He wanted to agree wholeheartedly, but he needed to think it through, to be sure. Someone would come, he was sure of it. They would find the hunter's body with his claw marks in him and they would find two dead cats, one the soldier they'd sent, the other ... a fake him. It could indeed work.

  "Yes, Darien. I think we could."

  "Then tonight we hunt. For another cat." Darien stroked his back, loving him. "And then we move on, leaving no trace.'

  He nodded. "I will need your help bringing down the cat. I am hurt."

  "Of course, my Ropur. We must be careful, though. It can show no marks of me." He got a kiss, sweet and light, Darien mindful of his injuries.

  He purred softly, nuzzling into the soft touches. "It will work, Darien. And we will be free."

  "Yes, my Ropur. Yes. We will be free."

  It was more than he ever thought he could find in a life full of loneliness and peril.

  And all he would ever ask for.

  Epilogue

  The sun was just starting to come up when Darien went to pull aside the skin he and Ropur used as a door.

  Ropur's territory spread out before him, the light starting to filter down into the rainforest, the roots of the great hollow tree they had made their home curling under his bare feet.

  Ropur should be coming in soon, a night spent on the hunt without Darien good for him sometimes. Darien still slept with him during the day, though, spending the night working on their shelter, building on rocks and woven leaves to the tree to make a natural den for them.

  A natural den with a bed.

  Ropur came walking through the trees, unconcerned with his nudity and headed straight for their home. For him. They had not seen hide nor hair of another cat, or another Hunter, since they'd left the dead ones behind them. It was good to know that Ropur could hunt safely and come back, night after night. His prick twitched and filled as Ropur neared, the scent of the cat still strong on him. Darien held out his arms.

  Ropur came right into his arms, purring, rubbing, smiling up at him. "Darien... my mate."

  "My Ropur." Kissing the corner of Ropur's mouth, he turned them to go inside, arm about Ropur's waist. "Was it a good hunt?"

  "It was. My stomach is no longer hungry."

  "Mmm. Good." He took another kiss, this one square on Ropur's lips. "I am hungry, but not for food."

  "Are you sure?" His Ropur had relaxed the longer they remained here unmolested, occasionally teasing him.

  "Do I not feel sure?" His need pushed against Ropur's hip as he moved closer, arms sliding about Ropur's neck.

  Ropur purred and rubbed against him. "You do feel sure. Most very sure."

  "I am." Fingers skimming Ropur's skin, he let his hands wander, finally cupping Ropur's bottom. He squeezed, loving the resiliency of muscle there.

  Ropur wasn't shy about touching him back, fingers plucking at his nipples and stroking his belly. He hummed, pulling at Ropur, moving them toward their bed. He loved the furs Ropur had provided for them, loved to snuggle in the cool interior of their tree. Among other things.

  Ropur grinned, fingers moving to poke at his ribs. "There is nothing wrong with the ground, you know."

  "No. As we proved the morning before last when we made love under the waterfall. But when we are home we have our own nest." They sank down, him covering Ropur with his body.

  Ropur arched beneath him, pushing up into his body. "I like the way you prove things, Darien."

  "Good. I fear I am too old to change my ways." He laughed with Ropur, the sound free, easy in a way he had never expected. God, he loved his Ropur. So much. Darien took kisses long and deep, rocking down against Ropur's soft skin and hard muscle.

  "You are just old enough," whispered Ropur, tongue tangling with his own, hands sliding down over his spine.

  "Mmm." Arching, he rubbed happily, savoring the warmth Ropur radiated, the need. "Want."

  "Yes. Yes, Darien." Ropur's legs spread easily, slim hips cradling him.

  He licked at his fingers, pushing them against Ropur's opening, stretching him. His prick throbbed. Ropur cried out, bucking beneath him, body swallowing up his fingers.

  "Yes. Yes, my Ropur." He moved more, deeper, readying that sweet body for him. When Ropur was open and ready, he moved his fingers away and slid his shaft inside, eyes rolling as Ropur's heat closed around him.

  "Darien!" Ropur's fingers dug into his ass, tugging him in deeper. "Yes, Darien, yes."

  They moved together faster and faster, their skin slapping together, sweat starting to run on their bodies. He bent to bite at Ropur's throat, wanting to mark, needing to. Ropur cried out, head going back for him, begging for the bite.

  A bruise rose up under his teeth, and Darien cried out, hips driving as he saw it, just needing so bad. Ropur's cries filled the air, the body around his cock squeezing him tighter and tighter.

  It surprised him when his seed poured into Ropur, so quickly had it come, so violently. Darien groaned, licking the bruise he's made, touching Ropur firmly, squeezing and stroking.

  "Darien!" Ropur called out his name and growled, body bucking as his mate's seed spread between them, Ropur's body going tight.

  "Oh, my Ropur." He relaxed down in their furs, pulling Ropur so close and breathing them in. He loved how they smelled together.

  Ropur purred, hands sliding idly on his skin, touching and stroking.

  "Are you happy here, my Ropur? In our place?" Darien saw it every day. But sometimes he needed to hear it aloud.

  "Oh, yes, my Darien. I am happier than I ever dreamed that I would be."

  "Good. I love you, my Ropur. Beyond all things." Beyond anything he ever thought he would have. They had their place. Their home. Each other.

  He had no need to hunt anymore.

  He had found the only thing he would ever need when he found Ropur.

  "Yes, Darien. Love is... not a strong enough word." Ropur curled against him, the vibrations of his purrs familiar and warm, absolutely perfect.

  "There are no words."

  There was just their love. Their love. Home. Something both of them had been taught from birth they would never have. They had both been cursed through fate.

  Maybe they were living proof that curses could be lifted.

  In the end it mattered not. All that mattered was that they were Darien and Ropur, together.

  Here Kitty, Kitty: The Storm

  BA Tortuga

  Adam tore across the street, dodging raindrops and cussing up a storm.

  Damnit.

  The thunder was loud enough to make him jump and he wasn't a man-sized cat with a serious storm phobia and a tendency to tear up furniture when he was stressed.

  He hit the button for the elevator, popping it over and over and over. "Come on. Come on. I just got the couch refinished. Come on!"

  He was just about to start up the stairs, visions of foam and upholstery fabric dancing in his head, when the elevator dinged and he headed up. He was still five seconds away from his door when it opened and a wildly striped Jax-kitty came flying out, pouncing on him and peeping.

  "Jax! Pretty!" He muscled them in, holding on and petting. "It's just a storm. Just a storm."

  Jax was pretty much all cat, which meant he was scared shitless and every bit of him was in agreement. He’d be damned pretty, as he was all stripes and gold and stuff, with goldy-green eyes. Too bad Jax's hair was all up, tail lashing madly, making him look about twice his usual size.

  "Shh. Shh." He hustled them into the bedroom, into the bed. "Jax. We're in. It's going to be fi..."

  The lights popped out and he bit out a particularly vicious curse. He did not need this shit.

  Glowing eyes looked at him, Jax's head tilting, an enquiring mew coming out as Jax licked his cheek. Okay, a housecat doing that was kinda cute. Jax? Was like the worst kind of stubble burn.

  "Shh. You're fine. Come on, Pretty. Breathe." He started petting and humming and trying to decide whether Jax needed a downer or a bowl of c
ream. Jax swarmed over him, curling around him until he wasn't sure he could breathe. His whole world was the bed and the dark and heavy fur.

  Adam started talking, telling Jax about the day he'd had, the meeting with his agent, the nasty burger he had for lunch. How he'd worried when he saw the storm coming. Somewhere around the burger Jax started grooming him, licking his neck, purrs coming out. Oh. Oh, good. That was a damned good sign.

  "Hey, Pretty. There you are. I don't have plans that'll take us out for a few days. We can play. Make love."

  He could feel the wildness ease out of Jax's tense muscles. The tail beating against his leg went still, just the very end twitching when lightning struck too close. And the tight cling of those clawed paws let go of his shirt, though it was still a total loss.

  He got them settled, the pillows arranged to support his back. "Did you do anything interesting today, pretty?"

  The purrs faded a little, the body atop his changing, the claws turning to hands, the fur receding. Jax's voice came, still rough with fear. "I called Aunt Kathy. She told me not to scratch the couch."

  Bless her black-hearted soul.

  "I came as soon as I saw the clouds."

  "I knew you would. I was listening for you." Jax sighed, laid his head on Adam's chest. His very human head from the feel of the ears. "Sorry I'm such a wimp, hon."

  "Not a wimp, pretty. Hell, I see clowns and freak right the fuck out." Pretty man, so sexy.

  "Mmmhmm. Which is amazing that you can handle me. I saw you when someone suggested you see Cats. It wasn't pretty." Oh, a laughing Jax was much better than a freaking one.

  "Not my job to be pretty, now. It's yours." He leaned in, nuzzling, humming low. "Do you remember when I met you? How I couldn't stop looking at you?"

  "Yeah. And I thought I must have whiskers or an ear hanging out and kinda ran away." Jax had really fled the scene, making him think he didn't even have a chance.

  "It took me three weeks to find you. I was desperate. I just wanted to talk to you. Learn about you. Love you."

  "And I wanted you pretty bad." Jax rolled them to their sides, stroking his back. "But I figured you'd be freaked out by me, and didn't even want to try a date. I got so nervous I sprouted a few mangy patches."

  He chuckled, taking a long, slow kiss. "It didn't matter. I saw your eyes."

  "You saw me." Jax took the kiss even deeper, humming and purring into it, tongue pushing into his mouth.

  Yes. He moaned, just a little, rocking against Jax and rubbing them together. That was so much better. When Jax kissed him like that, touched him like that he could even forgive the shirt. Jax nuzzled his cheek, nipped his throat.

  "Toothy thing." He chuckled, fingers finding Jax's ass. "My toothy thing."

  "Uh-huh. I missed you like crazy today. Kept feeling the storm build up." Rubbing on him, Jax nibbled back up his neck to his ear, licking. Scratchy and good.

  "Let it fucking storm. I'm home and we're together." He wriggled out of his jeans, needing to be naked, wanting to feel.

  "Yeah. Always come to me when I need you." The cat had definitely receded, smooth skin sliding against his, even if the tail was still there, tickling his leg. They kissed again as soon as they came back together, lips and tongues moving hard and searching.

  He started scratching Jax's hot spot, loving the way that Jax responded, yowling into their kiss, tail thrashing.

  "Uhn. Adam. There... babe." Jax had that eyes half-closed, blissed-out thing going on, tongue pushing out between his lips. "Good."

  "Yeah. Good. So fucking pretty. Love that look." He kept scratching, kept the intensity up.

  Jax started kneading, hands opening and closing, hips snapping. "Want.. oh. Want you."

  God, he loved it when Jax got incoherent.

  "Right here. Right here." He spread, shifting so their cocks lined up, sliding together.

  "Yeah. Yeah. Please." Rocking, Jax loved on him, licking his throat, cock just slipping and sliding.

  Oh, yeah. Someone didn't see the lightning now. Didn't even fucking care.

  Jax was obviously feeling pretty damned good.

  Unclenching, Jax touched him, hands sliding on his skin, fingers pinching his nipples. "Love your skin. Love how it feels."

  "Oh. Love. Please. That's good." Adam arched, heels digging into the mattress.

  "Yeah?" Panting, Jax squirmed, pinching again, twisting a little. "Really good?"

  "Uh-huh." He couldn't breathe, just rubbed and scratched and moaned.

  "Oh! Oh, I know..." Jax slid around so fast he almost got whiplash, hovering over his cock with that sweet mouth, Jax's cock level with his. Then Jax bent down and sucked him in, licking all the way down to the base of his prick.

  "Pretty!" He bucked a few times, before focusing, getting Jax's sweet cock between his lips. Oh, yeah. Hot. Hard. Salt.

  "Mmmmhmmm." Oh, yeah. Musky, hot, Jax's thighs and cock and balls were all he could see, all he could focus on as Jax sucked him like crazy. Still petting, Jax stroked his legs and down to lift his ass, pushing him up, taking more and more. And just purring around him.

  Fuck, normal guys didn't know what they were missing. Not even a little. He hummed, pulling harder, fingers slip-sliding over Jax's hole.

  "Mmmmnph." So surprised, that sound, so happy. Jax shot for him, just like that, the yowl echoing around his own cock, rocking his world. He swallowed hard, hips stopping for a minute while he tasted, while he drank Jax down.

  Jax encouraged him on with hands and mouth, starting up the rhythm Jax'd lost while he shot. Those rough hands squeezed his balls, just so, slipping beneath to press hard. His toes curled, hips snapping, Jax knowing just what he needed, just where to touch. So sweet, those touches, that tiny, tiny hint of teeth. Jax just drew everything out of him, licking the underside of his cock with that sandpaper tongue. "Love. Love you. Damn, Pretty."

  A long purr was his answer, Jax petting and stroking and not grooming. Nope. Not a bit.

  He chuckled, nuzzling back, fingers petting that long, slender tail.

  "Love you, hon." Jax turned and padded back up his body, nuzzling and sort of... peeping.

  "Love you. Nap, then tuna sandwiches?"

  "Oh. Yeah." The storm still raged outside, but he couldn't find one raised hackle on Jax's floppy kitty body. He did that boneless thing too well. "Nap. Tuna. Lemon pie that Aunt Kathy walked me through today."

  "Mmm... perfect." He stroked, petted. "Just perfect."

  Sleeping Bears Lie

  Alex Draven

  "Matt?!"

  Of all the bars … Matt was about the last person I was expecting to run into. I mean, I spent nearly three months looking for him with no success, and found out that every single thing he ever told me about himself was a lie in the process, so, really, I wasn't expecting to see him back behind the bar at my local as though he'd never left. I've only been back here myself for a few weeks: the stairs down are a bitch with my knee, even now I'm out of the cast. Hell, this is where I first met him: tending bar in Donnovan's, just shy of a year ago.

  "Dan!"

  He looks so much the same it's almost shocking. Maybe his hair's a little longer, his tan a little darker, his belly a little rounder, but the same eyes, the same smile, the same graceful way of moving as he stows the glass he's wiping and comes around the bar to hug me. The emotion that flickers across his face when I move away slightly I don't recognise.

  "Dan? How're you doing?"

  He's looking at me like I'm the one being weird. A few months ago I was flying on his smiles, and now the sight of him makes my stomach turn.

  "Better now -- I'm off the crutches and everything."

  "Crutches? What happened?" His hand's on my shoulder and when I flinch away it covers his mouth, which just leaves his eyes to do all the acting, shocked and hurt. "Dan?"

  Something about the tone of that just hits a nerve, and I'm not normally the kind of guy to cause a scene in a bar, but damn. The gall of him!

  "Just -
stop that -- stop pretending like you give a crap and fuck off, you lying piece of shit."

  The silence after that is huge. The ABC news headlines are suddenly very clear in the bar. I don't even have to look around to know that everyone in here is staring at us, and my cheeks are burning. In the half second it takes for me to turn around to make for the door the chatter starts up again, all with a single focus.