“Mhhmmm,” she hummed in agreement, contracting her vagina around him.
He shivered and slowly pulled out. Just as slowly he sank back in to the hilt.
They both trembled.
He set his forehead in the curve of her shoulder and grunted, thrusting in and out of her with smooth motions of his hips.
Cass cried out and wrapped her legs tightly around his hips, letting him rock her whole body with his urgent pumping. She dug her nails into his shoulders and held on.
Hello, roller coaster, she thought hazily.
Dar growled low in his throat and bit down on her shoulder with feral animal intensity, as if he was trying to hold her in place. She trilled softly and rolled her shoulder teasingly to get him to bite her harder.
Her legs began to tingle with the strange, almost numb, sensation she got as she approached orgasm. She milked his cock with little pulses of the inner muscles of her cunt when he growled again and bit down harder. “That’s it, fuck me, baby,” she chanted softly to him.
He slid a hand between them and spread her labia with two fingers and then pressed his pelvis hard against her slit so that his pubic hair abraded the sensitive nub with every movement he made. His teeth released the muscle in her shoulder and he lifted his head to gaze down at her with smoldering eyes. “Like that?” he asked in a rough voice.
She groaned softly in response. Fire raced through her veins as he stopped pistoning in and out of her willing body, and instead contented himself with rolling his hips in heavy, grinding circles against her throbbing clit. Her legs trembled convulsively against his hips as he paused and made a particularly hard rasp, and she screamed, arching backward.
Stars exploded behind her tightly closed eyes and her nails sank into the lean muscles of his back as electric shocks rolled through her in sparkling waves of delight. She panted and bucked, wanting the sensations to go on forever. And, just as they began to fade away, he would twist and shimmy against her again, sending her on another cascade.
Finally, she slumped down in the sheets and moaned softly as his hair scraped her oversensitive flesh.
He smiled darkly, obviously enjoying her pleasure and helpless little cries. Once he seemed to decide that he couldn’t wring another orgasm from her, he leaned up on his elbows and drove himself ruthlessly in and out of her, pushing himself toward his own release with relentless determination.
Cass pulled her legs forward and angled her hips to give him better access to her and crooned soft encouragements. She loved the dark intensity of his face. His eyes were glazed with need, and a drop of sweat dripped off of his forehead and landed on her chest.
Suddenly, he stiffened and cried out, jerking against her with hard little thrusts, and she felt his penis pulse hard inside her and then jump quickly over and over again as he came.
He collapsed against her chest and panted harshly.
She smirked with satisfaction and stroked his hair. I do love a good ride, she thought to herself, smugly pleased with both her new lover and her pun.
He sighed contentedly against her breasts and nuzzled them lazily. “Awesome,” he murmured softly and then went limp and relaxed.
“Yup,” she agreed.
Chapter Six
Cass woke with a start, her body humming with nervous tension. Beside her Tantrum growled low in his throat and glared at the door. His hair bristled as the growl rose in volume to throaty yowl.
A thump downstairs brought her upright. Someone was in her house! Her hamsters began squealing in alarm, and she heard cloth slithering against a wall.
She concentrated for a moment and willed a partial change. Her eyesight and hearing sharpened. Small claws popped out in place of her human form’s flat, weak nails.
She slipped soundlessly out of bed and delicately approached the door on tiptoe. Her hamsters shrieked again and she detected a high-pitched growl that she identified as El Fuzz. Her little man was ready to defend his home and women, she thought with pride.
Cass slid through the house like a shadow, easily avoiding the places that would give off a betraying squeak. Sounds of the intruder vanished and Cass froze on the stairs. Her father’s words floated through her head.
“Remember, little mongoose, when your prey becomes silent, it is hiding or it is hunting. Stop and let your body tell you. It knows if it has become prey.”
Her tail sprang out and she carefully blended into the shadows along the wall. Her sharp eyes scanned the living room slowly. There! He was little more than a darker patch of shadows, but she didn’t doubt her senses.
Her twitching nose drew in air slowly as she tried to catch his scent. The smell of hot mustard and cloves dug claws into her sensitive olfactory and she had to fight the urge to cough and sneeze it out. Her eyes teared in reaction, but she didn’t look away from that darker shadow.
Her body humming with nervous anticipation, she eased down another step, tail angled to help balance her.
The shadow remained still as stone.
She sniffed again, more carefully. Under the mustard and cloves, she found another scent. It was cool and metallic. Her mouth watered. The feral side of her brain screamed a single, ecstatic word. Snake!
What was a were-snake doing in her house? Not that it mattered. He was dinner now. She licked her lips and took another silent step.
The shadow quivered.
Sharp, pointed fangs popped out in her mouth and tingled in anticipation of sinking into sweet flesh.
Her intruder burst from the shadows, heading for a window.
Cass exploded into motion, launching herself at the retreating form. Her claws flashed out in the dim gloom, slashing his clothing.
His leg flexed out and hit Cass in the center of her chest. She flew back and hit the wall with a bone-jarring thud.
The snake barely paused before diving out the open window.
By the time Cass picked her aching body up and followed, there was no sign of the intruder. She chittered angrily and slammed the window shut.
Tail lashing angrily, she stomped to the phone and dialed a number she knew by heart.
“We have a problem,” she told the sleepy voice that answered. “A snake just broke into my house and unless we have a long-lost cousin, he’s not family. Can you find out if anyone else has had problems?”
“Sure,” her cousin Carmen replied in a sleep-slurred voice. “I’ll call around tomorrow. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, just pissed he got away.”
“Good. Talk to you tomorrow.” Click. Carmen had hung up in her usual abrupt way. Cass set the phone back into its cradle and resumed her human form. She flipped on a light and prowled the edges of her violated domain.
Nothing was missing and the scent seemed strongest by the hamster cage.
El Fuzz grumbled as he paced in front of the door; the two female were huddled together in the wood hut, shivering.
She opened the door and he clambered out and up to her shoulder where he began squeaking out the tale of his heroic attempts to keep his castle safe from the Infidel Snake Man.
Chichi growled when Cass tried to pet her and Deb snapped at her so she left them alone and praised El Fuzz instead.
He cuddled close, trembling a little.
Tantrum slinked down the stairs and yowled softly.
“Come here, baby; it’s okay now,” she murmured softly, wiggling her fingers at her cat. She sat down and Tantrum jumped into her lap, still muttering at her. She stroked her upset pets and tried to shake off the adrenaline rush.
Nothing seemed to be missing from the room, but she didn’t want to get up and look through the rest of the house just yet. She debated calling the police, but decided against it. With the intruder being a shifter, she didn’t want to bring any unnecessary attention to herself, or him.
She had a feeling he would be back. Unless he was a total imbecile, he would realize that a mere human wouldn’t have been able to almost catch him, and few humans wore Freddy Kruger claws like
the ones that had left long slashes in his clothing.
She settled her body and lulled herself into the quiet meditations that would allow her to monitor the room.
If he came back, she would be ready. And, thank God, Dar had gone home instead of spending the night. Somehow, she knew it would have been hard to explain a snake man fighting with The Flying Mongoose in her living room. Her family loved nicknames and she had many. That one seemed appropriate, since she had just gotten her ass kicked across the room.
Cass woke slowly when Tantrum jumped off her lap. She smacked her lips and grimaced. “Yuck. Morning breath.” Dawn was peeking in the windows. She must have fallen asleep at some point while she was keeping watch. Yeah, she was good. She snorted. Good thing Sir Hiss didn’t come back.
She reached up and lifted El Fuzz’s warm weight away from her neck. She moaned as she twisted her head; setting off a series of snaps, crackles, and pops. “Ow,” she muttered as she shuffled to the cage and deposited her sleepy pet inside.
She stretched, feeling her joints and muscles settle back into place.
Ignoring Chi and Deb’s glaring, she checked the food and water levels before heading upstairs to shower and get ready for work.
“Thank God it’s Friday,” she grumbled as she yanked off her T-shirt and turned on the spray.
While the old house’s pipes creaked and groaned with cold water, she brushed her hair. It was never a good idea to step under the water too soon. Her tricky plumbing was bipolar first thing in the morning and wavered between blistering hot and bone-chilling cold before it decided what it wanted to do.
Normally, she didn’t shower in the morning anyway. She preferred doing it in the evening when she had more time, since she had never mastered the fine art of a quick one. She stepped into the tub and shut the door and moaned with pleasure as the hot water poured down over her. Since she had awakened two hours before she normally did, she had plenty of time to empty the hot water tank and still make breakfast before leaving for work. A rare luxury for her.
She squeezed some pear scented bath gel onto a sponge and lazily rubbed it over her skin, enjoying the rich lather that formed and the delicate aroma that filled the steamy enclosure. There was some tenderness in her muscles and feminine bits and she smirked to herself as she carefully soaped the areas. One nipple in particular was achy and there was a little bruising around the edges of the areola.
While she was still feeling apprehensive about the change in their relationship, she had to admit that sex with Dar was fantastic. Now she just had to figure out a way to stay friends with him after he moved on to his next wench.
Dar popped his head over the wall of his cube and looked around. People were beginning to straggle in with all the animation of month-dead zombies. Cass bounced by looking perky and wide-awake. She was also pointedly ignoring him. He smirked.
He watched her settle into her desk as he plotted how he could finagle an invitation to spend the weekend. It still stunned him how hot she was. Now he just needed to figure out a way to get her to relax around him again.
A shriek sounded a couple cubicles away. Kelly stalked by, fiery embers of murder glowing in her angry eyes. She held a CD case between a finger and thumb like it harbored an infectious disease. She didn’t look at him as she dropped it into a trashcan. Then she made a huge production of cleaning her hands with waterless sanitizer.
He swallowed an evil chuckle. It was the little things that made life worth living.
Flopping down into his chair, he started his day with a smile.
Cass peered at Dar. He hadn’t noticed her. She slid back down into her chair. I shouldn’t have slept with him, she thought to herself. Sex always screws things up.
She shredded a tissue while she tried to figure out a way to stay friends with him. He went through women faster than any man she had ever met, and Cass didn’t want to be disposable.
She turned when someone tapped on the edge of her cube.
The Mouth stood in the doorway with a smarmy smile on her face. “Is he gifted?” she asked, leering.
“What?” Cass blinked.
“Dar. The whole floor is talking about you two.” She looked Cass up and down and shrugged dismissively. “Not that you are exactly in his league.”
Cass raised an eyebrow. “Really. And what is his league?”
The Mouth fluffed her hair. “Classy, made up, dresses well.” She smoothed her slacks.
Cass rested her chin on her hand and stared at her with false admiration. “Really.”
She preened. “Yes.”
“I guess he just wants me for my body, then. Guys love big tits. It’s a trial, but somehow I’ll survive.” She smiled brightly.
Beatrice’s mouth gaped open. She stuttered for a moment, glanced down at her meager bosom, and then left.
Mabel-Ann peeked over the wall. “He likes boobs? What about his unders?” Her nose rested on the top of the wall.
Cass cringed, resigned to the fact that she needed to bring some disinfectant wipes to work. Dear God, please don’t let her catch a cold! she thought to herself. Just imagining a sinus infection made her sick to her stomach. She shuddered. “Boxers, Mabel-Ann. No dancing, so don’t offer him a dollar, okay?”
“What color?” was the next question.
“Black.” Cass realized that Mabel-Ann wasn’t going to leave her alone until she had pried every last random detail she wanted from her.
Mabel-Ann hummed to herself for a moment then disappeared into the depths of her cube.
She shook her head and turned to her work. Mabel-Ann popped back up and Cass jumped. “Can you take pictures for me?”
Cass gaped. “What?”
“Pictures.” Mabel-Ann beamed.
“No.”
“Aw, come on!” Mabel-Ann was whining now.
“No.”
“Cass…” She drew it out until it sounded like she was hissing.
“No.”
“Fine, be that way.” Mabel-Ann disappeared again.
Cass ground her teeth as she listened to the grumbles and whines that floated out of the drudge cage. She could not believe the woman actually expected her to bring in photos of the man she was sleeping with! Come to think of it, Mabel-Ann seemed disturbingly fascinated with Dar for a woman who didn’t have sex with her husband.
Cass stood up and cautiously peered over her wall. The Mouth was standing by Dar’s cube chatting him up. Why, that skanky whore! she snarled internally. That’s mine!
She blinked, surprised by that last thought.
Dar turned at that moment and looked at her. He smiled a bit desperately and waved for her to come over.
Beatrice turned and glared at her.
Cass ignored them. She propped her arm on the top of her wall and stuck her chin on her hand and contemplated Dar absently. Why was she getting pissy about Beatrice hitting on him? She wasn’t a jealous, or even particularly possessive, woman. It was illogical. Hell, it’s not like Dar even likes her, she thought to herself. He called her Trout last night, for God’s sake.
But, something in her had decided that he was hers, the sovereign property of Cassia. No trespassing. Touch not, lest ye be touched. And she could think of several ways an irritating trout could disappear forever.
Sometimes it was good to have a hyena for a cousin.
Although the giggling got on her nerves.
Cass jerked and sat down abruptly. What the hell was she thinking? She was contemplating throwing the woman to the dogs. Literally.
She needed to call her father. This was ridiculous.
A few minutes later Beatrice strolled up. She preened.
Cass festered. Her smile was more of a baring of teeth.
“He won’t stick with you long.” Beatrice sneered and pranced off. “He’s too pretty and you’re so bland,” she called back over her shoulder.
Cass’s eyes narrowed. Maybe hyenas weren’t a bad idea, after all.
She stuck her headphones in h
er ears and resolutely turned to her work, still plotting dismemberment.
Several hours passed, and by lunch she was really feeling her interrupted night. She had started her day feeling pretty good. It had downgraded quickly, and by eleven she was feeling the urge to kill.
A masculine hand rubbed down her back and she froze.
She turned to face Dar. His smile wavered uncertainly under her glare and then faded after a moment. He peered at her forehead.
“What?” she snapped.
“I’m looking for the laser,” he replied absently still staring at her forehead.
“Laser? What laser?”
He cupped her cheeks and bent closer to continue his inspection. “The one that should be strapped to your forehead, my ill-tempered sea bass.” He laid a smacking kiss on her mouth when she started to sputter. “Ready for lunch?” He yanked her out of her chair and towed her down the aisles.
She pondered how he could be so oblivious to the eyelash flutters directed at him.
And the glares toward her, she mentally added, as they passed a particularly poisonous looking blonde. If looks could kill Cass would already be suffocating in her own blood.
Yet another reason she didn’t date much: women could be vicious harpies when men were involved.
She sighed and pasted a smile on her face as they passed several harried-looking managers. They frowned at her hand clasped in Dar’s and muttered amongst themselves like cranky chickens.
Cass was pretty sure she could count on a lecture about sexual harassment from her supervisor later. Joy.
Dar started talking the moment they got out the door and didn’t stop until they sat down. Amazingly enough, he didn’t really say anything. She marveled over his small talk abilities. It was a great party trick.
Cass settled into a chair and stared at her lunch. It looked creepy. Beef noodle casserole. Dar swore it was one of the best things the cafeteria made. But, there really was no way to make it look good.
She leaned down and sniffed suspiciously. “Does this have mushroom soup in it?” she asked, poking it with her fork.
Dar nodded enthusiastically as he chewed on a big bite. Cass sighed and picked up her bread. She hated mushrooms. She watched Dar thoughtfully as she nibbled. He was in a really good mood. Almost irritatingly cheerfully. She cautiously forked down a bite of the beef slop. It wasn’t too bad, considering how it looked and what it contained. Not that she would ever get it again, but she was hungry and it was paid for. Her father had raised her to not waste food. He hated buffets and refused to go to them because of the waste.
Over the Wall Page 6
