Petting Them: An Anthology of Claw-ver Tails

by Tate James

  Adriel seemed even more pissed off than usual, which I hadn’t thought possible until that moment. “Job is done, general,” he snarled. “Safe house has been secured.”

  Boden, the shithead, took his sweet-ass time separating from me, even going so far as to lay a lingering kiss on my mouth before setting my feet on the ground and turning to look at his companions.

  “Good. Let’s get moving then. We want to erase our scent trail and be well out of the area before they call in reinforcements.” He threw a quick, sultry wink at me over his shoulder that seemed to scream “to be continued” before he accepted the pair of pants Adriel was holding.

  Come to think of it, both Adriel and Hunter wore pants and T-shirts but no shoes, so they had to have changed somewhere. At least I wouldn’t be wandering the woods with three naked supermodels? There was simply no way I possessed the required self-control not to end up in a fourway if the situation presented itself.

  Boden headed out of the clearing, seeming confident in where he was going, and Adriel stalked off behind him without sparing me a second glance.

  Hunter was a different story, though, giving me a cryptic look as I stood there feeling confused as all fuck. Right when I was about to throw my hands up and start raving about needing meds, he grabbed my hand and tugged me closer to him.

  “Don’t freak out, Cleo-babe,” he told me in a calm, soothing voice. “We’re sworn to protect you, remember? We won’t let anything happen.”

  “Anything?” I asked in a breathless whisper, my mind still firmly on the something that had just almost happened between Boden and me. Had they interrupted deliberately? I had a hard time believing that magical cat-shifters wouldn’t have heard each other long before I did.

  Hunter grinned then, showing off those damn dimples of his. Without warning, he swooped down and pressed a less than platonic kiss against my flushed lips and let out a small, frustrated groan.

  “Anything bad that is. Everything else... well, all is fair in love and lust, am I right?” He winked then with the same sexual undertone as Boden had used and tugged on my hand to get me following him. “Come on, babe. It’s still a bit of a walk from here to the safe house. Let me tell you a story on the way.”

  My curiosity peaked. “What sort of story?” I asked, letting the whole matter of him kissing me drop. He’d essentially just announced he was going to make a play for me, regardless of the near-sex situation I’d just been in with his friend.

  He grinned playfully at me, knowing his suggestion of a story had caught my attention. “A story of magic, gods, and destiny. Maybe this time you’ll be more receptive to the concept, hmm?”

  I rolled my eyes and gave him a sarcastic smile. “Yeah, yeah, stupid Cleo thought you were joking. As if anyone would actually take that story at face value. Will you tell me what sort of cat you are? I’m not super well versed on my were-cat species.”

  Hunter gasped and pulled up short, jerking me to a stop with his hand still wrapped around mine. “You take that back, Cleo Carroll. We are shifters, not were-beasts, and I’m a Tasmanian tiger, not a cat.” I wrinkled my nose at him, not totally understanding the point he was making. “Tasmanian tigers are technically marsupials, not felines, but you’d be forgiven for the assumption, seeing as we look a bit like a cougar. Except, you know, more badass.”

  “Of course,” I snickered. “Hey, I never told you my last name! How did you know it?”

  “Magic,” Hunter replied, his face totally serious.

  I raised my eyebrows in surprise. “Seriously?”

  “No, it was on your van rego. I saw it when I was fixing the engine last night.” He chuckled at his own dumb joke and gave my hand another tug to get me walking again. “Now, hush up and listen to my cool story.”

  5

  As it turned out, Hunter’s “cool story” only served to create more questions than answers. Questions that he hedged and squirmed over until we reached our destination a short time later.

  “How did you guys know this was here?” I frowned, peering up at the little hikers’ cabin. The lights were already on, and I assumed that Boden and Adriel were already inside.

  Fuck, I hoped they had some warm clothes in there. Now that the adrenaline from the crash had worn off, the cold had well and truly set in and my teeth were chattering. Admittedly, a tank top and panties weren’t exactly suitable clothes for the current weather.

  “Magic,” Hunter answered again and waggled his brows at me. “Come on, you can harass Adriel with your questions after you warm up. It’ll be fun for everyone.” He paused, tilting his head slightly to the side as though listening for something. “Okay, fun for everyone except Ad. But that just makes it more fun for the rest of us.” He gave a slightly evil laugh and led the way inside the cabin.

  To my delight, a wall of warmth hit me when we stepped through the front door, and my body shuddered in relief.

  “Thank the fucking cat gods,” I groaned, rubbing my arms with half-frozen fingers.

  Boden stepped out of the kitchen then and gave me a smoldering look. “We’re not crazy about the cold, so Adriel turned the heat up pretty high. Just let us know if it gets too hot.”

  Why did I get the feeling there was a double meaning to his words? Except it was definitely Boden who’d turned the metaphorical heat up, not Adriel.

  “I have questions,” I blurted out, glaring at the sexy blond man whom I’d just recently played tonsil hockey with. “About... you know...” I waved a hand between him and Hunter, then mimed claws and hissed. Of course that just had to be the moment that Adriel walked out of another room and frowned at me.

  “Is Maggie having a stroke or something?”

  Narrowing my eyes into what I hoped was a withering glare, I sighed. “Asshole. No, I was just... ugh, never mind.” I propped my fists on my hips and turned my attention back on Boden, who was clearly the one in charge. “You know what I meant.”

  His serious face split with a small grin. “I do. But we have a bit of time, if you want to shower and get changed first? There are some spare sweats in the main bedroom, and Ad will get some food ready while you’re showering.”

  “No, I won’t.” The darkly handsome dickhead muttered, then grunted when Hunter whacked him in the side of the head. “Fine, whatever, I was making food for myself anyway.”

  He stalked back out of the foyer and into the kitchen, and I shook my head. What the fuck I’d done to piss him off so bad, I had no idea. Boden’s suggestion of a shower and sweats sounded freaking heavenly, though, so I took his offer and headed through to the bedroom he’d pointed out.

  After spending way longer than I really needed to under the hot spray, I dragged my butt back out and dried off. The sweats that Boden had mentioned were made for a man, so they totally drowned me to the point that the pants wouldn’t stay up, no matter how many times I rolled the waistband.

  “Fuck it,” I muttered to my reflection, giving up on the pants and dropping them altogether. The top was practically a dress on me anyway, so the only thing making me hesitate was my lack of underwear.

  I glanced at the scrap of turquoise fabric on the floor and wrinkled my nose. Not only had I been wearing them for two full days now, I’d also been rubbing up all over Boden’s hard dick in them and walked for fuck knew how many miles. To say they were dirty was an understatement.

  Nope, not putting those back on. No chance. I’d just have to risk it going commando and try not to flash my flaps at any of the guys.

  The smell wafting from the kitchen made me haul ass a bit faster, too. My belly felt like it was practically eating itself, and I was starting to get that nauseous-hungry sensation, so here was hoping Adriel hadn’t spit in my meal.

  “Smells good,” I said as I entered the kitchen. Maybe if I complimented his cooking, he wouldn’t be such an ass-face. The sneer he tossed in my direction before turning back to the stove proved me wrong, though.

  “Have a seat, Cleo,” Boden suggested, pushing out a chai
r at the table with his foot. He and Hunter were both already seated with open beers in their hands. “Dinner won’t be much longer.”

  Sitting down, I accepted the beer that Hunter offered me with a smile. Yum.

  “I understand Hunter told you a little about our history on the walk here?” The blond man prompted. “You must have lots to ask.”

  I nodded. “I do. Lots.”

  Adriel dropped a plate onto the table in front of me with a clatter, and I jumped a little in my seat. How had he just snuck up on me so stealthily? Oh, right. Cat.

  “Salmon,” he informed me. “If you don’t eat fish, you’re shit out of luck.”

  Giving him a tight, sarcastic smile as he sat down in his own seat, I picked up my fork and took a huge bite. “I love salmon. Delicious.”

  His dark lashes tightened around those piercing green eyes as he glared at me but, thankfully, didn’t respond. Exhaustion from the day was fast catching up with me, and I got the feeling I’d need all of my wits to win a verbal sparring match with Adriel.

  “Feel free to ask your questions, Cleo,” Boden encouraged. “We can answer anything now that we’re bound.”

  I blinked at him, shoving his broody friend out of my mind. “Huh?”

  Boden’s lips pursed. “Hunter didn’t get that far then?”

  “Left that gem for you,” the playful Australian told him. “All I filled her in on was the origin story.”

  Boden sighed and rubbed at his forehead like he had a headache. Actually, now that I thought about it, they all looked a bit the way I felt—totally exhausted.

  “Okay, so Hunter told you about how Queen Hatshepsut was selected by Ra—king of the gods in ancient Egypt—to bear his Amulet of Light?” He arched a brow at me to check that this was not new information, and I nodded.

  “Yes,” I agreed. “But we didn’t get much further than that, really.”

  Boden frowned. “That’s it? That’s as far as you got?” He turned an incredulous look to the Aussie, who just shrugged.

  “Don’t blame me,” Hunter replied with a grin. “Cleo knew nothing about Egyptian history. I spent the whole time trying to explain how a woman could be pharaoh.”

  I opened my mouth to give a weak excuse, but all that came out was a heavy yawn. Fuck me, I was going to pass out with my head in my food if I wasn’t careful.

  “Maybe just give me the CliffsNotes?” I suggested in a weak voice. “It’s been a long-ass day.”

  Boden nodded in agreement. “For all of us. Shifting takes a bit of a toll on our energy.”

  My eyes widened, and I nodded. “I want to say that I understand, but I really don’t. So is that what I am, too? A cat shifter?”

  “Not a cat,” Hunter interjected, jerking a thumb at himself. “We went over this already.”

  Boden rolled his eyes, and I hid a smile. Apparently I hadn’t been the only one to assume a Tasmanian tiger was a type of cat. “No, Cleo,” Boden assured me. “You’re not going to suddenly sprout fur and claws if you haven’t already. Shifters first discover their nature with puberty, and I’d say you’re well past that awkward stage of life.”

  I cleared my throat and used a bite of food to distract myself from the memory of Boden’s hard dick rubbing between my legs. “So, what am I then if not one of you? Why do I have this amulet, and why did those people just try to kill us?”

  “You’re human,” Adriel answered my question like it was the dumbest thing he’d ever heard, “obviously.”

  “Ad is right,” Boden agreed. “You’re human, but you’re descended directly from Queen Hatshepsut, so it is your destiny to carry the Amulet of Light. How it ended up in a junk store in Portland is a mystery, but the power of Ra is supreme and works in ways we couldn’t ever comprehend.” His gaze dropped to the golden amulet clutched between my fingers. I’d taken it out of the sweatshirt and had been rubbing it without even noticing. “As for why those people tried to kill you, it’s simply the age-old fight for power. You have it, and their mistress wants it.”

  Adriel made a growl under his breath and stabbed a piece of fish like he was picturing my face or something. “Fucking Bastites,” he swore. “Brainwashed idiots chasing a myth.”

  Hunter grunted his agreement, and Boden sighed with a small nod himself.

  “We can explain more on that tomorrow,” Boden told me. “For now, it’s enough to say that those people are the acolytes of Bast. She’s had a lady boner to get that amulet since the day it was given to humans; it’s why the guardians were created in the first place—to keep you alive and the amulet out of Bast’s greedy hands.”

  I blinked at him a couple of times, my poor, sluggish brain trying to comprehend what he was telling me. “Bast? As in… the ancient Egyptian goddess Bast? She’s real?”

  “You didn’t seriously think that humans were the highest form of evolution, did you?” Adriel scoffed, and I glowered at him. Sooner or later, that handsome asshat was going to catch my fist in his face.

  “Again, we can get into the history of the immortals another day. I think everyone is a bit exhausted and it’s giving some of us a shorter temper than normal.” Boden speared Adriel with a glare, but the bigger man just shrugged and finished off his dinner with a stubborn look on his face.

  “Cleo, babe,” Hunter said, tucking a wet, dark-pink strand of hair behind my ear, then trailing his fingertips over my cheek. “Did you have any other questions before you rest, or are you good? Like Boden said, we will answer anything you want to know—not like those dickheads in romance novels who keep secrets from their girl for her own protection, you know?” He gave me a goofy grin, and I bit back a laugh. This wasn’t the time to fall for his charms… although I was stupidly turned on by the fact that he read romance novels.

  “Uh... I have no idea.” I paused and chewed at my lip. “I guess... what does this thing do?” I held up the golden amulet and inspected the ancient writing on it. I’d taken it at face value for so many years it had never crossed my mind that it might be anything but a pretty piece of junk jewelry.

  “You mean, what’s its power?” Boden tilted his head to the side, and I nodded.

  “Yeah, like will it hurt me? Am I better off giving it to someone else more equipped to handle whatever drama comes with it?” I met Boden’s gaze head on, but my guts were clenched and churning in anticipation of his response. I didn’t want to give the amulet away, killer cultists or not.

  He gave me a sad sort of smile and shook his head. “You couldn’t even if you wanted to—no more than we could give up our positions as your guardians.” His gaze flickered to Adriel, then he cleared his throat and hurried on. “As for what it can do, well... anything you want it to.”

  My brows shot up, and my lips parted in shock. “Anything?”

  He shrugged. “Anything within reason. Its limitations aren’t really known, if it has any. It will just take time for you to bond with the magic and learn how to use it.”

  I gaped down at the necklace, then wrinkled my nose. “How do I do that?” Because I wasn’t a fucking moron. If the amulet could do anything I wanted, then surely these cultists working for Bast wouldn’t be such an issue and I could just go about my life.

  “No idea,” Hunter responded, cleaning up our empty plates, then propping his shoulder against the doorframe. “You have to figure it out on your own, Cleo-babe. We’re just the muscle to keep you alive.”

  I nodded dumbly, my brain whirring with so much new information I could practically hear the gears turning. The whole thing was fucking insanity, but there was no denying that magic was real. One didn’t watch a grown-ass man turn into a huge cat and back again without accepting that the world wasn’t black and white anymore.

  “Okay. Cool. I think I need to sleep now.” I blinked at Boden, who gave me a sad smile.

  Adriel grunted a pissed-off sort of noise and scraped his chair back from the table loudly before storming out of the room. Seconds later a door slammed somewhere deeper in the house,
and I shot a confused look at Boden and Hunter.

  “Who pissed in his kitty litter this morning?” I muttered with a frown, and Hunter grimaced.

  “Ad is... in a tough spot,” the sexy, Aussie cat-shifter told me reluctantly. “I don’t know how much we should say on the matter.”

  “She’s entitled to know, and he’s had plenty of opportunities to speak up today,” Boden said quietly, flicking a glance at Hunter. “He can’t just keep acting like a child without any explanation.”

  I darted a confused look between the two of them. Clearly Adriel was packing some baggage, and as much as it probably wasn’t Boden’s or Hunter’s place to tell me, I still wanted to know. Besides, Adriel hadn’t done much to earn polite consideration from me.

  “One of you spit it out,” I ordered them.

  There was another pause in which the two of them exchanged a loaded look, then Hunter shrugged and shook his head. “This one’s on you, boss. I’m heading to bed.” With a flirty wink, he too left the kitchen and headed to a bedroom somewhere deeper in the cabin.

  “Scaredy cat,” Boden muttered after his retreating back. “Okay, I’ll keep this brief. If Ad wants to fill in the details, he can.” I nodded my understanding and motioned for him to continue. “Adriel... has a wife.” My jaw dropped. “Which wouldn’t actually be that much of a problem, if not for the kids.”

  Okay. Yep. My jaw just hit the damn floor.

  “What?” I exclaimed, about to start a panicked freak out before I caught myself.

  So what if Adriel was married with kids? It wasn’t like I’d fucked him in the back of Candy Jack or anything. I hadn’t even thought about it. Okay, fine, that was a dirty lie; I had already fantasized about Adriel naked and pounding the stuffing out of me about sixteen hundred times in the last twenty-four hours. But, still. Me imagining what it’d be like to fuck him did not mean he was thinking the same thing, so what was I really outraged about here?

  Checking myself, I collected my dropped jaw and cleared my throat. “I mean, that’s cool. Good for him. Does she know he’s furry?”