by Aya Walksfar
“There is much to think about, but thinking is best done with a well-rested body and a clear mind.” She made her regal way across the open living space to the spiral stairway.
Within moments, an upstairs door opened then softly closed. I pushed up from the chair and wandered over to the wet bar. After refreshing my coffee, I walked over to the window and stared outside. Darkness. That’s all I could see--darkness. It felt like a cruel commentary on life.
Kaia left without further speech. Though a taciturn woman, I had come to respect her thoroughness and intelligence.
When Ri walked over, I slanted a look at her. She seemed troubled. “Are you happy here?”
She shrugged. “It’s...different. Before there was only my mother and me and...him.”
I pivoted to face the young panther. “I know what you mean...mostly. There was never a him in our house; just my mom and me.”
Bitterness etched hard lines in Ri’s face. “You’re lucky. If it wasn’t for him, my mother would still be alive. I'm going to kill him someday.”
The matter-of-fact tone sent a shiver down my spine, yet I understood. If I could have found the man who had knifed my mother, I certainly would have killed him and damn the consequences. “In that we’re alike. A john killed my mother. At least, we never lived with the bastard.”
“My aunt says that someday I’ll inherit her position.” Ri clasped her hands so tightly that her knuckles whitened. “I wish she’d let Amanda have the position. Amanda grew up in panther society. I didn’t even know one existed until after I met Serena. How can I govern when I don’t know the people I'm supposed to govern? I don’t even know my way around this mansion yet!”
It wasn’t a rhetorical question, so I considered it before I spoke. “I guess you’ll have to listen and learn. It will be a daunting task to learn everything you’ll need to know to govern wisely, but it’s not an impossible goal. Your aunt is a healthy woman, so you won’t have to do it on your own for many years yet.”
She snorted her disbelief. “I don’t even know the proper etiquette for Gathers. I keep waking up at night, terrified that I'm going to do or say something that will start an interspecies war, but Auntie won’t let me skip the meetings.”
“Elder Coahoma appears to be a wise leader. You’d do well to remain quiet and watch and listen. I’ve found that’s the way I learn best.” I gulped the rest of my coffee, rinsed the cup and set it in the drainer. “I'm beat. Think I’ll turn in. Good-night, Ri.”
Upstairs in the spacious room assigned to me, I stripped and stepped into the en suite for a hot shower. The water loosened some of the knots in my shoulders. After I toweled dry, I padded into the bedroom and abruptly stopped. “What do you want?” I demanded of the woman lounging on the bed.
“You.” A come-hither smile played around the woman’s luscious, red lips.
Heat flashed through me. I ignored it. “I'm not on the menu.” I attempted to push gruffness into my voice, but fell short of success. Moving over to the dresser where I could watch her in the mirror, I pulled out clean underwear and a sleeping shirt. I turned and waved them in the air. “I need to get ready for bed.”
A throaty chuckle bubbled from the woman. “Please do, though I do hope you don’t plan to wear anything over that gorgeous body.”
My arm dropped to my side. What kind of game was she playing? I leaned against the dresser, letting the hard edge ground me. It’d been a while since I’d had a beautiful woman, other than Serena, spread out on my bed. “What’s with all the flirting and the come-on? I’ve seen you around, but really you’re a stranger to me, just like I'm a stranger to you. Or do you hop into bed with everyone?” The woman never flinched at my snooty tone.
Sitting on the edge of the mattress, she let the silky blue robe fall open. A toned body with pert breasts and taut stomach peaked out from between the sides of the soft material. She ran a pointed, red fingernail up the inside of a pale thigh. “We don’t have to remain strangers.” Easing off the bed, she glided over to me.
Robe wide open, the curly dark red patch between the woman’s legs drew my eyes. I tried to ignore the flare of desire. “How do you fit into this place? I don’t even know your first name. If I ever heard it, I’ve forgotten.”
The woman ran a sharp nail up my arm then dipped down to skim one of my towel-covered breasts. “I'm just one of the panther foot soldiers; no one of importance. Most people call me Fire because of my red hair. You can call me Fire because I intend to burn hot tonight.”
Moisture gathered between my thighs. My breath caught in my throat. What did it matter who I lay with? Serena and I weren’t together anymore. “I like to know who I bed.”
A challenge darkened the visitor’s eyes. “Do you know enough now?” Fire’s tongue traced her lower lip as she stared at my mouth.
The towel dropped to the floor. “Yeah, I know enough.” Hands on Fire’s shoulders, I shoved the robe partway off her arms and then snugged it tight, pulling the other woman’s body tight against me. Being close in height, our bodies meshed perfectly. I lowered my mouth to the waiting lips.
Tentatively at first, I rubbed my tongue along Fire’s then drew away. I licked her lips then dove into her mouth again, this time devouring, demanding.
The robe dropped and pooled on the floor. I lifted Fire’s muscular leg and wrapped it around my waist then slipped my hand over her womanly mound. Two fingers then three dipped into the wetness and the heat.
I reached up and grasped her thick hair. I savaged her mouth; nipped her full lips until I tasted a drop of salty blood. I licked it away as I eased my hand out of her wet sheath and released her hair.
My sex throbbed as I led her over to the king-size bed. The near-stranger lay down on the white quilt, her pale body a cool contrast on the deep purple sheet. I devoured her with my eyes; ran my gaze from between her inviting breasts, down the taut stomach and into the thatch of glistening curls.
Fire raised a hand to her own dusky nipple and pinched it as her eyes locked onto mine. The nipple tightened into a rounded point. She ran her tongue along her lower lip as her other hand reached out for me. She lightly swirled her fingers in the curls at the junction of my thighs. My legs shifted wider to allow easier access as my hips jutted forward.
She dipped talented fingers between the lips of my labia. My body clenched around the welcome invaders. In and out, slowly, maddeningly. Out and tracing a path up through my curls, up my taut stomach. Then slowly back down. Just the tip of one finger lightly circling my swollen clit.
I opened my eyes and grabbed Fire’s hand away from my sex. Hunger raced through me as I climbed onto the bed. My body hovered over hers. I dipped my head and caught a rosy nipple between my teeth, lightly pinching it. Ran my tongue around it and then sucked it into my mouth. My tongue traced a path between the full breasts until my lips caught the second nipple.
Fire moaned and shifted her hips restlessly.
I let go of the nipple. My tongue lashed a damp pathway between Fire’s luscious breasts then down to the hard muscles surrounding the navel. She had the body of a warrior and the silky skin of a lady of leisure. I plunged the tip of my tongue into the shallow dent of her belly button. She moaned louder. A hand landed on the top of my head, tried to urge me downward as her body squirmed beneath mine.
I snatched the errant hand and pinned it to the bed. When I was sure it would remain there, I let go then drifted lower until my lips rested against the heat and the musk of her sex. Slowly, my tongue traced circles around the swollen clit then flicked it.
Groaning, she thrust upward. The smell of her sex filled my nostrils as the sweet-salty taste of her juices filled my mouth. Arms wrapped around her thighs, I slid my hands beneath her firm ass. My fingers kneaded the round cheeks as my mouth pressed harder against her sex.
I released the hold on her ass, brought my hand around and slid three fingers inside her warm tunnel. Thrusting in and twisting around then drawing back out only to pound
inside again.
Her hands lifted from the bed and she cupped her own breasts. Kneading the pale globes, she pinched the nipples until they glowed.
My tongue flicked against her needy clit.
Panting with raw need, she thrust against my mouth.
I pulled back and eased up her body. Her tongue lapped at her own juices still coating my lips. Slow and deep, I kissed her as I reached between us and spread her sex wider. Slowly, I lowered my clit against hers. The heat between us mounted as my body thrust hard and fast. I pulled my mouth away. Reaching down, I lifted Fire’s leg up and wrapped it around my waist then shifted just so. She gasped as I undulated in slow motion, stroking our clits together.
Desire built. My stomach tightened. Breath rasped in and out. My body clenched, riding the edge.
An image of Serena’s body thrusting against mine filled my head. My body tipped into the abyss. I jerked and shuddered against Fire as the last wave of my climax slammed through me.
Exhausted, but somehow still unsatisfied, I released my hold on the woman’s leg and climbed off the bed. Walking to the en suite, I hoped she would be gone by the time I got out of the shower.
The nearly-scalding water failed to wash away a feeling of being dirty. Since I didn’t think any amount of water would make me feel clean, I climbed out of the shower and toweled dry.
In the bedroom, Fire lounged on the chair, wearing her blue robe. It gaped open and exposed the length of her shapely legs all the way to the curly triangle at the junction of her thighs. Her elbows rested on the padded chair arms. She flowed to her feet and over to the dresser with that peculiar grace I had come to associate with werepanthers in human form.
A bottle of wine rested in an ice bucket and two glasses sat beside the wine. With a flip of her hand, Fire indicated a bag next to the side of the chair that I had failed to register earlier. “I thought I’d bring a refreshing beverage. Fortunately, the ice didn’t completely melt while we were otherwise engaged.” She poured two glasses of red wine and turned with a smile.
By the time Fire poured the wine, I had quickly dressed in my usual nightwear--spandex shorts and a tight tee shirt.
Full glasses in hand, she sauntered over, every step a sultry invitation to push the robe from her shoulders. Heat flashed in my groin, but an image of Serena’s face drowned the lust in a wave of guilt.
She handed me a glass of wine. “Not that I don’t appreciate the view, but those clothes look too tight to be comfortable.” She ran a fingernail around one of my nipples. The nipple hardened and peaked beneath the cloth.
I tossed back the wine then wandered over to the dresser and poured a second glass. “I find my clothes comfortable enough.”
Undeterred, Fire glided over. Running a finger down between the mounds of my breasts and down to the junction of my thighs, she leaned in close and lapped the side of my neck with a moist tongue then sucked on my ear lobe. “I'm not criticizing your sense of fashion.” She pulled back enough to gaze at me with lustful eyes. “In fact, dressed like this you look almost as delicious as you do naked.” Her fingers firmly gripped my mound as she slid the palm of her hand back and forth.
Lust flared, tightening my stomach. I shoved her hand away and moved to the other side of the room. “I need to be up in a few hours. I think it’s time for you to leave.”
With a shrug, she set her wine glass on the dresser. “Unfortunately true. We both have to work tomorrow.”
By the time Fire had dressed, sleep weighed heavily on my eyelids. As she picked up her bag and slipped out of the room, I finished the rest of my wine and set the glass on the dresser.
Momentarily frowning, I noted that Fire had not drunk her wine. Hmm, woman got so sidetracked by sex that she left a full glass of wine. A yawn interrupted my thoughts and I stumbled to the bed. As the softness of the pillow registered on my sluggish mind, sleep claimed me.
Chapter 11
Alexis Night Runner
My eyes flashed open, but my head felt foggy. I slanted a glance at the clock on the bedside table. The pounding behind my eyes elicited a groan as I squinted to read the red digits, 3 a.m. It had only been an hour since Fire left. My mouth felt packed with dry cotton.
Why did I accept Fire’s wine? How much did I drink? Two glasses of wine; that’s all I could recall. No way could that account for a hangover of this magnitude. Maybe it would, though. After all--hating the taste of alcohol and hating the memories even the odor of it released even more--I didn’t drink. Never had. What had possessed me to drink with Fire?
I shoved those thoughts aside, and tried to pinpoint what had jerked me awake. Goddess, why wouldn’t my brain clear up? Straining my ears, a chill ran down my arms. Silence gripped the house. In a house where so many people lived why was there such profound silence?
Outside the guest room window, night held sway. Panthers patrolled the village and the surrounding woods. Silent and lethal, nothing could slip past them. Then why did I feel such uneasiness? Surely, the silence was just that--the silence of a sleeping household.
Every hair along my neck quivered on end. I shoved to a sitting position on the side of the mattress.
Dizziness made my head spin. I grabbed the headboard of the bed. Slowly, the dizziness faded. Noiselessly, I pulled jeans and a shirt over my sleepwear then put on socks and boots. Hand grasping the sheath of the short sword, I unhooked it from the post of the bed’s headboard then strapped it around my waist. I checked to be certain that the sword slid easily from its protective covering.
The fog clouding my brain had finally cleared, but now my head pounded even worse and my stomach cramped. What in Caine’s Hells is wrong with me? I glanced toward the dresser. A sick feeling slithered through my chest. A full glass of wine stood next to the ice bucket. Fire’s wine.
I moved quickly to the door and slowly tugged it open until I could slip out between the door and doorjamb. The hallway lay silent and deserted. Feeling as if spider feet skittered along my shoulders, I eased along the corridor.
Halfway between my room at one end of the hall and Elder Coahoma’s at the other end, I drew abreast of Ri’s room just as the door silently swung open. Moonlight filtered by the surrounding tree canopy spilled through the window at the corridor’s end and splashed across the gleaming hardwood floor. Flattened against the wall, I drew my sword from its sheath, held it close to my thigh and waited.
Ri’s slender shape separated from the deeper blackness of the room she exited. The slight limp she still had from where the rogue’s claws had slashed her thigh gave her a distinctive gait. The younger woman stiffened. Her head lifted, undoubtedly scenting for danger. She spun around, her eyes locked on my location.
I ghosted away from the wall. When I got beside Ri, I whispered, “What woke you?”
“The quiet.”
“I thought I was being paranoid about that.”
“Yeah, I thought I was being a bit over-the-top, too.” Ri lifted her head and sniffed again then started for the Elder’s room.
“What do you smell?” I whispered, sharply feeling the inadequacy of my human senses.
“Panthers.”
“Yours?”
“I...can’t tell. I don’t know everyone’s scent, yet.”
As we drew closer, I realized the Elder’s door was closed. The Elder never closed her bedroom door; said she needed to be available to her people day or night. Now it stood a solid barrier between Elder Coahoma and us.
Ri hissed. Her fingernails elongated, grew sharp and hooked, like a cat’s, but her hand remained human. Only those of royal blood could partially shift like that, Elder Coahoma had explained. If Amanda had ascended to the position of queen, Werepanther Magic would have given her such power when she was inducted into the Royal line upon her coronation.
As I reached the door, a breeze ruffled my hair. My heart slammed against my ribs. My breath caught in my throat. A stench of rot wafted from beneath the door. I reached out and wrenched the doorknob.
With a forceful shove, the door swung wide.
Lacy curtains at the window billowed inward, blowing the scent of rot toward us. On the bed, Elder Coahoma sprawled. Blood dyed the white quilt in splotches of red. Her eyes stared blankly toward the ceiling.
Ri bolted toward her aunt. I lunged and grabbed her arm. Still weak from her healing wounds, the young woman fought in vain to wrench free of my desperate grip. “Let me go! I have to help her!”
“It’s a trap!”
Ri stopped struggling and stared at me. “No one is here except us and....and Auntie.”
“It’s a magical trap, Ri. This whole thing is a setup. Someone has cast a Silence Spell on the house.” In a softer tone, I added, “She’s gone, Ri. You can’t help her, but you could wind up getting seriously injured. With your aunt gone, the panthers need you.”
Shoulders slumped in defeat, Ri said, “I can’t just let her lie there like that.”
I peered around the room. “Where the hell is Sven? Where are the house guards? Don’t they patrol up here?”
“They’re supposed to.” Ri’s face hardened. “I’ll find them.”
I shook my head. “No, we’ll find them.”
Ri’s gaze darted back toward the bed.
“We can’t help her, but we might be able to help the others.” I tugged on her arm until she stumbled out of the room with me.
Crumpled on the bottom steps, Lieutenant Kaia Herald gazed up with vacant eyes. Still-sticky blood pooled on the stairs around her. Her shirt had been ripped away and the dark cavity of her chest gaped open. Bits of rib showed white against the bloody mess.
Bile rose to the back of my throat. “They tore out her heart.”
Ri’s face blanched as she carefully stepped around the dead woman.
At the center of the room, a clump of bodies lay like jack straws tossed in a pile. We wove a path to them.
Sven lay face down, one hand still locked around the hilt of a long knife. Dreading what would be revealed, I flipped him over.
Ri hunched next to him. “He doesn’t look damaged enough to be dead.”
