Soft kitty, p.2
Soft Kitty, page 2
Hmm, maybe Deacon and Phin could live here. Fewer sex noises in the house has to be a good thing.
Knox grimaced. Or he mentally grimaced, not sure his cat could make that facial expression.
I must seriously need to get laid if I’m this cranky about other people having sex.
And he couldn’t claim jealousy. He, Phin and Caleb were as close as brothers. Closer really. Knox never spoke to his half-brother. But he never thought of Caleb and Phin as his brothers. Hell, he and Phin used to fool around occasionally—hand jobs and the random blowjob. They’d never fucked because he’d assumed Phin was a top. He was pretty sure Phin had been a top until meeting Deacon.
How the human had convinced Phin to bottom, Knox didn’t know and didn’t care. Though he was a bit curious. Knox didn’t mind bottoming occasionally but he was picky about who he let on top of him.
A strange scent flooded his nose and jerked Knox to a stop. Fuck, his jaguar had homed in on the smell but Knox had been too lost in thought to help his beast process.
Foreign, but familiar.
Bear?
Fuck.
The Leader of Phin’s sleuth had arrived.
Fuck.
* * * * *
Gideon Keene put the crappy little rental car into park and stepped on the emergency brake, not sure anything would stop the POS from sliding down the hill. This is what I get for making my own arrangements.
When Melissa did it, he got a nice big SUV with four-wheel drive and heated seats.
But she’d been pissed at him and told him to book his own travel. Then she left for a month-long vacation in the northern most regions of Canada. Just his luck, she’d come back pregnant and would be denning all winter long.
“Humph.” He opened the door, pried his legs out of the tin-can car and plopped them on the ground. Groaning, he squeezed out and stood to his full height, stretching his arms over his head. Nothing sucked like a three-hour drive from the airport. Hell, there was probably a closer one but...
Right. Bad travel arrangements.
He took out his phone and sent a quick text to Melissa, apologizing, promising a raise and to redecorate her office. He apologized again. He wasn’t stupid. Normally.
Arrogant. Conceited. Dictatorial. Kind of a prick. All those had been used to describe him. Frequently. Stupid? Not often.
But growling at Melissa, yeah, he’d call that stupid. He’d known her for ten years. She’d run his life for nine of those years.
“Live and learn.” He lowered his arms and did a slow spin around, inspecting the small clearing and the tiny cabin. “What a dump. Phineas when you said you had your own den, I didn’t realize you meant an actual den.” He wandered toward the front door, curious why no one had come to greet him. He’d texted Phin ten minutes ago that he was almost there.
His steps on the porch did nothing to draw any attention. He sniffed the air. Multiple scents floated through his senses which he took a moment to identify.
Human. And a second human. He sneered. Phin failed to mention humans as part of their little Sleuth. Only a wolf and a cat.
Gideon peeked in the window. “This can’t be the right place.”
He sniffed the air. Cat. Close.
He twisted around, his eyes skipping over the trees as he called out. “Puss-puss! Come out, come out wherever you are.” Nothing. “I have cat-nip.”
A roar rang through the leaves to his left and a large, beautiful black jaguar leapt into the clearing. Its muscles bunched together, ready to attack.
“Pretty kitty,” Gideon hummed, the rumbling sound almost mimicking a purr. The statement contained no lie. The cat’s sleek fur covered strong, lean muscles. The dark rosettes almost disappeared in the black fur. “Want your belly rubbed?”
The beast’s fur shimmered before fading and turning into a man with obvious Native American heritage. Stick-straight black hair hung to his shoulders. A deep tan bronzed his skin. The only thing that stood in opposition to the image were the bright blue eyes of a baby jaguar.
“You are a pretty kitty.” He did a slow—and yes, mostly obnoxious—scan down the man’s naked body, deliberately stopping at his soft but still impressive cock. “And the offer of a belly rub remains open.” He wouldn’t mind rubbing his hands over those tight muscles that rippled across the kitty cat’s abs.
“You have to be Gideon.” Ah, so he was expected. “Funny, Phin never mentioned you were a prick.”
Gideon shrugged. “That is surprising. It’s rather common knowledge. Where is he? I didn’t expect him to send a minion to meet me.”
“Minion?” The word came out shocked and snarly. “You are an asshole.”
“Whatever you want to call it. When your Leader sends you to do a task and you do it, you are his minion.”
“Leader? Phin?” The jaguar tipped his head back and released the most intriguing laugh. It was a full-on belly laugh, one he’d only read about in books.
“I don’t see how that is funny,” Gideon commented.
“Do you want me to take you to my leader?” he asked. At least that’s what Gideon presumed the man asked. The laughter and gasping for air made the words difficult to understand. The cat’s own words sparked another round of laughter.
Gideon sighed, crossed his arms over his chest and waited. The cat began to calm down but mid-way through the process looked at Gideon and something set him off. Again.
Finally, the jaguar caught his breath.
“Sorry. Sorry. Whew. This is going to be a fun visit.”
“Is Phineas not here?” He indicated the small cabin.
“Oh, no. This is private property. We live up the hill.” The cat cocked his head toward a wide path that appeared to go straight up.
“I assume the Sleuth House isn’t far.”
Another smile that looked like the pussycat was holding back laughter. “No, a little over a mile.”
For a shifter, a mile was nothing.
“Grab my bags. I don’t think this car will be able to drive up the steep incline.”
The jaguar—Gideon hadn’t gotten his name—ignored the instruction and started to walk. Naked, barefoot and in human form, the cat led the way to the base of what Gideon could only assume was the path to the Sleuth.
“I’m to leave my stuff here?”
“Yep. I’m guessing, you won’t be staying for long.”
Following that bare, muscular ass up the hill wasn’t a hardship. And Gideon could use the exercise after the long drive. He rolled his shoulders back, shoved his phone into his pocket and started along the path.
“If you want to shift, you can put your clothes in the car,” the cat suggested.
Gideon looked around. His upper lip curled into a sneer. “In all this mud? I’ll be filthy.”
“What’s worse? Mud on your fur or mud on your clothes?”
He thought about it for a moment. “Mud on my fur.”
“You’re kidding.”
“No.”
Though the man didn’t roll his eyes, Gideon could tell the urge was there.
“I’m putting on my fur. You do what you want.”
With that, the man turned back into the beautiful black jaguar. Gideon’s fingers itched to run through the cat’s fur to see if it was as soft as it looked. He never got a chance. The jaguar trotted off, speeding up the hill, pausing every twenty feet or so and glaring back at Gideon. No words were required for him to hear the silent nagging to move faster.
Gideon wasn’t designed for speed. Not in his human body. Not in his fur. Endurance he had in spades. Speed? Nope. Plus, he might have been slowing his steps just a little to annoy the already pissy pussy. Felines were almost as easy as canines to irritate.
He flipped through the morning. He’d texted Phineas that he would be arriving. No, Phineas didn’t live under his immediate protection any longer but Gideon was still the leader of his birth Sleuth. It demanded a lifetime respect.
Except if Gideon had ended up at the wrong location...
That made sense. Phineas was waiting for him at the Sleuth House. Too bad his crappy little rental car wouldn’t make it up the hill but based on the horrible noises it made getting to the first level, the engine didn’t have enough power to survive the steep elevation change. Gideon’s calves strained and his glutes tightened. He sped up, enjoying the tension in his muscles. He might appear lazy but he liked to move.
Ahead of him, the cat chuffed out a breath, his irritation visible even in his feline form. Gideon’s bear growled a reply, the sound a blend of grumpy and sexy. The cat had the kind of body Gideon liked—lean, strong, not too dainty. Like he could take a solid fuck and beg for more.
A low rumble rippled through his throat, the vibration reverberating like a purr. Yes, that noise would be perfect when he took the soft kitty to bed.
Chapter Two
Knox padded ahead of the arrogant bear, waited for his companion to catch up, then ran forward. It was slow going. And strange. Phin always preferred to make this hike in his fur. Of course, Phin didn’t wear the expensive suits he’d had to leave behind when they’d been exiled from Damon’s Pack.
Gideon’s suit probably cost more than they spent on food in a year. But damn, those posh shoes had to be uncomfortable during the climb through the mud. Guy has money if he doesn’t mind wrecking leather shoes just to keep his fur clean.
Who would have thought the leader of Phin’s birth Sleuth would be such a dick? And what did he mean by calling Phin the “leader”? Knox hadn’t been able to stop his laughter. Phin? The leader of their little group? Surely Gideon knew about Caleb.
Oh, shit. Suddenly this didn’t seem so funny.
Tempted to race ahead, he remained near the bear, guiding him slowly up the mountain. Very little in the forest could hurt a full-grown grizzly, but Caleb wouldn’t like a strange shifter wandering around without an escort.
The fence around the compound came into view. Knox slipped through the “kitty door” they’d installed so they could come and go without having to shift. He trotted toward the house. A throat being cleared stalled his progress.
“You can’t expect me to crawl on my hands and knees.”
No, Knox hoped to leave the man behind and come back for him after he’d explained the situation to Caleb and Quincy...and checked to make sure Phin was aware of Gideon’s arrival.
Leaving the man on the outside of the gates would be rude. Whether he liked the guy or not, bear shifters had a strangely formal hierarchy. Even though bears—and their shifter counterparts—lived solo lives, somehow their community maintained staunch lines of connection.
Knox relaxed his shoulders and pushed the animal form to the corner of his brain. The human shape expanded. Muscles popped and skin shifted and stretched. The process burned every nerve ending, but he’d been doing it so long, the pain passed quickly.
He shivered as the first brush of wind ran across his skin. Winter is coming. No, seriously. Winter is coming. And soon. He lifted his nose to the air and inhaled. Smelled like snow. Yeah, they needed to get Gideon gone before the flakes flew. Their road grew impassable at times and he didn’t want to be stuck with Mister Crankypants.
Or Mister Get-in-my-pants, maybe.
Knox grinned, amused by his own thoughts.
“Still waiting.”
The snotty voice pushed the smile away and made Knox grit his teeth. All he had to do was guide the bear inside and then he was Phin’s problem.
Drawing in another breath, this one to keep his attitude contained—ha!—he turned around and strolled back toward the fence.
Gideon waited on the other side. The chill didn’t appear to be affecting him at all. The wind picked up but it barely moved his salt and pepper hair. Of course, the buzz cut made that unlikely. Knox took a moment to check out the stranger. He was big, but that was no surprise. Broad across the shoulders and a little taller than Knox. The classic suit had obviously been tailored because it angled perfectly down his chest to a narrow waist. No off-the-rack suit would fit that well.
Interesting, Gideon had none of the plumpness around the middle that Phin had at this point in the year. Maybe he’s a tropical bear, Knox thought with a mental chuckle. A tiny sun bear or maybe a panda. Hmm, do they have panda shifters? He couldn’t imagine a guy that big shrinking down to a small animal but hell, what did he know? The thoughts kept his mind busy until he arrived at the gate.
When they first moved in, they left the fence open but with the recent presence of strange shifters, they’d started to close and lock it. It didn’t offer much protection but it might slow down any intruders. The kitty door was undoubtedly a bad idea. He reached over and flipped the lock on that as well.
“You need better security,” Gideon announced as Knox grabbed the chain that bound the two sides of the gate together. “I could break through that in two seconds.” He looked at the metal poles as he walked through the opening. “I would have thought Phineas would have done a better job.”
“Yeah we might need to clear something up. About Phin—”
“Knox?” Caleb’s curious, cautious voice rang from the front porch.
“Damn.” He shifted his gaze to meet Gideon’s. “Just a warning. We’ve had a bad time over the past three weeks. Don’t do anything to make it worse.”
Gideon’s eyes widened as if he couldn’t believe anyone would speak to him like that. Screw it. Knox scraped his hands through his hair.
“It’s cool, Caleb.” Knox hurried toward the front door, eyeing Caleb’s stance. The fact Quincy wasn’t on the porch with him gave him an extra dose of caution. That meant Quincy was inside with the pups. “This is Gideon. The Leader of Phin’s birth Pack, Sleuth, whatever.”
A little tension drained from Caleb’s shoulders but the Alpha was by no means relaxed. “Why’s he here?”
“He can speak for himself,” Gideon growled, stepping forward, moving in front of Knox.
Oh goody.
“Fine. Why are you here?” The challenge didn’t diminish in Caleb’s voice.
“That’s between me and Phineas. I don’t have to explain myself to you.”
“The fuck you don’t. You’re in my territory. If you want to stay, you’ll start talking and adding a little courtesy won’t hurt.”
“Your territory? You mean Phin—”
“Caleb,” Knox interrupted. “Phin knew he was coming. He got distracted—” He looked pointedly to the small windows that opened into Phin’s basement den. “When Deacon got home.”
Caleb’s mouth twisted into a grimace mixed with an understanding smile. He’d been “distracted” a time or two with Quincy.
“Is Phineas inside?” Gideon asked, the words cool, almost prim. Fuck this guy is stuffy. Not something Knox expected, based on his relationship with Phin. Knox had met other bear shifters. None had been this prissy. Grumpy? Yes. Playful. Focused on food. Those all fit. Not this.
“Yes, but he’s busy.” Caleb crossed his arms over his chest and took a step the right, blocking more of the door.
“He’ll see me.” Gideon didn’t quite grasp the risk he was taking, approaching the Alpha with such aggression.
Caleb swelled up and dropped his hands, ready to pounce.
“Let him go, Caleb,” Knox encouraged. Yes, it was a shitty thing to do to Phin but really, it was minor payback for having to listen to his friend get fucked for hours—hours—at a time.
“But—”
“Come on.” Knox grinned. “Let’s go watch.”
“You’re such an asshole,” Caleb muttered, but he followed behind. Knox chuckled and didn’t deny the accusation.
Knox did a quick scan of the room, searching for Quincy and the pups.
“I told him to stay in the bedroom until I figured this out,” Caleb said without Knox having to ask the question.
Gideon stopped in the living room and looked around, surveying the space like a king looking out over his lands. “Not bad. Too much furniture.” His upper lip curled into a slight sneer. “But I guess a minor sleuth like Phineas’ doesn’t need much space.”
Knox could hear Caleb’s teeth grinding. “Phin’s?”
“There seems to be some confusion on Gideon’s part.” Knox lowered his voice but accepted the bear shifter could hear him.
“How’s that?” Gideon whipped around and drilled Knox with his stare. “How am I confused?”
Knox resisted the urge to step back under the weight of Gideon’s gaze. Power and annoyance flowed off the man. His irritation isn’t going to improve, Knox thought.
“This isn’t Phin’s Sleuth,” Knox replied. He could have left the explanation to Caleb but took some delight in pissing off the cranky bear shifter. “This is Caleb’s Pack.”
“Pack? Like dogs?”
Caleb’s growl rippled through the room and made the hairs on the back of Knox’s neck stand up even though the anger wasn’t directed at him.
“Hush, puppy.” Gideon flipped the comment toward Caleb.
Knox had a fraction of a second to lunge between the two men and stop Caleb from ripping Gideon’s throat out. He threw his arms around Caleb’s waist and jammed his shoulder into the Alpha’s chest.
“Don’t do it, man. Quincy! Come help!”
Seconds later—clearly Quincy hadn’t been hiding in the bedroom—the Alpha Mate appeared.
“What the hell?”
“Help me,” Knox grunted, trying to push Caleb away.
“Did someone miss his afternoon kibble?” Gideon sneered.
“You’re not helping,” Knox snapped. The body beneath his started to heat. “No. Don’t shift. Quincy!” he called again.
The human slipped in beside Knox, looking up at Caleb.
“Breathe with me, babe. The kids are in the back and they need a good example. You don’t want to shift.” Caleb’s eyes lost the glowing amber of his wolf and retreated to the warm brown. The tension in his jaw remained tight and Knox was pretty sure some of Caleb’s teeth had already changed.
“Yes, don’t shift,” Gideon drawled. “I don’t want you to shed all over my suit.”
