about it with
my father when I was sixteen. Even showed him when he didn’t believe me.”
Nathan let out a long, deep sigh at the painful memory.
“What happened?” she asked when he didn’t continue after a
moment.
“He freaked out. Made me promise never to tell my mother. He
kept it to himself but that didn’t turn out too well. He tried to make himself
forget with rum. Lots of rum. He died when I was nineteen, drunk at the wheel
of a car.”
“I’m so sorry, Nathan.” Sofia gently placed her hand on top
of his.
Without turning his head to meet her eyes, he flashed a weak
smile at her. “It’s okay, it was a long time ago. And it taught me to keep my
issues to myself, and I don’t reveal or discuss being a shifter to non-Weres. I
recommend you do the same.”
“That should be pretty easy for me,” she said. “There isn’t
really anyone I’m all that close to. Not even relatives.”
“Where are your folks?”
“My mother died giving birth to me, and my father bolted
soon after. I was raised by my abuela , who lost her battle with cancer a
few years ago. I don’t really have anyone else.”
He gave her hand an empathetic squeeze.
They sat there like that for a long while, asking each other
questions from time to time but mostly appreciating each other’s presence in
silence. Nathan couldn’t remember the last time he’d enjoyed someone’s company
like this. He feared that if he wasn’t careful, he could completely fall for
Sofia.
What was wrong with him? Nathan didn’t fall in love. Nathan
didn’t sit around holding hands. He needed to shake this feeling off. He
started removing his clothes. “Gonna shift. I’m feeling like doing some
running.”
“I’ll join you. I think I’m ready to try again,” she said,
also undressing.
He waited for her to change then he transformed as well.
They looked at each other as mountain lions and then he took off, slowly at
first, giving her a chance to match him at a nice trot before increasingly
picking up the pace. Several minutes went by and she was still in mountain lion
form. Then several more minutes went by and she still held the shift. So Nathan
kicked it up a notch and went into full animal sprint. Sofia lagged behind for
a while, but she worked her feline muscles and gradually mastered the terrain,
decreasing the ground between them as she continued to maintain the shift.
Soon she was keeping up with him with little trouble and
before long they were racing through the trees together, side by side, the
earth under their paws, the wind in their faces, the sound of forest life in
their ears and the sun upon their fur coats.
Nathan never had the pleasure of running with anyone in this
manner. Someone he was attracted to as both man and cougar, as lover and
friend, as mentor and equal. She had no preconceived expectations of him like
other queens, nor presented any limitations on him as other humans. She was
open and curious and genuinely interested in getting to know him, all of him.
Not just the man and not just the cougar. It was nice to run out in the open
like this, in the wild, with Sofia.
He swiped a paw playfully at her, she roared and gave him a
threatening swipe back. He changed his gait and pouncedon her. Then took her to the ground with him so he could show her
who the dominant one was. But to his surprise, she continued the movement,
causing them to flip over once with her landing on top and him on his back.
Purring, she sat on him, her butt on his belly and her tail
swishing between his legs. He’d thought her pheromones had hit max levels
before, but right now she was completely off the charts. She was practically
dousing him with it, and he was soaking it up, purring, wriggling on his back
and flopping his tail. It’s just play, he told himself. Keep cool! But
when she licked the fur on the side of his neck, the contact of her tongue sent
Nathan into a frenzy of want. Of need. He began to convulse and he roared
violently
my father when I was sixteen. Even showed him when he didn’t believe me.”
Nathan let out a long, deep sigh at the painful memory.
“What happened?” she asked when he didn’t continue after a
moment.
“He freaked out. Made me promise never to tell my mother. He
kept it to himself but that didn’t turn out too well. He tried to make himself
forget with rum. Lots of rum. He died when I was nineteen, drunk at the wheel
of a car.”
“I’m so sorry, Nathan.” Sofia gently placed her hand on top
of his.
Without turning his head to meet her eyes, he flashed a weak
smile at her. “It’s okay, it was a long time ago. And it taught me to keep my
issues to myself, and I don’t reveal or discuss being a shifter to non-Weres. I
recommend you do the same.”
“That should be pretty easy for me,” she said. “There isn’t
really anyone I’m all that close to. Not even relatives.”
“Where are your folks?”
“My mother died giving birth to me, and my father bolted
soon after. I was raised by my abuela , who lost her battle with cancer a
few years ago. I don’t really have anyone else.”
He gave her hand an empathetic squeeze.
They sat there like that for a long while, asking each other
questions from time to time but mostly appreciating each other’s presence in
silence. Nathan couldn’t remember the last time he’d enjoyed someone’s company
like this. He feared that if he wasn’t careful, he could completely fall for
Sofia.
What was wrong with him? Nathan didn’t fall in love. Nathan
didn’t sit around holding hands. He needed to shake this feeling off. He
started removing his clothes. “Gonna shift. I’m feeling like doing some
running.”
“I’ll join you. I think I’m ready to try again,” she said,
also undressing.
He waited for her to change then he transformed as well.
They looked at each other as mountain lions and then he took off, slowly at
first, giving her a chance to match him at a nice trot before increasingly
picking up the pace. Several minutes went by and she was still in mountain lion
form. Then several more minutes went by and she still held the shift. So Nathan
kicked it up a notch and went into full animal sprint. Sofia lagged behind for
a while, but she worked her feline muscles and gradually mastered the terrain,
decreasing the ground between them as she continued to maintain the shift.
Soon she was keeping up with him with little trouble and
before long they were racing through the trees together, side by side, the
earth under their paws, the wind in their faces, the sound of forest life in
their ears and the sun upon their fur coats.
Nathan never had the pleasure of running with anyone in this
manner. Someone he was attracted to as both man and cougar, as lover and
friend, as mentor and equal. She had no preconceived expectations of him like
other queens, nor presented any limitations on him as other humans. She was
open and curious and genuinely interested in getting to know him, all of him.
Not just the man and not just the cougar. It was nice to run out in the open
like this, in the wild, with Sofia.
He swiped a paw playfully at her, she roared and gave him a
threatening swipe back. He changed his gait and pouncedon her. Then took her to the ground with him so he could show her
who the dominant one was. But to his surprise, she continued the movement,
causing them to flip over once with her landing on top and him on his back.
Purring, she sat on him, her butt on his belly and her tail
swishing between his legs. He’d thought her pheromones had hit max levels
before, but right now she was completely off the charts. She was practically
dousing him with it, and he was soaking it up, purring, wriggling on his back
and flopping his tail. It’s just play, he told himself. Keep cool! But
when she licked the fur on the side of his neck, the contact of her tongue sent
Nathan into a frenzy of want. Of need. He began to convulse and he roared
violently
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