Captive Moon (18 page)

He leaned into her, inhaling the deep musky scent of her rising fur, and lightly pressed his lips to hers. The taste and scent combined with sensation as she encircled his neck with her arms and pulled him tight against her. He held his magic inside by sheer will, not wanting to bleed into her again and make this experience a bad one. But… Merde! The things he wanted to do to her as their jaws moved into an ever more intensely passionate kiss. He could nearly taste his heart in his throat as he pulled back and whispered into her mouth.

“You see? You can control whatever you wish to. Now, I’m going to take the sponge in and see if I can get Babette to play a game or two—enough to make her hungry. I’d very much like it if you joined us. But if you’d like to be alone, I’m confident you can make it back to your room before you shift.”

She looked startled as she removed her fingers from where they’d twined around his hair. “I feel it. The moon is sitting right at the edge of my vision. I can almost reach out and touch it, but it’s not sucking me inside like it has been. Until today, it’s felt like I was being thrown over a cliff in a dream. Yeah, I’d wake up before I hit bottom, but the fall was terrifying.” Confidence grew on her face as surprise gave way to happiness. “I think I’d like to join you and play a game. I don’t know how you and your cats play, but—”

He raised up the back of his hand and let his fingernails glide over her cheek. “Then please do join us. Nobody will disturb you if you want to change right here. I’ll shift after I’ve used the sponge on the prey.”

He opened the door, forcing himself not to glance back. Part of him wanted to watch her change, wanted to see fur transform that lovely body into something powerful and dangerous.

I’m definitely going to have to be careful of that one.

Matty nodded to him as he crossed the room carrying the sandwich bag. “I’m surprised to see you down here after moonrise, mate. What’s that thingo you’ve got?”

Before Antoine could answer, the door opened a second time, and Matty’s face flowed from concern to recognition and then worry. “I’m thinking that’s Tahira, mate, but if it’s some strange tiger, let me know now so I can do the bolt.”

“Hi, Matty!” Tahira said, in that deliriously deep growl. “Sorry that I worried you. I didn’t even think about walking around in this form.”

Babette pranced toward Antoine with her jaw wide around something large and black, but then spotted Tahira and stopped. Her golden eyes narrowed and raised her hackles.

“That’s right!” Antoine exclaimed. “She hasn’t met you in this form yet.” He dropped the plastic bag on the ground and walked over to Tahira. He ran his hands down her face, concentrating on the scent glands between her eyes. Babette was still in defense position, but seemed less concerned when she saw Antoine approach the new tiger without incident. When he walked back to her, he held out his hands so she could sniff them, and pressed the image of Tahira’s human form and then the tiger form into her mind.

Babette sniffed his hands delicately and then cautiously padded over to Tahira, keeping her body ready to spring at any moment.

“Just let her sniff you for a moment, Tahira. But be ready to move if she considers you a threat. Matty, don’t get in between them.”

The Australian was standing stock still. “Wouldn’t think of intruding on this introduction, mate.”

The tiger cubs were less concerned. They apparently had already recognized their friend from the pool and were racing over to her, despite their mother’s wariness. Antoine was pleased to see that Tahira remained cautious. She didn’t stop the cubs from grabbing at her tail and pouncing on each other under her legs, but she didn’t touch them either. Slowly, Babette walked all the way around her, sniffing. Tahira did make small chuffing noises of greeting and speak in English, as well, further calming the cat.

Finally satisfied, Babette turned away from Tahira and walked back to the black object on the ground. She picked it up in her mouth again and dropped it at Antoine’s feet with a thud.

“What in the world—?” Tahira asked. “Is that a bowling ball!”

“Yeah,” Matty said. “It’s her fave toy, a four-and-a-half-kilo size, which is just perfect for them. It’s like a yarn ball to a house pet. She and the other cats can go at it for hours, but it’s been a long time since she’s played with anyone else. You both just missed Giselle. She’d offered to play, but Babette wasn’t interested. I think she was waiting to play with you, Antoine.”

“Just as soon as I finish putting this on the rabbits and antelope, I’ll do that.” He started to walk away, but discovered that Babette was padding right at his heels, the bowling ball again in her mouth. When he stopped, so did she, and she dropped the ball.

Tahira laughed, but it was closer to a growl. “I don’t think she wants to wait until you’re ready.”

Antoine sighed. “She can be quite persistent.”

Matty held out his hand. “I’ll do whatever it was you’d planned if you want to start the game. What’s in the bag?”

He handed the plastic over to him, briefly pulling it back with a caution. “This sponge is filled with a chemical compound I just created. Make certain you don’t get any of it on your skin.”

Matty looked at the innocent-looking sponge askance. “Bloody hell! What is the stuff?”

“You might call it liquid fear,” Tahira answered. “Trust me, the scent of this stuff is so powerful, it made me run out of the library to see if someone was being attacked in the kitchen. Spill it on your pants, and you might end up dinner.”

He stared wide-eyed at the plastic for a moment and then hesitantly opened it. The potent scent nearly made Matty gag, but Babette instantly turned and sniffed, searching with suddenly hungry eyes for the source of the scent. Matty noticed and zipped the bag. “Strewth! I see what you mean, mate. Right, then. You go play ball with Babette on the other side of the room and I’ll douse the ‘lope with this charming blend.”

“What does it smell like to you, Matty?” Tahira asked. “Margo thought was rotting meat in bleach.”

“Wish I could say it smelled that good,” Matty said with a grimace. “But I’ve actually smelled rotting meat cooked in bleach, and that had nothing on this stew.” At Tahira’s surprised expression, he shrugged. “Had to build a skeleton of a rabbit for a biology class, but forgot about the project until the night before. The bleach made the bones nice and white, but I’d forgotten about my mum’s dinner party that same night. It was a bit of a balls up, that!”

“Well, then,” Antoine said, picking up the bowling ball and slipping in the tips of his fingers, “let’s get the game started.”

Babette was at full attention as he heaved the ball across the floor in a blur. Babette leapt after the toy and batted it to the side before it hit the wall, sending it nearly airborne back toward them with a powerful swipe of her paw. He considered going into the back room and removing his clothes before changing, but the goal was to keep Babette interested.

Ah, well. The clothes can be replaced.

With a cougar screech, he leapt into the air toward the ball. When he landed, he was in cat form. The tattered remains of his clothing fluttered to the floor.

Tahira’s hushed voice made him turn his head after he’d swatted the ball back to Babette. “My God!

You’re huge! You can’t possibly be a cougar. Even my grandfather isn’t as broad across the chest.”

He twitched his ears forward in amusement and flicked his tail. “I warned you that I inherited my mother’s size.” He nearly pushed her out of the way, but she noticed the ball returning and sent it back to Babette with a powerful stroke.

“Hey! That is sort of fun. It’s not heavy as I would have expected. Are we playing catch or keep-away?”

His lips pulled back from his teeth. “The only goal is not to break anything. We can play however you like. But you should know that I’m quite a good footy player, as Matty calls the game.”

“No problem,” she said, diving into him hard enough to tumble him over before sending the ball back to Babette. “I’m a hockey girl myself, along with a stint as Rabi’s tackling dummy for rugby tryouts.”

Minutes passed as they continued to increase the difficulty of the game. The cubs moved to the side once they decided the prey was too fast, and it hurt when it squished their paws. It became a race to see whether he or Tahira would first reach the ball to send it back to Babette. Tahira was very skilled, moving quickly and efficiently to cut off the ball before he could swipe at it. The longer they played, the more aggressive they both became, so by the time the scent reached their noses, they’d nearly lost the memory of where the scent of fear had come from.

After a final swipe of the ball, Babette dropped into a slow stalk that made the cubs prick up tiny ears. Tahira joined her, instinctively moving to the side to trap the prey. “Tahira!” Antoine whispered, slapping his paw against her flank. “Let Babette find the prey.”

She blinked golden eyes as the words filtered into her head. She stopped and sat down on her haunches.

“Sorry,” she said quietly. “I got too wrapped up in the game.”

“I nearly did as well. I see that Matty made himself scarce, but he seems to have done a very creative job of application of the scent. He’s placed individual drops on the floor, as though from the hind foot scent glands of a rabbit.”

Tahira nodded. “I know. I can smell where they wander from side to side and double back—just like a real rabbit. He must be really good at tracking.”

“He is. I don’t worry at all about him completing his walkabout. He has a natural affinity for the wild.” He stared into her gleaming eyes as she watched Babette follow the trail to one of the rabbits in the stream and felt a thrill of excitement pass through him. “What are you doing for dinner tonight, mon chat du feu?”

Every muscle in her hind legs tensed as Babette’s tail began to flick frantically at the edge of the cattails. The big cat leapt into the plants with a series of splashing grabs before coming up with one of the rabbits. She carried it proudly over to the cubs and they all trotted back to Babette’s enclosure to share it.

Tahira was salivating from watching the hunt, and it took her a moment to answer. “I think Giselle was going to broil some steaks from the freezer, along with some vegetables. Why?”

He leaned his face near her ear and breathed in the scent of her adrenaline-laced musk. “I don’t believe I’m in the mood for home cooking tonight. Fast food is more what I have in mind.”

Her gaze turned wicked with humor. “You’re thinking we should find a run-through for something fresh and warm?”

“Exactly.” He licked a slow line along her furred muzzle to the point of her ear and felt her shudder. “I want to hunt with you tonight, Tahira.”

Her chuffing growl was close to a chuckle. “Why is it that everything you say sounds like a come-on?”

He turned and deliberately bumped her as he walked toward the door. “Perhaps because it’s what you’re hoping to hear.” He growled in surprise as she leapt over his head and reached the door first.

“Or,” she said slyly, “perhaps it’s because it is a come-on. But I can take anything you can dish out, Antoine, so bring it on.”

CHAPTER Nine

“We’re being followed.”

Tahira slowed her steps and let her eyes adjust to the starlight. The moon was hidden behind thick clouds, but at least the snow had finally stopped. The cold, still air burned her lungs as she held her breath. She opened her senses, concentrating on any sound, any scent that would confirm Antoine’s statement. The only movement was the twitching of Antoine’s tawny ear as he stood equally silent beside her.

“How do you know?” she asked in a low whisper.

He turned his head to her with what was as close to a look of disdain as a cougar could manage. “I know because I can smell them. There are at least two, but possibly more. They’re very far away but moving in concert with us, so probably using scopes or binoculars to track us. They’re shifters, but they are too far away for me to know what sort of animal.”

“Are we in danger?”

“Something is hunting a pair of apex predators in the woods in the middle of the night. They’re keeping to the shadows and staying upwind. What do you think?”

“Should we turn back? We’re not far from the house. I don’t need to hunt tonight.”

Antoine took a step, letting his massive, furred paw settle into the deep snow. She had never seen a cougar of his size. He was even larger than Rabi in animal form. He let out a low chuffing sound that was close to a chuckle. “No, neither of us needs to hunt tonight, but isn’t it nice that someone has given us a reason to? With any luck, they’ll stay in human form. I do so hate trying to get fur out from between my teeth.”

A snort of air, combined with a bright citrus scent, told of her amusement, and he shared the joke for a moment, but then turned serious.

“Keep in mind that it’s quite possible that someone out there is trying to finish the job they started.”

“Finish the—” Tahira’s eyes widened as she finally understood what Antoine was implying. Could Rabi’s kidnappers have returned? Oh my. Yes, I would definitely enjoy finding them again, and to hell with fur in my teeth.

Her voice lowered to a threatening rumble. “What do you want me to do?”

He moved his muzzle so close to her that his whiskers tickled the sensitive hairs inside her ear. His breath was warm and his power played over her fur like a stroking hand. The combination of sensations caused an involuntary shiver deep inside her.

“First we need to draw them closer, force them to come to us. If we keep to the undergrowth, it will still appear that we are hunting, but they won’t be able to see us well enough to risk a shot that would put us on defense. Then, we rely on our strengths. My nose is my best feature, and you apparently have excellent ears. With the moon hidden, sight won’t be our ally, so stay close. Our goal is to find their position before they know ours.”

“Do we try to capture them to ask questions, or—” She wasn’t sure whether she should finish the question.

Perhaps the Sazi showed mercy when it came to hunters. Her kabile did not.