Man-Eater (5 page)

“Get out of my way,” Kendra said.

Every fiber of Cyrus’s being went on alert. Kendra was in trouble. He wasn’t above admitting that the merest hint of another man’s interest made him jealous. But it was more than that. Somehow it felt as though Kendra was a part of him, as though they were meant to be together. Cyrus couldn’t explain it, and now wasn’t the time to try, but he did know that he was committed to do whatever it took to protect her, regardless of the cost.

“Why do you say we’re in your way?” the first shifter said.

Cyrus took a breath. Time to deal with these assholes. He turned.

“You heard the lady,” Cyrus said.

“I didn’t hear shit,” the first shifter responded.

So much for my new pants,
Cyrus thought. And he shifted. No counting to ten. No warning. Just a shift, a leap, and a pounce. Cyrus wasn’t screwing around. His tiger bristled with rage as he roared, and the two men, both smaller than him, leaped to the side. They didn’t shift and Cyrus knew they wouldn’t. To do so would be agreeing to a fight. These guys knew the code. Cyrus in his animal form wouldn’t attack another shifter in human form, at least not fatally, it wouldn’t be right. But once they were all shifted, it was the law of the jungle, and at that point, the rules of the human world went out the window. If they fought while shifted, it was every tiger for himself.

Cyrus charged, and the two shifters ran off, revealing Kendra on the asphalt in front of him. The bastards must have pushed her down. Cyrus scented her heat. There was no way he was going to stay in his shifted form. Not in her presence. He wouldn’t be able to control his animal. He shifted back, shielding his nakedness with one hand while he helped her up with the other.

“Are you all right?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

He turned to the side, but as soon as she was back up on her own two feet, Cyrus realized he had a problem. He hadn’t been in his human form for more than a second and he was already hard. It was her closeness, her electric touch, her very being. Having Kendra’s hand in his, having her delicious body so near had given him a raging erection. He covered his cock as best he could with his free hand, but still, it felt as if he was going to explode just looking at her.

“Are you sure?” Cyrus asked.

“Yeah. I slipped, that’s all.”

Good. His hand lingered on hers. Her gaze was directed down at his waist and she made no attempt to avert her view. His cock towered above the hand he tried to hide it with. He wasn’t exactly small down there.

“Thanks again.”

“Yeah, no problem, Kendra.”

“You remembered my name.”

“I remember everything about you.”

Cyrus felt her gaze return to his cock. The woman was incorrigible. And he liked it.

“Do you remember how hot it was in your truck?” Kendra asked.

“About as hot as it is right now.”

He stepped toward her, her fingers continuing to linger in his hand, her heat radiating out from her fingertips and hitting him right between the legs. She was wearing the same red dress she had on the night before, the only difference was the makeup—she had glitter on her bare arms, not to mention eye shadow and red lipstick.
My,
he wanted her. He wanted her so badly he was willing to throw it all away, to forget about everything. But then a flash of light lit the night air. A camera. He turned to see a beat-up car. The drunken shifters he had frightened off were inside of it, taking his picture, naked with Kendra. And Cyrus had one thought.

Morgan.

Damn it. He ran toward the car full tilt, but its tires squealed and it sped away.

∞ ∞ ∞

Cyrus tore across the street. Wow, Kendra thought. An interesting evening had just gotten stranger. She couldn’t help but wonder why she’d been avoiding tow trucks and strip clubs her whole life. She was experiencing something new with this man Cyrus. The way he touched her, it made her feel alive, vibrant, as though she could take on the world. She was certain that the way she felt was a result of more than just her heat. It was everything about him: the way he looked at her, the way he touched her. Kendra gave her head a shake. Maybe she’d just been under the bright lights of the stage for too long. After all, she hadn’t said more than a few words to Cyrus. How was it possible she could feel such a connection?

Kendra waited a few moments, but Cyrus didn’t return. Where had he disappeared to? Naked? At this time of night? Wherever he’d gotten off to, she couldn’t wait in the middle of the parking lot all night. Kendra decided to go back to her motel room. She reflected that Cyrus was different from other men she had known. She didn’t usually go for the strong silent type. Her ex was more of a motormouth loser. And not only was Cyrus different, he hadn’t looked at her the way the other shifters in the club had. Those guys had wanted her, she knew that, but they had wanted to consume her. They had wanted to sate her heat. Cyrus clearly wanted to do that as well, but he wanted to do more. It was as though he also wanted to protect her, to savor her, to make her his. It was a subtle difference, but she appreciated it.

Shit. I need a shower to cool down.

Kendra headed across the parking lot, and as she did, she noticed Cyrus’s tattered clothes. Being a tigress, she’d been in Cyrus’s position more than once herself. She’d torn many an outfit to tatters as a result of an unplanned shift. Kendra scooped Cyrus’s clothes up. At least picking them up would annul the suspicions of any non-shifters in the area. But once she had what was left of his pants and shirt and shoes, she noticed something silver and metallic a few paces away. Keys.

Now the clothes he might be able to live without, but the keys? Everybody needed their keys. She crossed the road. Where had he gone to? Kendra strode toward the tow yard, a spring in her step. Those guys rushing the stage and then waiting for her afterward had put a fright in her. She’d nearly shifted to get out of there. Kendra knew her tigress wasn’t the biggest kitty on the block, but she could hold her own, though luckily she hadn’t needed to.

Regardless of the confrontation, though, or maybe in a small part because of it, she was feeling good. Was it the adrenaline? The night air? Cyrus? Yes, all the above, but also the dancing. The pole dancing had proven to be more than just a quick way to make some money. It was empowering. It felt good. And not just physically. Mentally. It gave her confidence. It gave her control of her heat.

Kendra walked by the tow tuck, approaching the glass door of the tow office. The office wasn’t more than a hole in the wall with a chain-link impound lot behind it. She knocked on the door, even though it was dark outside. Nobody came, and after a few seconds, she knocked again. It didn’t look promising. Kendra smelled the humid air. Cyrus’s scent lingered. He had been there, and recently. She knocked once more, but still nobody came. Then she reached down low and dropped his keys through the slot.

“Wait.”

The keys landed on the concrete floor. Kendra looked up. Cyrus stood behind the tow truck. “I could have used those,” he said.

“Then you shouldn’t have left them on the road.”

Cyrus was hidden by the hood of the truck and she could only see his broad chest, softly illuminated in a pool of lamplight. He opened the door of the truck. She heard him shuffling around behind her. What was he up to now? Was he done with her? Suddenly not interested?

“Next time, a thanks will suffice,” Kendra said.

Cyrus didn’t respond. Okay. No sense looking like a fool. Kendra turned and walked away. Her motel room was next door and she wasn’t about to waste her time with a man who wasn’t polite enough to say thank you even if he had his reasons.

“Please, don’t go,” Kendra heard behind her.

Kendra turned, Cyrus’s scent strong in the night air. He stood there in a blue mechanic’s jumpsuit. “I’m sorry I didn’t stick around. It’s just…”

“You don’t appreciate my scintillating personality?”

“No,” he said. “From what I can tell, your personality’s great.”

“Got to be my dancing, then. You don’t like my dancing.”

“I love your dancing”

“What is it, then?”

Cyrus approached, and by the time he was within twenty feet of her, she could see the tent in his loose-fitting coveralls. Kendra knew what he was going to say.

“Like I told you before, it’s your heat,” he said. “I can’t afford to be around it.”

“And why is that?” Kendra asked, struggling to contain the arousal that welled up within her. “Does it bother you?”

Cyrus laughed. He was standing five feet away now. Close enough for her to see him, all of him. His considerable height, his broad shoulders, his soulful blue eyes. She felt her pussy slick in his presence. Just being near him was enough to stoke her inner fire. He didn’t need to touch her. In fact, she shuddered to think what would happen if he did.

“Yes,” he said. “Your heat bothers me more than any tigress I’ve ever met.”

“Why is that?” Kendra asked.

“Because I’ve never met a woman quite like you.”

His eyes glowed just a little and Kendra breathed hard. She had learned long ago to control her heat, to stifle it down, to push it deep within her. But sometimes it was hard, it was really hard, and with him standing only feet away in the humid night air, she was losing the battle. She wanted his strong arms, his chest, his tongue, his cock… But even though she ached for him, she couldn’t have him. She knew that. Because it was always the same thing. No good ever came of her heat.

“And you’ll never meet one again. Goodnight, Mr. Tow Truck man.”

Kendra turned and walked away. Fortunately, her room was close. Thirty feet, maybe less. She sensed him behind her, sensed he hadn’t moved in the still night air.
Good
, she thought. She pulled the key out of her purse and opened the motel door. It was better this way, better for all involved. Her heat was trouble, and that man behind her, whatever else he was, was trouble too.

Kendra entered the motel room, happy to feel the cool of the air conditioning on her hot skin. And then she felt something else. A hand on her shoulder. Kendra gasped. Her adrenaline spiked. And then she relaxed into the touch. Cyrus. She didn’t have to turn to know it was his hand. He had come for her. He had come for her and she knew without a doubt that every effort to stifle down her heat, to hold it within her, to contain it, had been wasted. Because her need was more than desire now, more than animal lust, it was a burning inferno. And it would consume the both of them.

Chapter Five

Kendra’s tigress purred in anticipation. Cyrus’s scent was all over her, heavy, musky, and hot. She felt his powerful arm loop around her waist, and in the next moment, he pulled her near. His hard cock pressed up against her ass, every cell in her body calling out to him. She felt his hot, fresh breath in her ear.

“Maybe you didn’t understand me,” Cyrus said. “When I said I’d never met a woman quite like you, I meant I intended to do something about it.”

“And what might that be?”

“I’m going to make love to you, tiger lady. I’m going to fuck your sweet pussy until I drive the heat right out of you.”

Holy fuck, that sounded good. Kendra ground her ass up into him, feeling that hard cock just on the other side of his coveralls. She drove the crack of her ass up into it. She found herself hoping that even through the fabric, his tip would find her sweet wet pussy.

“Are you sure about that?” Kendra moaned.

“I’m more than sure. I’m one-hundred-percent positive. I’m going to fuck you and keep fucking you until you beg me never to stop. Then, when you think it’s all over, I’m going to turn you over and fuck you again. Only I’ll take your ass this time. I’ll fuck your tight little hole until you weep tears of joy.”

He reached up
under
the red silky fabric of her dress until his hand grasped her breast. Higher, Kendra thought. Without a word exchanged between them, his fingers inched higher, tweaking her nipple beneath the thin fabric of her dress.

“Then do it,” Kendra moaned. “Fuck me until I can’t take it anymore.”

She turned to him, and in the next instant, his hands clamped on her ass and his lips found her mouth. He drove his tongue into her forcefully, owning her, possessing her. He was just rough enough, just the way she liked it. Her tigress purred and her tongue shot out to meet his.
Mercy
, she wanted him, she wanted every inch of him, and she was going to have him. Now.

Kendra’s tigress roared beneath her skin as he explored her mouth, matching his passion swipe for swipe. Why had he played so hard to get? He wasn’t now. He drove her backward, his cock pressing into her like a hard hot iron. Oh, fuck that felt good. Was he going to fuck her pussy? Her ass? Oh, please say yes to all the above.

She was so wet her cunt positively pleaded for his cock. And she knew he knew it. Cyrus picked her up roughly by the ass and tossed her onto the bed. She opened up to him,
checking
her hands. Sometimes, they partially shifted when she was like this, when she was so horny she didn’t know which way was up. She didn’t care if her hands had shifted, she was just testing herself, checking herself. All she really wanted to do was open herself up to him, to be consumed by him.