The Wolf and the Bobcat: (2 page)

He searched the bar repeatedly, but it soon became clear that she had left. His wolf whined plaintively.
Fuck! He hadn’t asked her name or where she lived…
He’d just experienced the most intense and satisfying sex of his life with the hottest woman he ever met, and he had no idea how to find her.
What the hell was he supposed to do now?

Chapter Two

“Rise and shine sleepyhead!”

Oh god!
Vaguely, Deanna Hardison was aware of someone, some evil torturer, pulling back the curtains and allowing the crisp winter sun to flood her room.

Darcy Hardison sat on the edge of her sister-in-law’s bed and impishly bounced up and down.

“Ugh, don’t, I’ll be sick…” moaned Deanna from under the pillow she held tightly over her head.

Darcy jumped up and began picking up Deanna’s discarded clothes. “What time did you get in this morning? We didn’t even hear you.”

“I don’t know…”

Darcy pulled out a clean towel and threw it on top of Deanna’s spread-eagled body. “Did you have fun last night?”

“I don’t know…”

“Do you remember anything about last night?”

“Ummmm…”

“Well, it’s 2.30pm, so you might want to think about having a shower, because sister, you reek of alcohol. Then if you’re up to it, I’ll fix you something to eat.”

Deanna mumbled unintelligibly, and Darcy slapped her lightly on her rump. “Come on kitten, up and at ‘em.” Darcy whistled cheerfully as she left.

Ugh… kitten. That rang a bell.

Trying not to open her eyes, she got out of bed and felt her way to the bathroom. Avoiding the mirror, she got in the shower and spent over half an hour standing under the soothing spray. Slowly, she felt herself waking up, and her headache diminishing. Her bobcat stirred within her.
Thank god for shifter genes.

Reluctantly stepping out the shower, she decided to face her foe.
The mirror
. Bracing herself, she sneaked a look. Okay, it wasn’t as bad as she thought. Her eyes were a little bloodshot, and her skin was a little pale, but she didn’t look too bad. Nothing a little R ‘n’ R wouldn’t cure.

Deanna squirted some body lotion and rubbed it over her skin. She blanched when she noticed puncture marks on her thighs. Five on each one, like fingerprints…
oh shit!
Her memories came back in a rush, and her body heated rapidly.

She'd spent the evening with her new friend Risty. They started off at the local Bar Luna, before moving onto a bar in Darlington, called O’Neill’s, to see in the New Year. After a few, well more than a few, loosening drinks, she’d been feeling very merry, and more than a little keen to get rid of some of her sexual frustration. So when she ran into a very delicious smelling wolf, she had thrown herself at him.

Her memories were still kind of fuzzy, but flashes kept coming to her. She slapped her forehead when she remembered she had told him to take her in the handicapped bathroom.
Hmmm, classy
. Her bobcat stretched luxuriously, as she remembered the intensity of their lovemaking.
No, not lovemaking, sex, pure and simple.
Lost in the throes of passion she had dug her claws into him, and he had returned the favor.
Thank god the marks would heal.

Deanna blushed as she recalled marveling at how big he was. No wonder she was more than a little sore that morning. She half regretted not getting his phone number, or even his name, but considered it was probably for the best. She doubted anything would come of it, to be honest she wasn’t entirely sure she could pick him out of crowd. Her bobcat yowled in disapproval.
True, she wasn’t usually so wanton, but surely she was allowed to let go once in a while, right?

After her tryst with the wolf, Risty dragged her out the bar to an after party. After a few more, well a lot more, drinks, she recalled being a little tired and dozing on a couch, whilst intermittently kicking men who came sniffing round her. Some time later, she kind of thought another jackal shifter was driving her home whilst Risty tried to stick her tongue down his throat. She’d been a little out of it by then.

Deanna took one last look at the marks and threw on her bathrobe. No point in regretting it now. It had been very satisfying, the best sex of her life even.
Yep, no regrets in that respect.

She stumbled downstairs to find her three youngest siblings watching TV with their grandmother. Darcy was in the kitchen baking. Her cheeks were slightly pink from the heat of the oven, and she looked radiant.

Deanna slumped into a kitchen chair and glared at the beautiful, leggy puma shifter. Not for the first time, Deanna felt a rush of jealousy over the puma’s natural beauty. Darcy just had to roll out of bed, and she looked like she was ready for a fashion shoot.
Deanna had to work hard to look half as good.

Darcy was mated to Deanna’s brother Dennis. A few months ago, Darcy, in an effort to get back together with her ex Mal Tanner, had argued, slapped and slashed the tires of his new girlfriend Terri. For revenge, another puma obsessed with Terri pushed Darcy into the path of a moving car. Darcy had been lucky to survive. But it had thrown her and her true mate Dennis together.

Dennis was training to be an EMT and had been on duty that night. He had been thrilled to find his mate, but devastated that she had been hurt so badly. Thankfully, Darcy wasn’t permanently damaged, although it took a while for her brain tissue to repair itself. After Darcy was discharged, she moved into the Hardison house, and as soon as possible bonded with Dennis. The newly mated couple had been keeping Deanna up most nights, with their seemingly never ending lovemaking.

Now, Darcy was one of their family. The family being bobcats Deanna and Dennis, their younger siblings Danny, Dinah and Drake and their human grandmother Darlene, who they all called Grams. They were waiting to see whether the younger children would be shifters or not. Either way they wouldn’t be bobcats. Danny’s father was a wolf whilst Dinah’s, and Drake’s was a bear.
Their human mother sure did love shifters.

Deanna scowled as Darcy gave her a sunny smile. Admittedly Deanna had been out drinking all night, so there was no way she was going to measure up to the puma that day.

“Can I get you something?”

“Coffee. Please,” mumbled Deanna.

Darcy placed a cup in front of her.

“So how was your New Year’s Eve celebration?” asked Deanna, forcing herself to be more pleasant than she felt.

Darcy’s lips curled up. “It was nothing special. We all stayed up together watching movies until it turned midnight, then we all went to bed.”

Deanna reflected that newly mated couples rarely wanted to do anything other than stay in bed with their mates.
Going to bed early was a celebration for them.

Darcy started mixing some frosting. Deanna presumed she was making cupcakes. Much to Darcy’s delight she was an excellent cook. Before moving in with her mate, she’d never even tried cooking. It was a pleasant surprise. The puma was the first to admit that she used to be kind of lazy.
Not to mention a little loose, although, after last night, who was Deanna to judge?
But since almost being made road-kill and finding her mate, she had settled and worked hard to fit in with her new family. Although Deanna had been a little wary of the puma at first, she was pleased that Dennis had mated with her.

Darcy looked at her thoughtfully. “You know, to say you spent all night drinking you look really well.”

Deanna rested her head on the table. “Ugh… yeah right.”

“I’m serious! Your cheeks are pink and your skin’s glowing. Oh my god, you’re not pregnant are you?”

“No! Hell no!” Deanna lifted her head and panicked for a second. She knew protection wasn’t always one hundred percent safe, but no, her bobcat would have been able to sense if that had happened.
Thank god she hadn’t been too drunk to insist on a condom.

“Well, whatever it is, keep doing it, you haven’t looked this well in weeks.”

Deanna nestled her head in her folded arms so Darcy wouldn’t see the blush. Her bobcat was purring. Apparently sex with a stranger in a seedy bathroom was good for your complexion.
Ugh.

*

Casey yelped as he hit the floor. He’d been sleeping on the couch and rolled off the edge. Yeesh, his mouth felt awful, it felt like he’d been trying to eat a kitchen scourer.
Again
.

He surveyed his surroundings and was pleased to note he was at Hunter and Jimmy's shared house. Waking up in a stranger’s house was never fun.
Particularly if the girl’s father is brandishing a shotgun, and telling you to find your pants and get out.

He heard groaning and saw Jimmy sprawled on the pool table. Gingerly, Casey sat up and was relieved that he at least had his pants on. That was it though.

“Morning.”

Casey snapped his head back to the couch. Lying there was a half naked puma shifter. In fact, the only thing she appeared to be wearing was his shirt. Lisa, he thought her name was. They’d hooked up a few times before.
Or maybe it was Laura
.

His wolf immediately began snarling at the puma. Casey tried to settle his beast, but seeing her in his shirt made his chest tighten.
They didn’t have sex did they?
The thought actually made him nauseous.

His shirt gaped at the front, and he could see one of her smooth breasts spilling out. The puma saw him looking, and smiled as she reached out to him. Instinctively he recoiled and fell backwards on his ass, hard.

She blinked in surprise. He mumbled morning as he shakily stood, and made his way to the downstairs bathroom. Thankfully, no one was in there. After going on a bender, Hunter usually slept in the bathtub; he wanted to be near the toilet in case he threw up.

Shucking out of his pants, he turned the shower on and stepped under the spray. He rummaged through his memories trying to find a reason why Lisa/Laura would be wearing his shirt. His beast was prowling unhappily, not liking the thought of bedding the puma at all.

Casey remembered going to O’Neill’s, and drinking with his buddies. He shuddered, recalling that Risty had shown up, and when he tried to duck away to avoid seeing her he had… fuck, he had run into an angel. A sweet, little bobcat angel.
Well, maybe not that sweet…

His wolf howled in glee at the memory of taking her, and of being inside her. His arousal swelled remembering her slick tightness. He fingered her claw marks on his shoulders. If it weren’t for them, he might have thought he imagined her. With her pretty violet eyes, soft blonde hair… his hand immediately moved to his bobbing sex and stroked.

He grinned remembering the way she had ripped his shirt open to suckle at his skin. Yeah, she’d wanted him badly. After they’d fucked, he lost her. In his lust fuelled stupor, he hadn’t even bothered to get her name.

Casey had looked for her, but it was no good. He asked everyone in the bar who she was, but no one knew, or they were too drunk to answer questions. He felt her loss keenly and instead settled on getting trashed. They drank until the bar closed and kicked them out; then they came back to Hunter and Jimmy’s house to carry on drinking. Feeling magnanimous, they invited everyone who had been kicked out to join them.

It had soon turned into a party involving shots and beer pong. Ah, now he remembered how he lost his shirt. At about 5am, they started playing a game whereby a shifter is blindfolded, and by scent alone they have to find someone in particular. For every wrong person they find, they have to drink a shot. When they find the right person everyone, else has to take a shot.
It’s a lot more fun than it sounds when you’re drunk.

Jimmy and Hunter had swapped shirts to try and fool a pretty fox shifter. Casey thought that was a good idea and so switched shirts with Lisa/Laura. He ripped hers, but she seemed to enjoy wearing his.

Casey sighed in relief. He was certain nothing had happened. After the game, he remembered he passed out and wasn’t in any fit state to have sex.
Even if he wanted to.

His wolf was a little more peaceful at that. The thought of being with the puma was suddenly off-putting.
But the thought of another rendezvous with the fiery, little bobcat…

Casey groaned and worked his length harder, palming the tiled wall. He bit his lip as he hardened and burst in his hand; his seed erupted and flowed down the drain. He let himself recover for a few seconds before finishing washing. He stepped out and dried himself before slipping his pants on.

After a thorough search, he found one shoe on top of a bookcase and the other under the pool table. His house keys and wallet were a little trickier, for some reason they ended up in the vegetable crisper. He found a plastic bag and placed his belongings inside.

Jimmy and Lisa/Laura watched his actions with some interest as they drank coffee. They heard some rhythmic thumps and groaning from upstairs, so they could guess what Hunter was doing. Most people had gone home, but a few stragglers were still waking up.

Casey stared at his shirt again. The bobcats little hands, her squeals of pleasure and the sensation of her teeth teasing his nipple, all flashed through him. He felt his cock stirring; he needed to get home to take another shower.

He mumbled that he had to leave.

“Don’t you want your shirt back?” asked the puma invitingly.