Cat on the Fence (10 page)

Because she had to pass Alex’s office on the way to the
conference room, Karabi adjusted her skirt and blouse before walking down the
hall. She felt awkward and overdressed for her job in that outfit but spending
so much time around the well-dressed Alex, she’d begun to feel a bit self-conscious
about what she was wearing. He wore shirts and pants tailored to fit him just
right, ties with fancy clips on them and socks that were prettier than hers. He
even had matching pajama tops and bottoms that he looked sexy in. Karabi didn’t
own a single pajama set, choosing instead to sleep in worn-out sweats or old
t-shirts and shorts.

It wasn’t easy to make the adjustment and Karabi still
hadn’t quite made up her mind whether or not it was worth the trouble. But for
now she wanted to look her best around Alex, while she still felt the giddiness
that came along with being in a brand-new relationship.

And what a
wild
relationship it had been already.
Working by day and having shifter lessons at night. Karabi knew Alex was
struggling with his Cat far more than normal—and much, much more than he
thought he was letting on. If things got any worse she was going to have to ask
for help from someone more versed in Late Bloomers than herself. Even someone
more in tune with their Cat than she was would probably be helpful at this
point.

In the meantime Alex seemed always on edge and his sexual
appetite was voracious, almost to the point of being outrageous. But she rather
enjoyed the affection, the passion, the energy. And the care he gave in making
sure she always reached orgasm too was absolutely admirable. After the first
night when he’d come too fast he’d made the effort to ensure she always had at
least one orgasm before he did. If all of this was a side effect of his shifter
issues, it was a welcome one.

Karabi recalled the last time they’d had sex at work. Just
yesterday, in his office. She had been turning to leave after having lunch with
him there when Alex grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her up against the
closed door, pinning her from behind with his body. “Don’t go,” he’d said. His
rock-hard dick was pressed against her ass, threatening to punish her whether
she tried to leave or not.

She’d hadn’t wanted to leave just yet. So she stayed.

He’d lifted her skirt, snatched down her panties, dropped
his pants and boxers, slammed on a condom. Then he fucked her against that
door, lifting her bottom half up and holding her by the waist so that he could
penetrate her good and deep. For what felt like forever he pounded into her
like that, with her face and hands pressed against the door. Fear of them being
caught had swept over her but at least no one was going to be able to walk in
while she was juxtaposed between Alex’s rigid body and the door. He was so hard
and thick, and the situation so wild and bad, that when Karabi came, the
muscles of her vagina contracted so violently it almost hurt. And Alex—ah, her
dear, feral tiger—he kept fucking her right through it. By the time her orgasm
did subside, Alex was thrusting into her even faster and harder with his own
approaching climax, bringing her to a second one right along with him.

Damn it, why was she thinking about this? Now she had to go
to a meeting with damp panties.

The door to his office was open and she peeked in. It was
empty. She was a little surprised he’d left already—she’d wanted to walk to the
conference room with him. His laptop was sitting there on the desk and his cell
phone had been knocked to the floor. Odd. She picked up his phone and took it
with her. Why had he left in such a hurry? They still had a good five minutes
before the meeting started.

When Karabi got to the conference room, however, Alex wasn’t
in there. She sat down and played with her hair as she waited for everyone to
show up. Five minutes went by. Then ten. Where was everyone? Was there an
earlier meeting that had gone over? Had the meeting been canceled? Did they
move it someplace else without telling her?

Fifteen minutes had gone by and she was getting up to leave
when Robert came into the conference room, nearly out of breath.

“There you are,” he said. “Did you hear the news?”

“No,” Karabi shook her head. “What’s going on?”

“We’ve gotten a couple of calls that a tiger has been
spotted along Lake Shore Drive.”

She blinked. “What? A tiger?”

“Yeah, sounds like the one we lost a couple of weeks ago.
Apparently it’s in a foul mood too.”

Oh no—Alex? As a tiger, on Lake Shore Drive, in broad
daylight? “I’m going to find him.”

“We already dispatched a crew,” Robert said.

“Call them back,” Karabi said. “Tell them to sit tight until
I get there first. If he has a temper, I’d like to try to calm him first. He’s
familiar with me.”

“If he has a temper, I’d think that would be more reason for
you
not
to try to get there first,” Robert said.

“That fear you have? That’s exactly why it should be me.
He’s not a criminal or a monster, he’s just a troubled, confused animal, and
should be treated with patience and humanity. Not fear and panicked men with
tranquilizer guns.”

Robert shook his head. “Go on out there if you want, then,
Minstry. But I’m leaving all hands on deck. This isn’t your typical tiger.
Unless you’ve forgotten, this is likely the same animal that snuck out
practically from under your nose just a couple of weeks ago. So you’ll have to
forgive me if I don’t have the highest confidence in your ability to nab him,
just like that.”

“Fine, fine, I get it. I’m out of here,” Karabi said as she
rushed out. She instantly turned on as much of her heightened senses as she
could while still in human form but she knew she really needed to go full Cat
in order to increase her chances of finding Alex.

She
had
to be the one to find Alex first.

* * * * *

The tiger sat and waited. These weren’t the best hunting
conditions—it was well past dawn already. Plus it was a cloudy morning in late
February and they were right at the lakefront, which meant rather cold
temperatures for a cat in this region. And although there were plenty of trees
and other kinds of foliage in the area, there were only so many places a
five-hundred-pound cat could hide. But there was no stopping the primal urge.
Unseen, he watched as a sporadic number of humans walked, rolled or pedaled by,
with patience that sooner or later a solitary one would pass his bush when no
one else was around.

And then one did walk by. Completely alone, with no other
humans in the vicinity.

The tiger crouched down, preparing for the right moment and
position of the human moving across his path. When she was in the ideal spot he
sprung out of the bushes and charged behind her then leapt into the air in
mid-pounce.

But another cat appeared between him and his prey, derailing
his ambush.

The tiger hissed as his would-be victim screamed and ran
away in terror. Then he turned to face the other cat that had dared to encroach
upon his territory. It was a female cheetah who stood before him, challenging
him. The tiger bared his teethed and growled his angry warning before he took
her head in both of his paws, preparing to sink his teeth into her throat to
teach her a lesson.

But when he looked down, it was a human he had in his grasp,
not a cheetah. He blinked a few times in surprise. The human seemed to be in
distress. She was moving her mouth and sounds were coming out but they didn’t
register at first. Still growling, he sniffed at her and found that the scent
of this creature was familiar. He looked at her moving mouth again. His ears
twitched with the sound of her voice and once he focused on it he found that he
could understand what she was saying.

“Alex!” she was shouting.

That was his name. She was calling his name. Suddenly
everything else she was saying became clear to him. “Come back to me, Alex.
Hurry, before someone sees us!”

He was Alex McClellan. He wasn’t a tiger but a human with
the ability to transform into a tiger. And this woman was Karabi Minstry. His
coworker, lover and friend. She was pinned underneath him, naked and shivering
from both the cold and her fear. Alex immediately shifted back to a human and
took her into his arms.

“I’m here, I’m here,” he said. “I’m so sorry.”

“I know. It’s okay, I’m all right,” she said. “We have to
get out of here, fast! I’m going to shift back to Cat. Do the same, and follow
me.”

They both shifted and Alex followed her as she raced down
the beachfront path. Because she was trying to avoid being seen, the path
wasn’t a straight one and involved a lot of zigzagging. It was then Alex
realized just how fast a cheetah could run, and it took everything in him to
keep up with her.

Once they reached the parking lot they slowed down and went
into sneak mode, carefully weaving around the parked cars until they got to
Karabi’s. Then they turned back human and quickly got into the car. Once
inside, Karabi turned on the engine and cranked up the heat. Then she reached
into the backseat and grabbed the clothing she had sitting there, tossing Alex
the clothes he didn’t even fully remember shedding earlier before she started
putting on her own.

“You’re good at finding my clothes,” Alex said.

“Not as good as you are at losing them, apparently.”

He snorted and got dressed. “Are we heading back to the
zoo?”

She shook her head. “I don’t think you’re in any condition
to try to work again anytime soon, Alex. Good thing it’s Friday.”

Alex fell back against his seat in despair. Yeah it was
Friday but it wasn’t even 10 a.m. yet. He was going to have to call yet
another
day off. This whole Cat business was really ruining his professional
reputation. “This isn’t how it’s supposed to be, is it?”

She lowered her eyes sadly. “No. How are you feeling right
now?”

“Dizzy,” he said. “Like, I’d really rather be the Cat right
now than the man. I think I really need help. More than you can give me!”

“I know. Something’s wrong. And I’ve been too out of touch
with my Cat for far too long to give you the kind of help you need,
apparently.”

“So what do we do?”

Karabi sighed heavily. “The Pride’s retreat this quarter is
happening here in Illinois, right now, just an hour and a half away. There are
plenty of Werecats there who are better equipped to figure out what’s going on
with you.”

“And I can just show up there and ask for help?”

“I’m going with you. I’ll take you there today,” she said.
“First we’ll need to stop by both of our places to pack up some things we’ll
need, since we’ll likely have to spend the night.”

“Whoa,” Alex said. He knew this would be a big deal for her,
showing up at the Pride after so long of an absence. “You’ll do that for me?”

She smirked at his banter but when she looked over at him,
the pained expression on his face was genuine. “I should have done it two weeks
ago, right after I found you in that alley,” she said.

The fact that she was feeling guilty for not taking him to
their kind that day told Alex one thing.

He was in serious trouble.

* * * * *

From the roof of the building across the street, Rao looked
up through his binoculars into Karabi’s apartment. He’d been driving in the
area when he saw Karabi’s car head down the street to her place, and she hadn’t
been alone. Rao wanted to see if she was with that tall guy from the zoo
again—the one who he’d noticed had been staying over almost every night for the
past couple of weeks. If she was ducking out of work in the middle of the day to
have nookie with this new guy, Rao knew that he would be done with her once and
for all. Karabi would have
never
ditched her animals just get all cuddly
with him.

So Rao had parked his car and found the perfect spot to spy
on Karabi’s place from across the street. A couple of people came out onto the
roof and gave him funny looks before turning back around and leaving but he
ignored them. This could give him the closure he desperately needed. He peeped
through the binoculars, waiting to see that Alex guy in her apartment.

But instead he saw a tiger walking around. Rao jumped in
alarm. She was bringing her work home now? Maybe she wasn’t ditching work after
all. He looked through his binoculars again to study the cat. It seemed to
match the description of the one reported missing from the zoo. But then, why would
Karabi have it in her apartment? What the hell was going on?

Oh well, it wasn’t exactly his business anyway. He was about
to put the binoculars away when the tiger’s body started to do something very
frightening. It was changing! Rao stared hard as the thing transformed into a
human right before his eyes. A tall, well-built man in the naked flesh. It was
Alex! He was some kind of monster! Like, a werewolf maybe, but one that turned
into a tiger instead of a wolf?

Did Karabi know this? She had to know it, right? Alex didn’t
exactly seem as though he was trying to hide it. Unless he was threatening her
somehow and she was in some kind of danger.

Ex-girlfriend-who-pissed-him-off or not, Rao had to do something
to protect her. What to do?

He put away the binoculars and took his smartphone out of
his pocket and put in a web search for “Tiger Werewolves”. He found a website
calling for help looking for a dangerous big cat on the loose that attacked men
in an alley, severely injuring one. A picture came up of the tiger that escaped
from the zoo. It looked a lot like the same one that was in Karabi’s apartment,
now posing as a man!

He knew what he had to do. Rao dialed the number.

“Hello?”

“Hi, I saw the page on your website that says you are
looking for information about that escaped tiger.”

“Yes?”