Free Feral by Sheri Whitefeather Page B

mortal?”
    He didn’t like the question. But the answer was worse. “I did at first, especially when I thought about my family. But then I started to forget what they looked like, the sounds of their voices, everything that humans hold dear about their loved ones. It just faded away.”
    “I’m sorry, Noah.”
    Her sympathy hit him like another mauling, only without the teeth and claws. “I don’t want to talk anymore.”
    “I didn’t mean to—”
    “Just never mind. It’s time to sleep. Take off your robe, and I’ll turn out the lamp.”
    She removed the garment and draped it over a post on the headboard. “I don’t normally sleep naked.”
    “And I rarely allow my lovers to stay in my room.”
    “You have sex with them, then send them to the guest room?”
    “Or send them home.” Which was what he should have done with her.
    She turned onto her side, facing him in the dark. Or the near darkness. He could see her hazy outline, where a smidgen of light spilled in from the balcony. If he craved a clearer view, all he had to do was morph into lion form and use his nocturnal vision. But he remained human.
    Then her voice drifted over him. “Noah?”
    “What?”
    “What did the woman in Mexico look like?”
    “I already told you that she was beautiful.”
    “And mysterious, I know. But what does that mean in terms of how she looked?”
    He didn’t figure where any of this mattered. “It means she was hot, bold, and fuckable.”
    “You don’t have to be so evasive.”
    Screw it. He shifted into a lion so he could see her the way he wanted to see her. “What part of hot, bold, and fuckable is evasive?”
    “All of it.”
    He stared at her. She looked sweet and tender, a predator’s dream.
    Her voice quavered. “Did you just shift?”
    “How can you tell?”
    “Your eyes are glowing.”
    He grinned. “You don’t say.”
    As if to counteract his smugness, she went scientific. “Mountain lions have large pupils with rods for gathering light, and behind each retina is a reflective membrane.”
    “So that’s why they’re glowing? From catching the light from outside?”
    “Yes.”
    “Her eyes were glowing when she attacked me.”
    She clutched the sheet closer to herself. “Are you trying to scare me?”
    “You asked me what she looked like.”
    “I meant when she was human.”
    “And I told you to go to sleep.”
    She didn’t respond, and Noah stayed awake until she got the guts to crash out beside him. He was tempted to touch her, maybe even tie her to the bedposts while she slept, but he kept his hands to himself.
    Making the dawn of the next day that much more exciting.

Seven
    J enny awakened with a sunlit creature hovering over her. She blinked and got her bearings. Noah, surrounded by daylight, naked as the day he’d been turned into a shapeshifter and staring right at her.
    “What are you doing?” she asked, realizing that the top sheet was gone, and she was as exposed as he was.
    His gold eyes locked onto hers. He’d been a lion when she’d fallen asleep last night and he remained a lion this morning. “I’m watching you.”
    “Why?”
    “I’m trying to decide whether to kiss you roughly on the lips or sweetly on the cunt.”
    Her heart bumped dreamily against her chest, belying the hot, thudding pulse between her legs. “You can do either one.”
    “Maybe I should restrain you first.” He reached into the nightstand drawer and produced two silk bondage ties. “I considered tying you up while you were asleep, but that wouldn’t have been very consensual of me.”
    She could only imagine the crazy dream she would’ve had. Then again, crazy dreams were part of the experience. She wouldn’t have known that he was immortal if his dream hadn’t intervened.
    He didn’t tie her to the bedpost. He just kept looking at her, drilling her with his primal gaze.
    “What are you waiting for?” she asked.
    “To see if you panic.”
    “Just do it.” Before her heart beat its