Free Spotting His Leopard (Shifters, Inc.) by Georgette St. Clair

sound like this.”  She put her hands on either side of her mouth and made a bird-calling sound.
                    Gwenneth nodded. The simple motion made the world swim around her. “Wash your hands before you eat,” she added, her voice hoarse. 
                    Tyler slid aside a sheet of tin that served as a door, and she followed him.  Now they were in a dimly lit, makeshift room with a floor made of sheets of plywood cardboard lying on dirt.
                    “Five hundred milukas a night, huh?” He sank down to the floor, breathing hard.  “I was expecting something a little swankier for that price.” He rummaged in his pocket and pulled out a key. “I’m taking the anklet off you for now, so you can shift and heal.  If you try to run, I swear to God I’ll take you down.”
                    She let out a low growl of anger at that, but she extended her ankle and let him unsnap the anklet.  She was in no physical shape to try to run for it right now, and she was sure he knew that.
                    Then she stripped off her clothes and shifted into leopard form, and he followed suit, shifting into wolf form.  His fur was matted and spiky with blood.  
                    They both curled up on the floor and lay there for several hours, not moving, as their shifter powers worked their magic and healed their torn and battered flesh.   The aches in her body receded, her lip knit back together and her dizziness subsided.
                    It was growing dark out.  The opportunity to steal the crown had passed.   She wasn’t dead or in prison – yet – but somewhere out there, a very, very angry Corran and Nadette would be hunting for her.  
                    Tyler rippled and his hair sank back into his body and his snout sank into his face. His ears folded back into his skull and his tail vanished.  Gwenneth tensed, prepared to fight if he tried to put the anklet back on, but he reached out to stroke her fur and she relaxed.  He ran his fingers through her coat, caressing her, and just as a purr began rumbling up through her throat, she felt a sharp jab.
                    And just like that she was human again. Stark naked and human. A harmless-looking mechanical pencil fell out of his hand and rolled across the dirt floor.
                    Motherfucker.  That was the second time he’d gotten one over on her.
                    She lunged for the door, and he was on top of her in a moment. Stark naked, pressing her down into the dirt.  The warmth, the hardness of him…she let out a shudder of desire and bit her lip to keep from whimpering.  His hot breath was in her ear, and his thick, hard cock pressed against her stomach as he pinned her wrists above her head.
                    “Going somewhere?” he murmured, his voice a low, seductive rumble.
                    “What did you do to me?” she demanded.
                    “Don’t worry, it won’t last more than a day.  You’re not the only one who travels prepared. Just a little concoction that our lab scientists cooked up.” He grinned.  He rolled off her, and she lunged for the makeshift door. He grabbed her ankle, fingers closing firmly around it, and she heard a click.
                    He’d snapped the copper anklet back on her.
                    “Take that off!” She took a swing at him; he batted her arm away. 
                    “Not until I get answers. And you can try to pick the lock all you want – it was designed by my employers, and they’re very good. So you’re stuck with me until I say otherwise – unless you want to stay in human form forever, that is.”
                    She sat there in the dirt, breathing hard, then folded her arms sullenly across