Free Stray Cat Strut by Shelley Munro

An Ellora’s Cave Romantica
Publication

    www.ellorascave.com
     
     
    Stray Cat Strut
     
    ISBN # 9781419907258
    ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
    Stray Cat Strut Copyright© 2006 Shelley Munro
    Edited by Mary Moran.
    Cover art by Syneca.
     
    Electronic book Publication: November 2006
     
    This book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by
any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave
Publishing, Inc.® 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 44310-3502.
     
    This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons,
living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The
characters are productions of the authors’ imagination and used fictitiously.
    Content Advisory:
     
                                                      S
– ENSUOUS
                                                      E
– ROTIC
                                                      X
- TREME
     
    Ellora’s Cave Publishing offers three levels of Romantica™
reading entertainment: S (S-ensuous), E (E-rotic), and X (X-treme).
     
    The following material contains graphic sexual content meant for
mature readers. This story has been rated E–rotic.
     
    S- ensuous love scenes are explicit and leave nothing to
the imagination.
     
    E- rotic love scenes are explicit, leave nothing to the
imagination, and are high in volume per the overall word count. E-rated titles
might contain material that some readers find objectionable—in other words,
almost anything goes, sexually. E-rated titles are the most graphic titles we
carry in terms of both sexual language and descriptiveness in these works of
literature.
     
    X- treme titles differ from E-rated titles only in plot
premise and storyline execution. Stories designated with the letter X tend to
contain difficult or controversial subject matter not for the faint of heart.
    Stray Cat Strut
    Shelley Munro

Trademarks Acknowledgement
     
    The author acknowledges the trademarked
status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work
of fiction:
    Speights: Lion Nathan Brands Company
Limited Corporation New Zealand
     

Chapter One
     
    “Saul, why can’t you settle down like the
two Mitchell boys? They’ve found mates. If they can catch a woman, so can you.”
My father sat at the head of the table, the flat of his hand thumping the
tabletop and punctuating his words, laying down the law.
    While he was busy lecturing me, I stared at
my mother. She stood by the stove, stirring a pot for our dinner and nodding
the whole time. Her jaw-length blonde hair swished around her face, confirming
she agreed with her life partner. My feline self snarled inside. It was as if
they were joined at the hip, programmed to make the same decisions. Think the
same things.
    Fine for them.
    My fingers closed around the can of beer on
the table in front of me while I acknowledged I was a puzzle to my parents. A
twenty-five-year-old disappointment. They couldn’t work out why I wasn’t out
chasing skirt like the rest of my friends, like the rest of the male shifters
of marriageable age.
    My father droned on, repeating more of the
same. Although my mouth curled in a lazy grin, I was anything but relaxed.
    “What about the Matthews girl? I hear she’s
returning from Dunedin. We’ll invite her around for dinner,” my father said.
    I stiffened, my spine hitting the back of
my wooden chair. Feline shifters were hardwired to find a mate. It just was,
and I understood that, but no way was I going to be saddled with someone of my
parents’ choosing. The old man continued with the lecture and eventually, I
tuned him out. The thing was, I didn’t do women. I was into men and nothing was
going to change that fact. After a lot of soul-searching and experimentation,
I’d accepted it. I was different from most males, both human and