Free Mate Claimed by Jennifer Ashley

She could get takeout. But she didn’t trust herself to drive somewhere and pick up the food. She grabbed thephone and called her favorite pizza place, ordering three of the all-meat specials. “Having a party, Ms. Duncan?” the order taker asked.
    She practically knew the kid, since she ordered from there all the time. “Yes,” she lied. “Can you rush those?”
    “Sure thing.”
    The pizza took twenty minutes, fast for delivery pizza. Even so, Iona nearly ripped open the door when the car arrived, remembering at the last minute to shove on her sunglasses. She grabbed the pizzas and threw money at the guy, too much, but he deserved a big tip. She slammed the door on his startled expression, and ran back into the kitchen.
    “I’m just hungry,” Iona said out loud. “Eric ruined my lunch.”
    Eric.
    The thought of him brought new hunger, a rising frenzy that wanted her to take Eric by the neck and pull him down to her, to let his body cover hers, to feel his sweat on her skin, his mouth on hers.
    “Eat,” she said to the empty kitchen.
    The pizzas were slathered with hamburger, sausage, pepperoni, and Canadian bacon. It should have been called The Carnivore Special.
    Penny had taught Iona how to eat healthy, nutritious meals. Right now, Iona could care less.
    Eric had said, If you were in your panther form, you wouldn’t worry. You’d gulp it down and spit out the paper.
    Substitute pizza boxes , and he was right.
    Iona got out a plate and napkins before she dumped the pizza onto the plate. She could be civilized.
    She growled. The mirror in her dining area told her that her eyes were still Shifter. She moved quickly through the house, closing all the blinds, then tossed off her clothes and let her panther take over.
    Much better. Iona padded back into the kitchen, put her paws on the counter, and gulped down the pizzas. All three of them, all that meat and cheese going down fast. The tomato sauce and the crust tasted a little weird to her, but it was a small price to pay for the greasy, hot, spicy meat.
    When the boxes were empty, her panther tongue licking upthe last bit of cheese clinging to the cardboard, Iona burped. Then she sat down and started washing her whiskers.
    The pizza filled her up and made her sleepy. Iona didn’t generally remain in her shifted form long, in case someone came over to catch her, but right now, all she wanted to do was curl up on her sofa and sleep. She went slowly to her living room, climbed onto the nice cushy sofa, and let her body go limp.
    I ona jumped awake to find everything dark. She lifted her head, startled to find herself still panther. Her claws had dug a deep gouge in her sofa, she saw with her cat vision. Crap.
    She stepped down from the sofa and stretched. She was supposed to feel better—fed, rested, the worry of the day behind her.
    Instead, she was restless, pacing, growling to herself. She needed to shift back to human.
    And found she didn’t want to. She wanted to run, to hunt, to kill. She needed to.
    She remembered the scent of lovemaking on Nicole, the heightened warmth of the baby inside her, and started to wind up again. Iona needed that, the smell of sex, the heat of a male body on hers, wanted to press her hand to her own abdomen and know that life was growing there.
    She needed it now.
    Iona forced herself back to human. The shift took a long time, and hurt, more so than usual, her panther reluctant to let go.
    She stood in the middle of the hallway between living room and kitchen, shaking. The mirror there showed her black hair a mess, her eyes enormous and still Shifter.
    Iona snatched up her phone and started punching numbers.
    He answered this time. Thank God.
    “Eric,” she said frantically. “Eric, I need you.”

CHAPTER SIX

    E ric killed his motorcycle’s engine before he reached Iona’s house, and coasted the dark bike up into the driveway, parking it in the shadows. Iona opened the door for him as he approached, but Eric pushed her