Free Sheer Bliss by Leigh Ellwood Page B

heard, it sounded as though she put you up
to seducing me.
    Hey. Caleb pawed at
her, but she moved away. Before them the tide brushed in closer and
the seawater matted his fur, irritating him to no end.
    To hell with this, he
decided, and shifted back. Sitting cross legged in the sand, he
snapped for her attention. “Calla,” he said, “can you shift
back?”
    The panther paused and
looked down as though contemplating the question. Caleb suddenly
worried, for if she had not been aware of what precipitated her
first shift maybe she’d end up stuck as a panther for a
while.
    Soon, though, a change in
her sleek feline body allayed his fears, and she now reclined naked
in the sand, as a human.
    Calla raked a hand through
her hair. “I think this feels less natural,” she said with a weak
smile.
    The moon above, paired
with distant lights from the hotel, provided enough light for Caleb
to see her clearly. Now that Calla had developed her panther
senses, she’d see him better as well. “Shifting is sort of like a
drug,” he told her. “When you first learn, it’s all you want to do.
You have to learn to control it, among other things.”
    Calla looked toward the
hotel, worried. “I wasn’t going to hurt Sheila,” she said, “but she
really pissed me off.”
    “ Me, too. I want you to
know, also, that my coming to the salon today had nothing to do
with her. Now, when she told me about your genetic makeup that
partly influenced me to consider extending a romantic
overture or two.”
    Calla laughed and shook
her head.
    Caleb chuckled in kind.
One couldn’t argue that wordiness wasn’t a panther trait. “I have
to confess, though,” he continued, “that what set off the spark for
me was watching you the other night…while you were in your
bedroom.”
    Calla gasped softly and
her eyes darted from side to side, no doubt clicking through
memories.
    “ You were pleasuring
yourself, or trying to.”
    “ Oh.” Her face softened
with the realization, and she looked hard at Caleb. “That also
explains your question about me being bisexual.”
    “ I apologize for that.
None of my business.”
    “ Neither was spying on
me,” she shot back.
    Caleb’s heart numbed, and
it hurt to say what next came to mind. “I’ll understand if you want
to cool down things, or stop altogether.”
    “ Caleb.” She slapped the
sand, then grabbed a handful and watched it spill through her
fingers. “That night, I think I sensed you outside. I mean, I
consider myself pretty observant, and I’m aware of the usual night
noises and stuff. But, when I was trying to make myself come, I
couldn’t. Maybe my panther senses were starting to mature then,
because I felt a presence . I didn’t know what to look for,
though.”
    He let out a relieved
breath. “I’m glad you didn’t look then. I might have scared the
piss out of you.”
    “ Not a pretty
sight.”
    They shared a laugh over
that, but when their mirth subsided Caleb extended a hand and drew
Calla’s body to his. Everywhere she pressed against him, his skin
prickled. Tiny stabs of pleasure coursed through his body and down
to his cock, which quickly hardened.
    He nuzzled her neck,
planting light kisses down her jaw line. “I don’t care if you shift
or not,” he said, “or if you’re a panther or wolf or a goddamn
koala bear. I saw you that night trying to stoke your desire, and
since then I’ve thought of nothing but making that happen for you.
I hope you understand that.”
    Calla turned into his kiss
and parted her lips to welcome his tongue. Twisting in his embrace,
she positioned herself to straddle his thighs, not unlike their
earlier tryst, and pushed into his groin. His cock responded by
bobbing against her pussy—any more encouragement and it might seek
her warmth on its own.
    Caleb held her close,
enjoying how her bare nipples brushed against his chest, and how
every dip and curve along her back seemed to elicit a new, ecstatic
response from her. As they