Free Claws and Effect by Jessica Sims Page B

then slid out, and closed it quietly again. The porch of the big house creaked as I stepped forward and I bit my lip, but when no one came running, I went down the steps and passed the fleet of vehicles parked in front of the house. There was a dirt road here, and a mailbox, which meant that it lead to a bigger road.
    I took off and started running.
    One country road wandered into another, and my running slowed to a jog. I still kept moving as fast as I could, but I wasn't as healthy as I used to be. Six months of sitting in a dank basement had pretty much killed my athleticism, and I was still weak from Andre's feedings. I slowed to a walk, but I kept moving with determination. When the occasional car would pass by, I'd avert my face. If I could just get into the city before Ellis and the others found me, I'd be home free...
    And then what?
    I rolled the thought in my mind, back and forth. I had a small savings and an apartment. My savings would still be there - if I hadn't been declared legally dead at this point - but my apartment wouldn't be. I had no parents waiting for me; that was one reason Andre had picked me off -- I was a great target. I didn't even have any close friends I could call. I was just...alone. I could call the police station, I suppose. But they'd ask all kinds of questions, and I kept picturing Marie's happy face in my mind. How could I explain that I'd disappeared for six months without incriminating her? No one would buy a "I went on a sabbatical to find myself" type of story.
    And what about Ellis? I thought of him, his sexy laugh, and the way he held me so tight when I slept. And I thought about my kittens. Poor little Wonder Woman and SuperGirl. It was probably time for a feeding. I hesitated, then kept walking again.
    I needed to be free. Everything that came afterward... I'd cross that bridge when I got there. One thing at a time.
    A low growl sounded in the bushes to the side of me. I froze and turned. A large cat emerged from the bushes, and I sighed with something like relief when I realized it was Ellis. He growled again and took a step toward me.
    "You're pissed, aren't you?" I said, and kept walking. "Well, you can just be pissed. I had to try and you know it."
    He growled again and tried to catch my hand, but I pulled away from him.
    "You can't do anything," I told him. "I'm in human form and you're a cat. You're not going to attack me. We both know you're not. So I'm just going to keep walking to town until I get someplace public. And don't worry about me blabbing, because I won't say a word. I promise. I just want to go home."
    He growled again, but I didn't turn around and he stopped following me.
    Good, I thought, though I was a little surprised at how quickly Ellis had caved. Maybe I'd imagined how much he liked me after all. The thought twinged in the back of my mind painfully, but I ignored it.
    It was for the best.
    I'd barely thought that when I heard the slap of running feet on the pavement. I turned around...and gasped. Ellis was running after me, stark naked.
    He hadn't forgotten about me. Or given up on me. Squashing the weird little thrill that rose in my body, I turned around and began to run away from him.
    He snagged me around the waist and I gave a little scream. Then, he swung me over his shoulder and plopped me there, belly down, and began to move cross country back into the brush.
    "Can't do anything?" he muttered. "I'll show you 'can't do anything'. I promised to watch over you and I said I would."
    "Put me down," I yelled, thumping a fist against his back.
    Those white buttocks flashed as he walked, and Ellis ignored me, utterly silent. I sighed. His silence meant only one thing.
    Ellis Russell was super pissed at me.
     

     

Chapter Six
     
    By the time we got back to the cabin, Ellis hadn't spoke a word to me. My stomach ached from being thrown over his shoulder and bouncing there, and I'd been staring at those flexing white buttocks for the last half hour. I