Changing Times (7 page)

“I heard you. I’m not ready for this. Especially not with
Slade running around out there. Why is he after you, Tony?” Carly sat up as she
pulled her shirt down. Tony got easily to his feet and in control of his body
again, he sat beside her on the couch. He trailed one hand down her arm then
took her hand in his.

“He’s not really after me. He’s after those of us who aren’t
aligned with any pack or other group of shifters. He wants us all out in the
open. Slade is hungry, Carly. He wants power and he’ll use any means at his
disposal to get it.” Tony continued to play with her fingers until Carly pulled
her hand out of his.

“I don’t like being in the middle of this…this power
struggle or whatever you want to call it.”

“You’re not in the middle of it.” Tony got to his feet. “Slade
knows I’m attracted to you. He also knows that one way of getting to me is to
threaten you. I’ll make sure you’re protected, Carly. I won’t let anything
happen to you. I won’t fail this time.”

“This time?”

Tony winced, realizing that Carly had picked up on his last
whispered statement. “What does that mean? ‘This time.’ Has this happened
before?”

She studied his face for a long moment. Her expression made
him wonder if suddenly he frightened her.

“That’s it, isn’t it? That’s why Slade made that crack about
humans breaking so easily and your affinity for humans. You lost someone, didn’t
you, Tony? Who was she?” Carly’s voice rasped with tension.

A muscle twitched in his jaw and he lifted his eyes to hers,
knowing that the gold had to be showing now. He couldn’t help that because
talking about Jenny still hurt. “Someone very close to me. She got into a
situation that she wasn’t able to deal with and she was killed.”

Tony stepped forward, grabbing her by the arms. He growled
low. “It won’t happen again. I won’t let it happen to you or anyone else close
to me.”

“Tony, you’re hurting me.” Carly’s voice shook slightly even
as she kept her eyes on his.

Disgusted with himself, Tony released his grip, hating the
sight of her reddening skin. He swung away from her, throwing his hands up as
if to deny they were even his own.

“I’m sorry.” Taking some pride in the fact that his voice
sounded normal even though he didn’t feel it, he kept his face averted.

“You’re going to fight him, aren’t you?”

The calmness of her tone amazed Tony. Obviously all those
years of ER work gave her some amazing discipline. He knew shifters who would
be hysterical by this point. He watched her chest heave with the breath she
took as he pivoted to face her again. Struggling to maintain a similar hold on
his own emotions, Tony noted the tingling that told him his face reflected his
animal more than he liked.

“If I have to. I’ll do whatever it takes to protect those
close to me from Slade and those like him.”

“He’ll kill you.” Carly touched his arm. Her fear scent
flared. Tony realized that she was scared of what might happen if he did
challenge Slade. Slade was taller and heavier than Tony. He knew she sensed
that Slade was more dangerous as well.

“He might try though it would probably be in his best
interest not to kill me. He’ll want to use me as an example of what happens to
anyone who goes against him but he won’t want me dead.” Tony must have meant
his words to be reassuring but they didn’t have that effect on Carly.

“How can you be so calm about this? He wants to kill you,
Tony. I saw it in his eyes tonight when he was staring through my windshield.
He wants you dead.”

“Shh.” Tony pulled her back into his arms. “He’s not going
to kill me,
cheré
.”

For just a moment he allowed himself the luxury of holding
her, of breathing in the scent that was unique to Carly. The wanting flared
again but he controlled it. Tony reluctantly let go of Carly. He walked back
into the kitchen to pick up the cup of coffee he no longer wanted.

Sipping at the coffee was a simple way of centering himself,
of trying to recall all of the reasons why he shouldn’t make love to Carly
Chambers, all the while knowing they made no difference. At some point—soon, if
his body had any say in the matter—he would take her to bed. There was no way
he was going to walk away from her having had only a brief taste. There was so
much more to savor.

Tony turned abruptly as Carly came into the kitchen. He
gazed at her, knowing his “other” was peering out through his eyes. He could
sense her fear even as he tried to send soothing thoughts her way. “I’m going
to make sure you’re safe tonight, Carly. I called for reinforcements on the way
over here. Why don’t we try to relax until he gets here?”

Tony held his hand out to her. Carly stared at him for a
long moment then took his hand. They walked back into the living room and sat
beside one another on the couch. There was a good foot of space between them.
Tony leaned forward to place his cup on the coffee table.

“Ask it.”

“Ask what?”

“Ask whatever it is that’s bothering you. There’s something
churning around in your mind, just ask me, Carly. I’ll answer any questions you
have.”

She obviously had so many questions floating around in her
head—what Tony was, really; how he could be so sure Slade wouldn’t kill him—there
was just too much she wanted to know. Finally she opened her mouth and the
words tumbled out.

“I’ve been doing some research. You said you were a
lycanthrope but not a werewolf. You mentioned something about a cat?” Carly
sighed, shifting about on the couch, her discomfort apparent in every move she
made. “I really don’t know where to begin, but I guess the first thing I want
to know is this, what is your animal?”

Tony smiled slowly before he answered. “You don’t speak
Spanish, do you? Pantera, my surname, it means panther.”

“Your animal is the panther?”

“Yes, well, technically a black leopard.” Tony leaned back
and put his arm along the back of the couch. He could just touch her shoulder
with his fingertips.

“Isn’t that unusual? I thought from the reading I did that
most shifters were canine. At least that’s what I could find and that wasn’t
easy.”

“My family has always been feline and the gene was passed
more often from mother to daughter. I’m the first male in two generations to
have the ability to shift and all of my sisters can shift. I have two brothers
who are fully human.”

“Really. Now that’s interesting.”

“What?”

“Genetic selection. In your line most passed through the
female. It begs the question as to how many of your nieces and nephews will
carry the gene and how many will actually be shifters. Does it hurt? When you
change, does it hurt?” Carly watched him closely and Tony schooled his face to
show very little emotion as he thought about her question. He could tell she
still wasn’t sure about whether or not to believe him. Her sincerity meant she
wanted
to believe what he told her.

“It doesn’t hurt exactly. Sometimes it,” he hesitated then
shook his head and continued, “aches. Your skin feels like it’s stretched to
the breaking point then it feels like it has broken. Your bones feel like they’re
melting but there’s no pain.”

“When did you first change?”

“I was ten. My oldest sister and I had been fighting and she
growled at me. She was fourteen and had already been through her first change.
I growled back and fell to my knees in front of her. I changed and it scared
both of us.” Tony watched her face as he spoke and his curiosity was aroused. “You
didn’t really see Slade change. Have you ever seen anyone change, Carly?”

“No.” She unconsciously leaned back away from him and he
chuckled.

“Get those old movie scenes out of your head. I’m a
carnivore not a cannibal. Except for fights I’ve never bitten anyone who didn’t
want me to bite them.” Tony’s eyes gleamed at her as he leaned toward her. “Do
you want me to,” he paused and gave her another feral grin as her eyes widened
then he continued, “change for you now?”

“I…I don’t know.” Carly clasped her hands in front of her.
He could almost see the thoughts in her mind. If he proved he could actually do
this it meant she would have to rethink so many things. Tony took her hands. He
moved closer to her on the couch without ever taking his eyes off her face.

“Carly, I would never hurt you. Even when I’m in animal form
I think. I’ve only lost control once in my life and those were unusual
circumstances. Do you want me to change for you?”

“You can just change at will?” He knew she was stalling and
so did she.

“Yes. Shifting isn’t connected with the phases of the moon
though it’s true that the moon can influence you to want to shift. I can change
all at once or in phases.”

“You can change part of your body without changing all at
once?”

Tony smiled wickedly. “If I concentrate hard enough I can
change a particular part of my body without changing anything else.”

Carly looked confused as she said, “What?” Then she blushed
as she said, “Oh.”

Tony laughed and leaned back. He put his hands on his shirt,
keeping his eyes on hers as he pulled it out of his pants then removed it. Tony
draped his shirt over the arm of the couch then turned to look at her again. He
leaned forward and pulled his shoes off then stood.

“Tony, you don’t have to do this.” Carly shook her head as
she looked up at him. She wondered, since his nose seemed to be so sensitive,
if he could smell the woman in her responding to the sight of all of golden
skin and the black hair falling over his shoulders. Even as the doctor in her
berated her for her reaction. It wasn’t as though she’d never seen a half-naked
man before.

“Do you want to see me change or not?” He paused with his
hands at his waist and she swallowed hard before she nodded. He slowly unhooked
and unzipped his pants then took them off.

Though Carly was a doctor and well-versed in human anatomy,
she found herself slightly embarrassed to be confronted with his nudity. Tony
on the other hand seemed very comfortable in just his skin. He draped his pants
over the arm of the couch on top of his shirt. He turned to face her and put
his hand under her chin.

“All at once or slowly?”

“I don’t know.”

“Okay. This time I’ll do it fast.” He stepped back from her
and put his head back as a shudder rippled over his body. He dropped to his
hands and knees and panted slightly and she watched with awe as his form
changed. The bones actually changed shape right in front of her. His face
structure changed, broadening and flattening.

His eyes turned bright gold and his black hair seemed to
flow over his face. Suddenly she was looking into the face of a panther. The
man had totally disappeared and a big cat was standing in front of her. It was
unbelievably fast and it was real. This wasn’t a trick. This wasn’t a delusion.
He had actually changed his shape right in front of her.

He raised his head and looked straight at her and Carly felt
a thrill of fear shoot through her. The panther put his hands—paws—on the couch
beside her and brought his face level with hers. He moved closer and she leaned
back.

The panther, she still found it hard to think of him—
it
—as
Tony, made a sound deep in his throat as she reached out carefully and slowly
to touch his neck. The fur under her hand was just as soft as his hair had
been.

Carly ran her hand down his neck then over his shoulder. Muscles
rippled beneath thick fur as she kneaded her fingers into the warmth.
Tentatively she laid her head against his shoulder to rub. He leaned back into
her, nearly making her lose her balance. Her hands grabbed the fur, relishing
in the silky, soft caress against her palms. Lifting her head, Carly did
something she’d wanted to do since she’d first seen him.

She ran her hands from the broad base of his skull to the
base of his tail, laughing as he arched against her hand just like a housecat. Carly
laughed as she got to her knees on the sofa. He headbutted her, softly tickling
her cheeks with his whiskers. The whispering touch caused a trickle of need
deep in her belly. His nose twitched as he gave her a quick rasping lick.
Wonder
what that would feel like
…She cut off that thought then remembered
he said he could change parts but not all.

Grinning, she put her arms around his neck and rubbed him
from his shoulders down to his hips. Carly watched as his tail lashed from side
to side and she jumped when she felt the rumble in his chest. She laughed with
delight when she realized he was not growling.

Carly put her hands on either side of his face and looked
into his eyes. “Oh my god. It is true.” Carly laughed shortly then spoke again.
“You’re purring. I didn’t know you could do that.”

Tony got completely up on the couch to stretch out. Carly
sat back down and he put his head in her lap. Carly stroked him again slowly, watching
his paws clench slightly as she rubbed his ears. She realized he was kneading
the couch just like a domestic cat would knead you when you rubbed them.

His paws flexed just enough to barely expose the claw
concealed there. He wasn’t extending his claws far enough to actually puncture
the sofa and the thought crossed her mind that that was probably a good thing.
If he sharpened those razors on furniture the way a domestic cat did, he’d pay
a fortune in reupholstering or buying new on a regular basis. Carly indulged
herself by rubbing both hands through his fur.

Tony continued to purr as she touched him. He rolled
slightly onto his side and Carly slipped out from under his head. She knelt on
the floor in front of the couch and ran her hands down his forelegs, taking one
of his paws in her hands. He flexed and she felt the claws as they came out and
then retracted. Carly put one hand on his chest and felt his heart beating
strongly under her hand.