The Mating Season: A Paranormal Shifter Romance (12 page)

“Put your legs up,” he instructed. Kim followed his command and put her feet flat on the mattress and bending her knees, spreading her legs provocatively. “Now close your eyes,” he ordered.

Kim did as she was told, quivering in anticipation. She knew he wouldn’t hurt her, but she was uncertain as to what game he wanted to play. All of a sudden she felt a cool, round object being inserted into her canal and her eyes flew open.

“Keep ‘em closed,” Tony growled. “I just want a little dessert after that wonderful meal. I like grapes but I like to eat them a certain way.” He popped in a few more of the green grapes causing Kim to shudder with pleasure.

Tony knelt down and moved Kim’s hips to the edge of the bed. He inhaled her sweet, spicy scent as he licked her with his rough tongue. She cried out with pleasure as he sampled her juices. “Shh, don’t move, you don’t want to crush them,” he whispered as she bucked up.

Kim felt his tongue snake into her moist canal and fish out a grape; he placed his mouth on her sopping wet opening and applied a bit of suction, and popped out a grape. He relished the combination of sweet grape juice and Kim’s tangy love juices as he drew each fruit from Kim’s sweet well.

Kim was mewling with ecstasy as she gripped the sheets while Tony enjoyed his sweet feast. After he had finished eating the grapes, his tongue swept up and down Kim’s pink folds to clean up any residual grape juice. He then moved upwards towards her clit and placed his mouth over it, and began to suck gently. While he was sucking, he inserted two of his long fingers deep inside of Kim’s hot tunnel and pushed upwards, engaging her G-spot.

Kim’s hips bucked up and she cried out with pleasure as Tony suckled and nibbled on her sensitive nub. The pressure inside her abdomen was building once again as another orgasm was about to take over. She reached for Tony’s long black hair and grabbed it, pushing his face deeper into her folds as he licked and sucked her to another peak.

He kept pressing up on her G-spot while he feasted upon her juices. His tongue darted over her clit between gentle sucks. Kim felt an intense urge to pee but Tony held her down with his free hand, preventing her from rising and leaving before he was finished.

Kim clawed and tried to fight the sensation, a deep buildup of orgasmic pleasure built up within her womb as it gushed out of her in a torrent of ecstasy. She yelled out as her crisis hit and Tony lapped up as much of the juice that erupted from her well as he could. He was like a kitten at a saucer of milk.

Tony noticed that Kim was more than ready for him, so he rose from the floor and leaned over her. He nuzzled her neck and shoulders as he worked his boxers off with one hand, while holding her hands over her head with his other one. Tony kicked his boxers off to the side and moved his body between Kim’s open legs.

He entered her tight, deep well with one deft thrust, growling as her heat enveloped him. She cried out as he filled her entirely with his thick, long member. Tony rested on his elbows over Kim while buried deep within her. She opened her eyes and made eye contact with him. She reached up and drew him down for a deep kiss as he began to move deep inside her.

Her hips rocked along with his as they moved as one. She clawed at his back as he thrust gently at first, but once he hit her G-spot with his manhood, she let out a deep, almost feline growl in his ear, and his senses were filled with nothing but the urge to mate.

Tony growled in response as he felt Kim’s nails grip his taut buttocks, urging him on. He picked up the pace and began to thrust harder and faster. The pressure began to build at the base of his spine as his climax drew closer.

Kim was gripping Tony for all she was worth. She felt her nails grow a little longer and she bit down on his shoulder as her third climax of the night rocked her body. Her teeth sunk in to his shoulder and Tony let out a yowl of pleasure as he emptied himself deep within Kim’s eager body.

She felt that odd pressure again as Tony pulsed his seed deep into her womb. She looked into his eyes and noticed they were golden with a vertical pupil. He blinked and the reverted to their normal dark brown color.

Tony pulled out and grabbed a T-shirt from the pile of dirty clothes Kim had strewn about her bedroom to wipe himself off. He sat on the bed and smiled sheepishly at Kim who lay prone on the bed with a satisfied smile on her face. She reached out and touched his hip with her small hand.

“You know, that was much better than the first time, thank you.” She yawned. The exertion, on top of the stressors of the day’s events, had left her exhausted.

“You’re welcome,” Tony said with a smile, while he turned away from her and put his boxers back on. “I still think it’s a good idea for me to sleep on the futon tonight. That way if Smiley tries anything...”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Kim said. “You know it’s best if you’re not here when Keith gets back from his conference. I don’t want him to get the impression I already picked.”

Tony nodded sadly. “Yeah, you were given until the solstice to choose, and it’s perfectly okay for you to take that time.” He had hoped he had made an impression on her. She would be safer with him, knowing his job. However, she had a greater chance at being widowed, as well.

Kim looked at him sadly, she felt drawn towards both him and his cousin, Keith, equally. “Yeah...anyway, I hope you sleep well.”

Tony nodded. “You, too,” he whispered quietly, as he closed the door behind him.

Kim sat on her bed thinking to herself. Her birth control ran out last week. She hadn’t been able to get to the doctor to get it renewed because of all the drama that had been going on. She hoped she wasn’t pregnant... she wouldn’t know who the father was out of the two men. What would that mean if she was, though? Would she have to choose the sire as the mate? She’d have to ask Rusty when she got the chance, if she remembered.

CHAPTER SEVEN

The days progressed steadily as the summer moved lazily on. Kim’s long hot days and short cool nights were filled with pleasant domesticity. When she wasn’t working at the general store, she puttered around her garden, bringing in the ripened produce and preserving it as Betty instructed. She had never canned anything before, so she hoped that she did everything properly.

“Now, you need to make sure the water in the canning pot is at a nice rolling boil before putting the jars in,” the elderly lady instructed as she put Kim’s share of the fruit preserves in the cupboards. “You need to get the food inside nice and hot so it kills off whatever’s in there, and makes a seal to keep everything else out.”

Kim nodded as she slowly lowered the full mason jars into the boiling water. The recipe of the day happened to be sweet mustard pickles since all her cucumbers were perfectly ripe. Her beans were drying in a food dehydrator she ordered in from the catalog company, and her freezer was stocked full of meat and frozen vegetables.

Kim was fully prepared for the long, harsh winter the Canadian Rockies would bring. She had lived in the mountains for her entire life, so she knew exactly how tough it could be. Betty helped her as much as she could, teaching her how to preserve the bounty of the garden her and Keith put in the day after she moved into the house. This was her first time preserving her own food so she wanted to make sure she did it correctly.

Betty looked over at the young woman as she lowered another mason jar into the canning bath. She wondered if the she’d had made her choice yet between Keith and Tony. She had been steadily dating both over the course of the few months that she had been living in the small community. From the energy she was putting out, though, she might have the choice already made for her.

“Kim,” she said, “I would like for you to come to my house tonight and sit in while I mentor the two girls who are about to go through their first shift. Keith told you it’s more dangerous for women than men to go through their first time. If you ever have a daughter, you’ll need to know how to go about it as she grows up. Also, there is talk about how the mating ceremony goes. You’ll need to know about your role and what preparations you’re going to need. It’s still a few years off for the young girls, but for you...”

Kim nodded. “Sounds great. I would like to know more about this community. You guys have accepted me like family really quickly, despite the trouble I brought with me.”

“Oh, don’t think too badly about that.” Betty put a wizened hand on Kim’s youthful one. “That bad man will make one mistake too many and finally get caught. They always do.” The elderly woman pulled a few more mason jars out of the dishwasher and ladled in the pickle mixture. “There are only two girls in the ritual this year. We usually lose half of them to the transformation. The year Keith and Tony came of age, we lost both girls to the wild. It was sad. Keith took it the hardest. He always was a sensitive soul. Tony on the other hand, didn’t mind much at all. He didn’t get along well with his match, I guess.”

Kim nodded as she listened to the old lady prattle on. She was distracted by the growing sense of dread she felt prickling the back of her neck. “Hey, Betty,” she began. “Do you feel something off?”

Betty looked at her sharply. It was a lazy Sunday afternoon in late July, birds and crickets were usually singing in the bushes, but everything was quiet. She closed her dark eyes and inhaled deeply. Kim felt the old woman’s consciousness reach out as she searched.

Kim felt herself being dragged away by the old woman’s psyche as she searched for the source of discord in the area. She felt as if she were walking along side an old female mountain lion, as they traveled invisibly through the village. She spotted a human skulking around the closed general store and caught a whiff of sour body odor.

“It’s Smiley!” she thought, but Betty was able to hear her.

“I wonder what that man is doing?”
Betty thought. Kim was surprised she could hear it.

Kim caught a whiff of gasoline as she moved closer to the man, aware that he couldn’t see her. “Oh my god, he’s going to...”

All of a sudden she felt herself snapped back to her body. She looked at Betty as she fished out her phone. She dialed Tony’s cell, but got bounced directly to voice mail. Betty was already out the door and running towards the general store. The wizened woman might be old, but she was in top shape. She shifted in mid stride to a formidable silver mountain lion. Another, larger silver cougar was running towards the general store, as well. It must be Rusty, Kim thought as she sprinted towards where she had seen Smiley during her dream walk.

Keith had been outside mowing his lawn when Betty and Kim came charging out of their house. He killed the gas to the mower and sprinted behind, finally catching up. “Hey, what’s going on?”

“Betty and I ....we saw, no… no, not saw, well, I can’t describe it, Smiley. He’s about to set fire to the general store!” Kim panted.

Keith’s eyes widened as he took in Kim’s news. “Did you call Tony?”

“Went right to voicemail.”

“Damn, fucker must be out of town again. Let’s go see if we can stop that son of a bitch,” Keith growled.

Keith saw a movement out of the corner of his eye; he wouldn’t have noticed it if it weren’t accompanied by a flicker of light, as if someone was flicking a lighter.

He looked at Kim with panic in his eyes and decided now wasn’t a good time to pamper her. He shifted into a bulky, tawny mountain lion and sprung towards the light.

Kim could never get used to the ease that the residents of this town changed their skin from human to animal. She saw Junior do it, Betty do it and now Keith. It still sent cold shivers down her spine. She always wondered where their clothes went when they shifted. She’d have to ask. She shook her head to clear it from the nonessential questions that filled it. She had to help stop Smiley from setting fire to the general store.

She went the opposite way that Keith had gone, in order to trap Smiley where he was, until they could wrestle him into the police station and lock him up. The young deputy was standing at the door, looking confused as to what was going on. He was brand new to the job so had no idea how to react. He was just there to man the phones. A sense of dread filled her as she turned around the corner. She knew that Smiley wanted to hit her where it hurt. He wanted to destroy her morale entirely before he murdered her in cold blood. Taking her job away, literally, was one step towards that goal. She wasn’t going to let him win.

All of a sudden, a sound of something igniting filled Kim’s ears. She screamed as an intense wave of heat engulfed her. She felt herself being tackled by something big and heavy. As she fell to the ground, her head slammed to the pavement and she lost consciousness.

She came to, surrounded by people. Keith was holding her head and she smelled an acrid, chemical smelling smoke. She gagged and felt bile rising in her throat. Keith quickly rolled her to her side as she vomited the contents of her stomach all over the side of the road.

The wail of sirens filled the air as fire trucks and ambulances raced to the scene. Kim’s vision faded in and out, and everything seemed foggy. People were running towards the burning store with buckets and garden hoses in a vain attempt to salvage the building that was engulfed in flames. The cacophony filled her ears and she couldn’t make much sense out of what was happening.

She felt herself being rolled over onto a stiff back board, and a restrictive collar put around her neck as paramedics tended to her. Keith stood off to the side with a helpless look on his face as he watched Kim get loaded up onto the ambulance. The closest hospital was St. George, and his truck was in the shop for repairs.

Keith grabbed his phone from his pocket and punched Tony’s number in. It finally rang. After the second ring, Tony finally picked up the phone.

Keith didn’t wait for him to say anything. “Where the fuck are you? The general store is burning to the ground, Smiley did it, Betty and Rusty saw it, and your deputy was useless as tits on a bull and let him get away!” he shouted into the phone.

“Wait, what?” Tony slurred into the phone, either drunk, or was woken up from a sleep.

“Yeah, get your ass out here right now, Kim’s been hurt, the store is burning down to the ground, the volunteers are doing all they can to keep it contained, but we need you here to call in the water bomber to make sure it gets put out for good.”

“Shit!” Tony exclaimed. “I’ll be right there, I passed out last night and forgot to charge my phone...fuck, fuck, fuck.” He cursed himself as he hung up on his cousin.

Tony rolled over and got out of his bed. He pulled on his uniform and charged out the door. His eyes widened at the sight of smoke billowing up behind the residential area. He ran towards the scene of the inferno and immediately took charge.

“Alan!” he barked at his slack-jawed deputy, “Get your ass on the phone and get the fire department here, now!” He took in the scene and noticed an ambulance pulling away, and strode over to his cousin. “Who’s in the back?” he asked.

“Kim...” Keith replied glumly. “We were going around to get Smiley, who was about to set the store on fire, but we were too late. He hit the match and it went off. Junior tackled her to keep her safe from the flames. I tried to chase him but I was confused by the smell of smoke and everything.”

Tony placed a hand on his cousin’s shoulder. “It’s okay; you tried the best you can.” He pulled out his notebook. “OK, cop hat on time, you gotta tell me what you saw so I can start an investigation.”

Keith nodded and recounted the events leading up to the fire as best as he could. Tony nodded as he jotted down the notes and he was pissed that the key witness was off to St. George with a possible concussion.

He interviewed the other witnesses. Betty and Rusty both stood there shaking and crying as they watched their entire livelihood go up in smoke. He fired his deputy on the spot after getting his side of the story, and then he ran to the police station to grab the yellow crime scene tape from its drawer.

He cordoned off the area as best as he could without keeping the firefighters from doing their jobs. Water poured from hoses onto the burning structure. The blaze was contained in short order, so no damage to the adjacent structures occurred.

The garage and gas station were across the street from the store, so keeping the flames from leaping to the orchard, then to the gas pumps was the fire department’s main priority. If that happened, the entire town would get wiped off the map and the casualties would have been catastrophic. Tony then picked up his radio and called for the RCMP arson investigation unit. This was the second arson in two weeks, and this one had been personal.

All witnesses stated they saw a man who looked just like Smiley skulking around the store before the fire started. As the firefighters staunched the blaze, the fire marshal motioned for Tony to follow him around the back of the smouldering building, since the immediate danger of fire had passed.

As they turned the corner, Tony saw a tipped over, empty gas can lying on the ground a hundred feet away, like it was tossed there as the suspect fled the scene. He took a picture of it with his phone and noted where and when it was located at the crime scene. He then picked it up with a stick and carried it to the front of the building where an RCMP officer had been waiting.

The tall blonde officer’s eyes widened as he saw Tony come around the corner with the bright red gas can precariously dangling at the end of a stick so as not to ruin the finger prints. The officer motioned to his dark haired partner to go to the cruiser and grab an evidence bag big enough for the can.

“Don’t worry,” Tony assured the officer. “I documented the location of the gas can before I moved it. I didn’t want to risk the building collapsing on it and us losing a valuable piece of evidence.”

The officer nodded as they sealed the bag and placed the time and date on it. “You should go print off that picture so we can stick it on the bag.” He had a thick French accent. RCMP Officers were posted from various parts of the country, similar to the military, so they might not be policing their home communities during their careers.

“Yeah, I’ll get right on that.” Tony started to head towards the police station. He was able to transfer the photo from his phone to a wireless printer. Since they were standing close enough to the police station trailer, Tony was able to send the photo over the WiFi connection in the police station to the printer. He quickly stepped back into the station and picked up the photo he had printed.

He ran back to the RCMP officer and handed him the photo, the officer then grabbed a clear plastic envelope with an adhesive back from his cruiser and placed the photo inside. He then removed the backing from the envelope and stuck it to the evidence bag which held the empty gas can.

After a few hours of dealing with the disaster, he found his way to Keith’s house. He knocked politely on the door. After a minute, a disheveled Keith appeared.

“Hey, do you want a lift to St. George to see how Kim is doing? My truck still works and you don’t have to pay me for gas...”

Keith brightened up a little. “Sure I’d like that,” he replied while stepping out of his house, locking the door behind him.