Her Mighty Shifter (6 page)

“You can keep going.”

Maximus hovered his hand over her exposed breast. He sucked in his breath when flesh met warm skin. Her melons made him salivate. Her nipple puckered when he rolled it between his thumb and finger.

“How do you know I’m yours if I’m receptive to any shifter?”

“Your blood time stopped before the others. I was almost positive when we left Earth, but the second my paws hit my planet surface it was clear. Your scent is unmistakable.”

“We’ve been running and traveling for a while now. I think we both smell a little odd.”

“I know you want to wash, and so do I. Come on.”

Maximus took her by the hand and pulled her to her feet. The long hall of wood areas, both open and sheltered, rose higher as they walked. Posy’s socks were shredded. She wouldn’t need them on his planet. Maximus heard the teeming water before they saw it. The board planks beneath their feet became damp. Each sheltered area was covered with massive roots natural to the tree formation. He herded her ahead of him and stripped her shirt from behind as they moved towards a fast flowing water fall cascading over rocks in a shelter high within the trees. The shelter stopped when they came forward, bursting into the sunlight. Maximus gulped the water greedily, watching as Posy did the same. The water was fresh and cool. The rising sun was growing hotter.

Posy gasped when Maximus gripped the waistband on her jeans and yanked them off. They stood facing one another. Maximus lifted his hand to cup her chin and pull her closer. He dipped his head to capture her lips in a kiss that burned its way into his belly. Fire raced through his veins.

“I’ve waited so long for you.” His voice was ragged when he stopped to breathe. “You are more than the beauty I envisioned in my dreams. More than anything I thought I would be lucky enough to have found. I love the way you defend yourself. The way your toes wear tigers. Your strength makes my strength that much more powerful.”

His inner shifter wanted to howl, but their first time was special. He couldn’t devour her. Heart racing he tempered his control. He needed to be sweet and caring, gentle, loving…

“Yikes,” he blurted.

She was all over him. The buttons on his shirt went flying when she ripped it off. She grabbed his pants and yanked them down not bothering with the button or zipper.

She’s an animal, and I’m the shifter.

His shoes and socks went sailing over the railing. It didn’t matter. He didn’t need them anymore. Naked they stood studying one another. He lifted his other hand to cup both her cheeks as water trailed lines down her rosy flesh. The water then slid across his knuckles to drip to her shoulder.

Posy’s skin was white as cotton balls in most places. Soon she would tan under the planet’s sun. Maximus captured the image in his mind. He too was white, in his shifter form. His tanned body was a contrast to hers.

“I want to make you my mate.”

Rock hard he stood, heaving, awaiting her response.

Chapter Seven

Everywhere Posy gazed her sight was greeted by breathtaking beauty. Mangos and coconuts hung in trees. Rows of pineapple littered the ground. Trees of nuts hung heavy with bounty. In the distance a fish jumped in a pond. The waterfall was sheltered enough no one could see them, but Posy could see beyond the vines and rock crevices to an open field. Mammoth grazed with giant elk, massive panthers, and giant lions. Both old world animals and new lived in harmony.

Amidst the numerous animals were children of all ages. All were happy, smiling. A few rode the beasts or tussled. A small toddler crawled all over a massive sloth, which lay unmoving in the sun. There were animals she had never seen, different breeds of fantastical color, moving gracefully. Never had she perceived such a beautiful place.

Maximus dropped his hands to his sides letting her make the decision. Every word he spoke was perfect. He wasn’t ogling her boobs. He wasn’t whispering dirty words. She wanted to see his body and gazed on perfection. Her heart was hammering. Maximus was right. She knew now that they were on his planet they belonged together. She wasn’t just his mate, he was hers. The feeling gave her a sense of relief. She was where she belonged. She stepped into Maximus’s open arms. Cradled next to him she melted as she fit perfectly against his solid muscle.

“Yours is the only flesh I will ever indulge in,” Maximus whispered in her ear.

He latched his full lips onto her throat and suckled. Her knees went weak with his power. No longer a mouse and in his element, Maximus didn’t need to shift to show her he changed. The arms of a confident man held her harder. She reached to grip his hair loving the wetness as drops drizzled over her skin.

Maximus turned her and pressed her against the soft moss. Water flowed gently over them in the new position. With a knee he spread her thighs. The head of his cock pushed against her heat demanding entry. With a thrust he was deeply buried within. Posy shook with anticipation as he pulled from her and bucked again.

One hand found a breast, and he lifted her to suck hard. Her legs were wrapped around his waist. Back and forth she swayed as his thumps turned to thundering thrusting. She wanted more and told him so. Maximus chuckled and eagerly accommodated her. Her ass cheeks were crushed to the rocks behind her keeping her in place. She was trapped, and his hands gripped her breasts working her nipples. Each movement brought their lips together, sealing their joining. Tongues intertwined, drinking from one another, then allowing cool water to rush down and over their throats.

She gripped his shoulders, admiring his build. His muscles flexed with his motion. Her insides were in flames. This was the mate she needed, wanted. Powerful, respectful, a demanding lover who gave of himself. When he released his exquisite torture of her breasts, he crushed her body to his. His chest was bare of hair, and she ran her hands over his back. Her breath caught, as did his.

She screamed when she came, and Maximus roared, the sound startling her. She’d forgotten he was a tiger. When they separated he settled her onto her feet, and she clung to him. He licked the water flowing over her. Cool wetness washed his seed from her and him. Posy went down on her knees wanting him hard again. She gripped his cock. There was no hair anywhere on him. She washed him with the water, then closed her lips over his cock. His powerful hands gripped her shoulders as he rocked in a gentle fashion. With both hands she worked his shaft in delight. He was huge and built for her.

His massive thighs were rock hard when she took one hand to run up and down his leg. Maximus laughed when she tickled his ankle. With slow deliberation she trailed her fingers up to his ass making him wiggle.

As he hardened she stood, wanting his thrusting inside of her, so she turned and bent over. She grinned as he chuckled. Posy screamed when she was grabbed by furry paws. Maximus had sworn he would never take her in animal form.

He wasn’t. A giant sloth tossed her over a shoulder and swung from vines to the ground. She heard Maximus roar and watched as he shifted while he leapt from the great height to crash down onto the ground, followed by Andro. She was pulled to the chest of the huge sloth.

“Merit, release my mate.” Maximus roared the words, and Posy slapped her hands over her ears.

Merit shrugged and changed into his human form. He looked the same as he had on Earth, and when he spoke his words were clear and deep.

“The little female isn’t mine. This one must be.”

“We already mated.”

Posy glared at Merit, balled a fist and swung, slamming into his jaw. He let her go and stumbled back.

“Bloody hell, will everyone kindly stop kidnapping me? It’s pissing me off.”

Maximus stayed in saber form while Andro shifted, and the three males were scowling at each other.

“What’s going on?”

Tac came and stood between Posy and Merit. All business, he took in the blood on Merit’s face. “Who hit you? Maximus or Andro? You know there is to be no fighting.”

“I hit him,” Posy shouted. “He’s lucky his family jewels are intact. He grabbed me from up there.” She pointed and almost swooned for the first time really noting the distance. She flopped onto her ass.

Tac crossed his arms over his chest. “Damn it, Merit. Stealing a mate is a huge offence. And scaring a female is reprehensible. Get your shit together. You can tell they mated. I can, so you can.”

“Her scent is too strong not to notice,” Merit whined.

Posy gnashed her teeth together. “So help me if one more person tells me I stink I’ll go ape shit.” She then cast a glance to the gorilla in the tree overhead. “No offence.”

“Maximus, you can shift. There is no one who will harm your mate,” Tac said.

“I’m kinda naked.”

Posy shrieked, realizing the same. “
I’m naked.”

Maximus sprang forward, and with a paw scooped her up and lunged back up into the tree house. Posy grabbed a sheet the moment he released her and wrapped it around her shoulders. She strode to the open window and gazed out. Vast beauty flowed in rainbows before her. Lavender, brilliant pinks, deep purple, and stunning ebony accented multitudes of greens and yellows. Vines hung from everywhere, dripping in color. She then gazed at the shifters wondering who else was going to try to take off with her.

“Welcome to your new home,” Maximus said.

She relaxed into the warmth of his broad naked back as he pressed against her. He wrapped his arms around her. They watched massive birds floating on gusts of wind. Her hair and the sheet ruffled in the breeze their long wings made.

“Are they shifters?”

“Yes,” Maximus said. “Many are the size of great cats. When I was a child I envied the falcon shifters. On your world the bird of prey is so much smaller. Here as you can see they are as tall as I am. At one time they were warriors. They protected our skies. There were other species who came here, but we destroyed them or so history goes. They weren’t a nice race. They traveled in vessels.”

“What did they want?”

“Females and children. Their planet wasn’t dying. Their people were. A great illness overcame many. I guess they hoped to repopulate. They came to steal and died trying. Our moonbeams won’t allow a shifter to steal a mate. They must belong together. Kidnapping is reprehensible to my kind, and the beams won’t allow that to occur. I meant what I said, the beams wouldn’t have allowed you through unless you were meant for a shifter. All the women brought here are meant to be here. The aliens couldn’t travel the beams, and the ships have long since stopped coming here.”

“How long ago was that?”

“Well before my great-grandfather was born. You don’t have to worry.”

“Is it safe to explore your planet or will I be grabbed again?”

“I’ll take you to a place where it’s quiet. The planet is twice Earth’s size with a population of around a million.”

Maximus changed into a pair of shorts and handed Posy the same as well as a small shirt. The material was hemp. The shorts slipped on, but Velcro strips were on either side. The idea made sense. If Maximus shifted the material wouldn’t rip, it would slide apart. That way a shifter wouldn’t be forever making new clothes. As Posy gazed around she could see the curtains were of the same material. The furniture was wood, some also covered with hemp.

“I thought your body could absorb the material. That’s what you said about Earth.”

“Earth is different. The molecules in the moonbeam change the clothes for us. The clothes you tossed over the edge that were mine will be salvaged for another shifter.”

“That’s kinda cool.”

The walkway along the trees stretched as far as the eye could see leading to other distant homes. Long vines of multiple colors hung in sheets. She heard children laughing and gasped when one young adult leaped and swan dived from one hundred feet into the air. A massive falcon swooped low beside the teen. Before Posy could scream for someone to save the girl she shifted into a petite version of the hawk and skimmed over the ground.

“A new shifter. The girl has come of age. I bet her parents are proud,” Maximus said.

“I bet her mother needs new underwear.”
I would.

“Her father was beside her. He would never let her be injured. Look on the ground. You can see the other shifters who were there in case as well. Our children know when it’s their time. They get a certain feeling.”

Maximus stopped dead when a low growl rumbled. Barefoot and dressed only in shorts he was scary as heck, but Posy chuckled.

“Relax, Mighty Mouse, it’s my belly rumbling. I’m starved.”

“Maybe we could keep the mouse thing to ourselves.”

“Sure, as long as you feed me.”

The trail veered off as they descended to the ground. The warm, soft soil under her feet slipped between her toes. Maximus took her hand and led her to a large body of water. He grinned, slipped off his pants and shifted. Huge paws leapt to a large boulder in the water where he scanned beneath the surface. Claws unsheathed, he pounced and dragged a sturgeon to the shore.

The sturgeon put up a good fight, and the pair rolled around until the fish stilled from exhaustion. Maximus dispatched it as mercifully as he could. Remaining in shifter form he used a long sharp claw to slit the belly, and Posy was delighted when she scooped a handful of roe.

“I haven’t had this in so long.” She licked her palm and fingers and scooped more. “Can we build a small fire so we can cook the fish?”

Maximus shifted, and as Posy continued to eat the roe he gathered rocks and sticks and got a fire going. Casting a glance around, he scooped up a piece of driftwood and filled it with roe to hand to Posy as she sucked her fingers. He sheared off a large slab of fish and shifted back apologizing but telling Posy his shifter was famished. Maximus dove face first into the remainder of fish eggs. She marveled as he polished off the sturgeon, head, tail, and all, including bones then went after another. When finished he rolled onto his back, feet in the air, groaning. Her mate was adorable.

“You must be the biggest kitten I ever saw,” Posy said and chuckled.

“Kitten is the nickname reserved for our first daughter.”

“All right, but she may just be called Kitten Junior.”

“Cute.”

“What’s cute is the way you talk when you shift. You’re all growly and stuff.”

“Is this better?”

Posy almost choked when he imitated the chipmunk voice and did a good job. When she stopped laughing she had a thought.

“Was it coincidence you caught a male and female sturgeon?”

“No, I can scent sex. When you become pregnant I’ll know the sex of the baby by the time it’s six months.”

Posy couldn’t resist the sleepy looking cat. She moved from the fire to scratch his white belly. Maximus wiggled, and his balls on display rolled.

“You’re hung like a horse.”

If cats could grin he did. “I have a horse shifter friend.
He’s
hung like a horse.”

Maximus rolled over and licked her cheek with his raspy tongue.

“Ew.”

“Come on and let me walk some of this fish off. I need to stay in shifter form for a little while until I digest. Otherwise I might explode.”

“Again, ew.”

The jungle foliage was intense, filled with more colors than Posy had ever seen. Food was in abundance. Coconuts, bananas, peaches, avocadoes. She noted the pineapple, and Maximus pulled one from the ground and using a razor claw stripped the sides exposing the sweetly dripping fruit for her to eat.

Vegetables of all sorts caught her attention. She pulled a potato from the ground and noted the sunflowers.

“I can make French fries. Look tomatoes for ketchup. Does sugar cane grow here?”

“Sure. You can experiment all you want. Shifters here prefer everything raw the way it grows. But I am kinda fond of fries and ketchup.”

“I guess gravy is out of the question.”

Maximus wrinkled his nose. “What do you think?”

“Just asking.”

They strolled for over an hour as Posy caught sight of one display of intense beauty after another. There was a little pond  surrounded in sand. The clear water was too tempting to resist, and Posy stripped and dove in. As she treaded water Maximus shifted into his human form and swam to her. He pulled her under, and she surfaced gasping while he laughed. She splashed him and tried to swim away, but a large arm gripped her waist and soon her chest was pressed to his.