Page 87 of Beasts of Mine

“That is really not the part I'm struggling with right now,” I told Cat, dropping my hand as another memory surfaced. The creek. Me sitting there with my camera, telling him he was beautiful because there hadn't been anything embarrassing about saying that to a leopard.

Until now.

“Oh, this just keeps getting worse,” I muttered to myself, closing my eyes briefly as I already knew Menace was going to enjoy this far too much.

“What?” Menace asked me, curiosity immediately taking over as he leaned slightly toward us.

“Nothing involving you,” I told Menace, opening my eyes long enough to point at him before turning back to Cat. Menace's mouth twitched, but he wisely kept whatever comment he'd been considering to himself.

“I called you beautiful,” I told Cat, feeling my face grow hotter as I stared at the man attached to those familiar golden-brown eyes. “To your face.”

One corner of Cat's mouth moved.

“You did,” Cat replied, the hint of amusement in his expression making the memory considerably worse. A muffled sound came from Menace's direction.

“One noise from you and I will throw something,” I warned Menace, pointing toward him without looking away from Cat.

“I didn't say anything,” Menace replied, pressing his lips together even though his shoulders were doing a terrible job of hiding his amusement.

“You don't have to,” I told Menace before focusing on Cat again. Cat was still trying not to smile.

“You enjoyed that,” I accused Cat, narrowing my eyes at him as I remembered the amusement I'd noticed even when he'd still been lying beside the creek in leopard form.

“A little,” Cat admitted, the small curve of his mouth finally appearing.

“Unbelievable,” I muttered to Cat, covering my face for a second before another memory pushed its way forward.

The storm. Sleeping beside him beneath the roots because I'd trusted him enough to close my eyes with a massive predator lying only feet away. That part didn't embarrass me. Not really. What bothered me was how completely I'd let my guard down because I'd believed there was a clear line between us. I hadn't needed to wonder what he thought of me as a woman or worry about whether something I said sounded too personal. He'd been Cat.

Except Cat was apparently also a man who could turn into a leopard.

“I told you things I probably wouldn't have told you if I'd known,” I said to Cat, quieter now as my hands dropped back to my sides.

“I know,” Cat replied, whatever amusement had been in his expression disappearing as he watched me carefully.

“I wasn't trying to hide those things from you specifically,” I told Cat, struggling to explain why it mattered without making it sound like I regretted trusting him. “It was just different when I thought you were only a leopard.”

“I understand,” Cat said, his voice staying low and steady as he gave me room to work through it. I exhaled and folded my arms across myself, the embarrassment settling enough for the larger problem to come rushing back.

“I still would've liked to know I was talking to a man,” I told Cat, looking toward the other two as the full extent of what they'd kept from me settled in again. “All three of you let me think you were just animals.”

“We are animals,” Menace offered, raising one hand before apparently realizing halfway through the gesture that he was making the situation worse.

“What did I just say about the point?” I asked Menace, turning toward him as his hand slowly dropped again.

“Right. Still not helping,” Menace admitted, shifting his weight back with considerably less confidence than he'd had a few minutes earlier. Gentleman moved forward only far enough to enter my line of sight without crowding me.

“We should have told you sooner. We weren't trying to make you feel foolish,” Gentleman said, keeping his voice calm as he deliberately left several feet between us.

“Well, that part didn't exactly work out,” I told Gentleman, irritation sharpening my words even though I noticed that he was giving me room.

“No. It didn't,” Gentleman admitted, his mouth tightening briefly before he looked back at me. The response sounded so completely like Gentleman that some of my anger faltered. I was still angry, but it was becoming increasingly difficult to look at the men standing in front of me without seeing the three leopards I'd already gotten to know.

“What are you?” I asked Gentleman, letting my arms fall as I looked between them.

“Leopard shifters,” Gentleman answered, keeping the explanation simple as he waited for my reaction. I glanced toward the ruins, then back at them.

“And humans don't know you exist,” I said to Cat, piecing together the secrecy on my own.