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What actually happens is we spend a good hour in bed and no time at all planning the move. When we’re finished, Raymond says, “Fuck, we’re horrible parents.”
“We’re fantastic parents,” I correct. “We’re horrible movers.”
He rolls out of bed and starts to dress. “I understand now why people spend so much money so others can handle their move for them.”
A thought strikes me then and it’s so powerful it cuts through every other thought. I look at Raymond and say, “I want to see you.”
He looks at me, confused, and says, “Umm, correct me if I’m wrong but we’ve been seeing each other for over a year now.”
“No,” I say. “I mean I want to see you.”
He stares in confusion a moment longer and then his eyes widen in understanding. “Oh,” he says. “You want to see me.”
“I do,” I say. “All of you.”
He doesn’t answer for a while and I’m afraid he’s going to refuse me. Then he turns to me and takes a deep breath before saying, “Okay.”
The grin that spreads across my face then could light up a stadium.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Raymond
I can’t purr. I guess I could try to imitate the sound in human form but not as the cat. Jaguars, lions, tigers, and leopards have no epihyal bone. For us, that part of the voice box is a ligament. When it stretches, it creates a long sound-producing channel of sorts and a wider range of pitch. The more stretched it is, the lower the pitch of the sound. Since the ligament is large, intact, and thick, it makes for very deep sounds. We leopards have about ninety vocalizations that humans would all characterize as a roar. Humans don’t hear the differences the way we do. Tigers and jaguars have fewer. Lions have more.
None of us can purr.
The anatomy isn’t right.
I wish I could purr as I slowly walk toward Kelly and she stares intently at me as I close the distance. I can smell her perfume. It’s faint like a whisper normally but now it hits me like a firm voice filled with projection. As I move closer, I wish I could purr to reassure her. I feel better about it the closer I get, though. I can smell her normal scent now as well as the perfume. I don’t smell fear, which is a wonderful thing. She’s curious, of course, maybe even tentative. She’s not afraid, though. I wonder if she expects me to be this large. We’re bigger in shifter form than non-shifter animals.
“Can I see your halfway form?” she asks.
I try to smile without thinking about it. If I could laugh at myself, I would. I shift and it feels interesting because it’s very rare to go from full leopard to half. Usually, it’s human to half or human to leopard. I suppose it’s also not too rare to go from half to leopard. When I shift, I stand and she reaches for me and strokes my cat-like face. We leopards look a little more human in half form than tigers or lions. We’re still not anything close to humans but the shape of our heads is a little more manageable and fits the humanoid shape a little better.
“Can you speak like this?” she asks.
I shake my head. I can communicate verbally but not in a way a human would understand. She laughs and says, “In that case, this is probably how we’ll want you to be most of the time. I like a quiet house.” I shift to the human form. I’m completely naked since I shifted directly to the leopard form.
“Really?” I say. “You want the strong and extremely silent type?”
She smiles and her hand moves from my cheek down over my chest and then my abdomen. When she finds what she’s looking for, she gently strokes and says, “I think I like this type.”
I chuckle and say, “Well at least I qualify, then.”
“Oh yeah,” she says, “you know I only want you for your body, right?”
“I’m okay with that,” I growl as I slip my arm around her waist and pull her close to me.
She kisses me tenderly but the tenderness gives way to a more passionate and powerful kind of kiss. It doesn’t take long before she’s naked as well, and it isn’t until we’re done and gathering up her clothes that it occurs to either of us we’ve just made love outdoors. It isn’t as though anyone comes to this area but she blushes about it nonetheless.
She’s lovely when she blushes.
Actually, she’s lovely all the time.
EPILOGUE: SIX MONTHS LATER
Kelly
