She woke just before dawn, blinking sleepily at the unfamiliar ceiling as a faint feeling of relief went through her. Her cycle was done, and the pulsing need that had tormented her for the past two days had disappeared. She stretched lazily before wincing. Her thigh muscles had just started screaming at her and she moved her legs gingerly under the quilt. What the hell did she do to herself? Did she –
She hissed in sudden dismay. Oh shit, she had fucked a complete stranger last night. She turned her head and stared at the broad back of the tiger shifter. He was sprawled on his stomach, his head buried beneath his pillow and his large body taking up most of the queen bed.
“Bria, you idiot,” she whispered before blinking back the hot tears. She sat up slowly, holding the quilt against her naked chest and watching the shifter for any movement. His naked back was covered in deep slashes and she bit back her moan of shame. She had done that to him. She had clawed and scratched and bitten him while he fucked her senseless and she had begged for more.
Feeling nauseous, she slid out from the bed and quietly dressed. As she crept toward the door, the floorboards made a loud squeak. She froze as the shifter snorted and scratched at one of the slashes on his back. He muttered something before sliding his hand back under the quilt. She released her breath in a quiet hiss and eased the door open. She closed it quietly behind her and hurried down the stairs. Her purse and her shoes were lying on the hallway floor, and she snatched her cell phone from her purse and dialed for an Uber as she slipped out the front door.
* * *
Two hours later, freshly showered and holding a tray with two cups of coffee in one hand, she rang the doorbell of Kat’s house. The door opened and Kat, still in her robe, smiled at her. “Bria, what are you doing here?”
“I – I did something really bad, Kit Kat.” Bria burst into tears.
“Oh, honey, come inside.”
Twenty minutes later, Bria stared into her coffee cup as she waited for Kat to yell at her.
Instead of yelling, Kat said, “Thank God. The way you looked, I thought you had murdered someone or something.”
“Did you hear what I said?” Bria said. “I slept with a total stranger last night. I was completely out of control. I didn’t care who he was or if he was dangerous. I let him fuck me in a public washroom while I shredded his back with my claws. Then I went home with him and screwed him six ways to Sunday.”
“Well, that wasn’t your best idea,” Kat said. “But it could have been worse. Sounds like the guy did you a favour by keeping you away from that snake shifter. Do you think he was telling you the truth about that?”
“Honestly? Yes. Now that I’m back in control, there was something off about that damn snake.”
She stared at the table. “I just keep thinking – what if I had tried to fuck a human or a shifter who wasn’t that strong? The marks on his back were so deep. It must have hurt like hell when I did it.”
“You said they were starting to heal, right?”
Bria nodded, and Kat patted her hand. “Then it’s fine. Besides, you know better than anyone how resilient tiger shifters are. He’ll be completely healed in a day or two.”
“I need to go to the doctor,” Bria said. “There’s something seriously wrong with me.”
“There isn’t. So, your heat cycle made you sleep with a random stranger. Most cat shifters have been there, sweetheart. You used protection, right?”
“Yes. But I wouldn’t have and wouldn’t have even cared if he hadn’t taken care of it.”
“That doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you. Our heat cycles make us do crazy things sometimes.”
Bria shook her head. “You’re wrong, Kat. It’s never been like this before. There’s something wrong with me.”
“Honey, look at me.”
Bria raised her gaze to Kat. The jaguar was giving her a sympathetic look and she didn’t object when Kat took her hand in a tight grip.
“This is the first time you’ve been single, basically since you started your heat cycles, yeah?”
Bria frowned in thought. “Yeah, I guess so. I mean, I started dating Kyle in high school and we were together for nearly eight years, but then I was gone on the pilgrimage for three months.”
“But you had sex with Raden during the pilgrimage, right?”
“Yeah. We hooked up maybe two weeks after I got there.”
“And you slept with him regularly, and during your heat cycle?” Kat asked.
“Yes, but what does that have to do with what’s happening now?”
“Everything. You know the rumour that heat cycles are much worse when you’re not having regular sex, right? Well, it’s not just a rumour.”
“No,” Bria said.
“Yes. It’s only going to get worse the longer you go without sex.”
Bria’s mouth dropped open. “I – are you sure?”
“Very sure,” Kat said. “Your first heat cycle without sex was bad, right? And this second one worse?”
“So much worse,” Bria said.
“I hate to tell you this, sweetie, but it’s not even half as bad as it’s going to get. I was feeling bad about just using Mark for sex during my cycles, so I went three heat cycles in a row without getting laid. By the fourth one, I had Ronin pinned to the floor of my office while I rode him like a damn pony. We weren’t even dating – I had barely spoken to him outside of work at that point.”
“Oh fuck,” Bria dropped her head into her hands before breathing deeply. “Okay, it’s fine, it’s fine. I just need to find a boyfriend before my next heat cycle.”
Kat raised her eyebrow at her. “You’re going to find a boyfriend in a month’s time?”
“Yes. What? I can do it. I’m a good-looking girl, right? Maybe I don’t have a lot of sex experience, but I can get the goddamn job done. Any guy would be happy to have an unemployed girl who apparently bites and claws like a Tasmanian Devil when she doesn’t get sex on a regular basis.”
Kat laughed. “Honey, you are awesome, but do you really want to just start dating some random shifter so that you don’t freak out during your next heat cycle?”
Bria sighed loudly. “I don’t have a choice. I – I’m not strong like you.”
“You can take the medication to curb your heat.”
“No,” Bria said. “I won’t take it. My aunt has a friend whose daughter took the meds from twenty to twenty-five and now she’s having a terrible time getting pregnant. She wants kittens more than anything and she can’t have them. I don’t want that to be me in a few years, you know?”
“I thought you didn’t want kittens.”
“I don’t know for certain. If I meet someone who wants one, then I want to at least have the option.”
“There is something else you can try.” Kat gave her a thoughtful look.
“What?”
“The website that - ”
“No way,” Bria cut her off. “I’m not trolling that meat market looking for shifters who just want no-commitment-required sex with a horny cat shifter every month. I’m not that desperate.”
“I did it.”
Bria’s eyes widened. “Shut your mouth! You did not, Katarina Frost.”
“I did. Well, I didn’t have sex with any of them, but I created an account and interviewed three different shifters.”
“Holy shit,” Bria said. “When did you do this?”
“While you were on your pilgrimage.”
Why didn’t you go through with it? Were they all losers?”
Kat laughed. “Two of them weren’t great but the third one was good.”
“So why didn’t you sleep with him?”
“Because it was Ronin that I wanted, even then. Luckily for me, he was more than happy to help out during my heat cycle.”
Bria continued to stare at her and Kat shrugged. “I think you should give it a try. You don’t even have to create an account. I still have the third shifter’s email and I’ll send it to you. He was a tiger shifter and, honestly, if I hadn’t already been half in love with Ronin at that point, I would have given him a try. He was handsome and polite and really seemed to care about meeting my needs each month.”
“Yeah, and probably fourteen other cat shifters every month.”
“Actually, he said he didn’t help out more than one cat shifter at a time,” Kat replied.
“You believed him?”
“Yes. Just email him, Bria. You can meet in a public place, he’ll give you references, and you can give them a call. If you’re not interested after meeting him, just email him and tell him. He wasn’t offended when I said no thanks. Plus, he said he didn’t mind scratching or biting. That’ll come in handy for you.”
She grinned as Bria flushed. “I – yeah, maybe I will. My mom says it would be good for me to not be in a relationship for a while. She says I’ve barely spent any of my adult life being single, and I need to get to know who I really am.”
Kat laughed. “God, I wish my mother was like that. She’s finally jumped off the ‘you’re going to die old and alone’ train, but now she’s hopped on the ‘you need to make me a grandmother before I die’ train. Ronin delights in teasing her about how he’s pretty certain he’s sterile. She falls for it every damn time.”
“Do you think I need to be single for a while, Kat? I’ve always been in a relationship and honestly, I find it lonely to not be in one. I don’t know what to do with myself.”
“I think you need to do what makes you happy. If being in a relationship makes you happy – then be in one. Just make sure it’s the right guy, okay?”
Bria nodded, and Kat took a sip of her coffee. “How’s the job hunt going?”
“Good, actually. I have two interviews this week. Both are just reception jobs, but my savings are dangerously low, so I’ll take what I can get. Maybe someday I’ll grow up and figure out what I actually want to do with my life.”
She took a drink of her coffee. “Thanks. I feel much better.”
“Good. Email that tiger shifter, okay? It’s better than trolling for total strangers in a bar.”
“Yeah,” Bria said. “I will.”
* * *
Bria paid for her coffee and moved to the other end of the counter. She shifted from foot to foot and tried to calm her racing pulse.
After talking to Kat, she’d gone home and before she could lose her nerve, sent an email to Jace, the tiger shifter that she’d recommended. She kept it brief, explaining that she received his email from Kat and wondered if they could meet to discuss her heat cycle. Jace had replied within a couple of hours and agreed to meet. His email was short but well-written. Feeling a little sick to her stomach, she arranged to meet him at Starbucks the next morning.
She smoothed her bright red top and wondered if her jeans were too tight. They did showcase her ass nicely and she considered it to be her best physical feature. Her boobs were too small to be proud of, but both Kyle and Raden had loved her ass.
She sighed nervously. She hadn’t sent a picture to Jace and he hadn’t asked for one but now she wondered if she should have. What if he didn’t like what he saw?
So what if he doesn’t? You’re still not entirely sure you can go through with this anyway.
That was a good point. She sighed again. She had given him a description of what she was wearing so he could find her at Starbucks. She tentatively searched the people milling about. She didn’t see anyone who looked remotely big enough to be a tiger shifter and some of the nerves eased a little in her belly. She was early so he likely wouldn’t be here for another ten minutes anyway. She smoothed her shirt and picked at a loose thread near the button.
“Bria?”
A hand touched her elbow. The deep, raspy voice sounded vaguely familiar. She turned and raised her gaze to the hazel eyes of the tiger shifter who had fucked her in the bathroom three nights ago.
“Hi, I’m Jace. It’s nice to…”
They stared at each other in shocked silence. Her pulse pounded in her ears and she knew her mouth was hanging open like an idiot.
“Well, this is a bit awkward, huh?” He finally said.
She blinked at him before forcing the words past her dry throat. “A bit awkward? Oh my God, I – I have to go.”
She tried to dart by him and he placed his hand on her arm, pulling her to a stop. “Wait, don’t go.”
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as he waited patiently.
“This was a mistake,” she said.
“Just – let’s have a coffee and talk, okay?”
It was the last thing she wanted, but she nodded in defeat and waited as he ordered his coffee. She picked hers up, dismayed at the way her hands were shaking. She found a table near the back as he grabbed his coffee and joined her.
“Hi,” he said as he sat down across from her.
The table was small - too small - and she sat back when his knees bumped against hers.
“Um, hi.”
“So, you’re friends with Kat?”
She nodded as he sipped at the coffee. “I’ve only met her once, but she seemed really nice.”
“Yeah.” She stared at the table.
“Bria?”
“I’m sorry I ran out on you the other morning. That was really, uh, ungrateful of me, but I was embarrassed and didn’t know what to say.” She was babbling but couldn’t stop. “When I woke up, my heat cycle was done and I was ashamed at what I had done to you, but I shouldn’t have just taken off like that. It was really rude of me. I just – I wanted to say thank you. You really helped me out.”
“You’re welcome.”
She waited for more and when he just took another sip of coffee, she frowned at him. “That’s it?”
“What else did you want me to say?”
“I don’t know, that you’re not upset with me for leaving like that.”
“Why would I be?”
Her face went red and she glared at him. “Listen, maybe you’re used to just having random, casual sex with strangers but I’m not, okay? What happened between us was really out of character for me and I don’t want you thinking I’m some kind of – of whore.”
“I don’t.” He gave her a look of confusion. “You were in heat and couldn’t help yourself.”
“I’m not weak!” She snarled, even though she was terribly afraid that she was.
“I didn’t think you were.”
Her sudden anger vanished, and she rubbed at her temples. “What a mess.”
“It isn’t. In fact, I think this makes things a lot smoother for us.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, you know exactly what I can do for you during your next heat cycle. I can still provide you with references, of course, but now you have first-hand knowledge. That will make your decision easier, right?”
“God,” she muttered. “I guess now I know why you were so – so good at it. You do this for a living.”
He laughed. “I don’t do this for a living, Bria. There’s no money exchanged and as much as I enjoy sex – I can’t exactly live off of it.”
“Why did you help me?” She asked. “Why did you warn me about that snake shifter and why did you…”
A small grin crossed his face. A weird tingle of heat went through her belly and her cat perked up.
“Why did I help ease your need?” He suggested.
“Yeah,” she mumbled.
“I told you – I’ve seen that slimy snake do this before and I’d finally had enough.”
She pulled compulsively on a strand of hair as he said, “As far as the easing your need goes – I knew it was the only way to keep you from taking the snake home.”
She released her breath in a shaky sigh. “Right.”
Why was she feeling such disappointment? Did she really expect him to confess that he had found her so beautiful, so intoxicating, that he just couldn’t resist? She was losing it.
“So, let’s talk about how this works. My schedule is flexible, and I can be available for you whenever you require. Is your heat cycle regular?”
“Like clockwork.”
“Good. If you choose me, you can be assured that you’re the only one I’ll be helping. There won’t be other cat shifters.”
“Guess that would be pretty tiring for you, huh?” She said.
He smiled a little. “You were a bit more demanding and aggressive than most.”
She blushed furiously and he shook his head. “That’s not a bad thing, Bria. I’m assuming you’ve had a few heat cycles without sex which makes it much worse.”
“This was my second one,” she confessed without thinking.
A look of surprise crossed his face and her blush deepened. “Oh God, I’m a freak.”
“You’re not,” he said. “Besides, I didn’t mind.”
She licked her lips and didn’t fail to notice the way his gaze dropped to her mouth. “How is your back, by the way?”
“Completely healed.”
“Good.”
He leaned forward. He was wearing a dark suit that clung to his broad shoulders and she stared fixedly at his red tie as he said, “If you choose me, I like to have an email or text reminder a week before your cycle starts. That way I can clear my schedule for you. Of course, if it happens to come early, you can always text me and I’ll work something out.”
“It won’t,” she said. “It never does.”
“The preference for most cat shifters I’ve helped in the past is that I stay with them - either at my place or theirs, it’s completely your choice – through their entire heat cycle. The need is usually less intense if you know you can have me whenever you want me.”
Dull heat coloured her cheeks. He was so matter-of-fact about it, so clinical, and she supposed she should have been happy about that. Unfortunately, at this moment she couldn’t get the memory out of her head of his mouth buried in her pussy.
“Of course,” he continued, “I’m also happy to be available on an on-call basis during your heat cycle. Also, I have good stamina and I’m more than willing to delay my own gratification until you’re completely satisfied.”
She didn’t reply, and he cleared his throat. “Don’t judge me completely on what happened earlier, Bria. I’d had a long day at work and wasn’t expecting to be helping a cat shifter through her heat cycle that night. I know my performance was subpar, but I can assure you that I’ll be at the top of my game when you need me.”
She blinked at him. If his performance three nights ago was subpar, she wasn’t entirely sure she could handle him when he was at the top of his game.
“You were fine,” she whispered.
He winced. “Fine? I really need to work on my performance, apparently.”
“No,” she stuttered as her cheeks flamed again. “You were good. Uh, really good. I mean that.”
“Thanks.” He pulled a piece of paper out from the inner pocket of his suit and handed it to her. Confused, she opened it and stared blankly at it for a moment before her eyes widened. Right. In his email, Jace had asked her to bring a copy of her latest medical tests as well as proof that she was on birth control for him to look at. She fumbled the papers out of her purse and pushed them across the table. Jace looked them over as she studied his face.
He handed the papers back to her and smiled. “Thank you. As you can see from my tests, I’m clean, but I will wear a condom if that’s your preference.”
“Uh, I’m okay with not wearing condoms,” she said.
“All right. Do you have any other questions?”
“What about in between my heat cycles?”
“What about it?” He gave her a confused look.
“Would you – I mean, are you available then as well?”
Surprise crossed his face. “I don’t usually have cat shifters asking for me when they’re not in heat.”
This time she was positive her cheeks were on fire. She had no idea why she had said that, it had just come tumbling out of her. She realized with sudden clarity that she couldn’t do this. She was the relationship type, not the ‘fuck them once a month’ type and she was stupid to think she could even try.
He ran his fingers over a small shaving cut on his jaw. “I don’t do conventional relationships, Bria. This is why this arrangement works so well for me.”
She stood, and he immediately stood as well. “What’s wrong?”
“I can’t do this with you. I’m sorry for wasting your time.” She pushed past the table and fled.
* * *
The tiny tiger shifter was quick. She was across the coffee shop and out the door before he could even think of going after her.
“Dammit, Jace, you fucking idiot,” he muttered. He sat down, pushed his half-finished coffee aside and stared blankly at the wall. It had rattled him badly when the woman in the red shirt with the amazing ass had turned around. He hadn’t expected to see the little tiger shifter from the club ever again. His tiger had immediately roared its approval and he had damn near rubbed up against her before he could get control of it again.
He had been ridiculously disappointed when he’d awoken and discovered she was gone, leaving nothing but healing scratches on his back and destroyed sheets. The woman was dynamite in bed and so responsive to his touch. Her aggression and frantic need had only increased his lust.
Christ, when she had bumped into him at the club and he had smelled her lust and felt her hips pressing against his groin, he had hardened immediately. He’d known instinctively that she was in her heat cycle, but she had skittered away before he could offer to help.
He had watched, growing angry when the snake shifter had arrowed in on her. It was pure instinct that had made him go after her in the bathroom to warn her. Her need had a strong hold on her by then and he had, again, acted on instinct, when he pushed her into the stall. Her scent, the way her blue eyes flashed fire at him – hell, even the way she had hissed at him - had his dick straining at his jeans.
He wasn’t lying when he told her he was tired, and he muttered another curse. Maybe she would have chosen him if he was a little more attentive and a little faster to ease her need. But he had shown four houses that day and there was a mistake with some paperwork that had nearly cost him a sale.
His assistant Rosalie was running on empty trying to cover both her job and reception. He didn’t blame her for the mistake, but he had spent a few tense hours calling the bank to fix the error and apologizing to the clients. He wouldn’t have even gone to the nightclub that night if he hadn’t promised Lincoln he would. Then the damn lion shifter had bailed on him at the first sight of the bunny shifter twitching her nose at him.
He reached for his coffee. It didn’t matter now, he had blown it with Bria. He didn’t know why it bothered him so much. He had three more emails from cat shifters wanting to meet with him. One of them would be a good fit.
I want Bria, his tiger growled sulkily. Give her to me.
Way too late. She specifically said she couldn’t do this with him which meant she was probably already choosing from the next on her list of applicants. He cursed again – why the fuck didn’t he make a better effort that night?