Epilogue
“Are you ready?” Cal gripped her hands hard.
Lillian nodded. “Yes! I’ve said yes a thousand times. I’m excited.”
She was. There was a little bit of fear, but it was more a thrill that came with facing the unknown than anything really scary. Mostly, she couldn’t wait to learn what the rest of her life was going to be like.
Living with Cal had already been so much of an adventure. She’d been able to make her own decisions, stretch out into her own space, but it was all with the most wonderful partner she could ever have imagined.
She’d even been able to set some real boundaries with her mother. So far, her mom hadn’t been able to stick to any of them (don’t dictate personal choices to me was particularly difficult for her), but when she didn’t, Lillian could simply say, “I asked you not to do that. I’ll see you next time,” and simply...walk away.
It was amazing. It felt like stretching her body after being curled up in a cramped little hole for years.
And now she was about to stretch even further.
“Okay.” Cal released her hands, took a step back, and shifted. Lillian was struck once again by the rippling beauty of his fur, the gorgeous patterns of grey-and-black spots, and his thick, luxurious tail. Cal had told her that snow leopards used their extra-thick tails to help keep themselves warm in the winter. Lillian imagined curling up in the snow with that heavy furred tail wrapped around her, snug and warm, and sighed.
Cal padded up to look at her. His eyes, as always, were almost completely unchanged. Lillian held out her arm.
He opened his jaws, revealing large, sharp teeth. Lillian was aware distantly that at some earlier point, she would’ve been afraid of this. Now, however, she felt as safe as she ever had in her life.
Cal closed his jaws gently, so gently, around her arm, and pressed. At first, Lillian barely felt anything, and then the pressure increased, just enough to leave a pinprick of pain. “Oh!” she said, and Cal released her immediately.
Tiny drops of blood were welling up on her arm, but Lillian could hardly focus on them. Instead, she was caught up in the rush of power, coming through her body.
It was like nothing she’d ever felt before. Not just strength, but confidence and ferocity and a strange sense of utter well-being. Like she hadn’t been quite herself, all her life, and now finally she’d clicked into place. Finally, she was who she’d really been meant to be.
Lillian shivered hard. Cal had shifted back and was watching her, concerned. “Are you all right?”
She nodded slowly. “Yes.” Talking felt strange. It was hard to remember that she even had human lips and teeth. She wanted, suddenly, to shed them, to take on her new form. “How do I—”
She didn’t finish the sentence. As she’d thought that she wanted to shift, she’d somehow instinctively turned inward...and found a snow leopard inside her.
The leopard was a fierce and intelligent force, both animal and still somehow part of her. She let it rise up, filling her chest, expanding into her entire body—
And she was falling to all fours. All four paws. Lillian flexed her claws. She had claws. She had teeth, too, the same scary teeth that Cal had just closed around her arm.
She realized, all of a sudden, what this meant: if something like the mountain lions’ threats ever happened again, she could defend herself. She was as dangerous as any shifter, now, not some helpless victim.
Satisfaction welled inside her at the thought. It was followed by a sense of boundless energy—she not only had claws and teeth, she had powerful snow leopard muscles, and she couldn’t wait to test them out.
She looked over at Cal. He’d shifted back again, and she was presented with a new way to experience her mate: scent. He smelled like home, like safety and happiness. She knew immediately that no matter what, she’d forever recognize that scent. She leaned in to touch her nose to his.
Then she flicked her ears playfully and bounded off.
Cal was caught by surprise for a split-second, and then she could hear him chasing after her. They raced through the mountain forest, leaping over rocks and fallen logs. Lillian came up to an enormous tree and thought, why not? She leapt, grasping at the bark with her claws, and easily scaled up to a thick branch, where she settled herself and looked down at her mate, who had come to a halt at the base of the tree and was sitting on his haunches, looking up at her.
Waiting for her to continue the game, Lillian realized.
It was funny. She’d known that the change was right. She known that being a snow leopard would make her even more part of Cal’s family, and part of Teri’s. She’d known that it would give her fantastical new experiences, that it would change her life forever.
She hadn’t realized that it would be so fun.
She leapt down from the tree, and the chase began again.
They spent over an hour out in the woods, with Lillian exploring her new abilities. She could leap farther than she would’ve thought possible. She could walk delicately across narrow branches without once worrying that she might overbalance and fall. She could pounce on Cal and roll around on the ground with him, nipping playfully and trying to see who could come out on top.
Finally, Cal led the way back to the cabin. Once there, he shifted to human, and Lillian followed suit.
“Well?” he asked, with a quirk of his lips that suggested he knew exactly what the answer was. “What do you think?”
“It was amazing!” Lillian could feel the smile almost splitting her face. Her cheek muscles were stiff, unused to such a broad, unashamed expression. “I’ve never done anything like that. I’ve never been athletic, outdoorsy like Teri is. To run around so fearlessly...and all the things I could do! I want to do that every day.”
Cal’s half-smile had faded into something else. He was looking at her with an expression that was hard to decipher, but Lillian thought it might be wonder.
“You’re the amazing one,” he said. “Come on, come inside.”
They went in, and almost before the door was closed, Cal had caught her up in his arms and was kissing her deeply. Lillian responded immediately. All of the playful energy they’d had outside was transmuting into something else.
Cal broke away, but it was only to lead her upstairs to his bed. Clothes fell to the floor on their way there, and they tumbled down onto the enormous soft mattress together, kissing and kissing.
Some of the leopard’s boldness was still inhabiting her—Lillian gave in to a sudden impulse and rolled them over so that she was on top. Cal went willingly, grinning up at her.
“This is a change,” he said. “I like it.”
Lillian smiled back down at him. She’d been so self-conscious at first, her inhibitions and insecurities ruling her until Cal drove them out of her mind with pleasure. Now, she knew she belonged here, with him, and she knew he loved her and thought she was beautiful. So it was her turn to take the lead.
She remembered how Cal had kissed her all over, the first time. She leaned down and brushed their lips together, and then set out to imitate him.
She noticed some things as she went, things that had escaped her up until now. For example, Cal’s muscles were firm and hard, but his skin was smooth and even soft in places. He was just the tiniest bit ticklish—or he was very good at controlling his reaction. She got a little shiver over his ribcage, and determined to explore that more at a later date.
When she came down to his hips, kissing over that thin skin by his pubic hair, he groaned deep in his chest. Lillian glanced up, teasingly. “Something you want?”
He lifted his head. “What I want,” he said sincerely, “is whatever you want to give.”
That overwhelmed her with feeling, and she gave up teasing before she’d even really started. She wanted to give him the same pleasure he’d given her, before.
She’d been deliberately ignoring his erection, but now she turned to it, leaning in to take the head in her mouth. Cal made a strangled noise, and Lillian smiled inwardly. She could taste the sudden salt of pre-come on her tongue.
She sucked softly, not wanting to bring him to the edge just yet, but rather to leave him as helpless with pleasure as she’d been under his mouth. From the way his breath was heaving and his hands were clenching in the sheets, she was doing well so far.
It didn’t take long, though, for her to lose sight of her goals and just focus on the experience. It was such an intimate thing, so deeply physical. The smell and taste of sex was everywhere. She wrapped a hand around his slick cock, feeling it pulse with blood as she moved her hand and her mouth together.
She was almost ready to change her mind, and make him come in her mouth, when Cal said, “Lillian, come up here—”
She backed away immediately and crawled up the bed, and was immediately pulled into a kiss. When it ended, she kissed his jaw and said, “What is it?”
“I want to be inside you when I finish.” Cal’s voice was low enough to crack the bedframe, it felt like. Breathless, Lillian nodded.
She pulled back to straddle his hips—his hands came up to close on hers, steadying her as she slowly lowered herself onto his cock. God, he was big. The stretch was a surprise every time, but as always, the surprise melted quickly away into the sharpest pleasure she’d ever felt. The way he seemed to fill her completely, more thoroughly than anyone ever had—
Cal groaned, his hands flexing on her hips. “You feel amazing.”
“That’s my line,” Lillian managed, but then words abandoned her. She bit her lip as she slid further and further down, until finally, finally she was seated on his hips. His cock was so far inside her that it was pressing up against her cervix just a bit again, and the bolts of pleasure from that were too powerful to ignore.
“Okay,” she said on a gasp. “Okay, I think it’s your turn to be in charge again.”
Cal sat up and rolled them over in one swift, fluid motion, as though he’d only been waiting for her word.
Lillian arched her back as he drove into her, shuddering in pleasure. But Cal was just as overwhelmed; when she focused, she could see that his eyes were shut tight, his mouth open. She got a hand behind his neck and pulled him down for a kiss.
They came together, their arms clenched around each other as pleasure wracked them both. Lillian felt like they’d become one ecstatic being, sensation flowing back and forth without any barriers anymore. She closed her eyes and fell into it.
When she came back to herself, Cal was falling down to lie next to her, his breath heavy and deep.
“I may not survive a whole lifetime of this,” he said speculatively.
Lillian giggled. “But what a way to go.”
Cal propped himself up on his elbow, looking down at her. “I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you, you know,” he said seriously.
It was a bit nonsensical, but it didn’t matter. Lillian knew exactly what he meant. “Me, too.”
Cal leaned down and kissed her, soft and slow. Lillian’s heart overflowed with love.
The End