She ran her fingers over his ears, which tickled, although he stayed still to keep from startling her. Then she grew bolder, digging her fingers into his fur and petting down his back. She touched his tail very gently, and he couldn’t keep it from twitching; she laughed.
“Oh, you’re beautiful,” she said.
Beautiful was not a word Cal had ever thought to apply to himself, but hearing it from Lillian was...surprisingly nice.
He sat back on her haunches and let her look and pet to her heart’s content. Feeling his mate’s hands on him, her fingers scratching his ears and burying themselves in his fur, was soothing, like all was right with the world. He felt his eyes go half-lidded.
Above him, Lillian laughed. “You look exactly like a satisfied cat right now,” she said.
To be fair, a satisfied cat was exactly what Cal was.
Eventually, Lillian let her hands fall away from his fur—reluctantly, Cal thought. He wanted to tell her that she could keep going as long as she liked. Maybe sometime they could take a nap together like this, with him keeping her warm with his fur.
Maybe someday, if she could shift too—
He cut that thought off. Speculating on his own wasn’t going to help Lillian make the right decision for herself.
“All right,” Lillian was saying. “You can shift back now.”
Cal shifted, and immediately caught Lillian up in his arms, wanting that same closeness. He buried his face in her neck and inhaled; her scent wasn’t as strong in his human form, but it was still all kinds of intoxicating.
Lillian had made a little surprised noise at first
, but now she was melting against him, shivering as he kissed her neck, little kisses that moved up to behind her ear. Her hair was caught up in an elegant twist as always, but little tendrils were starting to escape and curl around her ears, tickling his face.
Cal kissed her temple, her cheek, the bridge of her nose, and then finally her sweet, sweet mouth. She tasted delicious, and she opened for him immediately with a little moan.
Cal couldn’t get enough of the way Lillian was so open physically. Most of the time, even in private, she was very controlled and careful—in her appearance, in her speech, and in her movements. But when they’d first made love, he’d been struck by how that care and control fell away under his hands, his mouth.
It was gorgeous. And he loved that it was only for him.
He kissed her mouth until she was pressed up close against him, her hips shifting. He cupped one of her breasts in his hand and felt the hardness of her nipple under her shirt. He loved what a generous handful her breasts were—he’d always been attracted to curvy women, and to him, Lillian was the embodiment of a feminine ideal, the breasts and hips of a woman who could be the mother of a whole brood of children someday. The feel of her curves under his hands drove him wild.
“Mmm,” Lillian said, as he stroked his thumb over her nipple. “You’re so good at this.”
“Don’t think it’s that,” Cal said, caught up in the feel of her. Then he slid his other hand down the curve of her waist to her hip, and got distracted.
“What do you think, then?” Lillian managed after another couple of minutes. Cal’s hand had moved back, and he was enjoying the curve of her behind, slipping his fingers forward a bit to discover a hot dampness building between her legs.
“Hm? Oh.” He’d said something. What was it? Oh, right. “I think we just match,” he said into her mouth. “What I want and what you want. It’s the same. It’s not any fantastic skill on my part.”
His fingers explored a bit further down the seam of her jeans, and she gasped. “Maybe it’s both.”
“I could get behind both, I guess,” Cal agreed with a grin.
Lillian’s own hands were going exploring in the meantime. She’d unbuttoned his shirt down to the waistband of his pants, and was busily undoing his belt even as she panted into his mouth.
Cal was about to suggest they move it upstairs, but then she got the belt off and slid a hand down his pants. Those soft fingers wrapping around his cock sent any ideas straight out of his head. He groaned.
Lillian made an appreciative noise. Cal thrust forward into her hand, unable to keep his hips still in the face of her obvious enjoyment.
“I think we should be more naked,” she offered.
“Good idea,” Cal managed.
They had to separate to make it happen, which was difficult. Cal kept coming back for one more kiss. But finally she pushed him away, laughing, and pulled her shirt over her head.
That focused him in a hurry. The sight of her creamy breasts, pushed up by her bra to form the most enticing cleavage...he got his pants off fast.