Talons (18 page)

The thought of being naked with Ty was
sounding alarming to Vivvie, even if she would be covered in fur.
She could hardly meet his gaze, she was so embarrassed.

“
Vivian, you need to get
over this human shyness you have,” he said with a smile. “You’re
not going through anything that we haven’t already, but you were
not born to it. Many of us take these little things for
granted.”

Vivvie smiled and realized she had no
reason to keep these things from Ty. He went through it all before.
“How old were you when you started this?”

“
I was born this way. My
shift began before I was even teething. I can’t remember what it
was like for that reason, but my mother said it was difficult for
her finding her baby up a tree at times.”

Vivvie’s eyes widened. “Shut the door,
dude!”

“
I’m serious,” Ty said,
grinning broadly. “Newborns can be quite rambunctious. It’s a
wonder you only ate your couch. Be sure to keep stuff up high that
you value, or you will destroy everything you own.”

Vivvie cringed to think of gnawing on
the electrical cord. She probably got zapped while she was playing
with it like a chew toy. She couldn’t remember any of it, and found
that the most disturbing of all, being so out of
control.

“
So how do you make yourself
shift?” she asked.

“
Rather than explain it;
I’ll just show you,” Ty said and looked down at his plate, one
piece of steak remained. He held it up smiling down at her. “Here,
kitty, kitty!”

She frowned but leapt at the last
piece, making him chuckle with delight.

“
Go put on a robe and we’ll
go up,” he said.

Vivvie practically ran back to her
room, so excited to go up top and explore the new side of her. She
returned to him in under three minutes, barely winded. He smiled at
the sight of her bare painted toenails.

“
I usually take slippers
along but this is your first day,” he said and took the lead,
heading to the elevators. Vivvie felt the eyes upon her and saw the
curious looks they got as they headed up. She felt like doing a
touchdown dance in front of the elevator, even if she was wearing a
Betty Boop robe, compliments of Dina.

She was bristling with excitement and
the elevator seemed to take forever. Ty noticed her impatience and
smiled.

“
That OCD thing you used to
have is going to come into play here,” he said and saw her face
fall. “What I meant is you will definitely have the advantage over
most newborns, in that your sense of focus is much stronger. You
should be able to command your own shift for that reason, right off
the bat.”

“
Why can’t I remember what I
was doing then?” she asked curiously, slightly afraid.

“
You weren’t focusing; you
were in shock most likely. You allowed the shift to take over, and
that can be dangerous for you, especially in the wild,” he
explained as the doors opened and they stepped out into the
sunlight. “We have our share of hunters out here, Vivian. They
shoot at us all the time. You must never let the animal inside you
to take over completely, because then you rely only on those
instincts alone. This is the most important thing you need to
learn.”

“
How do you do it?” she
asked, eager to find out everything right at that
moment.

Ty saw her intense expression and
smiled, shaking his head. “You feel the flutters in your stomach
right now?”

She nodded, her stomach was fluttering
crazily.

“
Ok, you need to concentrate
on those sensations, harness them with your mind,” he said and
walked with her to the trees, stepping behind them to disrobe.
Vivvie turned away, knowing he was stripping down. The sight of him
naked sent an unbelievable thrill through her.

“
We will have to work on
your shyness another time,” he said in amusement behind her. “Now
grab those flutters with your mind, imagine your mind has
fingers.”

Vivvie did as he said and nothing
happened. She pouted and shook her head, trying to grab hold again.
Nothing happened still.

“
Ok, let’s try something
else, imagine you’re on a roller coaster and you have reached the
top. Your car is going over the top and beginning to take the
plunge down,” he said and saw her frowning as she closed her eyes.
“That elation should be in the back of your throat. You feel the
need to grab for something to hold on.”

Vivvie was focusing on his voice,
trying to grab hold of the sensation as he guided her through it.
She felt something burst within her then, blinking sharply as the
three dimensional sight returned and then her robe lay in tatters
about her on the ground.

Ty watched her shift with admiration.
He regarded the large, beautiful cat she became with a sense of
excitement he never felt before, petting her down her soft back.
She purred contentedly and her head rubbed against his hand. Those
green eyes met his and he commanded his own shift.

Vivvie growled at him then but he
butted his head into hers, determined she would seek to focus now.
He saw her hiss at him and her large paw came up and swatted at
him, her fangs bared.

He growled back, springing at her and
grappling with her, biting into her neck until she went still. It
was all he could do to not mount her then, but he would save that
for another day. She needed to learn to take control of the animal
inside her first. Vivvie followed him as he lunged away and ran,
diving down into the trees. He watched out for hunters, hearing
them tramping through the woods around a mile out. She was too
interested in chasing the butterflies through the fields they ran
through, her paws flying to capture them. She rolled amid the
weeds, purring as he approached.

Golden eyes filled with pleasure to
watch her frolicking. She swatted at him playfully again, bearing
her teeth. He lunged away, making her chase him. They chased and
played for upwards of an hour and soon she sprawled upon the
shoreline of a stream, panting and taking sun.

The male cat lay next to the female,
licking her face. She purred and rubbed her head into his caress.
Ty shifted back into his human form and petted her contentedly. She
nibbled at his fingers when he stopped. He scratched her behind the
ears and stroked her soft glossy black coat.

Ty didn’t know how long she napped, but
during her slumber, she shifted back to form and lay naked in his
arms. He looked down at her nudity with pride in his gaze. Vivian
had a beautiful figure. Her breasts were small and perfect. Her
legs were slender and shapely, now entwined with his on the
shoreline.

He knew if she woke up now, she would
be embarrassed. Ty more than guessed she was probably a virgin, and
if not, she wasn’t overly knowledgeable about men. Finding his own
clothes, he saw her cute robe was now destroyed. He pulled on his
jeans and put on his socks and boots. Ty returned to the stream and
bent down and covered her with his t-shirt. After a long lingering
look, he turned away. From the moment she answered her door back in
Sebastian in the bright pink bikini; he wanted nothing more than to
rip off the beach towel and have his way with her.

These emotions he was starting to feel
for her were alien. They were all swirled together now. Everything
he felt, lust, desire, affection, protectiveness, and a need to
nurture played havoc with his normally rigid sense of
control.

Vivian was a mere kitten and new to
their world. She saw everything with fresh eyes. Ty knew he should
leave her alone and allow her to grow. The thought of Eli or
Jericho claiming her made him frown. The other males in the tribe
deferred to the elders, but even they wouldn’t hesitate to claim
her now that her change was complete.

Ty didn’t look forward to the fights
that would incur if he didn’t claim her for himself. Eli and
Jericho wouldn’t hesitate now when they learned she made the
change. He was pretty certain he would seek to rip anyone apart who
went near her.

He let her sleep as he sat and debated
his alternatives. Taking a mate at this point in his existence
seemed a cruel slap in the face for them both. She had her whole
life ahead of her while one stray bullet in the woods would end
his. Going to Florida to stop Ryken was accepted as his last
hurrah.

Ty looked at the young woman sleeping
with the ease he’d never known and put his head in his hands.
Vivian didn’t need this, as much as he didn’t need this. For nearly
three hundred years he played the odds of never finding a mate. Why
now, when he approached the sunset of his last soul, did he have to
find her?

~~~~

Vivvie woke and was startled, sitting
up to see she was alone, and only Ty’s shirt over her nakedness.
She hastily put on his oversized t-shirt and stood up looking down
to see the end nearly came to her knees.

“
It’s about time you got
up,” Ty said as he jumped down from the tree above, landing in
front of her, shirtless and grinning at her. He looked so
attractive without his shirt, she was glad the Betty Boop robe was
toast, forcing him to give it up to her.

“
How long was I out?” she
asked, avoiding his glowing golden eyes.

“
About three hours, give or
take,” he said quietly, “we should get back. You need to get ready
for your date.”

She smiled at his words, seeing how
much he looked forward to it. “Yeah, I need to get date-ready, I
forgot.”

“
The movie starts at seven,”
he said with a frown. “You don’t need to get all dolled up, do
you?”

Vivvie wanted to laugh at his
expression then, certain he thought she would take hours to get
ready. Remembering these people existed in another civilization and
their perceptions of humans were seen on TV prompted her to let him
off the hook.

“
The last time I got dolled
up for a date; I got turned into one of you, so we can skip that,”
she said.

“
Good, because if we don’t
get there early; we won’t get any popcorn or a good seat,” he said
with a grin and hustled her up the side of the
embankment.

Vivvie followed him, declaring it had
to have been easier getting down, once they were back upon the
ridge. Ty pulled her up and they walked in companionable silence
back to the elevator.

She saw the red Corvette pulling out of
the service elevator and tensed. Blue glowing eyes were felt from
the tips of her bare toes to her disheveled hair mussed with pieces
of grass and twigs.

Ty waved at Eli as they made their way
to the elevators. Vivvie felt the leader’s eyes upon her as he
stopped to talk to Ty. It was unnerving to have Eli look at her in
Ty’s t-shirt with such open admiration. Seeing him at his most
savage the day before unnerved her to the degree she looked at him
more like a beast than a man.

Just thinking about how he savaged
Ryken and saved her from Dean made her shiver in fear. She'd not
gotten around to thanking him. Suspecting he put her in such a
position stilled her tongue.

Eli wasn’t sticking around for movie
night, it appeared. Vivvie was slightly glad. The leader made her
feel even more on edge with his inscrutable blue stare. She knew he
was still reserving judgment on his decision to let her
stay.

Ty hit the button hidden in the rock
ledge and the doors slid open. She stepped inside, feeling a sense
of disappointment the day was over. Something in her expression
must have clued him into her feelings.

“
We can go out again
tomorrow if you like?”

“
I’d like that.”

“
Do you remember anything
that happened during your shift this time?” he asked as the
elevator hummed.

“
All but me falling asleep,”
she said with a smile. His eyes widened at that.

“
That’s good. I told you
that you would catch on quick.”

They rode in silence the rest of the
way down. Vivvie was glad the hallways were blessedly empty as he
walked her back to her room. Vivvie watched him leave, biting her
lip to have wanted him to stay.

She went in and raced through a shower,
blew her hair dry, and put a bit of make-up on. Standing in front
of her closet in only a bra and panties, she surveyed her options.
Compliments of Dina, she had too many choices now.

Vivvie settled on a green silk tee and
a khaki jacket. She grabbed the skinny jeans left behind by Rachel
and squeezed into them. She slid on a pair of brown flats and
opened the jewelry box to pick through the bounty
within.

Dina had more gold than a pawnshop.
Vivvie settled upon a thick gold rope chain and a bangle bracelet.
She wore the one-carat diamond studs Dina got for her twenty-first
birthday from her father with a lot less guilt now.

Looking at herself in the mirror she
smiled, determined this date would end better than her last. Her
smile faded to realize a little over three months before how
different her life was, and how different she was now.

Try as she might, she missed her former
life. Even if it was a constant struggle to put gas in her car and
disappointments abounded. Having it taken from her by a vindictive
Ryken made her resentful. Vivvie hoped whatever Eli and the others
planned for him was a fitting end to the monster that turned her
whole life upside down. She would get justice for Dina and
Rachel.