Romancing the leopard, p.5
Romancing the Leopard, page 5
But her comfort with him, the way she kept saying things she wouldn’t normally say to someone she didn’t know… Yeah, she needed to think more about that.
Although, with him up all night alongside her, sitting out here watching the sky, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to think. She was just so aware of him. So…drawn to him.
If she didn’t drag him into one of their tents tonight, it would only be through sheer stubborn will. But a part of her kept asking why she should bother resisting her impulse. Why not seduce him and spend the next few days enjoying him as well as the celestial show?
Her only answer to that was that it would be too hard to say goodbye to him if she did that.
And that, after a few hours acquaintance, was truly terrifying.
* * *
Dylan tried not to spend more time looking at Cat than he did his own telescope but that proved a lot more challenging than he’d have thought just twelve hours ago. They’d set their scopes up close enough to each other so they could still talk quietly as the night wore on, though they both seemed to have found a peaceful sort of silence that fit their stargazing activity. Her scent came to him easily with only a meter between them, and it filled his head with things he couldn’t name.
There was a possessiveness there that defied the amount of time they’d spent together. A comfort, too. And yet a touch of… He could only call it edginess. But he couldn’t quite place the reason for the edginess. He’d have been tempted to call it lust a few hours ago, because there was a significant amount of that brewing in his blood. Watching her lick sugar off her fingers earlier had nearly done him in. Funnel cakes might not have been the wisest choice. But he couldn’t have refused her the treat—or anything at all really.
Which was kind of terrifying.
He adjusted his scope a little, moving it manually to follow a galactic nebula he was trying to enjoy watching. Focus and concentration were not his friends tonight, though. Well, he could focus and concentrate, but only, apparently, on Cat.
Every time she moved, sighed, murmured under her breath, his body strained toward her, all his attention on her and what she might do next. It was…
A little irritating. He hadn’t spent more than two years planning for this event only to spend all his time obsessing over the little movements of a woman he’d only just met.
She fascinated him, though. Everything about her. The contrast between constant motion when she was talking and absolute stillness when she was deep in thought. The flash of her grin, the sound of her laugh, the way her dark eyes lit up when she was discussing one of the subjects she loved. The scent of her desire when she looked at him.
That last… That was the real kicker. The knowing came close to overwhelming him. Especially since his leopard saw no reason to resist her.
Yet he also caught her hesitance and confusion. She was uncomfortable about her reaction. It was there in her scent as well as the way she’d hurriedly glance away when he caught her staring at him. He’d have had a harder time not at least kissing her if it weren’t for that faint flavor of confusion.
Cat didn’t strike him as the kind of woman who was easily confused. But since he couldn’t explain his own draw to her, the deep primalness of it, he understood how she felt.
She made a faint sound, just a longer than usual exhale, and he turned to her without thought. She was staring through her scope, a slight smile curving her delicious lips.
“See something interesting?” he asked quietly.
Around them, the campsite had darkened and quieted as the night wore on. There were still groups awake, some talking, the clink of bottles here and there. But as the night deepened, so did the silence. The couple in the motorhome next to Dylan’s site had gone to sleep an hour earlier. The family opposite Cat had all disappeared into their various tents as well. The two young men across from them were still quietly drinking beers. And the older man, Tom, had set up his own scope and was silently enjoying the night sky.
The air had cooled off significantly as the night wore on, too. Dylan loved the chill in the air. Outside of helping to cool his blood, it called to his leopard, the need to stretch and run just under his skin. Not that he wanted to leave Cat’s side. Even his leopard felt that pull stronger than the desire to run free. The colder air had driven her to pull on a sweatshirt, and he’d had to resist the urge to offer himself as a way for her to keep warm. She still had her hair pulled up in a messy ponytail and the stripes of purple and blue darkened her otherwise blond hair in the low light.
Everything about her profile as she stared through her scope’s eyepiece just mesmerized him.
Her smile widened at his question. “I’m just looking at Saturn. Why do those rings make it so much more fascinating and beautiful than the other planets? They’re just dust and ice particles.”
“They reflect light and glitter if you look just right,” he murmured. “They’re unique, so bright and apparent. Of course they’re beautiful.” Saturn wasn’t the only outer planet with rings, but none of the others had anything like those spectacular streams of rushing layers. He might be more of a star guy, but he had to admit, Saturn through a scope was pretty awesome.
She smiled at him, the look spearing him through the chest, before she turned back to her scope. He had to breath very slowly and flex his fists to keep from going to her, making her smile just like that again right before her kissed her…
He swallowed down a low growl and faced his telescope.
“She’ll set soon,” Cat said. “But it’s nice being able to see her like this.”
He wasn’t sure why, but he hadn’t expected his genius physicist to be so romantic as to anthropomorphize Saturn with a gender—and a female one at that.
A movement from across the dirt road caught Dylan’s attention. He turned in time to see Tom wandering toward them.
“Thought you two might like a drink,” Tom said, his voice also quiet, honoring the darkness. He held out two bottles of beer. “Don’t like to drink alone,” he said to Cat with a wink.
She chuckled and took the beer.
“It’s one of the local brews. Nice and smooth. Good for a night of stargazing.”
“Thanks,” Dylan said taking the offered bottle. “You up for the night too?”
Tom stuck his free hand in his pants’ pocket and glanced up at the sky, his own bottle of beer dangling from his fingers. “Likely,” he said on a sigh. “Gotta love the clarity at this altitude. Not a cloud to interfere. Not even a sliver of moon until just before dawn.” He sighed again and sipped his beer even though he was still staring up. “Lovely.”
“Yes,” Dylan said, though his gaze jumped to Cat as he said it. She was grinning at Tom, the expression soft and sweet. She looked even more like a pixie in the low light, that soft smile on her face.
“Have you seen Saturn?” she asked Tom. “I can sometimes see the planets in New York, but too many city lights for much else. I can’t remember the last time I’ve looked at a planet through a telescope.”
Tom chuckled, still looking up. “I can sometimes sneak away from the lights in Jersey, but not with so much time on my hands. Didn’t get a look at Saturn yet. I’ll swing the scope that way now.” He tilted his beer in a little toast toward Cat. “I’m Tom, by the way,” he introduced himself to her. “Tom Baxter.”
“Cat Donovan. Nice to meet you, Tom. What do you do in Jersey?”
“Teach high school science. A thankless job if there ever was one,” he said with a laugh.
Cat’s grin kept distracting Dylan, though he tried to pay attention to the conversation. Still, every time she chuckled or smiled, his gaze went to her. Watching her throat work as she sipped her beer had a low growl rising in his own throat and he had to take a quick gulp of his own drink to swallow down the reaction.
“How about you?” Tom asked.
“Grad student at NYU. Physics.”
“What’s your specialty?”
“For this Ph.D., I’m working on black hole physics.”
“This Ph.D., huh?” Tom whistled. “Just don’t get stuck teaching at the high school level. The little devils are a menace to society and science.”
Despite the words, Dylan heard the fondness in Tom’s voice. He had a feeling the older man liked his students more than he wanted to admit.
“How about you?” Tom asked Dylan.
“Grad student, too. Only on my first Ph.D., though. Studying stars off the main sequence.”
“Ah, to be young again,” Tom said. “So many good questions to ask. But I don’t have the energy for all that work anymore. I’ll leave the research to the young and just read the results.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Dylan said. “You still seem pretty spry to me. Bet you could tackle some of the big questions if you wanted to.”
Tom saluted him with his beer bottle. “I’ll tell that to the Princeton grant committee. No doubt they’ll hire me next week.” He chuckled and nodded to them. “You two enjoy your star gazing. And that beer.” He winked at Dylan before strolling back to his own site.
“Thanks again,” Cat called. “He’s nice,” she murmured when he was out of earshot. “Funny him being from the east coast too.”
“What brought you all the way to Oregon for the eclipse?” Dylan asked her, curious now that she’d brought it up.
“Probably the same thing that brought Tom here,” she said, her eye against her eyepiece again. “See the eclipse as early as possible.”
“Why not go to Lincoln City or somewhere on the coast?”
She shrugged without looking at him. “I worried about clouds. This hasn’t happened in almost a hundred years. I’d hate to miss it after all the excitement because the sky didn’t cooperate.”
“That’s why I didn’t go that direction either.”
And he’d never been so grateful for any decision he’d ever made. If he’d gone to stay with friends on the coast, fellow leopards who would have given him a room without hesitance, he’d have missed the chance to meet Cat. For some reason, even the thought of that left him hollow, like he’d have missed out on something…
Important.
He faced his own scope as he analyzed that thought. His leopard definitely considered meeting her important. Vital even. Like he’d have lost something precious if he hadn’t found her.
But why?
And what happened when they parted ways after the eclipse?
6
He scented the tigers again just after three a.m., moving closer to their site than they had all evening. He’d caught their scents earlier in the night, during dinner in the concessions tent, and later after he and Cat had returned to their campsites. But the three shifters had kept their distance, never approaching Dylan or even getting close enough for him to see.
In fact, they seemed to be keeping carefully out of sight. Purposefully getting near enough and hovering upwind so he would be able to scent them but remaining behind crowds or at a distance.
He wasn’t entirely surprised they weren’t willing to approach him, given their species’ notorious reticence to interact with other shifters, but the fact that they kept getting close… He kept expecting them to acknowledge him in some way, to set the truce for this territory. But they never got near enough for that.
He wasn’t sure whether to be worried about them or not. Three tigers definitely outnumbered him. But his people weren’t fighting with tigers. Cougars… Well, he’d have been on higher alert if there’d been cougar shifters nearby. His people and the cougars in this part of the country did not get along. He’d even go so far as to call them enemies, though they’d finally settled another truce with his mother a few months ago. But tigers weren’t enemies, not even on the radar as shifters to avoid. So their strange approach-and-avoid behavior had him leery.
Dylan glanced down the road toward the two large blue portable toilets. Cat had excused herself a few minutes ago. He’d had to fight his leopard’s offer to walk her there and back. In the human world, that would come across as creepy. But with the other shifters around, his leopard was feeling overly protective and he was uncomfortable with her being out of his sight. Especially this late at night, with most of the camp asleep, only a few late night stragglers like he and Cat still either staring at the stars or quietly drinking and talking. Tom had disappeared into his tent a couple of hours earlier, with a friendly wave to them both. The two young men opposite them had also finally headed into their camper just a few minutes ago.
Everything was quiet and sleepy in their section of the site.
Which meant having the tigers wander close felt even more…deliberate.
And without Cat sitting right next to him, Dylan was more than a little edgy. He kept his ears perked, his attention on his surroundings, listening, scenting, watching. His night vision, without all the usual city light interference, ensured he could see around the darkened camp almost as well as he could see during daylight. He’d see even better if he shifted, but he didn’t think that would be a great idea, even with almost everyone around them asleep now. The tigers might take it the wrong way.
He tracked their movements as best he could through their scents, but then the wind shifted and he lost them. He mumbled a curse. His gaze went in the direction of the portable toilets again. He could clearly see them from here, would be able to see when Cat emerged, and would be able to see if anyone went into the portable bathroom next to her. So far, she was the only one there.
But now that he couldn’t detect the tigers anymore, for some reason, his leopard desperately wanted to lope up the road and ensure she was safe and had an escort back to her site.
He gripped his camping chair’s armrests, the soft material collapsing in his fists. He would almost certainly scare her if he did that. He’d promised to watch her scope, implying he’d remain here until she got back. Yet his every instinct screamed to go to her and ensure she was safe.
When she finally stepped out of the plastic box, he sucked in a deep breath and eased his grip on the armrests. He didn’t watch her as she returned to camp because he was a little afraid his eyes might be glowing in the dark now, his leopard had risen so close to the surface. He set his eye to his eyepiece, and saw the glow reflected back at him through the small glass. Yeah, he’d better not look at her just yet. The darkness would make that glow more apparent.
He did listen carefully as she approached, though, tracking her movements and any other movements around her. Continuing to test the air. Looking out for the other shifters who—for reasons he couldn’t quite fathom—felt like a threat.
Strangely, his leopard was insisting they were a threat to Cat, not him. Which couldn’t be even close to right. He was likely conflating his attraction to her and the sense of threat. Tying the two together in a way that wasn’t a reflection of reality. His leopard was all instinct and reaction and really didn’t get logic sometimes.
When Cat eased back into her chair, he let his shoulders relax. “Any problems?” he asked.
“No.” She chuckled. “I hate porta-potties, but needs must, right? I am glad for my cellphone’s flashlight though.”
“No lights inside?”
“If there was, it broke because the box was very dark. Hopefully, they’ll fix that tomorrow.”
From the corner of his eye, he watched her adjust her scope to a new section of the sky. He’d intended to take the shuttle bus to the festival grounds tomorrow, after getting a few hours of sleep, so he could see what the NASA engineers had set up. He hadn’t discussed tomorrow with Cat at all. They’d spent the evening either silent or talking quietly about space and science, and a few times about food—all of which had thrilled him. He loved that they could talk but also be silent together, and it felt really comfortable. When was the last time he had that with a woman? Maybe never. At least with anyone outside his family. And most of his family had no interest in astronomy. He wasn’t sure why he was so comfortable around Cat, but he wasn’t inclined to argue with the feeling. At least not tonight.
And maybe not tomorrow either.
“I was going to head up to the festival grounds tomorrow after getting some sleep,” he said quietly, keeping his gaze on his scope even though his attention was entirely on her. “Want to join me?”
She adjusted in her seat, also kept her gaze on her scope. “Yeah. That would be great.”
He smiled, and his leopard purred in satisfaction.
One of these days, before the weekend was out, he’d have to really consider why his leopard was so attached to Cat. But in the meantime, he intended to enjoy his time with her, whatever time she’d give him.
He caught her yawn in his peripheral vision and finally turned to face her. His animal side had settled and he knew his eyes no longer glowed. Having her accept his invitation for an outing tomorrow had helped immensely.
“You should get some sleep,” he said. “You had a longer travel day getting here.”
“Two days,” she said with a shrug, but she did face him. “I stayed in Portland one night before driving up today… Oh, yesterday now, huh?” She grinned but her eyes drooped a little, and she yawned again. With a chuckle, she said, “Yeah, maybe I should get some sleep. This was so much fun, I hate for it to end.”
He did, too. “We’ll have tomorrow night and Sunday for more star watching.”
He didn’t add he hoped they’d spend those nights doing more than just star watching, but his gaze dropped to her mouth without his permission and his thoughts turned to things that had nothing to do with stars. At least not the ones in space.
Her lips curved in a soft smile and when he met her gaze again, there was something in her dark eyes, a flavor in her scent that started his heart beating harder. Maybe he wasn’t the only one thinking about other ways they could spend the next couple of nights.
