Chapter 6 #4
Cameron chugged his drink, much to Emory’s surprise, and leaned over to put it on the side table.
When he sat back up, he was several inches higher on Emory’s legs.
His warmth seeped through Emory’s dress slacks, and he tried to savor the feeling, but it was overshadowed by amusement as Cameron puffed up his chest. “You’re a tiger! ”
Emory barked out a surprise laugh but shook his head. “You’re very close, honey, but no.”
Cameron’s shoulders slumped, but his cheeks pinkened at the endearment.
Emory had noticed a similar response the night they met and had been trying to temper his use of it, even if he was only somewhat successful.
He didn’t want to scare Cameron off, but he also loved making his fated mate smile and blush.
“Okay…maybe I need one more hint.”
Emory glanced at the couple beside them, but they were fully wrapped up in each other. There was no one else nearby, so Emory drained his drink and set it on the table. The alcohol went straight to his head, and he had to really concentrate.
Slowly, his tongue thickened and roughened in his mouth. Lions, like many other felines, had hooks on their tongues. It made them a little rough, but not painful. He took Cameron’s hand in his and lifted it as if to kiss the back, but instead gave it a small, kittenish lick.
Cameron gasped and snatched his hand back, but he didn’t look upset. If anything, he looked elated. “So you are a cat! I could tell by the way you tilt your head when you’re confused.”
Emory found himself tilting his head, and Cameron laughed, his posture relaxing for the first time that evening. His smile lit up his entire face, illuminating his eyes and crinkling the skin around his mouth. Those two freckles completely disappeared when he smiled like that.
Gods, he wanted to kiss him. He wanted to take his fated mate’s head in his hands and kiss every single inch of his face before finally getting to taste his lips. He bet they’d taste like champagne bubbles and saltwater taffy.
He had to be patient, though. It felt like they were making leaps and bounds in opening up to each other, and he refused to risk losing that.
Instead, he focused on their little game. “I am a cat. Some would say I’m king of the cats.”
Technically, that was two hints, but who could fault him when his fated mate was perched on his lap, being unbearably cute?
Cameron gasped, his eyes going wide. “You’re a lion?”
“Yes. Panthera leo.”
He typically kept his face shaved or maintained a trim beard. Right now, he was sporting a slightly shaggy beard from the holidays. He closed his eyes and felt his hair thicken and become coarser as his beard grew out, forming the beginning of a mane.
Cameron made a surprised noise, and Emory felt the air move in front of him moments before Cameron’s slender fingers landed on his mane. He opened his eyes and found that Cameron had scooted even closer on his legs.
“You’re magnificent,” he whispered, and Emory really could have kissed him then, but his canines had elongated, and he didn’t want to risk scratching him. Instead, he sat as still as possible while Cameron stroked his fingers through his mane, his lion purring the whole time.
Finally, when it seemed like Cameron was done, Emory pressed his eyes closed and focused on putting all of his lion away. When he opened his eyes, Cameron was smiling a gorgeous smile.
“Would you like a hint for mine?” he asked, but as Emory nodded, he lost a bit of his smile. “Uhm…so, you know how I don’t have scent glands on my neck? I have glands, uh…somewhere else. And in my animal form…they release ink.”
Emory was about to guess squid, but for some reason, the long, spindly creature didn’t seem like his Cameron. “Are you an octopus?”
Cameron smiled, but it didn’t cover those freckles or reach his eyes. “I am. Smphioctopus marginatus, to be exact.”
Emory wasn’t sure what was dimming Cameron’s smile, because he could barely contain his own excitement. “What color are you?”
Was that rude to ask? Emory had always loved octopuses—octopi? No, that didn’t sound right. He was pretty sure it was octopuses. Either way, he’d always loved them and the many colors and shapes they came in. He wasn’t familiar with the specific genus Cameron had named, though.
“Uhm—I’m red? My parents think it’s why I’m a ginger. And uh…also blue. Or, I mean, I have a sort of phosphorescent blue on my…tentacles.”
Cameron turned a dark scarlet and ducked his head.
Was Cameron shy about his tentacles? He knew some omegas liked to joke about wanting to meet a nice alpha with a big tentacle, but Emory had actually never met an octopus shifter, and definitely not an alpha. As a pretty strict top in bed, he had mostly ignored the jokes.
The longer he pondered this, the smaller Cameron tried to shrink in on himself. He wrapped his arms around his waist and pulled his head back into the neck of his sweater, like…well, like an octopus trying to hide.
Emory’s lion roared, making it well known that seeing his mate small and scared upset him greatly.
Before Emory could stop it, his lion took over, and his rough tongue and mane took shape again.
He focused intently on not allowing his canines to elongate as he tipped his head down and licked Cameron’s cheek.
Cameron’s head jerked up in surprise, and Emory licked him again and then placed a soft kiss on the top of his cheekbone before pulling back.
He had a smattering of freckles here as well, and Emory noted with interest that they seemed to have a texture.
Some were raised, while some were almost concave, like they might be scars, not freckles.
Cameron studied him with a bemused expression.
“I. Love. Octopuses,” Emory said, taking care to emphasize each word. The effects of chugging his mixed drink were setting in as he almost tripped over the word octopuses. He was pretty sure that was correct, though.
Cameron stared at him for a moment before slowly raising his hand to pet Emory’s mane again. “You love octopuses?”
“Yes. One of our major clients is my hometown’s aquarium. We’ve held a lot of events there, and there’s a huge octopus exhibit. I think it’s a coral reef conservation...thing?” Emory said, trailing off at the end.
Cameron giggled, a surprisingly endearing sound. “Gotta love conservation things.”
Emory raised a hand to play with a lock of Cameron’s hair. “I love the red in your hair. I bet I’m going to love the color of your octopus.”
“Don’t lions have dichromatic vision? You won’t actually be able to see much of my red color when you’re a lion.”
Emory blinked at him in surprise. “You know a lot about lions.”
Cameron laughed, a bit of the alcohol he’d consumed evident in the now lilting tone. “I guess if you love octopuses, I love cats. My sister does shifter research, and she’s always sharing fun facts with me, and a lot of it is on large cats.”
While the sentiment was sweet, Emory’s brain caught and held onto something he’d said earlier. “You…want to shift with me? I mean, you want my lion to see your octopus?”
“Uhm, yes? I’m assuming that’s the goal?
My dads hang out with each other and with me and Shay as seahorses all the time.
We like to go swimming together. Lions… They like water, right?
I know tigers and jaguars love swimming.
” Cameron scrunched up his face as if he was trying to think.
Suddenly, his face fell. “Or…do they not like swimming? I mean, do you not like swimming?”
Honestly, at this point, Emory would have said he liked taking naked bubble baths with sea urchins if it would make Cameron smile again.
Over the course of their conversation, Cameron had moved closer and closer on Emory’s lap.
Everywhere their bodies were touching, even through their clothes, was buzzing.
No one had ever made Emory, or his lion, feel this way. Cameron’s close proximity was making his blood race; meanwhile, his warmth and sweet smile made Emory want to wrap him up and hold him for the rest of eternity. The contrast in feelings and desires was making Emory almost lightheaded.
He took a chance and brought his hand down from Cameron’s hair to rest on his waist. Cameron didn’t even blink. He was looking at him intently, that fear still evident. Emory wanted to allay it more than anything, but he also didn’t want to lie.
“In general, lions are not particularly good swimmers compared to other big cats. That being said, we had a pool growing up, so I did a fair amount of swimming as a human and a lion. I’m still not a deep-sea swimmer, but I don’t mind water. Actually, I have a rather large tub in my apartment.”
Emory hummed thoughtfully. Maybe Cameron would want to use it sometime.
The idea had his lion—and him—purring in delight.
Cameron pressed his hand against Emory’s chest. “Are you purring? I noticed you make a lot of low rumbling noises.”
Emory’s mane and tongue returned to normal as he laughed.
“It’s funny you say that, because Ronan has been making fun of me for years.
He says I have over ten different purrs.
I think they’re just normal noises! When I’m thinking, when I’m angry, when I’m tired…
” Emory took another chance and pulled Cameron forward until he came to rest with his shoulder nestled under Emory’s arm, sitting sideways on his lap.
“This is also a lion thing, by the way. We love nuzzling.” He nuzzled his cheek into the crook of Cameron’s neck, taking in the concentrated smell of him. So sweet and salty. “You said you have ink glands?”
Cameron nodded and shifted so he was sitting on one butt cheek. He gestured at the crease where his butt met his thigh, and Emory tried not to ogle him. “Do they…”
“Produce ink? Not when I’m human. They end up under two of my tentacles when I shift. And…” Cameron bit his plump lower lip.
Emory tilted his head, which he now realized was an uncanny mimicry of what his lion was also doing.