Chapter 20 #2
I pause in scratching the shit out of Olivia just in time to see an opossum come barreling down the aisle like a tiny, furious missile.
It’s not Ash, though. And it’s not Honey.
It’s Gus.
The little menace hisses furiously before launching himself directly onto Olivia’s chest. I’m so surprised that I rip my claws out of her face, falling backward, landing on my rump on the floor.
Gus? He takes my place. And, instead of playing dead, he relies on a completely different wild opossum instinct.
Slubbing.
He’s slubbing.
I’ve only ever see him do it once before.
I was so grossed out, I threatened Honey that I’d call the health inspector if he ever did that near any of the bakery goods I ate.
I mean, slubbing is nasty. Honey said it was ‘slobber-rubbing’ and normally a sign of affection—or a wild opossum’s attempt to attract a mate—but it looks like Gus is foaming, covered in spit, super juicy and nasty as he rubs the shit on whatever he can reach.
Olivia isn’t his mate, and he sure is hell isn’t being affectionate as he digs his tiny pink claws into her eye socket, slubbing all over her, and I add a third reason why he does this: because it’s so fucking gross and not even a witch can gather her wits enough to fight back when Gus is doing that to her face.
I mean, if he did that to me, I’d do the same thing. So when she screams, then gags as the goop gets into her mouth, it’s all I can do not to cover my raccoon’s mouth with my paws as I hiss out a laugh.
“Help! Help! Get this thing off me!”
At the sound of her high-pitched howls, more footsteps thunder into the shop. I turn toward the broken door. Honey bursts through first, Ash and Max right behind her.
“Gus?” shouts Honey.
“Roxy?” shouts Ash.
And then there’s the sheriff. Poor Max takes one look at the chaos—screaming witch, raccoon me sitting on Olivia’s braid so that her head tugs repeatedly as she tries to escape Gus, a slobbery opossum attack—and immediately bolts down the aisle, grabbing the alive…
for now… Olivia before she can retaliate against Gus and me with another spell.
Max hauls her to her feet. Blood and slobber cover her face, but I can still see the murder in her dark eyes as Max uses his big hands to cuff her wrists easily behind her back.
She’s just a witch with no access to cast while he has her hands trapped.
There’s no escaping the sheriff, and though Honey is standing behind him, saying the same thing I did—“I thought the witch healer was dead!”—Olivia is staring defiantly at all of us as though she’d do it all again to get the compact.
The compact that’s currently tucked under my tail so she doesn’t see it.
“You won’t stop me,” she vows. “I’ll get the mirror. And I’ll get that stupid rat, too!”
That’s my cue. I check with my raccoon, making sure that the magic has worn off enough that I can shift back to my skin.
It easily cedes control back to me. One second, I’m a raccoon.
The next, I’m Roxy fucking Kane, in the buff, with the compact jammed up against the instep of my bare foot as I continue to hide it.
I shake my head royally, and if my tits bounce, too… oh, well. I’m a shifter. Nudity kind of comes with the gig. “He is not a rat. He’s a wild opossum shifter.”
“And a hero,” adds Honey, dropping low to scoop up Gus. This time, when he gets that nasty shit on her cheek, I know it’s from affection… but it still’s gross.
“He is. He saved me. Penelope didn’t kill Olivia, Sheriff. She faked her own death… but she admitted that she tried to kill me. And Ash,” I add, glancing toward my mate. “She wanted to—” I pause. “Ash? You okay?”
His jaw is so tight, I can see the outline of his cheekbones. His purple eyes have gone so dark, they’re almost black. He’s not blinking, either. He’s staring at me instead, and when his mouth finally moves, he spits out one word, “Naked.”
Oh. Right. I guess I’m not the only one who can’t handle someone being nude around their mate. Or, in this case, he can’t handle me being naked around everyone else.
“She forced me to shift with magic and my clothes are—”
In tatters on the floor.
Ash’s face is pure possessiveness. Without a word, he scoops me into his arms and tucks me tightly against his chest before anybody else can look too long.
That’s fine with me. However… “The compact. Grab the compact.”
Olivia’s rage-filled scream as Ash crouches down to grab the compact before popping up again, bounding right for the stairs that lead up to my apartment follows us all the way up.
It’s fine. Max has Olivia in custody. That should be enough to get Penelope out of the salted cell and toss the other witch inside of it.
The sheriff can do his interrogation routine and, since Olivia already did the villain monologue thing once before, I have no doubt she’ll do it again. And, if not, there’s always Gus…
Besides, we’ve only been bonded for a full day, even if it seems like so much longer with everything that happened.
If Olivia had it her way, I could’ve lost him before I even found him.
If he needs to hold me close and hide my naked body from other supes’ eyes, that’s nothing compared to what me and my raccoon need about now.
“You know,” I murmur against Ash’s throat as he carries me into our bedroom, “you’re as possessive as any predator.”
Ash looks down at me, purple eyes glowing softly in the dim light.
“I’m a shifter,” he says simply, laying me out on my back in the middle of our bed. “And you’re my mate.”
I am, aren’t I?
Reaching up, I tug lightly at the collar of his shirt. “And you’re wearing too many clothes.”
Ash blinks once. Then, without a word, he climbs on to his knees on the bed, bracing my hips. His lips quirk and he suddenly shifts.
For one hilarious second, an opossum with black ears, grey fur, and bright purple eyes sits smack dab in the middle of my belly.
I burst out laughing, nearly knocking Ash’s opossum to the floor.
He hurriedly shifts back, kneeling over me now as his white-blond hair falls attractively forward into his stunning face.
“How’s this?” he asks, a sparkle—and outright lust—in his eyes.
I arch an eyebrow. “I thought you were saving those clothes.”
I’m teasing. I’d much rather see that display of desperation than anything else. Those tattered shreds spilled around my room from the force of his shift… that’s sexier than anything I’ve ever seen.
And then Ash says, “I will. Keep the scraps for me. But my mate is in her skin and she wanted me in mine and, Rox, I need you to know that there isn’t anything I won’t do for you.”
Trust me, baby, I know. And, as I smile wickedly at Ash, hooking my hand behind his neck so that I can pull him on top of him, I make sure he knows that there isn’t anything I won’t do for him.
Ever.