Silkari ~ Martian Cat Shapeshifter and Whistleblower

Tuesday howls and yowls, shapeshifter lovers.

The terrible weeks of high heat have taken their toll. I'm exhausted. I only hope my flash scene this week is properly entertaining. It is continued from last week's flash, Wolf Dawg, Bankster Bounty Hunter.

I couldn't find a pic of my heroine, Silkari, in her cat form, so her human form will have to do.

Stay cool and safe wherever you are.
~~~~~~

Silkari ~ Martian Cat Shapeshifter and Whistleblower

Silkari guessed by his virile canine scent, and the amber greenish shine of his eyes, that her contact was most likely a wolf shapeshifter. What specific breed or species she couldn't guess.

There was something a bit odd about his scent, and it tickled her nose. Not in a threatening way. No, he might as well have worn a sign on his broad-as-a-mountain chest that said 'Mr. Trustworthy. Damsels in Distress Wanted'.

"Dawg is the handle." Her contact spoke after several large bites of his hot fudge sundae. "Forgot to introduce myself. Could say it's because you're a distractingly beautiful woman."

Was that sincerity in his voice? Worn thin, Silkari didn't know if her cat radar detected anything right as far as a man flattering her, or simply being charmingly polite. But her survival radar remained sharp, on target.

"Dawg. The name fits you. We have unwanted company, Dawg."

For a split second his gaze pierced her. "Yeah, they're bounty hunters. Don't you worry, kitten. I'll take care of 'em when the time comes."

"All I do is worry." Silkari sighed and watched him shovel in the sundae. "I think, by now, my nine lives are up."

Once again, his gaze made her it's bull's eye. Silkari didn't flinch, but she definitely felt disconcerted. No meow-doubt about that. Of course, the entire man would have been deliciously disconcerting, if she hadn't been close to exhaustion, and fighting for her life.

Truth to herself, she would have been her purring her words. Instead she struggled to speak coherently.

"Can't let anything happen to you." Dawg grinned, showing his large white teeth. "I got a rep to protect."

His teasing tone scratched an itch Silkari didn't know she had, and she offered a semblance of a smile. Planting her elbow on the table, she rested her chin on her hand, and mumbled, "All I want to do is get the contents of this bag to a safe place, then find a comfy spot, curl up and visit dream land."

"Got a real safe place for you and the bag's contents." Dawg scooped out the last cream-saturated bite of fudge topping and cleaned the spoon off with relish.

"Those bounty hunters...they look ridiculous holding ice cream cones." Silkari twisted one corner of her mouth in an instant of amusement. "At least, they're heading out the door. I'd rather they ambush me outside than endanger anyone in here."

"They'll pick their time and place. But I got their odor. I'll smell 'em miles away, kitten."

Silkari weakly nodded, then eyed the third banana split coming her way. The owner of the ice cream parlor had to be an absolute angel.

Not only did 'Kalindi', the name on her tag, make the best splits Silkari had ever eaten -- and she'd made a career of tasting every kind of banana split she could search out -- but the woman hadn't made a snide comment or given her the 'you're gonna get fat' look when she'd ordered a second one.

Granted, Kalindi would want the sale, but still there'd been a rare kindness in the depths of her eyes. With the terrible stress and distress Silkari had endured for over a year, she soaked in Kalindi's compassion like the parched ground soaked in rain.

Still starving, Silkari's gaze remained glued on the banana split as the beautifully prepared ice cream treat was placed before her. She'd been on the run from the corporate assassins for several weeks now, with little time to eat.

"Courtesy of Dawg," Kalindi crooned.

Glancing up, Silkari caught Kalindi's amused eye roll and her good-humored point toward Dawg. After a radiant smile at them both, she departed.

Were those wings on her back? Silkari squinted, but didn't see the faint gleaming outline she'd thought she'd just witnessed.

"Enjoy, kitten. You look downright hungry."

"Thank you. Too many missed meals," Silkari muttered as she picked up her spoon, and aimed for the strawberry ice cream with the pineapple on top.

"Take your time," he encouraged in that baritone rumble of his, the one that rumbled her insides with forbidden yearnings. After all, she had a fiancee, even if he was currently stationed on Mars.

So, instead of staring at the super hunky, *she could crawl all over him and lick cream off every muscled inch of him* man, who was her contact, Silkari surrendered to her hunger. She lost herself as she savored each and every mouthful of the heavenly banana split.

Silkari practically scraped out the creamy remains. Closing her eyes, she held the spoon up, and slowly licked, relishing the last drops.

"The ice cream here certainly lives up to the name of this place, the Heavenly Chocolate & Ice Creamery." She spoke without looking at him, suddenly aware of what Dawg must think after that little sex show, even if she hadn't meant to play temptress.

"Never been entertained in quite that way," he growly rasped.

Silkari dared a quick glance at him with one eye. No mistake about it, Dawg wanted her beneath him, his cock plunging inside her. Bad, he wanted it real bad.

"I have a fiancee," she forced out, the words barely above a whisper.

"Now that's one problem easily solved, kitten." Dawg straightened, and his imposing size seemed to tower over her.

She didn't shrink back. Silkari couldn't. Some sort of magnetic force pulled her toward him, and refused to release her.

This was not happening, she told herself. But, denial had never been in her nature.

"He's on Mars. He has powers..."

Like the rapid rise of a thunderstorm, savage anger clouded Dawg's eyes. "He let you..." He gritted his teeth. "Go through this alone." Leaning forward, he continued in a low guttural voice. "Mars or wherever, I'm about to pound that damn ugly bastard into the dirt, and let his carcass rot."

The fierce impact of Dawg's words, and his absolute determination to carry them out, hit Silkari between the eyes. She was struck dumb. Not a single thought formed inside her head, let alone passed between her lips.

"Come on, kitten." He seized her hand, then her all-important bag. "We're gettin' out of here."

They moved toward the door fast, with Dawg almost tugging her along. "Bill me," he called out to Kalindi.

"No problem. Dante already covered you, big guy."

"What...what about the bounty hunters?" Silkari managed to speak to the solid wall that was his back, once they were on the sidewalk, and he'd paused to check the traffic.

"They get in my way, and there won't be enough of 'em left to feed an ant, let alone be a decent dinner for a whole colony."

He spun around quicker than she could blink, and Silkari's nose was a mere inch from his massive chest. "And yeah, kitten, I know the ants on Mars are as big as jackrabbits."

"You..." He tilted her face upward, his fingers unbelievably gentle beneath her chin. "You know about Mars?" she asked.

"I studied martial arts with Yupaulo. A long time ago. Yes, I know what Mars was. I don't know what Mars is now." Dawg caught her as she collapsed from utter fatigue and perfect shock. "Kitten. Silkari."

"Please...get me out of here. I'll, I'll explain later." With some of her strength returning, Silkari added, "Besides, you look silly holding that flower-covered bag."
~~~~~~

Wishing you shapeshifting love on the wild side...

Savanna

Savanna Kougar ~ Run on the Wild Side of Romance ~