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  “I’m just not feeling well today. I’ll make it next class,” I said.

  “Promise?” he said.

  “I promise,” I lied. I turned and walked into the locker room, my face going beet red. I heard Dom and Heidi going back into the yoga studio. Alone in the locker room, I peeled off my sopping wet leotard and hopped in the shower.

  I felt so stupid for thinking that someone like Dom would be interested in me. Even if some part of him did want to get to know me better, he was defenseless against women like Heidi. All she had to do was shake her thin waist in front of him and he was under her spell. Women like her went hunted men for sport, used them for their own ends, then left them once they got bored. I didn’t think it mattered that he was a Shifter. If it had a cock, it was no match for Heidi’s ilk.

  Maybe I was overthinking this. Maybe he was just an instructor and Heidi was just a student. There was no point in assuming the worst, and there was definitely no point in worrying about it. I dried myself off and changed into my clothes.

  I heard the class leaving the yoga studio. I packed my things up and left the locker room as women began to stream in. I got some half hearted smiles on my way out, but most of them were too exhausted to think. I knew that feeling. It was a good feeling. After you gave it all you had, all that was left was just to carry your bones to the shower. I ought to go to the next class.

  I stepped into the foyer as the yoga studio door was swinging closed. In the studio I saw Dom standing near the door, and Heidi standing right in front of him. So close her silicone enhanced nipples were poking him in the chest. She was laughing and playing with her hair, the embodiment of flirtation.

  Fuck that. I pulled my bag over my shoulder and made for the exit. Maybe there was a pilates class somewhere.

  —

  “That show is rotting your brain, Renee!” I said, laughing.

  “I know, girl, but I can’t stop watching it,” she said. “Reality TV is my heroin, my crack and my cheap motel sex all rolled into one. I need it. The worse it is, the more I need it.”

  We were having our normal gab session in my office, just another way to break up the monotony of the work day. Renee loved to fill me in on what’s been happening with her shows. She had a slate of reality TV shows that she watched religiously.

  “Who knew you could make six seasons of a show about gypsy weddings?” I said. I always had a suspicion that everyone was a voyeur. Either secretly or overtly, we all loved to watch other people.

  “I know, right?” Renee said. “So, no yoga mat anymore?” She rocked a foot towards my bag.

  “Yeah I think the honeymoon is over. Don’t get me wrong: it was great at first. But after a while…” I said.

  “The luster wore off?” Renee said.

  “Exactly,” I said.

  “Well, there’s nothing to be done for boredom. I bet you’re going to miss Mr. Shifter though,” she said with a wink. “I bet he wasn’t boring.”

  “No, he wasn’t boring. Just predictable,” I said, suppressing a sigh. I thought he was different, but he wasn’t. He was just like all the others.

  “So even a Shifter can be predictable? I’ll have to take your word for it, Cynthia,” she said. “The office weight loss challenge is almost over.”

  “Yeah, I’m not doing that anymore. I’ve got too many things going on right now,” I said. I felt bad. Ashamed, actually. But I had no interest in adding insult to injury by showing the office how little commitment I had. I’d fretted over the competition for days after I quit yoga.

  I’d tried some home yoga videos, but without Dom’s sleek powerful presence, they didn’t do it for me. I tried pilates with the same effect. I thought about his golden eyes at night, about the last time I saw him. Mostly I did it to beat myself up I guess. I’d never grown tired of that.

  “Oh, so then there’s the hoarder show. This lady had sixty two cats…” Renee said.

  —

  I stomped my way up the front steps to my apartment building. Opening the door, I saw an envelope on the floor, slid in through the door jam. It was a light blue color and across the front was written my name. I looked around a moment, then bent down and picked it up.

  Dear Cynthia,

  I haven’t seen you around the studio. I hope you’re doing well. I thought about the concerns you expressed when we last talked. I’d like to invite you to a private session next week. My address is enclosed. I think we can get you past your shortcomings.

  -Dom

  I stood in my kitchen, leaning against my counter, reading the note over and over. One word just stuck out at me, again and again.

  Shortcomings.

  I felt like I was under attack. I’d confided in him my challenges and he had the audacity to refer to them as shortcomings? Why didn’t he just come out and say I was too fat? Why didn’t he have the balls and the decency to at least do that?

  I crumpled the note, my eyes tearing up. I threw it into the garbage. I felt like a fool for letting myself think there was something there. I took my bottle of tequila off the top of my refrigerator and poured a shot. Down it went, fire and regret all rolled into one. I poured another and tossed it back, not nearly as hot as the first.

  Then I realized, he wanted me to behave like this. This was what he did. He and that skinny bitch Heidi were probably laughing at this very minute. My friends in college always told me that I had a temper when I drank, but this was different.

  I was sick of being the victim. I was sick of letting everything happen to me. It was time Cynthia did something. I was going to give Dom a piece of my mind. But not next week. Right this moment.

  After I do one more shot.

  —

  “Keep the change,” I said, handing the cab driver a twenty and steadying myself against the car for a second. What was I thinking? This was stupid. I walked up onto the curb and the cab pulled away. Well, the ships are burned, so I might as well make the best of this mission.

  The massive brick building in front of me must’ve formally been a factory or warehouse. These buildings were all being repurposed into chic loft condos. I bet Dom’s place had vaulted ceilings and exposed brick. I loved exposed brick.

  I pushed the menu button on the intercom system at his front door. I scrolled through the names until I found his. I punched his number and the machine dialed. This wasn’t what I had in mind. I thought I’d surprise him at his door, catch him off guard while I lay into him about how low he was.

  “Umm…hello?” a voice said through the intercom.

  “Umm, hello? Is that all you have to say for yourself?” I said, trying to pump myself up. “I found your little note. I’m here to give you a piece of my mind!”

  A click was followed by a dial tone. He’d hung up. Coward. Well, it wasn’t face to face, but it was still satisfying in its own way. And I was also partly relieved that it was over.

  The buzz from the door unlocking made me jump a foot into the air. He was letting me in? Befuddled, I grabbed the door and went inside. My feet carried me down a long hallway lined with old pipes that were purely decoration now.

  I got to Dom’s door. I knocked. I heard someone walk up to the other side of it. But Dom didn’t open the door.

  “Seems a strange choice to chicken out now,” I said, feeling some of my bravado come back to me. “Grow a pair and open up.”

  “Oh, I’ve got a pair,” a voice said as the door swung open. The man standing in front of me wasn’t Dom, though. Tall and blonde with golden eyes, he was dripping wet and had a towel wrapped around his six pack. “I just don’t know who you are.”

  “Umm…sorry. I…I think I made a mistake,” I said.

  “Do you do that often?” he said, his head cocking to the side.

  “Make mistakes?” I said.

  He laughed loudly. “No, dear. We all make mistakes. I meant apologize for no reason. I assume from your reaction that you weren’t expecting me to answer the door.”

  “Yes,” I said
, my pulse beginning to race. His short blonde hair was spiky from the shower he must’ve jumped out of.

  “Well, Dom would be upset with me if I turned away a guest, even a potentially violent one. Please enter, but know that I’m also a guest,” he said, then walked back into the apartment.

  I followed him in, closing the door behind me. “I’m sorry for disturbing you,” I said. I saw him walk through the loft back towards a bathroom.

  “There you go again, apologizing for no need,” he said. “Just give me a moment to rinse this shampoo out. Make yourself at home.” He didn’t bother closing the bathroom door, and I got a good eyeful of his chiseled ass as he stepped back into the shower.

  After picking my jaw up from off the floor, I looked around the loft. The first Shifter home I’d ever been inside was more normal than I expected. No animal skins, no large potted trees. I didn’t know why I expected those, but I had. The only thing out of the ordinary was a large log suspended from the ceiling by a massive iron link chain. The log had huge claw marks running through it, and the floor beneath it was covered in chunks of wood.

  I ran my fingers against the log. Most of the claw marks were a foot higher than I could reach on my tiptoes. I knew Shifters got larger when they changed, but this was a thousand pounds of solid proof.

  “Mind the mess,” the man said as he came back out of the bathroom wearing a pair of jeans. They were unbuttoned at the top, giving a glimpse of a treasure trail leading from his belly button all the way down.

  “I-“ I said as I turned, my hand running down the log. A huge splinter drove into my palm. “Eeee!”

  The man ran over. “I’ve got it. Don’t worry,” he said soothingly. “I’m going to hold your wrist steady while I pull it out.”

  “It really hurts!” I said, averting my eyes from my hand. I felt immense pressure as his big strong hand closed around my wrist. I couldn’t move my hand if my life depended on it. His other arm moved in a flash. I felt a pinch, then nothing.

  “All done,” he said. He walked back to the bathroom to dispose of the splinter. He came back with a bandage and my hand was no worse for wear. “I think this is a first,” he said.

  “A first for what?” I said.

  “I’ve caused you a wound and mended you, all before knowing who you are or what your name is,” he said. “My name is Catharn.”

  “I’m Cynthia,” I said.

  His mouth fell open slightly. “Cynthia. Oh,” he said.

  “It’s nice to meet you, Catharn,” I said, putting aside his reaction for the moment. “Is that a…Shifter name?”

  “It is. Dom has been trying to convince me to choose a different one. Names for us are different. They’re…what’s the word? Supplemental.” He brought back a broom and dustpan from the closet and swept the floor under the log. “Between Shifters we learn more from each other’s presence than by exchanging sounds.”

  “I had never thought of that,” I said. “You probably have heightened senses. Smells, tastes. Stuff like that.”

  “Yes,” he said. “Scents and body language tell you much more than words ever would,” he said, putting the broom back in the closet. “There, that’s better.”

  “Does it work on humans?” I said.

  “Of course. Your words are level, but I can sense your trepidation mixed with excitement and,” he paused, “arousal.”

  I felt my cheeks go flush.

  “I’ve embarrassed you,” Catharn said. “Dom said I had to be careful about the words I choose. He’s been integrated into human society for decades. This is still my first year among you. Your social etiquettes are still like quicksand for me. I am sorry.”

  “It’s nothing,” I said, swallowing.

  “You are thirsty. Please,” he said, motioning me towards the kitchen. He pulled a bottled water from the fridge and handed it to me. He took another for himself and we sat down on stools.

  “Thank you,” I said, taking a drink. “So, where is Dom?”

  “He is doing a private session tonight,” he said.

  I looked down at the tabletop. “Heidi, I’m guessing.” I sighed.

  “No, it’s a company group,” he said. “That Heidi made Dom uncomfortable. He did not lust for her, but it was as if she were in heat, needing him to mount her,” he said casually.

  I spat water out all over the tabletop. “Excuse me,” I said, getting a hand towel from the counter and wiping it up.

  “Ahh, yes. It is inappropriate to discuss sex in such open terms. Then let me just say she was enamored of him, but he did not feel the same way of her,” Catharn said.

  “No?” I said, surprised. “I figured she was his type.”

  Catharn laughed. “She was skin and bones. Her breasts were like two knots of wood,” he said, then his smile faded and he looked ashamed. “I am ruining this conversation.”

  “Quite the contrary,” I said, leaning forward and patting him on the hand. I smiled at him and he smiled back. “I suppose you’re wondering why I’m here.”

  “I’m more curious as to why you brought the war path to Dom’s door,” Catharn said.

  “I’m also one of his students,” I said.

  “You were one of his students,” he said.

  It was my turn to tilt my head. “Exactly right. How did you know that?”

  “He’s spoken of you,” Catharn said. “He missed you. He felt that you had slipped through his claws. Fingers. Slipped through his fingers.”

  “Oh,” I said. I wasn’t expecting that answer. My stomach was doing flips, confused and excited all at the same time.

  “But why did you come here with anger in your heart?” he said.

  “I…” I said, then looked away. “I misunderstood something and took it personally. I made something out of nothing. I guess it was just another mistake. Another mistake in a long line of them.”

  Catharn’s big hand closed over mine, holding it warmly. “You humans have a wonderful society, truly. But the way you torture yourselves over your feelings is a mystery to me. Would you like to lay with him?”

  My mouth fell open.

  “We both know the answer to that, even if you cannot speak it,” he said, standing up and looking down at me. “Would you like to lay with me?”

  “I…” I said, my mind spinning. My body reacted to his words in a primal base fashion. Decency wouldn’t let me answer, wouldn’t let me put words to the truth we both knew. I felt myself get wet at the thought of this huge stud. I imagined what that body could do. I bit my lip.

  “Again, we both know the truth,” he said, his voice taking on a low rumble deep from his chest. “And I have a burning need for you.”

  The sound flicked some kind of switch in my mind. His voice, his eyes, his massive presence, his clean scent. I leapt up from my chair and wrapped my arms around his neck. I pulled his face down to me and kissed him.

  His hands wrapped around my body, pulling me tightly against him and crushing the air from my lungs. His body still held onto a whisper of moisture, and it added a hot glow between our bodies. His jeans were like a taut canvas between us, a sail to carry us away.

  I delighted in the press of his lips against mine. It had been a very long time since a man had kissed me like this. There was something calm and brooding about him, at the same time mixed with predatory danger. I inhaled, smelling the clean fragrance of his skin. There was a very subtle hint of masculine sweat, evidence of the exercise I’d almost interrupted. “Do you want me?” I said.