Animal Instinct Read online

  ANIMAL INSTINCT

  By

  Michelle M. Pillow

  Chapter One

  Eve Matthews stumbled drunkenly into her office trailer at the Jameson Wild Life Rescue and Preserve. The trailer was dim, but she spent more time in it than in her own apartment and didn’t need light to find her way around. Everything was neatly organized and put away. Her desk sat in the corner, dominating much of the small front area. An old brown couch was next to it. The poor piece of furniture had seen better days, but she couldn’t see spending the Preserve’s money on a new one when they had so many rescued animals to take care of.

  Plopping down on the couch, Eve kicked her feet up on the broken coffee table and sighed. She rarely drank, but a night spent with her overbearing socialite parents was enough to warrant the rare occasion.

  “Evelyn dear, why didn’t you bring a date?” her mother had scolded the second she walked in the front door of the mansion home.

  “No, hi, how are ya?” Eve growled under her breath, feeling a small measure of drunken comfort in talking to herself. “How’s the job? Save any lives today? We missed you, Eve, glad to have you home.”

  Nope, what she got was, why don’t you have a man?

  If it wasn’t bad enough, the entire party had heard her mother’s comment and it was all anyone wanted to talk about the entire evening. Are you dating? When are you going to settle down? What ever happened to that nice doctor you were seeing? What was his name? Henry Statton? Yes, what ever happened to Dr. Statton? You were so perfect for each other.

  Eve frowned. A reflection of moonlight caught her eye as it landed on the small scrap of paper hanging on her wall. Evelyn Matthews, Veterinarian. You’d think that would have been enough to make her family proud.

  Suddenly, a dark figure leapt from the floor to settle next to her. Eve jumped in surprise to see the black panther. A small giggle left her lips as the large animal set his head in her lap. She stroked him behind the ears, drawing comfort from the animal’s friendship.

  “What do you think, Midnight?” she asked the big cat. She called him Midnight because of his beautiful dark coat of fur. It was so black it was almost blue. “Do you think I should have told them about Henry? I could just see it. Mom. Dad. I know you like Dr Statton, but after I found him in a dress, his cock shoved down his male receptionist’s throat, I just couldn’t bring myself to marry him.”

  The panther nudged her hand and lifted his face close to hers. She chuckled, feeling the animal’s warm breath on her neck. Eve loved all animals, always had since she was a girl. She found them easier to talk to. They listened, didn’t judge her, and she didn’t have to worry about them telling her deepest secrets. Animals didn’t betray their friends. Not like humans did.

  She usually made the rescued animals sleep either in the lab or out in the large prairie they had set aside for the cats. But Midnight was different. He had come to her a mangled, broken mess. It had been the worst case of neglect and abuse she had ever seen. He’d been found in an old barn. No one knew where he’d come from. The best they could guess is that he’d escaped his owner and crawled to the barn for safety. That’s when she’d been called in. The stupid police officer at the scene had wanted to put him down. Eve wouldn’t let him--not when he had a chance to live.

  For long months it was touch and go and she’d almost lost him on several occasions. He needed constant supervision those first weeks and so he had slept in her office while she nursed him back to health. Sometimes, thinking about all the cat had survived, she was astounded that he’d lived at all.

  Ruffling his fur, she grumbled, “Oh, I am really going to miss our little talks together, you know it. But it’s not fair to keep you locked up in this office all day and night. You deserve to live out in the open with the other cats.”

  Eve closed her eyes and leaned her head back on the couch. A little moan left her lips and a small tremor worked its way through her body. She absently kicked off her shoes and pulled her socks off with her toes.

  “Why don’t I have a man, Midnight?” Her head pulled up so she could look into his entrancing golden eyes. “My mom’s right. I am kind of pathetic. Why couldn’t men be more like you? Fierce and wild, strong, silent, knowing when to give comfort and when to take it. Protective.”

  A sound of misery and discomfort rumbled the back of her throat.

  “And do you know how long it’s been since I’ve had sex? Not that the sex I’ve had has been anything to brag about, but at least it was something. Sometimes, I think I’m so aroused I’m going to explode from the pressure. Not that you understand any of this, I’m sure.”

  The panther’s ears twitched as if it truly listened. Eve frowned at him in thought, stroking her hands over his face. Sometimes, when she looked at him, it almost seemed like he did understand her. Midnight’s eyes closed as he enjoyed her attentions.

  “Uh, I think I’m going crazy. I’m going to end up alone--the old cat lady children run away from in fear. It has been way too long, that’s for sure. But the only men who want to date me are stuffy, boring doctor types and I’m too much of a coward to go after what I really want. I am not sure I even know what I really want. If there ever was a truly sexually repressed human, that would be me. But, you don’t have that problem do you, boy? I bet not. I bet panthers never have to think about it. They just act on instinct, pure animal instinct.”

  Eve pushed up from the couch, walking to the small bedroom in the back of the trailer. The room was set off from the larger front office with a small bathroom next to it. The queen sized bed was covered with a mountain of pillows and blankets. A small dresser was along the wall, next to a full-length mirror. She began undressing, not caring that Midnight followed her and watched.

  Throwing her silk shirt on a chair, she then jerked her long legs out of her slacks. Stumbling before the mirror, she looked at herself in the dim light. She was pretty or, according to her mother, she would be if she put on more makeup and did her hair in something other than a sloppy bun. Her body was toned from spending hours on the prairie caring for over three hundred animals. Her skin was tan and her blonde hair streaked from hours in the sun.

  Tugging at her hair, she loosened the blonde waves down over her back. “I lied Midnight, I know what I want. I want just one night with no commitments, like a stranger I don’t have to talk to. I want him to be a wild, untamed lover. I want … I want him to be bold.”

  Eve began running her hands over her body, feeling the weight of her breasts through the tight hold of her white silk bra. Her nipples hardened with instant longing. It really had been too long. She was frustrated beyond belief and masturbating had long since lost its appeal.

  Eve sighed and fell back on her bed wearing only her white silk panties and bra. A dreamy sigh came to her lips, as she closed her eyes. “Mmm, that’s exactly what I want. I want a big strong man who can pick me up, crush me against a wall, and fuck my brains out. I want someone who doesn’t care what others think of him--a true rebel. I want someone sexy and wild and confident, with a motorcycle and tight black leather pants that mold to his deliciously firm ass. Someone who’ll just look at me and make me melt into a puddle. Mmm, that’s what I really want. But I’m a coward, Midnight. I’m too scared to go and find him. Besides, guys like that aren’t attracted to safe, boring veterinarians who live in trailers, talking to animals as if they were people.”

  Eve started to laugh, a sad sound that held no merriment.

  “It’s just as well,” she murmured, too tired to move. “I wouldn’t know what to do with a man like that anyway. I’d probably tense up and start crying out of fear.”

  Midnight jumped on the bed and lay close to her side, not touching her skin. She sighed, long and
loud, and absently patted his back before falling into a deep sleep.

  Chapter Two

  Viktor looked over the gorgeous woman who lay unmoving on the bed next to him. He could see her perfectly in the dim light of the bedroom. Only a soft blue glow came in from the window. She was ravishing, so much so that he couldn’t take his eyes off of her. Just his luck, he’d find the first woman he truly desired and cared for in his eternity of living only to be stuck in his shifted form, unable to do anything about it.

  She unintentionally tortured him day and night with her presence. She talked to him about herself, telling him secrets, whispering her fantasies. It was pure torment. She undressed before him, letting his cat eyes see her body without hesitation or thought. During his time spent under her care, he’d been afforded numerous views of her form--in the shower, the bed, dressing and undressing. A few times, when she didn’t know he looked, he’d watched her pleasure herself--wiggling her hips against her exploring fingers, stirring up her feminine scent until it clouded his mind, jerking and panting as she brought herself with a silent cry of release. If he were shifted to human, he’d groan in anguish at the memories of watching her climax by her own hand. Since he was panther, he merely growled low in discontent.

  Feeling a tingling in his limbs, Viktor urged his body to transform. It had been a long time and it hurt like hell. He endured the pain exploding in his body, as he shifted to human once more. Black fur began to be replaced by tanned flesh. His muscles lengthened and stretched, arching and curling until they molded into a hard, masculine frame. His lips parted in a silent, agonizing scream. Soon it was over and he was again a man.

  Viktor took a deep breath, trembling weakly as he readjusted to the energy it took to be in the larger form. He knew he wouldn’t be able to stay a man--not yet anyway. But, once he was completely healed, the human form would again be his dominant shape. He’d have changed back sooner, but the wounds he’d suffered would have killed him.

  Lying naked on the bed, he looked at Eve with his dark, human eyes. He knew she was drunk, could smell the liquor in her veins mingling with her woman’s scent--a scent that it had finally driven him to the point of risking exposure to her, a scent so sweet he’d risked shifting before his body was ready.

  Running a masculine hand down his ribcage, he suppressed a groan. His eyes flickered over Eve, landing on the soft rise and fall of her round breasts. His long, tapered fingers wrapped around his thick cock. Shifters weren’t known for suppressing their sexual appetites and it had definitely been too long since he’d indulged his. The heavy length of his shaft lurched and throbbed beneath his hand as he stroked it.

  Moving with liquid grace, he turned onto all fours and crawled to be closer to the woman on the bed. His breath came in hard gulps as he looked at her. He couldn’t resist. He’d been forced to gaze at her creamy breasts and athletically smooth thighs for too long. He wanted a closer look. He wanted to touch her, taste her. He wanted to fuck her.

  Viktor licked his lips and sat back on his heels. Sexy lace panties hugged her narrow hips, the straps falling over where her hipbones protruded slightly from her skin. He knew when he pulled them down that he’d find a narrow patch of dark blonde hair guarding her opening.

  Her thighs parted slightly as she stirred next to him on the bed. He couldn’t resist lowering his face between them to breathe in her exotic feminine smell. Without thought, his lips parted and his long tongue reached forward to taste her through the silken barrier.

  Eve lurched against him at the contact, wiggling and moaning in her sleep. A soft pant came from her lips and her legs fell open to him, as she inadvertently begged him for more. Viktor grinned and could not deny her plea.

  “Mmmm,” he moaned in the back of his throat, bathing her panties with his tongue until they were soaked and clinging to her hot, moist pussy. His breath panted against her. He could taste the sweet cream of her body trying to saturate through the silk.

  He pulled back and she whimpered lightly. Her hand found hold on her own breast and began massaging. Her legs stirred, as she mumbled, “No, don’t stop. Please, don’t stop.”

  Hearing her soft, sleepy voice, he couldn’t help but obey it. His fingers ran up her warm thighs to grab her panties from her hips. He worked them down, off her body. Seeing the soft glistening of her drenched pussy, he adjusted her around on the bed and spread her legs wide to him.

  As his mouth latched onto her clit, drinking furiously, his fingers rode up her flat stomach to help her massage her breasts. Their fingers intertwined on the soft globes. With a rip, he tore open the bra, freeing the mounds to his searching fingers. He rubbed the nipples, pinching and squeezing them into hard buds. His teeth nipped lightly, making her squirm against him. He moaned and dipped his long tongue into her slick channel for a deeper taste.

  * * * *

  Eve felt the heat of potent arousal burning in the apex of her thighs. Her drunken mind tried to pull out of its haze as she cried out in pleasure. Whatever touched her, she didn’t want it stop. A warm tongue lapped her body, stroking the length of her slit until she couldn’t tell if the wetness was from her body or her dream lover’s caressing mouth.

  “Ah, yes,” she cried, breathless and needy. She kept her legs open wide, giving him room to explore as she rocked her hips up to his mouth in encouragement. A long tongue dipped into her, stroking deeper and faster than should have been humanly possible. Her body quaked, sinfully aware of every touch.

  Fingers gripped her breasts, holding her stomach down with their connecting arms. She felt the man’s strength and it excited her to know he could overpower her--was overpowering her.

  Her hips bucked against her dream lover, thrusting wildly into his expert mouth as she tried to find release against his deepening kiss. Her leg hooked over his shoulder, pulling at him to smother his face in her needy pussy. Teeth latched onto her clit, gently raking the sensitive nub.

  Eve screamed as a tremor hit her in an urgent, intoxicating wave. Cream released itself from her body in a sign of pleasure to flood his mouth. The man moaned in approval and she felt him drinking her essence into him.

  “Oh!” she begged. “Don’t stop … please … oh … yes … there. Nooo!”

  Suddenly, the mouth was gone. She felt the bed shift, as if he would leave her. He couldn’t leave her, not yet, not like this, not needy and so close. Her feverish brain tried to hold onto the dream.

  “Please fuck me,” she whispered softly. “I need it so badly. Don’t go.”

  A low chuckle answered her. The deeply masculine voice sent chills over her shivering flesh. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  The bed shifted again. Eve felt him next to her and lifted her arms to touch him. Her mind became more aware. She realized she couldn’t see him. But the blindness of the dark room only enhanced her other senses. Her nerves jumped, reaching for him. She could smell his scent--so strong and all invigorating man. She could hear his breathing, deep and even. Her mouth watered, wanting to taste him.

  “Who are you?” she asked.

  There was a small silence, before the seductive voice answered, “A fantasy. Would you like me to continue?”

  “Yes,” Eve moaned in acceptance. What did it matter if she was in some drunk-induced wet dream? It felt real and she wanted more of it.

  Her fingers discovered the ridges of a muscular stomach. She pulled herself up to face him. Her hands hesitated as they felt the pulsating heat radiating off his cock.

  “Don’t stop,” he ordered harshly.

  Eve’s fingers lowered and she gasped. If she doubted she dreamt before, she now knew she had to be. The large shaft she discovered was thicker and longer than she’d have thought humanly possible. Her fingers glided over the smooth mushroom tip in her excitement, and she was thrilled just by the thought of what it would feel like inside her. She’d been with some big men before, but nothing of this girth.

  Veins protruded from the hard shaft. After what seemed like miles
to her hazy brain, she reached the base. Eagerly she stroked, squeezing hard as she made her way back up to the top. Small animal sounds came from her throat.

  It was a dream, so what did it matter what she did?

  Eve leaned over, touching her lips to her hand as she guided the tip to her mouth. Her tongue flicked over him, tasting the sweet flavor of his cock. He shivered as she licked playfully at him, boldly stroking him with her hands.

  “This is my dream, right?” she asked. “I can have whatever I want?”

  A growl answered her.

  “Then I want you to ride me hard. I can’t take this playing around. It’s been awhile since--”

  Strong hands pushed her back on the mattress, cutting off her plea. Eve moaned. Soon his body was above hers and she parted her thighs to give him access to her slick opening.

  The dream man grabbed her wrists and pinned them above her head in a savage motion. She whimpered. His large cock found her ready slit, only to probe boldly into the narrow opening. She felt a momentary wave of panic at his size, but soon relaxed, determined to enjoy what the dream had to offer.

  Eve felt her body stretch to fit him and thought she’d faint from the pleasure-pain of it. He glided forward, sliding in her juices, filling up her womb to the brink of her tolerance and beyond. Her hands were still pinned above her head and all she could do was wiggle her hips as her channel adjusted to his heavy shaft.

  “Ah, you’re so tight,” he growled. She could hear the approval in his hoarse words. “So wet and hot. Your pussy feels so good on my cock. It makes me want to pound into you until your hot little cunt is the shape of my hard shaft.”

  Eve couldn’t answer as he withdrew. She’d always wanted a man confident enough to talk dirty to her, but had never had it. In fact, aside from Midnight, she’d never confessed the longing to anyone. Her heart raced in her chest, thrilled by his naughty words and his sinfully wicked body moving in hers.

  “I’m going to fuck you until you come so hard you can’t breathe.” He quickened his pace, instinctively knowing what she needed and giving it to her.