A Game of Cat & Mouse by Astrid Cielo

runs the editing department at the paper in my hometown.
    He used to read to me when I was little.
    Everyone says I got my temperament from him. He’s possibly the most patient person I know.” The way Miranda spoke of her father told Caleb she loved him greatly.
    Caleb wished his father were around to meet the man who Miranda held in such high regards. “Now the triplets, they all took after my mother almost completely.”
    “Did you say triplets?”
    Miranda nodded. “Yep, triplets. I am the youngest of four siblings. Mother had the triplets about six years before me.
    There is Cassie, Brice, and Andrew.
    Andrew is a doctor who rarely visits now.
    Cassie is married to her mate, and they both manage a restaurant together back home. You’ll probably get to meet her too. Last, but not least is Brice. He is in the military and due to come back home this Christmas.”
    “So, do triplets run in your family?”
    Miranda looked up at him with a funny look. “Sometimes I forget that you’re not a mouse. Mouse shifters usually give birth to twins or triplets. I’m actually the odd ball because I was a single birth. Mother was a twin, and Dad was a triplet.”
    “Forget I’m not a mouse! I’m wounded.
    Am I not ferocious enough?” Caleb
    cornered her against the wall and placed both hands beside her head, trapping her within his arms. Caleb peered down into the amused countenance of his mate. His cougar loved playing with its mate.
    Miranda lifter her hand and patted him on the cheek. “Oh, my big bad kitty cat, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”
    “What are you going to do to make it up to me?”
    “What do you want?”
    What could he possibly want from his little mate? Truth was he wanted
    everything, but they could start with a kiss. So, thinking, Caleb bent his head and took her lips. Miranda responded
    immediately, parting her lips to duel with his tongue. She wrapped her hands
    around his neck and pulling herself farther into his embrace. Moments later, and far too soon for his tastes, she eased from his kiss, her lips swollen from their brief make-out session, and he only wanted to taste them again.
    “Let’s hurry up and finish, Caleb. I suddenly want to go home with my big bad kitty cat.”
    On their way home, Caleb adjusted his sun visor against the afternoon sun. He needed to stop at Miranda’s house for her to get some things. Miranda sat in the passenger seat scribbling furiously at her teaching plan. He couldn’t help but wonder where he’d be if he had never met her. On the other hand, what if fate had not chosen her for him? Would he have chosen her had fate not stepped in? The more he got to know Miranda, the more he liked her, but in all honesty, despite her beauty, she was not the type he normally went for. Not that he’d had an enormous amount of time to date, but usually the tall and lean blonde-haired woman caught his eye. Not that Miranda’s curly brown hair and big brown eyes didn’t make him hard in less than a second, but the mating urge only ensured that the two were attracted to one another. It didn’t guarantee love, despite the increased success of it with true-mated pairs.
    Caleb knew that Miranda still had
    reservations about actually becoming mated. He understood her reticence, and if he’d stopped for a moment to analyze his own feeling about their whirlwind
    relationship, he’d have probably felt the same way. Did that mean he was going to give Miranda up? Just the mere thought of losing her brought out his claws. Caleb took a deep breath and looked over at Miranda again. Her presence completed him like nothing else. Did he love her?
    Without a doubt, each moment spent with his mate only ensured her permanent residence within his heart.
    Miranda stirred in the passenger seat her work placed to the side forgotten.
    “Is something burning?” Caleb took in a deep sample of the air, and his nose finally picked up small traces of smoke. They were still quite a ways from