The Leopard King by Ann Aguirre Page A

a look.
    “You’re making that up,” she’d replied.
    “No, I’m serious. It’s a real thing. You think sex was good before, but when you’ve just agreed to be bonded, it’s wildly intense. You’ll find out for yourself.”
    Now, lying in bed with Dom, she wondered what her friend would say now. But of course, if she could comment, I wouldn’t be here. I might never have shifted and I’d still be waiting for Slay. It seemed ridiculous that she was discovering the truth of the mating frenzy with Dom.
    She sighed faintly, and he shifted to settle her head on his chest, his hand playing idly in her hair. “You okay?”
    “Just… surprised,” she said.
    “By what?”
    “The fact that our bodies communicate so well.” There, that was clear, but she still blushed over saying it.
    “It’s a little unexpected. But I’m glad you want me. I’d almost forgotten how it feels.”
    Pru shied away from that admission; it skirted too close to forbidden territory. She’d made peace with the idea that some parts of him would always be off-limits. Since Slay had been partitioning their relationship for years, she was used to that, and at least Dom wouldn’t treat her like a dirty secret or hide her from his family.
    Her silence seemed to trouble him, however. Because he touched her cheek and prompted, “You do, right? While we’re together, you’re not thinking of…”
    Slay, her mind supplied the name he didn’t say. Pru shook her head quickly. “Of course not. When I’m with you, I’m with you.”
    She could have said that he was different than Slay, wilder. Slay prided himself on how crazy he could make her without letting his guard down. Maybe that had been because he didn’t want them to get attached, even accidentally. That was also why Slay had doled out their physical encounters like starvation rations. But Pru refused to open the door to comparisons; there was no way she’d win against Dalena, and she didn’t want to.
    “Glad to hear it.” He sounded sleepy, so she let him drift off.
    Once he winked out, she breathed him in with a sort of bittersweet bewilderment. He smelled of fresh mint and aspen wood, delicious to the point that it was hard not to nibble him. Lying beside him, Dalena must have felt exactly this way, and Pru fought tears that tasted of betrayal. Pru had spent her life trying to work hard enough to make up for the fact that she was defective, and she didn’t know how to stop that anxious trying. In time he might find her bothersome or overzealous. The day would probably never come when the shadows left his eyes, but maybe he could be content with her.
    Eventually, she slept.
    She dreamt of a particular autumn afternoon, of golden sunlight, crisp air, and the fluttery of orange and crimson leaves. The four of them on a picnic, Dalena and Dom had gone cat, tumbling each other and snarling with mock ferocity, while Slay rested his head in Pru’s lap and lazily demanded she pet him, like some kind of emperor. Pru sank her hands into Slay’s hair, as she had a thousand times before.
    “This is perfect,” he purred.
    Suddenly, the scene soured—and Dalena shifted back to human form, her eyes tricking blood tears. Though Pru didn’t recall them moving, Dom and Slay had swapped places and he was touching her while Dalena watched. He nuzzled her thigh with his cheek, then moved so he could kiss higher, and she squirmed, pinioned between pleasure and shame, and it was like she was the only one who could see Dalena anymore, a sorrowful ghost fading in the sunshine.
    “How could you?” her best friend wept.
    Dom was gone when she started awake, her entire body trembling. It took Pru a long time to settle down.
    After she gathered herself, she got out of bed. Dom must have picked up her pajamas because they were no longer strewn about the room. Abashed, she got dressed and discovered that he’d left tea and toast on the table for her, a kindness that made her misty as she ate