“Sure. I’ll borrow a truck with a trailer, and we’ll haul that and anything else you want,” Salvation says, swiping his thumbs over the apples of my cheeks.
“I might like this new life, but I can’t promise I won’t get sad from time to time.”
“I’ll do whatever I can to keep a smile on these pretty lips.”
“I’m sure you will.”
69
Salvation
It’s been a few months and Max is settling in. She did have a minor setback after a shower one night. She came into my bedroom and flopped down the bed. She had crossed her arms in front of her as she watched rain slide down the windowpane. The t-shirt of mine she was wearin’ rode up exposing her white laced covered ass and my panther stirred and so did my cock.
“Max, what are you doin’?” I’d asked toeing off my boots and unbuckling my belt.
“Watchin’ the rain. I’ve loved thunderstorms since I was a kid. Papa used to take me outside with him during spring showers and we’d just sit on the porch, him with his beer and me with my chocolate milk. Then we would sit and just watch the rain for hours.”
I heard a sadness in her voice when she talked about her Papa. “What happened to your grandfather?”
She’d placed her right hand against the window, her fingertips following the droplets as they’d trickled down the glass, disappearing in the windowsill. “He passed away, massive stroke, but I found him a few days before he passed. He was on the floor in his den, he’d fallen.” It’s all she’d said, and I didn’t push for more.
I’d told her how sorry I was, and she said that it’d happened a long time ago. I had to remind her that losing people we love is never easy and feelings just don’t go away overnight. I slid my kutte off, folding it over the rocking chair next to my bed like it was a delicate piece of fabric. I pulled my shirt off and tossed it somewhere on the floor. I laid down next to her and slid my fingers over the globes of her ass, up under the hem of the t-shirt, and stopped at the dip in her back.
She turned her head toward me, her eyes gleaming with unshed tears. “Well, when you find a man as good as your Papa, your heart eventually pieces itself back together. You would have liked him, and he would have liked you. He might have had something to say about all your tattoos, though.”
“There ain’t nothin’ good ‘bout me, baby.”
Max smirked and I expected a smartass answer, but she didn’t give me one. All she said was, “Yes, there is. If there wasn’t, you wouldn’t have heard my cries for help.”
“My panther couldn’t resist the sweet call of your voice.”
She didn’t say another word after that. She just laid there with me, in my bed, the one place I wanted her to feel safe being in. I realized at that moment, that the man in me wanted to love her, but the animal in me wanted to protect and claim her.
After that, she was fine. We don’t talk about her Papa much, because my panther senses feel it’s still a hard thing for her. Maybe one day, she’ll tell me more about him.
I watch her get ready for work at the strip joint the DLMC owns. Women and guns, that’s what we do, but the ladies of the club don’t ask, and we don’t test the products. I’m not gonna say I’ve never dipped my stick into one or two of the dancers, I’m not a fucking choir boy, but that’s where it stopped. I was always the dude waiting for someone special, and Maximus is that for me.
She doesn’t ask questions about the club, she’s just happy to be alive. She’s formed quite a bond with each member of my club, especially Sharayah and Andi, which is one thing I love, but of course, to me, Max is easy to love.
I look at her and catch her eyes in the mirror. She looks nervous. “So, you’re a panther?”
“Yes.”
“If we have sex, will I become a panther too?”
I straight up laugh. “No, I’d have to bite you while I was in panther form.”
“Oh good.”
“What? Why is that good? Being a panther is badass.”
“Yes, but I’d want to be a lynx.”
“Huh, I guess that would make sense. Those two men hunted you down because they thought you were one. Then they hunted you down again after trying to get you to turn didn’t work. I guess I can see why you’d want to be a lynx.”
She smiles at me in the mirror. “Thank you for that exhilarating recap, Salvation. I can’t say my life is ever boring, right?”
My panther purrs, and I feel all warm and fuzzy when she says my name – it’s the sweetest sound. “You’re welcome. And no, your life is definitely not boring.”
Max slides her glasses onto her face. She is such a little nerd and she’s not the least bit sorry about it. When she looks up at me and smiles, my heart rate spikes, and I begin to sweat. “I gotta go to work. Come kiss me.”
I cage her against the mirror on the wall, my palms flat against the dark paneling. “You don’t have to go to work.”
“Yes, I do, it’s important. Plus I like working with Sharayah.”
I’m happy she’s getting more comfortable at the club and here at home. She’s built friendships with the ladies, and the club has really fallen in love with her. Me, I was in love with her the moment we made a connection.
“All right, go to work and I’ll go to work. You do take off the glasses and take your hair down, right?”
She makes a face. “No. I get major tippage
