Page 44 of Covert Affections (Shadow Agents/PSI-Ops #5)

Chapter Thirty-Six

Lindy

“I can’t believe I’m actually doing this,” Lindy said in a hushed whisper, fearful she’d wake the giant mountain lion, currently asleep in the back of her vehicle.

When she’d finished doing whatever it was her succubus side had convinced her to do to the cat while it had been on the ground, she’d sat next to him in the storm.

She glanced at her rearview mirror, which she’d tipped at an angle that allowed her to keep an eye on the animal.

It was already boneheaded enough being near an injured wild animal—coaxing one into a small car and driving around with it was suicidal.

She was a lot of things, but that wasn’t one of them.

Fluffy’s chest rose and fell in a rhythmic manner, but Lindy couldn’t help but think his breathing seemed off—too slow to be normal.

She yawned and shook her head, fighting the urge to sleep.

Channeling energy from herself to Fluffy had come at a price.

She was not only tired, but she was also freezing cold.

However, that might have also had something to do with the fact she was soaked and wearing a bra and jeans.

Her shirt was wadded up in the back of her car, saturated in blood and rainwater.

The heat in her car wasn’t doing much to take the edge off the cold, which felt like it was bone deep in her.

She shivered as she drove, doing her best to see.

through the onslaught of rain Her wipers were going at top speed, unlike her car, which she’d been driving at a snail’s pace down the isolated section of the road.

Visibility was nearly nonexistent between the rain and the fact her glasses were smudged with streaks of rainwater. Lindy didn’t have any dry cloth to wipe them with and had to make do with pushing droplets of rain around with her fingers, which didn’t do much other than leave them a mess.

Her windshield wipers struggled to keep up with the amount of rain that was still coming down, only adding to her issues with seeing clearly.

That meant her speed was reduced and that the drive home was taking far longer than it should.

Every minute in the car already felt like twenty since she had a huge predator in her backseat.

She tried to adjust the heating in the car once more and fiddle with the defrosters as the windshield began to fog up—again. The car’s touchscreen flickered and blacked out. She tapped it. Nothing happened.

“I swear if this has to go into the shop and I get yet another bill, I’m going to scream,” she said, partially under her breath.

The screen flickered back on, just as two different warning lights lit on her dash. She wasn’t sure what either meant. The lights shut off before she could get a better look. “Wonderful.”

The car hit a pothole causing it to bounce, and the cat to grumble.

Lindy gripped the wheel tightly. “Don’t eat me. I won’t be very good. I’d probably tastes like cupcakes and regret.”

Fluffy’s excessively long tail flicked up and at her.

The black tipped end touched her cheek lightly, causing Lindy to bite back a scream as she jerked the wheel hard.

The car swerved toward the steep ditch off to the right, and Lindy made a speedy correction, only barely managing to keep the vehicle on the road.

She glanced in the rearview mirror again to be sure Fluffy wasn’t staring at her like she was dinner.

He wasn’t, but he was awake, his attention locked on her.

“We’re almost home, big guy,” she said, hoping her voice was soothing and not about to rile him.

She focused on the road, trusting her succubus side, hoping it wanted to survive enough that it wouldn’t push false feelings of safety at her.

“I’ll find you a dry spot to recover in.

I promise. I won’t let anything hurt you. ”

The tip of Fluffy’s tail seemed to almost caress her cheek as if he understood her promise to keep him safe.

The hairs of his tail tickled her nose, and she turned her head away, sneezing as she did.

A small laugh came from her before she tensed and glanced quickly into the rearview mirror to confirm she’d not spooked Fluffy.

She hadn’t. His eyes were closed, and he looked like he was asleep even though his tail was still doing its version of petting her.

The end of it grazed the swell of her breast.

“Hey now,” she said, pushing the cat’s tail away. “No getting fresh with me, buddy.”

Fluffy made a noise that sounded like he was grumbling about the command.

She nearly laughed. “Of course, I’d end up with a giant randy cat.”

His tail ended up over her arm and on her boob—again. If she didn’t know better, she’d have said Fluffy was doing it on purpose. But that was insane. Cats didn’t cop feels, did they?

So far, the massive feline had behaved himself, notwithstanding the boob brushes his tail kept giving her. Fluffy hadn’t bitten her or swiped a paw out, removing her head from her body.

At least not yet.

That was a plus.

What should have taken ten minutes tops to drive took nearly thirty minutes because of the weather.

As they approached the property that sat on the west side of her own, she thought she spotted a dim light in the front window.

The old, abandoned home was barely standing.

It was in such bad shape that she wondered if the vines that had claimed it years ago were what was holding it together.

Regardless, no one resided in it and she highly doubted it had electricity or working lights within it.

She peered harder, trying to see through her streaky lens and the deluge of rain hitting the windshield. All the home’s windows were dark.

“I’m going nuts,” she said with a slight laugh. “Only explanation I can think of for what I’d bring a mountain lion home with me.”

When Lindy finally pulled into her driveway, she was shivering slightly, partially from being soaked to the bone and partially from the adrenaline crash.

She put the car in park and twisted around to get a better look at Fluffy.

His eyes were closed, but his chest was going up and down, so she knew he was still breathing.

She wasn’t sure how bad his injuries still were.

She knew she’d healed him to a point. She just wasn’t sure how much.

His fur was too matted with rain and blood to tell.

Lindy hadn’t really given much thought to what she’d do with him once she got him home. All she knew was that leaving him in the parking lot hadn’t been an option she’d been willing to take. "What am I going to do with you now, Fluffy?"

His ear twitched at the name, but his eyes remained closed.

She glanced at her house and back at the large animal. Taking him inside would be beyond stupid, right?

“Dumber than approaching him to start with or luring him into your car?” she asked out loud, still stunned at just how poor her decision-making was when it came to the large cat.

Her track record with animals said she should stay as far away from them as possible, if for no other reason than their safety.

She shut off her car, shoved her keys into her front pocket, and exited the vehicle.

She just needed to lure the cat onto the porch.

From there, she could get him some blankets and a bowl of water.

The spot wasn’t perfect, but it was dry, for the most part.

He could sleep on the porch and heal more.

It was a solid plan, so long as he didn’t kill her in the process.

Rain pelted Lindy as she opened the back hatch of her car, trying to figure out the logistics of moving an injured mountain lion out of her vehicle and onto her front porch. "Come on, Fluffy. I need you to work with me here since I can’t carry you. You’re huge.”

He lifted his head and yawned, showing off an impressive set of teeth that had her taking an involuntary step back. When he made no move to exit the car, she weighed her options. None of them seemed particularly smart or safe. Then again, nothing about tonight fell into either of those categories.

Taking a deep breath, Lindy leaned into the car, stretching her arm out slowly. "Please don't bite my hand off. I'm kind of attached to it. Pun intended."

Her fingertips were inches from his fur when his muscles bunched.

Before she could jerk back, he lunged forward.

Her heart leaped into her throat as his head shot toward her.

Instead of going for her throat like she assumed he would, he buried his face directly between her breasts, nearly knocking her backward in the process.

Lindy froze, positive that she was about to die with a face full of mountain lion between her boobs—that he’d bite her chest cavity out, and later, her friends would find him picking her rib bones out of his teeth.

His large, rough tongue dragged across her chest, going right between her boobs.

She groaned, trying to push his head back. It didn’t work. In fact, it seemed as if he was doubling down on keeping his head there—between her breasts. "Pfft. Men. Doesn't matter the species, you're all the same."

His purr vibrated against her skin as he continued making himself at home nestled to her breasts.

“Listen, Fluffy, you need to buy me flowers and chocolates first if you want access to those,” she said, easing back from him and the car.

If only she was as selective with human males as she was being with Fluffy.

Before Robert, flowers and chocolates wouldn’t have been needed at all to get her in the sack.

Her succubus side hadn’t used to be picky.

Even when she’d been with Robert, it had pressed her to seek out others to help fill the mounting need.

She didn’t. “Hurry up before Robert figures out that I didn’t listen to him and that I’m not at the bar still.

He’ll show up here and trust me when I say that neither one of us wants that. ”

At the mention of Robert, Fluffy growled boisterously, sounding like an overgrown housecat that was genuinely pissed off.

“Seriously? Did you just give me attitude? I saved your furry backside. Be nice,” she said, wiping rain from her glasses.

The action only managed to smear water across the lenses more, not that it mattered since it was still pouring down rain and she was standing out in it.

"This night keeps getting better and better. Let’s go, Fluffy. ”

Fluffy jumped out of the car silently, surprising Lindy. For his size, he should have made noise when he moved—he didn’t. She stayed perfectly still, wondering what he’d do now that he was fully alert and not on death’s doorstep.

“Please don’t murder me,” she said out of the corner of her mouth.

His long tail whipped out and wrapped around her upper thighs.

One second, she was standing in place and the next she was being yanked toward Fluffy.

Lindy nearly fell onto the mountain lion as she fought to keep her footing, his tail still wrapped firmly around her.

He turned his head, his green gaze sliding over her slowly.

Nothing about his expression said he planned to make her a meal—at least not yet.