Page 17 of Seneca
Oh man.
He wasverygood at being a mate.
She was one lucky female.
“I think,” she said, pushing back in the chair and standing, “that we should go back to the house.So we can talk about that repeat performance.”
“You read my mind.”
* * *
After a tumble in the sheets and another world-rocking that left her whole body tingling and her tigress purring like a truck, they pillow-talked until they came down from orbit, then dressed and headed topside to walk around the park.It was nearly noon and the sunshine made her squint, so she shielded her eyes until she grew accustomed to it.
He'd given her a park employee shirt to wear so they both matched and no one would find it suspicious that she was walking around with him.They started the tour at the safari, walking along the dirt path that the vehicles would follow going from one paddock to the next.Each shifter group had a paddock, and since the tours were starting soon, each space was filled with animals that humans didn’t know were shifters.
They stopped at the paddock with the normal, non-shifting animals and he pointed out Tank, the grumpy moose, who was the park’s unofficial mascot.
“Did you ever work on the tour?”she asked, wrapping her hands around the iron gate and watching the animals.
“No.I’m all about food, burgers in particular.”He leaned against the gate and smiled at her.“Speaking of burgers…”
“You’re hungry?”
“Yes, but also, I was wondering if you’d like to help me out with the burger stall?I need to talk to my dad since he’s in charge of the food for the park, but it is fairly normal for couples to work together if they’re inclined.”
“I’m not great on the grill.It’s either raw or overcooked.By a lot.”
“I can teach you.You’ll be an expert in no time.”
“I can definitely help with the prep, and I’d really love to work with you if it’s okay with your dad.”
“I’m sure it will be.It’ll be fun, plus it’ll give us a chance to really get to know each other.”
When he smiled at her, she got all jelly-kneed and her stomach flipped.
Her tigress was in heaven.
They watched the norms for a little while longer and then continued down the path, waving at the shifters before they backtracked and walked into the park.
At the petting zoo, she fed a little goat named Jonas, who tried to eat her shoelaces.At the aviary, she got to help feed the birds that were being cared for by Auden and his mate Jess, an owl shifter, and she got to meet Maggie, a human mated to the elephant alpha.
As they wound their way around the park, they stopped at the carousel, which was run by Ginny, a hyena shifter who was mated to a gorilla named August.
Sunny leaned against the red-painted railing and watched the slowly spinning horses, mesmerized by the way the sunlight played off the enamel.
After a few quiet moments, she said, “A carousel is the last big memory I have of my parents.I have a ton of little memories of our last days together, but a few days before they died, we went to a local carnival and my dad let me ride the carousel as many times as I wanted.Just riding and laughing, and I felt so free.There was even a tiger carousel animal, which I thought was so cool, all painted orange and black with a saddle like a horse and jaws wide with gleaming fangs.”She shook her head with a smile.“I ate so much cotton candy and slushies that I barfed on the way home.But I had a ball.”
Seneca put his arm around her with a laugh.“Sounds like an amazing day.I’m glad you have sweet memories with them.”
She looked up at him.“Tell me something about your mom.”
He hummed.“Well, she was an amazing cook.I learned how to cook helping her.She was an all-hands-on-deck sort of female, where me and Dad had to be in the kitchen helping.One time, we made blueberry muffins for a female who’d just had a baby and forgot to put in the baking powder.They were like hockey pucks.”
He’d loved watching his mom cook, and he’d loved watching her and his dad together in the kitchen.He’d always felt so loved in that house.When she died, the house hadn’t felt the same.
“I feel like you’re giving me back a home,” he said softly.
She turned to face him.“What do you mean?”