“It doesn’t belong to you, either,” Cal pointed out. “And if there’s anything I can do—anything at all—to get that jerk out of your life once and for all, you’d better believe I’m going to do it.”
That made her crack a smile. A tiny one, but it was there. Still, she said stubbornly, “I have a job. And I chose to marry Lew. I can pay the consequences myself.”
“How about we talk about it later,” Cal suggested. “Once the rest of this business is cleared up. We can sit down at a computer and look over all our finances together, work out specifics.”
Lillian relaxed a little. “That sounds best.”
That would give Lillian a little time to get used to the fact that they were, for all intents and purposes, married, and that everything that was Cal’s belonged to both of them now. And give him time to muster his arguments—for example, most of their money going forward would be dedicated to building their lives together, taking care of their future children. And there was no way Lillian could argue that they wouldn’t be united as one in that effort.
“Anyway, even if we’re keeping separate finances, I can pay for my own furniture,” Cal added. “So you’ll be buying all the throw pillows you want.”
Lillian raised her eyebrows. “So there?”
“If that’s how you want to hear it.” Cal came over to her, reached out a hand. Lillian took it, and he drew her up to her feet and kissed her deeply. “How’s that for an argument?”
“Mmm, very convincing.” Lillian wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back.
Cal was just starting to enjoy all her curves and softness pressed against him when she drew back. “Cal?”
“Hm?”
Lillian bit her lip. “I have a request.”
The formal phrasing caught his attention, and he stepped away, trying to marshal his brain back online. “Anything you want.”
That made her make a dubious face. Cal decided not to tell her that the little wrinkle in her forehead was—no way to use any other word—cute.
“You don’t even know what I’m going to say.”
“I know you’re not going to ask for anything I don’t want to give you.”
“You can’t possibly—never mind. Please feel free to say no. But...” She hesitated. “Would you shift for me?”
Cal let out a surprised laugh. “Why would you think I might not want to do that?”
In fact, he should’ve thought to do it before. It seemed impossible that Lillian had never seen him shifted, but, he realized, it was true.
She shrugged, looking uncomfortable. “I don’t know. It seems like a very private thing.”
He took her hands. “Lillian. You’re my mate. Even if it was the most private thing in the world, I would still be happy to show you.”
She nodded slowly, and then smiled. “All right. Keep telling me things like that, and I promise it will start to sink in someday.”
He kissed her softly, and then stepped back to the center of the room. “Ready?”
She nodded, looking eager.
Cal reached down inside himself and drew out his leopard.
The room blurred around him. He felt his fingernails lengthening to claws, his tail growing out, his fur rippling over his body. He fell down to all fours as his teeth sharpened and his core thickened into the body of a snow leopard.
When he was fully changed, he looked over at Lillian. She had a hand over her mouth, her eyes wide.
“Wow,” she breathed. “I’ve never seen anything like that—well, I saw my sister change once. But this was...different.” She took a few hesitant steps forward, then stopped. “May I touch you?”
Cal couldn’t speak out loud as a snow leopard, but he didn’t need to; he walked over to Lillian and butted his head against her hip.
Mate, echoed through his body. Lillian’s scent was much more powerful as a leopard; a sweet but musky feminine aroma that Cal wanted to keep breathing in forever. Her hand lit softly on his head, and he nosed forward, encouraging her to pet.