Pixie lowered her eyes as her face flushed with embarrassment. "I'm so sorry."
"You have nothing to be sorry for, baby. It would have come out eventually." Tatum hugged her tight and caressed a hand up and down her back.
Jenson moved closer to the bed and then sank down to his knees before taking Kenzie's hand in his.
Kenzie sucked in a breath as heat raced up her arm and coursed through her blood. Her breasts swelled, her areolae ruched, and her nipples hardened to tight peaks. Liquid desire pooled low in her belly, moisture coated her folds, and her clit began to pulse as it engorged. She tried to tug her hand from his, albeit not very hard, and he tightened his grip.
"The men in this town can all change shape into animals." Jenson stared intently into her eyes.
Kenzie didn't know what to say to that. She opened and closed her mouth a few times trying to get her mouth and brain to work in sync, but shock was preventing her from responding. When she realized she probably looked like a guppy out of water, she snapped her mouth closed and glanced at the three women. She expected to see them smiling or trying to look innocent as they waited for her response to the joke, but they were staring at her stoically.
"Are you serious?" she finally managed to ask.
"Very," Jenson answered emphatically.
"Do you want me to prove it?" Jayson asked as he moved toward the end of the bed.
She stared at him blankly for a beat or two, licked her suddenly dry lips, and then nodded. Her eyes widened when Jayson tugged his shirt up over his head and dropped it onto the end of the bed. When she glanced at Emmy, Pixie, and Dusty, they were all in their men's arms with their back toward Jayson.
She was going to ask them why they'd turned away, but she had her answer a moment later when she gazed at Jayson again. He was tugging the button on his jeans open.
Kenzie eyed his wide shoulders, muscular chest, and bulging biceps. She shifted on the bed, winced with pain, but then gasped in a breath as her eyes wandered down over his eight-pack, washboard abs. The man was cut with definition, and she had to swallow quickly when she began to salivate. Her clit was throbbing along with her rapid heartbeat, and she was panting. Even though she tried to regulate both, she couldn't. She'd never seen such a sexy sight in her life.
The hair between his pecs thinned out to a trail which led down toward his groin. She noticed his thumbs were hooked into the waistband of his jeans and boxers and quickly looked up into his blue patchless eye. What she saw in his gaze had her shivering as her blood heated even more. The lust in his eye should have set her on fire, and in a way, it had, but she ignored her body's response. Or at least she tried to.
"What are you doing?" She couldn't believe how strong her voice was when inside she was quaking. Kenzie wasn't sure the internal tremors were excitement or trepidation. Maybe a bit of both.
"I'm going to show you that we aren't lying to you."
"What?" She frowned and then turned to meet Jenson's gaze when he squeezed her hand.
"Jayson is going to shift into his panther. Jordan and I can change into a panther, as well." He pointed to the other men. "Broden and his brothers, Archer and Airen, can change into Kodiak bears. Tatum and his brothers, into lions. Jett and his friends, Declan and Brooks, into polar bears. Some other men can change into wolves and other animals."
Kenzie blinked and shook her head. She tugged her hand from his and pinched her arm, hard. She bit her lip to stop herself from gasping with pain. She'd inadvertently pinched her skin right over a bruise and it fucking hurt.
"Don't do that again, Kenzie," Jenson ordered in a hard voice as he laced his fingers with hers. "You're in enough pain as it is without adding to it. I hate the stench of your agony."
She opened her mouth to respond but ended up shaking her head again when no words came to mind. When she heard a throat clear, she turned to look at Jayson again. As soon as her gaze locked with his, he shoved his jeans and boxers over his hips and down his legs.
Kenzie stopped breathing altogether when she saw his erection. The breath exploded from her lungs as his hard cock bobbed up and down. She licked her lips when she saw a clear bead of pre-cum in the small slit and shifted restlessly on the bed. Her ribs throbbed at the movement, but she was too enthralled staring at Jayson's long, thick, hard dick to really feel too much pain. Cream wept from her pussy and her clit pulsed as if it had its own heartbeat.
When she realized she was being rude by staring she closed her eyes and wondered if she was actually awake. Maybe she was hallucinating. Maybe she wasn't even here in this room, in the clinic in Ambrose, but still back in that warehouse, high as a kite on drugs someone had injected into her.
"Open your eyes, Kenzie," Jenson commanded.
She forced her lids up as he rose and then he gently shifted her over on the slim mattress and got up beside her. If she'd been in her right mind she would have told him to get off, to give her some room to breathe properly, but she couldn't seem to find her voice. She locked gazes with him when he eased an arm under her neck and shoulders. A shiver of heat and desire shot up her spine when she inhaled his amazing masculine scent. He smelled like a mix of wild musk and fresh clean air, and she couldn't help licking her lips again. "Look at Jay, sweetie."
Everything felt so surreal and while she didn't remember turning to look at Jay, she was once more staring at his big, sexy, muscular body. Her mouth gaped when fur started to race over his skin. The muscles and bones under his flesh began to move and reshape.
When he dropped down to his hands and knees, Jenson moved fast and scooped her up into his arms, blanket and all, and carried her toward the end of the bed. She gasped in a deep, ragged breath and stared in fascinated horror as Jayson, the man, receded and in his place a large black panther took shape.
She didn't realize she was clutching at Jenson until her finger brushed his black hair, causing a shiver of lust to shiver through her body, and while she wanted to release him, she couldn't seem to make herself. He was her only anchor in a world that had just turned upside down. Even though she felt her fingers digging into Jenson's skin as he crouched down until she was on eye level with Jayson, the panther-I have to be losing my fucking mind-she couldn't seem to loosen her hold.
"You have no reason to be scared, sweetie," Jenson breathed into her ear, causing another shudder of heat to rip up her spine, to center in her breasts and pussy. "Jayson and his panther would never do anything to hurt you."
The panther took a step toward her and it was only then that she realized his eye patch was still covering his right eye. Was he blind in his panther form, too? The huge muscular animal went down low, his belly nearly touching the floor and he slowly crawled toward her, his tail swishing back and forth behind him. Wasn't a cat's tail moving a sign of agitation? She wasn't sure, because she'd never had a pet before.
Kenzie wasn't sure if she blinked or maybe closed her eyes for a second or two, but when she became aware again, it was to find the huge animal purring as it rubbed his large head along the bare skin of her forearm. His fur was so soft, and it tickled against her flesh. Without thinking about what she was doing, she reached up and scratched behind one ear. The deep rumbling purr grew louder. The panther tilted his head and she scratched behind his other ear. The big cat moved closer until his head was resting against her blanket-covered thigh and she patted him with both hands.
Awe filled her heart at what she'd just witnessed and what she was doing. The fear diminished to nervous excitement and she couldn't stop a giggle from escaping from between her parted lips.
"How is this possible?"
"It's amazing, isn't it?" Emmy more stated than asked.
Kenzie nodded and glanced up to see everyone was watching her, but she was too fascinated to be worried about being the center of attention. Plus, they were all smiling at her. "It is." She laughed when the panther licked over the back of her hand. His tongue was raspy like fine sandpaper, but it didn't hurt. She sighed with disappointment when Jayson's animal retreated and rose up onto all four paws. They were huge just like the rest of him, and the claws protruding from the tips looked as if they could rip a human apart with ease. She shivered with trepidation, but the anxiety waned when Jenson stroked a hand over her head and hair. When the lines of the animal's body began to shimmer as the muscles and bones began to reform again, she cringed. "Does that hurt?"
"No," Jenson answered.