Already Freakn' Mated Read Online Free Page A

Asian lady kissing his booboos better. Naked.
     
    *
     
    Days later…
    The full moon emerged, bathing the backyard and the ravine bordering it in a soft glow. Sitting in the window seat, which spanned the length of the bay window in the family room, Jiao stared mournfully outside, but not as sadly as her cat.
    “Why can’t we go out?” she asked for the hundredth time, unable to mask the plaintive tone. The yard and the shadowy woods edging them looked so tempting. So perfect. The temperature crisp. The smells inviting. The chirrups of night birds taunting. Oh how she twitched to get out and stretch. Run a little. Chase something up a tree. Find some soft grass to roll in.
    “I’ve told you a hundred times. We can’t let anyone see our felines. If word gets back to Kaleb…”
    “Yeah. Yeah. Everyone is a spy. Blah. Blah. Blah. We’ll get kidnapped. Or stuck in a zoo. Or become the main act in a three ring circus. Hey, wait, that’s happened to us before and we survived,” she said sarcastically.
    “You’re not being funny or fair, Jiao. I’m doing this to keep us safe.”
    She knew that. Just like she knew six years ago she would have never joked about their time in captivity, objects brought out to entertain those rich and perverse enough to pay for it. She would never go back to that life. Ever. But freedom, or at least their version of, wasn’t as much fun or liberating as she’d hoped. In many ways, she was more bound now than when she lived in Kaleb’s prison.
    Dejected – and her cat twitching – Jiao sighed and leaned her chin on the sill. “I know you’re protecting us. But I miss running outside. I don’t even remember what it feels like to climb a tree or do my nails, or hunt something.”
    “I miss it too,” Sheng admitted in a low tone, putting his arm around her shoulder. “But, we can’t risk exposure.”
    She gestured out the window where the distant howl of a wolf echoed. “They’re not afraid.” And by they, she meant the shifters who’d claimed the wild strip of forest backing the houses in this neighborhood as their own.
    “They’re also not rare species. Wolves, foxes and bears are common to the area. No one would think twice about seeing them. Clouded leopards, though, are not indigenous to this area, which you already know, not mention they are rare even in captivity.”
    “Wouldn’t people mistake us for a mountain cat? Or a lynx?”
    “With our coloring?” Sheng arched a brow at her ridiculous hope. “No. We need to stay inside. Just have a little more patience. I know it won’t be quite the same, but I’ll get the basement done as soon as I can. Then you can at least let your cat out to exercise.”
    Ah, yes the basement project. Good for him for diverting her attention. Her arms crossed over her chest. “And how is that coming? Fired any more good looking guys before they even have a chance?” Oh how she loved sweet sarcasm, a girl’s best friend in any fight.
    Sheng’s lip drew into a tight line. “No. And I didn’t technically fire that Chris guy. I just didn’t want to hire him. I have had another shifter in.” An old guy with a belly to outshine most pregnant women. “And I’m expecting his quote any time. I’ve also got a line on a few humans.”
    Her lip curled. “Humans? Really? And how are you going to explain you want a scratching post?”
    “I’ll figure something out,” he mumbled.
    “Did you talk to Patricia about other shifters who could handle the work?” Patricia, the only one who knew their secret.
    “Yes. She again recommended the guy from Howling Good Renos.” Something Sheng didn’t sound happy about at all.
    “You should give him a chance.”
    “But –”
    However, she’d had enough. Not only could she not change into her cat and hunt like she was meant to, she couldn’t stop thinking about Chris. Oh how she wanted to see him again. Smell him. Rub against him until he wore her scent. To call her irritable was putting