Stray Cat Strut by Shelley Munro Read Free Book Online Page A

get her warm. There’s a blanket in the
SUV.”
    Lucas ran beside us, toting her
possessions, confusion covering his face. “But aren’t you worried you’ll catch
it?”
    I kept walking when Lucas would have taken
his sister from me. “From memory, feline AIDS is spread via blood and saliva in
bite wounds. She’s not conscious so she’s unlikely to bite me. She’s had plenty
of chances to bite me this week but she hasn’t.” I increased my pace and we
soon arrived back at the SUV. I climbed into the passenger seat, still cradling
Leticia in my arms. Tenderness swam inside me when I glanced down at her pale
face. The two siblings had wound their way into my heart and there was no way I
was going to walk away.
    At the lodge, I took her to our room while
Lucas parked the SUV. To my relief she started to stir.
    “Into the shower,” I said. I stripped off
her clothes and turned on the shower, pushing her beneath the water once it had
heated to a comfortable temperature. She was beautiful, although the large scar
on her shoulder appeared recent. It looked ugly, the edges uneven as if she
hadn’t received proper medical attention.
    “Stop looking at me,” she snapped.
    “I’ve told you before I’m more interested in
your brother. I just want to make sure you don’t fall on your pretty ass.”
    Footsteps behind alerted me to Lucas’
presence. “Is she okay?”
    “She’s conscious and whining about me
looking at her butt. You’d better ring the bed and breakfast to let them know
she’s here,” I said, instinctively knowing he needed to feel useful. “You
feeling warmer?”
    “Yes,” she said.
    I flipped off the water and handed her a
thick honey-colored towel. “Dry off while I order you some soup.” Although I
worried about her falling, I decided to let her dry herself. She didn’t seem
comfortable with me being in the room. “Use the robe,” I added.
    I strode out to the bedroom where Lucas
perched on the bed and spoke into the phone.
    “Is she going to be all right?” he asked
the second he’d hung up.
    “I think so. How often does she get sick?”
    “Not that often. It seems like a case of
the flu. But she’s been under a lot of stress lately and that makes it worse.”
    “Ring room service and order some chicken
or beef soup,” I said. “Then you can tell me what happened.”
    “Want to hear all the juicy details?”
Leticia asked, overhearing. Bitterness coated both her words and face. “I can
show you my medical records.”
    “Leticia,” Lucas chided.
    “I’m surprised he hasn’t left like Gerald
did,” she said, hanging her head.
    “Gerald Baxter was her fiancé. He belonged
to a pride from near Cape Town. Leticia met him at a party and they paired up.”
    “We had a lot in common,” Leticia said. “We
were both lawyers, both shifters. I loved him.” Tears glistened in her eyes,
making my heart ache for her.
    “The male had a secret life.” Lucas took
over the story. “And his family had a few skeletons in the closet. Several of
the males mated with wild lions. Gerald’s mother was lion but she wasn’t a
shifter. Gerald liked the rough stuff and because of his higher proportion of
feline genes he picked up FIV.”
    “We had a fight,” Leticia said. “He was
drunk and raped me. He ripped a chunk of skin off my shoulder, passing on the
infection.”
    The bastard. I went to her and pulled her
into a loose hug. Anger pulsed through me at the thought of her pain. I pulled
away and drew her onto the bed beside Lucas.
    “Gerald must have known the truth would
come out. He jumped in first, spreading rumors about Leticia having FIV and
giving it to him. He called off their engagement, made a big deal about it.”
Lucas jumped to his feet and started to pace, his steps agitated. “He spread
rumors. Our pride…our pride is a conservative one. They were having a hard
enough time accepting me but Leticia—”
    “They kicked us both out,” Leticia snapped.
“We were