Keeper by Shaunta Grimes

Keeper by Shaunta Grimes
Pink Petal Books Presents
length: short novella
genre: erotic paranormal shape shifter
price: $2.75
format: download
ISBN#: 978-0-9820050-4-0
cover art by Celia Kyle

BLURB:

When Jude Felini, a cat-shifter, learns that the woman he's loved all his life, a bird-shifter named Avery Dove, carries a hormone that has addicted a non-shifter to her, he has only one chance to save her from being quarantined in an isolated sanitarium.  He must resurrect a long-dead shifter ritual, the Triad Sacrament, in order to bind Avery's pheromones to his and convince the Coalition of Shape Shifters that she can't addict anyone else.  The Triad Sacrament is powerful sexual magic, but while Jude and Avery are both willing to invoke it in order to stay together, they need to convince the Council that it will work. Otherwise, Avery will be imprisoned forever, and Jude will lose the only woman he's ever loved.

EXCERPT:

Jude Felini carefully removed all the thorns from a single, perfect yellow rose before biting the long stem. He surveyed the tree-lined street, the rows of neat four-plex apartments, making sure he was alone before his body shimmered and contracted into that of a large orange tomcat.

Clutching the rose between his teeth, he hopped from the ground onto an iron balcony railing, walked across it, jumped to a tree limb, and then up to a second story balcony.  Potted plants and flowers turned the small space into a tiny rain forest. Jude loved being here and he often snuck up without the balcony's avian owner knowing.

The sexy little bird in question had once again jumped headlong into a boatload of trouble. From his position under her window, Jude watched Avery Dove wrap her arms around her slender waist and gaze at the sky. Her up-tilted heart-shaped face was unguarded, and breathtaking in its beauty. She opened the window and Jude leapt onto the sill.

Avery stumbled backward several steps away from the window, upsetting framed pictures off the table behind her, and then let loose with a string of swear words all the more colorful for coming from such a delicate woman.

Laughter rang in his head. He drew altogether too much enjoyment from yanking her chain. If he could get that personality quirk under control, maybe he'd be in Avery's bed instead of standing outside her window. He took on his human form again as he jumped from the sill to the floor. As he transformed, the rose was tossed in the air. It spun in a slow arc before it landed in his hand. He presented it to her with a formal bow.

She stood with her hands fisted on her hips, her cheeks flushed. Though she struggled to keep her gaze resolutely on his face, he caught the sweep she made of his nude body. "I swear to God, one of these days I'm going to put a collar around your neck and take you in to be neutered, Jude Felini."

Jude laughed out loud. "You don't want me neutered, Sweetheart. Trust me."

"Maybe neutered you wouldn't be such a pain in my ass." She took the flower. "Where the hell are your clothes?"

Jude raised an eyebrow and tilted his head toward the window with the tree outside, under which rested his jeans and t-shirt. "Being a pain in your ass sounds fun. Maybe we should give it a try."

"I hope you aren't here just to gloat, because I'm really not in the mood." Avery stuck her nose in the flower, but Jude saw the blush rising up from her elegant neck. No woman had ever done angry as beautifully as she did.  "Go get dressed."

He leaned against her clean, white wall. Everything in her apartment was airy and light, perfectly suited for a bird. "Don't you think it'll cause a sensation if I walk down the front stairs nude?"

"So go back down the balcony. You need clothes."

"Or you could take some of yours off." He let his eyes slide down her body. Her hands were fisted on her hips and she was teetering on the edge of more angry than sexy. "And I'm not here to gloat. I'm here to lend support."

Avery looked down her nose at him over the rose. "Sure you are. Stay there."

She put the flower in water and then stalked off. Maybe needing some air, because it wasn't like her to give into this particular argument so easily. She'd spent an entire evening pretending that he wasn't naked before, just to keep from going down and collecting the clothing that he shed during his transformation.

Once he was dressed, Jude sat on Avery's couch and closed his mouth before sexy-angry turned to really-angry. Avery sat next to him. He couldn't take his eyes off of her. She was beautiful, fine boned and delicate in a way that made him want to take her in his arms to hold and protect her. But also fiery, she was a small package of dynamite with no fear, no hesitation when she went after something she wanted.

That rebellious streak was how she got into trouble this time.