Taste of Kiwi

This week’s theme is the opening scene. After much thought I chose the opening for Leticia’s Lovers. Leticia is a lion shapeshifter who is suffering from FIV, the feline version of AIDs. On the surface it looks as if she’s in dire straights, but rest assured, Leticia does get her happy ending. If you’re interested in reading Saul and Lucas’s story (who also feature in the excerpt) check out Stray Cat Strut.

LETICIA’S LOVERS by Shelley Munro

Leticia Huntingdon scrutinized the hair in her brush and knew the FIV or feline immunodeficiency virus was no longer dormant. A healthy feline shifter simply didn’t lose this much hair during the grooming process. Fear, stark and frightening, kicked her in the gut and her legs trembled so much she thought she’d fall if she didn’t sit. She sank onto the bed, the tremors speeding to her hands as well as her legs.

“Damn,” she whispered.

A glance at her wristwatch confirmed she didn’t have much time before someone thumped on her bedroom door. The last thing she wanted to do tonight was socialize at a birthday party, but if she said she didn’t want to attend, her brother Lucas and his partner Saul Sinclair would start to worry. And she didn’t want that. They’d both been so good to her—Lucas leaving the pride in South Africa to stay with her, and Saul and his leopard-shifter friends accepting her without hesitation.

Her gaze drifted to the tufts of blonde hair clinging to the black bristles of her brush and this time anger bloomed, hot and consuming. It wasn’t fair. Nothing about this was fair. Her ex-lover, who had given her the disease by raping her and ripping open her shoulder, had never faced justice, his position as a lawyer keeping him safe. His word against hers. She’d thought she’d discovered a home in Middlemarch, yet the disease, the feline equivalent of HIV in humans, would steal that from her.

No cure.

The two words echoed mockingly through her head. Gavin Finley, the local vet and doctor to the shifters, had told her the prognosis was good, that they might not be able to cure the disease but could manage it. According to him, although she had the disease, the symptoms were mild and only exacerbated by stress. So managed it they had, and pretty well. Thanks to Gavin, her health remained good, apart from the latest sign. Not so good. Gavin had mentioned the symptoms to look for and losing hair sat at the top of the list along with weight loss and difficulty breathing. A harsh sigh whooshed up her throat, burning all the way.

AIDS. Such a little word. Such a big disease.

Tears obscured her normally excellent vision, making her reflection waver in the mirror.

A tap sounded on her bedroom door. “Leticia, sweetheart. Are you almost ready? We’re going to be late to the party. We still have to drive to Middlemarch.” Saul. Leticia sucked in a deep breath, fighting anxiety and dredging up anger to hide her fear.

“Bite me. Don’t you know you always have to wait on women?” she added, dragging the brush through her hair again and forcing humor into her voice despite the terror curling across her face. “Always in a hurry.”

“Sweetheart, I’d love to bite you, but I don’t want to upset your brother,” Saul countered smoothly.

Leticia couldn’t help the involuntary smirk when she heard a familiar masculine growl in the background. Lucas. It was all a front. Her brother and Saul were crazy about each other. Mates.

Unthinking, she drew the brush through her hair again. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw more loose strands glinting amongst the bristles. Setting it aside, she picked up a comb. It didn’t stop the fall of hair. Apprehension lurched through her mind, her recent weight loss taking on a sinister meaning. How could this happen almost overnight? Dammit, she’d followed all of Gavin’s instructions, eating properly. Cosseting herself and keeping stress to a minimum. True, things were difficult at work, the pressure of a big case making for long days. She’d thought she was coping.

By the time she finished, her long blonde curls appeared tidier and less. Thin. Too thin. A hat. She’d have to wear a hat. She’d get through tonight and after that…

Well, she didn’t want to think about that now. Dying at a relatively young age wasn’t something she wanted to dwell on tonight. She shoved the thought aside and stood.

Leticia dressed rapidly, rejecting the black trousers she’d intended to wear in favor of a short red skirt. She needed to distract tonight, and bright colors and long legs would do the trick. Deftly, she twisted her hair into a loose knot at the back of her neck. A low-cut red, black and cream top covered her upper half and hid the scar on her shoulder from public view. With her makeup already done, all she needed to do was add dangling earrings and a jaunty black hat. She slipped her feet into black slides, the heels giving her a couple of extra inches in height. After grabbing a black clutch and looping the long strap over her shoulder, she pasted on a smile in preparation for the best acting job of her life.

“About time,” Lucas said when she strolled into their den. He and Saul were standing so close, she knew she’d interrupted a romantic moment. Envy washed through her in a wave, followed closely by self-pity. Gavin. Every time she saw him she wanted to jump him. They were compatible. Definitely possible mates.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to leave?” she asked, aiming for light and teasing. Leticia surprised herself with her acting abilities, but then she’d had plenty of practice recently, pretending she cared nothing for Gavin Finley, the shifter doctor. “It looked to me as if you were having a private moment.” She arched a brow, letting the ghost of a smile quiver her lips. Yep, award-winning performance.

“Shut your mouth, brat,” her brother drawled, the familiar South African accent bringing a yearning for home. She was home, she reminded herself. The savannah land of the veld was no longer her habitat.

“She needs to get her own man,” Saul said, his green eyes glinting with mischief. “Gavin wants you. Why don’t you stop running and let him catch you for a change?”

Lucas nodded agreement, and Leticia had to swallow rapidly to force back the building emotion. She would not cry. She would not. “There’s no magic between us,” she said, once again forcing out the lie without flinching or lowering her gaze. If things had been different she would have mated with Gavin by now. After meeting with him, she’d realized the feelings she’d had for her ex were a pale imitation. No. No matter how much she craved the same closeness Saul and her brother experienced, she refused to put Gavin through the trauma of being with her and unable to officially bestow the mark. One taste of her blood and she’d pass on the FIV virus. Unthinkable to place Gavin under the same death sentence she struggled with on a daily basis. When she realized both men still studied her she added, “Besides, I’ve seen how it is between you and Saul. Why would I settle for anything less? Why would Gavin settle for me when we all know he can’t complete the mating process? It would be difficult for both of us because we couldn’t have a proper feline relationship.”

“She has a point,” Saul said.

Any other day Leticia would have snapped back a witty rejoinder, thriving on teasing the two. Not today. She turned for the door.

“Emily said there are other single males attending,” Lucas said. “Maybe you’ll hit it off with one of them.”

“Maybe.” Leticia kept her reply noncommittal. Let her brother and Saul think there was hope. She knew better.

Purchase from Ellora’s Cave

To read other Snippets follow the links below:

Beth Williamson
Cynthia Eden
Elisabeth Naughton
Eliza Gayle
Jaci Burton
Jody Wallace
Kelly Maher
Lacey Savage
Lauren Dane
Marissa Scott
McKenna Jeffries
Michelle Pillow
Moira Rogers
Sasha White
Shelley Munro
Sylvia Day
Taige Crenshaw
TJ Michaels
Victoria Janssen
Vivian Arend

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