Lion Lost & Found, Paranormal Romance (Ghost Cat Shifters Book 2) Read Free

tell you I thought about more than that this last year or so. I haven’t really been in a place to do anything about it until now.”
    His chest tightened at what his own words meant. When he heard them aloud, they held a potency he hadn’t contemplated.
    Vivi was quiet for several beats, a flush staining her cheeks. One of her hands fell from his chest. She started fiddling with the silver charm bracelet on her wrist. She took a gulp of air before she spoke. “Okay then. That clears it up.”
    “How about you?”
    Another few beats passed, and she took another deep breath. “Okay, you were honest, so I’ll be honest. I suppose I have two answers as well. The first is I might have had more than a few times when I thought about kissing you back in high school. The second is life happened and then…” She paused, the soft clink of the charms on her bracelet audible as she looked up at him. “You came home again…and I’ve thought about it a lot more since then.”
    What he wanted to do was lift her in his arms and find the first place he could to bury himself inside of her, but he wasn’t after quick satisfaction. Not with Vivi. He wanted the time to see what lay between them and if it meant as much as he suspected. If his cat had anything to say about it, he wouldn’t be waiting at all. Alas, human reason managed to filter through. So, he shackled his impulses and slowly eased his hand off her waist.
    “Are you walking home?” he asked.
    At her nod, he continued. “I’ll walk with you.”
    They walked through the quiet night. At some point along the way, he reached for her hand. When they walked up the steps to her house, he looked down and allowed himself one small moment. He dipped his head and caught her lips in a quick kiss. Just that, and it took all of his willpower to pull back.
    After she closed the door and locked it behind him, he walked down the stairs and returned to where he’d left his car. His lion simmered, the shackling of his desire went against every grain of the lion side of his shifter self. The chilly, quiet night settled him and by the time he made it to his car, the heat inside had begun to abate.

Chapter 2

    Vivi held a toothbrush in one hand, vigorously scrubbing her teeth while she clipped her hair back in a barrette with the other hand. She ran the faucet and rinsed her mouth. Just as she turned the water off, a loud thump came from the kitchen.
    “Julianna!” she called out, snatching a towel and drying her hands as she raced down the hallway.
    Julianna looked up, her dark brown eyes wide. A milk carton lay on its side with milk spreading in a pool by Julianna’s feet. Julianna glanced up with a grimace. “Sorry, Mom.”
    A blur of black and white caught Vivi’s eyes. Jax, Julianna’s beloved young cat, dashed across the kitchen and skidded into the puddle of milk. Impatience rose inside Vivi. Every morning felt like a race. Small accidents like this only added to the hurry. Vivi strode quickly to Jax’s side and promptly dropped the towel in her hands on the milk. “Sorry Jax. No time to let you try to clean this up.” Jax sat on his haunches and set to cleaning his wet paws, unperturbed.
    “Mom! That’s a bathroom towel!”
    Vivi shrugged. “So what?” She brushed Julianna’s brown hair out of her eyes and dropped a kiss on her forehead. When she looked back at the floor, the towel had already absorbed the milk. “See, it’s all gone,” she said as she picked up the towel and carried it to the sink to wring it out. “Pick up the milk carton please.”
    Julianna immediately picked it up and started to carry it to the trash. “Hey, give me that,” Vivi said, turning and holding her hand out.
    Julianna looked up, her eyes confused.
    “Hey, if there’s any milk left in there, we can still drink it,” Vivi said with a grin.
    Julianna smiled doubtfully, but she carried the carton over and handed it to her mother. Vivi shook it, feeling almost nothing swishing