Behind them, a door opened. The chase changed. Not play, not exercise—a hunt. Francine sensed it without touching Eloise’s mind; it was all in her lioness’s posture, ears flicked, muscles bunching beneath the loose skin on its shoulders as her attention zeroed in on the intruder.
Prey.
Francine followed Eloise’s lead without thinking—because they were lionesses, because they hunted in packs as lionesses did, because this was the best she had felt in years.
Then she saw the woman who’d stepped through the doors. Eloise’s PA hovered, light on her feet like she wanted to flee, pinned in place by her human form. The smell of fear smeared out from her as she saw the lionesses stalking towards her.
“Ms. Fairchild!”
Her voice didn’t even wobble, but the stench of fear thickened until Francine could practically feel it clog on her tongue.
She stopped. Eloise didn’t. She prowled forwards, the tip of her tail flicking with anticipation.
“Ms.—” The PA swallowed. Francine realized she didn’t even know her name. Jo? Jan? “There’s a call for you in your room,” she said, all the whites showing around her eyes.
The lioness crept forwards, its eyes golden discs.
“It’s regarding—the situation you’ve been monitoring back home,” the PA managed to choke out.
Francine shivered back into human form. “Elly—”
Eloise was already transforming. She stood and flung her hair back over her shoulder, her expression a mask of annoyance. And something else.
Excitement, Francine thought, cold gathering in her stomach. The same thrill of the hunt that had hummed in her veins as they ran together.
“Workagain?” she whined. “Sorry, Frankie. I have to go deal with this.”
“You’re throwing me off forwork? Now?” Francine folded her arms. Her clothes hadn’t come with her as she shifted, of course, and the air was a degree or two below comfortable.
“I’ll make it worth your while tonight. Don’t miss dinner, okay? Oh, hey, there are our clothes.”
Two women in the ship’s staff uniforms appeared as if by magic, wheeling in a selection of outfits. Francine recognized her own clothes on some of the hangers.
Julian.Was he—?
Not here. Not watching her transform from lioness into naked human woman. The realization came too late to stop the flood of heat that washed through her body, every nerve humming with anticipation. Eloise quirked a strange look at her, then threw on an athleisure set and left, still complaining about work taking away from all her fun.
Francine dressed slowly, jaw clenched as each touch of fabric made her skin want touch of another sort.
What would Julian say if he knew she was thinking about him like this?
If he felt the same way she did—
She straightened, fastening her pants and reaching for a blouse. He didn’t feel the same way she did. She was sure of that. Because this need for his touch, to drown herself in the simple lust and longing of the mate bond, was the same as her need for the simplicity of her lioness’s form. It was a way to escape.
It was weakness.
And it was a trap.
Running with Eloise in lioness form hadn’t made things simpler; it had only made them worse. The way Eloise had stalked her PA until the woman almost shifted in terror…
Her stomach twisted.
“Ah—Francine. Am I too late?”
Her head snapped around. She hadn’t even noticed Nikolaidis come in. “Vassilios,” she said idly. “I thought you weren’t planning to join us?”
He smiled easily. “My work took less time than I thought.”
