My Shifter Boss

Chapter 3

 Bobby walked up to Marissa’s cell door and waited for the guard to let him in. He thanked him quietly and stepped inside. He didn’t speak until the door banged shut and the lock turned. He glanced at Marissa, who hadn’t risen from her prone position on the bed. Her bre*sts were perky, the nipples erect in the cold air. He moved his eyes away from her in discomfort. She was his boss, after all, and not his type; he preferred men, and burly ones at that.

“Good morning, Marissa,” he murmured quietly as if the door opening hadn’t alerted her to his presence.

“Hello, Bobby,” Marissa answered without moving. “Sit down. Have you brought me another book?”

“I have. I think you’ll like it a lot,” he smirked. “It’s nonfiction this time.”

“Much more to my taste,” she replied, her smile clear in her voice. “I’ve always preferred truth to falsehood.”

The irony in that statement escaped Marissa, but Bobby heard it and shook his head. She had been delivered to this cell through her lies. Bobby had destroyed so much evidence of other falsehoods so that she wouldn’t be in more trouble. But he believed in her, always had. When she led her own faction, he would be her second in command. Her desire to keep all weres safe held him to her; they had similar beliefs about how humans and weres should live totally separate lives. He believed in her idea of a city of solely were citizens.

Marissa flipped open the book and glanced through the first several pages, skimming the words hand written over the typed pages. The plan was devilishly simple, one nobody would expect. She grinned as she continued to flip, ignoring Bobby for the moment.

“Any news I should be aware of?” she asked after five minutes of silence.

Bobby cleared his throat and thought about saying no, but if someone else told her and he hadn’t, he’d never hear the end of it. “I have heard a few things.”

Marissa finally sat up, swinging her shapely legs off the bed and placing her feet on the floor. The only garment she wore were panties. Her body was sculpted and lovely; Bobby appreciated the way she looked even if he felt no s*xual attraction for her.

“A few things? Anything interesting?” Again, Bobby cleared his throat. Marissa looked at him, eyebrow arched. “Why are you clearing your throat again and again? What aren’t you telling me?”

Bobby sighed in resignation; he knew his boss was about to lose her sh*t. “The Head had a meeting with that werewolf, Lucy.”

Marissa’s jaw clenched visibly at the mention of Lucy’s name, but her voice sounded calm. “Really?”

Bobby stared at her, fearful of her reaction. Quiet Marissa was much more dangerous than a Marissa who expressed her anger. His silence irritated her.

“Bobby, have you lost the ability to speak? Do you need a pen and paper so you can write it down?” Her voice dripped with disdain, and her eyes spoke of the stupidity she saw in him. He chastised himself for his cowardice.

“He offered her a job.”

“A job?” Marissa asked, her voice dropping lower than its normal pitch. “Doing what?”

“Media liaison,” he replied quietly, watching her.

Marissa began to pace. Her thoughts were on fire with rage. How dare that son of a bi*ch give my job away? she thought. Although that had been only a portion of her job, she saw this as a bullet directly aimed at her heart. She growled as she shifted, pouncing on the bed and swishing her tail in anger.

Bobby watched her. He had always thought she made a more beautiful cat than person, possibly because she couldn’t speak. He’d seen her shift many times, mostly when she had serious thinking to do. She claimed she thought better as a cat. He waited patiently as she prowled around her cell, skirting around him, sometimes rubbing against his legs like a house cat. Her panther body was lithe and trim, muscular and deadly.

The guard must have heard her growl because he peeked through the bars of the door at Bobby. Bobby waved him away, assuring him with his smile that he was in no danger. He listened to the guard’s footsteps fade as he continued to watch Marissa. She looked at him with those cool, green eyes and sauntered towards him. She shifted suddenly, surprising him.

“The plan must be executed tomorrow.”

Bobby nodded. He had guessed as much. “I will start the domino effect as soon as I leave.”

“How many do you have on our side?”

“Only fourteen inside, but one is a guard at the front door and will let in our allies at the signal from me.”

“And you’ve explained to them my intentions? That either I will kill the Head or die trying?”

“It has been made perfectly clear. I have also explained that no one is to touch him but you.”

Marissa nodded, satisfied. “And the distraction?”

“You’ve read the plan, Marissa. You know what will happen,” Bobby replied, an edge to his voice at having been questioned.

Marissa smiled wickedly at him. “Are you prepared to die to make our dream come true?”

Bobby looked at her, his eyes unflinching. “We all are.”

*****

“We should quit life, move to a secluded island, and have s*x for the rest of our lives,” Lucy mused as she played with Nathan’s chest hair. “I like staying in bed with you for hours on end.”

His chest rumbled when he chuckled. “I would agree, but I like food and a roof.”

“Blah blah, we’ll live off the sea and build our shelter in the trees like that movie, um, with the family that is shipwrecked and builds fancy treehouses.”

“Swiss Family Robinson?”

“That’s the one. Loved that movie when I was a kid. I used to dream of living in a treehouse.” She sat up and said, “Did you know there’s a place in Samoa that has a treehouse hotel? It’s on my bucket list to stay there.”