Jessica Sims: Vixen

With that, she quickly moved down the hallway and out of their presence. Time to make a strategic retreat, and to regroup and relax.

"Man, she’s hot," Sam said, turning to grin at Jeremiah. "I can’t believe she’s a were-fox."

"On her mother’s side, according to Ms. Westwood," Jeremiah replied mildly, plugging his computer into the wall. "And because her family hired us, that means that you need to leave her alone. No harassing her because she’s sexy."

"So you thought she was sexy too?" Sam said with a wicked grin.

"It doesn’t matter if I did or not – the point is that we’re here to do a job, not to gang up and seduce a young fox alone."

"So you’re interested in her too?"

Jeremiah was quiet for a long moment. "Yeah. But we have a job to do first and foremost, so she calls the shots."

"Agreed," said Sam. "Let the best man win."

"Nobody’s winning anything. She’s a person." Jeremiah shook his head. Sometimes Sam could be a little too competitive, especially when it came to a gorgeous woman.

"Does that mean you’re not going to make a play for her?"

Jeremiah smiled. "I didn’t say that."

There was nothing quite like a good run through the forest to clear her head. That was why Miko indulged herself, despite the warnings she’d been given. She was aware of the danger, all right. And she’d decided to take precautionary moves against it, too. She could scout the area, look for the scent of hunting dogs and horses, and determine what the boundaries of their hunting grounds were.

On her back porch, Miko stripped out of her nightie and let the evening air caress her skin for a bare moment before she allowed the fox to take over. The familiar rippling and bunching of her muscles shivered through her body, and she bent to her haunches as her form changed. Within moments, she was in animal form, her fox tail swishing. While her nose was keen in human form, her senses were nearly overwhelming in fox form. Scents immediately crowded in – the putrid smell of something dead in the distance – roadkill maybe – the overwhelmingly crisp scent of leaves and earth, the stink of the garbage cans on the side of the house, magnified a dozen times thanks to her sensitive fox nose, and the cat-and-human smell of her two houseguests.

Miko darted into the wilderness. She’d picked this house because it was out in the country. Thick trees and wild underbrush were her only neighbors for miles. Usually she passed through the nearby golf course that backed up to her property (there was something so very attractive about the scent of cut grass, both to her and the rabbits), but with Sam and Jeremiah’s warnings rumbling through her mind, she changed paths and ducked under the nearby barbed-wire fence. Though the house was fenced, her property extended for several acres in all directions, which gave her plenty of hunting grounds, she thought, her four paws dancing down a scent trail. A squirrel tonight, maybe. She liked squirrels.

She always lost time when she did a run. Maybe it had something to do with her fox-mind, or maybe it was that she reached a kind of Zen-state when it was just her, the ground inches away, and the wildlife around her. Whatever it was, she was enjoying herself.

Until she heard the horn.

When it first pierced the night air, she thought it was a figment of her imagination. Deep, sonorous and loud…and quickly followed by the baying of hounds.

Shit.

Not only were Sam and Jeremiah right, but they’d misjudged where the hunters would go – tonight they were even on private property. Her property. In the distance, she could hear the pounding of horse hooves, and that was enough for her – Miko slunk into the underbrush, tail tucked, and began to run back to her house.

The hounds continued baying, having picked up her scent, and the adrenaline and fear began to rush through her, making it hard to concentrate on anything but her small black paws along the dirt and grasses. Home. She had to get home. They couldn’t get her there. She’d be safe at home. Home.

One of the hounds bayed alarmingly close, and Miko nearly careened into a tree. She needed a hole to hide in, somewhere to burrow and be safe- So distraught, she nearly missed the gleaming eyes of the predator that lurked in the bushes. A large cat emerged and Miko skidded to a halt, backing up. Oh, hell. She’d gone from bad to worse…wait. The sinewy, golden cougar paced past her, sniffing the ground, then took off.

Not two steps behind it, a tufted lynx bounded past.

Must have been Sam and Jeremiah in their changed forms. No predator would turn down a tasty morsel of a fox, even if she was a tiny one. And the scent of them – annoying and yet intriguing – was filling her nostrils again.

She didn’t overlook her good fortune in having them suddenly appear. Miko made a break for home and clambered up the porch, where her robe still lay discarded, and hastily began to change back. The moments of change were the most vulnerable. The hair on her body prickled at the thought of being caught mid-change, but she was back in human form within moments, and pulled on her robe. She was breathing hard, her hands shaking. That was…surreal. To think that someone had been hunting her – hunting her cousin Hayami as well. Her regular hunting grounds were no longer safe. It was rather upsetting to think about.

Upset or not, Miko grabbed a long handful of honeysuckle vines from off the side of the porch and began to drag them over her scent trail. The flowers would obscure her scent long enough to not draw small predators back to her home. It was a familiar ritual, one that she always took upon herself when she changed forms. She’d been surprised once by a hungry stray, but never again. She might be part fox, but she had a human brain, and she wasn’t about to paint a big sign on her yard that said "Come and eat me!"

That done, Miko stared at her yard. What she needed was a drink. A nice, stiff drink. Maybe a hot toddy. She went inside, glancing back once to see if the boys had returned, then put a kettle of tea on and got out the whiskey. She needed a drink, because she’d been scared out of her wits tonight, and because her mother had been right after all. Both left a sour taste in her mouth.

The two men returned a half-hour or so later, when she was on her second toddy and feeling a nice, warm buzz in her stomach that soothed her jittery nerves. They looked rather pissed off at her too, especially Sam. He hadn’t even bothered to finish dressing before storming into the house. His feet were bare and he’d barely tugged his shirt down over his chest. She caught a peek of flat, tanned stomach and a thin line of hair below his navel before it was hidden from her gaze.

Shame, that.

Jeremiah was a few steps behind him, buttoning up his shirt, jeans slung low on his hips. His mouth was a grim line of disapproval.

Amazing – the two of them in various states of undress did crazy things to her fox libido. She shifted in her seat, feeling suddenly flushed. "Welcome home."

"What the hell were you thinking," Sam burst out first, crossing her kitchen to stand over her, arms crossed over his chest in disapproval.

Miko studied him with sleepy eyes, the alcohol already affecting her system. With his wild curls and lithe, energetic body, of course he was the lynx. It fit him so well. Behind him, Jeremiah slunk against the doorframe, always hanging back, always cautious. Big. Graceful. Cougar suited him.

Sam was still standing over her, though, demanding answers. So Miko looked up at him and gave him a lazy glance. "I’m not a prisoner. This is my home. And I wanted a run, so I went for one. I kept away from the country club grounds, but it seems they are not sticking to just the grounds." When Jeremiah made a frustrated noise, she raised a hand. "I thought I was safe, but I was not. It was a stupid move, and I won’t do it again." She stood slowly from the table, eyeing both of them. "If I’m naughty again, you both have permission to spank me."