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  Cat Out of the Bag

  Tatiana Caldwell

  By the Tail, Book One

  Sofia is in desperate need of a vacation and she’s determined not to let her aversion to flying get in the way of that. Luckily, her trepidation is quickly forgotten when in-flight entertainment takes the form of the sinfully gorgeous Nathan.

  Nathan offers Sofia an electric induction into the mile high club and he wants more. He wants to meet her again once they land, but he has a dangerous secret—he’s a Werecat shifter and can’t risk an ongoing fling with a straight-up human.

  However, Sofia discovers she’s a “Late Bloomer”. Her own Cat begins to awaken at Nathan’s touch. In the mountain wilds, she asks Nathan to teach her to master her newfound abilities. But to do so he must violate the rules of the Pride, putting them both at risk.

  A Romantica® paranormal erotic romance from Ellora’s Cave

  Cat Out of the Bag

  Tatiana Caldwell

  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to my friend Cece. When my confidence was low, you helped me remember who I am, and reminded me why I shouldn’t be afraid to reveal my true nature to the world…or to myself. Thank you.

  Chapter One

  Sofia Saldana expelled a long, deep breath and rubbed her hands down her face as she tried to relax in her seat. She’d almost missed this flight. Stupid job had even had her come in at five that morning to address an issue before she left for her trip. Damn, she hated her boss, that team, that company. It was going to be so good to escape all of that for a full week.

  The plane was deceptively calm and quiet as it moved along the runway. Any minute now they’d be picking up speed and the craft would be vibrating with the violent roar of the engines preparing for takeoff. She hated that she was stuck at a window seat. Right at the wing, on top of that. But she’d booked the flight to San Francisco during a last-minute decision to leave New York City for a much-needed seven-day getaway to try to save her sanity, and this was the only seat left. She’d just have to either close her eyes or keep her focus solely on the hardcover novel gripped in her trembling hands.

  Small price to pay to not have to worry about the pressures of work for a bit. She just had to make it through these few hours of anxiety.

  “Don’t like flying?”

  The gruff, masculine voice startled her. She’d barely paid attention to anything at all on the aircraft since boarding it, not even the casually dressed, attractive man she was seated right next to who was now speaking to her. He was in his early-to-mid-thirties, about her age.

  “Am I that obvious?”

  “Yes. You are that obvious,” he said. The expression on his face was a mixture of concern and amusement.

  She gave him a laughing snort and a slight shake of her head. “It’s funny, because it’s not the idea of being high up that frightens me. I’m fine, so long as I don’t look down.”

  “Hmm,” he nodded at her. “It’s the same way for me. Which is why I specifically chose something other than the window seat.”

  Sofia sat upright and took a quick but full survey of the plane, including the large man at the end of their row, then sighed and leaned back in the stiff airplane seat. “I would have too, if there’d been one available.” She frowned at the window. “If they would let us close the shades during takeoff, it wouldn’t be so bad.”

  “I know what you mean. I can’t stand the airlines that enforce that,” he said. There was a brief pause before he spoke again. “But we can switch seats if it would make you feel better.”

  “I thought you said you don’t like the window seat either?”

  “I don’t. But I can’t relax knowing a lady is sitting next to me shaking in fear because I wasn’t gentleman enough to come to her rescue.”

  Her rescue? Sofia winced inwardly as her “potential chauvinistic asshole” alarms went off. She looked up at him again, real good this time, and her defenses relaxed a bit. The smile he was giving her seemed warm, genuine and trustworthy, even. But he had intense eyes—piercing green like malachite—under lush, dark eyebrows. Sinfully thick lips under a straight, well-defined nose and surrounded by a goatee groomed to perfection. This man was so gorgeous, chances were high he could deceive her into believing the sky was burgundy if he said so with those lips.

  “That’s kind of you, but I’ll be fine,” she said politely but with finality in her voice. “I’m not that big of a scaredy-cat. I don’t need rescuing.” She tried to look away from him, but his mouth seemed to twitch and his eyes damn near sparkled with amusement at her words.

  He flashed bright-white teeth at her. “Okay then. Well, just let me know if you change your mind.”

  Muy guapo, she thought. No way was he available. He wore no rings or any jewelry at all, but a man that fine hadto have a secret wife, a girlfriend, a boyfriend, someone pining for his safe return.

  Sofia couldn’t put her finger on it, but there was something fiercely enticing about this man—even beyond his good looks. The thought crossed her mind that they might have met somewhere before, because the draw to him was so strong. Startling, almost. But as she studied him, there was no visual recognition. From time to time he glanced at her inquisitively, and every time their eyes met, the spark of attraction made her stomach flutter.

  She had the most unusual urge to press her lips against his, stroke the black, close-cropped curls on his head, even though she didn’t know a lick about him. She couldn’t even quite guess his ethnicity. His complexion and features were definitely multiracial. African-American, most likely, and something else. White maybe, or perhaps he was even Latino. It didn’t really matter though—he was one hundred percent fine as hell. Plus he radiated “good fuck”, and it’d been oh so long since she’d had one of those.

  Scolding herself, she turned her head away from him and the tension between them, only to find herself staring out the window as the plane accelerated. A short, low whimper reverberated in her throat as she anticipated the impending liftoff.

  This flight was going to be six-and-a-half hours of pure agony for more reasons than one.

  * * * * *

  Nathan Dawson watched the female passenger beside him with silent, lustful interest. A pool of warmth grew in his belly when he heard the woman’s soft whimper. That sound instantly made him think of all the things he hadn’t had the pleasure of doing since the last quarter’s meet-up in the mountains in Connecticut. Things he was looking forward to doing at this current retreat in California. Things it was pointless for him to even think about doing until he arrived in San Francisco with like-minded folks.

  But this woman was an interesting one. A dark-skinned Latina with long-lashed, big brown eyes and a wide, full mouth. Attractive, but she seemed like the stuffy type. She was wearing a navy-blue dress suit and high heels. On a plane. Who does that? Nathan wondered. Still, she was oddly enticing. He glanced at her fingers, which donned a French manicure, and noted that they were all ringless. Suddenly his mind went straight to imagining those petite fingers wrapped around his dick—which in turn jumped at the appealing thought—and he quickly looked away.

  His eyes collided with the armpit of the big, sweaty man sitting at his left, who was reaching up to twist the knob of the blower facing him to give him more cool air. Nathan had been actively keeping his sense of smell in check all this time, but now he was assaulted with the odor of deodorant working in overdrive and was forced to turn his nose back toward Miss Sexy.

  He took a deep breath and filled his lungs with her scent instead. Her aroma startled him. Underneath the vanilla perfume, Ivory soap, her natural fragrance and the scent of her fertility, there was a trace of…nah, it couldn’t be. Had to be his imagination. Or wishful thinking.


  The plane reached maximum speed and she gripped at the corners of her book as if it were going to anchor her. He could literally smell her fear and his instinct was to protect her, even if it meant subjecting himself to the same discomfort. But she seemed adamant about not switching seats with him, so there wasn’t much he could do there.

  Besides distract her with conversation.

  He flashed a warm smile at her. “So is California home, or New York?”

  The woman tried to return a friendly smile, but she gritted her teeth as she spoke, her knees knocking into each other. “New York.”

  “Me too. How long have you lived in New York?”

  She spoke with a slight Spanish accent that he found sexy and easy to listen to. “I’ve lived in the city now for about seven years. You?”

  “Born and raised, lived in the city all my life,” he answered. “So what’s taking you to Cali?”

  “I’m heading to San Fran for a vacation.”

  “So am I, for two weeks. It’s good to get away from the hustle every so often and take a time-out with nature where it’s slower and you can relax, you know?”

  “I just need to get away, period,” she said. “Doesn’t matter if it’s slow or not—so long as it’s not work for a while, I’m good.”

  “Heh,” he chuckled. “So what do you do?”

  She had to bend toward him and raise her voice to compete with the plane’s roaring engines. Long waves of her thick, dark hair fell forward and across one side of her face. “I just got promoted to IT Manager at the company where I work. It’s a lot more stressful than I would have hoped.”

  He leaned in closer too. “Oh yeah? How so?” He inhaled her again. It was faint but she almost smelled like one of them! But she couldn’t be… Could she?

  “It’s our Sales team. They’re nuts! They’re always promising customers this amazing shit we can’t deliver, with a crazy budget and deadline we can’t adhere to.”

  Nathan laughed. “Hey, I’m a sales manager, always promising my customers amazing shit. You don’t work at DodgeTech by chance, do you?”

  “No,” she snickered. “Maybe I wish I did, though. I honestly love the work I do but absolutely hate who I do it for. I almost missed this flight because my boss insisted I come join him in person for a virtual meeting with a couple of the overseas stakeholders before I left.”

  He quirked his brows. “You had to go in for a virtual conference? Why didn’t they just conference you in on your mobile? Did he forget you were traveling today?”

  “Oh he knew,” she frowned, “but they figured they would go ahead and have me join the live video feed, since I needed to come in anyway to restore the production database.”

  “I thought you were an IT manager? Couldn’t you have someone else go in and deal with that?”

  She gave a hearty laugh at that. “I am. And the lead systems analyst, the applications architect, the database and reporting analyst, the quality assurance lead, the technical writer and end-user support. The ‘IT Manager’ title is just a nicer way of calling me their technical bitch.”

  Nathan grinned. “Because you’re so damn good, it sounds like. They hit the jackpot with you if you can do all of that.”

  “That’s just it, though. I can do all of that, but I’m tired of doing it. They are drowning me with shit to do. We’re seriously understaffed, and they seem determined to keep it that way.”

  “Well, that’s shitty,” he remarked. “Too many companies have no concept of a work-life balance. If you get sick of that place, you should check out DodgeTech. We’ve got lots of opportunities for someone like you, and we’d treat you much better.”

  Just then the plane’s nose started pointing up and they were both dropped back against their seats. He watched for a moment as she squeezed her eyes shut, her lips pressed tightly together as the plane ascended. Nathan didn’t know why he felt both compelled and bold enough to do so, but he placed his hand on top of hers and caressed it reassuringly. She didn’t open her eyes—she merely gripped his fingers tight in response. This reflexive but intimate interaction between them invoked feelings of warmth and empathetic familiarity. It also fueled his sordid imagination.

  Once the plane leveled off and it was safe to unbuckle their belts, she let go of his hand and slammed down the shade on the window. Then she glanced up at him with an embarrassed expression.

  She cleared her throat. “Thanks,” she said hastily before opening her book and turning her focus on it.

  “My pleasure,” he said.

  Nathan rested his head against his seat and tried to relax. As time went by, he found himself scooting away from the man on his left, whose right hip and thigh were encroaching upon him, and closer to the woman. The energy emanating from her was engulfing. She couldn’t be a normal woman. When was the last time he was this drawn to a complete stranger? He contemplated letting her read in peace, but his curiosity wouldn’t rest.

  “What’s your sign?” he asked.

  She stared up at him for a few blinks as if debating his motives before answering. “Cancer. But I don’t really buy into that zodiac stuff. It’s pretty much all wrong, from what I can tell.”

  “Hmm.” He mulled that over for a bit. Her answer almost completely eliminated the chances of her being what he thought she was. But only almost. “So what are you going to do to unwind in San Fran, if I may ask?”

  “Honestly, I haven’t really thought about it too hard. I just wanted to go someplace else, anyplace other than NYC right now, and there was a good deal for this flight. I guess I’ll check out the film festival in Napa Valley. Maybe rent a bike and trek across the Golden Gate. I definitely plan to get some good eats in downtown Frisco.”

  “Sounds nice,” he replied, but he realized he might not exactly get the answer he was looking for this way, so he slyly switched to a more direct approach. “It’s crab season right now, so I might stop by Fisherman’s Wharf and grab some fresh crab myself before I head up to Contra Costa County.”

  “What’s in Contra Costa?”

  “A mountain.”

  She raised her brows. “A mountain? For relaxation?”

  He chuckled. “Well, it’s not like I’m going to be hanging off the edge of any cliffs, you know. It’s beautiful up there, once you get over the fact you’re so high up. Even though it’s smack-dab in the middle of several suburban towns, when you get on top you feel as if you are away from it all. Quiet. Just you and Mother Nature.”

  “So are you going to meet up with someone there or will you hang out in the mountains all by yourself?”

  The question caught him off guard. Was she just making conversation, or was she looking for an invitation? Would it even be safe to extend her one? He considered the possibility that she was one of them, that somehow she had abnormally low pheromones and a slightly off birthday, and had slipped undetected through the cracks in bustling New York City. It was possible she was uninformed of the quarterly meet-ups or, even worse, completely alone and unaware that there were others at all.

  But what if she was just some random sexy-ass chick who turned him on? It would be dangerous to have her—an attractive, defenseless and solitary fertile female who smelled almost like one of them—all alone on a mountain full of wild and horny animals.

  So Nathan chose his next words carefully. “I’ll be camping with some associates. I’d invite you, but I don’t think it’s your kind of party.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  He put up his hands in mock defense. “Not trying to say you don’t seem like a fun gal. It’s just that you’re very well put together, whereas we’re a wild bunch who enjoy pissing in bushes and running through the woods. Just doesn’t quite seem like your speed, you know?”

  She laughed and nodded. “True, I don’t really do camping and hiking and the like. I’m pretty much a city girl. But I wasn’t looking for an invite. I don’t make a habit of meeting up with strangers. Normally I don’t e
ven talk to them.”

  Just great, she’s the prissy, commitment kind. So not my type. Yet he found himself smiling and holding out his hand anyway. “Then allow me to introduce myself. Nathan Dawson.”

  “Hello, Nathan. I’m Sofia Saldana.” The smile she gave him as she shook his hand hinted at contained lust and promises of heated passion, and he licked his lips as he once again imagined his dick trapped in the heat and softness of her hand.

  Calm down, Nathan, he lectured himself. But his imagination—and arousal—remained wild.

  Chapter Two

  The way his eyes burned as they scanned over her was sinful, and the way her body clenched with desire whenever he looked at her was shameful. Deliciously shameful. Mmm, Nathan. All he’d done was try to comfort her during takeoff and shook her hand as he introduced himself, and here Sofia was, ready to pounce on him. She slipped her hand out of his firm grip and tried to turn her focus back to her book.

  A couple of forced chapters later, she was acutely aware of how close Nathan was. His hip was wedged against hers, and with every slight bump of the plane his leg brushed against her bare knee. Why had she chosen to wear a dress, again?

  She briefly considered pulling the armrest down between them, but when she glanced at the large, sweaty man at the end of the row who Nathan seemed to be slowly migrating away from, she felt a twang of sympathy and decided to leave it.

  Again she tried to concentrate on the book for over an hour, but the pages were nothing but a boring blur. Perhaps she should have brought something spicier to read, she thought as she found herself drifting off to sleep. She woke up abruptly hours later, shivering with cold, and quickly wiped the drool off her mouth with the back of her hand.

  Both of the men in her row were asleep. The man in the aisle seat had his blower on full blast and was snoring heavily, his big belly moving up and down, nearly blocking Sofia’s view of the people in the seats across from them. Nathan had blanketed himself with his brown leather jacket. Sofia reached down under the seat and grabbed her own wool coat to cover herself as well.