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ANTHOLOGY - ANIMAL ATTRACTION
Night of the Cat by Jazz Raven
Detective Jared Dalton is baffled. Someone or something
is terrorizing his city. The target: the male low-life citizens of the
streets of Chicago. If eye-witness accounts are to be believed,
his prime suspect is a woman dressed as a cat...
Dr. Laura Santiago is afraid to sleep. Though she awakens refreshed and
rested, she awakens somewhere other than her bed, naked as the day she
was born. Why was this happening to her? What did she do each
night? And with no memories, how will she find out?
Monkey Around by Brit Blaise
Journalist Tonia Shelby is having a crap day. Her fiancée breaks off their
engagement, her garbage disposal is backed up, her new plumber
is eye-catching, breath-stopping gorgeous, and she keeps getting
caught in-flagrante every time the two of them manage to hook up.
Doctor Payton James’ family is wacky and he loves them. But, if they don’t stop scaring off potential contenders he is going to be in trouble. It looks like he has finally found the perfect woman, and Toni seems like she has the gumption to stick it out; no matter how weird or embarrassing it might get.
We will see…
Faith and Love by Sandy Lynn
Faith
Detective Dan Peters is an honest cop having the world’s worst time keeping his hands off the delectable Faith and his mind focused on the precarious job ahead of him. The department needs to find a way to put this crime-boss away for good, without risking anybody’s life...or limbs.
Excerpt of Night of the Cat
Copyrighted ©
Jazz Raven
Gliding through opened patio doors, her padded feet tread softly on the
grass. The low branch on the huge Sycamore, standing tall and majestic
in the backyard, aided her as she leapt with graceful ease to the wall
separating her from the street below. Her sensitive nose twitched and
her tufted ears perked as she absorbed the night sounds. Her long tail
swished as she vaulted over the wall, landing silently on the ground
below. Crouched, she remained undetected, hidden by the night.
With the speed of a cheetah, she sped into the shadows; her honed senses
alert for that which was not part of this midnight world.
No longer in her comfortable jungle habitat, she could not stop her
patrols. The life and purpose of all Star-Cats, a wondrous species
unlike any other, was dispensing righteous justice to any vicious
creature bent on harming those weaker than themselves.
Half human and half cat, Star-Cats are born with the ability to shift
into any feline form, from the smallest housecats to the devastatingly
savage, but extinct, saber tooth tiger. But the ability did not show
itself until their human side reached puberty. The glowing star on their
foreheads marked them as the chosen, blessed breed.
She stopped in her tracks as a terrified scream ripped through the night
air. Her body changed in mid-stride to the size of a delicate tabby and,
blending into the shadows, she listened intently. The distance proved no
problem as she quickly sped to a darkened alley, finding a sobbing woman
fighting to free herself from the man looming over her battered body.
Yowling in virulent outrage, she ran over the man’s back, distracting
him from his intended victim as she changed to her half-ling form.
“What the hell?” the man shouted as he looked over his shoulder.
“Not hell. Justice,” she purred as she watched the man’s eyes widen with
fear after he whipped his head around, seeing a menacing figure morphing
into full height.
The beaten woman, taking advantage of her attacker’s shocked surprise,
tried to push him off. Unable to budge him, she turned her gaze towards
her unlikely savior. “Please help me!” she cried piteously. “Go and call
the police!” The woman’s voice erased the fear from the man’s eyes as he
whipped his head back to glare at his whining victim. The would-be
rapist raised a brutish hand to slap her into silence.
The woman closed her eyes, whimpering quietly, but never felt the harsh
contact. She heard, instead, a shriek of pain. As the man’s weight was
abruptly removed from her body, her eyes snapped open. Looking up, her
gaze widened as she saw her attacker dangling above her, held tightly in
the merciless grip of a striped furred hand. She slowly inched backward
until her escape was stopped by garbage cans, her eyes never leaving the
growling creature saving her life.
She was strangely unafraid as she looked into the creature’s brilliant glowing yellow eyes. She followed the long, blonde mane falling down its back, merging into black stripes that covered the powerful and shapely physique. That’s not a costume! Its fur!
The realization swirled in her mind as she tried to grasp what she knew to be true.
The female, as was evident from her curves and high breasts, looked into shocked eyes. “Go,” the creature purred softly. “Tell no one you have seen me.” Relieved to be free, with the sure knowledge that her assailant would have killed her without a second thought, she knew she would never tell anyone anything about this night.
After all, who would ever believe her?
The Star-Cat’s eyes turned feral, their yellow centers becoming more pronounced as she looked at the vile human caught firmly in her grasp. Anger filled her being; a rage she knew she needed to control before she gave into the tempting urge to tear him limb from limb. She threw the man against the furthest wall, knocking him unconscious.
Throwing her head back, she roared out her frustration.
This urban jungle was not her true home. How she missed it—the trees, the dew that sparkled when the sun had barely risen over the horizon. She yearned to return to her jungle home, but it was not possible.
At least not until both halves of her soul were united—the human and the cat. In many ways she was one with her human half, in others she was forced to remain hidden, unaccepted and unacknowledged. They could not be integrated, becoming whole, until her human part recognized and accepted the existence of her feline psyche. Until that day came, they would remain separate entities and she would continue to exist as if only a dream.
Casting a disgusted look at the unconscious man she scaled the walls. Her deadly claws dug deeply into the brick, pulling her to the top of the building. Crossing the rooftops she smiled, hearing other feline calls. They were talking to her. Inviting her to come out and play.
To stop by for a visit.
E-Book
Released February 2005
ISBN: 0-9754589-6-5
Cover Art:
Ferra Dubrinsky
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