Panthera Spelaea
Aenocyon Dirus

We headed back to the boat in the morning, leaving behind the smell of roasting wild boar on a spit over a fire at the end of the beach. “Get some breakfast and relax, and we’ll feast when our guests arrive this afternoon. The entire ship is at your disposal.”

“Thank you, Art.” My cat was comfortable with both of the other switchers after the night ended. My girls weren’t the only ones who found big cats to be comfy pillows; one of Art’s granddaughters, and a junior member of the crew, had snuggled up with Edward overnight. The perky brunette had her arm around him as we boarded the launch, and it looked like they were headed straight to bed.

I was sitting in the stern with Art as Edward’s hand roamed under her shirt. “It doesn’t bother you?”

He just chuckled. “How long did it take you to realize that Svetlana was the one for you?”

I had to think about when it was that I realized. It wasn’t love at first sight, though I liked Svetlana immediately. She pursued me, tracking me down in the hotel bar. “I wasn’t in good shape when we met in the hospital. It was at the end of our first night spent together. She tracked me down in the hotel bar, and we ate dinner and talked into the evening before walking together in the park. When I said goodnight to her, I knew I loved her.” Svetlana smiled at the memory.

“Edward is still looking, and I have not seen him in a long time. We’ve always hoped that the sons and daughters of switchers would be more likely mates than normal humans, and he’s good-looking. I expect many of my younger females to spend time with him in the hopes that something sparks. I have talked to them all, and they are rotating through on a schedule.”

“So this cruise is kind of like The Switcher Bachelor,” Anna teased.

“And bachelorette,” Art replied. “Ekatarina is still looking for her mate. She’s spent more time with me recently, so there are fewer suitors, but there are some younger males who will be spending time in her company. You have no idea how lucky you are to have found these two so quickly.”

“I am the luckiest man in the world,” I said as I pulled the girls into my sides and kissed them both.

“I’m serious. In our history, even those who got the Gift when already married found out that person wasn’t their mate. Eventually, the spouse died or left, and they found another. No one has ever found their mate in their first year as a switcher, and you go and find TWO inside a month. Truly remarkable.”

“So the human doesn’t choose the mate,” I picked up. “If the human loved a woman and the animal followed along, you wouldn’t wait that long.”

“Very perceptive,” Art replied. “The animal must choose who it shares its spirit and gift with.”

“Good thing our cat loves us,” Svetlana said as she rested her head on my shoulder. Her eyes got wide when she thought of something. “Wait. The cat picks its mate. If the cat moves from one human to another, what happens to the mate? Is the bond broken?”

“The bond remains with the animal. It has happened amongst the Dire Wolves; the female mate became the mate of his younger brother after his death. The animal will try to claim her, but sometimes the humans don’t feel the love. That can create some real problems.”

“What happens then?”

“If the animal can’t get the human to take the mate, he can become unstable. It gets better with time and distance, but it doesn’t end until she dies. Only when the beast senses its mate is gone does it seek out another.”

My cat wasn’t happy with the line of discussion about putting mates away or the implications. If I got killed, I thought the girls would be free. They’d resume aging and move on with their lives. Now I knew the person who took my cat could take my women as well, and I didn’t like it a bit.

We arrived at the superyacht, and I escorted the girls back to our stateroom with the words fresh in my mind. “Shower,” I said as we entered the room.

The girls pulled off their suits and coverups and headed into the marble and glass shower. I practically ripped my swimsuit off, intent on claiming the girls as mine to calm my cat. I kissed both of them under the spray, then lifted Svetlana with my hands and pressed her back to the wall. Anna placed me at her sister mate’s entrance, and I let gravity drop her until I filled her.

“FUCK! So fucking big,” Svetlana screamed as I started to lift her again. I didn’t give her a chance to catch her breath. I started stroking into her faster and faster until her moans became screams, and screams exploded into her powerful orgasm. My teeth bit into her shoulder as she came, not breaking the skin, but leaving a mark that would bruise. It was my claim of ownership over her, and my cat relaxed a little after. I let her come back to us, then lifted her off and set her on shaky legs.

“Your turn,” I said to Anna. She hopped up, her arms around my neck and her legs wrapping around my hips as I put her back to the wall. I was still so hard a lineman couldn’t climb me, so the petite girl was going for the ride of her life. She was wet and ready but so tight it took a few strokes to sheathe me in Anna’s sex. I slammed up into her repeatedly, bringing us both to a screaming climax a few minutes later.

I bit Anna’s shoulder, this time closer to the neck. It would bruise well and show for days.

I sank to my knees, sliding Anna down the wall until she was sitting in my lap with my shaft still filling her. I kissed her deeply, then turned to Svetlana and did the same. “Feel like you own us now, big guy?”

Anna knew what this was about, and she was happy. Svetlana was as well, and she had plans with me. We rinsed the sea and sand off of us and shampooed our hair clean, then dried off and headed to the bed. Anna straddled my head so I could finish cleaning her. Meanwhile, Svetlana sucked me to hardness and started to ride me. Our lovemaking was slower now, the initial need to mark and claim my mates sated. I filled Svetlana on her third orgasm, and Anna got her fourth while sucking my seed out of her.

We had breakfast delivered to our room and fell asleep.

The sound of a helicopter hovering woke me up. Looking at the clock, it was almost eleven. I woke the girls. “We should get ready for lunch and see if that the guest Art was talking about.”

I figured more beach and water time was coming, so I dressed in board shorts, boat shoes, and a cotton Hawaiian-print shirt. The girls chose bright flowered sundresses and sandals, with bikinis visible underneath. We walked up a deck and forward, waiting outside Art’s office until the helicopter landed.

A man stepped out, and he wasn’t what I expected. The male was over six feet tall, tan, and well-built in a way that came from hard work and not a gym. He had wavy black hair to his shoulders, bright blue eyes, and a square jaw. He dressed in blue jeans, cowboy boots, and a blue flannel shirt with a white Stetson.

He looked like he just stepped out of a magazine ad.

He turned back to the helicopter and helped a woman out. Damn, she was a beauty! She was almost as tall as him, with her jean-clad legs disappearing eventually into white cowboy boots. She had a round ass, narrow waist, a big bust, and big blonde hair. She looked like Marilyn Monroe as a fantasy cowgirl.

Art greeted them both, then brought them back to his office. We followed Edward in after them, and I caught the scent. “John, Svetlana, Anna, I’d like you to meet Duncan West and his wife and mate, Olivia. Duncan is our Dire Wolf Switcher, just in from his Montana ranch. John is our Cave Lion.”

I stepped forward, holding my girls at my side while my cat took in his scent. The fact he was mated helped calm my cat, and I shook his hand with a smile. “John Cantwell. My mate Svetlana Sevastyano and my other mate, Anna Kovalenko.”

“Two?” Olivia giggled as she embraced the girls. “He must be quite the stud.”

“Oh, he is,” Anna replied. “I have so many questions for you.”

It was then I realized that this was the first time the girls had met other switcher-mated females. They headed out to talk as the men got down to business.

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