Shadow Read online

  “You know I’m a runaway?” She sounded a little surprised.

  "It's obvious. You're what, seventeen?"

  She told him how old she was then, and while she might be barely on the legal side of consent, she was legally old enough, and that was all that really mattered to him.

  "So who taught you all about sex?"

  Karen blushed, "My step-dad."

  "Oh?"

  She nodded, "There was a kid from school I was having sex with, and well,” he watched as she paused a moment to remember and smiled. “One day he caught me and took me back to his room and showed me how it was really done!”

  Shadow blinked. The last two runaways he’d bedded were running from fathers or stepfathers who were abusing them regularly. Karen didn’t sound unhappy about it.

  “And then?” He prompted.

  “Well we went on at it for quite a while, and eventually he started to loan me out to his buddies. Especially on Poker night. They’d play for my ass for the night.”

  “What did you mother think about this?”

  “Oh, she was okay with it. He was already sharing her around. She didn’t complain much about anything, my stepfather was rather strict. Sometimes I think she was jealous he spent so much time with me, but I don’t know.”

  “Were you happy with what he was doing to you?”

  She shrugged, “The sex was nice really. He could really make me feel special and safe.”

  “What about his friends?”

  “Well, one of them was really nice, the rest were okay. One I wasn’t too thrilled with, but Bill, my step-dad, used to get real upset with me if I didn’t do as I was told. So I put up with him.” She shuddered a little unconsciously.

  Shadow picked up on it all and wondered. Her mother was obviously pretty submissive and she wasn’t much different. He’d be surprised if ‘Bill’ didn’t have a couple of other pieces on the side. He probably had been planning on training his stepdaughter up to be a sex toy just like her mom. To be honest he’d done a pretty good job, but why had she left?

  “So if you weren’t that unhappy, why’d you run away?”

  Karen shivered again against Shadow, and he knew it bothered her, whatever it was, and she didn’t want to talk about it. But he was curious.

  “Tell me Karen,” he whispered and squeezed her tight putting a paw to the back of her head and cradling her to him, “whatever it is, I want you to tell me.”

  She sniffed and nodded, “Well I had a dog, his name was Rex, he was a mix, half German shepherd, half Great Dane. He was my best friend; we spent so much time together, especially when Mom and my Dad used to fight, when he’d beat her. He used to comfort me and I think my Dad was afraid of him. When Dad finally moved out and Bill moved in and started taking care of us, Bill didn’t mind Rex.

  "Well one day my mom stumbles into my room while she's drunk and I was cuddling with Rex on the bed, kissing him, and she thought we were having sex and she ran off and she told Bill,” she sobbed slightly, “And Bill came in and was so mad. Said he didn’t train me to waste me on that Mutt. He dragged me out and punished me! And then,” she sobbed loudly, “he shot Rex.”

  Shadow inhaled sharply, to shoot the dog with the kid around? And to punish her after pretty much abusing her? That was just cruel. He growled. He didn’t judge people on their pasts much, but he just hated to see downright cruelty.

  “How long ago did you leave there?"

  “Two months,” she said when she’d calmed back down. “One of the girls I met when I got here last month, who’d been helping me – she told me how to get some of the older suits to buy me food and stuff, well she dragged me to the party and well.” Karen looked up at Shadow and smiled embarrassed, “I saw you.”

  Shadow laughed, “I had wondered why you weren’t put off by me when I kissed you. A lot of girls your age are a bit shy at first.”

  Karen blushed, "Rex was the only one who never took advantage or me, who protected me, who actually loved me. All he ever wanted to do was cuddle with me and lick my face.

  "I may have enjoyed what my step-father was doing to me, but he never cared about me or loved me. And then, then he shot Rex, because my stupid mother thought she saw something that couldn't happen!"

  "Couldn't?" Shadow asked, curious.

  "Rex had been fixed, years ago," she said and started to cry.

  Shadow just shook his head quietly and rolled over, putting her under him once again. He slid lower until their eyes were equal.

  “I understand,” he whispered and then kissed her. She hugged him close and kissed him back hard, and he lingered for quite a while. He made love to her once more then, slow and passionate.

  She responded passionately herself to him; she had someone who understood her, and someone who reminded her of her loving Rex, who had protected her. Someone older, bigger, stronger, and she felt safe in his arms when he mounted her, when he came into her. She wanted to be his.

  Later when they’d cleaned up and gotten breakfast he pulled her into the living room and sat on the couch pulling her into his lap. He had her tell him her full name, her parent’s name, her address, all of that stuff.

  “What do you want to know all that for?” she asked brushing out his fur. She had spied the brush on the table and was putting it to good use, enjoying the way he got all boneless and purred as she used it on him.

  “I’m going to call my lawyers and send them out to your Mom’s house. I figure by tomorrow I’ll be your legal guardian. After that,” Shadow opened one eye and smiled at her, “You’re my cute little pet.”

  “Um, can you do that?” Karen was shocked, “What if they protest? What if Bill tries to get me back?”

  Shadow laughed, “Karen, just what kind of people do you think were at that party last night?”

  “Ummmm,” she gulped and whispered, “You’re a bad guy aren’t you?”

  “Does it really matter to you?”

  “Not really,” she said quietly in a small voice, “you’ve been good to me.”

  “Good girl,” he purred and smiled at her. “And as long as you do what I tell you to, I’ll keep being good to you.”

  Shadow noticed her smile and closed his eye and relaxed under the brush. “They’ll agree to what my lawyers tell them to agree to or they’ll regret it. I think I’ll tell them to break Bill’s arm, pay him back for Rex, anyways.”

  Karen started to brush him out a lot harder when he said that. She liked the idea, Bill should be punished.

  “So, next I’ll get you enrolled in school. There’s a nice private one I can send you to. At your age you shouldn’t sit on your butt all day.”

  “School?” Karen griped, “I can stay here and take care of you all day! Cook, clean!”

  “Oh you’ll do that too, don’t worry!” Shadow snickered, “But I want you educated. I’ll give you the guest room to live in.”

  “I can sleep in your room, Shadow; I don’t need my own room.”

  “Karen, I have girlfriends. And sometimes they spend the night here. Sometimes I don’t come home for days. You’re my pet, my little sex kitten,” he purred. “So you need your own room. You will cook and clean and go to school. And when I want you, I will take you!” He pulled her close suddenly, surprising her with the speed of it, and kissed her. “Understand? You’re mine now, until you turn eighteen you belong to me.”

  “Why eighteen?” She gasped and leaned into him.

  “Cause I treat women like sex toys. To me you’re just a cute kitty sex toy for this cat to use and abuse as I want.” He kissed her and could feel her confusion, one moment affection, another calculating, he was keeping her off balance. “Now you’re already a sex toy, Bill’s got you well trained into that. Not that I’m complaining of course,” he wrapped his tail around her, letting the tip bat at her breasts, she was only wearing panties. “But I have decided that if I’m going to be your guardian, there are going to be some changes made.”

  “Why?” Karen asked g
rabbing his tail and wrestling with it. It was probably stronger than her, the rest of him certainly was. She giggled as it curled around her, under her breasts.

  “If you’re going to be my kid, I want you to have some sense and some brains. Some spine as well.”

  “I guess. Should I call you Dad then?” she teased.

  He purred, “I think I might like that,” he grinned at her opening his eyes, “Especially when I’m screwing you!” Then he pounced her of course and proceeded to do just that.

  Karen struggled a little at first, putting up a mock battle. Rex had loved it when she played with him like that and she noticed Shadow liked the little game as well. She did enjoy the idea of him being alpha to her, and even called him ‘Dad’ and ‘Daddy’ while they made love. Crying it loudly a few times when she came as well. She didn’t like the idea of having to share him with other women, but she knew better than to challenge him, he was tougher and probably meaner than Bill ever had been. He’d had blood smeared into his fur in several places when he’d caught up with her last night. She shivered at that. He was big, sleek, and dangerous. She suspected that unlike Bill, Shadow probably killed people who pissed him off. Also, Shadow hadn’t said anything about letting other men use her. She’d always hated Bill making her do that, but she got the distinct impression that Shadow, like most animals, wasn’t the sharing kind. She liked that idea especially.

  Shadow sighed later as they savored the post coital bliss. He knew he just signed himself up for a couple of years of inconvenience and probably a certain amount of frustration, she was a teenager and there would be issues he was sure. Especially if he taught her to be more independent, and assertive. Which he knew he was going to have to do, he could sense it in her, she had power and it was slowly growing. His human side was split, part of him always wanted to keep these girls around and help them, while fucking them silly of course. The other part just wanted to use them and toss them back. Using them until he tired of them.

  His cat side on the other hand, well normally the predator was in agreement with the human. But this time the cat was of a different mind, she had all but belonged to another animal, which had died. The cat felt a connection to her, and decided to pick up where the other had left off. It did not want her to become prey, she would become independent, maybe even another hunter. And in matters of the heart, the cat always ruled. Shadow had always embraced his animal side, especially when it came to people. He trusted his instincts after all.

  He took her shopping later that day and enjoyed her reactions; he bought her clothes, toiletries, and furniture for her room. His lawyers called him about seven hours after he had given them their task, Bill apparently had no legal standing over Karen, her real father was in jail and was happy to sign because oddly enough he cared and figured in some strange manner that if Shadow could afford these lawyers, she was moving up. And the mother, well a gun held to Bill’s head convinced him to tell her to do it. Especially as he was nursing a broken arm at the time. Shadow appreciated his lawyers, even if they were sometimes a bit shady. But what lawyers weren’t really?

  Come Monday Karen started in the private school he had enrolled her in. It wasn’t exactly cheap, but Shadow was never into half measures. He wanted her educated, and he wanted her to learn certain things. Piano and martial arts were part of the curriculum he had set up for her, as well as home economics and real economics. The night before she started school he laid in his bed with her, he had spent Sunday evening and night with her, and had made love to her for quite a few hours as well.

  “I want you to wear this,” he said giving her a necklace with a silver and black enamel cat’s head on it. It wasn’t very large, and hung down between her breasts nicely. “I don’t care where you wear it, but you are never to take it off unless I’m around, okay?”

  “Why?”

  “Because if you press hard behind the head and hold it for five seconds like that it will activate a little beacon and I will drop whatever I am doing and come immediately. However,” he growled, “it had better be a serious life threatening emergency because I’m going to show up ready to kill someone and will be very disappointed if I don’t. Understand? This is only when you can’t reach me any other way.”

  She nodded.

  He kissed her and gave her a set of collars then, they were rather stylish each made of something different. “These mark you as my kitten, you don’t have to wear one at school, and you can wear the lettered part inside if you want. But when you’re shopping or running errands around here, wear it with the letters out so people know. I don’t want any of the local troublemakers starting up with you.”

  She nodded again; he was marking her, making it clear to everyone else who she belonged to. It made her feel warm inside.

  “Last of all, you need to understand that no matter what happens, until you turn eighteen I own you. Legally. Don’t even think of ever running away either. If you ever have a problem with me, you tell me. You are free to do that. But don’t think for a second that if you run I won’t come after you, or I won’t find you. You are important to me and I won’t dishonor Rex’s memory by letting you run off before you’re old enough to fend for yourself. I’m a super; I have the ability to track you even without the necklace anywhere on the face of the planet. You belong to me and I’m not going to let you run away. Understood?

  Karen nodded and gulped, “Yes, Shadow,” she said and tingled down to her toes. She could tell he was serious, and it made her feel secure and funny inside in a way that she liked. She snuggled up even closer to him and buried her face in his fur inhaling his scent deeply.

  # # # # #

  School was interesting for Karen, it was a lot better than the crummy public school she had gone to before, and the classes were often a lot smaller with individual attention. In the first day they figured out where she stood academically and what she needed to learn. The school days were long, they started at eight and ran until six, but they were interesting and she truly enjoyed the first week there.

  When she got home Shadow was there the first night, dinner was at eight and normally she would be expected to make it. He only made it home for dinner one other night that week, Thursday, and Friday she never saw him at all, he didn’t turn up until suppertime on Saturday, and then he took her out to a party that night, making her dress rather scandalously. She wore the necklace as an ankle bracelet that night, as she wore a lot of jewelry on that occasion, almost more than clothes.

  “What’s this party for?” she asked him as he escorted her over to a dark area in a corner, this place was almost as large as the one last week. He’d delivered something to the party’s hosts and just returned to where he had parked her.

  He snickered, “Well last weekend’s bust disrupted the fall harvest, so this party is to take care of that.”

  “Harvest?”

  He nodded and kissed her, “All those sixteen or so year old runaways, the players in the underground pretty much divvy the best ones up between themselves and do what they want with them.”

  “What do you mean?” she asked concerned. She’d already spotted her quasi-friend Jess in the crowd again and had waved to her. Jess had looked a little shocked at her get up, and whose lap she was sitting in.

  “Well, these girls are all runaways; many will end up drug addicts or hookers no matter what. Probably half of those will be dead in two years, nearly all of them in five or six. So the guys pick up the ones they want and use ‘em. Take them home, screw them, whatever. If they like the girl they keep her around and maybe take care of her, even help her out or give her a job. If they don’t,” Shadow shrugged, “doesn’t matter who does it, it’s going to happen to them. It’s just the law of nature.”

  Karen gasped, “They’re going to kill them?”

  Shadow gave her a little squeeze, “No silly. But quite a few of these girls are going to end up either girl friends, sex slaves, or some sort of hooker after tonight. Oh they won’t be sex slaves or hookers
immediately, but in a month or three they will be. The cream of the crop will be skimmed off; the rest will end up back on the streets to be picked over by the lower denizens.”

  Karen shuddered, “It sounds cruel.”

  Shadow nodded and pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her, “It is cruel, life can be very cruel if you run out there in the jungle without parents or guardians. But these gals chose it when they came here. May I remind you, that you chose it too. You just got lucky that I found you first.”

  Karen snuggled into his arms and nodded, feeling safe. He owned her and made it clear he intended to keep and protect her. She wondered why he was here then with her and asked him that.

  “I had business to do, and I intended to stay and enjoy the party. Rather than attract some new girl to play with, I thought I’d bring the one I already had,” he gave her a squeeze, “besides, I figured you might enjoy the time out. Now let’s relax, and enjoy ourselves, and watch the predators winnow out the herd.” He teased.

  “You don’t make it sound very nice.”

  “Because it isn’t. I want you to see what I saved you from so you can understand what you almost got yourself into. This is a dangerous world; I would be irresponsible if I did not teach you about it now that you’re my responsibility.”

  She mulled that over for a while, and had a few drinks, letting the alcohol relax her. Eventually she ended up in his lap as he leaned back on a couch, snuggling and making out. The party was still getting started, and people were still arriving, sorting themselves out. Her friend Jess had finally come by and said hello just a few minutes ago and Karen had introduced them. Jess was obviously shocked by what she saw and when she wandered off Karen asked Shadow if he knew why.