Read Online Levi by Bailey Bradford - Free Book Online Page A

eyes across the area, and Lyndon wondered if his vision was sharper than a human’s, just like his sense of smell was obviously greater than Lyndon’s.
    Lyndon retained only a hint of his cougar’s senses while in human form. This didn’t seem to be the case for Levi, and Lyndon wondered again if there was something wrong with him. Maybe that was why his father had run him off, why another cougar was after him. If his mother had been a cougar, would she have killed him at birth or left him to die because he wasn’t as right as nature had intended? Then again, is was also possible he was just whining too much, even if he was keeping it to an internal—
    “Stop it,” Levi said, touching Lyndon’s hip. “You’re giving me a headache from all the worrying about whatever it is that’s on your mind. I don’t see anyone watching, and I’m fairly certain the other shifter isn’t in your room. The scent isn’t fresh, though it’s only a couple of hours old. Shall we check it out?”
    “Yeah,” Lyndon muttered, a little stunned because he could still only detect the other cougar’s scent faintly, much less put it down to a time and level of ‘freshness’. He started towards the room again and once they reached the door, he couldn’t stop himself from placing a hand on Levi’s shoulder. “I know you aren’t a wuss or whatever, but can you let me go in first? I can’t shake this instinct that says I have to protect you. It—” He pressed his other hand to his stomach, pushed hard enough to make himself grunt. “It’s like a knot here, burning and I just can’t ignore it.”
    Levi’s expression remained blank, but something in his eyes softened, looked less chilled. He touched Lyndon’s stomach and it Lyndon’s knees weak. “Okay, but I am going to be right on your heels.” He stroked Lyndon’s belly through his shirt, distracting him for a second as want spiralled down to his groin. Levi smiled crookedly and pulled his hand back. “After you.”
    Lyndon willed back the cloud of need and turned to the door. The odour was stronger, burning his nostrils as he pushed the door open and surveyed the small room. “At least he didn’t wreck it,” he murmured. Except for the dresser drawers being open and his clothes piled onto the bed, nothing was out of place. Lyndon sighed and walked in, Levi so close behind him he smacked against Lyndon’s back when he stopped.
    Now Lyndon could detect the pungent aroma, could pick out the hours it had taken to saturate the air. “He’s gone,” he said, craning his neck to get a glimpse into the bathroom. He pushed the door open and flinched when he saw a hint of his reflection in the mirror above the bathroom sink.
    A little jumpy, dumbass? The shower curtain was pulled back. There was nowhere else someone could have been hiding in there. It was also obvious to his senses that he and Levi were the only two people in the place.
    Levi exhaled, his breath wafting over the back of Lyndon’s neck and drawing goose bumps up on his skin. Lyndon started to reach for him but Levi moved around to the bed and poked at the pile of clothes. He wrinkled his nose in away Lyndon found endearing. “This stuff is rank. What kind of jerk s prays like a wild cat? It’s just a nasty thing to do.”
    “At least that’s all he did this time,” Lyndon muttered, thinking of the other ways the cougar shifter had made his presence known before. “Let’s just say this guy lets his cat have its way when it comes to marking his territory.”
    Levi glanced up at him and frowned. “This isn’t his territory, though. You’re the first cougar shifter I’ve ever met—the first of any other kind of shifter I’ve ever met—and I’ve lived here all my life. If anything, this would be your territory, except,” Levi shot him a wicked smile, “it already belongs to a family of snow leopards.”
    Obviously Lyndon’s cougar wasn’t as territorial as Lyndon had feared, because Levi’s