Mateo, a jaguar nagual descended from Mayan shamans, attends the Northern Nevada Con-fur-ence furry convention to hide in plain sight. Who will look twice at a long, black tail and inhuman yellow eyes when there are neon huskies and dancing dragons around? There Mateo meets Dazi, a mountain lion skin-walker who is at the con with friends from his Shoshone-Paiute reservation. They want to find out if the furries are close to stumbling across their tribe of shifters. When these two big cats rub up against each other, their cultures collide in a way neither Mateo nor Dazi could predict. But Mateo has trouble being entirely human around his alluring new companion, and Dazi puts his tribe at risk when he reveals their secrets to an outsider. Can Mateo and Dazi overcome their natural secretive and bestial instincts to find their purr-fect ending?

Beasts Like Us

As Mateo got into his rhythm, his concentration began to slip. Adrenaline added itself to the hormones flooding his brain when his hearing faded. No! Stay human! This is something I absolutely cannot do as a jaguar.


Dazi sensed Mateo’s hesitation and blindly groped for Mateo’s hand. “Mateo,” his gasped. “Mateo, you can do this. I know you won’t hurt me.”


That was exactly what Mateo needed to hear. With Alejo, his human mate had often said things like that, but he would flinch at Mateo’s touch or cower when Mateo climbed on top of him. He saw Mateo as something greater and more powerful than himself. Dazi, on the other hand, treated Mateo as an equal. There was no hesitation, no fear, only passion. He wanted all Mateo had to give, and he constantly reminded him of that when he felt Mateo faltering.


Chapter 60