Authors: Melissa Snark
Jared
surged against the bars, creating a resounding clash as his full weight struck
steel. “Mistress, please—”
Evangeline
turned her attention to Jared and Josephine’s pain stopped. Panting, the
werecat went limp. “I want to kill her myself,” Jared pleaded.
“An
admirable desire, my wolf,” Evangeline said. “Carl, give Jared his cat.” With a
flip of her hand, the vampire departed.
Always
obedient and efficient, Carl dragged Josephine to the cell. “Ought to kill her
and get it over with,” Carl advised Jared. Forcing the werewolf back like a
lion tamer with a chair, Carl wielded the cattle prod before him and backed
from the cell. He slammed the door shut behind him and locked it.
“Yeah,
well, I like to play with my food,” Jared replied. “Get me some sports
magazines, some porn, and a copy of Shakespeare’s works, okay?”
“Shakespeare
seems a mite highbrow for a wolf,” Carl said. He dropped Josephine to the
ground. She welcomed the cold cement to the human servant’s cruel touch.
“What
can I say, I’m trying to better myself,” Jared quipped.
He
did not come close to Josephine until the servants departed. She shrank from
him, quivering with fear and loathing. She hissed when he touched her but
lacked the strength to lash out and was forced to endure his examination.
Jared
checked her for injuries and inspected the collar before he picked her up off
the floor. “Josie, Josie,” he said, settling her against his chest. “What am I
going to do with you?”
Josephine
turned her face to the side in an act of passive resistance. Tears trailed
along her cheeks and down her neck to the hated collar. Jared’s gentleness was
a form of torture. The waiting was destroying her. “Just get it over with,” she
said, once she was strong enough to lift her head.
He
carried her into the bathroom. She supposed he wanted someplace easy to clean
up afterward. Or maybe he liked privacy for the act. He set her down on the
counter next to the sink. As he reached past her to the faucet, Josephine got
in a clean swipe at his face. Her claws gouged four parallel incisions across
his cheek from below his eye to his jaw.
A
snarl erupted from Jared; his lips peeled back in a bold show of teeth. His
wolf rose, and those topaz eyes turned on her with restrained violence. He
grabbed her arms, capturing and pinning her against the countertop. Josephine
fought but he was too strong. “I ought to rip out your throat and eat you
alive,” he said. “That makes twice now that you’ve betrayed me.”
He
imprisoned her wrists with one hand and positioned her so he stood between her
parted thighs. Josephine wailed and struggled as his muscular body surged
against hers. He pressed his chest to her breasts and then released her wrists.
Once freed, she gouged his shoulders, leaving deep scratches, as he buried his
face against her throat.
Josephine
waited. She waited for his teeth to rip out her jugular. Maybe he intended to
take her body first. She waited for the inevitable violence and abuse she knew
must be coming—it was all she had ever known. With a tired sigh, Jared turned
his head to the side and rested his bloody cheek against the top of her head.
His breathing was deep and steady and his touch comforting.
“I
don’t understand,” Josephine said, crying again but for different reasons. It
had been far too long since another person had held her.
“You’ve
been abused, Josie,” he said. He lifted his head to look down at her; already
his cheek had begun to heal.
As
she gazed upon the bloody scratches, Josephine cringed with guilt. Thank God
she had missed his beautiful eye.
“I
realize it’s going to take time to win your trust, but time is the one thing we
don’t have a lot of. You’re the most gorgeous creature I’ve ever seen, and I
admit I want you, but not like this. If something ever happens between us, I
want you to want me too.”
Josephine
opened her mouth to apologize but the words got stuck behind a mountain of
mistrust. This might be another game. Once he’d won her trust, then he would
kill her. It was a scenario all too easy to imagine.
When
she made no reply, Jared grunted, conveying disappointment. “Hold still a
second,” he said, reaching for her throat. Josephine remained motionless,
submitting to his touch. She felt his fingers on the collar, turning it,
fumbling with the combination lock.
“Got
it,” he said, and the collar came free in his hands. He grinned. “I was paying
attention when the vampire took it off.”
Josephine
stared at him in disbelief and reached up to feel her bare throat. Then, Jared
snapped the collar back into place, closing the lock before the cat had a chance
to react. She gazed at him in absolute hurt and disbelief.
“If
I leave it off, the vampire will figure out that I’m deceiving her,” Jared
explained with an ironic smile. He backed away from Josephine.
“Somehow, I think you can be trusted not to tell
Evangeline I know how to take it off. I’m getting out of here, Josie. You can
bet your sweet tail on it,” he said.
Somehow, she believed him.
Abruptly, Josephine realized the enormity of her
mistake in trusting Evangeline instead of Jared. She wanted him to be the real
deal; she needed to trust her attraction to him. But it was impossible. She had
betrayed him twice. He had no reason to take a back-stabbing cat with him when
he left.
“How
the hell am I supposed to trust you?” Her own outburst caught Josie by
surprise.
Jared
stared at her with unblinking topaz eyes. “You think it’s any easier for me,
pussycat?”
Day
3
It
was a day much like the one before in the werewolf’s cell. Hours passed like
molasses. Carl brought Jared fast-food that he then shared with Josephine.
Evangeline returned when the sun set. Jared flirted and submitted; the vampire
fed and left in a hurry.
“I’m
bored,” Josephine said, pacing the floor. The cloying heat and humidity made
her fur damp. She never felt clean no matter how many hours she devoted to
grooming.
Jared
looked up from his magazine and heaved a sigh. The werewolf straddled the
single chair, leaning with his chest against the back. His skin glistened with the
sheen of sweat, emphasizing the corded muscles of his throat and arms. “At
least you’re still alive to be bored.”
The
cat swung on him. “You think that’s some sort of consolation?”
Jared
smirked. “Why don’t you come over here? I could do with a quick snack.”
“You’re
all bark, no bite,” Josie snapped. Her ears flattened but she no longer
believed he’d eat her. He wasn’t above taunting her with it though.
Jared’s
sultry chuckle caused her fur to ripple and her tail to kink. “I’ve got plenty
of bite.” His teeth snapped together, mocking a bite.
His
provocative teasing only earned him a tail smack across the lower jaw. With
lightning quick reflexes, he caught the tip between two fingers. The scent of
his arousal was thick on the air; his gaze smoldered as it lingered on tail and
backside. “I can think of ways to pass the time.”
Damn
him.
Josie
snatched her tail away before her wanton nature got her into more trouble than
she could handle. But, ooohhh, how she’d love to throw caution to the wind. She’d
bet one of her nine lives that her big bad wolf would be worth the ride.
Fuming,
Josephine sat on the cot opposite Jared. Out of desperation, she decided to try
a different tact. “Where are you from?”
His
eyes narrowed with suspicion. “Why? Do you need more information to sell to the
vampire?”
Her
ears flattened. “Fine,” she huffed. “You were the one who wanted to talk
yesterday.”
“Gee,
I wonder what could’ve changed.” Jared’s sarcasm was sharp and pointed.
Josie’s
ears flattened further and she sighed, falling silent. She
needed
his
goodwill and seemed to have destroyed any chance of obtaining it through her
own machinations. She wanted so much more from him than simple kindness.
Remarkably,
Jared relented. He tossed his magazine into the pile of reading material Carl
had provided. “Roanoke, Virginia.”
Josephine’s
ears sprang forward. “Why were you heading to LA?”
His
lips curved into a smirk. “You could say I had an important engagement.”
His
private joke irritated Josephine. Her tailed lashed but she refused to succumb
to the temptation to pursue it.
“Wouldn’t
it have been simpler to fly to LA than drive?”
He
licked his lips. “I have a thing about airplanes.”
“Oh,
really? Are you scared?” Josephine taunted.
Jared
snickered. “Scared of damaging the airplane while it’s ten thousand feet in the
air? Oh, yeah, I’m scared.”
The
man was impossible. “Are both your parents werewolves?” she asked. He had
spoken of his family with affection. Maybe he would open up if worked from a
different perspective. And it worked like a charm.
“Just
my mom; my dad is human. They retired to Florida a couple years ago to operate
a boat charter service for scuba divers.”
“Do
you have any littermates?”
Jared
snorted and grinned. “I’m an only child.”
“What
do you do for a living?” Josephine asked.
His
smile widened. “I’m a fireman.”
He
was a hero? It was not what she had expected. Slacker would have fit better
with her image of him. “Are you the type of fireman who runs into burning
buildings or a paramedic?”
“Burning
buildings, but I also perform building inspections, search and rescue, and
respond to medical calls.” His stare grew pointed. “Sometimes I even rescue
little cats.”
Josephine
blushed and bristled. “No one asked you to rescue me.”
Jared
snorted. “I wouldn’t be in this mess if it weren’t for you, so I’d have to
disagree. Although, my life would be so much simpler if you were stuck up a
tree.”
She
turned her nose up. “Humph.”
“My
turn,” Jared said, licking his lips in an alarming way. His regard had become
little too hungry for her taste.
“Your
turn?”
“You’re
the one angling to get on my good side,” Jared reminded her with a smile that
made it clear he harbored no illusions regarding her motives. “I answered your
questions; turnabout’s fair play.”
“Okay,”
she agreed with reluctance. “What do you want to know?”
“Why
does the vampire use a gold collar instead of silver to control you?” Jared
asked.
The
question surprised her. Josephine had expected something more…personal. “Evangeline
had the collar made special for her
pet
cats,” she said. “She feeds
exclusively on cats—or has—up until now. But usually one cat at a time.”
“She’s
been a vampire fifty years?” he asked.
Josephine
indicated agreement with a flicker of her ear.
“And
you’ve been here three years?” Jared asked, gaining control of the
conversation. Josephine did not understand how, but she felt obligated to
answer.
Her
chest hurt from a crushing pressure, restricting her breath. “I’ve survived
longer than most,” Josephine whispered, turning her face away to hide her
tears.
“So
that’s at least sixteen cats she’s used and killed—maybe more,” he said.
“Yes,
many more,” Josephine agreed, scrubbing at her leaky eyes. Soon her name would
be added to that list.
“Silver
doesn’t affect you the same as it does me,” he concluded, “which explains why
the collar is made of gold. Evangeline has no experience dealing with
werewolves, does she?”
“She’s
clueless,” Josephine agreed, stiffening her spine. She turned a baleful gaze on
the wolf. “And poor. I’d be surprised if those cuffs you’re wearing are more
than silver-plated.”
Jared
nodded. His expression was one of thoughtful calculation. Josephine realized
that his questioning had nothing to do with hurting her and everything to do
with escape.
“Do
you heal when you shift forms?” he asked.
“Yes,”
she said. “It takes a lot of energy, but shifting heals most injuries. Why?”
“Just
curious,” he said with a shrug. Then he was quiet, thinking again.
“The
shotguns are loaded with regular ammo,” she volunteered, seeing an opportunity
to be helpful. “Werecats aren’t vulnerable to silver, but normal ammunition
kills us just the same, so Evangeline’s never had a reason to spring for the
expensive stuff.”
Jared
fixed those unsettling topaz eyes on her. Then he smiled and she flushed with
pleasure. “Thank you, Josie,” he said. “That’s useful to know.”
Before
she formulated a reply, Jared stood, shoving the chair aside with his foot. His
tension communicated his intent, along with an obvious reluctance, as he
adopted an aggressive stance. She sprang off the bed and they jockeyed for
position for a few seconds.