Authors: Melissa Snark
“I
don’t want this.”
“I
don’t want it either, but that skank vampire is just looking for an excuse to
waste you.”
“Wait,
Jared.” His proximity excited her, but did not eradicate her fear. Josie wanted
to touch him but not like this.
Not again.
Josie
opened her mouth to reason with him, but the words jumbled together in her
head. The distinct scent of his arousal made it worse, because she knew the
rough play turned him on.
“I’m
sorry, Josie.” His muscles bunched and he lunged.
Josephine
sprang backward and evaded his first grab. He backed her into a corner and
caught her on the second attempt. The werewolf secured a hold on Josie’s waist
and dragged her toward the bathroom.
He
left her arms free and his upper body undefended, maybe on purpose, out of
shame or contrariness. For a split second, Josie considered raking her claws
across his beautiful face and putting out his eyes. Her stomach turned at the
image her imagination conjured.
Instead,
she offered up the obligatory resistance, fighting him with all her strength. She
wailed at the top of her lungs and hit his shoulders and chest with closed
fists. He succeeded in shackling her wrists within one fist.
“Please,
not on the floor,” Josephine begged before he took her down. The dirty tile of
the bathroom floor offended her fastidious nature.
Surprise
flashed in Jared’s eyes but he complied with her request. Pressing her against
the countertop, Jared pinned her squirming body beneath his own. He never
crushed her, using his strength to hold most of his weight off of her.
Josephine
wrapped her legs about Jared’s waist, hooking her ankles behind his back, so
her crotch rubbed against his cock. She mewled in need as his jeans created
friction and the bulge in his pants rubbed against her clit.
Yes, there…
“Jesus,
Josie,” Jared growled. His topaz eyes blazed. “You’re killing me.”
Her
blue eyes flashed. “Don’t complain to me about your predicament. I didn’t ask
to be here in the first place.”
She
shut him up. Jared turned his face into her throat. Josie tensed as his weight
shifted and he pressed harder against her core. His naked chest flattened her
small breasts. It took her a minute to realize the wolf was enjoying her fur
against his bare skin.
“You
feel like a rabbit,” the wolf murmured, rubbing his cheek against her shoulder.
Josie
suppressed a shiver of delight. “Well, I don’t taste like rabbit,” she snapped,
clinging to the vestiges of her anger.
Jared’s
entire body shook with laughter and he removed his face from her throat. “Rabbits
taste gamey. I’m betting you’re…rich. Creamy.”
Josephine
heard the smile in his voice. For a tease, the werewolf had an abominable sense
of what was funny. She sighed. “Must we do this every day? This is no fun for
me.”
Jared
lifted his head to stare down at her with patent disbelief. Thankfully, he
released her hands. “Do you think I enjoy this?”
She
sniffed her disdain and rolled her hips to make her point. Jared sucked in a
wet inhalation through clenched teeth. “It’s pretty obvious this turns you on.”
At
least he didn’t deny it. “So I’m male. Sue me. I can’t help being turned on by
a beautiful naked woman.”
She
experienced a thrill she’d have preferred to deny. She hid her smile and
feigned indifference. “My fear turns you on too.”
She
scored a direct hit. His shoulders hunched in shame. “I’m a predator. I’m sorry
I still scare you.”
She
huffed. “You enjoy it. Everyone knows dominant werewolves are bullies.”
His
eyes narrowed. “I never said I was dominant.”
“Please,
I’m not stupid like Evangeline,” Josephine said. “You’re not just dominant. You’re
uber-dominant.” Staring up at him in such close proximity, she found his steady
gaze disturbing. The desire he aroused in her was bad enough. When he stared
into her eyes, it was as if he could see straight through her soul and knew all
of her secrets. She hated the thought.
“I
know your other secret too,” she said, indulging a tendency to brag, which she
regretted as soon as the words were spoken. Jared’s eyes narrowed, intent and
threatening.
“What
would that be?” he asked. He had her pinned so it was impossible to evade him.
“Your
hands—you can still shift. You’ve grown claws twice while we’ve been in here,”
she said, stuttering a little. “The silver in the bracelets isn’t enough to
hold you. Like I said, they’re just silver-plated.”
Josephine
knew her life was in danger. Jared had her in the perfect position to rip out
her throat. “Jared, please don’t hurt me,” she pleaded. Her small hands
supplicated against his chest. She loved touching the defined muscles, the soft
chest hair, and his smooth skin. “I can be good.”
He
snickered. “I very much doubt that.” Then he sighed. “Have I hurt you yet?”
He
moved a small distance away, not much but enough to remove the implicit threat
to her throat. Jared excelled at the nuances of nonverbal communication.
She
licked her lips. “No, not yet.”
Those
remarkable topaz eyes captured hers, quiet and intense. “Thank you for not
scratching me.”
From
the expression on Jared’s face, she’d done more to win back his trust with that
simple act than any amount of wheedling or scheming could have accomplished.
Josephine
blinked and her lips parted. He healed so fast, she wasn’t sure he’d noticed. “You’re
welcome.”
Jared’s
voice dropped in a ploy designed to tempt her cat curiosity. He leaned in and
whispered, “Want to know another secret?”
Her
ears shot forward, tall and erect, and her tail lifted. “What?” Josephine asked
in spite of herself.
Jared
smiled and eased closer to her. He brought his lips to her ear and resumed his
former position between her thighs. Despite her better judgment, Josephine
opened for him, welcoming the return of those lean hips and the button fly
straining against his erection.
He
waited. He pressed against her, stroking his hands over the soft fur of her
haunches, teasing her nipples with his chest hair. Josephine’s breath hitched
more than once, coming faster until she felt lightheaded. Her tail crept around
his thigh, twining there.
“What
secret?” Josephine demanded, ever impatient.
Jared
nuzzled her cheek, his lips lingering in a long kiss, and the tip of his tongue
tasted her flesh. The gentle caresses were a bright promise and so very tempting,
because Josephine craved intimacy more than anything. Too long denied a kind
word or a caring touch. At the same time, he frightened her because if she let
her guard down, he’d possess the means to destroy her more thoroughly than
killing her.
“Jared?”
Josephine grasped his face and pulled his lips from her skin to stare up at
him. “What secret?”
He
gave new meaning to wolf smile.
He had such
big teeth.
“I’m not
the only one aroused, little cat.”
Mouth
open in shock and attempted denial, Josephine stared as he walked away.
Day
4
Jared
quelled his annoyance as Josie paced past him for what must have been the
thousandth time.
Fucking crazy Siamese.
The little cat went stir crazy
about the same time every day, walking the floors, the bed, and the bars—every
imaginable surface on which a cat did and did not belong. Bowing to the
inevitable, Jared closed his book and set it aside. Evangeline was due soon for
her daily feeding anyway.
Jared
shifted on the mattress, seeking to ease the strain on his swollen cock. He resolved
to wear looser jeans in the future. Lately, his attempts to read were for show.
His choices were to stare at the pages or follow Josie’s every movement with
all too transparent lust.
The
springs of the cot released a sharp squeak as he sat up and Josephine reached
the end of the cell. She cast a glance over her shoulder in sultry appraisal.
Her position granted him a picture pretty enough for a magazine spread. She
held her tail high, revealing a delicate pink slit and tight mahogany knot. The
powerful muscles of her legs bunched as if preparing to leap.
Jared’s
nostrils flared as he exhaled and fought to keep a cool head. Days of having
her prance about naked under his nose—a juicy look-but-don’t-touch temptation—had
convinced him of a new definition of hell.
The
vampire’s impending visit filled them both with increasing tension. Jared cast
the cat an uneasy glance. Would she keep her mouth shut? He had no way of
predicting what the moody, irrational creature might do from moment to moment.
“Josie,”
he called, keeping his tone soft. She turned toward him, head cocked and tail
twitching. He patted the mattress beside him, inviting her to join him.
Following a split second of hesitation, she leapt up beside him. He longed to
reach out and scratch behind her ears to see if he could coax a purr but
refrained. He didn’t want to push her.
“Are
you going to tell Evangeline?”
Her
ear flicked, but otherwise she gave no outward sign of reaction. “What if I do?”
“You
will get me killed this time. I can deny being a dominant wolf. I can fake
submission and I’ve got a measure of influence over Evangeline, but it’s
tenuous.”
“So?”
Her blue eyes never blinked. Josie stared at him, expression cat-blank, and he
saw more of his own soul reflected in her luminous eyes than hers.
“If
they push me too hard then I will shift,” Jared said. His topaz gaze was stern.
“You might get yourself killed too.”
“She
might reward me,” Josie taunted.
Jared’s
fists started to clench and he forced his hands to relax. He throttled the
impulse to threaten or terrify her into compliance. Both tactics had already
been tried and failed. Besides, he wanted…needed her trust.
“And
she might kill you,” Jared retorted. “Like she intended to before I bartered
for you. She will hurt you, the same as yesterday.”
The
cat stirred. He’d managed to provoke a reaction. Her eyes flashed and her head
whipped around toward him. “You keep claiming you asked for me to protect me,
but I can tell you’re lying, Jared. There’s more that you’re not saying!”
Deliberating,
he stared at Josie, and then decided to go out on a limb. He needed to win her
trust and so far his endeavors had fallen flat. “Okay, yes,” he said. “I have a
use for you. You’ve been here a long time and you understand how things work. I
need your help to get us out of here.”
Her
eyes narrowed. “Still lying,” she hissed. “You want me for more than that.”
Confusion
left him quiet and contemplative. Then, finally, the light bulb came on and he
grinned. “I want you, Josie,” he said and laughed. “I want you just for you,
because you’re gorgeous. And more than that, I admire your spirit and your
fire.”
Josie
appeared poleaxed. Her entire body temperature shot up, the result of a deep
blush. Rarely, if ever, did he manage to catch the cat so off-guard. “You’re
telling the truth,” she said, still staring at him with suspicion.
“Of
course I am,” he said. “Look at you. You’re a walking wet dream. What straight
guy wouldn’t want to hit that?” He aimed a pointed look at her backside. The
cat turned to follow her tail as if it were a separate entity.
****
Josephine
glanced down, watching her long dark tail twitch to and fro, as though with a
mind of its own. Then she looked further and harder, considering her feminine
curves, muscular limbs, perky breasts, and pretty pussy. Her only covering was
her fur.
His
appreciation provoked such pleasure that it was all she could do not to purr.
Jared’s skill for disarming her defenses scared Josephine to death. “That’s it?”
she said with an irritable swish of her tail. “I’m gorgeous?”
Jared
threw back his head and laughed, warm and silky, causing her fur to ripple. “You’re
smart, clever, and infuriating too. Is that enough or do you want more?”
“I
want to get out of here.” Josephine looked anywhere but at his face, afraid to
show how much the praise meant.
“I
do too,” he agreed.
She
stared at her hands again. “Even if you escape, you won’t take me with you.”
Jared
sat up, startling her. Most of the time, he took great care not to make
unexpected movements around her. She squeaked as his hand caught her wrist. Fingers
under her chin forced her to meet his gaze.
“Who
betrayed you, Josie? Who hurt you?” His expression was compassionate. He
breached her defenses and shattered them. Josephine trembled and stared at
Jared with tear-filled eyes.
“His
name was Nate,” she said. “He was a coyote and he was here before you. I helped
him get away. He promised he’d come back for me.” Her tears spilled over. “He
lied.”