Bad Kitty (20 page)

If you'd like to be
notified when my next book comes out or when I run any contests,
please sign up for my
newsletter
.

If you enjoyed this book
please take a moment to help other readers discover it by leaving a
review and letting them know you liked
Bad
Kitty
. Reader reviews help others decide
which books to buy and provide a learning opportunity for the
author.

If you're on
Facebook
or
Twitter
, come by and say
hello! I'd love to hear from you.

Continue reading for a a
delicious sneak peek from another sexy shapeshifter
book
.

Malcolm by Eliza
Gayle

A Black Cougar Novel in the Southern Shifter
Series

He can run but he can't hide. Not from duty.
Not from danger. And especially not from the woman who forces him
to face the truth. Malcolm Gunn's time is running out along with
his ability to shift. When confronted with his past he thinks he's
found a solution. With the help of a little rope, he can let nature
takes its course. Unfortunately the woman who is the key to his
existence harbors a powerful secret that will destroy them
both.

Cheyenne's been hired to track and retrieve
Malcolm at any cost. Her only plan is to get in, get out and keep
her sanity intact. In that order. But she's been warned...If he
catches her, he will stake his claim whether she is willing or not.
Deceit and lies bring them together. Murder puts them on the run.
Their enemies are closing in and there's only one, irreversible way
out. Some choices can never be forgiven and one man's anger can
destroy it all...Malcolm.

Excerpt:

Malcolm Gunn stopped breathing at the shift
of air in his house. His eyes popped open when the fur prickled
along his forearms, warning him of the intruder nearby. He’d gone
to bed hours ago but something had kept him from falling into a
deep sleep and now he knew what.

Someone had been hunting him and was now in
his home.

Nose to the air, he took a slow deep breath,
seeking the scent of a hunter.

Cougar
.
Familiar.

The scent was unmistakable, one any other of
his kind would recognize right off the bat. His eyes slid closed as
he allowed the smell deeper inside while he sought an answer to
what he faced. Definitely not one of his brothers but still a
cougar. He couldn’t help but wonder what idiot would be so brave as
to enter the lair of a black cougar without permission. He’d easily
be within his rights to kill on sight with no questions asked.
Yeah, if he was still part of the clan. As an outcast no one gave a
shit about him and any aggression toward another cougar could
easily lead to a visit from one of his brothers, The Death
Enforcers.

He brushed his fingers across the hair on
his chest to relieve the prickling another’s presence in his house
created. The scent had a distinct underlay to it besides the basic
aggression that always lay just underneath the surface of a were
cougar on a hunt. A sudden flash of sweet reached him then and his
body arrowed up from the bed, his bare feet landing silently
against the hardwood floors.

A woman prowled his house. And not just any
woman.

Malcolm crouched low to the ground, careful
not to disturb the airflow around the room. Better not to let her
know he was awake and lying in wait for her. He’d give her a little
more time to get closer. His hand slid back underneath the single
pillow on his bed and wrapped around the hilt of the hunting knife
that he kept there. Nowadays the weapon was mostly used for gutting
animals he’d caught, but habit made him keep it for protection as
well. He had no idea what her intentions were but he wasn’t about
to face her unprepared. It had been a long time since he’d had to
kill a person and while the animal in him remembered it
occasionally, the man didn’t miss it at all.

He listened for any telltale sign that would
indicate her location. Nothing, as he’d expected. This woman knew
what the hell she was doing. A floorboard ten feet from his bedroom
door creaked quietly. He smiled slowly, a surge of satisfaction
spreading through him. But she wasn’t better than him. The air in
the house stilled again as he imagined her waiting and listening
for any indication that he’d woken from the soft sound she’d made.
He’d designed and created that little trap himself and if she’d
been human she would never have heard it.

Would she keep going? By now, she would have
followed his scent to this room, but no way in hell would anyone
ever get through that door without waking him. If this was the
woman he suspected, and his body screamed it was, she’d know that
and be prepared. He glanced behind at the window over his bed and
decided to approach this in a different way. If she wanted to play
cat and mouse he’d be more than happy to oblige her—except, like it
or not, she was about to become the mouse. He crept to the window
and raised it without a sound, just enough to give him room to slip
out.

Malcolm inhaled the night air deep into his
lungs. The scent of earth and moisture clung to everything around
him. This was his favorite time of the night, those quiet hours
shortly before the rest of the world woke up. Nature was at its
peak power during this period. She could overpower and overcome
anyone she wanted at any given time but when Mother Nature rested
along with the rest of the world, his animal longed to roam.

He slipped into the cover of trees that
surrounded his temporary home. A feature he’d used to his advantage
more than once these past weeks. The wet grass slipped cool under
his feet and the cat ached for freedom.

Not yet.
He couldn’t risk the pain.

He struggled to soothe the
restless animal inside him.
First we
confirm the identity of the woman stupid enough to enter our home,
then when she’s taken care of we’ll take care of our
needs
.

Emerging from the forest, he crouched
outside the side door that led through the garage and listened. As
best he could tell, she still hadn’t breached his bedroom but he
needed to hurry because there was no telling what her plan was. The
bitterness of a brewing betrayal clawed at his gut. He’d honestly
hoped he’d never have to see her again. At least on a conscious
level.

He slipped through the dark and around his
Land Rover with ease. Not only did he know this layout like the
back of his hand, he didn’t need light to see. A cougar’s vision
meant he saw in crystal clear clarity with or without light so not
much got past him just because it was dark outside.

He turned the knob and opened the door into
the house. He’d not moved an inch and her sweet smell washed over
him. While his brain worried about an unwarranted attack, his dick
stood up and took notice, making it damned hard to think straight
when all the blood in his body pooled into his groin and his pulse
beat for the not-quite-a-stranger roaming his house.

Get a grip.
He seriously doubted she’d come for the long
overdue fucking.

But it had been a long time since he’d been
with a female of his own species. For a while, he’d toyed with some
witches that liked to dance on the dark side but even he’d grown
bored with that after a while. While he enjoyed his fair share of
trouble, there were just some things nature didn’t intend for you
to mess with and sooner or later she would fuck back.

He looked down to see his cock had tented
his shorts and he cursed the loose boxers he’d chosen to sleep in.
This was all he needed. He’d grab her and she’d either laugh at her
effect on him or find a way to use his condition against him. There
were a dozen scenarios of how this could play out running through
his head as he padded through the kitchen on his way to the living
room. From the middle of the room he would be able to see the full
length of the hall that stretched out in front of the three
bedrooms in his house.

Malcolm slowed his steps, knowing he
wouldn’t get much closer without being detected unless he
controlled his breathing as well as his movements. He waited for
his heartbeat to slow and his breath to slide in and out of his
nose on a soft, barely there whisper.

The knife hand dropped to his side, still at
the ready but not overly threatening as he took the two steps to
where they would be forced to come face to face. Except—fuck. She
wasn’t there. No way did she slip through one of the bedroom doors
without him detecting her.

“
Looking for
me?”