“Long enough to drive the security guards into contemplating murder, as I’ve been authorized to go upstairs for at least twenty minutes, but I thought I’d wait for you like a good little bounty huntress. Miss me, Mr. Mane?”
“No.”
Well, if he’d missed me, things would have become boring, which wouldn’t do. My virus had missed him, but part of the game involved him believing otherwise. “You just can’t bear the thought of anyone realizing you, a lion, might actually notice anyone other than yourself. It’s okay. The security guards won’t tell anyone.”
“Damn it, Wells!”
His protest wasn’t quite the roar I wanted, so I took my time looking him over from his brown hair, neatly trimmed to keep anyone from cracking mane jokes at him, his darker eyes, which contrasted nicely with his tanned skin, and his perfect suit.
He must have spent the entire cab ride prettying himself up for me.
How nice.
I could understand why women got jealous over their men, especially if their men were as handsome as the lion, especially when he prettied himself up just for meeting me.
“Admit it, Sumners. You missed me. You missed me so much you concocted this excuse to get me into the same building with you. You just happen to be lucky I was in Fargo. If you’d waited for a few hours, I would’ve been long gone with my registered bounties, and you would’ve been sniffing my trail—if you could find it.”
Implying he couldn’t locate my trail did him in; Sebastian flexed his hands, growled, and when growling didn’t make me even raise a brow, he roared at me.
My virus stirred at having nettled the rival predator, and I purred my pleasure over having cracked his professionalism yet again, enjoying my victory until the sound of his displeasure and frustration faded away. “You really missed me.”
“Must you?”
“Absolutely. You’re the one who wanted to see me in person. You could’ve emailed me like a civilized being. But no, you wanted to see me in person. That makes it my lucky day and your living nightmare.” I slid off the desk, picked up my bag, and slung the strap over my shoulder. “Do you need to check in or are you already king of this castle?”
“I haven’t quite managed to become king of the castle yet, but I do have a permanent badge. I work here, Wells. I come here every day.”
Damn it. The last thing I needed was Sebastian permanently in my turf. “Since when did you start working here permanently?”
“Since the CDC gave me a phone call, asked me to show up, and told me you were my main and unfortunately permanent assignment. That was two weeks ago. I was specifically directed to leave you alone until you started poking your nose in the system looking for a contract, at which point you officially became my problem. The two weeks of sane work was nice, and I enjoyed them, and I resent having to deal with you permanently.”
His words said he hated my guts and wanted to light me on fire before tossing me into a dumpster, but his tone told another story. I sniffed the air, and his scent told a different story, too.
The naughty lion had gotten himself riled up in all the best ways, and while my virus hated the stench of amorous male wolf, naughty male lion made her purr and started her engine. And mine.
I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing, but I figured I’d play along with his words but pay closer attention to my other senses. While I took the time to consider the ramifications of his tone and scent, I’d do my best to ignore my rowdy virus, who wanted to drag the lion to my daddy’s truck and make good use of the cab.
My virus liked the idea of dealing with him permanently. A permanent duration to our relationship involved listening to him roar every day. As a lycanthrope, our lifespan could exceed several hundred years. Several hundred years of roaring appealed to me.
So did seeing him out of his suit.
Damn it, my virus would get me killed one of these days. By Sebastian, who’d hang me from the rafters after slitting my throat and disemboweling me. To be fair, I would earn my murder, as nothing revved my engine quite like tormenting the annoying lion.
Oh, well. There were worse ways to go. “Why don’t you show me to your office then, Mr. Hot Shot.”
“You just never quit, do you?”
“Do you think quitting is an option with this scarred train wreck of a face? Give me a break. I work customer service by day, but I’m a relentless and badass bounty huntress by night. If you have a body you want brought in, I’m your woman.”
“Unfortunately, the government has noticed that, and as such, I have a job for you. The job is big enough we are being expected to work together. I’ll be your handler and informant, and if necessary, your backup.”
What the hell? Since when did I need backup? Okay, to be fair, I’d dragged in a few corpses while hanging out at death’s door myself, but I’d learned my lesson on those jobs. Half the time, I showed up with another woman’s face, using makeup to hide my damned scars so I wouldn’t terrorize the CDC employees.
Sebastian handled my scars better than most, although he’d give me hell for mentioning them. I’d take the blame for any ribbing he gave me over my scars, as he never brought them up unless I did first. Even then, he never poked fun at me.
I could trust Sebastian to somewhat remain a professional. Not only that, he disliked claiming low-lying fruit.
When he went after me, he did so with finesse and his best roars.
I needed to have my virus levels checked. At the rate she was going, I’d be going out of my mind trying to make the damned lion roar by the end of the day. No, not only would I be trying to make him roar, I’d be clawing at his perfect custom-tailored suit so I could get him naked.
“Your expression tells me you’re about to say something I won’t like. Can we skip that until after you hear about the job?”
I narrowed my eyes and considered his request. “I’ll bite, but only this once. Next time, I will aim to make you roar three times before laying off your delicate sensibilities.”
The security guards chuckled, and the lion roared at the pair. Grinning at the deep rumble that would leave my ears ringing for a few minutes, I headed for the elevator. “Lions. So sensitive, right?”
“That’s right, ma’am,” one of the guards replied. I checked his badge to discover his name was Thomas and he was the head honcho of the security team. No wonder they’d settled down after running my credentials.
The head honcho of the security team could likely view my kill count and didn’t want a cranky lycanthrope female with a love-life problem making a mess of his pristine lobby.
Sebastian marched to the bank of elevators and hit the up button. I took my time, as I’d have to break into a jog to keep up with his long legs.
I bet he doubled my size when shifted, which would make toying with him as a cat more entertaining. The size difference didn’t bother me much, as my father weighed in at a little more than twice as heavy as my mother, who enjoyed when my father got rough with her.
Ugh. I was my mother’s daughter. Damn it, the last thing I needed was to want a man who could snap me between his hands and make me like it because it added spice to the relationship. If life went as it usually did, I really would be just like my mother, who enjoyed when she goaded my father into getting rough and rowdy. Us Wells kids had learned to vacate the property the nights our mother went on the hunt for our father, usually picking the sanest neighbor who didn’t mind a huge pile of lynxes on their porch for a few hours.