Not just any potential tumble into bed met my virus’s criteria.
“I already accepted bounties in Cincinnati. That’s my retreat, and it’s pocket change I need,” I announced, determined to rein my virus in and redirect Sebastian back to work. “And there’s that asshole lycanthrope on the way to Cincinnati I need to take care of.”
“You’re going to insist on being stubborn, aren’t you?”
“Absolutely. But since you’re offering scar removal, I am willing to share my bounties with you.” My virus approved of my idea of dragging the lion with me. “But you’re going to have to pretend you’re an attracted male because I’m going to be romping around without any perfume. If you’re sniffing at my turf like every other single male lycanthrope in a mile radius, then nobody will look twice at you.”
“You use perfume?”
“It’s useful sometimes.” The CDC’s invention, meant to help single lycanthrope females stay single, cost a fortune, and they issued me a limited supply for bounties when they had a job they wanted me to do. “I need to get more, actually. My supply is low, and that shit’s expensive. Usually, I go without because it does a good job of luring out the unsavory lycanthropes.”
“That’s dangerous,” he growled.
“Sure, if you have an idiot virus. I have a very picky virus, Sumners. Her response to unwanted males is to inflict as much damage to them as possible. I like it.” I smiled. “I like it a lot. It’s very useful when one is a bounty hunter with a picky virus.”
“The virus…” Sebastian narrowed his eyes. “Just how picky is your virus?”
“I’m single because she’s that picky.” Only a male cat would do, and only the best male cat would do. According to my virus, Sebastian was that male cat. “I’m sure the male my virus selects will make most excellent prey, and by the time I get to sinking my claws into his ass, he’ll be a most willing participant.”
“I can’t tell if you’re being figurative,” he complained.
I debated. Would Sebastian roar if I sank my claws into his ass? Probably. “Definitely meant to be literal.”
“You need lessons regarding men, Wells. That is not how you catch a man. That’s how you drive men off.”
Yes, it was. “Then it’s a good thing my virus is picky. I’m sure the right eligible male to cross my path will find some way to secure my attention without me having to sink my claws into his ass.”
My virus approved of my subterfuge. She wanted to know what Sebastian would do—and if he would earn his place as the king of our jungle. If he didn’t, I’d enjoy the ride in any case.
Yep, I was my mother’s daughter—and my father’s, too. Next time I wandered home, I’d have to go after my father, as only an idiot pounced a pregnant lycanthrope and expected to survive.
“You’re something else. Fine, if you absolutely insist on addressing these bounties, I will accompany you on them before we set up for the main bounty. Don’t make me regret this, Wells.”
Four
My virus wanted more of Sebastian’s roars immediately.
I figured it would take me an hour to make my unwanted partner regret his decision to join me on my hunt. First, while I’d gotten rid of the evidence of my gorging from my father’s truck, its unique aroma remained. Second, I hadn’t gone out of my way to make the vehicle presentable for anyone other than me. It’d taken me the short haul to Fargo to make a mess of it. Whoops. Third, us together in a confined space would lead to disaster. I gave myself twenty minutes before I lost to temptation and worked to make him roar.
My virus wanted more of Sebastian’s roars immediately.
I wanted to drag it out, but I could live with a few immediate roars, too.
One of these days, my virus would get me killed. I’d contribute to my demise, and I’d do so with limited regret. Sebastian would snap, roar, and kill me in some brutal fashion. I needed to ask for him to make my demise memorable. If I made headlines, I could be proud of having gone out with a bang.
“What is that smell?” Sebastian wrinkled his nose.
“My mother is pregnant, and she thinks I never eat, so she fed me fried chicken. Saffron was only the start of her crimes against her fried chicken, which is usually amazing. As I’m a good daughter and refuse to waste food, I ate it all. It was not as terrible as I thought it would be based on its rather unique fragrance. As this is my father’s truck, I can’t just hose it down with perfume. I’ll wash the interior before I return it and hope that purges the stench of that chicken out of the upholstery. Dad doesn’t mind about the chicken, as he helped me load it in. If he didn’t want the chicken in his truck, he wouldn’t have given me the keys and helped me load it up.”
“I see you live to vex even your family. And here I thought you were only out for my blood.”
No, I was not out for his blood. I was out for his roar—and possibly his nude self in my bed. Getting him out of his clothes might involve some bloodshed, as I couldn’t imagine the lion would sacrifice one of his precious suits, which would require me to claw it off him. Most nights, I took the time to sharpen my claws, as they were one of my most important weapons during a hunt. I considered the benefits of going out for his blood. Well, if I went after his clothes, the blood would be an accidental accompaniment, as I did take such good care of my claws.
Before I tore him out of his clothes, I’d have to paint my nails and my claws. A woman needed to look her best before making some serious moves on a man.
“I feel like you’re not giving me enough credit here, Sebastian. Why would I settle with only going out for your blood when I can take my entire family out, too? I have a lot of brothers. That’s enough to drive any woman crazy. Frankly, I’m amazed I escaped without a single chaperone.”
“I’m amazed you haven’t been sent to an institution yet. Permanently.”
“I do too good of a job of taking out the truly awful lycanthropes in society; they let me off with a continuous chain of warnings. I’m trying to figure out what you did to deserve me. You must have been a very, very bad man in a former life, Sebastian—or you’re an exceptionally bad man now. I’m not sure which. I feel I need to do some research.”
“Please don’t.”
“Well, tell me what you did to deserve me, then.”
“I don’t know what I did to deserve you. If I knew, I’d start setting up shrines to the appropriate divine and apologize profusely, complete with sacrifices as required,” he muttered. “That smell might do me in. How could you stand eating it?”
“One does not make her pregnant mother cry by being anything other than enthusiastic about her fried chicken. I might be a terrible person, but I do try to be a good daughter. I’m the only daughter she has right now. I’m hoping the next litter is girls. I’m outnumbered terribly.” As a ticket would delay me even more, I pulled over before plugging in the address to my first target. “I have a list of targets, and I expect you to follow my lead on this. I like to take the systematic approach, but honestly? Having you and the truck around will make this a little easier. There is a rule about this truck. We leave no trace of my side job in the truck. My daddy can’t find out about my side job. If my daddy finds out about my side job, that means my momma finds out about my side job, and if my momma finds out about my side job, that means all forty-seven of my brothers learn about my side job. We clear?”