“It was a necessary detour.”
I grinned at that. “Yes, it was. I just hope you brought the cuffs. I have some serious purring to catch up on.”
“You can count on it.”
Eight
Well, that’s a damned shame.
Lycanthropes paid a premium when eating at buffets, and for a rare change, I didn’t mind the doubled cost for our lunch and dinner. The first buffet he took us to had the promised barbecue chicken, and to get my filthy little hands on it, I had to stand in line. Everyone in the buffet understood the importance of the barbecue chicken line.
The beleaguered chefs working the ovens and grills ruled with iron tongs, too.
The taco bar was worth writing home about, so I did, making use of Sebastian’s cell phone to take pictures and send them to my uncle, who could handle image distribution as needed. My uncle seemed less than impressed with Sebastian’s offering, resulting in me calling the bastard, issuing a hissed warning of imminent death if he criticized my choice of delicious buffet, and hung up before he could defend himself. Sebastian chuckled and didn’t answer his phone when it rang.
The second buffet had steak, and I would have eaten it exclusively had Sebastian not placed filled plates of other food in front of me.
For both meals, I ate at least three times what I normally did, and I beat Sebastian in quantity of food consumed in the shortest period of time. Eating my way into a food-induced coma hadn’t been a part of my plans, and I only took my turn behind the wheel when he was too fatigued to continue driving safely.
Out of the sixteen hours it took to reach Cincinnati, I drove four of them, and I handled the last leg of the trip while he slept. My virus appreciated the lion’s vulnerability, as it convinced her he trusted me to handle the important matters while we watched over him. Or he trusted my general driving skills. Either way, my virus approved.
While my virus behaved and settled down to enjoy his quiet company, I wanted to drag him off and have my way with him to make sure no one had any doubts he was mine.
I needed to apologize to Sebastian sometime soon, as I expected I would spend at least a few months convincing myself his willingness to engage in any sort of relationship with me was real. I had a difficult enough time making friends.
The flinch ruined that for me, and no matter how hard I tried, I remembered, and few made any real effort to convince me they cared enough to keep from flinching down the road.
I made people as uncomfortable as they made me.
The fear Sebastian would change his mind would crawl beneath my skin for a long time. Making him roar from frustration had been a way of keeping him at arm’s length, although I should have known better. Could something as simple as being standoffish actually drive off a lion? Or any lycanthrope, really?
Lycanthropes lived and breathed being difficult and enjoyed challenges. If I judged all lycanthropes by my parents, the virus would take over the world in a single generation. My uncles had convinced me most lycanthropes took their time and had few children, as most of the women didn’t appreciate the mechanics involved with becoming pregnant.
Children only happened when the couple worked hard enough for one, the woman was in the right part of her cycle, and the soon-to-be father kept her in bed long enough. My parents had mastered procreation, and I harbored secret suspicions the pair wanted to dominate the record charts with how many times they reproduced.
I still wondered how they managed to keep us all straight. I couldn’t, and I’d been born into the insanity.
We reached the spa at a little after three, and I debated if I could make him roar for me if I startled him awake. As I’d learned Sebastian could be sneaky when he wanted to be, I asked, “Do lions roar when startled?”
“No,” the lion replied.
“Well, that’s a damned shame. If you hadn’t replied to me, I had been planning on finding out how badly I could startle you. I wanted to find out if I could earn a roar. I thought about other ways to wake you up, but I would never be able to look my daddy in the eyes again after engaging in such things in the cab of his truck. We have arrived.” The spa, located deep in the heart of the city, had a parking lot, and my daddy’s truck had barely fit into one of the spots. I’d needed to use the camera system to park, as the spots hadn’t been designed with big trucks in mind. I unbuckled my seatbelt, stretched, and reached for the back so I could grab my purse. More like a cobra than some self-respecting cat, Sebastian kissed my cheek. I froze and blinked. “What?”
“I would have kissed your lips, but I would have had to move you around, and I didn’t want to make a scene in the truck when we can make more than a scene in our room. You also stated you wouldn’t be able to look your father in the eyes if I did such things with you in here, so I’m being good and patient. Also, I am able and ready to pay whatever fees are required to enjoy a week with you.”
I touched my cheek, which was as scarred as ever. “I’m confused,” I admitted.
“By me having no problems with kissing your cheek, by the fact I wanted to kiss your cheek, or that I have plans for you once we’re checked in and in our room?” With a wicked chuckle, the lion got out of the truck, opened the cab’s back door, and went to work grabbing the bags of crocheting supplies and my personal belongings. “I’ll have to skip out somewhere for clothes, but there’s surely a mall around here somewhere. I’ll go during your first pampering sessions in the spa before looking into what we can do as a couple.”
“I should have taken you to your place, wherever that is, for some clothes. I’m sorry.”
It had been pure luck I’d had a shirt he could wear, as his shirt hadn’t survived our night together.
“I’m not. It would have added even more time to the trip, and I need some new casual clothes anyway. I tend to make my suits and buy my jeans, mainly because making jeans is a serious pain in the ass. However, I’m thinking I’m going to be making you several pairs of jeans. They will have pockets. Real pockets.”
I sucked in a breath. “Pockets?”
“Big enough pockets you will only have to carry a purse should you want to.”
“That’s some seriously dirty talk, Sebastian. If you’re trying to get me out of my clothes, it’s working. But we have to check in first. Though to be honest, you just have to breathe for me to want you out of your clothes. I should blame my virus on that one, but I’m an equal player in this. I accept responsibility for my share of lust. My virus was not the only picky one in this whole mess.”
I hoped he wanted to get me out of my clothes, and that once he did, he had a plan that didn’t involve at least six hours, as we didn’t have six hours before I was scheduled to be pampered. I hadn’t anticipated needing to choose between being pampered or romping around in the hotel room making full use of the expensive bed designed to withstand even the most amorous of lycanthropes.
I doubted the hotel was prepared to handle a lynx and a lion on a mission. I wasn’t even sure what our mission was while in the resort anymore, but I didn’t care. We were on a mission, and that was that.
The lion grinned. “I have no problem with being the subject of your lust. I’m even man enough to recognize that our viruses spiking and adapting to each other plays a large part in our mutual reactions right now, but I’m still going to enjoy and appreciate it. I’m also very grateful you took mercy on me, and not because I was the first half-decent man to cross your path. Anyway, I sometimes make jeans for my mother. She makes this complaint early and often, so every year, I make her at least two or three pairs of jeans for Christmas. As I fully plan on doing gentlemanly things to and for you, you will always get more pairs of jeans than my mother receives each year. To establish which woman in my life is of utmost importance. I’m a smart lion, Harri. I know what women want. Women want pockets.”