Sebastian set his phone on the counter, took out his wallet, and handed over a card to the woman while he checked out my schedule, picked up the pen, and circled everything except the sessions scheduled to begin in a few hours. “Thank you very much, ma’am.”
“Of course, sir.”
Within five minutes, she checked us in, gave me a pair of key cards, and gave me directions to our room, which was located on the top floor of the resort. When I’d booked, I’d gotten every bell and whistle I could, taking advantage of a sale and rewarding myself for a rare change. If anyone looked into my affairs, nobody would suspect I’d be hunting bounties in the evenings and early mornings.
Sebastian’s presence changed my plans, but with him working with me, we could probably bag several of the bounties in a few hours each. I wouldn’t ruin everything by booking in even more work.
With the big bounty, I would have enough to begin living a normal life.
On our way to the elevator, the lion chuckled. “I had intended on upgrading you as much as I could, but it looks like you’d upgraded yourself. I may have checked the spa’s offered packages on my phone, and I compared it to her printout. I had been prepared to spoil you, but I’m pleased you did a good job spoiling yourself.”
“I haven’t taken an actual vacation since I became an adult, so I figured I’d mix work and play. But with you helping, the work won’t take long, not until it’s time to deal with the main problem. But I need this spa trip, Sebastian. I need it. And I need the money from those jobs.”
“What are you planning on doing with the money you’ve earned? With your track record and my help, I am confident we’re going to catch the main bastard and get rid of him.”
“A house. I will get a house. I’ll even allow you to live in my house. You can be my most prized servant. You’ll even be paid, although to acquire your payment, you’re going to have to work for it.” To make it clear I meant to lure him to bed and cruelly use him to make my virus happy, I leered at him.
Leering while scarred horrified most, but Sebastian chuckled and rolled his eyes. “You are such a cat.”
“I am. I’m a lynx. I’m a most proud and fluffy predator. Lion manes are really fluffy, too, so I’m looking forward to you shifting for me so I can play with your mane. That was my plan all along, to get my hands on you and your mane, Mr. Mane.”
“Sure it was. You might be an excellent cat, but you’re a terrible liar. Your expression when you realized I actually wanted you is now one of my most priceless treasures. You couldn’t even begin to believe or imagine that I might actually want to tie you to my bed and do wonderful things to you.”
“I probably looked like I’d been slapped across the face a few times. I’m still waiting for someone to pinch me and wake me up, but I’ve pinched myself a few times and haven’t woken up. I even took a nap in my new dream-like reality, and when I woke up, a lion was driving my daddy’s truck, and this was a pretty damned good reason to purr. Or so I think.”
The decor in the resort reminded me how simple and modest of a life I—and my family—lived. If I hadn’t known it was a lycanthrope friendly establishment, I would’ve worried about leaving dirt on the polished marble floors, or on the end tables decorated in a bewildering and eclectic collection of statuettes, flower vases with real and fake bouquets, and random bowls filled with stuff.
I peered into one such bowl, wondering what the point was of putting dyed glass balls into sand. I pointed at it. “What is this, Sebastian? I don’t understand the point.”
“It’s art. Things like that make some people happy. The spheres are probably from a high-end glass artisan, and the sand is probably from somewhere exotic. I feel I should warn you now that one of my new missions in life is to make you purr, and having me around is a pretty damned good reason to purr. I am a lion. I am the best of lions, and I don’t think you should purr for other lions. I’m the jealous kind.”
I refrained from reminding him I rarely purred for anyone. Did I even know a second lion? No matter. I had the important lion in my clutches, and I would train myself into believing I deserved a lion all to myself if necessary. “We’re lycanthropes, Mr. Mane. We operate on jealousy with a splash of spite. I hope lionesses don’t think lions are to be shared like mundane prides. I am not good at sharing. And anyone who tries to share my lion is getting a beatdown.”
Still chuckling, Sebastian wrapped his arm around me and marched me to the elevator. “You have nothing to worry about. On to more important things. I am very pleased with the amount of pampering you signed yourself up for this week. I’ll make sure I’m appropriately dressed and otherwise prepared to join you. I take it you were planning your hunts for the morning?”
When I took the time to think about it, I realized I’d set up a hell schedule for myself, and I’d planned it without anyone around to help me. With the help, it counted as insane but possible. Without help? It went beyond merely insane. “After dinner and in the morning. I don’t sleep as much or as well as I should, and I’ve been working evenings lately. I figured I could nap during some of the treatments. Like the one where I’m supposed to put cucumbers over my eyes for some reason and just chill out. For an hour. While listening to some nice music. Someone is going to paint my nails and toes while I relax. That’s tonight, and you’re going to have to tell the spa people how to get a hold of you, because after that, I’m going to be asleep. And I will not want to wake up. Who would? Not only will I be pampered, I will be pampered in such a way where my nails will be beautiful when they’re done.”
I would pick a bright and daring red.
“I’m sure they’ll wake you up, but if you’d like me to be around after you have been relaxed into a stupor, I’m sure I can amuse myself in the waiting area of the spa until you’re freed from their clutches. And if you’re that tired, I’ll enjoy tucking you into bed.” The elevator door chimed and opened, and Sebastian waited until I went inside before following, tapping the button for the top floor. “Lions are masters at pampering. We are obviously kings and queens over all other living things, and royalty are pampered. But as we’re more solitary than our mundane counterparts, we’re usually required to pamper ourselves. The chosen beloved of royalty are also pampered. That’s you, in case you might attempt to deny how you should be treated like the queen you are.”
“Goodness, Sebastian. Your ego has noticeably inflated. Do you know what happens when your ego gets too inflated?”
If his grin broadened any more, his face might crack in half. “You will do your best to pop my overinflated ego, aiming for making me roar as many times as possible within a ten minute period. I win, because when I roar, you purr, and controlling your happiness pleases me greatly. And when you’re unhappy, I’m unhappy, and nobody wants an unhappy lion, Wells.”
“Do lions get married?” It could go either way with feline lycanthropes. My parents had married, but they’d married because when popping out litters every few years, being married helped with the taxes and simplified matters for them. None of my mated uncles had married, as they hadn’t seen any point in doing so.