Our motel room became a cage of lion containment, and when I wasn’t trying to piece together information on my target, I admired him while he paced. His soft huffs and growly grunts amused me almost as much as his roars.
According to his scent, he was torn between anger and lust, a state I’d suffered through most of my adult life. “There is a solution to both of your problems, Mr. Mane.”
Sebastian halted. “What solution, and which problems are you talking about? I have more than two problems.”
“You want to fling me onto the bed, and you’re mad because I’m a competent woman you can’t contain in a velvet-lined box. You want to contain me in such a box, because you are a lion, and lions get protective around their mates. Only an idiot goes after a lioness if she has a lion around. I’m the safest lynx on this planet even when I’m hunting a serial killer. This guy requires his victims to be alive, Sebastian. Sure, he could do some pretty reprehensible things to me, but that’s something I could survive. That’s a risk I’m willing to take because there are probably two women who need us to save them. The timing is about right if the pattern continues.”
He stopped, inhaled, and released his breath. “Okay. You’re definitely right on the first part. My virus is spiking, which it has been all week. Yours, on the other hand, seems to be happy and not spiking.”
I considered my dual nature, the other part of me I never quite fully controlled. Ever since Sebastian had made it clear he wanted me, she’d been content, pleased with my personal drive to secure our hold on the lion. “We’re in general agreement with our situation, so she’s happy. She doesn’t feel a need for anything to change, so she’s pretty stable—more stable than usual. But you said she has to change my blood type, so she’s probably busy trying to figure out how to make your virus do what she wants. She’s bossy like that, and she likes how busy I keep you in bed. She doesn’t have to encourage me on that front. Your virus probably just wants to stage another takeover, and he, just like you, loves my purrs.”
“Yes, we do. My virus particularly enjoys discovering new ways to make you purr, the varying degrees in which we can make you purr, and how long I can extend a single purring session. Alas, instead of practicing my various purr-inducing techniques, we need to make a plan to deal with this serial killer. This severely annoys me. Tomorrow, I have to prance you out to your family and hope they’re satisfied, else I’ll be beaten, and if I’m beaten, there will be even more delays practicing my various purr-inducing techniques. The faster we bag this guy and get the appropriate proof, the faster I take you to your family after your scar removal.”
I translated this to mean that he was motivated to hunt the serial killer and would redefine what it meant to be ruthless and relentless. “Just tell them you’re taking me to a spa in Chicago because I had such a good time in Cincinnati, and since I had treated you, you’re now treating me. That should earn you some serious points with my family, especially if I were to start purring at the mention of going to another spa.”
“Which is the truth since I’ll be getting us reservations at a spa as soon as I can find one.” Sebastian considered his laptop. “What was your favorite activity at the last spa? It is difficult for me to judge, as you had this tendency to start purring within five minutes of all sessions starting.”
“They never flinched, and it was cozy, except for the facial. The facial actually hurt, so I whined. But they warned us it wasn’t comfortable until later stages. You got the short end of the stick on the facial. Apparently, scar tissue needs less maintenance than pristine, handsome flesh.”
“Honestly, I have a lot more respect for what women go through on their quest to be beautiful after our stay at the spa. For the record, the only time you should do any of that is when you want to. If you don’t like makeup, I’m going to rampage on any makeup and put on a very manly show for your enjoyment.”
“Kill my makeup, and you’re on the couch for at least a year,” I warned.
“I won’t kill any makeup until after your surgery, but you will not hide your face because you’re not used to it. I’ve been warned that this is a possibility, and I’ll confiscate your makeup if you try to hide your face. They gave me a list of makeup you can have post operation.”
“They gave you a list of makeup?”
“Eyeshadow, eyeliner, mascara, and lipstick. If, for some reason, you would like to wear blush, you may, but there will be no concealer or foundation being used. I will enjoy my duties making sure you understand I don’t care if you’re scarred or not. I will enjoy my duties possibly more than I should.”
“No one warned me lions are ridiculous and excessive. But, considering how long I’ve been working to get a face that doesn’t make kittens flinch, I’m willing to go along with your scheme. And if I have a fit, you’ll just have to sacrifice your body for my happiness.”
“I see you’re enjoying mated life,” he teased.
“It definitely beats being single, and I get to enjoy your roars at a far higher frequency. Mated life is good, but I feel a bit sorry for you, being a second-rate feline compared to me. Lynxes are truly the superior feline. Lions are decent, worthy enough for me, I suppose.”
He growled at me. “You’re playing with fire, Wells.”
“I’m just working on getting my roars, Sumners. The best roar is one won through testing your patience to the limits, and I’m onto you. The more I annoy you, the better it is for me. It must be so sad to be a second-rate feline.”
“I am the king of your jungle, which makes me the top feline. I’ve claimed you as mine, so as such, I win. Now, we need to get back to work. I want as much intel on this guy as possible before we step foot in Chicago.”
To make Sebastian happy, I worked. However, as part of my new mission to never go a night without the lion making me purr, I did the work in my best set of red lingerie.
He lasted an entire hour before a well-time stretched and the softest hint of a purr broke his resistance. As I’d been left off my leash, I made him earn our good time, and to my delight, I reduced him to an exhausted puddle of a man. I blamed his spiking virus, which likely wanted to secure an even stronger hold on me. My virus viewed him as successfully claimed, so I enjoyed his attention.
With him out for the count, I put serious work into making a plan to capture Stefan Loureni, which boiled down to dressing like a conservative secretary type, not wearing most of my makeup so he could spot me by my scars, and hanging out in the places he’d been known to meet the other victims.
Like many other killers, he liked hunting close to home and favored a coffee shop in the same building as his work. I questioned why so many assholes used coffee shops as their base of operations. Unlike my targets in Cincinnati, I expected it to take at least a few days to catch the bastard’s attention.
According to the FBI’s profiling, he took his time on his moves, although he was wise and smart enough to not dawdle too much.
I made sure I had the appropriate time off work, and I debated if I’d maintain the ruse. If I finished the job, I could find a day job I wanted to do, one that wouldn’t drive me insane. I could even enjoy a life of ease, working bounties as needed to earn my keep. I could make Sebastian give me interesting jobs, too, the kind where I investigated more than captured.