Beauty Dates the Beast(8)

“You call the agency and demand a date—any date. And when you decide you don’t want to date a harpy, a vampire, a doppelganger, or anything else I can pull up on file, you ask for a stand-in. Me.” I threw my hands up in the air. “And now you’re saying it’s okay, because we have time until Saturday. What does Saturday have to do with anything?”

He stared at me, and then he laughed.

I crossed my arms over my chest, feeling wounded and embarrassed. “What’s so darn funny?”

“I thought you knew. I figured someone in your line of work would guess …” He smiled. “I have to say that this puts a new spin on things.”

“What are you talking about?”

He leaned in close, setting my pulse to thrumming hard, and I instinctively leaned back.

“I’m going into heat,” he said.





Chapter Three





I shied back at his declaration. “You’re what?”



He reached for the lock of hair again, playing with it. “In heat. So to speak.”

“I … I …” I blinked, trying to gather my thoughts. “I thought only females went into heat.” Didn’t men have the wrong equipment for that? Trying to be nonchalant, I flicked a glance at his package. Well, now. Either he truly was in heat, or he was as well built as he claimed.

“We all use the term, and you’re right, only females go into heat.” His mouth twisted. “One of the female cougars in my clan is about to go into heat in a few days. Her need affects all the males, so there’s fighting among the unmated guys to claim her, and clan politics get really messy right about now. Normally she would just leave town if she didn’t have a mate, but … she can’t this time.” His face grew tight.

“Oh,” I breathed, thinking hard. My gaze darted rapidly to the sensual curve of his mouth, the hint of tongue that touched his lips. Oh, my. “So why don’t you and the female hook up?”

“It’s complicated,” he said, and slid a little closer to me. “And I want you.”

“Oh,” I repeated, retreating. The back of my head smacked against the fogging window of the Viper. Maybe it was taboo for him to date her? I didn’t know much about Alliance politics—or cougars in general—but they had their own special hierarchy. “Is that why … Rosie … ?”

He nodded and whisked his hand to my hair, pulling out the clip that kept my tight bun in place and releasing the blond strands to spill over my shoulders. “I’ve been wanting to do that all night,” he said, running his fingers through it and then kneading them against my neck, like a cat kneading its paws. His voice was a low growl. “Your hair is sexy as hell. How long is it?”

“To my waist,” I breathed, my breath quickening to match his, my eyes locked on his face. “So you were using the dating service to find someone because you were in heat?”

He lifted a handful of my hair and let it slide between his fingers like silk. Definitely a hint of purring in the back of his throat. “I don’t give a shit about Rosie. Your dating service was the only option available for a last-minute date that wouldn’t mind what I am, so I paid the ridiculous fee and set up a profile in the same hopes.”

I jerked my hair back out of his hand. “Our business is not ridiculous. We cater to a very specific need.”

“It’s a dangerous business, and Giselle knows it. What’s worse is that she doesn’t care.” His gray eyes searched mine. “She’s a fool for hiring humans to do a delicate job. You’re going to cross some line you won’t even know about, and then you’ll all end up in trouble.”

“Oh?” I shoved my hair back over my shoulders. His eyes followed the move, and my body tingled with awareness. “Like the way you crossed a line by dating a human?”

“Something like that,” he growled, leaning in.

I planted my hand on his face and shoved. “You picked the wrong girl for your heat.”

His smile curved against my fingers. “What makes you say that?”

“I’m a virgin.” No one had gotten into my panties for twenty-five years, and this cocky guy wasn’t going to be the first.

“I suspected as much,” he said.

I opened my mouth to ask why when something caught the corner of my eye. A shadow passed behind the upstairs window, blocking out the light. “Someone’s in my bedroom.” I leaned forward, staring out over the dashboard.

Sara never went into my room. She was too afraid of her scent contaminating my clothing.

His eyes were intense on me. “Are you trying to distract me?”

But then Sara peeked out of the downstairs window—in the living room—and the shadow passed behind my bedroom window again. My heart pounded, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Beau tense.

“Hold this,” Beau said, handing me his keys and his cell phone and leaping out of the car.

“Wait,” I called after him, throwing my door open. “Where are you going?”

“I’ll get her out of there,” he said. “Stay in the car.” He disappeared to the far side of the car and out of my sight.

I stared at my bedroom window, wanting the shape to reappear so I would know I wasn’t mad, and dreading it at the same time. Sitting in the car was pointless. I jumped out of the Viper and dialed the home phone, my hands shaking so hard it was difficult to dial. I had to try twice before the call went through.

“Hello,” Sara said, confused.

“Sara, are you there with Beau? Is he in there with you?” I was babbling so fast that I sounded incoherent.

“Beau? I thought he was with you. Why are you calling from the driveway?”

“Never mind. Just get out of the house, right now. Come meet me on the front lawn.”

“I’m not dressed—”

“Just do it, Sara!” I ended the call and scrutinized every window. Where was the intruder? Where was Beau? He was nowhere to be seen.

And neither was my sister. Damn. If she wasn’t coming out, I was going in after her.

I tossed Beau’s keys on the hood as I ran forward … and stumbled over a man’s shoe. Confused, I looked down. There was the match to it, along with a pair of slacks and an expensive shirt matching the one Beau had worn to our date.

It didn’t register in my mind at first.

The sound of breaking glass made me look up, and I saw an enormous tawny shadow disappear through the downstairs window.

Had … had Beau shifted to go after Sara? I heard the roar of the cat inside—and Sara’s scream.

Shit.

I ran forward, the urge to protect Sara overwhelming, nearly blinding me with fear. My sister needed me—

As my hand touched the doorknob, the bushes on the side of the house rustled. I turned, drawn in that direction despite myself. My purse wasn’t heavy, but I’d use it as a weapon anyhow if I needed to. I took a few steps toward the bushes. “Beau? Is that you?”

A low, unearthly growl met my ears.

Was it Beau … in his cat form? I took another step toward the bushes, then stopped. Would he recognize me if he was in his cat form? Was this quite possibly the dumbest move ever?

I took a step backward and decided to try another tactic. “Sara,” I yelled at the top of my lungs. “Beau!”

“Over here,” Sara said, her voice distant and odd.

I turned and saw the most beautiful sight in the world—Sara’s tiny frame was cradled in Beau’s arms. They stood on the far side of the Viper, having emerged from our small backyard on the far side of the house. I bolted toward them. “Sara! Thank God!”

My sister was in a pair of pajamas, her body stiff with fear, shoulders hunched in a way that I recognized—trying to make her body smaller in the hopes that she might curl it tight enough to mask her scent. As I ran toward them, I realized Beau was buck naked. With the massive breadth to his shoulders and the light sprinkling of hair on his chest—much lighter than I’d imagined for a were-cougar—and the narrow hips and …

Oh, boy.

“Hi,” I blurted, my voice cracking, but fear for Sara quickly overrode my awkwardness at Beau’s nudity. “What happened? Is she okay?”

“She’s fine,” Beau said, still holding her against him. “When I came in through the back of the house in cougar form, I scared her and she fainted.”

Of course she had. She had probably thought he’d been coming for her, or she’d been on the verge of doing another shift. Sara gave me a tiny smile of embarrassment and rubbed her arms, as if warding off another involuntary shift.

I could understand that. I felt a little faint myself. “Who was in our house?”

His gaze darkened. “No one that I could find. When I went upstairs to check, the place was empty. It was like no one had been there, except there was a smell …” He frowned to himself.