by C J Cade
He winced at the bruises on her near hip. Not that she'd minded his claws or his teeth. She was a true Tygress, all right.
A quick shower-dry and shave, a splash of his favorite cologne, and he come back and wake her in style. Then he'd talk her into... more. He just wasn't sure what that more would look like.
But as Chaz stood before the holo-mirrors in the luxe lav, small shaving bots buzzing swiftly over his face, a chime sounded. His agent's tone. When he ignored it, the man's face appeared before him. The other Tyger, an older male with silver hair, in a striped sport-shirt that said he was out of the office, raised his brows and waited. "Chaz, I know you're there. Link me."
With a sigh, Chaz opened the link, allowing his agent to see him as well. "Gray. What is it?"
The other Tyger looked him over, and then relaxed visibly. He shook his head. "What d'you mean, what is it? You've been in shift, stuck out there in deep space without your staff or security around you. I've been worried."
The shaving bots finished and zipped back to their docking stand on the lav counter. Chaz bent to rinse his face and then towel dry. "As you see, I'm fine. But I do have a lady to get back to, so you'll excuse me, I'm sure."
"Not so fast," Gray Tabbar held up a hand. "First I need to know when to send the cruiser for you. Today, tomorrow? You have the concert in Rawr City, then the appearance on the Kit Kruse show, then—"
Chaz was already shaking his head. "Gray. Stop—I'm going to have to miss the concert. As for the talk show—I've been on that twice in the last year. They can do without me for once."
His agent's eyes narrowed, and then the other man let out a sigh of disgust. "You want to stay laired up with this female, right?
"Right," Chaz said. "Gray, I think I've finally found a female worth blowing off a few concerts for."
"And who in the hells is this temptress?" Gray asked sarcastically.
"Oh, no one you've ever heard of. Her name is... Rouge."
Ha. Let Gray search through the databanks on his holo-computer for that name, he wouldn't find her.
And therefore, he wouldn't be able to tell Chaz why she wasn't worthy of his extended liaison.
This one wasn't married, or a socialite who'd go from his bed to the nearest gossip show, or an aspiring singer, or any of the other objections Gray always managed to dredge up, why Chaz should break off a liaison and get back to work.
He waited, smugly, for Gray to search his handheld device and find nothing.
But when his agent looked up at him, Chaz' smile slipped, and his gut tightened. "What?" he asked.
"Is she a Fellura?"
"Yeah, she's Mowra's grandaughter, why?'
"Does the name Roxie Fellura ring any chimes for you, Chaz?" Gray asked with icy sarcasm.
Chaz froze, dropping his towel. "Roxie Fellura?"
The rapacious paparazzi journalist who had written an 'expose' of his terrible treatment of an ex-girlfriend ... only it was all lies, fed to her by the ex, who was furious at Chaz for breaking up with her.
The girlfriend's cousin, Roxie had been, a plump, self-righteous crusader for feminine Tyger rights.
"No, this is ... her name is Rouge."
Great God beyond, he didn't even believe his own words. He knew it was a pet name used by her family. Clearly, Grey didn't believe his protest either. He waited in silence.
"Fuck me," Chaz muttered. "Fellura. Well, even if she had told me her last name, Fellura is such a common name here ... I never put two and two together."
And why would he? Why in the galaxy would he ever expect a female who'd hated him without even knowing him, to agree to shift mate with him.
Unless... she had an ulterior motive for being here.
"One wonders how she ended up in your mating lair," Grey asked.
"What? Oh, Burl and Ives found her for me," Chaz muttered, staring at nothing. Tygress, what if Roxie was really here to do an expose, a tell all kind of thing? Sell her story to the tabloids— 'I was Chaz Jaguari's shift mate. Exclusive spy-cam holovid included.' The story would be all over the galaxy in less than a day. And the paparazzi would be after him like starving catamounts.
Gray snorted. "Burl and Ives? I wouldn't trust those two crazy cats to find a pair of socks for me, much less a mating partner."
"They're my cousins," Chaz said, heat rising up his throat. He knew the two were a bit rough around the edges, but he liked to help his family where he could, and Tygress knew, keeping the two busy meant keeping them—more or less—out of mischief, which his family appreciated.
"You'd do better to keep them on planet, preferably somewhere the media can't find them."
"Seriously? Is there any such place?" Chaz thought he'd found it here, in this suite. Turned out he was more wrong than he could believe. And the more he thought about, the angrier he became.
"Probably not," Gray sighed. "But at least don't let them put you in situations like this. And now we've got to figure out how to get you out of this without damage."
Chaz straightened, his jaw set, and a dangerous light in his eyes to match the fire in his chest.
"Don't worry about it. I'll get rid of her." Toss some credit her way, the way he had so many other females since he became a star.
But first, he was going to have his revenge.
To think he'd actually wanted to continue with her. Tygress, how many times did he have to be taken in by the females in her family before he learned his lesson?
CHAPTER SEVEN
Roxie woke up with a start when a length of lii silk whispered over her head, and down over her eyes.
"What?" she mumbled, lifting up onto her elbows in the bed. "Chaz?"
She winced as her head bumped into something—Chaz's knuckles. "Wait, what are you doing? I can't see. You put a blindfold on me?"
She felt his warmth at her back, his hand in her hair. "Mm-hmm," he murmured, stroking his hand down over her bare back, and her ass. His hands were warm and strong, but they felt...different, smoother.
She opened her mouth to ask him why. Instead, she yelped as a smack landed on her bare ass, a sharp little sting. He smacked her again, and she rolled away from him, lifting her hands to take away the blindfold.
"Hey! What game are we playing here, tyger?"
"Don't take the blindfold off," he coaxed, his voice like velvet in her ear. "You look so...vulnerable. So beautiful."
Roxie smiled hesitantly, reaching out for him. But he'd moved away. The bed moved as he sank onto the foot. The distance between them stretched into an expanse somehow chilly, despite the humid warmth of the suite.
"Wha—what do you want me to do?" she asked, pulling surreptitiously at the bed-covers. They didn't move, trapped under Chaz' weight. Instead, she crossed her arms in her lap, drawing her hair forward over her breasts.
"Don't hide from me," he said, his voice winding around her like a velvet rope. "After all we've been through together, you trust me, don't you, my Rouge?"
She felt her skin begin to heat, and she bit her lower lip. "I... yes. Yes, I trust you, Charlie." And it was true. She did. They'd entered this room as strangers only a couple of days ago, but now...everything had changed. He'd shown her how to revel in her body, her sexuality. How to truly take what she wanted.
She smiled at him, wide and glowing.
He was silent for a moment, and she cocked her head. "So...?" she murmured. "Tell me about your new game."
Chaz gazed at her, at his current shift mate, sitting relaxed and trusting in the huge bed.
A golden-skinned, brunette-maned tygress who had blossomed in his arms, helping him through the madness of mating shift with her soft embrace and peppery words.
Could she really be faking her emotions, her attraction to him? Surely everything that had happened between them was more than a chance to get close to him, then use him.
Then he remembered his agent and friend's certainty, and he remembered all the other women before her, who had been intent on using him.
And the other tygress he'd thought was young and innocent...but who turned out to be a hellcat in disguise
He narrowed his eyes, swallowing the hiss that swelled in his throat. No, he'd chosen a path, now he'd stay the course.
"You're so lovely," he told her, infusing his voice with the beguiling note that drew his fans like tygers to nip in full bloom. "You know what I want? I want to watch you touch yourself. I want to see your pleasure, my beautiful Rouge. Touch yourself the way you do when no one is watching...when you're alone in the night, no male in sight."
She blushed even more rosily, a tide that fell over her face, throat and the tops of her breasts.
But then she tossed her head, her hair falling over her shoulders, and leaned back in the pillows.
One arm behind her head, she stroked the other hand down over her breasts. She paused to play her nipples, stroking them in turn then pinching and rolling them between her fingers.
Chaz' mouth went dry, and his cock stiffened in his knit lounge pants. Then he remembered his holo-com, and brushed the control.
"So hot," he told her. "I'm wishing those were my hands, my mouth on those pretty nips right now, tyger pussy."
She writhed a little, her breath coming faster through parted lips. "So do I, Charlie. Sure you won't change your mind?"
He clenched his fist on his thigh. "Later, puss. Now touch yourself where you really want to."
"For you," she breathed, and stroked her hand between her thighs, covering the tiny triangle of dark curls. Her fingers slid through the damp, peach flesh between her thighs, and found her clit. "For you," she mewled, and her body arched, quivering under her own touch.
"So swiftly," he breathed, to himself. His cock was hard as cerametal, his balls drawn up tight in lust, and his mouth watered to taste her one more time, there where she was sweet and musky.
He closed his eyes, taking a hard breath, and remembered what she'd done, what she'd no doubt planned to do. Gray had fabulous instincts, and was rarely wrong about people. If he said she was out for blood or money, he was no doubt right.
He opened his eyes, and gazed coldly at her. "You can take the blindfold off now."
She fumbled with the silk, pushed it up and then brushed back her tangle of curls. She smiled again, shyly, and her mouth opened to say something. Then she saw him, and froze.
As he watched, her eyes grew huge, and her face paled, until she was chalk-white under her natural tan. She whispered something, a single word.
He couldn't hear it through the snarling in his head. He didn't wait, couldn't wait for her to speak again.
"Thanks, Roxie," he drawled. "That should play well on YouVid."
She gasped, and then shrank into herself, hiding behind the inadequate barrier of her slender arms and hands. Watching him as if he had morphed into a monster, ready to leap at her throat.
Which part of him was, although he didn't want to rip out her throat, he wanted to hold her and plunder her mouth and pussy, punish her with his lust, his fury.
But since he was once again the civilized being, instead a lust-driven beast, he used his voice instead.
"We're through here. You wanted nothing from me, isn't that what you said? Except a new uniform—consider that paid for in full. Small recompense for all the times you let me fuck you."
She shook her head, and finally spoke. "No. Why—why are you doing this?"
He snorted. "As if you didn't know. Just thought you'd like to know what it feels like to be the object of scorn on your home planet. The video ought to do it, don't you think?"
He wouldn't do it, he'd never do something like that to a female, but she didn't need to know that quite yet.
Because as long as he lived, he'd never forget being blasted by every moralist and scandal vid-channel for what he'd supposedly done.
And she'd been the reporter to write the lies, and see that they were published.
She made a small, choked sound, and he shot to his feet, the slimy weight of something he chose not to acknowledge riding his chest.
"Gotta tell you, Roxie," he told her, giving her a wink. "I remembered you as a plump kitty, but you've blossomed. No wonder I didn't recognize you. Still lying for a living, though, right? Not much of a stretch from gossip vids to PR."
Without another word, he sauntered to the nearest door. Where it led, he didn't care, as long as it was away—away from her and away from what he'd just done.
It was supposed to feel right, like justified vengeance. Instead, he felt as if he'd just wounded a kitten.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Roxie faced the holovid cam.
She took a deep breath, and turned it on.
She knew she looked awful, with her eyes swollen from crying, and a red nose, no cosmetics. But who cared? It wasn't like he would ever find her attractive again, anyway.
But he'd had his turn, and now it was her turn to speak. Even if he refused to watch and listen, she'd have her say.
"Charlie—Chaz," she said, her voice quiet and hoarse. "I don't know if you'll ever watch this. That's your choice, I guess. But I just wanted you to know that...the things I said in that holovid story—about the way you treated Mixi? I believed them all, Charlie—I mean, Chaz. I did not just make them up to try and make a name for myself, the way your lawyers said.'
She cleared her throat. 'You probably don't know that Mixi is my cousin. We played together, went to school together since we were little. And even though she was never very nice—ack, never mind, you don't care about that. Anyway, she could be very convincing.'
'She was hysterical when she came to my apartment. When she finally calmed down, she told me that she'd had to break up with you, because you'd—well, I won't go into the details again—that you'd been abusive... and cruel. She was—she made it sound so real. She gave me details that were very realistic.'
She looked down. "Although, I take full responsibility. I... I should have done some checking, talked to some of your other, uh, ex-girlfriends. Tygress knows there were plenty of those. Anyway, I found out the truth when everyone else did—when Mixi ran off with that guy in your entourage until the gossip died down. Not that anyone believed me then—especially your lawyers.'
'So anyway,' she said, looking resolutely at the camera. "I just...I just wanted you to know that. And...and that I didn't know who you were when I agreed to be your, um, shift mate. Because I told the truth about that, too. I didn't want anything from you except what we had. So..." She shrugged. "Good-bye, Charlie."
She broke the link quickly, hoping he wouldn't see her eyes flood with tears all over again.
CHAPTER NINE
Chaz was packing to leave—or he was watching his robo-concierge pack his things—ready to leave the Quantum. He'd shower-dried and dressed, in one of his favorite lii silk knit loungewear, along with a skrog-wool vest, because he felt chilled, as if he was coming down with something. Something that made his chest ache. He rubbed his hand absently over his chest, feeling the whisper-softness of his vest.
Then he leaned back in the divan with a sigh. Face it, his illness wasn't a virus, it was caused by his emotions. He was heartsick, and angry and yet ... he wasn't ready to fly away in his private cruiser. He wasn't ready to leave this ship. He wanted...resolution. He wanted Roxie 'Rouge' Fellura here in his suite so he could glower at her, and snarl and growl and carry on. And then fuck her into oblivion. Fuck her right out of his head, and his heart.
When his comlink chimed, he nearly didn't answer it. Ives was supposed to monitor all incoming links, and after the debacle of letting in Chaz' old nemesis as a shift mate, both tygers knew they were on borrowed time as part of Chaz entourage. They were thus minding their tasks as personal assistants very carefully.
When the link chimed again, Chaz snapped, "Ives. I don't want to be bothered. What part of that is so difficult to understand?"
"Uh, Chaz," Ives said, sounding unusually subdued. "I think...you wanna take this one."
"What, is it
from my folks?"
"No, but... just watch. And listen."
With a put-upon sigh, Chaz ended their link and opened the other. He froze when he saw Rouge—Roxie facing the camera in what was obviously a vid-message. Looking pale and tear-stained and good enough to lick all at the same time.
He sneered, ready to break the link, then sighed again, and sat back. "All right, have your say," he muttered, even though she couldn't hear him.
Then he watched, and listened. And watched it again.
Then he watched the holovid he'd taken of her pleasuring herself, because he'd asked her to. He saw again that bright, trusting smile, and then the way she arched when she came, and then heard her sweet giggle, giddy with pleasure and with the naughtiness of what she'd thought was a game.
And then he watched her face pale with horror at the sight of him in his normal state. And he turned up the volume and heard her whisper, "You! No...no!"
He stopped the vid before he had to listen to himself snarling all the icy crap he'd said.
One thought filled his mind.
She hadn't known who he was? She hadn't known Charlie Crawfur was Chaz Jaguari.
His family name truly was Crawfur. He'd been named Charlie after his great-grandfather, and because his mother thought first-century names were starry.
He'd taken the stage name of Chaz Jaguari because his first agent had assured him it was sexy, and he'd kept it because it was a layer of anonymity once he became a star.
But in his shift, he'd been unrecognizable as himself, except to a woman who knew him well. And Roxie didn't know him well, except whatever she'd seen of him on the holo-vids.
What kind of cosmic coincidence would that have to be for the two of them to be thrown together again, like this?
Well, not that big, they were both Tygers, the Quantum was in the Cattarus system for the summer, so it had been a fast escape for him.
And a natural choice for her to find a job after she'd lost any chance at employment in Bryght journalism. And his lawyers had made sure of that, because he'd told them to.
