by C J Cade
But this time, he didn't smile back.
In fact, he looked ready to murder someone. He looked like a lethally beautiful Tyger in a tux.
Without a word, he moved gracefully to Roxie's side, and slid his arm around her bare shoulders, facing Mixi, and the older man who had moved to her side.
He leaned close to Roxie and brushed a kiss on her temple. "Tyger-lily," he said in his velvetiest voice. "You didn't show your cousin my gift to you? I thought I'd fucked all the shyness out of you by now."
Then, while Mixi gaped at them both, he gathered a handful of Roxie's long curls and drew them aside from her throat.
Enjoying herself more than she had since they got out of their hotel bed to dress for this event, Roxie lifted one hand to her throat, and traced the huge emerald hanging from her emerald and topaz betrothal collar.
It matched the ring he'd slipped on her finger as she dressed, and the bracelets.
"You're right," Roxie said, tipping her head back to smile up into his beautiful, beloved face. "After all, it isn't every day a girl can say she's been collared by Charlie Crawfur."
His eyes lit with humor at their private joke, even as he gave her a smoldering look and brushed his nose over hers, in haling her scent. "And it isn't every day a Tyger collars a wild female in red spider-lace."
She purred, and he gave her a wink before lifting his head to face her cousin, who still stood frozen like a glittery statue, locked in disbelief.
"Now, I believe you owe Roxie a long overdue apology," Chaz said.
"And you owe Chaz one too," Roxie said, glaring at Mixi. "Since many of his fans believed your lies."
Mixi sneered at them both. "I'm not the one who spread it all over the planet-wide holovids, now, am I?"
"I've already apologized to him for being such a gullible idiot," Roxie said. "But you acted out of sheer spite, because he rejected you."
"Too bad. I'm not sorry," Mixi drained her champagne glass. "And you can't make me say I am."
Roxie shook her head, disgusted but unsurprised by this lack of maturity from her cousin.
But the older man at Mixi's side moved, grasping the blonde's arm. "You will say it," he ordered. "And now."
Ah, this must be Mr. Mawrus.
Mixi flinched, then gave him a piteous look. "But Merwin, he--he behaved cruelly to me. I was devastated."
Her husband gave her a dry look, causing her to flush and drop her gaze. "And then you met me, and you got over it. Now give your apology and we'll go."
Mixi stamped her foot. "No, I won't. Why should I?"
"Because," her husband said through his teeth. "You've just admitted in front of witnesses that you lied to the galaxy. And because Mr. Crawfur has just purchased my company, which means that until I retire in a few months, I now work for him."
Mixi gasped, and her eyes darted to and fro.
Roxie watched cynically, knowing the manipulative bitch was trying to figure out the best way out of the quicksand she'd landed herself in.
Her cousin didn't disappoint. She gasped again, and burst into loud sobs, melting against her husband's tuxedoed chest. "Oh, Merwin, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cause trouble for you, my darling. I'm so sorry."
"And with that, we're good to go," Roxie said, elbowing Chaz in the ribs. "So nice to meet you, er, Merwin."
Chaz obligingly moved to the side, bidding a quiet goodbye to the other man before strolling through the crowd with Roxie tucked at his side.
As they walked, the other party-goers pretended not to have been eaves-dropping.
"That was good enough for you?" Chaz asked. "I thought you'd want her to grovel some more. She ruined your career, not mine."
She shook her head, her own face flushed. "Judging by the way everyone was staring at all of us, I think your point was made. And I did swallow her story without fact-checking, which even cub journalists know is crucial."
"All right," he said. Then he snickered.
"What's funny?"
He winced, still snickering. "Poor Merwin. He has to go home with that bitch."
"Oh, so true. Poor guy indeed."
Her fiancé gave her a look that made her forget the other couple entirely. "Whereas I get to take you home, and work on my project."
"What project is that?"
He gave her the evil smile of a Tyger admiring his prey. "The one where I fuck you so hard, in so many ways that you forget to be shy."
Roxie gave a quiet mewl of excitement. "Oh, that project. My favorite."
He patted her bottom as they exited the ballroom. "I know."
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Chaz Jaguari married his Tygress the following month in a festive and glittering ceremony that delighted the females of his family, and his adoring public.
Roxie had to admit, it was a lot of fun to be the bridal star of such a glittering production. Her cousin Mixie was neither invited nor missed. No one noticed her absence. They were all too busy trying to curry favor with the new Mrs Jaguari.
In attendance were some of the planet’s celebrities, including Lorena McKitt, and Commander and Mrs Tryon Jag. Calla Jag looking radiantly happy beside her tall, handsome husband, hurried to hug Roxie.
“Hello, cousin,” Calla said, her eyes wide with excitement. “It’s been forever since we were at school together. And now you’re married to Chaz. The four of us must get together.”
“Soon,” Roxie agreed, delighted to see her childhood friend and second cousin. “When we get back—Chaz is taking me on a long honeymoon.”
Calla dimpled. “We all know what that means! Have fun.”
Roxie was quite certain she would.
After the ceremony, the couple set out on a month-long honeymoon so Charlie could show his Rouge all of her new homes, and some of his favorite exclusive resorts.
Upon their return to Rawr City, he quietly set about changing his life.
He fired his agent, refused any more appearances—unless something came up that particularly interested him—and got to work on his new pet project, impregnating his Tygress.
EPILOGUE:
Four years later
“I’m home,” Roxie called as the big front door shut quietly behind her. She beckoned to the hoverbot that had followed her down from the rooftop landing pad. “Take the packages upstairs to our room.”
“Certainly, Roxie,” the bot said in a sexy drawl. “Why don’t you go find your Tyger. He’s waiting for you.”
Roxie shook her head and grinned. Her husband liked to play with the controls on her bot.
“In here, darling,” Chaz himself called.
Roxie walked through the formal sitting room to the huge family room across the back of the first floor of their mountaintop home.
Chaz sat on the floor, pushing a glowing red airball to a little boy with his mother’s eyes and his father’s ebony hair.
Their son squealed when he saw Roxie, and beamed at her, showing his sharp, pearly white baby teeth popping through his lower gums.
“Bb-bbbgh!” he called, waving his chubby arms. “Bbghtt!”
Roxie tossed her costly cata-cash wrap on the nearest divan, and dropped to her knees between her two males. “Is that right?” she asked baby Ruston, fondly called Rush by his doting parents. “Ball. You play ball with Papa?”
“Gah! Bbthth!” he agreed and received a kiss for his incredibly advanced way with words.
“Papa wants a kiss,” Chaz said in a seductive voice.
Roxie smiled at him and leaned sideways into his embrace. “Papa can have all the kisses he wants.”
“Just one for now,” he said. “So let’s make it a good one.”
They did, until Rush crawled between them and smacked his father on his flat belly, demanding his share of attention.
Chaz picked him up and dangled him overhead, making the baby laugh.
“So what have you two been doing this afternoon?” Roxie asked, smiling at them.
“Oh, chatted with Lorena. Her pro
duction company offered me basically the deal of the millennium to go on tour with her one last time.”
Roxie watched him closely, holding her breath. “What did you tell them?”
He smiled at her. “I told them to forget it, I have a great life and I've had all the great tours I wanted.
Her shoulders dropped with relief. “Good,” she said, smiling back at him. “Because we're going to have another Tyger cub.”
His eyes lit up with a topaz fire unequaled by any gem she’d ever seen. “That is wonderful news. The best thing I ever did was catch you in my mating lair, my Rouge.”
He leaned over to kiss her again over their son’s silky head.
“Hmm,” she said, smiling against his mouth. “I thought I caught you, Charlie.”
“Pbbththght!” said their son, and he got the final word, because his parents were too busy kissing to argue.
The End
SCI FI ROMANCE BY CJ CADE
The LodeStar Series
Guarding Grayson – FREE to Newsletter Subscribers
Stark Pleasure: the Space Magnate's Mistress
Creed of Pleasure: the Space Miner's Concubine
Captive of Pleasure: the Space Pirate's Woman
Dark Runner
Stark Surrender: the Space Magnate's Bride
Cyborg Pleasure: the Space Madame's Warrior
The Orion Series
Tyger, Tyger, Burning Bryght #7 Amazon best-seller
Her Commander
Prince of Dragons
Deep Indigo
The Frontiera Series
Heart of Stone
Heart of Steel
The Great Space Race Series
a Multi-Author series
Reaching Reva – FREE to Newsletter Subscribers
StarShadow
Catch a Falling Tyger
The Obsidian Rim Series
a Multi-Author series
Hunter Green
Deja Blue - coming soon
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Romantic Times Magazine called Cathryn Cade ‘one of the digital authors who made the genre of sci fi romance thrive’. Her work has been described by bloggers as a compelling mix of the best of sci fi and sexy romance. Her first sci fi romance, Tyger, hit #7 on Amazon overall sales charts.
Writing as CJ CADE, she’s back to conquer new galaxies with sexy space opera full of adventure, true love and a twist of space kink.
CJ writes in the beautiful lake country of North Idaho. When she's not tossing alpha males & feisty heroines into big trouble, she loves to quilt with fabrics as wild as her characters, bicycle, boat, gallery hop and walk with her handsome husband and their golden retriever, Copper.
She grew up in the cowboy culture in Montana, so her heroes are all cowboys at heart! Her alpha heroes & feisty heroines may pilot spaceships instead of horses, but they find plenty of wild adventure & sexy romance, so deep space never stays cold for long.
CJ CADE—where space opera adventure meets sexy romance.
