by Unknown
“What do you do for a living?” Josephine asked.
His smile widened. “I’m a fireman.”
He was a hero? It was not what she had expected. Slacker would have fit better with her image of him. “Are you the type of fireman who runs into burning buildings or a paramedic?”
“Burning buildings, but I also perform building inspections, search and rescue, and respond to medical calls.” His stare grew pointed. “Sometimes I even rescue little cats.”
Josephine blushed and bristled. “No one asked you to rescue me.”
Jared snorted. “I wouldn’t be in this mess if it weren’t for you, so I’d have to disagree. Although, my life would be so much simpler if you were stuck up a tree.”
She turned her nose up. “Humph.”
“My turn,” Jared said, licking his lips in an alarming way. His regard had become a little too hungry for her taste.
“Your turn?”
“You’re the one angling to get on my good side,” Jared reminded her with a smile that made it clear he harbored no illusions regarding her motives. “I answered your questions; turnabout’s fair play.”
“Okay,” she agreed with reluctance. “What do you want to know?”
“Why does the vampire use a gold collar instead of silver to control you?” Jared asked.
The question surprised her. Josephine had expected something more…personal. “Evangeline had the collar made special for her pet cats,” she said. “She feeds exclusively on cats—or has—up until now. But usually one cat at a time.”
“She’s been a vampire fifty years?” he asked.
Josephine indicated agreement with a flicker of her ear.
“And you’ve been here three years?” Jared asked, gaining control of the conversation. Josephine did not understand how, but she felt obligated to answer.
Her chest hurt from a crushing pressure, restricting her breath. “I’ve survived longer than most,” Josephine whispered, turning her face away to hide her tears.
“So that’s at least sixteen cats she’s used and killed—maybe more,” he said.
“Yes, many more,” Josephine agreed, scrubbing at her leaky eyes. Soon her name would be added to that list.
“Silver doesn’t affect you the same as it does me,” he concluded, “which explains why the collar is made of gold. Evangeline has no experience dealing with werewolves, does she?”
“She’s clueless,” Josephine agreed, stiffening her spine. She turned a baleful gaze on the wolf. “And poor. I’d be surprised if those cuffs you’re wearing are more than silver-plated.”
Jared nodded. His expression was one of thoughtful calculation. Josephine realized that his questioning had nothing to do with hurting her and everything to do with escape.
“Do you heal when you shift forms?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said. “It takes a lot of energy, but shifting heals most injuries. Why?”
“Just curious,” he said with a shrug. Then he was quiet, thinking again.
“The shotguns are loaded with regular ammo,” she volunteered, seeing an opportunity to be helpful. “Werecats aren’t vulnerable to silver, but normal ammunition kills us just the same, so Evangeline’s never had a reason to spring for the expensive stuff.”
Jared fixed those unsettling topaz eyes on her. Then he smiled and she flushed with pleasure. “Thank you, Josie,” he said. “That’s useful to know.”
Before she formulated a reply, Jared stood, shoving the chair aside with his foot. His tension communicated his intent, along with an obvious reluctance, as he adopted an aggressive stance. She sprang off the bed, and they jockeyed for position for a few seconds.
“I don’t want this.”
“I don’t want it either, but that skank vampire is just looking for an excuse to waste you.”
“Wait, Jared.” His proximity excited her but did not eradicate her fear. Josie wanted to touch him but not like this. Not again.
Josie opened her mouth to reason with him, but the words jumbled together in her head. The distinct scent of his arousal made it worse, because she knew the rough play turned him on.
“I’m sorry, Josie.” His muscles bunched and he lunged.
Josephine sprang backward and evaded his first grab. He backed her into a corner and caught her on the second attempt. The werewolf secured a hold on Josie’s waist and dragged her toward the bathroom.
He left her arms free and his upper body undefended, maybe on purpose, out of shame or contrariness. For a split second, Josie considered raking her claws across his beautiful face and putting out his eyes. Her stomach turned at the image her imagination conjured.
Instead, she offered up the obligatory resistance, fighting him with all her strength. She wailed at the top of her lungs and hit his shoulders and chest with closed fists. He succeeded in shackling her wrists within one fist.
“Please, not on the floor,” Josephine begged before he took her down. The dirty tile of the bathroom floor offended her fastidious nature.
Surprise flashed in Jared’s eyes, but he complied with her request. Pressing her against the countertop, Jared pinned her squirming body beneath his own. He never crushed her, using his strength to hold most of his weight off of her.
Josephine wrapped her legs about Jared’s waist, hooking her ankles behind his back, so her crotch rubbed against his cock. She mewled in need as his jeans created friction and the bulge in his pants rubbed against her clit. Yes, there…
“Jesus, Josie,” Jared growled. His topaz eyes blazed. “You’re killing me.”
Her blue eyes flashed. “Don’t complain to me about your predicament. I didn’t ask to be here in the first place.”
She shut him up. Jared turned his face into her throat. Josie tensed as his weight shifted, and he pressed harder against her core. His naked chest flattened her small breasts. It took her a minute to realize the wolf was enjoying her fur against his bare skin.
“You feel like a rabbit,” the wolf murmured, rubbing his cheek against her shoulder.
Josie suppressed a shiver of delight. “Well, I don’t taste like rabbit,” she snapped, clinging to the vestiges of her anger.
Jared’s entire body shook with laughter, and he removed his face from her throat. “Rabbits taste gamey. I’m betting you’re…rich. Creamy.”
Josephine heard the smile in his voice. For a tease, the werewolf had an abominable sense of what was funny. She sighed. “Must we do this every day? This is no fun for me.”
Jared lifted his head to stare down at her with patent disbelief. Thankfully, he released her hands. “Do you think I enjoy this?”
She sniffed her disdain and rolled her hips to make her point. Jared sucked in a wet inhalation through clenched teeth. “It’s pretty obvious this turns you on.”
At least he didn’t deny it. “So I’m male. Sue me. I can’t help being turned on by a beautiful naked woman.”
She experienced a thrill she’d have preferred to deny. She hid her smile and feigned indifference. “My fear turns you on too.”
She scored a direct hit. His shoulders hunched in shame. “I’m a predator. I’m sorry I still scare you.”
She huffed. “You enjoy it. Everyone knows dominant werewolves are bullies.”
His eyes narrowed. “I never said I was dominant.”
“Please, I’m not stupid like Evangeline,” Josephine said. “You’re not just dominant. You’re uber-dominant.” Staring up at him in such close proximity, she found his steady gaze disturbing. The desire he aroused in her was bad enough. When he stared into her eyes, it was as if he could see straight through her soul and knew all of her secrets. She hated the thought.
“I know your other secret too,” she said, indulging a tendency to brag, which she regretted as soon as the words were spoken. Jared’s eyes narrowed, intent and threatening.
“What would that be?” he asked. He had her pinned so it was impossible to evade him.
“Your hands—you can still shif
t. You’ve grown claws twice while we’ve been in here,” she said, stuttering a little. “The silver in the bracelets isn’t enough to hold you. Like I said, they’re just silver-plated.”
Josephine knew her life was in danger. Jared had her in the perfect position to rip out her throat. “Jared, please don’t hurt me,” she pleaded. Her small hands supplicated against his chest. She loved touching the defined muscles, the soft chest hair, and his smooth skin. “I can be good.”
He snickered. “I very much doubt that.” Then he sighed. “Have I hurt you yet?”
He moved a small distance away, not much but enough to remove the implicit threat to her throat. Jared excelled at the nuances of nonverbal communication.
She licked her lips. “No, not yet.”
Those remarkable topaz eyes captured hers, quiet and intense. “Thank you for not scratching me.”
From the expression on Jared’s face, she’d done more to win back his trust with that simple act than any amount of wheedling or scheming could have accomplished.
Josephine blinked and her lips parted. He healed so fast, she wasn’t sure he’d noticed. “You’re welcome.”
Jared’s voice dropped in a ploy designed to tempt her cat curiosity. He leaned in and whispered, “Want to know another secret?”
Her ears shot forward, tall and erect, and her tail lifted. “What?” Josephine asked in spite of herself.
Jared smiled and eased closer to her. He brought his lips to her ear and resumed his former position between her thighs. Despite her better judgment, Josephine opened for him, welcoming the return of those lean hips and the button fly straining against his erection.
He waited. He pressed against her, stroking his hands over the soft fur of her haunches, teasing her nipples with his chest hair. Josephine’s breath hitched more than once, coming faster until she felt lightheaded. Her tail crept around his thigh, twining there.
“What secret?” Josephine demanded, ever impatient.
Jared nuzzled her cheek, his lips lingering in a long kiss, and the tip of his tongue tasted her flesh. The gentle caresses were a bright promise and so very tempting, because Josephine craved intimacy more than anything. Too long denied a kind word or a caring touch. At the same time, he frightened her because if she let her guard down, he’d possess the means to destroy her more thoroughly than killing her.
“Jared?” Josephine grasped his face and pulled his lips from her skin to stare up at him. “What secret?”
He gave new meaning to a wolf smile. He had such big teeth. “I’m not the only one aroused, little cat.”
Mouth open in shock and attempted denial, Josephine stared as he walked away.
Day 4
Jared quelled his annoyance as Josie paced past him for what must have been the thousandth time. Fucking crazy Siamese. The little cat went stir crazy about the same time every day, walking the floors, the bed, and the bars—every imaginable surface on which a cat did and did not belong. Bowing to the inevitable, Jared closed his book and set it aside. Evangeline was due soon for her daily feeding anyway.
Jared shifted on the mattress, seeking to ease the strain on his swollen cock. He resolved to wear looser jeans in the future. Lately, his attempts to read were for show. His choices were to stare at the pages or follow Josie’s every movement with all too transparent lust.
The springs of the cot released a sharp squeak as he sat up and Josephine reached the end of the cell. She cast a glance over her shoulder in sultry appraisal. Her position granted him a picture pretty enough for a magazine spread. She held her tail high, revealing a delicate pink slit and tight mahogany knot. The powerful muscles of her legs bunched as if preparing to leap.
Jared’s nostrils flared as he exhaled and fought to keep a cool head. Days of having her prance about naked under his nose—a juicy look-but-don’t-touch temptation—had convinced him of a new definition of hell.
The vampire’s impending visit filled them both with increasing tension. Jared cast the cat an uneasy glance. Would she keep her mouth shut? He had no way of predicting what the moody, irrational creature might do from moment to moment.
“Josie,” he called, keeping his tone soft. She turned toward him, head cocked and tail twitching. He patted the mattress beside him, inviting her to join him. Following a split second of hesitation, she leapt up beside him. He longed to reach out and scratch behind her ears to see if he could coax a purr but refrained. He didn’t want to push her.
“Are you going to tell Evangeline?”
Her ear flicked, but otherwise she gave no outward sign of reaction. “What if I do?”
“You will get me killed this time. I can deny being a dominant wolf. I can fake submission and I’ve got a measure of influence over Evangeline, but it’s tenuous.”
“So?” Her blue eyes never blinked. Josie stared at him, expression cat-blank, and he saw more of his own soul reflected in her luminous eyes than hers.
“If they push me too hard then I will shift,” Jared said. His topaz gaze was stern. “You might get yourself killed too.”
“She might reward me,” Josie taunted.
Jared’s fists started to clench and he forced his hands to relax. He throttled the impulse to threaten or terrify her into compliance. Both tactics had already been tried and failed. Besides, he wanted…needed her trust.
“And she might kill you,” Jared retorted. “Like she intended to before I bartered for you. She will hurt you, the same as yesterday.”
The cat stirred. He’d managed to provoke a reaction. Her eyes flashed and her head whipped around toward him. “You keep claiming you asked for me to protect me, but I can tell you’re lying, Jared. There’s more that you’re not saying!”
Deliberating, he stared at Josie, and then decided to go out on a limb. He needed to win her trust and so far his endeavors had fallen flat. “Okay, yes,” he said. “I have a use for you. You’ve been here a long time and you understand how things work. I need your help to get us out of here.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Still lying,” she hissed. “You want me for more than that.”
Confusion left him quiet and contemplative. Then, finally, the light bulb came on and he grinned. “I want you, Josie,” he said and laughed. “I want you just for you, because you’re gorgeous. And more than that, I admire your spirit and your fire.”
Josie appeared poleaxed. Her entire body temperature shot up, the result of a deep blush. Rarely, if ever, did he manage to catch the cat so off-guard. “You’re telling the truth,” she said, still staring at him with suspicion.
“Of course I am,” he said. “Look at you. You’re a walking wet dream. What straight guy wouldn’t want to hit that?” He aimed a pointed look at her backside. The cat turned to follow her tail as if it were a separate entity.
Josephine glanced down, watching her long dark tail twitch to and fro, as though with a mind of its own. Then she looked further and harder, considering her feminine curves, muscular limbs, perky breasts, and pretty pussy. Her only covering was her fur.
His appreciation provoked such pleasure that it was all she could do not to purr. Jared’s skill for disarming her defenses scared Josephine to death. “That’s it?” she said with an irritable swish of her tail. “I’m gorgeous?”
Jared threw back his head and laughed, warm and silky, causing her fur to ripple. “You’re smart, clever, and infuriating too. Is that enough or do you want more?”
“I want to get out of here.” Josephine looked anywhere but at his face, afraid to show how much the praise meant.
“I do too,” he agreed.
She stared at her hands again. “Even if you escape, you won’t take me with you.”
Jared sat up, startling her. Most of the time, he took great care not to make unexpected movements around her. She squeaked as his hand caught her wrist. Fingers under her chin forced her to meet his gaze.
“Who betrayed you, Josie? Who hurt you?” His expression was compassionate. He breached her defens
es and shattered them. Josephine trembled and stared at Jared with tear-filled eyes.
“His name was Nate,” she said. “He was a coyote and he was here before you. I helped him get away. He promised he’d come back for me.” Her tears spilled over. “He lied.”
“Oh, Josie,” Jared murmured. His kind eyes held sympathy. He released her wrist but only to secure a grip on the back of her head. She resisted, but the wolf pulled her onto his lap and cradled her head against his chest. “I’m so sorry, pussy cat.”
She knew from long experience that she could not overcome his strength. So she acceded and rested against him, allowing the tears to come. Unbidden, a connection opened between them. His energy washed over her, like the lapping waves of a lake, soothing and warm. Her skin tingled from scalp to toe, as if every part of her body had fallen asleep, and yet she sizzled with vitality.
“I won’t leave you behind, Josie,” he whispered, rocking her. “I promise.”
“You will,” she insisted, small and stubborn.
“Are you going to betray me again?” Jared asked.
“No, never,” she said, clinging to him. He’d shown her the first real kindness to come into her life in years. She couldn’t repay him with another betrayal.
“I’m gonna take you with me. That’s a promise you can count on, Josie cat.”
The energy moved again. He surrounded her, dwelt within her and without, making her feel safe. Josephine might have panicked except she had no sensation of drowning or obliteration of self. There was completeness and comfort.
“What is that?” she demanded.
Jared stiffened. To her regret, the elusive feeling vanished as if into thin air. “I’m sorry,” he apologized. “Wolves are pack animals. We connect with one another.”
“I’m a cat,” Josephine said in a rich over-statement of the obvious. His apology stung. Did he mean to imply she wasn’t good enough to connect with?
Jared sighed. His fingers caught her twitching, angry tail and soothed the fur. “Don’t kink your tail, Josie. I wasn’t trying to offend you. I just didn’t want you thinking I was trying to control you.”
