The Cougar's Pawn

by Holley Trent

  “That little fucker.”

  Ellery grinned.

  “I bet you impelled her to do that.” He stood and ripped a few squares of paper toweling off the roll. “With witchcraft.”

  “Maybe I did.” She wasn’t that cruel. Cat piss was nearly impossible to clean completely. Once it soaked into wood, the only remedy was to either replace the wood or keep the cat from returning. For all she knew, there was some cleaning spell that might do the trick. She rubbed her chin. Oughta ask Claude.

  Pumpkin Pie tottered away slowly. She’d only made it a few feet from her spot of soiling before she stopped to bathe her nether-bits.

  “I guess you don’t have a litter box here, huh?”

  “I’m not that kind of cat. You’re going to have to keep yours outside.”

  “So the coyotes or birds of prey could eat her? Nope. She’s not just a housecat. We have a spiritual connection.”

  Pumpkin Pie swatted at Mason’s ankles as he walked past her to the trashcan.

  He bared fangs and hissed at her.

  She ran.

  “It’s my house, you furry little—”

  “Hey, buddy-roe. You insulted my mee-maw. Don’t go insulting my cat, too.” Agatha could fight her own battles, especially considering she’d left her there with the fool. Some mee-maw.

  He tossed the paper, mumbling under his breath, and washed his hands. “What’d you call me?”

  “Buddy-roe.” She scraped up the dregs of her noodles and slid them into her mouth.

  “Is that a southern term of endearment?”

  “Nope.”

  He pulled her chair back, stood her up, and pressed his hands to her cheeks, tilting her face up to see his. “Then you need a reminder. My name is Mason. You can call me Mase if two is too many syllables.”

  “Stop manhandling me.”

  “I’m not manhandling you. I’m simply guiding you through the motions of what you should be doing right now. My eyes are up here. You could try looking at them when you speak to me.”

  “You mean, like people who respect each other do?”

  “Yep.”

  She got on her tiptoes and squinted, giving him all the eye contact he could possibly stand before stepping away. “You haven’t earned it.”

  “Cold as ice. I hope you’re kinder to your patients.”

  “I’m a professional. I get paid to be kind, even when I don’t feel like people deserve it. You’re neither paying me nor motivating any sort of friendship.”

  “If you have to be here for the next two weeks, you could at least try to be civil.”

  “I’ll be as civil as you. In the past ten minutes, you threatened to maul me. Before that, you smacked my knife away when I was only trying to help you. Previous to that incident, there was a very bumpy ride in the back of a truck that reeked of burnt oil and polyurethane. And of course, there was the abduction. Given the circumstances, I think I’m being as polite as anyone could expect.”

  He threaded his fingers behind his head, and she watched that cheek of his twitch.

  “Go on and say it. Tell me you’re a nice guy and that I’m just being sensitive.”

  “I never said I was a nice guy. I said I wouldn’t hurt you.”

  “But you said you were going to claw me. That counts as hurting.”

  He dropped his hands and scoffed. “I wouldn’t really claw you. I don’t need any new Cougars in my glaring, and I certainly wouldn’t turn anyone against her will. It was just posturing. I’m certain your mee-maw did some of her own.”

  Ellery balled her hands into fists at her sides. “What?”

  “I didn’t invent the rules. I’m just playing the game.”

  “So you lied?”

  He shrugged. “Not a habit of mine, I assure you, but if I’ve learned anything about being Alpha is that I have to sometimes make sacrifices for the greater good.”

  “Your greater good is selfish.”

  “If you say so. If giving a damn about my family makes me selfish in your mind, then so be it. I’m not going to try to convince you otherwise.”

  Her jaw flapped wordlessly for a few seconds and he pinned her in his unforgiving stare. He’d cut to the quick without even knowing her weakness. Of course she felt like her estrangement from her family was her fault. After all, she’d chosen her allegiances, and they didn’t match the ones she’d grown up with. She could have stuck with the status quo, but not without irreparable detriment to her growth as a person and a witch. Her sacrifice was just, but that didn’t mean it hurt any less.

  “Are you done eating?” he asked quietly, pulling her from her mental torrent.

  Her turn to shrug. “I guess, seeing as how I lost my appetite. Why?”

  “It’s bedtime.”

  “So go.”

  “I’ll rephrase.” He walked around her, set his hands on her shoulders, and started her walking toward the hallway. “We’re both going to bed. I don’t know if you noticed, but this house only has two bedrooms. Doesn’t matter where we sleep, but it will be in the same room. You sleep on the sofa? Fine. I’ll sleep on the floor in front of it. Want the bed? That’s fine, too, because I’ll share it.”

  Well, there went her planned escape attempt, if she could even go through it now that she’d made her deal with him. She didn’t break promises in the same way she didn’t intentionally do people harm. That wasn’t just because she was a witch and feared karmic backlash, but because she was a citizen of the world. Sometimes, being decent was hard, but she tried anyway.

  “You can sleep on the floor,” she said, resigned.

  “Right next to the door, if you’d like, but I should tell you that there’s no heat in the master bedroom. Heater’s busted and I haven’t had a chance to fix it. It may feel okay in here right now, but come two, three in the morning, you’re going to be freezing your cookies off and will want some body heat.”

  “You seem to tolerate it fine.”

  “In cougar form.”

  “You’re not sleeping in cougar form. What if your kid calls out for you in the middle of the night?”

  She’d probably go to him. The nurse in her wouldn’t leave that baby to cry for long, nor would the part of her that was just woman who wanted kids of her own some day. Listening to Nick cry would very likely make her ovaries explode. Mason didn’t need to know that, though. He was already playing her like an accordion and poking at every one of her weak spots without knowing them.

  He grabbed the monitor from the counter. “Thanks for the reminder. Your choice. I sleep as a cat by the door or we share the bed.”

  “I’d bet good money you were the one who broke the heater.”

  “Alas, no. I’ve got a to-do list the length of my arm already. I wouldn’t add to it on purpose.”

  “Fine. Stay on your side of the bed.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Not a problem. I suspect it won’t be me crossing into enemy territory in the middle of the night.”

  “In your dreams.”

  “We’ll see.”

  • • •

  At the end of an REM cycle, apparently, Ellery opened one eyelid and focused on the digital clock to her left.

  Three twenty-one.

  The mattress under her chin moved slowly up, and down. Up, and down.

  She was in the process of wondering why it was suddenly so fucking hard, when the mattress slung an arm around her waist.

  “Goddammit.”

  “Told you,” Mason said groggily. “It’s unavoidable.”

  “It’s voodoo.”

  “Nope. Biology. Your body recognizes its mate even if your brain doesn’t. Knows I’ll take care of you. Keep you safe.”

  “Let go of me.” She closed her eyes and let her muscles relax one by one. He was so warm.

  “You can roll over at any time, sweetheart.”

  “Okay, I will.” She settled her cheek over a less bony part of his chest.

  He rubbed her hair, tentatively, it seemed, because h
e drew his hand back.

  “You could at least be decent enough to not smell so good.”

  “I smell good to you?”

  “Yeah, like sawdust and musk and … powerful green soap.”

  “I’ll try not to smell so good tomorrow, then. I wouldn’t want to give you any reasons to compliment me. I’m sure it pains you.”

  “Don’t do me any favors.”

  “Trying not to. It’d be easier if you rolled off me.”

  “No problem, bud.” She inched to the right, only for him to pin her with one of his telephone pole arms.

  “My name is Mason.”

  “I know that.”

  “You seem to have trouble remembering. How long was your camping trip supposed to be?”

  “A week. We usually hit a couple of sites. We were going to move on to Canyonlands tomorrow. Today, rather. And I can’t roll over with your arm clamping me.”

  “Might as well stay. I’m not especially eager to give up the body heat. Don’t worry—I’ll do everything in my power not to enjoy it.”

  She rolled her eyes, not that he could see them with her ear against his chest. It wasn’t a bad place to be. Hell, she was lying atop two hundred pounds of delectable shapeshifter who might have been her type if it weren’t for his chronic assholery. He hit all the right notes: he was supernatural, had some power, could string a sentence together when he wanted to, and beneath the veneer of pompous dickheadedness was a damned fine man. If circumstances had been different, she sure wouldn’t kick him out of her bed.

  “So you’re not going to be missed at work immediately?” he asked.

  “Do you care?”

  “Yeah, I do. You have an important job. I don’t discount that. Being a nurse is probably a lot more noble than what I do for a living.”

  She managed to lift his arm and roll off him. So cold. “Save the corny lines.”

  “I mean it.”

  “Sure you do. I think you’re more concerned someone will call the cops and report me missing.”

  He didn’t respond. She looked over at him in the dim light and saw that his eyes were lidded, lips parted, and his chest moved slowly in sleep. Just like a cat, he’d shut down the moment he’d shut his eyes.

  She pushed up onto her elbows and looked over his body to the door. It was closed.

  Time to test his hearing again?

  If she opened the door quietly, she may have some time to make a phone call. If she could get in touch with Miles’s or Hannah’s families, she could at the very least coordinate rescue for them, even if Ellery was stuck for a couple of weeks.

  She extended her leg slowly toward the bed’s edge.

  “Lie down.” Mason rolled over.

  “Dammit.” She collapsed onto her belly and fell asleep plotting ways to subvert her captor.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Every day like clockwork, Mason opened his eyes at five a.m., and the next morning was no exception. Normally, he’d get up, dress, and get right to work. There were furniture orders to fill and he still had a bathroom door to fix. But, at the moment, there was a woman pinning him to the mattress.

  Not that he’d complain, even with the woman being who she was.

  In fact, he opened his legs and settled her a little more comfortably over his cock.

  Hard as rock. Typical. That may have been compelling to a woman back in the Stone Age—his evident virility would have some lucky lady straddling him and holding on for a good time. He wasn’t convinced Ellery knew she was lucky yet. Of course, he hadn’t done much to convert her to Team Mason, either. Words weren’t working. He’d tried complimenting her, to no avail. Maybe it’d be easier if he shut up and let the cougar part of his brain do the wooing.

  She pushed up onto her hands, opened her eyes a sliver each, and curled up her lip at him.

  “You rolled onto me, little witch. You can’t really get indignant over what happens as a result.”

  “Sleep on the floor.” She rolled off and put her back to him, hitching the blankets up to her shoulder.

  “Okay.” He stood and unbuttoned his shirt. Removed his undershirt. Nudged off his socks.

  She didn’t look back at him until his belt buckle jingled. “What are you doing?”

  “Undressing.” He folded his jeans and laid them atop the dresser. “Not going to shift and ruin perfectly good clothes.”

  He shimmied out of his boxers, and she put her back to him again.

  “Oh God.”

  “You surprise me. I didn’t peg you as a prude.”

  “I’m a nurse. I’ve seen it all before.”

  “Yeah? I like to think I’m worth a second look.”

  He walked around the bed to her side just to torture her. Really, he had no intention of shifting. He’d planned on changing into his grubby work clothes, but he’d taken the underwear off just to see her blush. He stood in front of her and crossed his arms.

  Her gaze tracked down his chest, settled over his groin, and then flitted back up. “Okay,” she croaked.

  “Okay? Just okay?”

  She shrugged that one exposed shoulder. “What do you want me to say? It’s a dick.”

  “Dirty mouth for a nurse.”

  She closed her eyes and made a little grunt. “Like you said. It’s the company I keep. Bad influences.”

  He crawled onto the bed and straddled her hips. The cougar part of him acted on instinct, not propriety. She already thought he was a dick, so he didn’t see the harm of ruffling her feathers a bit.

  She gave him the side-eye.

  “Why do I get the suspicion that your influence is just as bad on them as theirs is on you?”

  “I’m a good little Protestant witch. I keep my nose clean and behave myself. My influence is stellar.”

  “Behave yourself? Really now?”

  “You’ll never know, I guess.”

  “Won’t I?” He leaned in and put his nose very close to the crook of her neck, inhaling her scent. Tickling her with his breath.

  She sighed and rolled onto her back. She blinked a few times and smiled lazily. “Shoo, cat. I’m trying to sleep.”

  “You’ll have to catch up later. Gotta get up now.”

  “Why? It’s dark out.” She pouted.

  “So cute.” He couldn’t help himself. He grabbed that puffy bottom lip between his teeth and pulled it.

  Her hands darted out from the sheets, but she seemed unsure of where to put them. They started on his face as he brushed his tongue over her lip, moved down to his shoulders, and finally settled on his biceps. “Uh. Shoo.”

  “I will, if you really want me to.” He skimmed his lips across her jaw and kissed down her neck as he let his full weight down on top of her. “You want me to?”

  “Mmm.”

  He nudged her collar aside and kissed her shoulder.

  She smelled so good—like the best kind of aphrodisiac. There was no doubt about it that she wanted him. There was also little doubt that she was going to fight it. He could smell her arousal, her lust.

  The hormonal stuff was supposed to be easy. Cougars were alluring in the bed, and every night their would-be mates spent in their lair, the more comfortable they’d become. More willing to take a chance. From the stories Mason had heard, by now she should have already been begging for him. She seemed clearheaded enough, and certainly resistant. Either her restraint was considerable, or his charm was broken. Maybe both.

  “You want me to go away, Ellery?” He honestly didn’t know. Arousal didn’t always go hand in hand with consent.

  “No. Yes.”

  He cupped her face and tilted it up to him. “Which?”

  She ground her belly against his cock.

  He hissed.

  She giggled. “I don’t want you to move.”

  “Why not?”

  “You talk too much, cat.” She trailed her fingertips up to the back of his neck and fondled the hair at his nape. “I never did like gingers.”

  He bristled at th
at. He was hardly ginger. Not like his brothers were, anyway.

  “Aw, that look on your face.” She giggled again. He’d never heard a more suspicious giggle in his life.

  “My hair is auburn.”

  “That’s just the politically correct way of saying dirty red. Are you red all over? I didn’t get a good look at you before, and now it’s too dark for me to tell.”

  He furrowed his brow. “Are you asking if the carpet matches the drapes?”

  “Does it?”

  “I guess.”

  “Let me see.” There was an evil gleam in her eyes. The kind of gleam that made him fear for the ongoing structural integrity of his balls. “Nah, you’ll just have to take my word for it.”

  “Still worried I’ll cast a spell and make you shrivel?”

  “No, I’m more worried you’ll ram your knee into my crotch. That’s pain I can actually imagine.”

  “Been kicked in the junk before?”

  “What guy hasn’t been?”

  Her mouth opened, and he pressed his index finger against his lips. “Nope. Soccer. Not a failed mate raid.”

  “So, you’ve never done this before?”

  “Nope.”

  “You’ve never had a girlfriend?”

  He dropped his hand from her lips and twined his fingers through her hair. It was thick and curly and lush … and he was pretty sure there were still a couple of twigs in it. “I didn’t say that.”

  “So, you just fuck indiscriminately until you decide to try monogamy?”

  “Nope. We fuck like any other men. Some more than others. Every now and then, a guy happens upon a woman the goddess approves of while he’s doing casual dating, but we try to avoid those kinds of situations.”

  “Why?”

  Why? Because it was nearly impossible for a man to convince a woman he’d only known a few days to move into his house and agree to be his happily ever after. With strangers, it was easier. No connections. Harder to trace them as abductors. He couldn’t tell her that, though. It’d sounded all too clinical—as if she were just some commodity.

  “It’s … complicated, Ellery.”

  She rubbed her cheek against his hand.

  He stroked her jaw.

  She let out a contented sigh.