Cougar Bait

  That was certainly no lie—now that the hand crisis was over, she was beginning to really feel her other injuries. Her neck and breast and inner thighs stung and burned like someone had poured napalm on her skin.

  “I’ll do my best. It’s better to try while the wounds are fresh.” Keller’s expression grew dark. “That’s the only thing keeping me here instead of going out to hunt that bastard down and end him.”

  “Don’t go!” The idea of being left alone again when the Hyena Shifter or another like him might show up at any moment sent a cold chill down her spine. “Keller, don’t leave me!” she said urgently.

  “Don’t worry, Sammie—I’m not going anywhere.” He dropped to one knee beside her, holding her hands in both of his. “I’m going to stay right here and heal you and protect you,” he murmured, holding her eyes with his own. “I swear it.”

  At any other time in her life Samantha might have taken those words as an insult. The idea that she couldn’t protect or take care of herself would have been a slight against her feminist viewpoint and sense of self-identity as a strong, independent woman.

  But now she felt gratitude and relief rather than irritation or offense. She couldn’t fight off an attack like the one by the Hyena Shifter with her knowledge of self-defense. The classes she had taken had taught her to defend herself against a man—not a huge wolflike creature. Keller could and would take on such an opponent and win. He would stand between her and the enemy—she felt a deep gratitude for that. A sense of safety that loosened some of the tightness in her chest.

  “Keller,” she whispered, but he was already threading his fingers through her hair and bending her neck gently to one side to expose her wounds.

  “Just relax,” he murmured, his breath warm against her tender flesh. “Be still and let me heal you, Sammie.”

  For the second time he’d called her by her nickname and she didn’t contradict him. For a second Samantha thought she really should say something . . . and then his warm, wet tongue glided over her wounded throat, and the thought left her mind entirely.

  It felt good to be healed. Or more specifically, it felt good when Keller healed her. Not just the cessation of pain, which was a big deal in itself. It also felt good to have his big, hard body near hers again, to feel his hands and mouth on her skin.

  Oh my God, she thought uneasily. Is this turning me on? It can’t be, can it? Even though he’s healing my throat, the rest of me still really hurts!

  But the stinging burning sensation in the other parts of her body seemed less painful than before. Worse than that, Samantha could feel heat and dampness growing between her thighs. There was no doubt about it—with each long, gentle stroke of Keller’s tongue against the sensitive skin of her torn throat, she was getting more and more aroused.

  “Keller . . .” she said uncomfortably, squeezing her thighs together even though it hurt to do so. “Keller, I . . .”

  “Yes?” He pulled back a little, looking up from his task.

  “I . . . um . . .” Samantha didn’t know what to say. “This, uh . . . the way you’re healing me is, uh . . .” She cleared her throat. “It seems to be having some kind of weird effect on me.”

  “Oh?” He frowned at her. “What kind of effect?”

  Samantha opened her mouth and found she couldn’t tell him—couldn’t explain that having him so close, having his mouth and tongue on her body was making her uncomfortably hot.

  “It’s nothing,” she said quickly. “Probably just feels weird because I’ve never been, uh, healed this way before.”

  “I’m almost done with your throat,” Keller murmured, frowning. “But this is all so strange. . . .”

  “What’s strange?” Samantha asked. “I mean aside from the whole having a crazy Hyena Shifter break in and maul you in the middle of the night thing,” she added dryly.

  “I was referring to the fact that the Hyena didn’t try to kill you,” he said.

  “What?” Samantha couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Of course he tried to kill me! Just look at me.”

  “I am.” Keller shook his head. “And I’m telling you, Samantha, he wasn’t trying to kill you. If he’d wanted to, he could have ripped out your throat—he was certainly close enough. But he only bit your shoulder and the side of your neck—he didn’t go for a killing blow—didn’t even sever any major blood vessels.”

  “Ugh . . .” Samantha swallowed hard and heard a dry click when she did. “Talking about how easily that thing could have ripped out my throat isn’t exactly making me feel any better, Keller.”

  “I’m sorry.” He looked at her earnestly. “I’m just trying to understand what happened here tonight. The attack in and of itself is strange. Most Hyena collectors don’t maul their targets—in fact, they do their best not to harm them in any way. Injuries hurt the resale value.”

  “Collectors?” Her breath caught in her throat as Keller leaned forward and stroked his tongue gently over her throat a few more times.

  “Kidnappers,” he said grimly, lifting his head. “They’re always on the lookout for female Shifters of any kind.”

  “Even one where the Shifter Gene isn’t activated?” Samantha frowned.

  “Apparently,” Keller muttered. “Did he say anything at all? Or was he already Shifted when he attacked you?”

  “No, I think he started out human . . .” Samantha frowned. “He might have said something—it’s kind of fuzzy now. Mostly I remember him jumping on top of me and . . .” She shook her head, unable to go on.

  “Wish I could have caught him,” Keller growled. “I would’ve gotten some answers out of him before I shredded him . . . slowly.”

  There was a cold glint in his pale green eyes that made Samantha shiver again. She was extremely glad that murderous rage wasn’t directed at her. If Keller had caught the Hyena Shifter, she had an idea her bedroom wouldn’t just look like a crime scene—it would be a freaking abattoir.

  “So you don’t have any idea what would motivate him to break into my hotel room and . . . and attack me?” she asked.

  Keller shook his head. “Unless he thought he could somehow activate your Shifter Gene.”

  “By mauling me?” Samantha demanded. “What would give him that idea?”

  “There’s an old Hyena legend about a Hyena Shifter who wanted a female but couldn’t have her because she didn’t have the Ya-la—that’s what the Hyenas call the animal spirit—inside her. So the Hyena ripped and tore her flesh to allow the Ya-la to enter her. That way, when she healed, he was able to take her as his mate and impregnate her with his young,” Keller explained.

  “Wow, that’s . . . bizarre. And really scary,” Samantha murmured. “And they still do that? Try to activate a female’s Gene that way?”

  “They used to, I think, but it was hundreds of years ago,” Keller said. “The ancient one who told me the story said it used to be common practice for Hyenas to kidnap good-looking females and try to turn them into Shifters that way. But that was before the discovery of modern genetics and the understanding of DNA. Now the Hyena collectors just kidnap Shifter females and sell them to interested buyers.”

  “Who buys them?” Samantha asked. She really wanted to know, but she had another motive to keep Keller talking, too. The longer he spent speaking to her, the more the unsettling feeling of sexual arousal she’d gotten from him healing her neck faded. And the more it faded, the more in control she felt.

  “Who’s unscrupulous enough to buy a kidnapped female and enslave her?” Keller sighed. “Mostly male Shifters, to be honest. Females with the Shifter Gene are getting rarer all the time. Especially since a lot of them choose to settle down early. Once they’re committed to a male who claims them and continues to have sex with them on a regular basis, they won’t Rejuvenate—won’t become Juvies. And if they don’t Rejuvenate—”

  “They can’t have Shifter babies,” Samantha finished for him. “And Juvies are the only ones who can pass on the Shifter Gene, right???
?

  “Well . . .” Keller sighed. “That’s what we used to think. There’s some evidence now that a female with the Shifter Gene can pass it to her offspring, even if her own Gene isn’t activated and she hasn’t been through Rejuvenation.”

  “Holy crap,” Samantha whispered. “But that would mean there are a whole lot more Shifters out there than we know.”

  “No, not Shifters,” Keller corrected her. “Just people with the Shifter Gene. But if they got it from a mother who had an inactive or latent Gene herself, their own Gene is almost guaranteed never to become active.”

  Samantha frowned. “You sound like you’ve done a lot of research on this.”

  “I have.” He frowned. “I’ve had one of my biotech labs working on it for years.”

  “Why?” Samantha asked. “Just for the sake of knowledge?”

  “No.” Keller looked away. “I . . . wanted to find out if it was possible to turn someone without the Gene or with a latent Gene into a Shifter.”

  “Who did you want to turn?” she asked softly.

  “I would rather not speak of it.” He sighed. “She . . . would not have been interested, even if I could have turned her into one of our kind.”

  “I’m sorry,” Samantha said softly.

  “Don’t be. It was a long time ago.”

  She thought about pointing out that it couldn’t have been that long in the past since he was only twenty-six, but something in the tense set of his shoulders and the tight look on his face made her bite her tongue.

  “All right,” she said instead.

  “Well . . .” Keller leaned down and gave her throat a long, sucking kiss that sent a shiver of pure desire down Samantha’s spine. “I think this part of you his healed now. I’d better go on while the wounds are still fresh.”

  “Oh, um . . .” Samantha wasn’t sure what to say. The next parts of her that needed to be healed were considerably more intimate than just her throat. “Keller . . .” she began uncertainly as he pulled the white bathrobe open to expose her wounded right breast, the nipple ringed in bite marks.

  “Are you feeling shy now, Sammie?” he murmured, ducking his head to look her in the eyes. “Is that the problem? Are you nervous about letting me put my mouth on you here?”

  Lightly, he traced a ring around the wide pink band of her areola, where most of the bite marks were clustered.

  “I . . . no. No, of course not,” Samantha denied, trying to keep her voice even and calm. “I mean . . . I just thought it might . . . make things awkward between us.”

  “Why should healing you be awkward?” he asked softly.

  “Um . . . no reason, I guess.” There was no way in hell she was going to tell him about the intense feelings of sexual pleasure she got when he healed her. It was too damn embarrassing.

  “Good, then there should be no problem with me doing this.”

  He slid off the bed to kneel before her on the floor. With Samantha still sitting on the side of the bed, the new position put his mouth at the perfect height to reach her chest. Lifting her wounded breast to his lips, Keller held her eyes with his as he ran the tip of his tongue around the ring of cruel bite marks that encircled her areola and nipple.

  Samantha bit back a moan at the sensation that flowed over her. It was a sexual tingling that started in her breast, where he was licking her, and moved through her entire body like a wave. There was no doubt about it this time—letting Keller heal her was definitely turning her on. Despite the fact that her thighs still throbbed with pain, she could feel her pussy getting hot and wet and slippery, getting ready for him. . . .

  No! I’m not going to do that, not going to go there. But though she spoke sternly to herself, it was hard to feel certain she wouldn’t give in to the delicious sensations, especially since they kept growing and growing. She shifted uncomfortably, trying to ignore the heat between her thighs.

  For what felt like forever, Keller continued to circle her areola with his tongue, never touching her nipple, only concentrating on the bite marks. The jagged wounds were healing with remarkable rapidity. But even though it was magical to watch her flesh knit together as though she’d never been hurt in the first place, Samantha had a hard time concentrating on the sight. That was because Keller’s silver-green gaze was fixed on hers as he licked, his eyes half-lidded with obvious pleasure as he healed her.

  After a long time, he pulled away and examined his handiwork.

  “Mmm . . . I think you’re almost healed.”

  “A-almost?” Samantha whispered. “It looks good to me. What else do you have to do?”

  “Healing isn’t an exact science,” Keller murmured. He still held her breast in his hand, cupping the full globe gently but firmly, as though he had every right to touch her body in such an intimate way. Samantha supposed he did have the right—she’d given it to him when she agreed to let him heal her.

  “Meaning what?” she asked, trying to keep her tone normal.

  “You’re using a combination of biological and mystical forces to knit the skin and flesh together,” Keller lectured softly. “And once a male Cougar heals his female, he has to seal the healing.”

  “Seal the healing? What does that mean? How?” Samantha asked.

  “Since a component of the healing is mystical, you have to bind the reparative power to your female, usually with a strong physical sensation. Either pleasure or pain.” Keller raised an eyebrow at her. “Which do you prefer?” he growled softly. “Should I bite your nipple, Samantha . . . or suck it?”

  Samantha nibbled her lower lip. They were getting into dangerous territory here.

  “I don’t understand,” she said at last. “Why didn’t you have to seal the healing of my neck and throat?”

  “I did.” He gave her a lazy smile. “Don’t you remember the kiss I gave you when I finished?”

  “Oh, right . . .” Samantha remembered the long, sucking kiss that had sent shivers of desire through her entire body. “So . . . just one, uh, kiss? Is that all it takes to seal the healing?” she asked.

  “Just one, baby,” he assured her in a soft growl.

  God, I shouldn’t let him do this. Or at the very least, she shouldn’t want him to do this. Still, what choice did she have?

  “All right,” she whispered. “I’ve had enough biting for one night. So go ahead and . . . and kiss it.” She found she couldn’t quite ask him to suck her nipple, although she knew that was what he intended to do.

  “With pleasure.” Keller leaned forward and took her tight peak deep into his hot mouth.

  “God!” This time Samantha couldn’t hold back the moan that rose to her lips. The sexual heat of the healing combined with the pleasure of feeling him suck her nipple was almost enough to make her come. “Keller!” she gasped, arching her back involuntarily. “Keller, please!”

  He sucked her hard for a time, then eased up a little, allowing his tongue to circle the aching bud, sending shivers of desire through her entire body. Finally he let her nipple slip slowly from between his lips.

  “There,” he growled softly. “All healed. See?” He ran one fingertip around her nipple and then pinched the tight peak very lightly between his thumb and finger, sending a spark of sensation straight from her breast to her pussy.

  “Keller . . .” Samantha moaned. She pressed her thighs together—then pulled them apart again when the action made the long, deep scratches on her wounded flesh sting fiercely. “Ow!” she gasped.

  “Hmm . . . looks like I need to attend to the rest of you,” Keller murmured.

  He put his hands on her knees to spread her wide but Samantha resisted, some of her pleasure leaking away in uncertainty.

  “Keller, I don’t . . . I’m not . . .” She didn’t know how to say it. Didn’t know how to explain that this particular act wasn’t exactly her cup of tea.

  “What’s wrong, Samantha?” He looked up, arching an eyebrow at her. “Don’t you want me to heal you?”

  “Well yes, but . .
. I don’t . . . don’t usually let anyone go, uh, down there.” She felt foolish saying it like that, saying “down there”—she sounded like an insecure kid, not a grown woman and accomplished surgeon. But still, those were the words that came out as the uncertainty rose inside her.

  Keller frowned, as though trying to understand.

  “You don’t allow anyone to go down on you, you mean? Don’t let anyone taste you?”

  “Well, no.” Samantha could feel her cheeks getting hot.

  “But I was only going to heal you,” he pointed out.

  “Yes, I know but I thought . . . after what you said about, uh, having to seal the healing and the way you, uh, sucked my breast . . .” She was stuttering and stammering like a fool. “Look, never mind.” She shook her head. “I assumed the wrong thing.”

  “No you didn’t,” Keller said, surprising her. “After I heal your thighs, I absolutely need—and want—to kiss your sweet pussy to seal the healing.” His eyes went half-lidded with hunger. “And to taste you as well. I want to do that very much.”

  “Well, I don’t want you to,” Samantha said stubbornly. “I don’t like it. It . . . doesn’t do anything for me.”

  “Hmm . . .” Keller sat back on his heels and studied her speculatively. “May I ask why you don’t like it?”

  “It just doesn’t feel good.” Samantha shrugged, trying not to sound defensive. “I’ve just never been able to get into it.”

  “And that is why it doesn’t feel good.” Keller was still giving her that intense look that made her stomach flutter. “You have to relax—to let yourself go and give up control. Therein lies the real problem. Samantha Becker, world-class surgeon, feminist, and highly intelligent woman, never gives up control.” He lifted one eyebrow. “Do you?”

  “Why should I?” Samantha demanded. “I like being in control.”