FUR FOR ALL, Book 5 in FIXED Read Free Page A

little work on your manners.”
    “My manners are fine when I’m with a lady. I’m not entirely sure you qualify.”
    “Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?”
    “It means that in my experience, ladies don’t follow men through deserted streets at two-thirty in the morning. That’s what criminals and cowards do.” The pout had clearly failed as miserably as the big blue eyes and suddenly Tess felt a lot less confident about her Plan B. It didn’t seem to be working. At all.
    Instead of being smitten with her, the werecat seemed to be pissed off at her. His exotic amber eyes looked hard and impatient, and his sensual mouth looked 14

    Fixed 5: Fur For All
    tight and unamused. This was not the sort of reaction she was used to getting from men.
    Shifting nervously, she tried tugging her hands free, but his grip only tightened. She gave a hard yank and he responded with a low warning growl.
    Before she could seriously give in to panic and start struggling, he leaned into her and used his body to keep her immobile against the cold brick wall.
    “Your explanation. Now.”
    Tess swallowed hard. It was about the only movement she could make. He kept her hands pinned above her and now his chest crushed her flat and his hips pressed tightly against hers. She could feel the way he bent his legs to even out their heights, because those legs crowded against hers to keep her still. She couldn’t move a damned muscle, which meant she also couldn’t cast any damned spells. She was helpless. Time for Plan C—the truth. Just not too much of it.
    “I already explained, sort of. I was supposed to wait for you outside Vircolac until you came out. Then I was supposed to deliver a message and leave. But I got curious to see where you were going at two-forty-five in the morning.” She made her tone and expression sullen, as if she had given in reluctantly. That much was true. “If you hadn’t jumped me, you’d never have known I was following you. I was just going to see if you were going to a nightclub or something. I’ve never been to one and thought it would be fun to see where the cool ones are. I didn’t mean anything by it.” That last part wasn’t.
    “What message?”
    “Don’t ask me. It’s written down in a sealed envelope. It’s not like I read it or anything.” Neither was that.
    She saw his nostrils flare as he inhaled deeply. His eyes narrowed. “You’re lying. I can smell it on you. I can smell something else, too. There’s something…different about you.”
    15

    Christine Warren
    Tess felt her eyes widen before she caught herself. “Well, I showered right before I left home,” she joked weakly, trying to shift even an inch away from him. “If you can smell me, I think I need to switch soaps.” He didn’t appear to be listening. Instead he leaned forward and pressed his face into the curve of her neck. She froze as her stomach clenched. She felt the stir of his breath against her skin and felt a swift shock of arousal. Apparently, her body hadn’t forgotten its first impression of him. It remembered quite clearly how attracted she’d been and it chose now to remind her.
    “That’s not it,” he muttered and she could feel the movement of his lips as he spoke. “You smell…different…” Sniff. “Exotic…” Sniff… “Powerful…” Sniff, sniff. Then the dart of a tongue that rasped against her throat. “Other.” His head turned and Tess found herself staring into golden eyes that blazed with impossible heat.
    “You smell like a witch.”
    Tess stared up into those amber eyes and felt her first wave of fear. Suddenly she remembered that this man wasn’t just a man. He was a Felix, the most powerful Feline in the history of the city, and he could tear out her throat with a swipe of his finger. With the tension radiating off of him, she wasn’t sure he didn’t intend to do just that.
    “Well? Are you a witch?” He asked it in that rasping growl as he shook her by the hands he held