Cougar Bait Read online

  God, I have to stop this. Stop it right now!

  Samantha pressed a hand to her chest, trying to still her pounding heart. I don’t like him, she reminded herself. He’s a jerk!

  Or that was what she’d thought of him before tonight. But that was before she’d found out he had an intellect to match or rival her own. Before she’d found out that his huge, muscular jock body housed a brilliant brain. And that he had a sense of humor . . . and a magnetic personality . . . and that he liked curvy women. . . .

  Could have let him in just for the night—had a few hours of hot sex and then forgotten about it the next morning.

  The problem was, she didn’t think she could do that. Though she had often advised her sister to go out and find a man to scratch her itch after Sadie finally got divorced, Samantha wasn’t very good at taking her own advice. She talked a good game, but to be honest, she just wasn’t a one-night-stand kind of girl. It was too hard to give her body without giving her heart—which had been broken more than once. Samantha found it much easier just to bury herself in her work, to hide her vulnerable side behind her intellect and impressive job title and pretend she didn’t mind being alone.

  Still, the way Keller had looked at her . . . the feel of his big, hard body pressed against hers . . . the growl in his voice when he told her he wanted her . . .

  Stop it, Samantha! Forget about him and do something to take your mind off it, she ordered herself. What about a bath in the pool-sized bathtub? That would be nice. Although the way she was feeling, a cold shower might be more appropriate than a hot bath.

  Resolutely, she straightened up and squared her shoulders. Fine. Everything was going to be fine. She would take a relaxing bath and then sleep like a baby in the big, cushy bed. The next morning she would say good-bye to Keller and fly back to Tampa and resume her life. True, she’d been planning to hang around the conference for a little while longer. But since she’d already made her own presentation, there was really no need.

  It’ll be better when I get home, she told herself. Better when I get away from Keller.

  She hoped.

  Chapter 8

  A sharp jab in her upper arm—like a hard pinch—woke her in the middle of the night.

  “Ouch!” Samantha gasped, her eyes flying open. She’d been sleeping fitfully, having another one of those weird baby dreams, but now she was abruptly and completely awake.

  A figure was looming over her in the darkness, holding something long and thin in one hand. Samantha had drawn the drapes to block out the incessant neon glow of the Strip, so all she could see was a shadow. But that shadow looked big.

  “Now we’ll see about that pesky latent Gene of yours,” he said in a strangely familiar voice. He ripped the covers off her, leaving her cold and shivering in the bed.

  “What? W-who are you?” She wished her voice wouldn’t shake so much. She wanted to run, but she was still disoriented from sleep. She felt frozen in place. “What are you doing in my room? Get away from me!”

  “In good time, my dear Dr. Becker.” The shadow—who was obviously male—suddenly began to grow. Sadie gasped as she saw it change shape and get bigger, becoming somehow shaggier around the edges. Its eyes glowed yellow, blazing like two baleful lamps in the darkness.

  Suddenly her mind began to make sense of what her eyes were telling her.

  An animal! He’s turning into an animal! He’s a Shifter!

  She opened her mouth to scream, and then the creature leaped onto the bed with her. Two hard paws landed on her chest, pressing her back against the mattress and knocking the breath out of her lungs. Her scream came out as more of a croak, and then a huge, shaggy head was thrust in her face, and a scent like wet dog almost overwhelmed her.

  “No!” Samantha threw up her arms instinctively, trying to shield her face and throat from the huge beast.

  It didn’t do any good. A long hairy muzzle with a cold snout shoved its way through the barrier of her arms. There was hot, panting breath against her skin, and then sharp teeth sank into the tender flesh of her neck, just where her shoulder met the column of her throat.

  Agony ripped through her, sending bolts of pain through her torn flesh, and Samantha gasped, struggling to fill her lungs so she could scream.

  At the same time the beast was mauling her neck, sharp claws ripped at her flesh below. She was only wearing a thin sleep shirt to bed—it was no protection against the predator that was savaging her.

  Samantha felt a shriek rise in her throat as her tender inner thighs were torn and scratched ruthlessly, the warm blood trickling down to wet the posh one-thousand-thread-count Egyptian linen sheets.

  “No! No!” She bucked and kicked, trying to rid herself of the monster that was trying to eat her alive. Her fingers dug into the shaggy fur at his throat, and she clawed to get free, pushing, fighting, trying to find somewhere vulnerable to grab, trying to do anything to get him off her, to get away.

  The thing on top of her growled like an angry dog and lifted its head to snap at her breast. Samantha felt her thin sleep shirt rip and a burning pain around her right nipple. Desperately, she tried to push the hairy muzzle away. She found the edges of its hot mouth, the jagged teeth and horribly strong jaws, and then she was past them and ramming her fingers down its throat.

  The beast gagged for a moment, its hot, rancid breath gusting out against her face. Then bit down—hard. Sharp teeth tore into the tender webbing between her thumb and forefinger.

  Terror ripped through her, making her cold all over.

  My hands! Not my hands! As a surgeon, she had always taken especially good care of her hands. She couldn’t let this monster hurt them—she couldn’t!

  Shrieking with rage and pain and fear, she bucked wildly, kicking out. Somehow her feet connected with its hairy, heaving belly and she was able to push it off her, at least a little.

  Scrambling to one side, she started to roll away. She could see the beast on the other side of the vast bed, ready to lunge at her again. A weapon! If only she could find a weapon to fight it off! But there was nothing on the bed but the ridiculously puffy goose-down pillows. Samantha grabbed one, trying to shield herself and knowing it would do no good.

  “Samantha?”

  The sound of her name made her head jerk up. It was Keller, standing in the doorway to her bedroom, his broad shoulders nearly blocking out the dim light of the hallway beyond.

  “Keller!” she gasped. “Help!”

  The beast on her bed lifted its long muzzle and growled at him, a menacing note that could mean only one thing. This is my prey—leave!

  “Get off her, you son of a bitch!” Keller’s own voice was low with possessive rage. He rushed at the bed and tackled the massive beast around the middle, dragging it to the floor.

  There was a gasp and a muffled whine, and then the animal was up and bolting through the bedroom door, bushy tail tucked between its legs.

  “Come back!” Keller roared at it. He started to chase after it, but Samantha called him back.

  “Keller . . .” Her voice was a dying croak in her throat. She could feel the blood running from her neck, soaking through her sleep shirt, coating her thighs. Her right hand felt useless—numb and tingling in a way she was afraid might mean nerve damage. But everything seemed very far away, somehow. Remote . . . distant.

  She felt like she was watching a television show that starred a woman who looked like her—exactly like her in fact. But it was only an actor—this wasn’t real. Couldn’t be real. Who went to bed in a fancy, ultraluxurious hotel room and woke up being savaged by a wolf or some kind of dog? Who . . .

  “Samantha!” Suddenly Keller was beside her. “Samantha, are you all right? Tell me you’re all right.”

  “I . . . I don’t know,” she told him in a voice that sounded oddly detached in her own ears. “Need . . . to assess the damage. Triage . . .”

  “Come on.” Slipping his arms underneath her, he lifted her gently and carried her into the bathroo