Cougar Bait Read online

  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?�€