Cougar Bait Read online

  Dialing Sadie’s number, she put the phone to her ear and was surprised when a deep, male voice answered.

  “Hello?”

  “Um, hello? I’m trying to reach Sadie Becker?” she said.

  “Samantha?” The deep voice held a note of relief. “Are you okay?”

  “Uh, yes. Wait . . . Mathis?” she asked cautiously.

  “Yeah!” Her new brother-in-law to be sounded like he was grinning. “Damn, I’m glad you called! We were about to head to the airport—Sadie’s been nearly hysterical since last night.”

  “Is she all right?” Samantha asked anxiously.

  “She will be once she’s knows you’re okay. She kept saying you were in danger—that she could feel someone was hurting you.” His voice dipped to a lower register. “Is that true? You need some help out there? Because any kin of Sadie’s is kin to me, and we Bucks take care of our own.”

  Samantha was touched by his offer of help and protection. It seemed her sister had found a real keeper.

  “Thank you, Mathis,” she said warmly. “But I’m fine—really. Although I was in some danger last night, I made it through all right. I—”

  “Mathis, who is it? Is it about Sammie?” a familiar voice asked in the background.

  “It’s her—it’s Samantha—”

  “Oh, thank God!” There were tears of relief in Sadie’s voice when she took the receiver. “Sammie, what happened to you? I had the worst feeling—like you were being killed!”

  “Well, you weren’t far off,” Samantha said grimly, and proceeded to fill her sister in on the details of the attack.

  “So this Hyena Shifter just came right in your room and went after you?” Sadie sounded horrified. “How did you get away?”

  “I didn’t,” Samantha told her. “Keller heard me screaming and came in and chased the other Shifter away.”

  “Keller? Wait—Liam Keller is there in Vegas with you? How is that possible when you just operated on him a couple of days ago? I thought he was at death’s door.”

  Samantha shrugged. “He healed himself by Shifting—at least that’s what he told me. And I’m inclined to believe him. Shifters appear to have, uh, some pretty amazing powers of healing.” She cleared her throat. “He, uh, healed me too, after the attack last night.”

  “He what? How?” Sadie demanded.

  “By . . .” Samantha cleared her throat again. “By licking me actually. My, uh, throat and shoulder were pretty severely lacerated and today you can’t even see a scratch on me.” She wasn’t about to say anything about the other parts of her that Keller had healed—even with her twin, it was embarrassing to discuss.

  “You’re kidding me—Shifters can do that? I mean I am one and I didn’t even know that.”

  “Cougars can—the males, anyway. I don’t know about other Shifters. Also . . .” Samantha sighed. “A Cougar male apparently always knows his rightful mate—which in this case would be me. So that’s another superpower you can chalk up to team Shifter. Superhealing . . . super wife-finding ability . . . I mean, who knows what else they can do?” She gave a ragged little laugh that came out as half a sob.

  “Okay, what happened?” Sadie could clearly hear the hurt in Samantha’s voice. “What did Keller do?”

  “Oh, he’s just up to his old tricks—wanting somebody to have his baby. Only this time the somebody was me.” Samantha tried to keep her voice light, but suddenly she found herself right on the edge of tears. God, what was wrong with her?

  “He wanted you to have his baby? The same way he wanted me to? What’s wrong with that guy?” Sadie demanded indignantly.

  “To be fair, he didn’t just want me to have his baby—he also wanted to settle down and get married. I mean, I’ve barely known him more than a few days!” Samantha exploded. “Who does he think he is, wanting me to give up my career and my whole life just to be with him?”

  “He wanted to marry you? He never asked me that, not even when he wanted me to have his baby.” Sadie sounded like she was frowning. “Are you in Rejuvenation now? Because the Juvie scent you put out during that time will drive guys crazy. I certainly learned that the hard way.”

  “No, that’s the weird thing,” Samantha exclaimed. “I’m still forty. I haven’t changed a bit, and he still fell for me. Or at least he made me believe he did.” She pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to drive back the tension headache that was threatening. “I kept pointing out to him that I was too old for him, and I couldn’t give him a Shifter baby—or not one with an active Shifter Gene—but he didn’t seem to care.”

  “Wow—sounds like he fell for you hard,” Sadie said. “And maybe . . . you fell for him a little bit too?”

  Samantha sighed. Her twin always knew when she had something she wanted to hide—even if she was hiding it from herself.

  “I don’t want to talk about that,” she said shortly.

  “All right, I’m sorry.” Sadie sounded contrite. “It’s just all so strange. And after he told us he couldn’t love anyone and he didn’t want to get emotionally involved with anybody. That’s so weird.”

  “I thought so too.” Samantha ran a hand through her hair. “Look, Sadie, I’m almost to the airport so I need to go. But I wanted to let you know I’m okay, and I’m headed back to Tampa.”

  “Promise to call the minute the plane touches down,” Sadie demanded. “I want to know you’re safe. You don’t know how scared I was for you last night, Sammie.”

  “I can imagine—I was scared for me too,” Samantha said dryly. “But as it turns out, I’m fine.”

  “Your body might be fine, but it sounds like your heart is a little bruised,” Sadie murmured. “Are you sure you don’t want to come back and stay with me and Mathis for a little while?”

  “And interrupt the nonstop nookie and baby-making festival the two of you have going on?” Samantha snorted laughter. “Not likely.”

  “Oh, come on—we’re not that bad. Well . . .” Sadie stifled a laugh. “No, that’s a lie. We’re pretty much at it all the time. In fact, I see Mathis eyeing me now. I was too upset last night, so it’s been a while since we . . . you know.”

  “What, like six or seven hours since you boarded the nookie train? You poor thing!” Samantha snorted again. “Well don’t let me hold you back.”

  “I’m just glad you’re all right. Please be safe and call me when you get to Tampa.” A note of anxiety crept into Sadie’s voice. “You don’t think that awful Hyena Shifter would try to follow you there, do you?”

  “Keller seems to think they operate almost exclusively out of Vegas,” Samantha said. “Besides, how would he find me? I’ll be at the other end of the country.”

  “I guess you’re right.” Sadie sounded a little more relaxed. “Okay, love you, Sammie. Call me when you touch down.”

  “Will do.” Samantha blew her a kiss and they hung up just as the limo pulled into the airport.

  As they drove through a private entrance up to a sleek jet parked on the tarmac, she wished briefly that Keller were there with her, that they were taking a trip together just for the hell of it. If only he hadn’t pushed so hard and wanted too much too soon! She might have been willing to date him casually for a while and see where things led. But to propose marriage and babies on the first date was just scary!

  Put him out of your mind, Samantha, she advised herself. You’re going to go back to your life in Tampa and forget all about him.

  Right. Forget all about him.

  Samantha sighed. There was no way in hell.

  * * *

  Keller waited an hour to be certain Samantha was gone before going back up to her room. There was much to do, and he wanted to see to it himself, though he certainly could have had an underling manage it. But this was personal.

  Taking the DO NOT DISTURB sign off the doorknob of Samantha’s room, he stepped inside and took a deep breath. Under the reek of the Hyena Shifter and the coppery smell of blood was Samantha’s scent—light and fresh and dev
astatingly feminine.

  Keller shook his head, trying to ignore the subtle perfume of her skin and hair. Her smooth skin . . . her silky hair . . . her gorgeous, lush, full curves . . . No! He had to stop this. Had to snap out of the lovesick trance he’d somehow fallen into and get on with business.

  Lifting his chin, he went into the bedroom and surveyed the blood-splattered sheets and pillows littering the bed. It would never do to leave them there—they would cause questions he didn’t have time to answer. Besides, he wanted to have the sheets analyzed at one of his labs. If the Hyena Shifter had left even the smallest trace of DNA, Keller might be able to track the son of a bitch down. And if he did . . .

  “He’s dead,” he growled, speaking the threat aloud. He could still remember the abject terror in Samantha’s eyes when he’d come rushing into the room the night before. He could still hear the panic in her voice when she begged him to save her from the beast that was savaging her.

  God—how could any male do that to a helpless female? Even in his Cougar form, Keller knew, he would never be capable of such an offense. Females were to be protected and cared for—not tortured and mauled. Whoever the Shifter was, he was some kind of psychopath who needed to be put out of commission. And Keller was going to see that he was—personally.

  Quickly, trying not to remember the fear in Samantha’s eyes, he began bundling up the bloodstained bedding. There were a few spots of blood on the mattress itself, but he flipped it over, knowing that the cleaning staff would almost certainly not get around to flipping it again for ages.

  He stuffed the sheets and pillows into a large plastic garbage bag he’d brought with him and was just about to go when he felt something hard under his shoe. Frowning, he bent down by the side of the bed and looked at the object he’d stepped on.

  It was a hypodermic.

  Uttering a low curse, Keller fished another, smaller plastic bag out of his pocket, and picked the syringe up carefully. An errant beam of sunlight coming through the blinds struck it just right, and the long needle attached to it glittered silver in the light.

  Keller held it up to get a closer look. Inside the plastic barrel was a small amount of some dark orange liquid. He looked down at the cream-colored carpeting, but there was no corresponding orange spot on the floor. Clearly whatever the liquid was, most of it had been injected.

  Injected into Samantha!

  In his mind’s eye, Keller saw the small pinprick wound on her upper arm. His heart began to pound as a surge of protectiveness overcame him. What the hell was this orange liquid and what was it intended to do to her? How might it hurt her? She’d seemed completely healthy—if not very well rested—the last time he’d seen her. So whatever it was hadn’t had any effect . . . yet.

  Keller frowned and studied the hypodermic some more. Had the Hyena Shifter broken in and staged the attack to hide the fact that he’d injected Samantha with some kind of medicine? If so, why?

  He weighed the syringe in his hand. Just in case, he would have the orange liquid analyzed. And he would have to call Samantha to make sure she was all right and let her know what was going on.

  Well, that was going to be a fun phone call, Keller thought grimly. If she’d even answer the phone when she saw his number. She’d probably think he was still pursuing her, but Keller wouldn’t stoop to that. He knew how to handle rejection and move on, he told himself. He’d learned it the hard way in the past.

  Still, she had to be warned. Even if it was painful to hear her sweet voice again when he was trying to forget her, Keller would make the call.

  He had no choice.

  Chapter 11

  Samantha started feeling wrong on the plane ride home to Tampa. Not sick exactly, just . . . wrong.

  She couldn’t put a finger on the cause of the strange sensation that made her body feel heavy and achy all over—maybe she was just tired from having so little sleep lately. And she could feel a headache coming on—a real doozy starting right in her temples. Great, that was no fun.

  By the time they landed, she was feeling even worse. She didn’t call Sadie—she didn’t feel like talking to anyone, not even her twin. Instead she sent a short text saying she was fine, and got one back in return—an emoji of a smiley face blowing a kiss.

  That made her smile—a little. But the smile turned into a wince as the headache began to grow worse. God, she had to get home. She’d had migraines in the past—not often and usually only when she was under stress—but this was shaping up to be a bad one.

  Probably stressed out from dealing with all of Keller’s crap, she thought, feeling irritated. Damn it, why did he have to be so freaking unreasonable and demanding?

  Not to mention gorgeous, charming, and capable of genuine empathy and caring, which was certainly something she never would have guessed when she first met him. Of course, that had only lasted until she refused to settle down with him and have two point five kids, but still. . . .

  Samantha tried to put the big Shifter out of her mind as she dragged through the airport parking garage to her car. It was hot and stuffy inside, although not nearly as much as it would have been in the summer. Even in the fall, though, it was humid. Tampa never really cooled down and dried out except for a few weeks around January and February.

  Somehow Samantha managed to get home, although her head was pounding by the time she did. Sleep—she needed sleep in a cool, dark room, she told herself desperately. If she could just have a few hours of uninterrupted slumber, she might be able to kick this thing.

  She stumbled into her bedroom and fell on the bed, not even bothering to kick her shoes off. With a groan, she threw an arm over her eyes wanting to shut out even the tiny bit of light that came through the crack in the blinds. She wished she could muster the energy to get up and throw a blanket over that crack, but she couldn’t. At that moment she suddenly felt so fatigued she couldn’t even imagine ever having energy again.

  With a little moan of pure weariness, she dragged the corner of her blue-and-white coverlet over her shoulders, shivered, and turned on her side, away from the window.

  At long last, sleep closed around her, and she knew no more.

  * * *

  Some time later, a strange feeling woke Samantha up from what felt like the longest nap ever.

  God, I’m stiff! Feel like I’ve been sleeping for days!

  Glancing at the digital clock, which showed the time and date, on her night table, she was disconcerted to see it was true. She really had been asleep for two whole days and nights.

  Crap! Good thing I cleared my surgery schedule and took the whole week off for the convention. But I don’t understand why—

  A strange sensation cut through her thoughts like a knife. Immediately, Samantha realized it was the feeling that had woken her up in the first place. But what was it?

  It started with an itching all over. At first she thought she was having some kind of allergic reaction. But when she looked at her arms and legs, there was no rash or hives. The itching got worse and worse until she didn’t think she could stand it anymore. But just as she was sitting up to go to the bathroom and look at herself in better light, the strange sensation stopped as abruptly as it had started.

  Samantha was cautiously relieved, even though the itching had left her skin feeling strange and tight—almost too small for her body. Which was weird, but it wasn’t the horrible itching, so she could deal with it.

  Shower, she thought, getting out of bed and stumbling groggily to the bathroom. I’m itchy because I need a shower.

  She usually got in the shower right after a plane ride, but this time she’d fallen right into bed instead because she was so tired. Doubtless she’d feel better after she scrubbed herself all over and washed her hair.

  Fumbling with the knobs on her shower, she got the hot water going and climbed in.

  She was shampooing her hair when she started to feel a tingling sensation like a million tiny fingers massaging her scalp. Startled, Samantha rinsed the s
hampoo away and climbed out of the shower without bothering to condition her hair. Wrapping herself in a towel, she looked in the mirror over the bathroom sink.

  She was a natural blonde, but since her late thirties she’d started to see a few silvery strands appear in her honey-colored hair. She normally dyed them to match the rest of her hair, and in fact, she was in need of a dye job now because her roots were showing.

  Or they had been showing. As she looked in the mirror, Samantha realized that all the silvery-gray hairs were gone. They should be especially prominent right now because her hair was darker when it was wet, but they were nowhere to be found. What the hell was going on?

  When she stopped paying attention to her hair, she saw that her face had changed too. In fact, it was in the act of changing. As the tingling sensation that had started in the shower intensified and spread, she stared in disbelief as the wrinkles at the corners of her mouth filled themselves in. Then the slight but noticeable (to her anyway) crows’ feet at the corners of her eyes started to fill in too. Last, the wrinkle between her eyebrows smoothed away, leaving her face as smooth and firm as it had been in her early twenties.

  “Oh . . . oh my God,” Samantha whispered. The tingling was moving down—spreading across her body in waves. She dropped the towel and looked down to see her breasts actually in the act of lifting and firming themselves up, almost as though some unseen hand was molding her flesh like modeling clay. Her belly smoothed out too, and though she remained full figured, her inner thighs firmed up considerably, as did her ass, which became practically pert.

  Just look at me—I have a bubble butt! Holy crap, I haven’t looked like this since my first year of college! I feel great too—no more aches and pains!

  What was going on with her? Sadie had told her she noticed the same things when she was going through her change and becoming a Shifter, but they had happened over the course of a couple of weeks—not all at once in a few minutes. This couldn’t be normal, even for someone like her with the Shifter Gene, could it? It just couldn’t be right.