Scheduled to release today!
It was near dark when I showed up at Bane’s trailer, materializing in the living room. A thrill of terror raced down my spine to see no sign of Fizz or the werewolf agent. I quickly went down the hall, passing a bedroom filled with exercise equipment, and a utilitarian bathroom. The last door, the one to Bane’s bedroom was closed, and light filtered out from beneath it.
I stepped into the master bedroom, spartanly furnished with a bed, dresser, and nightstand which had all been new in the 1980’s. Pressboard chic, no less. A laptop was the dresser’s lone accessory, the nightstand a little more lavish with an alarm clock and ring of keys.
Fizz’s baby doll tee and breath-inhibiting jeans were a pile on the tan-carpeted floor. Fizz herself was laid out on the bed, clad in pink nylon bra and panties. Bane stretched out next to her, propped up on one elbow. Eye popping in bare-chested glory, the crotch of his jeans livid with erection, he trailed fingertips over Fizz’s bare midriff.
“Wake up, Brandilynn,” he whispered, his golden eyes molten. “Wake up, little girl.”
Resolutely ignoring the surge of heat I felt looking at the agent (and how delicious it would have been to open my eyes to see that looming over me), I parked my hands on my hips and spat, “I don’t think so, you mangy mutt.”
I wished I had a rolled-up newspaper to pop him on the nose with. Some guys will accept a ‘no’ in the present, hoping it would change to ‘yes’ in a future setting if they kept pushing the issue. Bane was apparently one of those.
I settled in to wait and watch. It was only a few minutes later that Fizz’s eyelids fluttered open. She blinked slowly a few times, taking in her surroundings and the hopeful shifter watching her carefully. I had to laugh when she screeched in his face.
“What? You! Cop!” She rolled over, a windmill of skinny arms and legs before she hit the floor running.
Bane lunged after her. “Oh shit, Fizz, wait!”
She shrieked as his fingers slid across her back. “Get off me! I ain’t going down for you, Bane! They ain’t killing me over you and that dead girl!”
She scrambled free of him and took off down the hall. Still laughing, I transported into the living room, slipping into Fizz before she could get out the front door. I turned to face Bane as he barreled after. Not realizing Fizz’s body had stopped and now waited for him, his momentum carried him nicely into my swinging fist. I got him square in the mouth, spreading his lips in a funhouse grin. It didn’t drop him, but it did stop him cold in his tracks.
I could feel Fizz’s shock to find herself usurped again, followed by a surge of mean delight as a few drops of blood welled from Bane’s lower lip. We were on the same page as far as putting the agent in his place, though for different reasons.
I folded skinny arms over a nearly flat chest. “Now that I have your attention, what do you think you’re doing waiting for me to show up in your bed?”
Bane stood over me in shock, rubbing his busted lip. “Brandilynn?”
“No, dog breath, it’s Zsa Zsa Gabor. I told you, I have a boyfriend!” I yelled, uncaring if he had a spy outside or even hiding in his fridge. Then I slapped him for good measure.
He growled, the sound slipping between lengthening canines. I stepped close and growled back.
“What, are you going to try to scare me into sex? Force me with threats? Is that the kind of man you are?”
Bane’s eyes widened, and he took a step back, raising his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay, I was just mad you slapped me. I’ve got the hint. Sorry.” He had the grace to flush with embarrassment.
I tapped my bare foot on the nubby carpet. “You’d really be sorry if I’d hit you in my old body. It was a lot stronger than this one.” I ramped up my anger, determined to make sure he would stop chasing me. “And if you try anything else, the next hint will be a baseball bat upside your stupid head!”
He scowled at me, his ears flattening to his skull. “I said I was sorry. I will never try to seduce you again.”
“You’d better not, jerk.” I stormed past him, returning to the bedroom to yank Fizz’s horrible clothes on. It seemed to take forever to struggle into those ridiculously tight jeans.
When I turned around, Bane was in the doorway, watching me. He didn’t say anything untoward or make a move, but the bulge in his pants told me his interest in me hadn’t waned one bit.
Too bad. With the memory of Tristan and Dan’s pained expressions as I’d taken punishment still fresh in my mind, I found it almost easy to dismiss the handsome were. To distract him I asked, “When is Fizz due for work?”
Those golden eyes drank me in, and his rumbling voice trembled my bones. “About forty-five minutes. I’ll take you on my bike.”
Fizz’s stomach chose that moment to announce its emptiness. And her head felt heavy with the continued effects of the drug. “We’d better hit some fast food and coffee. I’m feeling all sludgy and starved here. Spot me five bucks on that?” It wasn’t really a request. In my opinion Bane owed me for his attempt to get me in yet another compromising position.
His slow smile, all the more devastating for its bad wolf image because of the swollen lip, made me uncomfortable. “Sure.”
I pushed past him, trying not to notice the admiration in his voice and eyes. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear he was more interested in me than ever. For my part, I was determined to not get gooey over Bane again, no matter how darned good he looked shirtless and wearing that pirate’s grin.
