earn some of those roars. Truth be told, I’d assumed you were a different cat species rather than a lynx, but having seen your file and knowing your call sign, I shouldn’t have been surprised. At all.”
If his goal was to make me purr, he was doing a good job of it. “As long as I can taunt you into roaring, you can resist however much you want, but I will get my roars.”
“I am known to roar when frustrated, when I need to establish that I am the most dominant of felines, and when I’m particularly satisfied. That is three ways you could coerce me into roaring for your enjoyment.”
“You? More dominant than me? I am a lynx, and lynxes are the most superior of cats. We have a monopoly on plush fur, my paws are bigger, and I am a fierce huntress.”
“We’re going to have to do a comparison of our paws, obviously. And our fur. And we’ll have to posture while doing so.” Sebastian stretched, and he did so in such a way his muscles flexed beneath his suit.
Meow. “Keep doing that. That makes you look rather strong. My mother would immediately understand why I might bring home a lion when she sees those muscles.”
If I wasn’t careful, I’d start purring without being able to use his roars to mask the sound.
“I see your mother enjoys brute strength. Which lions have.”
“My mother is half my father’s size, and the rougher he gets, the happier she is. We, that is the rest of my family, myself included, flee when she starts trying to bully my father into using his strength. It’s a lynx thing. We’re rowdy.”
“As lions are substantially stronger and larger than lynxes, I am sure I can appease your need to struggle. Lionesses enjoy a good struggle before being loved into submission. Lions are patient when it comes to subduing stubborn female felines. How does a lynx compare to a lioness? That is the question.”
“Lynxes are obviously superior. This shouldn’t even be up for debate.”
“If you appreciate being subdued, I am concerned about the fate of this truck.” Sebastian examined the cab, making thoughtful noises in his throat. “Perhaps we should handle that other business first, and then I will make appropriate accommodations so you can be properly subdued without damaging your daddy’s truck. I had not scheduled time for subduing a female feline today. I hope you can finish your work quickly, and I have decided that I am going to add additional punishments should you be scratched or bruised.”
I did not need any guidance from either of my parents to fully comprehend what the lion had in mind. “But will you roar, Sumners?”
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
Five
We can fight over the body.
In addition to a paycheck, if everything went well, I would get a lion, and my virus wanted me to hurry up and get to the serious work of taming Sebastian Sumners. If my virus had her way, I would have pulled over, yanked him out of the truck, and secured him on the side of the road without a care in hell who witnessed me snapping and tearing him out of his suit and having my way with him.
Given ten more minutes, my virus would spike so hard I wouldn’t be able to see straight for a week.
I did not have a week to appease her or stake claims on the lion who tested me in all ways possible.
I parked the truck at the seamstress’s shop, wondering if I’d have to search for the asshole wolf who’d taken away a woman’s right to choose her mate and infected her with the virus against her will. With luck, the asshole would be present at the shop, which was one of his usual habits, or so claimed the bounty. “Steal-killing lions owe me extra nice steak,” I warned. “And compensation for stealing my kill. Good lions do not bother the lynx out for a kill. My call sign is Murder Mittens, not Distressed Damsel. Are we clear?”
Sebastian chuckled. “Should he bruise you and you do not immediately dispatch him, we can fight over the body after I educate him on the error of his ways. He won’t learn from his mistake, as he will be dead, but I will observe initially. I am a lazy lion, and if I can admire when a woman shows off her skills, I absolutely will.”
My virus wanted to drag him off somewhere and learn a lot of skills