your ability to pick a fight with many at one time and win comes from. That’s how you’ve been tussling with your family since you’ve been little, isn’t it? You’ve been fighting your brothers all at one time, so you’re practiced at dodging attacks from multiple sides. Although, I will admit I’m surprised they would even fight with you.”
“I gave them a choice. They could put up a good fight or get an even worse beating. And if they fought well enough, I’d purr a little. I can manipulate my entire clan with a single purr.” I rarely did so, as I hated the masquerade, which meant I only purred when I meant it—or Sebastian roared at me.
“I will never judge them for being manipulated by your purrs. I’ve turned making you purr when I roar into an art. I have you trained now. If I roar, you purr. Under any circumstances. You’ll hear me roar, and because you have been so conditioned to purr at the sound of my roar, you will do so without thinking about it.”
I raised a brow and regarded him with my coolest expression. “Really, Sebastian?”
“Really. We can test it. When you least expect it, I will roar at you, and I will see if you purr. If you purr whenever you hear me roar, I have successfully conditioned you to be happy when I roar.”
I struggled to find a problem with being conditioned to purr when he roared. “Okay. You can test it. You’ll probably win, because your roars do make me happy, especially if I’m the reason you’re roaring. It’s such a nice roar. Why wouldn’t I purr when I hear it?”
“I underestimated how much my roar motivates you,” he admitted. “And I’m debating how to handle the problem of your scars.”
“At least you think they’re a problem. Everyone else thinks I’m the problem for not accepting them. Sorry, but I’m not accepting damned scars that make my baby brothers cry when they see me, not when I can work to get them removed.”
“Well, they are a problem. You’re unhappy with them. I wasn’t lying to you. What those scars represent is sexy to me. It shows the world you’re strong—and those who flinch because of them are weak. I’m thinking I’ll go with a blindfold. As in I blindfold you. Then I can do whatever I want, which honestly, really appeals to me because I am a lion and wish to rule over all.”
“I see we’re moving straight into the realm of the kinky on our first adventure. I’m blaming my mother for this one, because she’s probably the reason I am as I am. My brothers would never come up with such a scheme, and my father enjoys trying to goad my mother into killing him. Their foreplay is attempted murder. Or that’s what it sounds like. Lynxes are loud.”
Sebastian’s sly smile only served to increase my desire to rip him out of his shirt immediately. “Then let’s play a game, Harri.”
While I loved when he snarled Wells at me, the way he growled my name left me breathless. “What game?”
“Since you enjoy breaking the mold so much, my goal is to make you make as much noise as possible. Your goal is to purr for my enjoyment. But should you do anything other than purr, I get to gag you.”
My laughter escaped before I could stop it. “You’ve been waiting years to gag me, haven’t you?”
“How’d you guess?”
“Well, I wasn’t making you roar by simpering and fluttering my lashes at you, that’s for sure. That has something to do with my guess.”
Sebastian chuckled. “You’re right. You weren’t making me roar through any simpers or lash fluttering. Want to play my game?”
“Hell yes. I’ll show you where my sewing supplies are, and you’re free to use whatever you need, and the rope is in the closet.” I pointed at the entry closet, which I used for random storage. “And if you’re slow about it, I’ll let my virus off her leash, and she knows exactly what she wants to do with you.”
“You act like you’re going to be capable of keeping your virus leashed by the time I’m done with you.”
“I have very good control, thank you very much.”
“We’ll see about that.”
Only a fool challenged a lion.
The lycanthropy virus often dictated a lot about my life, ranging from who might or might not be an eligible partner, how I needed to behave around the uninfected, and how I behaved around the