infected. More often than not, I went through most days battling with my virus over the little things, although we tended to agree on key aspects of life.
From the start, my virus had fallen for Sebastian. After so much rejection and heartbreak, it took me a lot longer to accept anyone could possibly want me, with or without scars.
Most learned how to avoid flinching, but Sebastian had never needed to learn.
They deformed me, but he saw beyond them like others couldn’t.
With the help of a pair of handcuffs he’d wrapped in fabric, some cord he’d dug out of my closet, and the ruins of his poor shirt, as he decided against damaging my quilting supplies on his quest to evict us both from the pool of unmated lycanthropes, he took control and maintained it with a ruthlessness my virus adored.
It hadn’t taken him long to get me yowling from frustration and need, and I understood my mother a lot better than I had before Sebastian had gotten his hands on me. After I landed my first and last bite, which involved clamping my teeth onto his wrist and holding on tight. I thought I’d done well, lasting over five minutes until he freed himself and lived up to his threat to gag me if I couldn’t keep quiet or behave.
Once gagged, I purred, and the louder I purred, the harder he worked to make me purr even louder.
By morning, he reduced me to a limp noodle of a mess, and when I tried to purr, it came out more as a tired groan than anything else. His solution to the problem of my small bed involved him draping me over him, and he enforced his choice by holding me close to him and tightening his grip whenever I attempted to escape.
I tested him a few times because I could, but I stayed because he was warm and comfortable. Being too tired to move also factored in my decision to stay put.
Clever, tricky man.
To add insult to the situation, he wore me out so badly I failed to notice being moved to my daddy’s truck, which Sebastian drove. Apparently, my daddy’s truck had heated seats, and the lion had stolen my blanket off my bed, which smelled strongly of him.
I snuggled into the blanket, breathed deeply, and purred.
“Are you actually awake this time?” Sebastian asked.
“How are you awake? It’s not awake time. It’s time to cuddle with me in bed,” I mumbled, checking the clock, which informed me it was two in the afternoon. “Definitely go back to bed with me time. Or cuddle on you in bed time? Whatever. This isn’t my bed.”
For a rare change, my virus had nothing to contribute, and I could only assume she was pleased with the situation. I suspected the presence of his scent on my blanket had a lot to do with her general contentment.
“You are correct. This isn’t your bed. This is your father’s truck, and I carried you to the truck around noon, after I spent an hour coaxing you into eating breakfast. I was gifted with great endurance from birth, and I work out often. I slept for a while, woke up, got bored, made breakfast, fed you breakfast, and decided to resume our trip. Since I knew you wanted to go to a spa in Cincinnati, I started driving there, although I’m not sure which spa you have a reservation for. There are four that claim they’re lycanthrope friendly. And as I’m not completely evil, I checked into your registered bounties to make sure none of your targets were on the way. There’s one near Cincinnati, but he’s a small fry. I underestimated your desperation to get surgery, as he’s only worth a thousand and is wanted alive.”
“Ah, that guy. He’ll be easy. I’ll just smack him around and tell him I’ll cut his dick off if he resists. That usually gets them to cooperate. It’s the one time being scarred is actually useful for something. When I start snarling those threats while I’m not wearing makeup, for some reason, people believe I’ll follow through. And the ones that don’t think I’ll do it get the snot beaten out of them and dragged to the CDC, where I get paid a thousand dollars for some sport. He’s just a stupid idiot who thinks he can get away with repeat failures to have his virus level checked.”
Sebastian winced. “That’s a very potent threat, and I’d be worried about that one