who could handle image distribution as needed. My uncle seemed less than impressed with Sebastian’s offering, resulting in me calling the bastard, issuing a hissed warning of imminent death if he criticized my choice of delicious buffet, and hung up before he could defend himself. Sebastian chuckled and didn’t answer his phone when it rang.
The second buffet had steak, and I would have eaten it exclusively had Sebastian not placed filled plates of other food in front of me.
For both meals, I ate at least three times what I normally did, and I beat Sebastian in quantity of food consumed in the shortest period of time. Eating my way into a food-induced coma hadn’t been a part of my plans, and I only took my turn behind the wheel when he was too fatigued to continue driving safely.
Out of the sixteen hours it took to reach Cincinnati, I drove four of them, and I handled the last leg of the trip while he slept. My virus appreciated the lion’s vulnerability, as it convinced her he trusted me to handle the important matters while we watched over him. Or he trusted my general driving skills. Either way, my virus approved.
While my virus behaved and settled down to enjoy his quiet company, I wanted to drag him off and have my way with him to make sure no one had any doubts he was mine.
I needed to apologize to Sebastian sometime soon, as I expected I would spend at least a few months convincing myself his willingness to engage in any sort of relationship with me was real. I had a difficult enough time making friends.
The flinch ruined that for me, and no matter how hard I tried, I remembered, and few made any real effort to convince me they cared enough to keep from flinching down the road.
I made people as uncomfortable as they made me.
The fear Sebastian would change his mind would crawl beneath my skin for a long time. Making him roar from frustration had been a way of keeping him at arm’s length, although I should have known better. Could something as simple as being standoffish actually drive off a lion? Or any lycanthrope, really?
Lycanthropes lived and breathed being difficult and enjoyed challenges. If I judged all lycanthropes by my parents, the virus would take over the world in a single generation. My uncles had convinced me most lycanthropes took their time and had few children, as most of the women didn’t appreciate the mechanics involved with becoming pregnant.
Children only happened when the couple worked hard enough for one, the woman was in the right part of her cycle, and the soon-to-be father kept her in bed long enough. My parents had mastered procreation, and I harbored secret suspicions the pair wanted to dominate the record charts with how many times they reproduced.
I still wondered how they managed to keep us all straight. I couldn’t, and I’d been born into the insanity.
We reached the spa at a little after three, and I debated if I could make him roar for me if I startled him awake. As I’d learned Sebastian could be sneaky when he wanted to be, I asked, “Do lions roar when startled?”
“No,” the lion replied.
“Well, that’s a damned shame. If you hadn’t replied to me, I had been planning on finding out how badly I could startle you. I wanted to find out if I could earn a roar. I thought about other ways to wake you up, but I would never be able to look my daddy in the eyes again after engaging in such things in the cab of his truck. We have arrived.” The spa, located deep in the heart of the city, had a parking lot, and my daddy’s truck had barely fit into one of the spots. I’d needed to use the camera system to park, as the spots hadn’t been designed with big trucks in mind. I unbuckled my seatbelt, stretched, and reached for the back so I could grab my purse. More like a cobra than some self-respecting cat, Sebastian kissed my cheek. I froze and blinked. “What?”
“I would have kissed your lips, but I would have had to move you around, and I didn’t want to make a scene in the truck when we can make more than a scene in our room. You also stated you wouldn’t be able to look your father in the eyes if I did such things with you in here, so