While I’m doing that, I want you to check the local black markets for repeat buyers of top-grade pixie dust.”
I expected my commentary would annoy the lion, but to my surprise, he made a thoughtful noise without growling at me over my general plan. “Elaborate on temporary microchipping, please.”
“It’s a pill that doesn’t digest. It usually stays in the body for up to forty-eight hours. I’d take a pill every morning, and you’d track them all. This way, you can track my general pattern.”
“Would you consent to a general microchipping?”
“Maybe.” I considered my general situation, our target’s inclination to murder his victims in gruesome fashions after probably impregnating them, and came to the conclusion only an idiot would decline microchipping. “Okay, yes. For this job, I will consent to being microchipped, but I may ask to have it removed after the job is over.”
“Done. I’ll contact the CDC about getting you chipped tomorrow. And you’ll probably get paid a bonus, as the microchipping technology for agents is still under development and needs to be tested.”
“I accept bonuses without remorse. Ask about the neutralizers and preventatives for pixie dust and other compounds like it while you’re booking me in for a microchipping.”
“Anything else you’ll need for the job?”
“Yes. Business appropriate attire for a woman who will never be anything other than a secretary, and not one of those pretty secretaries who gets bent over their boss’s desk during lunch.” I glanced at Sebastian before fixing my attention back on the road where it belonged. “If you don’t have a desk appropriate for that sort of lunchtime play when we’re at home, I’m going to be forced to use my saddest lynx techniques until we get such a desk.”
“Luckily for you, I do have such a desk, and I am pleased to help you shop for the appropriate clothes for this endeavor. However, you will have to accept being dressed in at least one outfit suitable for a high-classed secretary, but when I take advantage of you over lunch will be dependent on how cleanly you pull this job off. The scale will be as ruthless as how I plan on taking advantage of you, so you want to be living perfection when you take your target—or targets—out. A single bruise will be punished harshly.”
“What if I bruised myself during the job? Like if I smack my hard head into his and knock him out that way?”
“Self-inflicted bruises will not result in punishment, just like you testing the scissors didn’t result in you being penalized. If he hurts you, that’s what I care about. If you hurt yourself giving him the beating of his life? Just be honest about it, and you’ll be appropriately rewarded. I’ll be upset if you break your hand on his face, but I will respect the amount of force you needed to use to do that, and that falls into the reward territory. Fair?”
“That’s fair.”
Sebastian leaned forward to play with the car’s navigation system, scrolling through the upcoming roads to see where they went. “We have two hours longer than I thought we would have when I made the reservation and told the hotel when we’d arrive. If you don’t want to be ravished by a lion, keep driving as normal. Otherwise, take me to a secluded location. I wish to hunt a lynx and ravish her.”
“Oh no! I’m going to be ravished. Whatever shall I do?”
“Run, and when I catch you, enjoy yourself. I know I will.”
While I wasn’t a slacker in the size department, Sebastian took the whole majestic lion thing to extremes. While he kept his hair neatly trimmed in a fruitless attempt to dodge the mane jokes, his actual mane demanded my immediate attention, and with rumbling purrs, I snuggled into the thick fur.
I needed many hours snuggled in front of a fireplace with him and his mane.
He gave me a few minutes to indulge, before he nipped at my neck hard enough I hissed at him. He roared and swatted me with his paw with sufficient force to knock me over. I screamed at him, unleashing the full potential of my voice, which earned me another roar.
While torn between shrieking at him and purring, I’d settle for purring after he lived up to his promises.
Okay. If he wanted to play, I’d play. I inhaled, and let loose my shrillest call, extending it for as long as I could.
In the wild, female lynxes used such a call to notify the possibly deaf males