Chapter One
Maven looked at the elegant vehicles parked in the lot next to her serviceable SUV. One of those things didn’t belong, and she wanted to get Alice and get the hell out of Dodge before anything happened.
She felt a weird tingle as she headed up the steps of the old stone manor, and she eased the door open quietly, slipping into the shadows that seemed to be everywhere. Alice had sent her an emergency text twenty minutes earlier for an emergency extraction.
The Halloween party of Urgent Books was underway, and it had taken a turn for the serious adult. Maven moved toward the ballroom, but in the dim illumination, she could see that there were dozens of writhing bodies, and she saw Alice in the middle of them, gripping her partner and riding him with no signs of distress. Maven moved back into the shadows and backed away from the orgy.
She hit the wall and slid her hand along it, looking for the nearest door to escape the hypnotic event happening a few meters away. It was like they were all moving to the same beat.
A hand grabbed hers, and she turned her head, staring up into a shadow with two white-bright eyes. “You shouldn’t be here.”
The creature hauled her through the halls and shoved her into what was a very normal kitchen for such a spooky home. “Remain here. Argo, keep an eye on her.”
She staggered forward and caught herself on the island while the doors to the kitchen all glowed soft white. She touched the glass door to the rear garden, and her fingers sparked painfully. “Ow!”
There was a growl, but it was a weird growl. She turned, and a large spotted cat advanced on her. Maven stared at it and moved slowly to the nearby window seat, slowly sitting down and leaning back against the edge of the window.
The cat advanced on her and hopped up into the window seat next to her, sniffing her ear, her neck, her armpit, cleavage, and he focused on her corset and the black satin cord that hid the corset from view. He—and she was quite sure it was he with a name like Argo—spent a little too much time near her groin for her peace of mind. He slowly lowered himself to her lap and began a rattling purr that made her really aware of his position across her thighs.
She reached out and touched the silky fur on his neck, expecting to feel coarse fur and astonished at the silky soft stuff. Maven stroked his neck and body with one hand while the other kept her balance on the window seat.
Maven sighed and muttered to him. “This is all very weird. Alice sent me a text to pick her up, and I got here as fast as I could, but that party looked like it had been going for a lot longer than twenty minutes. So, I am sitting here with a huge cat made of pointies and wondering what the hell is going on. I don’t suppose that you have any idea, Argo?”
He purred and looked up at her with shockingly green eyes.
“This is not the way I planned to spend my Friday night. I was just at a friend’s costume party, and now, I am stuck. I am pretty sure that you know what is going on but don’t really have an interest in stupid human stuff, right?”
He settled more firmly against her groin with his head, and he purred violently.
She tried to ease out from under him four times in the next half hour, but midnight came and went, and she was stuck under the cat whose head spanned her lap and who seemed to be very amused by the fact that the contact slightly aroused her.
Maven was mortified. She was a light touch away from an orgasm, but the huge cat had fallen asleep. Was it immoral if she was prey?
The doors flickered, and she tried to ease out from under Argo. He flexed his claws against her thigh. She settled and winced at the pressure. “Okay. Got it.”
He didn’t let up the pressure, so she blew a column of air into his face. He backed up and shook his head.
The dark figure from earlier entered, and his eyes were less glowy and more a cold grey. “Who are you, and why are you here?”
“Alice sent me a text just before eleven.” She looked down and sighed at the silky gold fur that decorated the front