Instinctive - By Cathryn Fox Page 0,8

seat, suddenly uncomfortable. Goddamn. Lips like those belonged to a wild, uninhibited woman, a woman far different from the one portrayed in the picture. Full, sensuous, erotic—everything a young panther’s wet dreams were made of. He wondered if that sweet, lush mouth of hers ever got her into trouble.

He felt a curious clench in his gut as lust jumped up to kick him in the groin. Okay, so if she wasn’t his type, then why the fuck was he wondering how that pretty pink mouth of hers would feel wrapped around his ever-expanding cock?

Jesus . . .

Berating himself, he resisted the urge to take his dick into his palms and stroke it as it hungered for sexual attention.

Her sexual attention.

He quickly marshaled his wayward thoughts and considered the matter at hand. What would bring a cultured, well-to-do city girl like her to Serene? He turned his attention back to the group and worked to play catch-up on the conversation.

“A princess, then,” Devon murmured. Slyck could feel the pleasure resonate through the demon’s body as he thumbed through the pictures, his amber eyes thoroughly devouring every delicious detail. “It’s been a long time since I’ve sampled a princess,” he mumbled under his breath, a reminder that even though they’d all come together for a common cause, at the root of their existences, they were all still primal beings ruled by lust, hunger, and primitive urges.

Vall arched a brow. “I give her a month before the town eats her alive.”

“Mmm.” Quinn flashed his white teeth, then brushed his tongue over his protruding incisors. “Can I go first?”

Harmony leveled Quinn with a glare. “Down, boy. You won’t be eating anyone alive.”

“Killjoy,” Quinn shot back, an edge of humor in his voice as he turned his attention to his near-empty sack of blood. It was just like Quinn to find amusement in the situation, absurd master vamp that he was.

Slyck remained quiet during the whole exchange. Oddly fascinated, he found himself drawn to the pictures, despite a hard-fought battle to look the other way. There was something about the young woman in the photo that caused his blood to rush a little faster and his heart to beat a little stronger, which went completely against his feline nature. His skin prickled, and suddenly it took effort to breathe and organize his thoughts.

“Children, please.” Harmony gave a light laugh and toyed with the charm dangling around her neck. “Sometimes it’s like being in a room full of fledglings,” she teased, then tapped her fingertip on the picture. “From what I understand she comes from Chicago’s Gold Coast and is here to turn around cosmetics sales at the department store. I put her in the rental property on Mulberry Lane. The house across the street from you, Slyck, so you and your team can keep a close eye on her actions in the interim.”

An eye on her.

A hand on her.

A tongue on her.

Oh boy . . .

Warmth spread out over Slyck’s skin as an odd tingling caused the hairs on his nape to rise. What the fuck was the matter with him? No woman had ever elicited such a bizarre response from him—especially of the nonpanther variety. He bit back a raspy moan of pleasure before it rumbled to the surface, and tried to make sense of his reactions to her.

“So if we buy her product and help her turn around cosmetics sales, won’t that get her out of Serene quicker?” Quinn asked.

“It’s only a temporary solution,” Harmony assured him. “If sales decline after she leaves, who’s to say the company won’t send more employees in the future? And if we’re forced to continually make their stay permanent, it would raise too much suspicion.”

Slyck remained quiet through the exchange, his mind racing, his cock thickening.

“What’s the matter, Slyck? Cat got your tongue?” Vall questioned, ever determined to get under Slyck’s skin.

“Fuck off, Vall,” Slyck returned, no longer in the mood to humor him. With passion segueing to anger, Slyck quickly pulled himself together and splayed his hands on the table, needing the meeting to end immediately. “You all know the routine. If she’s still here after one month, we reconvene and decide her future. Until then tell your brethren to keep their distance, and make her stay as unwelcome as possible.” His eyes met and locked with Vall’s. “And remember, no council member is to ‘play’ with her, or ‘mark’ her before judgment, should it come to that.”

Jaclyn had but one month to get out of