"Diana would have castrated him," she informed her friend as she leaned back against the railing and faced the Prima of the Feline Breed species.
"She would have." Merinus nodded with a smile before sobering. "What about you, Rachel? Will you kill him, or will you love him?"
"Does it matter?" she asked, knowing that Jonas wasn't a very well-liked person among either Breeds or humans.
Surprisingly, Merinus nodded. "It matters very much. You can be his salvation or his destruction. Jonas is one of the most intelligent of the Breeds, and definitely one of the most dangerous. His very nature is his own worst enemy."
"And you think I can save him?" she asked incredulously. "Merinus, when did you lose your mind?"
A rueful smile curved the other woman's lips. "Let's say I've been warned by someone who cares a great deal for him. If Jonas doesn't learn to temper himself, then he'll self-destruct and we'll lose him forever. Win or lose, stay or go, the only thing that's going to temper him is his mate. Tag, my friend, you're it," Merinus finished with the childhood rejoinder.
"It was my turn last time," Rachel argued. "Remember? When I took on your brother's temper and that mess he called an office?"
Merinus bit her lip to hide a smile, but Rachel caught the merriment in her gaze as she responded. "Oh yeah. My bad."
"Your bad indeed." She crossed her arms over her br**sts and glared back at her. "He's a pain in the ass."
"I'm sure he can be." Merinus nodded with no attempt to hide her amusement now.
"He makes me crazy, Merinus."
"He'll make you crazier," her friend promised.
"I refuse to accept this mating crap."
Merinus sighed then. "It doesn't matter if you accept it. You're here; that's all he needed. Like I said, win or lose, accept or reject, it doesn't matter. Whatever Jonas has to face with you as his mate is what he needs."
"You sound as though you've been looking into crystal balls or something." Rachel snorted.
"Perhaps I have," Merinus responded soberly now. "But really, who needs to? You've seen him. You've worked with him. I knew him before he laid eyes on you, before he sensed that you could belong to him." She leaned forward intently. "He's never known love. He's never known a caress that didn't involve some sort of payment, or a kind word that he didn't suspect didn't come with strings. And I know you, Rachel. I've watched you. You might not love him, but you care for him."
"I lust after his body," Rachel griped. "He's seriously ripped. That doesn't mean I want to risk my sanity for it."
"You care for him." Merinus shook her head in denial. "Don't lie to me. We both know you do."
"He's not completely hateful." She shrugged. "He's tolerable. I don't hate him."
"Are you in love with him?" Suspicions suddenly clouded the other woman's eyes.
"Indeed not." Rachel's eyes widened. "I haven't lost my mind yet, you know."
"Give it time." Merinus waved her hand negligently as though losing her mind were a foregone conclusion. "You haven't lived with Jonas yet."
"And you have?" Rachel questioned the confidence in her tone.
"Not on a bet." Merinus laughed. "Not even for the world.
This is one time, my friend, I do not envy you the adventure."
Just what she needed, an adventure Merinus wasn't willing to fight her for.
"You're going to owe me," Rachel promised her.
"And as always, I'll pay up." There was blissful unconcern.
Rachel had a bad feeling, a very bad feeling, things were going to get very, very complicated.
And unfortunately, she had yet to see a time when her bad feelings didn't pan out.