“No.” I smiled and ran my fingers over my lips again. The taste of her lingered there, but there was something I wanted to taste more than a stolen kiss.
“Untie me,” she insisted, her voice rising into something shrill. Panic set into her already blown pupils from the low light. “Please.”
She flapped uselessly at the shelving behind her and began to pull, but to no avail. I’d tested the room out for a bigger girl, as my tastes ran varied, but as she was almost half of that, her efforts resulted in no change to her situation at all.
“No.” I grabbed a low stool that put me around her waist height and enjoyed looking up at her. “Why did you come to the club tonight?”
“What?” Her gaze flickered down to meet mine where I sat, and her breathing slowed, taking her panic level down a notch.
“Good girl,” I murmured. “Keep breathing. Don’t want you fading from an ongoing attack now, do we?” I ran the tips of my fingers soothingly along her calf then a little higher, grazingjust beneath the hem of her short dress, then traced over the swell of her breasts where they pressed against the tops of her corset top, fighting for breathing room.
Her breath hitched as I began my return journey, and I hid a smile.
“No,” she whispered, her voice cracking with uncertainty. She followed the path of my fingers with her gaze alone. “Please let me down.”
“Maybe later. After,” I murmured, dragging my fingers back up her legs to reach the soft, supple curve of her inner thigh.
Then back down again.
Her breath drew out, matching the constant stroke of my fingers, and I hid a smile.
“After what?” she almost whined the question, wobbling on her toes.
“Let me help you.” I traced along her calf to circle my fingers around her ankle, massaging as I lifted her foot off the ground and removed her heels. Leaving one foot resting on my knee, I massaged her tensed arch, working through the pressure points to her toes. “Better?”
“I— Yes. It feels good, but I have no idea who you are and I think you’ve mistaken me for—”
“Shhh.” I smiled, transferring her feet as the small room descended into silence.
I’d designed this part of the night as a method of calming her, but her silence prickled at me. Regardless, I continued with my plan. She’d call it if it got to be too much, and we hadn’t really started yet. Her right calf had some serious knots, and I worked them out gently one by one. “Have you had an old injury here?”
“I fell off a ladder years ago. Struggle with heels. Not a job perk. Can I come down now please?” Her voice descended into a hoarse whisper, and she flinched as I worked through the worstof the knots.
“You haven’t had this treated, ever, have you?”
“Why, are you some sort of mad doctor?”
“Mad?” I raised an eyebrow and dipped my head to lick along her calf, tasting her natural sweetness and the light layer of salt that covered her skin. Panic brought out the body’s most exquisite reactions. “No, I’m not mad.”
“I think you are.” She gasped, yanking upward. Her knee jerked in reflex, whacking into my shoulder. “A doctor, then.”
“A trainer, once.” I gripped her ankle tighter and pinched the pressure point at the back of her heel until she whimpered, then released her, offering a silent warning with my eyes.
She nodded and drew her feet tight together, back on her toes. “What happened?”
“They found out I had a furry problem. Not the chinchilla infestation sort in my home but the real sort of issue.” I let my skin darken and bit back the irritation at the fur that breached my skin for an instant, refusing to let my beast out just yet. “There. That’s going to undo all the work I just put into you, isn’t it?” I stared down at where she balanced, trying not to hop from side to side.
Pale-pink polish contrasted with a vine tattoo that crept along one foot.
“So you worked with humans?” she challenged, raising her chin as I towered over her.
Smiling with teeth, I placed one hand on the row of shelving above her on either side of her head and leaned into her space. “Trying to work me out, little chipmunk? That’s not going to happen.” I let energy flow through my body, lengthening my fingers into tight, hard claws and sharpening my teeth. My eyes would turn black, too, but she wouldn’t see that in the already dimmed light.
Grazing one claw along her cheek, I trailed it down herthroat. She swallowed hard, again and again as I dipped my head to brush my mouth over her lips. “Be a good girl, won’t you? For me?”
“For you?” Bravado spat out of her with enough force to widen her eyes as she realized her mistake, though she repeated the effort a second time to seal her fate. “What are you?”
I let fur cover my face as my inner beast rose, snapping for release. As I lengthened my snout and teeth, I drew sharp canines across her cheek where my claws had traced mere moments before. Her fear hung in a palpable sweet and tangy scent that surrounded me, bringing out every inch of my need to the forefront of my psyche. Her rapid heartbeat insisted on thrashing her panic out inside her chest though it might as well have been next to my ears. My mouth watered as I stared at her, claws clenching at my sides.