Wednesday Words: By the Tail

I know Cat Week doesn’t start until next week (*grin*) but I thought I’d share a snippet from By the Tail to whet your appetite. Not to be confused with wet your whistle. Different “wet/whet’s”. Your lesson for the day. ANYHOW, on to what’s really important. The brand new, never before seen excerpt…

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Quince waited to pounce until later that night. He drove to Joy’s house, a nice place in Pinecrest. Quiet, suburban and upscale enough that she didn’t need to worry about an onslaught of break-ins. He parked in her driveway and walked to the front door as if he belonged there.

Before he had a chance to knock, she opened the door and peeked her head out, frowning. “Quince?”

“Good. You remember my name,” he drawled, wishing the woman would smile at him once in a while.

“What are you doing here? Slumming?” She smirked.

Considering he’d taken over Michael’s five-million-dollar spread in Palmetto Bay, her neighborhood could technically be considered a step down. But the house he resided in currently housed a dozen cats. The property was on a private compound nearly six acres large, offering plenty of room for cats to roam under secluded trees and behind a secured gate. Yet it had never felt less like a home without Michael…or someone special to share it with.

Keeping to the plan, he lowered his voice. “I need to pull the SUV into your garage. There’s something I need to show you.”

“What?” She pushed open the door and stood with crossed arms over her unbound breasts. Which made him take a good hard look at what she was—or wasn’t—wearing. Talk about good timing. He’d caught her ready for bed in a pair of thin cotton boy shorts and a light blue tank. Even better, she smelled like soap, all clean and fresh. Ripe for the plucking.

He swallowed and willed his dick to behave. “Look. This is pride business, and I can’t chance anyone seeing. This is important.” And it was. He needed her like crazy.

She stared at him, and he prayed she couldn’t read the lie in his eyes. His cat chuckled at his female trying to out-think him, pleased she liked to keep him on his toes. But this time his prey was within reach, and he had no intention of letting her go tonight. Not until he made himself clear.

“Well, okay.” She turned and headed toward the kitchen. “I’ll meet you in the garage.”

He hurried back to his vehicle. The garage door opened and he pulled into the deep garage, next to her sleek coupe. The car fit Joy. Fast, tight and beautiful. He let himself out of the SUV and then closed the garage door. In one hand he held the restraints he knew he’d need to make this happen. He shoved them in his back pocket just as she entered, now unfortunately wearing a short robe.

“It’s in the back,” he murmured.

She looked from him to the SUV, her curiosity roused. As he’d hoped.

She moved behind the SUV and opened the back hatch. As she rose on tiptoe to look in, Quince made his move. He jerked her arms behind her and put the slip tie around her wrists. Then he knelt and did the same to her ankles while she kicked and swore.

Trussed up good and tight, she wouldn’t be able to shift and break free once he gave her a good taste of her own medicine.

“You son of a—”

He rose and gagged her before she could finish and tied the scarf behind her head. “Uh, uh. No talking. And relax. You know I’m not going to hurt you.” He pushed the robe aside to bare her left breast clad in thin cotton.

Alarm widened her eyes.

“That’s right. Time for a reminder of where you belong. Time to stop avoiding me.” He lifted her tank and sighed at her beautiful body. Then he kissed her breast, sucking on the nipple with a gentle hunger.

When she moaned, he smiled and let her go. He pulled her tank back down and covered her up with her robe. Then he moved her aside to fully open the back door of the SUV. He gently positioned her on the blanket on the floor, curling her knees to her chest to make her fit. She didn’t fight him, but he was more than aware of the rage in her eyes.

Then he withdrew another treat from his pocket. “See this? It’s the same dart you tagged me with in Montana. I had a friend give me a light sedative that won’t hurt you, but it will make you groggy for a few hours.”

She tried to yell at him behind the gag and managed to flail in place. But when he just stood there staring down at her, waiting, she ceased.

“Yeah. This isn’t the fun part. Well, it is for me. I mean, I was dying to get you back for what you did to me a week ago. Sorry. This might sting.” He inserted the tranq quickly, not wanting to hurt her. If the woman hadn’t been so stubborn, he might have cajoled her into accompanying him into the forest. But she seemed to want nothing to do with him, and he was tired of it.

Her eyes started to droop, and he leaned down to kiss her cheek. “I’ll take care of you, baby. It’s time we had a real heart-to-heart anyway. Don’t worry. When you wake up, you’ll be free to claw and yell at me. But we’ll be away from everyone, just the two of us.”

Then he straightened and moved with real purpose. After grabbing her garage remote from her car, he made sure to lock up her house. Then he opened the garage door, pulled the SUV out and down the driveway, and closed her garage again.

He turned up the music and grinned as he shot out of the driveway. Part one accomplished. Now time to seduce a yes out of his mate, the fun way.

BY THE TAIL

Releases Sept 3, from Samhain