The craving for action clawed him, urged him to proceed at breakneck speed.Women came to the resort for one thing.Sex and good fun.Some of them stayed, captured by his brothers and persuaded to remain as mates.Leo had never agreed with the idea—it cut too close to the bone.Betrys and her employer, Iseult Orna, had laid a trap, and he’d suffered for every minute of his naivety.
But now…now a plan formed in his mind.
He might have refused to take part in the resort activities, but for Betrys he’d make an exception.
Fury morphed to excitement at the concept of payback.Hell, apart from during his sleeping hours, he hadn’t thought of sex, hadn’t desired a single resort guest, but now blood pulsed hot and heady through his veins.The idea of this woman at his mercy.
He leaned into Betrys and drew her scent deep into his lungs.Hers wasn’t a pungent fragrance like Iseult’s but was spicy with the faint note of flowers and sunshine.
She petted him, her hand sliding along his spine, and he suppressed a shudder with difficulty.Her touch felt good—way better than it should—and the contrast with his ruffled feelings confused him.A purr erupted without his permission.
Leo redirected his thoughts.Retribution.It’d taste sweet, and maybe he’d nix his aversion to sex.At first he’d tried to act normal, as he had in the past.He’d danced with a woman and barely stopped himself from punching her when she’d groped his arse.After that episode, he’d stayed far away from resort dealings, and Saber let him, gave him the space he desired.
But back to the present.He’d follow her first, reconnoiter in feline form, then at the right moment, he’d capture her and show her just what it felt like to be helpless in someone else’s power.
The dreams meant nothing.How could they?It was his mind fucking with him.A grunt emerged, a burst of unusual humor.He certainly fucked her during his sleeping hours, and now he’d do it in person.
Besides, he didn’t trust her.She’d recruited him, drawn him into the spider’s web, and he found it difficult to believe she hadn’t done the same thing to other unsuspecting males.This would be payback for all of them.
Betrys sniffed hard and removed her hand from his back.Straightaway, Leo felt the lack of touch and grunted a soft protest.She gave a watery smile and fished in the pockets of her robe.Seconds later, she dabbed her eyes with a square of cloth.
Leo sank onto the sand beside her.A robe.Why the devil was she wearing a robe?The other guests wore as little as possible.In the fantasy rooms, they stripped to skin.At night, during the parties and gatherings, they wore tight garments, tiny dresses to display their assets.Why would Betrys wear a robe?
The hair along his spine lifted.
Had she come to the resort to recruit another sucker?
His brothers and cousins, his friends…
He cried out a silent protest at the idea.No, damn if he’d let anyone of his kind walk into Betrys’s snare.He’d stay close to make sure she didn’t sign up someone of his acquaintance.
Betrys stuffed her cloth back into her robe and resumed her stroking.
“I don’t want to do this,” she whispered.“It’s wrong, but Iseult wants more men like Leo.I can’t let her know Leo is alive and I’ve seen him.”She sniffed, pulled out her cloth again while every one of Leo’s muscles tensed.
What the devil did she mean?Three times.He’d fulfilled the terms of the contract.Fuck, there was no way in hell he’d let that monster bed him again.Weakness still struck him, and it galled when he couldn’t keep up with his twin brothers.He refused to let his brothers or friends walk into the same trap.
“I don’t want to do this, but I have to.”
She remained quiet until Leo nudged her hand in silent demand and, after a shaky laugh, she resumed petting him.
“One solar week.How the goddess does Iseult expect me to manage this?Tell me that, kitty-cat.Iseult expects me to fall into line with her wishes…”
What wishes?Damn it to hell.Iseult could go fuck herself, because she wasn’t getting her hairy hands or feet on him again.Not for a million shillars.Not while he had breath to object.Not ever.
Betrys sighed and climbed to her feet.Leo rose too and ambled after her.If a week was all he had, he needed to act fast.He’d follow her to her bungalow, then go see Saber.They could have everything set up for tomorrow night.
Hopefully he wouldn’t have performance problems—he never did in his dreams—but even if he did, it wouldn’t matter.He could still fuck her with dildos, make her desperate, give her a taste of vulnerability and a sense of the hopelessness he’d felt.
Saber would ask questions.He’d try to dodge the answers, but if he couldn’t, he’d ad lib.
“You want to what?”Saber asked, his cool green gaze assessing and prodding.
“I intend to capture Betrys Torin in bungalow seven,” Leo said.
“Why?”
“Because she interests me.”
