Cats Meow (10 page)

She gave up the pretense of eating, stopped
pushing the food around in the bowl with her spoon and set it aside. Snuggled
close to his chest, she basked in his warmth, breathed his scent deep into her
lungs. Knowing she’d be content to spend forever just as they were, she dreaded
their uncertain future.

“What’s wrong? Don’t you like the chili?”

Damn it, him being nice only made her guilt
grow. “It’s fine.”

He rested a palm on her forehead. “You’re a
bit warm. Do you feel all right?”

Realizing she’d been rubbing her tummy, she
wrapped her arms around him to still the restless movement. “Yes, just tired.
It’s been an exhausting week.” And wasn’t that the understatement of the
century.

Micah had a right to know about the baby.
She wanted to tell him, but how? Such weighty, life-altering news couldn’t be
blurted out.
Oh, by the way, I’m pregnant.
Lessening the impact would
take finesse.

She yelped, startled when Micah rose
suddenly with her in his arms. “Then it’s past time that I tucked you into
bed.”

“Mmm,” she purred as all sorts of
lascivious images involving the two of them locked in a variety of positions on
the big bed flooded her mind.

Micah laughed softly. “Not for sex. To
sleep. You need to rest.”

Rest?
Hah!
She could think of many much more interesting ways to share a bed with Micah
than sleeping.

Dismissing her guilty conscience, she let
her fingers do the talking by tangling them in his downy chest hair. “I’d
rather play.”

“Becca,” he grumbled. “Relax. Let me take
care of you.”

“Oh, yes. Please do. I have this itch that
needs to be scratched—”

She laughed as he tossed her onto the bed.
Rebecca bounced once and came to a sudden stop as he landed on top of her.
Damn, she loved this playful side of him.

“An itch, huh? Where?”

He flashed a rare, lopsided grin and all
her worries evaporated. When the right time arrived, she’d find the words to
share her news—later. But not now, when she had him back in her arms. Rebecca
indulged her greedy, selfish urges to keep him to herself for one night and not
permit anything to come between them.

She reveled in who she was with Micah. He
banished the nerdy and shy zoologist, releasing the inner vixen she normally
kept under tight control.

Slipping a hand between their bodies, she
thrust a finger between her legs. “Down here,” she said, hardly recognizing her
own sultry voice. “It’s a deep itch I can’t reach.” She lifted her hand to his
lips, tracing the curves with her damp fingertip.

His lips parted and Micah sucked her finger
into his warm mouth. Fierce heat blazed through her body, raced from one nerve
ending to the next, making her feel as if she’d burst into flames. His eyes
sparkled with mischief when he released her finger.

“Well, I happen to have this handy
scratching post you can use to take care of your itch.”

Rebecca’s heart stuttered, seized for a
moment, then pounded against her breastbone. Micah looked at her with pure
adoration and something else softening his hard features.

Dare she even think it? Could he be feeling
what she did? Had he fallen in love with her? Panic tightened her chest with
the realization. She’d really gone and done it—fallen in love with Micah.
Holy
crap!

His smile, so rare and precious, returned
to his lips. “I don’t offer to demonstrate often, but you’re special.” He
cupped her chin and stared deep into her eyes. “How about it, baby? Wanna give
it a spin? Every test drive comes with a satisfaction guarantee.” The charming
rake winked at her. “I’ll keep scratching ‘til that itch is taken care of.”

She had no idea how long she stared at him,
not saying a word.

“Becca?” His brow wrinkled with concern and
he started to pull away. “I’m sorry. You’re tired and here I am fooling
around.”

“No,” she gasped, reaching out for him.
“Micah, please.” At the sound of her emotion-choked voice, his gaze snapped
back to hers. “Make love to me.”

The corner of his lips twitched then his
mouth spread into a huge grin. He looked happier than a kid set free in the toy
store on Christmas morning. She prayed her secret, when revealed, wouldn’t
destroy the fragile bond they’d forged.

Chapter Eleven

“You have to work with the cat. Don’t fight
its natural instincts, Micah.”

He yowled in frustration. For two days
Becca had lectured him on lions and their behaviors. She might be an expert on
big cats but she had no clue about the lion within
him
.

His lion had a single thought permeating
his one-track mind—fucking.

Micah waged a constant war against the
lion’s biological imperative to mount and mate Becca, over and over, again and
again. He had to fuck her until his seed penetrated an egg and her belly
swelled with his cub or, better yet, cubs. Wanted nothing more than to pounce
on her and fuck until he was too exhausted to continue.

“Micah.” She touched his flank and before
he could stop it, the lion snapped at her hand. He jerked the lion back,
wickedly sharp teeth missing her vulnerable flesh by a narrow margin. Too
narrow for his sanity.

The change overcame him fast. In the blink
of an eye his senses dulled, fur receded and his body altered. Each time it
happened he anticipated pain but it never came. The experience sapped his
energy and left him starving to replenish the massive calories he’d used.

“Jesus, you know better! Never try to touch
the lion when he can’t see it coming,” he barked.

When she didn’t respond, Micah lifted his
heavy head and met her frightened gaze, instantly regretting his harsh tone.

Aw, fuck! Good job, asshole.

He’d scared the hell out of Becca. She held
a hand over her throat, her entire body trembling as she fought back tears.
Ignoring his state of undress, he pulled her into his arms, stifling an inward
groan as she brushed against his painfully hard cock.

“Shh,” he soothed. “I’m sorry, baby. I’ll
work harder and get the lion to behave.”

“I don’t know how to help you,” she sobbed.
“I feel like a total failure.”

“We’ll figure it out, together. Right now
all I’m worried about is keeping you safe. If I hurt you…” he shivered,
horrified by the very idea. “I’d never forgive myself.”

Becca rubbed at her eyes with balled-up
fists. “I have to go to the lab—”

“Absolutely not,” he roared.

She jerked back, afraid of him again,
making him want to punch something. He hated causing her to fear him. “I would
never intentionally hurt you.” The words were low, spoken almost in a whisper.

“I know you wouldn’t.”

Did she?
He
doubted it was possible considering his actions.

“Micah,” she implored. “Neither one of us
knows exactly what’s been done to you. I only skimmed some of the scientific
notes on the procedure, but didn’t have a chance to read the specifics on your
case.”

He didn’t have to read the specifics, he
lived with them. And he had done his own homework online while Becca slept. The
more he learned, the more he realized how drastically what he felt as a man
conflicted with the lion.

Micah’s feelings toward Becca were
possessive and protective. He longed to bind her to him permanently. The lion’s
primary goals were to dominate and procreate.

According to the information he’d found,
the female went into heat for several days and would fuck any available lion,
even forgoing food to have sex up to forty times a day. No way could he get it
up forty times a day, not that he wasn’t willing to try.

Something Becca said broke off his internal
musings and drew him back into the conversation. “What?”

“Haven’t you been listening?” she huffed.
“Kyle has been acting odd when I call to check in. I feel like he’s trying to
tell me something, but I’ve been following your advice and keeping the calls
short. By going into the lab, I can reassure Weltman we’re making progress and
also try to get Kyle alone, see if I can find out what’s going on.”

Micah scratched at his jaw, wondering what
Slater was up to. The other man wouldn’t do anything without a deliberate plan.
And what Becca said had merit. They needed move info from his medical records—something
was missing. The opportunity to determine Slater’s intentions would be a bonus.
It would be good to know who he had in his corner when, not if, the shit hit
the fan. He had no doubt it would, because he had no intention of ever being
under Weltman’s thumb again.

“All right, but we do this my way, Becca. I
won’t risk anything happening to you.”

She didn’t quite manage to hold back a triumphant
grin. “What could possibly happen to me at the lab?”

Anger surged through him as he remembered
Tom’s hands on his woman. The lion’s rage added to his own had Micah primed for
a good knock-down-drag-out fight. “Have you forgotten a rather physical run-in
with one of the guards when you were busting me out of there?”

“That was nothing,” she shrugged off his
concern. “A minor misunderstanding, which proved I can take care of myself.”

“The guards won’t underestimate you again,
and you won’t walk away from another confrontation unscathed.”

“Fine, I’ll be careful and do what you say,
but we’ve got to have those files, Micah.”

They settled on a plan, even though he
didn’t like it. Since he couldn’t risk setting foot in the lab, Becca had to go
in alone. She’d come up with an idea for transporting his clothes while in lion
form. They loaded everything into a duffle bag and put the strap around his
neck before he shifted.

“Oh shit! Shift back, Micah. Hurry!” Becca
cried.

If the rapid change from man to beast and
back again within the span of several moments hadn’t been enough to steal his
breath, the expandable strap tightening around the lion’s thick neck certainly
had been. Micah cursed, ripping at the bag even once he could breathe again.
“Jesus Christ. I won’t have to worry about Nanotech anymore if I succeed at
strangling myself.”

“Oh my god! Are you okay?” She grabbed the
bag and began working the buckle to lengthen the strap. “You scared the hell
out of me.”

“Scared you?” He shook his head. “Took
about ten years off my life.”

After she had the strap extended as far as
it would go, she placed it around his neck again. Micah rubbed at his jaw,
trying to decide whether stupidity or desperation compelled him to give it
another try.

He focused on the image of the lion in his
mind, pleased to still be breathing when his body reshaped itself.
Unfortunately his relief was short-lived. Becca threw herself at him, wrapping
her arms around his neck and hugging him tight enough to cut off his air
supply. His deep growl had her stepping back, a sheepish grin on her flushed
face.

“Please be careful. I’ll kick your ass
later if you do anything stupid.”

Hah!
He was
more worried about her impetuous streak getting Becca into a boatload of
trouble. With him stuck outside, he wouldn’t be able to help her. At least with
his technical skills he’d been able to fashion a listening device from
materials he’d had her pick up in town. Regardless of the safety measures in
place, his heart clenched as she got in the SUV and headed down the private
drive.

The lion’s powerful legs ate up the
distance across the mountain terrain between the cabin and the lab. From his
vantage point high on a tree limb, hidden behind the colorful leaves, he had a
great view of the grounds surrounding the facility.

Waiting didn’t bother him under normal
circumstances. He had the patience and calm of a great hunter. Too bad these
weren’t normal circumstances and he was anything but calm. The lion’s keen
hearing picked up the sound of Becca’s vehicle before she drove into view. Once
she made it past the gates, he jumped down from the tree, shifted and got
dressed.

He turned on the receiver and heard her
take a deep breath, followed by a metallic bang as she closed the car door. No
sooner had the she made it through the front doors than the hair on the back of
his neck stood on end and all his instincts screamed that she was in trouble.

* * * * *

Approaching the main entrance of the
top-secret laboratory, Rebecca rubbed her sweaty palms on her slacks, held her
breath and placed her hand on the scanner plate. Blue light glowed around the
edges of her hand, which grew warm from the sensors. She didn’t breathe again
until the door issued a series of electronic clicks and slid open.

Cool as a cucumber
, her father’s voice coached as she walked down the hall to the echo
of her heels clacking on the tile floor. She nodded to a white-coated
technician, turned the corner, almost making it to her office before being
intercepted by Kyle Slater.

“Hello, Dr. Southerby,” he greeted. Kyle
wrapped his long fingers, firm yet gentle, around her biceps and guided her
down a connecting corridor toward the examination rooms. “We weren’t expecting
you today.” His voice sounded tight as if he were stressed. “You’re alone?”

Keep your answer short and sweet. Don’t
give him anything.

She nodded. “Yes. I just stopped by to go
over some files.”

When he didn’t say anything else,
butterflies took flight in her stomach. Her hands itched to rub her abdomen,
but she didn’t give in to the impulse.

“Where are we headed, Mr. Slater? I have a
great deal of work waiting back in my office.”

“This will only take a moment. Weltman
wants an update on your progress with Lasiter. He will also want to know where
Lasiter is and why he’s not with you.”

Then why were they headed in the opposite
direction of Weltman’s office?

Kyle stopped before a steel door, swiped
his identity card and placed his palm on the scanner. When the door slid open,
he drew her into a small room with a table and two chairs at the center. The
far wall held a large mirror she presumed to be a one-way window.

“What’s going on? This looks like one of
those interrogation rooms from a TV cop show.”

He didn’t answer the question. “Please have
a seat. Mr. Weltman will be with us in a moment.” Kyle positioned himself next
to the entrance, back against the wall, staring blankly toward the mirrored
glass.

Rebecca sat straight, hands folded in her
lap, schooled features not reflecting the jumbled thoughts racing through her
mind.

Did they suspect something? Had she
somehow given herself away? Had they discovered Micah was on the property?

She didn’t have to wait long for answers.
The door whooshed open and her red-faced boss stepped into the room.

Don’t panic. Hold your tongue.

“Well, if it isn’t our missing zoologist.
We’ve been searching everywhere for you, Dr. Southerby. Imagine our surprise
when you strolled through the front door.”

She bit her tongue, remained silent.

“Would you mind telling me where you’ve
taken my test subject?”

“I—”

Weltman held up a hand, cutting off her
response. “Don’t say he’s at the house I provided for you. We’ve already
checked.”

Don’t say anything
, her father’s voice advised.

Weltman glanced at the guard then nodded
toward the door. “Let’s introduce the doctor to our latest success, Slater.”

Turning on his heel, he didn’t wait to see
if they followed. Kyle once again latched on to her arm and led her to one of
the exam rooms. She knew Micah heard every word, and prayed he didn’t do
anything rash.

She blinked a few times as her eyes
adjusted to the bright lights of the room. Then Weltman moved to the side.

“Oh. My. God!” Her hand flew up to cover
her throat as horror filled her.

A tall, dark-haired man struggled against
the restraints holding his naked body to the examination table. Freshly sutured
surgical incisions riddle his tan skin. “What have you done to him?”

“Dr. Southerby, this is Crosby, our latest
subject in the Predator Project. He’s been injected with
Panthera tigris
.”

Sweet Jesus, they’d screwed with another
man’s DNA. And he didn’t appear to have volunteered for the project. First a
lion, now a tiger. What will they do next, create a bear?
The whole thing was turning into some surreal, screwed-up
fairytale.

The man’s wild gaze shot around the room.
Perspiration broke out on his brow. “No! No more doctors. No more drugs. No
more procedures,” he cried. “I can’t take any more, you sick fuckers.”

“We’ve discussed this before, Crosby,”
Weltman said in a cold tone. “If you don’t calm down, we’ll have to sedate
you.”

His gaze locked on Weltman and the man’s
struggles immediately stopped.

Weltman nodded. “Good.” He turned to face
her. “Crosby has not yet managed to shift. We don’t know what the problem is,
but you will begin working with him today…”

His dramatic pause had her heart rising
into her throat as panic tightened her chest. She knew whatever he said next
wasn’t going to be good.

“Soon as you return Lasiter to his cell.
Slater will escort you to retrieve my shifter.”

Nope, not good at all.

She opened her mouth to say…something, she
wasn’t sure what, but the words died on her lips as shrill alarms began
shrieking and red lights flashed in warning. “Security breach, sector four,” an
electronic voice repeated several times.

“Ah,” Weltman exclaimed. “My guess is that
would be Lasiter arriving to rescue the fair damsel.”

No, Micah. Don’t put yourself at risk
for me.

Kyle spoke into a handheld communicator,
issuing orders rapid-fire. A few moments later the alarms were silenced.

“Slater, bring Rebecca to my office. We’ll
wait for Lasiter there. I don’t want him to meet our newest creation yet.”

Kyle reached for her arm and Rebecca
bristled. “Don’t touch me,” she muttered. “I’m perfectly capable of walking on
my own.”