Page 26 of Twist of Fate

“No, not at all. I don’t trust her yet with the codes to get past security and want to ensure for now she remains in our room, but I also don’t want her to feel any more trapped than she does, and she may feel more comfortable asking you than me. I appreciate you taking good care of her.”

“It is my pleasure. Let me know when you need me to come back.”

“Will do,” Bodie said, feeling grateful for the way his people seemed to have already embraced Quinn as one of their own.

Turning the knob, he pushed open the door, only to duck and roll as a heavy book was lobbed in his direction.

“You bit me,” she snarled.

Bodie got back to his feet and closed and locked the door. She was wearing one of his cashmere sweaters, which hung to mid-thigh on her. Granted, her dress the night before had been stunning, but with her hair loose and his sweater clinging to her luscious curves, she was magnificent—a true tigress at the height of her powers, although she didn’t know it yet.

“I believe we covered that earlier,” he said, summoning his patience.

“Earlier I hadn’t seen the marks on either side of my neck.”

“Is there any redness or swelling? There shouldn’t be, as I cleaned and disinfected them and added some antibiotic ointment, just to be safe.”

“No redness or swelling, just two big holes as well as two smaller ones, and all four of them hurt.”

He approached her cautiously—not because he was frightened of her, but because he didn’t want to add to her stress. The earliest stages of the transition often included heightened fear and paranoia and could exaggerate a person’s flee or fight response as well as a general kind of anxiousness. For only the briefest of moments, he damned himself for having given into his more primal urges, but then dismissed it as there was nothing to be done about it except try to support Quinn through the transition.

“Let me see,” he said gently.

Quinn picked up another book. “Stay away from me,” she threatened.

“I don’t want to do anything but help you. However, I will not allow you to threaten either me or any of our clan.”

“They are notmyclan.”

“They are, and it is best that you begin to accept that.”

She lifted the book threateningly. “Stay away from me. How the hell did you do that? It looks like I was bitten by some kind of large predator.”

“That’s something of a long story.”

“How about you give me the bullet points?”

And now they were here. He either concocted some fabrication to mollify her until he had time to introduce the fact that shifters existed and that she was now a tigress, or he told her the truth without any shading to minimize the enormity of what had happened to her and that he alone was responsible for it.

“Put the book down.”

“No.”

“If I have to take it from you, I’ll tattoo my displeasure across your backside for having to do so.”

Quinn hesitated for only a moment, and that was all it took for Bodie to close the distance between them and wrestle the book from her, before wrapping her in his arms. He bent his head to nuzzle her and was rewarded with a sharp blow to his face as she snapped her head back and at the same time stomped on his instep.

Bodie released her for a fraction of a second, before he was able to grasp her wrist and jerk her back into his embrace. He held her against his left arm, preventing her from moving as he peppered her ass with a round of stinging swats, making her dance.

“Had enough?” he asked.

“That hurt.”

“So did the head butt and the stomp on my foot. I asked you if you’d had enough. If not, I’ll take you to the edge of the bed where I’ll sit down, raise my sweater—which you look lovely in—to bare your pretty little backside and spank it until it has a nice glow all around it. What’s it to be, Quinn? Do you ask your questions and let me answer them? Or do I put you over my knee and then give in to my more feral side and take you back to bed? Your choice.”

He thought she might give in to tears, but instead, she wiped away the ones that threatened to fall. “I suppose I’d prefer asking questions to getting spanked. The first question is, will you tell me the truth?”

“I will, but I would ask that you hear me out before deciding to bolt. You can be angry and call me all kinds of names—most of which will be deserved, but I need you to hear the whole explanation.”

---