When An Alpha Purrs
By: Eve LanglaisShe paused and stared at him in the mirror. “Is this your not-so-subtle way of asking if I’m single?”
“Was I being subtle? Let me rephrase then. Do you have a lover?” He’d challenge him to a duel if she did and—
Hold on a second. He wasn’t challenging anyone, especially not the human boyfriend of a hairdresser he’d just met.
Just met, and yet wanted.
The realization made him frown. Time to hit the dating circuit again if a plump and mouthy human girl was capable of making him irrational. It didn’t help that his lion urged him to rub against her and mark her with their scent—to keep other males away.
Not happening. Marking any kind of female was bound to create complications. Arik wasn’t about to settle down or commit himself. He was in his prime. Playing the field.
Flirting with a hairdresser who set his hairs on end—and brought his erotic senses alive.
The things I could do to her. Nibbles on her creamy skin… Nips at that luscious lower lip, which pulled taut as she frowned at him and said, “First off, I don’t think my love life is any of your business.” Snip. “Second. Even if I were single, I wouldn’t date you.” Snip. Snip.
“Why not?” He could have blinked in astonishment when the query emerged from his mouth. However, a curious kitty needed to know. Women just didn’t say no. It wasn’t arrogant of him to claim it, not when it was fact.
Rejection was not something he encountered. Until now.
“Are you seriously having to ask why I won’t date you?” She sounded so incredulous. “Would you like me to recite the list alphabetically?”
Actually, he did. “Let’s hear it.”
Not even a pause. “Asshat. Braggart. Cocky tied with chauvinist. Dumbass. Egotistical. Do I really need to go on?”
A chuckle rumbled forth from him—again. What was it about this woman that delighted him? She kept arguing and defying him at every turn, and yet he couldn’t help but find her amusing. She utterly intrigued him, especially as he tried to guess what she’d say next. How refreshing to come across a female that wasn’t related to him, or impressed by him, who dared to treat him as a man.
One she considered beneath her standards.
“I think your list needs tweaking.” He launched a defense of his character.
“Oh really? And just how do you see yourself? I’m sure this will be good.”
“Let me see. Attractive, bold, courageous, daring, elegant, ferocious, especially as a lover,” he admitted with a wink. “Gallant.”
With a derisive snort, she interrupted. “Ha. I highly doubt that.”
“And yet you don’t really know me. My lady friends would tell you that I am a gentleman.” When it came to opening doors and picking up the check. Other than that, there was nothing gentle about him. Just ask those who crossed him.
Kings didn’t let anyone question their authority.
“I wouldn’t know, though, about this supposed gallantry, because I’m not your lady friend.”
“You could be.” He gave her another chance. She truly did draw him in with the roundness of her figure, hugged by faded denim and topped with a baggy sweatshirt that drooped enticingly off a shoulder, baring a black strap.
Lace or cotton? A feline mind wanted to know.
But apparently he wouldn’t know today, as she, yet again, managed to resist him.
“Date you? Not likely.”
Again words emerged from him without volition. “Why not?”
“Oh please. I’ve seen enough to know you’re not my type.”
Such a liar. Apparently he wasn’t the only one aroused by their repartee. The musky scent of her arousal tickled his senses. It made him bolder. “I guarantee when I’m between your thighs and you’re clawing my back, you’ll be screaming a different tune.”
So he might have come on a tad strong with that last statement. That was still no excuse for what happened next.
“Pig.” However it wasn’t the animal insult that was her most grievous crime. It was the gigantic hunk of hair she snipped off!
An irreplaceable, thick chunk of his hair permanently removed. Accidental or intentional, it didn’t matter.
