Page 32 of Countdown to Murder
I turned and faced him, my hands to my side, not hiding myself, not scrunched over. After ten seconds, it wasn’t so bad, and I found my voice. “I don’t know how to do this.”
“You’re beautiful.”
“I’m a snake. You saw. I know you did.” My face looks hideous when it opens backward away from my jaw. I look like a creature. Amonster. Which is what I was raised to be. A weapon to be aimed at enemies. A weapon without emotions. Without friends. Without humanity.
“I did. I have a warrior form that can look pretty damned scary — part man and part lion. It only makes sense a snake will have a form between the two. Doesn’t mean you aren’t still beautiful.”
He walked to the wall with the shelf, poured some of my shampoo into one hand, and walked to me.
He’s far from fat, and I’m certain he has more muscles than most of the other Drake men, but he isn’t ripped. It’s like he has a layer of cushion over the muscles so you can’t see them, and once again, it made me like him more. It made him more real. More human, despite the fact he’s alion. I watched American football on television once, at a super-bowl party I attended because my target was there, and I noted many of the football players' physiques in the interviews before the game. Huge, and muscled, but no ripped abs. Big arms with clear muscles. Same with the tree-trunk legs. You can see the muscles moving when they’re used, but there aren’t any hard edges.
And that was it. Panda was built like a linebacker. It wasn’t just his muscles you had to deal with, but his entire body mass. He’s formidable, and yet, I wanted to touch him all over. Wanted to explore his body, wanted to massage past the outer shell and feel the muscles underneath. I mean, I knew there were ripped abs, you could kind of see them in there, they just weren’t sharp. My fingers itched tofeelthem under the cushioning.
He moved me out from under the water with one hand and worked the shampoo into my scalp with the other. No nails, just firm fingertips. Like a massage. I wanted to moan but was too embarrassed to actually vocalize it.
I needed to saysomething, though. “You seem more like a teddy bear than a lion sometimes.”
He kissed my shoulder and went back to massaging my scalp, but he used both hands now. “Let’s keep that our little secret. I’m the bad-ass who keeps His Majesty’s lionesses safe when he’s away.”
He’d explained that he’d never mess with His Majesty’s lionesses, and I was horrified with myself foreven thinking what I was about to ask, but I needed to know. Everyone knows lions aren’t monogamous. Snakes aren’t supposed to be either, but the idea of him fucking a whole lot of people wasn’t something I wanted to consider.
“And you’ve never wanted your own Pride?”
“Nope. I don’t do lionesses. Period. If I was interested in an unclaimed lioness from a distant city, and I talked to him about it, Nathan would probably be okay with it, but...” he shrugged. “I’m not interested in upsetting the status quo. I’ve been with other cats, wolves, bears, a couple of humans, and even a few non-predatory shifters. Never had the pleasure of spending time with a snake.”
“I’m a virgin.” I was going to have to tell him eventually, and it seemed like the right time, while he was behind me.
Another kiss on my shoulder and he went back to massaging the shampoo into my scalp. “I usually stay away from virgins, but I’m looking forward to teaching you about pleasure.” He pulled the handheld unit from the wall, rinsed my hair, and turned me towards him. “I gotta warn you, I’m falling for you. There are things you should know that you don’t. I’m working on figuring out how to get the information to you. I need you to have some patience, because I won’t screw with your virginity until I’m sure you’re making an informed decision.”
I nodded and relaxed, but it still took two breaths before I trusted my voice. “Okay. I’ve been taught not totrust people, and yet, I want to trust you. I have to admit, knowing we have some time to get used to each other before we...” I walked to the wall, put conditioner in my hand, and started working it through my hair while I had some distance from him. “But then, I don’t know how much time we’ll have together, and I don’t want to blow this, either. I’ve never had these feelings before, and they scare me, but I need to explore them.”
* * * *
Panda
I made sure our bags were put into the trunk last, and then I was out of the limo first when we arrived at the airport, to make sure I retrieved them and kept them separate from everyone else’s. I pulled Sloan and Ember to the side and told them, “I need ya’ll to keep us on the flight log, and I need you to not let anyone know we aren’t on the plane. Nathan knows. I’m not hiding from Drake, but from someone else. It’s imperative no one knows we aren’t on the flight until it lands in Chattanooga.”
“Whatever you need,” Sloan told me. “I have a few extra weapons you can scavenge if you need them.”
I shook my head. “If we need weapons, we’re fucked. This shouldn’t be that kind of trip. If you’re willing to help, have everyone take their time getting off the plane. If you can give us twenty minutes longer than the flight beforeanyone realizes we aren’t on it...” I met his gaze and didn’t finish the sentence. He knew everything he needed to know.
He grasped both my hands in his. “We’ll do what we can. I’ll see you on the other side.”
I nodded. “The other side.”
I took Mira’s hand and walked to the white SUV parked in a corner of the lot. A gentleman in a rental car shirt stepped out. I let go of Mira’s hand, signed a form, and showed him my fake driver’s license. He took a picture of the license, gave me the key fob, and walked to the tiny little Ford Fiesta in a nearby parking space. He got in the passenger side, and someone else drove him away.
Mira stepped beside me as I put our bags into the back of the Cadillac SRX. She didn’t move to put her bags into the back.
“I’m not a fan of surprises.”
“I figured, and I’m sorry. I’ll explain what I can on the way, but you won’t get a full answer until we arrive.” I turned to her. “Four hours there, and probably an hour or two of politics, and you’ll know. Do you trust me enough to give me six hours?”
She smiled. “Sure, so long as you know I’ll kill you without a second thought if you double-cross me.”
I kissed her forehead and didn’t care that we were being watched by a dozen Drake employees who hadn’t yet boarded the plane. At least the plane’s engine keptthem from hearing us. “I make a living rescuing people and keeping them safe. I like the idea of falling in love with someone who isn’t going to need me to come to the rescue when she’s in trouble.”
She looked stricken, and I took a step back. “No pressure. I’m sorry.”
