Cougar's Mate (7 page)

“Hold… still,” he said, irked to the max. “I don’t know what kind of trouble you’re in, miss, but we’ll work it out. As long as you’re not wanted for murder…” He saw the subtle change in her wild-eyed look to one of concern, and he feared the worse.

One of their kind couldn’t go to prison. She had to have a death sentence on her head if she was wanted for murder.

“I… didn’t… kill… anyone,” she gritted out, her expression furious. “And I haven’t done anything wrong. Get off me!”

“You’re kidding, right? You’ve injured a sheriff, broken in and entered a house, stole a car—mine—stole Hal Haverton’s clothes, broken a glass, and littered.”

Her grim mouth turned up just a hair at the mention of littering, and damn if he didn’t want to kiss her. When she was total trouble. And his prisoner at the moment.

“You’re right,” she said softly.

“That you’ve killed someone?” he asked, coming to his senses.

“No,” she growled, her golden eyes narrowed in irritation. “That I’ve… I’ve done all those other things. But you can’t hold me.”

He raised a brow. Like hell he couldn’t. “If you don’t recall me telling you so, I am a deputy sheriff of Yuma Town. And even if I wasn’t, I would be perfectly within my rights making a citizen’s arrest.”

“I don’t mean that,” she said, sounding exasperated. “You can’t incarcerate me. Not when I’m a shifter.”

He smiled then. “Sorry, lady. Around here, being that it’s a shifter-run town, we have accommodations for our kind, no questions asked.”

She was still breathing hard, maybe some of it to do with his body pressing against hers, but he couldn’t chance letting her go.

She licked her dry lips and if that wasn’t a total turn on. “I take it that having some of your homemade Irish stew is out now,” she said.

He smiled a little. “Maybe I can bring you a bowl to the jailhouse.” Hating to do it, wanting to know the truth of what was going on with her, he took hold of her wrists with one hand and reached for his pocket and a pair of handcuffs with his other.

Her eyes widened a bit and she again attempted to unseat him. That had him flipping her over onto her stomach and yanking her one arm behind her back, forcing her to quit fighting him.

“Ow,” she said, and he heard the pain in her voice.

He was fairly certain she was being honest with him, but he wasn’t giving her a chance to best him again. He cuffed one wrist and then the other.

“You’re safer with us, no matter what you’ve done. Just let me know what your name is and what we’re up against.” He turned her over so she could talk. She was wearing Hal’s gray sweats that swallowed her up, no shoes on her feet. The floor was covered in glass and milk and both of them had the shimmer of glass and wet spots on their clothes.

“Come on,” he said, carefully lifting her off the floor so she wouldn’t have to walk through the glass. If she wasn’t such a handful, he’d clean up the mess, but his priority had to be keeping an eye on her. He carried her into the living room and set her down on the sofa. “Stay.”

She scowled at him, then turned away as he pulled out his phone. She was observing the layout of the place, trying to figure out just what she could do to get away, he would guess. But she wasn’t going anywhere. Not when she was handcuffed and in his custody.

“Dan, are you okay?”

“Hell… yeah. Doc’s got me in a bed, damn it. I’m on pain meds. What’s the news?”

Chase smiled at the woman. “I’ve got our woman. I’m at Haverton’s place. She’s made a bit of a mess of his kitchen, but she’s fine. Handcuffed on his couch. Not cooperating.”

“Resisting arrest?”

“Hell, yeah, resisting arrest.”

She jerked her attention to him and scowled.

He smiled. “But she’s calm now. I’ll bring her into town in a few.”

“Whatever you do, don’t lose her.”

“Gotcha there. See you in a little while.” Chase ended the call, then eyed the woman. “Okay, what’s your name and what’s your story?”

“Ann Osborn is my name.”

“Try again.”

Her frown couldn’t have grown any deeper, he didn’t think.

He called another number. “Hey, Dottie, if Dan didn’t give you word in case he’s too out of it, I’ve got the woman and you can call off the search.”

“Will do. I’ve heard she’s a real wild cat.”

“She is definitely that. Call Hal Haverton and let him know I’m in his house with the woman, that she made a mess in the kitchen, and we’ll be out of here in a bit, but I just wanted to forewarn him.”

“All right. I’ll get right on it.”

“Thanks. Out here.” He sat on the chair perpendicular to the couch and leaned forward. “So if you’re not wanted for murder, then what? A psycho stalker is after you? You’ve committed some other crime worthy of risking your life over? Stolen millions of dollars from a Mob boss? What?”

“I’m totally innocent of committing any crimes.”

He raised his brows.

“Before you shot me,” she said, scowling at him. “I could have been just on a run through the mountains on a whim. You had no right to shoot me.”

“You wouldn’t have run away if you hadn’t been feeling guilty about something.”

“You didn’t know I was a shifter and you shot me!”

“Okay, I did. But I told you who I was after that and that Dan, the sheriff, was joining us. You ran again, only you conked out from the drug, and we were able to take you in hand or you would have been gone for good. So why did you run from the clinic? You weren’t afraid I was going to press charges. I offered to feed you some of my stew. I apologized for shooting you.” He reached out and patted her knee. “Tell me. We’ll work through this.”

“You can’t,” she said. “None of you can. Believe me when I say this. The best thing you can do is let me go. Just drop me off in the wilderness, and I’ll go far away from your town and out of your territory, so you never have to deal with me again.”

He straightened in his chair. “You can’t live out there on your own as a cougar. It wouldn’t be safe. Hunting season begins in less than two weeks from now. If you leave our territory, you’re liable to run into a wolf pack or two, hunters, bear.” He considered how thin she looked. “You don’t appear to be finding enough food to maintain your weight. Stay with us. With me. My offer still stands. I have cabins up near Lake Buchanan. You can have one of them free of charge. I’ll pick up some groceries for you. You can put some meat on your bones, talk with us, get your bearing, and then we’ll see where you want to go from there.”

“All right. I’ll go with you. Just take off the handcuffs and I’ll behave.”

He smiled. He didn’t trust her one little bit. “Or, I can dump you in a jail cell and let the sheriff talk to you when he’s no longer seeing double of you.”

She closed her eyes, and then opened them. “I had hoped he hadn’t been injured like you. But he was getting ready to shoot me. The natural instinct for us is for self-preservation.”

“Right. Your choice. My place or jail?”

“You’re kidding, right?”

He frowned a little, not getting the gist of her question.

“Your place, of course.” She sounded so hostile, he had no plan to take off the handcuffs any time soon.

He called Dan back and informed him he was taking the prisoner to his cabin. Dan was silent.

“I’ll talk with her. Learn what I can.”

“She’ll make a run for it.”

“I’ll keep her handcuffed.”

“It’s your call. Not what I’d do under the circumstances, but if you think it will work, go for it. Just let me know what you learn.”

“All right. Take it easy, Dan. I’ll call you once we’re settled.” Chase escorted the woman out to his car, helped her in, and said, “Stay.” Then he shut the door and headed around to the driver’s side, half expecting her to bolt. He really wished he hadn’t had to handcuff her, but he knew she wasn’t going to cooperate without them.

He was kind of surprised when she stayed put, and he wondered if the handcuffs
had
done the trick.

“We’ll stop at the grocery store and grab anything that you’d like to eat and anything else you might need.”

“You’re going to take me into the store while I’m handcuffed?”

“To me, yes.” He wasn’t taking any chances.

A few minutes later, they arrived at the store. Ten cars were parked there, and he helped her out of the car, then unfastened the handcuff on one of her wrists and fastened the cuff to his wrist. Then he took her inside. “What do you want?”

Several of the customers watched them, not just because he was handcuffed to the woman—well, maybe that also—but because they hadn’t seen him with a woman here in town ever, so the sight of him with her was catching everyone’s attention.

He was certain the news of his injury and his knocking her out had already spread among the shifters earlier also. Then her subsequent escape and the manhunt had to have circulated. Now everyone was as curious as he was to learn who the woman was.

“I can have anything?” she asked, and for the first time he saw something else in her expression. Appreciation, he thought.

“I have sample size toothpaste, hair products, and deodorant. I’ve got spare toothbrushes, all for guests who forget them at home. So mostly look for any food items you’d like. Meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Snacks. Anything you feel like.”

She looked around at the chicken and beef in the meat department, then turned her eyes on him. “I have no clothes,” she said.

He hadn’t even considered that part of the equation, since she was wearing Hal’s sweats, but then he glanced down at her bare feet, mostly covered in the sweat pants hanging in folds, but Chase felt like a heel for not thinking about it sooner. “You’re right. After we grab some food, we’ll run by a woman’s clothing shop a couple of doors down from here. I don’t know what she carries exactly, but maybe you can find what you need there.”

“I’ll have to try the clothes on.” She raised her handcuffed to his to emphasize how difficult that would be.

He smiled. He wasn’t letting her out of his sight. The vixen smiled back.

Chapter 6

If Chase had left her alone for just a few minutes, Shannon would have been out of the handcuffs in a jiff.

But Shannon couldn’t believe that Chase would sit with her in the dressing room of the woman’s boutique while she intended to try on clothes! Well, maybe she could understand. But he wouldn’t even turn away. At least while she was still wearing Hal Haverton’s sweats.

“While you’re sitting there, I can’t leave the dressing room without you noticing. Besides, the woman who owns the shop and three of her patrons are watching this dressing area just in case I knock you out and attempt to escape.”

Chase folded his arms and grinned at her.

He really was cute, well, and hot. But for now just… cute.

“I’m not letting you out of my sight. What if you managed to climb over the top and slipped out through the back door? Not on my watch. The handcuffs are off and I’m staying,” he finally said.

“Voyeur,” she said. Though she had to admit when she pulled off the sweatshirt and revealed her breasts, his cheeks reddened a bit, and then he turned to watch the door to the dressing room, taking his eyes off her. She tried on a bra, and then another, and another. She hated trying on bras. One was too tight. Another too loose. This one…

“Looks great,” Chase said.

This time
her
face turned red as she felt the heat creep into it. She tossed the too small bra at him. “Do something useful like watch the door, just in case someone tries to break in. You do realize that other women who might want to try on some clothes will feel intimidated that you’re in here with me, and they’ll feel they have to wait.”

He smiled and she yanked the price tag off the bra she was keeping and tossed the tag to him. Then she pulled on a woman’s sweatshirt, the color gray. She thought if she managed to slip away, no one would notice her much.

“The hot pink sweater would look good with your dark hair,” Chase said.

“It was too hot pink,” she said, though she did agree with him. The color did look hot on her. And she really liked a turquoise blue that also looked great with her coloring, but that’s not what she was trying for here. Obscurity was what she needed. If she’d found something to blend in with fall leaves or evergreen pines, that would work to an extent. Except if she reached the woods, she’d dump them and shift into her cougar form. As a cat hiding in the rocks, she blended in completely.

“You need the hot pink—to stand out,” he said.

She didn’t need him to clarify. She knew perfectly well what he was getting at. She motioned with her finger for him to turn around.

He watched the door while she pulled off Hal’s sweatpants and pulled on a pair of strawberry bikini panties, then yanked off the tag and tossed it at Chase. It bounced off his lap, and he leaned down to pick it up off the floor, but not before he got an eyeful of her in the sweatshirt and strawberry panties.

“Nice,” he said.

“No commentary necessary,” she said, getting what appealed to her and not caring whether it appealed to him or not. He was only the purse for the moment.

She pulled on a pair of jeans. She wasn’t used to wearing jeans cut quite that low but she figured she wouldn’t need them for long.

“Perfect,” he said.

“Aren’t you tired of me trying on clothes? Because if you are, you could go down the street and get a cup of coffee at that quaint little coffee shop.”

He smiled at her. “Nice try. I’ll suffer.”

She pulled off the jeans and tried on a pair of gray sweatpants. “You don’t look like you’re suffering.” Not from the way he eyed her while she removed the clothes and put new ones on. “Do I have a dollar limit?” she suddenly asked. She didn’t want to be greedy and get too much, or run up a tab too high. Especially since she planned to vamoose as soon as she could.

“Buy whatever you need.”

She took a deep breath, guilt washing over her again. “Thanks.” She considered the sweaters she’d brought into the dressing room, then pulled off the sweatshirt and began trying them on. “I’ll take these two.”

“Black and gray.” He shook his head.