Man-Eater (2 page)

But even though he could immediately tell she was perfect for him, he knew he couldn’t have her. Not now. Not ever. Cyrus tightened his grip on the steering wheel and redirected his gaze to the road ahead. Still, he couldn’t help but sneak another glance at her. Everything about her called out to him. And that low-cut dress, if he wasn’t careful he’d drive right off the road.

Cyrus used every ounce of his willpower to keep his gaze planted squarely ahead, mile markers slowly passing them by. But even then, even without the visual of her curves, her scent called to him, hot and heavy. It was irresistible, like a scent you didn’t just want to smell. Like a scent you wanted to eat, to lap up until you were full. He didn’t know what she’d taste like, but he could guess. Cyrus bet the vision beside him tasted like honey. Sweet, wild honey. Damn. He was rock hard and he knew she knew it. But he couldn’t be with her. Under no circumstance could he be with that curvy angel of a tigress, so he stared straight ahead, hands gripping the wheel.

“You from around here?” she purred.

“Yup.”

“Born and raised?”

“Nope.”

Come on don’t talk to me. Please don’t talk to me,
Cyrus begged silently.

Just the purr of her voice was enough to make him lose it. And he couldn’t afford to lose it. Not tonight. All he could afford to do was drop this ridiculously beautiful tigress off and never think of her again.

∞ ∞ ∞

The tiger wasn’t much for conversation, Kendra thought. He was avoiding her. Avoiding her heat. She could sense it in his reticence, in his obstinate avoidance of eye contact. Why would a tiger shifter do that? It wasn’t as if he didn’t want her. She could tell without even looking at the bulge in his pants he wanted her badly. She averted her eyes.

You’re going to get yourself in trouble, girl.

But it made no sense. A tigress in heat was such a draw to the average human male that they fell over themselves trying to get near her. To a tiger? The attraction would be stronger. It would be nearly impossible for a tiger shifter not to succumb to her. So one thing was for certain. This tiger tow truck driver had a will of steel. And not just a will, by the looks of him. She trained her eyes on the road ahead.

“How far is it?” Kendra asked.

“How far is what?” the tiger said.

“Where you’re taking me.”

“Just up the road.”

Wow. He really didn’t want to talk.

“Is there a motel there? Somewhere I can spend the night?”

“Yup,” he said.

“Great. What’s your name, anyway?” Kendra asked.

There was a long silence. “Cyrus,” he finally growled.

“I’m Kendra,” she purred, a little more sexily than she intended. “You been driving this truck long?” He just stared straight ahead. Didn’t even give her a sidelong glance. Kendra tried again. “I said, Have you been driving this truck long?”

“No,” he replied simply.

Kendra clucked her tongue. “You don’t want to talk to me, do you?”

He seemed to think about it. “Under the circumstances, I think it’s better we don’t exchange many words. In fact, I think in this particular situation, it’ll be safer for both of us if we don’t exchange anything at all.”

Kendra’s human side knew he was right, but something about the way Cyrus held himself, something about the way he steadfastly refused to look at her made her animal not want to let it go. “And what situation would that be?” Kendra asked.

“I think you know.”

“I don’t.”

“You do.”

“I do what?”

“It’s your heat,” Cyrus growled. “I can’t be around it.”

Kendra got that. She could barley stand it herself. At least he was talking now, her tigress thought. They crested a rise in the road and Kendra saw the purple light of an old neon sign. Cyrus pulled the truck to a stop in a dark, weed-infested parking lot. He shut off the engine. Kendra pushed her cat deep down inside her and fought her every animal instinct to pounce all over him. Instead, she opened the door and got out of the truck.

“Motel’s on the right,” Cyrus said.

“So my auto club membership will cover the tow?” Kendra asked.

“Yup. Your car will be here for you in the morning,” Cyrus said.

“And what about you?”

“What about me what?”

“Where will you be in the morning?”

“Excuse me for being blunt, but I think it’s better for the both of us if I’m nowhere near you.”

“You sure about that?” Kendra asked in spite of herself.

“Not even close.”

Cyrus’s eyes glowed bright and Kendra felt his longing. His need was as strong as hers, maybe stronger, but he didn’t give in to it. Instead, he pulled his eyes from hers and drove to the rear of the lot, leaving her standing alone.

Chapter Two

Kendra stood alone in the hot, humid night. She was surprised by the depth of Cyrus’s resolve. Not only had he succeeded in getting away from her, he’d gotten away from her without much of a fuss. It was strange because there was no doubt he found her attractive. When a shifter’s eyes glowed like that, that was their inner fire. It was an involuntary reaction, something they couldn’t control, and it meant he wanted her as badly as she had wanted him. Hell, if she looked in a mirror she was sure she’d see her own tigress’s eyes glowing bright, too.

But there was no mirror, just the motel and what looked like the tow yard or some kind of auto repair facility straight ahead. From behind her, she heard music. It emana
ted from a block building bathed in a pur
ple glow. Kendra ignored the music and walked over to the motel. She didn’t have much money, but she had enough, at least for the night.

“Do you have a room?” she asked the tired woman at the desk.

“Fifty bucks,” the woman said.

“Sounds good,” Kendra replied.

It didn’t sound that good. She didn’t have more than a couple hundred bucks to her name, and she was worried about the cost of her car repair. But she had to spend the night somewhere, so Kendra reached into her wallet. The woman gave her a key.

“104. Third on the right.”

“Is there anywhere to eat around here?” Kendra asked.

“Sure. Buffet across the road.”

Kendra had been so preoccupied with getting as far away from the city as possible she hadn’t stopped to eat all day. Combine that with her tigress’s raging heat and she was practically starving. Kendra thanked the desk clerk and headed out. She thought about going to her room, but food was the immediate priority. And even though she knew that heading into any kind of public space in her current state wasn’t the best idea, her stomach begged to differ.

Kendra crossed the road, the warmth from the hot asphalt rising up between her toes.
The block building, lit by its neon sign, was the only structure she saw over there, and as she approached, the music got louder and loud
er. Almost imperceptibly, the rumbling in her stomach turned into something else. Expectation. Desire. Want. And not just the kind of want you could ignore, but the kind that grabs you like a vice and won’t let go. The kind that spelled trouble. A moment later, she saw the name of the business spelled out in neon.

MAN-EATERS

What the hell? What kind of name was that? Kendra opened the door and was hit by a waft of cool air and musky scent. She didn’t have to walk two more steps before she knew exactly what kind of place she was in.

A shifter bar.

She smelled tiger everywhere. It wasn’t just a shifter bar. It was a shifter stripper bar.
A shiny brass pole sat in the center of a stage. Clearly the performers were between sets, because nobody was dancing. This was not the place to be, Kendra thought. Not in her state. No good would come of it. But she was there now. And the ribs and baked potatoes at the buffet smelled almost as good as the tiger shifters huddled around the stage.

Kendra’s human side didn’t want to have anything to do with the shifter clientele, but her tigress begged to differ. Her tigress could barely contain herself. She pressed her thighs together as she walked toward the buffet, her panties damp with her heat. The shifters’ stares drilled into her from all corners, their glowing eyes pinning her down. Then there was a whistle—a single catcall and a refrain from the crowd.

“Dance. Dance. Dance,” the crowd growled.

Of course they wanted her to dance. What else should she expect? Like it or not, she had walked into their den while in heat. Kendra ignored their calls even though her tigress purred inwardly at the attention. She wanted a man, any man, but she wasn’t going to take them. She had her human side too, and her human side subscribed to a higher standard. Kendra continued up to the bar. A bright-eyed, curvy, dark-haired woman whom Kendra immediately recognized as a fellow tigress worked behind it.

“How can I help you, doll?”

“Just looking for something to eat.”

“You staying at the motel?”

Kendra nodded.

“Just passing through?”

“Car broke down,” Kendra said.

“Tell you what. Why don’t you come into the back? I’ll grab you a plate. Better to have you under wraps in your current state.”

Kendra was immediately grateful.

“Peter!” the woman called out, and an older gentleman appeared.

“Charlize,” the older man said to the woman behind the bar.

Kendra knew the older man was a tiger shifter, and she could tell he had been a powerful one in his day.

“Peter, why don’t you get… I don’t know your name, doll.”

“Kendra,” she said.

“Why don’t you get Kendra set up at a table in the back room, and I’ll grab her some food. Ribs okay?” she asked.

“Ribs are great.”

“Good. I’m Charlize. This is Peter’s bar. Contrary to popular opinion, I just manage the place. And Peter, get Kitty out on stage before poor Kendra here is frightened away.”

“You got it,” Peter growled.

Cries of “dance, dance, dance” continued to fill the bar. Kendra knew that the shifters’ cries were directed at her. The tigers’ scents, their very proximity made it nearly impossible for her to deny her raging hormones. She had never even been in a strip club before, but she had no doubt that in her current state she might hop up on stage and start grinding against that pole just for the hell of it. But in spite of what she was feeling, her human side prevailed and she continued steadfastly forward, one foot in front of the other. Before reaching the black swinging door, however, Kendra risked a glance backward. She saw what she expected.
A room full of glowing feral eyes. Tiger
shifters everywhere leered at her, but her eyes were attracted to one of them in particular…

The tow truck driver.

He stared at her from the back of the room and Kendra felt every cell in her tigress’s body, every hot ounce of her flesh, drawn to him. She paused outside the door. She felt herself panting, short of breath. She wanted to go to him. Her heat wanted her to go to him. Fortunately, the moment was interrupted by the feedback of a microphone.

“Everybody give it up for Kitty!” Charlize purred.

And a slinky, sexy tigress sashayed onto the stage in a gold lamé skin-hugging skirt and crop top. Even though she wished it could be different, even though all she wanted was for her heat to result in something positive for a change, she knew from experience it wouldn’t. It never did. Kendra summoned her last ounce of will and strode ahead, through the swinging black door.

∞ ∞ ∞

Morning sunlight streamed down as Cyrus rolled out of bed. After stopping in for a quick bite at Man-Eaters, it had been a long night driving the tow truck for his friend, and as far as favors went, this one was starting to get old. Cyrus was looking forward to getting back to his regular life. That said, he had met a fine young tigress, even if he’d had to practically glue his hands to the wheel to keep them off her. The good news was she would be gone by now. Even though Cyrus felt at home in the area, he was well aware that people didn’t stay long in his neck of the woods. It was the kind of place people passed through to get somewhere else. In fact, if it wasn’t for Man-Eaters attracting the shifter crowd, he wasn’t sure anybody would stick around at all.

Cyrus got dressed,
made
a cup of coffee, dumped it in a travel mug and headed out. Next time he did a buddy a favor, he was going to pick a buddy who didn’t have to be on call 24/7. When Cyrus pulled into the tow yard, he figured he’d find the same old—the regulars pulling into Ma
n-Ea
ters, Roland the mechanic twisting a wrench, and at least one traveler packing up his car to leave the motel. Cyrus saw the regulars and the traveler, but what he didn’t see was Roland. Correction. He didn’t see Roland’s head. He saw his feet. And he was under a very familiar-looking car.
A car that Cyrus had really hoped would already be repaired.

Ah shit. The tigress from last night is still here.

“You going to be able to fix that thing?” Cyrus asked.

“German engineering. My redneck fingers might burn up just touching it.”