“And if she refuses to name her mate, her father or the clan alpha can petition the council for permission to mate her by force?” Bitterness made her tone brittle and she suddenly stopped and faced him again. “Osric was forced on my mother, wasn’t he? That’s why she ran away from your precious Therian nation. She was protecting us from…all of this bullshit!”
“I already told you I don’t agree with the practice, but we are not human. Our biological needs are different, more demanding than anything you’ve experienced before. Females need to be claimed for their own safety. Once a male and a female bond, their bodies synchronize and her heat cycles will no longer affect other males. But until she’s in sync with one man, she is fair game for any unbound male.”
“Oh that sounds delightful. Where do I sign up?” All of her feisty heat suddenly sputtered out and the color drained from her face. “This is why Osric is after us. We just turned twenty-five.”
“The Alpha Council granted Osric’s petition for an official intervention.” They’d reached the crux of the conflict and his cat surged in response, hungry and demanding. He’d hoped to give her a little more time, to approach her with more finesse. But he was out of options. He needed energy now. “I don’t know who he’s chosen as your mate, but if the wolves had caught up with you instead of me, you’d be on your way to the Therian version of a shotgun wedding.”
* * * * *
Carly Ides stared through the double eyepiece of the microscope, too frustrated to analyze the newest sample. Osric had entered the lab twenty minutes ago and casually sat down at the small round table. He didn’t say a word, but she could feel his eyes roaming over her body and knew it was only a matter of time before he made his next sexual demand.
Submitting to him had seemed like the only way to learn what the backers expected her to learn. In fact, they had suggested she make herself available to Osric, hoping he would open up to a lover. The problem was they weren’t really lovers. She was a toy, an amusing object for him to position, ogle and manipulate.
Under ordinary circumstances… She didn’t let the thought go any further. There was nothing ordinary about this situation. She was locked in a secret research facility somewhere in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains. At least she thought she was still in Colorado. She’d arrived by helicopter, so it was hard to determine exactly how far they’d flown.
She was a willing captive, however, having agreed to the unusual arrangement in exchange for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Along with a select group of other scientists, she studied a species the vast majority of humanity didn’t know existed. Shapeshifters. Therians, as they preferred to be called, were not only real, they were utterly amazing. So, if she had to put up with the lecherous behavior of one of her supervisors, it was a small price to pay to participate in the program.
Besides, if she were brutally honest with herself, once her pride was silenced, she enjoyed their little games.
“Turn around and lift your lab coat. I want to see if you’re still in compliance.”
Her hands clutched the edge of the workspace and she took a deep breath. The challenge was not responding to his touch, it was concealing the true depth of her pleasure as her body came alive. He’d insisted she wear only skirts with nothing underneath. It left her vulnerable, accessible for whatever he chose to do.
She’d encouraged Osric’s advances at the direction of the backers, the mysterious three who oversaw and funded the Therian project. They expected her to slip beneath Osric’s defenses and learn his true motivations. But Osric would never confide in her. She was a mere human and he was Therian. He was an invaluable resource, even if the backers didn’t trust him, and she was expendable.
Pausing for a moment, she considered her next move. She was getting nowhere with her current strategy. He thought she was weak and malleable, which meant there was no reason to respect her. She’d observed the mating habits of predators often enough to know females frequently challenged males, forcing him to prove his strength before she submitted to his demands.
“I’m bored with these games.” She kept her tone even and carefully erased any hint of emotion from her expression before she pivoted on her stool and faced him. “We were both curious and now our curiosity has been sated. I think it’s best if we move on. No hard feelings. No regrets.”
He pushed to his feet and stalked toward her, his tall, lean body moving with inherent grace. A shiver of excitement raced down her spine. Oh yeah, she had his attention now. He claimed to have a daughter in her mid-twenties, so he had to be pushing fifty. Yet not a speck of gray marred his dark hair and his skin was unlined, somehow ageless.