The Magical Christmas Cat

by Lora Leigh

  Now, she slapped her satchel closed and swung it over her shoulder. Or tried to. Zach slid it out of her hand and brought the strap over his head, settling it diagonally across his body.

  "Mr. Quinn!" She looked like she wanted to bite him.

  His cat purred in interest, even as Bryan giggled. "Nobody calls Uncle Zach that."

  "Yeah, nobody does," Zach added. "Come on, Jumping Bean. We're moving out." He nodded at the coat thrown carelessly over the back of Annie's chair. "Don't forget that. It's cold out." He began to walk to the door, knowing she'd have no choice but to follow.

  After a taut second, she did. He heard her clothing rustle as she put the coat on over her stern gray pants and tailored white shirt, his mind obliging him with a fantasy slide show of the feminine softness he knew lurked underneath. Pity it was all covered up now.

  "After you, Teach." Letting Bryan scamper a few feet ahead, he held the door open and watched Annie Kildaire walk toward him.

  Her limp was very slight, but even that meant the injury had to have been horrendous. Either that, or the impairment was a natural one surgeons hadn't been able to repair fully. And there wasn't much surgeons couldn't repair these days. "What happened to your leg?" he asked once they were out in the hallway.

  She faltered for a second before her shoulders squared. "There was a freak bullet-train derailment when I was seven. My leg was crushed so badly, it was pretty much unrecognizable as anything other than meat with a few fragments of bone."

  He heard the simmering pride in her, had the sense that she was bracing herself for a blow. "They did a good job of reconstructing it. Titanium?"

  He could tell from her expression that that wasn't the response she'd expected. "No. Some kind of new plassteel. Very high-tech. It 'grew' as I grew, so I only needed a couple of extra surgeries over the years."

  "And now?"

  "I shouldn't need any work done on it unless I injure the leg in some way."

  Zach knew that couldn't be all of it. "Still hurt?"

  She hesitated. "Sometimes." She indicated a corridor to their left. "I want to make sure Morgan's been picked up."

  "JB, hold up." Knowing he could trust the boy not to dart outside, he followed Annie the short distance to the sick bay. Looking over her shoulder, he saw the darkened interior. "He's gone."

  She jumped. "You walk like a cat!"

  "I am a cat, sweetheart." He wanted to tease her again, so he let a low growl rumble up from his chest. "See?"

  Streaks of vibrant color stained her cheeks once more. But she didn't back down. "Are you planning to move?"

  "No." He drew in a deep breath, fighting the urge to nuzzle at her throat. "You smell good. Can I taste you?" It was a half-serious question. "Just a little?"

  "Mr. Quinn!" She took a step around him and headed off.

  But he'd already caught the tart bite of arousal in her scent. Satisfied, he followed, on his best behavior now. It wouldn't do to scare Annie away. Not when he planned to keep her.

  A moment later, they reached the front door, where Bryan was waiting. Zach pulled it open. "Stay with me," he told his nephew. The boy was leopard-fast, but he was still a boy. Sometimes, he didn't look where he was going, and cars could hurt him as easily as they could a human or Psy child.

  The outside air was cold, but it made Zach sigh in exhilaration. Being outdoors was in his blood, the reason why he loved his day job as a ranger in Yosemite. The work fitted naturally into his duties as a DarkRiver soldier—he could run patrols and check up on his wild charges at the same time.

  "Where's your car?" he asked Annie, noticing that her face had brightened, too. Sexy, kissable Annie Kildaire liked being outside as much as he did. It pleased the cat, soothed the man.

  "Over there." Giving him a look still colored with the tart kiss of temper, she pointed to a little compact that would cut his legs in half if he was ever insane enough to try to fold himself inside. But she was on the small side, he thought, wondering if she'd mind tussling with a taller man. The idea of the games he wanted to play with Annie made him grin. "JB and I will walk you over."

  She didn't argue with him this time, simply asked about his vehicle. He jerked a thumb in the direction of the rugged all-wheel-drive parked a few spaces away.

  "I suppose you need that in the forest?" Her voice held a touch of wistfulness.

  "Yeah." DarkRiver's territory covered a lot of beautiful but harsh land. And now that they had allied with the SnowDancer wolves, that territory included the Sierra Nevada mountains. "Have you ever been out in Yosemite?" The nearest edge of the massive forest was only about an hour from here, the reason why this school was so popular with the pack. Many of them lived on the fringes of Yosemite.

  "Just the public areas." She pressed her thumb to the door of her car, deactivating the security lock. "I guess those sections only make up a tiny fraction of your territory?"

  Zach nodded. In the past, DarkRiver had been relaxed about offering access to other parts of the forest—so long as people obeyed the rules that protected the land and its wild inhabitants. However, right now, with the Psy Council looking for any weakness in their defenses, they'd become more stringent. Nobody but Pack went in past what DarkRiver considered the public boundary. Of course, members of the pack could bring guests in. "Want to see more?"

  Her expression was startled. "I—" She snapped her mouth shut, and he saw her gaze dip to her leg. The movement was so quick, he would've missed it if he hadn't been watching her so closely.

  Someone, he thought, a growl building inside him, had done a number on her confidence. "I can drive you up tomorrow," he said, clamping down on the anger, "show you some of the sights most people never get to see."

  "I shouldn't." But temptation whispered through her eyes. "I have to prepare for the class's contribution to the Christmas pageant." A fond look directed at Bryan.

  His nephew jumped up and down. "We're going to do the story of how the Psy once tried to cancel Christmas. It's gonna be so funny!"

  "Make sure you get me a ticket," Zach said, but his mind was on how to secure Annie's company for tomorrow. Challenge might work. Or perhaps . . . "Once-in-a-lifetime offer," he said with a smile that he tried to keep from being ravenous. If she caught even a hint of what he truly wanted from her, she'd never get into a car with him, much less let him drive her into the lush privacy of the forest. "Pack's getting strict about who we allow in."

  She bit down on that full lower lip of hers, arousing his jealousy. He wanted to do the biting.

  "Well," she said, clearly torn.

  Then Bryan clinched the deal for him. "You should come, Miss Kildaire! Then after, you can come to the picnic."

  "Picnic?" She looked at Zach. "It's winter."

  "Winter picnic," he said, as if that was normal. It was, for DarkRiver. "It's informal, just a chance for people to get together before the Christmas madness."

  "Please come, Miss Kildaire," Bryan pleaded. "Please."

  He saw Annie melt at that childish plea and knew he had her.

  "All right," she said, and looked up. Her smile faded . . . because he'd let the cat seep into his eyes, let her see the dark hunger pumping through his blood.

  "I'll pick you up at nine." He leaned closer, drawing in the scent of her. "Be ready for me, sweetheart."

  Annie closed the door to her apartment and asked herself if she'd lost her mind. Not half an hour ago, she'd agreed to spend an entire day with a man so dangerous, a sane woman would've run in the opposite direction . . . instead of fantasizing about kissing him on those should-be-illegal lips. Her entire body went hot as she remembered the look in his eyes as he'd asked her to be ready for him. Dear God, the man was lethal.

  "Calm down, Annie," she told herself. "It's not like he's really going to do anything." Because while Zach Quinn might've flirted with her, might even have looked at her as a man looks at a woman he wants, she was pragmatic enough to know that it had probably been nothing more than a momentary diversi
on on his part. A man that good-looking had to have women begging to crawl into his bed.

  The idea of Zach sprawled in bed, all gleaming skin and liquid muscle, made her stomach flutter. Then she imagined him crooking a finger, that teasing smile playing over his lips. "If he ever looks at me like that," she whispered, pulling the chopsticks out of her hair as she walked into the bedroom, "I'm a goner." Her black hair tumbled around her face in a mass of soft curls.

  Zach's hair had looked heavier than hers, sleeker.

  Her thoughts went from his hair to what he might look like in leopard form. A predator, all muscle and power covered with a gold-and-black coat. Would he allow a woman to stroke him? Her fingers tingled in awareness, and standing as she was in front of the vanity mirror, she saw her lips part, her eyes widen. The ache between her thighs turned into an erotic pulse.

  Her cell phone beeped.

  She ignored it, shocked by the raw intensity of the hunger surging through her. She'd never before reacted this passionately to a man, until her entire body trembled'with the force of it. "Lord have mercy." Because if this was what simply thinking about him did to her, how in the world was she going to survive being alone with him for an entire day?

  Beep. Beep. Beep.

  She answered the cell just to shut off the sound. "Yes?"

  Chapter 3

  "Angelica, what's the matter? You're snapping."

  She took a deep breath. "Nothing, Mom. I just got home."

  "Well, it's Friday, so you can relax a little. Drink that chamomile tea I got you."

  Annie hated chamomile tea. "You know I don't like it." "It's good for you."

  She'd heard that so many times it no longer made any impact. "I think I want to be bad, today." And it wasn't herbal tea on her mind. "Very, very bad."

  "Honestly, Angelica!" Kimberly blew out a frustrated breath. "Forget the tea. I wanted to tell you to dress nicely for dinner tomorrow night."

  Dinner? Annie's stomach sunk to the bottom of her toes as she realized she'd blanked the event from her mind. "Mom, you said you wouldn't—"

  "He's a nice young professor from London. Over here on a sabbatical."

  "When you say young . . ."

  "He's only forty-three, dear."

  Annie was twenty-eight. "Oh." She rubbed her forehead. "The thing is—"

  "No arguments. Your father and I want you settled. We won't be around to look after you forever."

  "I can look after myself." She felt her hand fist, released it with effort. There was no point in getting angry, not when this was a conversation they'd been having for more years than she could remember. "I'm not a child."

  "Well you can't spend the rest of your life alone." Her mother's tone was harsh, but it held an edge of desperation—Kimberly really was worried by the thought of her daughter living a solitary life. She'd never bothered to wonder if Annie was single by choice. "Professor Markson is a lovely man. You could do a lot worse."

  What her mother actually meant, Annie thought with a stab of old resentment, was that it wasn't as if she had any other options. To Kimberly, Annie was a damaged,and fragile creature most men would bypass. "Is Caro coming?"

  "Of course not." Her mother made a sound of annoyance. "We want the professor's attention on you. Much as I like her, your cousin tends to steal the limelight, even now that she's married."

  Annie's headache intensified—Caro was usually the only point of sanity at these ritual humiliations. "Right."

  "I'll expect you at seven for cocktails."

  "I might be a little late."

  "Work?"

  "No." How did she say this? "I, er, arranged an in-depth tour of Yosemite." Though she didn't live far from the forest, her parents were closer to San Francisco. Even in a high-speed vehicle, it would take her over an hour to make the trip.

  "Really, Annie. You knew we were having this dinner."

  "I said I didn't want to be set up on any more dates." Especially when she had no intention of marrying or entering into a long-term relationship. Ever. And most certainly not when the men came in expecting someone like Caro and got Annie instead. "I'll try to be there as soon as I can, but I can't promise anything."

  Her mother hung up after a few more sharp words. Rubbing her forehead, Annie walked out of the bedroom and to the bathroom, cell phone still in hand. After that call, she definitely needed the soothing properties of a bath liberally laced with mineral salts. Stripping off, she sat on the edge of the tub while it filled, taking the chance to massage some of the stiffness out of her thigh.

  Does it hurt?

  Such a simple question, without judgment or pity. It had undone her just a little. Not only that, but Zach had continued to flirt with her even after discovering that she was less than perfect. It might not have meant much to him, but it had meant something to her.

  No, Angelica, you can't do that. Your leg's too weak.

  Too often, it felt as if her mother had been born into the wrong race. She would've made a good Psy, with her analytical mind and need for perfection in all things.

  The only place Kimberly had failed was with Annie.

  Her mood might've dimmed again, but she was too busy daydreaming about kissing Zach on those beautiful lips of his. The man was too sinful to be real. And the way he flirted . . . wow. It would've been nice to be confident enough to flirt back. "Instead of blushing and going tongue-tied," she muttered.

  She'd seen enough DarkRiver couples to identify the kind of women dominant changeling men found attractive—and Zach was definitely a dominant. Those women were all striking in some way, but it was their self-assurance that really shone through. Vividly intelligent, they didn't hesitate to speak their minds, or give back as good as they got. Feminine strength didn't scare men of Zach Quinn's ilk, it enticed them.

  And that was exactly what attracted her to him. She knew after having met him only once that he'd never tell her she couldn't do something. Zach would simply expect her to match him. And that was a seduction all on its own.

  The bath pinged to alert her it was full. She was about to step in when her eye fell on the cell phone she'd left on top of her discarded clothes. She grabbed it, deciding to give Caro a call. Her cousin was an expert on men, and it was advice on that subject that Annie needed right now.

  Putting it within reach, she sank into the hot water with a moan. After ten minutes of just lying there soaking in the heat, she reached out to get the phone. It beeped an incoming call as her fingers brushed the case. Rolling her eyes because it was probably her mother again, she flipped it open without checking the display and answered audio only. *

  "It's me," she said, dropping her head back against the wall and pressing her feet flat against the end of the bath.

  "Hello, me."

  Her breath stuck in her throat at the sound of that sensually amused voice. "Zach . . . Mr. Quinn—" She'd have jerked upright except that she was frozen in place.

  "Zach," he corrected. "I hope I'm not disturbing you."

  "No, I"—water dripped as she raised a hand to push streamers of hair off her face—"I was just relaxing."

  "In the bath?"

  She blinked, mortified that she'd left the visual feed on by accident. But no, it was switched off. "Leopards have good ears."

  Her cheeks colored. "Of course." She stayed very still, not wanting him to hear her splashing about.

  "I didn't mean to intrude into your relaxation time." An apology made in a voice that was close to a purr.

  Annie told herself to breathe. "That's okay." Realizing he couldn't see her, she stopped fighting herself and allowed her face to suffuse with the pleasure she got from simply listening to him. She'd never before met a man with a voice like Zach's—so masculine, but with that delectable hint of play. As if while he might be a honed blade of a soldier, he knew how to laugh, too. "Was there a problem with Bryan?"

  "No, JB's fine. No runs with the other kids for a week for him."

  Annie frowned. "I thought he'd have
entertainment privileges suspended."

  Zach chuckled, and it rippled through her like living fire. "That is his favorite form of entertainment. Leopard changel-ings, especially boys his age, hate being trapped inside."

  "Of course." She remembered one of the other parents saying something along those lines during a parent-teacher conference. "Was that what you called to tell me?"

  "That, and I wanted to warn you about the cold up in the higher elevations. We might even hit some snow. Dress in layers."

  "Okay." She bit down on her lower lip, wanting to keep him on the phone but not knowing what to say to achieve that goal. "So, 9:00 a.m. tomorrow?"

  "Hmm." He sounded distracted to her ears.

  "I should let you go," she began.

  "Tired of me already?"

  She really didn't know how to deal with him. "No." Another male chuckle. "Tell me something about you, Annie."

  "What do you want to know?" Why did he want to know?

  "How long have you been a teacher?"

  "Five years," she said with a smile. "I started teaching new entrants, but for the past couple of years, it's been kids Bryan's age."

  "You like it."

  "I love it." She found she'd relaxed again, soothed by the timbre of his voice, so easy, so deliciously male. "What do you do?"

  "I'm a forest ranger, specializing in the predatory species that call Yosemite home."

  The work fitted him better than anything she could've imagined. "Do you like what you do?"

  "It's in my blood." He paused. "Someone's at the door. I'll pick you up at nine on the dot. Sweet dreams." The last was a husky murmur laced with temptation.

  "Bye." She ended the call and just sat there, flushing alternately hot and cold. Surely she was reading too much into the conversation. He'd called to make sure she dressed right. The way his voice had felt like a caress over her most sensitive skin . . »-that was the result of her pulse-pounding susceptibility to him. It didn't mean he wanted her, too.

  But she couldn't quite stop herself from hoping.

  Zach pulled open the door to his small home, already aware of his visitor's identity. He'd picked up the scent the instant the other changeling stepped out of his vehicle.

  "Luc." He welcomed his alpha inside. "What's up?" Lucas walked in, dressed in a dark gray suit that said he'd come straight from DarkRiver's business HQ.

  "Nice place."

  "Nice suit." Opening the cooler, he threw Lucas a sleek glass bottle before taking one for himself.

  "What the hell is this?" Lucas scowled at the pale blue liquid inside. "And the suit's camouflage."

  "It's some new energy drink Joe's come up with." He twisted off the top. "We're supposed to give him feedback."

  Lucas took a pull. "Not bad—for something that looks like it glows in the dark."

  Zach grinned. "So, why the camouflage?"

  "I had a meeting with a Psy group today."

  "New deal?" DarkRiver had recently completed its second major construction project for Psy Councilor Nikita Duncan. The success of the venture had been so dramatic, they'd attracted considerable interest from other Psy businesses.

  "Signed and sealed." Lucas's grin was very feline in its satisfaction. "I wanted to talk to you about some of the land you cover during your duties as ranger."

  Zach nodded. "Is there a problem?"

  "Shouldn't be, but I want you to keep an extra sharp eye out. Psy don't usually venture anywhere near our territory, but they've been changing the rules recently."

  "You think they might be trying to use the land to familiarize themselves with the forest," Zach guessed. Psy weren't, as a rule, comfortable in wide-open spaces. They preferred the cities, with their towers of glass and steel. But as Lucas's mate, Sascha, showed, the psychic race was supremely adaptable.

  "I don't think it's happened yet, but there's a possibility it might-—we'd be fools if we didn't prepare for the unexpected."

  "I'll keep you updated." He put down his empty bottle beside the one Lucas had just finished. "You didn't really come here for that." Lucas's caution was something Zach was a senior-enough soldier to figure out for himself.

  Lucas shrugged, the clawlike markings on the right side of his face standing out in vivid relief. "I was passing through to talk to Tammy about the Christmas celebrations, decided to drop in, touch base."

  Since Tammy and Nate were Zach's closest neighbors, that made sense. "Tell Nate I saw his cubs chasing a dog yesterday." Lucas grinned.

  "Sounds about right."

  "Can I ask you a question?" Lucas raised an eyebrow and waited.

  "How fragile are humans?" He'd had human lovers before, but he'd never wanted any woman, human or changeling, with the raw fury that colored his hunger for Annie. It worried him that he might hurt her in passion. "How much do I have to hold back?"

  "They're not as breakable as we tend to think," Lucas said, and Zach knew he was speaking from experience. Physically, Psy were even weaker than humans, yet Luc