On the Prowl

Chapter One

Seth Rogan leaned against the end of the bar and popped a handful of peanuts into his mouth. The Litter Box, the main gathering place for cat shifters in the city, was very full for a night in the middle of the week, mainly because the owner—his brother, Max—had decided to extend Happy Hour on Wednesdays until nine o’clock. He had also added three food choices. That meant all the panther and leopard professionals that usually left by seven o’clock were still hanging around.

Normally he’d just be happy that business was good for his brother. But right now there was a predator loose—a leopard with genetic flaws who preyed on the female cats at The Litter Box. He followed them home, broke into their places, raped them and then killed them by ripping out their throats.

Which was why Seth, a homicide detective, was spending his off duty hours at The Litter Box scoping out the crowd. And wishing like hell all these women would go home…safely.

“Don’t look so sour,” Max told him as he handed him a soft drink. “You’ll scare away my customers.”

“I’d like to scare them away permanently,” Seth growled. “At least until we get this bastard leopard taken care of.”

“No kidding.” Max’s face sobered. “He’s got to be new to the area because I have a hard time believing it’s one of my regulars.”

“You’d have to be the one to spot a newcomer. I don’t get in here enough.”

“And whose fault is that?” his brother asked. “You have no social life.”

“Not all of us can be lucky enough to find a gem like your wife.”

Max grinned. “And I had to work damn hard to get her.”

Max had recently married Aisha McClellan, a woman he’d loved for a long time before circumstance had finally given him the opportunity he’d needed to let her know. Now he grinned like a fool every time someone mentioned her name.

“Speak of the sweet little devil.” Max nodded towards the front door.

Aisha had just stopped to greet Leo, the bouncer, before heading towards her husband. But it was the woman with her that caught Seth’s attention and nearly made his heart stop beating. She was small, like Aisha, but where Max’s wife was dark, she was a honey blonde. Thick, wavy hair cascaded past her shoulders. Black jeans and a hot pink T-shirt clung to a trim but lushly curved figure.

His cock instantly hardened and every nerve in his body went on red alert. Desire coursed through him, tightening his balls and sending erotic messages to his brain.

What the hell?

Seth had definitely had his share of woman, but never before had there been such a strong, instant connection.

Beside him, Max, who was also watching the two women approach, gave a low chuckle.

“Be nice to me and I might introduce you,” he told his brother.

“Who is she?”

“She works with Aisha. Her name is Kendall Raines.” He nodded his head towards them. “Mind your manners.”

Aisha took a seat on an empty bar stool and leaned across the polished wood for a kiss from her husband. Max winked at his brother as he put a lip lock on his wife. Seth didn’t care about watching his brother and sister-in-law make out next to him. He was much more interested in the woman sitting down next to Aisha. He stared at her and tried to pull his tongue off the roof of his mouth.

Finally he cleared his throat and Max slid a glance at him. Seth frowned and tilted his head at the blonde.

“Okay, okay.” Max chuckled and looked at Aisha. “How about introducing Kendall to Seth?”

Aisha looked at him and raised an eyebrow. “The dark prince actually wants to meet someone?”

“Very funny,” Seth growled.

Aisha turned to her friend. “Kendall, meet Seth Rogan, my brother-in-law. When he’s not working as a homicide detective, he stands around and glares at people. Seth, smile nicely and say hello to Kendall Raines.”

Kendall smiled at him and something inside him turned over. He wanted to bury his cock deep inside this woman and keep it there forever. As blonde as she was, he had a feeling when she shifted it was into leopard form. That was okay. He and Max had a lot of friends who had crossed breeds to mate.

“Nice to meet you.” He smiled. “Can I buy you a drink?”

“Don’t be too impressed,” Aisha told her. “He gets them for free from Max.”

“It’s the thought that counts,” Kendall told her in a low, musical voice. She looked at Seth. “Thanks. That would be nice.”

Seth wedged himself in between Kendall’s stool and the one next to her. “What’s your pleasure?”

“Vodka martini on the rocks, please.”

“I’ve never seen you in here before,” he commented while he waited for Max to fill their orders.

“I don’t usually go out during the week,” she told him. “But Aisha’s been telling me about this place for ages. Tonight both of us had to work late and it just seemed like a good idea to stop by here on the way home.”

Seth spotted a small table in the corner being vacated. “Let’s move over there”—he stared down his brother and sister-in-law—“where we can get acquainted in some form of privacy.”

“Um, sure. I guess.”

She sounded tentative, but she still slid off the bar stool and let him guide her through the swaying mass of bodies on the dance floor. He wanted to grab the table before someone else could claim it.

“The atmosphere in here usually doesn’t lend itself too well to conversation,” he told her, leaning close to speak directly into her ear as the thumping music reverberated in the room.

Her perfume invaded his senses, a slightly exotic flavour, like the blooming flowers of the jungle. His cock flexed slightly and his hormones went wild. Seth hoped he could control himself enough not to frighten her away. If he hadn’t promised Max he’d stay until closing, he’d find a way to whisk her out of there.

“Aisha told me this is how she met Max.”

Seth nodded. “She came in here for a long time before Max finally found the nerve to…be with her.”

Kendall laughed. “Are you referring to the night my friend got stinking drunk and Max kindly took her home?”

“Oh. So you know the story.”

Kendall nodded. “Aisha and I have worked together for a long time. We’ve gotten to be pretty tight.”

Seth cocked an eyebrow. “Yet you’ve never come in here before.”

“And you know that because you spend all your free time here?” she teased.

“Not really. But I’d know if you had because Max would have mentioned anything to do with Aisha’s friends.”

The waitress wriggled her way through the crowd, balancing a tray over her head, then deposited their drinks in front of them. Seth watched as Kendall lifted her glass with slender fingers and took a sip of the drink with her full, sensuous lips. For an instant Seth imagined those lips around his cock and the arrow of heat that shot through him nearly fried his balls. Hastily he took a swallow of his club soda to cool himself off.