Prey & Prejudice: Cougar Falls, Book 7 (6 page)

“It’s good to see you again, Esmie.” Christopher smiled at her.

“You too, Christopher,” she said, intentionally purring his name.

That cute flush made its way over his cheeks again, and she tried to remember why she’d never sampled him before. Such a handsome feline, with those nice cheekbones and dark eyes. And a judge at that.
Oh right, a good boy.
Before she’d left the pride those many years ago, she’d been in a bad-boy phase. But times had changed.

“Before you two go sniffing around each other,” Alan interrupted drily, “how about we fix this Miles situation? The boy wants out. We all know that. But how do we—”

“Zoe.” Esmie winked at Christopher before turning back to the rest of the table. King, Sims, Nettles, Sanchez, Richards, Ruth… She liked the feel of this group. Unlike the old council, who she couldn’t stand, positive energy radiated from these elder cats. With them, her baby girl might have a shot at making her dreams come true. “Zoe’s going to solve all your problems.”

“Don’t you mean make more?” King snorted. “She’s your daughter all right. I still remember when she glued my grandson’s ears to his head.”

Barbara Ruth snickered. “That’s because he heard things he wasn’t supposed to. Then the dumbass told everybody about them.”

Esmie chuckled. It did her heart good to hear Barbara swear. She’d finally let go of some of that starch in her shorts. “That’s all in the past. Truly. Zoe and I have spent years learning about the other prides in and out of the country. Seeing what works and what doesn’t.” She deliberately skirted the truth of Zoe’s intentions. “She’s going to mate Miles.”

The smiles of relief on everyone’s faces amused her. Misleading them about her daughter’s plan to takeover might bite her in the ass later. But she knew how pleased they were that Miles would take a mate. And it soothed her desire for grandchildren. Just saying the words
Zoe
and
mate
out loud tickled her to no end.

“Well, well. So that’s why you came back. Does she know?” Alan asked, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

“No, and I’d appreciate it if we could keep this to ourselves.”

“Sure, sure.” Alan nodded. “If you say it’s coming, I believe you. My Tessa was good friends with your mother, you know.”

Esmie had always liked Alan’s wife. “I know. I was sorry to hear she passed.”

Alan smiled. “Stubborn as a goat, but a good woman all the same. I’m sure she’s making a list of my many transgressions for when I join her.”

Not for a while yet, she thought but didn’t say. Alan had more work to do here—like giving Zoe information to help her in the coming years. Then a spark drew her back to Christopher. She could feel him watching her. And when she met his gaze, he finally looked away.

Well, well. It seemed her wait for grandchildren might not be a complete bore after all. The others chatted with excitement, making plans and trying to figure out where to take the pride in the next decade. But Esmie had other ideas. “Christopher? How about you and I get reacquainted? Fill me in on all I missed.”

He smiled, and the shy man she had assumed lurked beneath his conservative clothes gave way to a hungry predator. “That’s a splendid idea. How about a drink downtown?”

She agreed, and as they left Alan Danville’s house, he put his hand on the small of her back. Esmie planned on having a very nice night indeed.

Miles sat inside the Coconut Lounge and grinned at the sight of several of the younger males flirting with the humans around the bar. A pricey nightclub, the Coconut Lounge served Ac-taw by the dozens, unbeknownst to their many human patrons. Considering the pride owned the place, it only made sense that it would be a moneymaker. That and it had all of Miami’s beautiful people in attendance.

Miles included, of course.

He sat surrounded by a bevy of models in Miami for a shoot next week. Every one pretty as a picture—stacked, real or fake, it didn’t much matter. No one in this place looked anything less than an ad in a magazine.

He nodded with satisfaction as he half listened to the clingy blonde by his side. She smelled nice and had subtle curves in all the right places, but she was boring by half—the complete opposite of Zoe and just what he’d been looking for. She had on one of his sister’s designs and wore it well. Many in the club dressed in thousand-dollar outfits, from his line as well as his competitor’s.

He studied the clothes as much as the people, trying to get a handle on the club scene he’d been out of for nearly a year. Damn, he missed Stacey. She normally dealt with this crowd, showing off Bermin Beauty for potential consumers.

Though Miles invested in other business concerns, Bermin Beauty was the flagship. Call it arrogance or sheer stubbornness, but he’d made his first million with BB, and he intended that the company continue to outperform his many rivals. Especially in his hometown of Miami.

“Miles.”

Hell
. Todd Chapman stood over him. Todd owned a chain of boutiques making a run for top dog. He wasn’t a bad guy, but Miles had been hoping to relax tonight.

“Todd.”

Human, handsome, and slightly smaller than Miles, Todd had an ego that knew no bounds. He would have made a decent silver fox with the way he was always trying to out-design and outsell his peers.

“Back in town to stay, I hear?” Todd sipped from a martini glass and looked good doing it. The man had panache. His dark hair had been cut and styled to perfectly frame his face. If he’d had work done, Miles couldn’t see it.

“Yes.” Miles took a drag of his imported beer and emptied it. “We’re expanding our summer line as well as our market out West. I’m sure you’ve heard.”

“Word has it Stacey’s in charge.” At Miles’s nod, he sighed. “You’d do fine out there, no doubt.” Then he leaned closer and lowered his voice. “A word of warning. You and I aren’t exactly friends, but I prefer your animosity over the new group trying to muscle its way into the District.”

Miami’s Design District had been Bermin Beauty’s starting point. At the crossroads of several upscale neighborhoods, it had shaken off decades of urban ruin and become the place to go for galleries, restaurants and upscale shopping. Chapman, Mark Jacobs, Louboutin, Fendi, Bermin Beauty, all the great clothiers had a foothold in the area. So who the hell was this new group?

Before he could ask Todd about it, a hint of tension arose from the far corner of the bar. From Miles’s vantage point seated on the elevated platform, he could see over the many gyrating bodies into the Ac-taw-only section. He recognized two junior felines in the middle of it and sighed. “Excuse me, Lisa.” Or was it Linda? In any case, the blonde attached to his side gave a pretty pout but moved aside when he rose and stepped around her. “I have to see to this. A few cousins of mine,” Miles explained to Todd.

Todd shrugged. “Family. Just remind me to tell you about the competition. Birdie? Really? What an asinine name for a clothing line.” He snorted. “Their spokeswoman is bitchy and has no sense of style. She has an embarrassing taste in clothes, but she travels with an unstable-looking group of security. I don’t like it.”

“I’ll call you, and we’ll talk further.” Miles would. He didn’t like the sound of that name. What were the odds the raptors had decided to invade Miami and a new clothing business called Birdie had Todd running scared? More problems Miles didn’t need.

He hurried to the back, nodding at several acquaintances, a few old girlfriends—hell, one-night stands—and finally joined the private party area, normally restricted by the curtains, which remained open.

Unfortunately, Juan, Dresden and two other college cats stood toe-to-toe with… Miles took a deep whiff. Raptors.
Shit.

He turned to the bartender and gave him a look. In seconds, the curtains closed in the back area, giving Miles and the other Shifters some much-needed privacy away from the prying eyes of the public. The loud techno beat of the DJ offered them seclusion from raised voices, and to his relief, Miles soon scented familiar bodies on the other side of the curtains. Two bouncers, both feline and much appreciated.

“What’s this all about?”

At the sound of his voice, the six men standing over four of his junior pride members turned to him. Tall, larger than most birds of prey and, as Todd had hinted, decidedly dressed
not
to impress, they didn’t say anything as they regarded him. But a female behind them spoke up.

“Move aside.”

The birds shifted to allow a hard-looking woman to step from the shadows. Dark hair, dark eyes and a nice body clad in an obscenely tight one-shoulder jersey dress made him cringe.
Givenchy with a touch of trash,
he couldn’t help thinking.

“I’m Lisette. We stopped in for a drink. But lo and behold, these kitties didn’t want to play nice.” She glowered at Juan and Dresden.

“Lady, just because we didn’t want to get pawed by some old hag with talons doesn’t mean we aren’t nice.” Dresden looked down his nose at her. “Your dress is two sizes too tight.” Dresden had an apprenticeship with Bermin Beauty, so of course he thought he knew more than the average cat. Working with Miles’s people, he did. But still, the snotty sentiment was guaranteed to offend.

Sure enough, Lisette scowled. She walked to Dresden and kneed him in the balls too quickly to be stopped.

Dresden went down hard, and Miles felt for him.

“Lisette, I apologize for Dresden. Boys, out.” He nodded toward the exit, and the felines took Dresden with them and darted past the curtains, leaving Miles and seven annoyed birds to deal with. “However, that said, you touch one of my pride again, I’ll pull your feathers out one by one,” he promised in his most pleasant voice.

She blinked at him then smiled. “Or course. I should have known by the golden head and pretty face. Miles Bermin. Now isn’t this lucky?” She laughed, and he likened the throaty chortle to a vulture’s call. “I was hoping to get word to you, and here you are.”

He just stared at her, and her smile turned into a frown.

“So you know, cat, there’s a new group in town. We raptors plan to set up shop. There are near to five hundred of us in the area right now, not counting the hundreds more up north. Eagles, vultures, falcons, owls—we’ve got ’em all. All of us versus you hundred or so pussies. So this is your heads-up to get lost, kitty cat. The birds are here to stay.”

“May I ask where you came from?”

She narrowed her eyes at him, probably wondering why he hadn’t immediately rejected her claim. “From Maryland. We outgrew our aerie up there. Planned to head south, and with you guys having problems, we figured we’d clean up the nonsense and settle in. Besides, we like Miami.”

Another consequence of Lex’s coup. Now other Shifters though Miami was up for grabs. Terrific.

“Good weather for flying,” one of her hulking minions offered.

“And for fishing.” His friend nodded.

“Yes, and for hunting fowl.” Miles smiled, showing bright white teeth. He wished like hell he could grow claws and fangs and bite through the bullies, but Ac-taw were either man or animal, not both. Rarely during a change could a Shifter make use of claws before turning fully animal.

“So you’re not planning to go out easy then.” She smiled, and he noted the lines she tried to hide with makeup and…Botox? “Good.”

“You know, you have a natural beauty.” He frowned in thought, amused when she blinked at him in surprise. “You shouldn’t try to hide your age—which isn’t working for you, by the way—but embrace it. You have really nice bone structure, but that haircut is framing your face all wrong. And that dress… Dresden was right. It’s as least a size too small for you. Get a larger dress and enhance your form. Don’t flaunt it.”

Her confusion turned to rage, and she took a step closer to him, her thugs closing in. “You
bastard
. Don’t you dare tell me how to dress. I don’t care how much money or clout you think you have. We raptors are here now. Your time is through. I gave you this warning as a courtesy, against my brother’s wishes, but I can see I was mistaken. Bill? Henry? Help our host out on his ass. Oh, and we’ll be drinking for free tonight and every night after this. I did my research. I know you pussies own the place.”

Before he could slug Bill’s oversized jaw, kick at Henry’s limp and prepare to disable the others before the bouncers intruded, the curtains parted and sex on a stick walked in. A sweet, sultry perfume of feminine feline at its finest.

Zoe, damn her hide, entered swinging her hips in an excuse for a minidress that practically dared him to bend her over and see just what color thong she wore. Jesus.

Focus, moron. Deal with these assholes first, Zoe after.

“Lisette. How good to see you,” she said in a low voice.

He stepped back, keeping himself between an advancing Zoe and the birds.

“Zoe Castille? Still alive? Too bad. I didn’t realize you’d made it out of that shithole excuse for a club in Baltimore with your face intact.” Lisette smiled through what looked like capped teeth, and Miles wanted to put his fist through her face. The thought that she might have hurt Zoe in the past put his every protective instinct on alert. “How’s your bitch of a mother?”

Miles sucked in a breath. If Zoe was even an inkling of the same girl she’d been years ago, that comment wouldn’t go down well. And it didn’t.