Read Online Cat Scratch Fever by Jodi Redford - Free Book Online

pack isn’t going to witness it, what difference does it make?”
    “They don’t have to. They’ll know we didn’t do it if they don’t see my mark on you.”
    “Your mark ?” Oh for Pete’s sake. Could anything be more Neanderthal? “So tell them it’s in a private place that I have no intention of showing off.”
    “It doesn’t work that way, Lilly. A wolf marks his mate to make it clear to all that she belongs to him.”
    “Why don’t you just pee on me and get it over with?”
    “You’re making more out of this than there needs to be.”
    She tossed her arms up. “Sure. Easy for you to say. You’re not the one who’d be marked and branded like damn cattle.”
    “It doesn’t mean anything. You won’t actually belong to me.”
    “Your pack will think I do. That’s just as bad.”
    His eyes momentarily closed as he dragged in a deep breath and released it in a weary gust. When he looked at her again, his frustration was palpable. “Why do you have to be so mule-headed?”
    “What? I’m stubborn because I think your sexist werewolf rules are stupid?”
    “It’s not sexist. There are female alphas who bite their mates in the same fashion. And there are even couples who give each other matching marks.”
    His pronouncement gave her pause, and she eyed him in contemplation. “Can I mark you?”
    “Babe, you’re not a wolf.”
    “You’re not a cat, and I’m— possibly —going to let you mark me. Fair is fair.”
    She could hear his molars grind. “I’ll think about it.”
    “Either you will or you won’t. That’s my terms.”
    They stared each other down for an interminable time, their silent battle of the wills more epic than Custer’s last stand at Little Bighorn. She was fairly certain if she listened closely enough, she’d hear war drums in the distance.
    A prominent muscle tic twitched at the corner of Dante’s eye. “Fine. But I get to be on top.”
    Yeah. Definitely one hell of a romantic proposal. She gnawed her thumbnail, her heart racing at the ramifications of what she was about to commit to and the fear that she would ultimately live to regret it. “Okay, I’ll do it.”
    A relieved breath gusted from Dante.
    “I expect a written contract between us.” There was no way she’d be so foolish to take his verbal word about the land.
    He nodded. “I’ll have it written up before we get married on Sunday.”
    His easy declaration squeezed the oxygen from her lungs. “ Sunday ? As in four-freaking-days-from-now Sunday?”
    “I know it’s last minute, but I don’t have any choice. The deed has to be done before next week.” He leaned down and squeezed her hand. “It’ll work out, Lilly, I promise.”
    She stared at their linked fingers, imagining a pair of matching wedding bands. What the hell have I agreed to?

Chapter Six
     
    After their negotiations , she fully expected Dante to shrug his jacket on and head home. Instead he surprised her—yet again—by announcing he was going to make lunch for her. Bemused, but not about to turn down his offer, she tugged a blanket over her feet to combat the icy effects of the thawing bag of Brussels sprouts. Her cell went off just as she was beginning to relax into the chair. Leaning sideways, she snatched her parka from where it’d fallen to the ground earlier and dug her phone from the pocket. A quick scan of the display announced that the caller was Kinsey.
    Oh God. Kinsey. How the hell was she going to explain to her sister this business with marrying Dante for the land? She knew Kinsey would be adamantly against it and would no doubt have all kinds of unsavory ways to describe what they were doing. All of which would likely be no less than the truth. But that didn’t mean she wanted to listen to Kinsey chastise her for the next sixty years about the boneheaded mistake she was committing.
    Deciding to postpone that inevitable argument, she let the call go to voicemail and stuffed the cell back in her coat pocket before