True to their plan, they didn't eat me right away.
They tied me to a chair. At first they'd tied me spread-eagle on the pool table, but when Jason had eyed me with a little too much interest as he'd fixed my bonds, Arabella had insisted on a chair instead.
And so we sat, and waited.
It seemed that Arabella was a different sort of Wendigo from Jason-less powerful and more drawn to the blood, though his reek was as strong as hers. Every so often, Arabella would shudder and convulse, and disappear for another round of eating Giselle. I guessed that she needed the flesh more often.
No wonder she wanted to change back.
During one of these interludes, I decided to work on Jason. I twisted my hands behind the chair, trying to loosen my bonds. They weren't that tight, and I didn't suppose it really mattered-they'd be on me within seconds and I'd be unable to escape. Still, it made me feel better to work them.
"Why are you doing all this?" I asked.
Jason looked up from his BlackBerry in surprise. "That's a rather asinine question."
"I'm an asinine human," I shot back. "Humor me. I thought Wendigos were supposed to be strong and invincible."
He pocketed his phone and moved across the room toward me. "There is no greater power in the world than that of a Wendigo. I have the strength of those that I have devoured."
"So why eat me and change back?"
"My mate is not happy with her transformation. This is for her."
I squirmed a little. "Okay, I get that. But why drag Beau into this? What has he done to you?"
He squatted near my chair. "Why am I after Beau?" Jason seemed to be amused by my concern. "Are you truly that worried about him?"
I shrugged. "Just curious. He was only using me for his heat."
"I'm not so sure about that." Jason reached forward and began to pull my T-shirt out of the waistband of my jeans. "At any rate, I'm sure we'll find out shortly."
I jerked as he tugged at my clothing. "What are you doing?"
He sliced my T-shirt open with his claws, jerking it apart and dragging it across my shoulders so it exposed my pale torso and my bra. "Making sure our kitty cat takes the bait, my sweet." He picked up a roll of masking tape from a table and pulled off a piece. Then he crammed a sock into my mouth and slapped the tape over it, muffling me and making me gag. My heart hammered in my throat, my eyes went wide. What was he planning on doing?
Jason slid around the chair and wrapped his arm around the back of it, curling it around to rest on my breast. I yelled against the sock, shoving my tongue against it to try and loosen the gag.
He held up his phone and snuggled up to me, grinning at its camera. "Smile for your boyfriend," he said and pinched my nipple.
I snarled as I heard the click of the camera.
To my relief, he got up and wandered across the room. His thumbs flew across the keypad as he typed in a text message, whistling to himself. Jason clicked one final button, then glanced over at me, the toothy smile revealing itself again. "All done. We'll see if that brings your boyfriend out to play."
I gave him a mutinous glare.
Jason just smiled, moving back toward me again, and chuckled when I shied away. He pulled my hair free of the ponytail and arranged it over my shoulders, looking at me thoughtfully. "It's a shame you're human," he said, trailing a finger over my bra again. "But if Beau can look past it ..."
