Cougar Needs [Cougarlicious 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) by Cooper McKenzie Page A

jerk, the door was open, and she was out and running down the steps to the driveway.
    KJ’s Mustang sat alone in the driveway, adding to her underlying hope that he would eventually return from wherever he had gone. When she reached the driver’s door, she paused long enough to pull his cell phone number up and hit send. Her hesitation cost her.
    As she reached for the door handle, Wayne caught her. She thought she heard KJ speak, but could not be sure. She screamed as Wayne’s fist slammed against the side of her head. She only hoped KJ had answered and was listening.
    “You dumb bitch,” Wayne roared. “Think you can get away from me, do you?”
    He jerked her around, and after shoving her up against the car, he slammed his fist into her stomach. Stacy doubled over then crumpled to the driveway, hoping her assailant did not see the phone before KJ got the message that she was in trouble.
    “No, Wayne,” she gasped as loud as she could. “Please don’t hurt me anymore.”
    His answer came in the form of his work boot kicking her in the ribs, taking her breath as pain exploded in her ribs and she heard a snapping sound.
    She had just enough time to push the phone under the edge of the car before Wayne grabbed her by the hair and pulled her to her feet. She grew lightheaded as he dragged her behind him back into the house.
    Stacy prayed that KJ was on his way. Otherwise he might return to find a corpse instead of a mate.
     
    * * * *
     
    When his phone rang, KJ answered automatically, smiling when he saw it was Stacy. Before he could apologize for leaving without waking her, a loud scream blasted into his hear, causing him to wince in pain. Setting the phone to speaker, he listened to each cry, each word as he radioed the dispatcher to report an assault in progress and that he would be handling it.
    Once the dispatcher replied, he flipped on the lights and stepped on the gas. Though Stacy’s neighborhood was not part of his current patrol area, there was no way anyone else was taking this call.
    Thankfully, there was no traffic, and he flew down her street doing twice the legal speed limit. A block from Stacy’s house, he turned off the lights and slowed just enough that the tires would not squeal when he stopped so he was blocking her driveway. As he had driven, he had listened as her cries grew faint, and from the man’s words, they were back inside. Would either of them notice him walking across the front lawn?
    Deciding to err on the side of caution, KJ slipped out of his car and quickly moved across the neighbor’s lawn until he was out of sight of the front of the house. Then he cut across to the side of Stacy’s garage before he crossed over into her yard.
    The exterior lights were all out, and in his dark uniform he blended into the shadows. He moved quickly and quietly as he approached the door by the garage. Opening the screen door just far enough to slip through, KJ was not surprised to find the interior door unlocked. Though it was a plus for him since Stacy’s key ring was in his jeans in his locker at the station.
    It also meant that whoever the shithead was who was beating on his mate was so far out of control he was not thinking straight. Otherwise he would have stopped long enough to lock the door.
    Hearing scuffling and muttered cursing from the living room, KJ flipped off the lights in the kitchen, knowing no one would notice. Then he moved through the room to a point where he could see what was going on. His cat roared at the sight and pushed for freedom and its need to hunt and kill that which had hurt his mate. KJ fought him back with everything he had as he watched for another few seconds.
    The man she had called Wayne was older, average-looking man. He stood over the crumpled body of his mate finishing one of the beers KJ had brought earlier that evening. Another one sat on the coffee table. As soon as he put the one in his hand down, he picked up the other and started it in on it. From