ToLoveaCougar by Marisa Chenery Page B

smack.”
    “Now that’s not very nice, Mom,” Blaise said with exaggerated indignation.
    “You mean like this?” Harley asked as she reached behind Blaise and gave him a smack to the back of his head.
    The surprised look Blaise turned her way had Harley laughing, along with everyone else at the table. “You hit me,” he said.
    Between chuckles, she replied, “Well, your mom did say I could.”
    “I think you better watch out for that one,” Taylor said. “She’ll give as good as she gets.”
    The rest of the meal passed in good-natured banter. Once Harley was finished eating, she reluctantly pushed back her chair and stood. “Thanks for the great meal. I should go do those errands before it gets too late.”
    “I’ll walk you out,” Blaise said as he stood as well.
    After getting her jacket and backpack from Blaise’s room, they returned to the main floor. He swept her up into a kiss that took her breath away, then let her go. Harley really didn’t want to leave now.
    Blaise opened the door and walked outside with her. “You’ll come back as soon as you get what you need, right?”
    “Yes, I promise. I should only be an hour or so.”
    “Good.” At her car, Blaise kissed her again.
    Harley climbed into her vehicle and then waved to Blaise once she started up the long lane to the road. Leaving him, she came to the conclusion it was already too late. She was in love with him. Now the big question was if he felt the same way about her.
    * * * * *
    Blaise decided not to go back into the house. Watching Harley leave had put him on edge. He hadn’t been lying when he’d said he’d miss her. During their night spent together, he’d grown closer to her. Plus, sleeping with her and not having her wanting to check out his pendant to see if the ruby eyes were glowing right afterward endeared her more to him.
    Needing to expend a little excess energy, Blaise headed for the back of the house where he could easily get to the open stretch of land. He shifted to his cougar form and took off at a run. He’d just hit the grassy area when another cougar came up beside him. It was Taylor. They ran until they reached the opposite end of the field before they stopped and took on their human forms once again.
    “It’s a nice day for a run,” Taylor said.
    “Yeah, it is.” The sun shone brightly, and even though it was fall, it wasn’t too chilly, not that they’d have felt the cold through their thick pelts.
    “You really like Harley, don’t you?”
    “Yes. I now know why you prefer human women. No pressure.”
    “You mean a human woman, as in the singular. Aspen is the only one for me.”
    “I know. I meant before you met her.”
    “Being banished from the family group did give me a better perspective on life. I’m thankful one of our females didn’t set off my pendant. I don’t think I would have been able to stand it.”
    “Which is why you have a human for a mate. Speaking of your banishment, have you spoken to your werewolf buddies yet?”
    Taylor had lived and worked for a werewolf. Meadow had been human until she became the mate of one of the werewolf sentinels, who turned her. Meadow and Taylor had become so close Taylor thought of her as a sister. When he’d left Juneau, where Meadow lived, he’d done so without telling her where he was going or why, not sure what to expect when he arrived in Anchorage. Banishment was usually meant for life. Only their father’s illness had made it possible for Taylor to come back to the family group. He’d been the heir apparent to take their father’s place. And since Blaise had outright refused to take his brother’s place after he’d been kicked out, their dad had decided no one else but Taylor could do the job so he overturned the banishment.
    His brother nodded. “Yeah, I called Meadow a couple days ago.”
    “How did that go?”
    Taylor chuckled. “Good. I explained everything to her. Once she got done giving me crap for feeling as if I