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into a teeny-tiny see-through top. She also had a dazzling smile.
    The greeting was a bright “Hello,” followed by, “I just need to see your membership card.”
    Jenny handed her the key card. “I’m supposed to meet—”
    The perky girl cut her off. “Gate keys won’t get you into the club. You need a valid membership or guest pass.”
    “But Noah arranged it.”
    “Oh.” A light dawned in the blonde’s heavily lined eyes. “Then you must be Jenny.”
    “Yes.”
    “Noah told me to expect you. Hold on and I’ll let him know you’re here.” She stepped back and made a quiet cell phone call. Afterward, she said, “Just take a seat. He’s on his way.”
    “Thank you.” Jenny headed for a crushed velvet settee.
    Noah soon arrived. He approached her, but it took her a moment to realize it was him. In fact, she just sat on the settee and stared.
    He was in costume: part man, part mountain lion. His eyes, now gold with round black pupils, were completely reshaped to those of a cat. His nostrils were flared, and his long black hair was colored with tawny streaks, like the natural pelt of the animal he was imitating. He smiled, exposing long, sharp canines.
    She didn’t know much about special effects, but she was an expert on felids, and he looked outrageously authentic. Now she really felt as if she were part of a movie.
    Transfixed, she finally stood up. She wanted to touch his face, to try to see how something so lifelike was possible, but she kept her hands to herself.
    “You know more about mountain lions than you led me to believe,” she said.
    “Maybe I just know how to look like one. Speaking of looks, you’re a feast for hungry eyes.” He reached out to grasp a handful of her hair, feathering it between his fingers. “You’re breathtaking, Jenny.”
    She tried to keep his compliment from affecting her. Worse yet was his touch. She almost leaned into him. He was frighteningly tempting. “I don’t fit in here. I don’t even understand what this place is.”
    “It’s a supernatural-themed sex club. Some of us pretend to be mythical beings, and others present themselves as groupies.”
    She’d obviously been cast in the role of a groupie. “Does this club have a name?”
    “It’s called Aeonian. It means ‘everlasting.’ My office is on the fourth floor. My apartment is up there, too.”
    “You live here?” She couldn’t fathom it.
    “It suits me.”
    Silence stretched between them, and he touched her again. Only this time he trailed a neatly trimmed nail along her collarbone. Jenny wasn’t sure how she was going to survive his allure.
    “Want to see a party trick?” Without waiting for a response, he lifted his hand from her skin and bared his claws.
    Yes, his claws. All ten nails burst forward in wildcat precision. He retracted them just as quickly.
    Her head all but spun.
    “I’m just a rich guy having some fun,” he said.
    A rich guy who could save her rescue. “Why did you pick me?”
    “Pick you for what? My prey? Because you fascinate me. Because the thrill is in the hunt. Because victory is going to taste hot and sweet.”
    Goose bumps peppered her arms. “Do you even care about the cats? Or are they merely part of the game?”
    “I care. I make anonymous donations to places like yours all the time. I’ve just never fucked anyone affiliated with them.”
    “You’re not going to fuck me, either.”
    He ignored her denial. “You aroused me from the moment I first saw you.”
    Her heartbeat skittered. “Where did you first see me?”
    “On your website. I was interested in more rescues to support and asked my accountant to do the research. He discovered that yours was the neediest and directed me to your site.”
    “So you decided to help me at a sexual price?”
    “That wasn’t my initial intention. But then I saw your picture and thought . . . why not?”
    “You chose me based on how I look?”
    “A lovely young zoologist with an affection for big cats