Free Predator's Kiss by Rosanna Leo Page B

had to deal with women asking about him on a constant basis. And Soren treated them like worn mattresses when he was done with them. He had no respect, not for family or shifter heritage, and certainly not for women.
    And now his name would forever be linked with Lia’s.
    He swore quietly.
    To make matters worse, Ryland never caught that Harry Little and it stymied him. He’d completely lost the man’s scent, which was unlike him. The only thing to which he could attribute it was being so rattled by the sight of Soren kissing Lia. He’d had to break the news the previous evening to her. She’d been shattered, worried her stalker would locate her, and he felt so responsible for her pain.
    His head throbbed harder and he released his grip on the Pepto, reaching instead in his desk drawer for a bottle of ibuprofen. He popped a couple of pills without any water, grimacing as they crept down his throat.
    Loud noises outside at the reception desk caught his attention, and he shut his laptop. He stalked outside to see if Marci needed help. “Oh, hell,” he muttered upon seeing the situation at the front desk.
    Soren’s human fans had descended.
    A throng of excited nonshifter women was lined up in front of Marci, pushing to get closer to the desk, crying out Soren’s name. Poor Marci cowered behind the desk, trying her best to maintain a hold on the situation while still shielding herself from the women.
    “Shoren Shnow ishn’t shtaying here,” she shouted as well as she could behind her braces. She turned to Ryland, her eyes bugging out. “Mr. Shnow, these women won’t go away. They’re inshane!”
    Ryland leaned over and whispered into Marci’s ear, telling her to go take a much-needed break. He watched as the girl scrambled away and dived behind the snack bar. He made a mental note to replenish the Malteser supply, knowing Marci would demolish it in the next few minutes.
    He gripped the front desk. “Ladies,” he called, getting their attention. “Shoren Shnow … Soren Snow is not at this lodge.”
    One of the ringleaders, a diminutive gal with buttons of Soren all over her front, pointed at him. “That’s a lie. We saw the picture. He’s here and you’re hiding him!”
    Another woman called out. “And he’s with that Lia Goodblood! The little slut.” There was a chorus of shouted disapproval at this, even though they were clearly all here in the hopes of getting slutty with Soren themselves.
    Ryland resisted the urge to shift and scare the bejesus out of all of them. As he heard a few more women denigrate Lia, he struggled against the impulse. He breathed in and out a few times.
    All of a sudden from around the corner came Donna Moore, dressed in her cleaning lady garb. She wandered toward the horde of women, a friendly expression on her face. “Ladies, it’s true. I clean the rooms and there’s no Soren Snow. Last I heard, he escaped to the mainland.” She leaned in conspiratorially and whispered to the ones closest to her. “One of my friends told me he’s holed up at the Mariposa Inn, but don’t tell them I’m the one who told you. I clean rooms for them on the weekends and don’t want to lose my job there.”
    The women stared and then huddled as they conferred. They broke their huddle and the one with the buttons smiled at Donna. “Thanks, sister.”
    “What can I say?” asked Donna. “We girls have to stick together. Go get ’em!”
    Ryland watched in amazement as the throng vacated, hell-bent for leather for the Mariposa Inn. Mentally, he said a prayer for the elderly innkeepers there. He turned to Donna. “Thank you.”
    “What can I say?” she repeated. “We shifters have to stick together.” With that, she smiled and pushed her cleaning cart down the hallway toward the elevators.
    Ryland breathed a sigh of relief and went to reassure poor, terrified Marci, from whom no Malteser was currently safe. And then, because he didn’t want to do anything else, God help him, he went