Free Dawning of Light by Tami Lund Page B

asked anything. Perhaps she had been reading into his actions.
    “I just want to buy you a drink at the tavern. I have no intentions beyond that,” he assured her.
    She sighed. “Okay. One drink.” It was better than going home and dealing with her parents. Practically anything was better than that.
    * * * *
    Tansy Gorman was one determined lightbearer. She’d even been so bold as to drop very obvious hints about her preference for having sex animal style.
    Not on your life , Finn thought as she batted her eyes and trailed her pink-painted fingernails along his arm. He wasn’t interested in taking a mate at all, but especially not with Tansy. He could tell that she was a high-maintenance female, the sort who expected him to cater to her every whim, probably without complaint too. No doubt she intended to use sex as a means to capture herself a mate, but once she had him, she’d quickly lose interest. A woman who expected him to keep her entertained, not complain, and then wouldn’t even reward him with hot sex afterward?
    Not on your life .
    He wasn’t even sure how he’d ended up sitting across from her in this brightly lit, glass-enclosed tavern. Wait, yes, he was sure. He’d been trying to get his mind off Cecilia. Off what her body had felt like, naked and curled up in his lap. What she’d looked like in the shower, and sound asleep, buried under the blankets in his bed. As badly as his body craved Cecilia, he figured the very last thing he should do was pursue that craving. Bad things happened when a man gave in to that sort of temptation.
    His brother, Reid, had once been strapped to Quentin Lyons’ favorite pool table and whipped until his back was a bloody, mangled mess, because he’d given into the temptation and screwed one of Quentin’s many paramours before the former pack master had been done with her.
    Bad things.
    Finn decided that what he needed was to get laid—with someone else. He needed a quick, mindless fuck with someone other than Cecilia Druthers. He’d paid another call on Daisy, but she’d given him the cold shoulder, probably because she’d just recently hooked up with someone else. The scent of lovemaking had been strong in her cottage.
    He’d then wandered over to the tavern, more looking for a drink than a good time. He’d ended up with both. At least, he could, if he was willing to take Tansy up on what she offered.
    “Shifters don’t really care to do it that way,” he smoothly lied, while he lifted his mug and drank deeply of a dark, thick beer. The lightbearers sure know how to make beer .
    Tansy’s eyes widened. “Really? I thought…well, I mean, you are animals, aren’t you?”
    “Sure. We’re mammals, just like humans and lightbearers.”
    “But you can turn into animals. Cats and dogs and… horses .” She breathed the last word.
    Her gaze dropped to his lap. Finn shifted uncomfortably. Did she think he was hung like a horse? If her expectations were that high, he probably shouldn’t take her home tonight. Otherwise they’d both be disappointed.
    “Don’t you think cats and dogs and horses wished they could have sex some other way?” Finn suggested, and he wasn’t at all surprised when she nodded thoughtfully.
    “I suppose you’re right,” she murmured. Her fingernails trailed along his arm again. He could feel the magic as she stroked him, but it wasn’t nearly as potent as Cecilia’s magic. Cecilia’s magic seared his senses, made him think of dark places and writhing bodies, made him feel half-drunk and far too tempted. Tansy simply felt like any other lightbearer with whom he’d come into contact since moving into their world.
    He wondered about that. What was so different about Cecilia’s magic? Why did it have that effect on him when no one else’s did? When he’d hooked up with Daisy, it had been stimulating, the sex had been good, and he’d certainly recognized that there was magic in the air, but in truth, it hadn’t been all that