The Purrfect Stranger by Bianca D'Arc Page A

description of his bodacious bod to tempt her. And man-oh-man, was she tempted.
    “Yes, ma’am. Keith Redstone.” He offered his hand politely and she took it. There was something about his last name that tickled her memory, but she let it pass.
    When her hand touched his, tingles of magic wove up her arm in a startling dance that teased her senses. Something special indeed. She’d never had such an immediate reaction to a man. And never one so magical. If touching hands did this, what would it feel like when he touched her in other places?
    “Valerie Faber.” She returned the self-introduction, seeing no harm in giving him the power of her family’s last name. If he were the least bit acquainted with the magical world, he’d recognize it immediately and know she had powerful friends, even if her own power was negligible.
    He held her hand longer than was strictly necessary, but in the end he let her go before she got too uncomfortable with the energy zinging from him to her and back again. She felt jazzed. Like little tickles of electricity were touching her skin everywhere, especially her most sensitive places.
    His finger moved over the back of her hand and she felt it in the tightening of her nipples and a little pulse farther down. Oh, boy. The man’s energy was downright dangerous if it could make her squirm from three feet away. What would happen when he was up close and personal? More than anything, she wanted to find out.
    But as he let her go, the niggling thought returned. There had to be something wrong with him. Some reason he had to resort to a blind date. She knew her problem. No magic. But he had magic to spare if the reaction dancing across her skin was any indication. He had power. Raw power.
    As she took a really good look at him, she tried to figure out what it was that made her see him differently than the other warlocks she’d met. His magic had a different flavor. One that was more easily accessible to her starved magical senses. What was it about him?
    “Looks like our table is ready.” He stood and held her chair as the maitre d’ signaled for them. Keith was the soul of politeness as he escorted her through the busy restaurant to their table.
    Valerie noticed the appreciative stares of the women they passed as they got an eyeful of Keith Redstone. Oh, yeah. He was hot with a capital H. Even the married women couldn’t help but throw appreciative glances his way as they walked through the busy dining room.
    And for tonight, at least, he was all hers. Goddess bless cousin Suzy.
     

Chapter Two
    She was going to kill cousin Suzy.
    “You’re a shifter?” Valerie tried not to let her feelings show.
    Inwardly she was appalled that her cousin would have thought she’d sunk so low as to date someone who was half animal. Fabers did not associate with animals. Even if they walked on two feet most of the time. Valerie had never even been near a shifter before, and frankly, she didn’t know much about them.
    “Technically, I’m a werecougar.” He kept his voice pitched low as he poured more wine into her glass. He had good manners, for an animal. “The Cougar Clan is one of the few big cat shifter Clans that are part of the were hierarchy. Most of the other big cat varieties follow a different governing structure set up in Europe during the Renaissance, I believe.”
    “Really?” She hadn’t expected that. It sounded like they were actually organized in some way. Despite herself, she was intrigued.
    “Michelangelo organized it, or so they say. They have different rulers for each kind of big cat. The Pantera Noir have a Nyx . The Tigre d’Or follow the Tig’Ra , who is a white tiger. It’s all very complicated. Were simply obey the edicts of our Clan leaders and whoever the current Lords are. It rotates every generation, usually, what form the Lords take. The current Lords are wolves. They say the next set of twins in line are grizzlies. Cougars have a looser organization than the