Beast Behaving Badly
Page 5

She was even ecstatic for Bo Novikov. A man who didnt look happy at all about the win or anything else. Did he even know how to smile? Was he physically capable? Hed been the one to make the winning goal, yet he had the same expression on his face after the win as hed had on his face when the second string Carnivore goalie let the puck get by him. And man, had she felt bad for that kid. He looked ready to pee his pants when Novikov skated up to him, glaring down at the poor jackal like he was moments from eating the kids face off before devouring his young.
And, as shed heard about his on-ice attitude, Novikov had let the kid have it with a verbal assault that even Marine drill sergeants would think was harsh. No wonder every team hes been on hates him.
Shed feel bad for Novikov if she wasnt convinced he was a serial killer. Or, at the very least, extremely rude. Blayne hated rude. It was her one major pet peeve. Her father didnt call her Miss Black Etiquette of the East Coast for nothing.
Washing her hands in the sink, Blayne wondered what was it about her that attracted the sociopaths. The charming neer-do-wells who eventually proved theyd kill their mothers for their life insurance or their best friends if they thought it would make them laugh. It had gotten to the point where shed stopped bringing men home for her father to meet because hed start the conversation off with, And what personality disorder do you have and that Ill eventually have to kill you for? That often led into one of their father-daughter fights, the two of them going at it until Blayne realized the guy had left, never to be heard from again.
Of course, all those guys were . . . what was the right word besides charming? Sweet? Loving? Yes. They were all those things. Superficially so. Once she got past that initial layer, she usually didnt find much of anything else. Novikov, however, seemed to be nothing more than a hulking mass of murdering hybrid from the first time shed met him. Except for that mane of his and his clear need to win at all costs, he didnt have any of the natural male lion charm that Gwens brothers Mitch ONeill Shaw and Brendon Shaw possessed. Nor did he have the sweet disposition and adorable bear geekness that Lock MacRyrie and his dad, Brody MacRyrie, had.
Like all hybrids, Novikovs DNA had borrowed from both parents and created something entirely different.
Well, whatever. It was not her problem, nor her business. Novikov meant nothing to her, and now she was going up to the teams locker room and congratulate all her friends and ignore the glaring hybrid across the room. Hed probably have his own swarm of females anyway, so Blayne would not allow herself to feel guilty for not being nice.
She dried her hands with paper towels and headed to the door. Pulling it open, she walked out in the hallway, saw Bo Novikov and his perpetual scowl leaning against the wallacross from the bathroom, turned right around, and went back inside, closing and locking the door behind her.
There was a lengthy pause from the other side and then, You have to come out of there eventually.
Good God, he said that matter-of-factly! She could imagine him using the same inflection with, You know Ill have to cut out your liver eventually.
No, I dont, she told him through the door. Ive done the research. A person could survive on just water for a good sixty days. Plus I have a toilet. In theory, I have what I need.
Blayne
Blayne gasped, cutting him off. How do you know my name? How long have you been hunting me? Well, you can take your cellar of death where you keep all the bodies of the women youve slaughtered over the years and go to hell. Because this target, which you probably refer to as it in your head to keep me as merely an object, is not going down without a fight!
Proud of her speech, Blayne waited for Novikov to walk away. Instead she heard a brief sigh, then silence, but no footsteps. Where were the damn walking-away footsteps?
Blayne waited a bit longer, and having absolutely no patience to speak of, slowly crept closer to the door. She was only a few inches away when the door was ripped off its hinges and placed aside by the brute whod done it.
Blayne squealed and stumbled back as Novikov stepped into the bathroom. Glaring down at her, he said, Now we can talk.
She was staring at him that way again. The way shed stared at him when he first met her and when hed looked at her through the bloody glass. Her brown eyes wide, her mouth open a little. One good growl, and he was pretty sure shed either make a desperate run around him or go for his jugular. Of course, if she thought he had a cellar of death he wasnt really surprised by the way she stared at him.
Blayne finally did speak, though, but it wasnt exactly what he expected to hear. I am so not paying for that door.
I wasnt planning on charging you.
She wanted out of the bathroom. He could tell by the way her gaze kept searching for a way past him, but he made sure that he stood right in the doorway so she couldnt get past him.
After another minute, she screamed, Youll never take me alive! Ill never let you get me to a secondary location!
Bo shrugged. Okay.
With a horrified gasp, she stepped back. Youre gonna kill me here?
Should he be entertained by this? Why was he entertained? I actually wasnt planning on killing you at all.
Her eyes narrowed. Youre not going to kill me, skin me, and wear my head as a hat?