peared farther down the corridor. It was the first time I'd seen her since she'd sliced Requiem up. I did not want her here while I tested my beasts.

She was one of the few women who ever made me think, delicate. She was tinier than I was, so fragile looking. Maybe that was why she almost always wore black leather, very dominatrix. The clothes suited her though, catlike, skintight, scary, and sexy all at the same time. Yeah, scary, sexy, that summed Meng Die up perfectly.

She slinked on black, high-heel boots toward Graham. It was as if Claudia had seen this show before, because she said, "He's working, Meng Die."

Meng Die made that delicate triangular face pout, but it never reached those up til ted eyes. She changed direction without so much as a regretful glance at Graham. And that, that was why Graham wasn't devoted to her. Why she'd almost broken Clay's heart. She'd wanted Graham, but if she couldn't have him, that was fine. No man likes to know, for certain, that it doesn't matter to a woman if he's the man in her arms or not. Come to diat, a woman doesn't like it when a man treats her that way either. Okay, no one likes knowing that they're utterly replaceable. We all like to be special.

Meng Die slinked toward Requiem. He backed away from her. Jean-Claude said, "You are not to touch him again, Meng Die."

She looked at Jean-Claude. "Never again?"

"Not unless he wishes it."

She turned that lovely face to Requiem. "Do you truly wish never to touch this body again?" She made her hands flow over her curves as she said it.

Some of tlie men in tlie hallway followed her hands down her body. Aug-gie and his men did. Requiem didn't. Jean-Claude didn't. None of the wereleopards did. Jason did, though. The view was nice if you didn't know the mind tliat went with it.

Meng Die walked past me, and the leopards, and die lions, like we weren't there. She went for Jason. He had looked, and he wasn't on the forbidden list.

She entwined herself around him, head on his shoulder. Even in the heels, she was shorter. "Come play with me, Jason."

He laughed, and shook his head. "I've got a report to give." I had no idea what report he was talking about.

"Afterward?" She made it a question.

He smiled, but said, "No. Thanks, but no."

She ran her hand over the front of his jeans. Apparently, she wasn't feeling the least bit subtle today.