Shelly Laurenston: Here Kitty, Kitty!

And the shoes. She still had on the shoes.

She watched him quietly, inhaling a deep breath. When she released it…it came out as a sigh.

He growled. Teasing hellcat .

Angie watched tiger-Nik stand at the foot of the bed, staring at her. When she’d sighed, she’d thought for sure he’d shift and tackle her by now. But he didn’t, he just kept staring. Yet once again the mere thought of Nik was making her all squirmy and hot.

Then Nik did something he’d never done before around her. He closed his eyes tight, bared his fangs, and stuck his tongue out. It had to be one of the top five most ridiculous things she’d ever seen and she would have laughed, but Nik’s head dipped down, flipped the sheet up and he crawled under it and onto the bed.

She felt his furry head rub against her leg, then slowly move up. Drawing his long body against hers. But as he moved up her body, he shifted and Nik’s rough fur turned into hard flesh. By the time he pulled himself out from under the sheet, he was back to being human and looking as gorgeous as always.

He kissed her nose, her chin.

“What,” she asked carefully, “was that look on your face just before you got under the covers?”

“I was tasting your scent. It’s just a thing tigers do.”

“Eeeew.”

He took the sheet wrapped around her chest between his teeth and tugged it down until her breasts were bare. He nuzzled one and licked the other.

“So tell me, sugar. What have you been up to today?”

“I think I saved the world…and I bought new shoes.”

“A girl who knows what’s important. I do like that.” He kissed the valley between her breasts, easing himself down her chest.

Angie stretched like a big lazy cat, her hands grasping the headboard. “Do you like my shoes, hillbilly? The salesman said I looked fabulous in them.”

“Oh, yeah. They’re nice. Now let’s see if they look any better on my shoulders…”

“Forget it.”

“Come on, Zach. For me. Please?”

“No. Way.”

“Then do it for Sara. It’s her birthday.”

“Not if her life depended on it—and it doesn’t.”

Angie looked at Nik. He smirked and she knew he wouldn’t be any help.

“Please. Just put it on. It will not only be a gift for her…but for you. Trust me.”

“You know, compared to her…” He glanced at Miki, who immediately gave him the finger, “…I actually like you. But this…this is asking too much.”

Well, cajoling wasn’t working with the wolf. “Put it on, or I get the bat.”

Zach looked down at her. “I’d take a bat to the head any day over this.”

Angie growled. Damn, uptight, pain-in-the-ass wolves .

Nik had never seen a man fight so hard not to put on a cowboy hat. And Angie had tried everything short of oral sex. Of course, if she’d done that, he’d have to kill Zach and every wolf within a three-thousand-mile vicinity.

The short, Asian she-wolf who Ban seemed truly fascinated with lately pushed through the swinging doors. “She’s coming.”

At her wits end, Angie went for her last resort. She slammed the heel of her Prada shoe into Zach’s instep.

“ Ow!”

She slammed the hat on his head as Sara strolled through the door. They all turned, Angie stepping in front of a bent over Zach.

“Happy birthday!”

Sara broke out into a stunning grin. One look at it, and Nik completely forgot about the scar on her face. It meant nothing next to that dazzling smile.

Sara looked at the kitchen table covered in a full birthday breakfast, including waffles, pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, and anything else the catering company could think of since none of the wolves seemed comfortable with the idea of cooking.

“You guys! This is so sweet.”

She turned as Zach stood up straight. The black cowboy hat still firmly on his head. His face red with embarrassment and blinding anger.

Sara’s breath caught and Nik could smell her lust from ten feet away.

“Oh…my,” she whispered.

“Happy birthday, girl!” Angie hugged her friend. “From me and Mik.”

Sara nodded at her two friends, but didn’t take her eyes off Zach. She swallowed. “Uh…thanks.”

Angie smiled. “You’re welcome.”

Zach watched Sara walk up to him. “Look, Sara. Before you say anything—”

She cut him off by grabbing his sleeveless black T-shirt in her hands and yanking him to her. Then she slammed her lips against his.

Angie, apparently feeling pretty damn haughty, crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked at Nik.

He shook his head. Man, he loved that woman. Crazy hellcat that she is .

Sara peeled herself away from Zach, but kept her grip on his shirt. “You guys get started. We’ll be back.” She hauled him out of the kitchen.

Miki leaped off the counter, causing Conall to have one of his near–heart attacks. Nik sensed the man would have a lot of those around his slightly off-center female who had begun to grow on Nik like a fungus. She was just so dang wacky.

“Well, we won’t be seeing them until the party tonight.” Miki laughed.

“Yup. Which gives us time to get everything organized.” Angie had taken over the party since she got back. And no one seemed to mind. She told them what to do and, dogs that they were, they went and did it.

Leaning against the counter, Nik watched Angie as she pulled out a notepad covered in all her notes for the party and her cell phone off the counter.

She had complete control at the moment. He loved when she had complete control.

“What about my breakfast, sugar?” Angie froze, the phone clutched in her hand. Her heartbeat sped up and she barely hid the panting. “I haven’t eaten yet,” he insisted.

She glared at him at the same time her lust punched him in the head.

Miki stepped between them, completely oblivious. “Hello, hillbilly. Table full of food. Or make your own damn breakfast.”

Conall grabbed her arm. “Come on, Miki-baby. Let’s make sure the backyard is ready for tonight.”

“Yeah, but—”

The big blond dragged the tiny woman out of the kitchen as the rest of the wolves grabbed food and left.

Backing Angie against the freezer door, Nik grinned. “I do like that dog.”

Angie dragged Nik’s cousin Cleatus out of the DJ booth. “No offense, hon, but I think we’re done with ‘Sweet Home Alabama’.” Four times being three times too many.

Besides, she had to do something. Miki had finally gone for her gun.

She shoved the DJ in the booth. “Get to it,” she snapped in German.

As she walked away, sweet, sweet Tech music flowed around her. She looked at the bar where Miki decided to get in some time pouring drinks and saw her friend put the gun back in its holster. Cleatus had no idea how close he came…

Angie turned and moved back through the crowd. She couldn’t believe how big this party had gotten. Pride and Pack representatives from around the country making an appearance. The word was out. The truce was on and the war was over. At least the war between the Pride and the Pack. The hyenas had become unbelievably quiet, which made everyone a little nervous. Yet Angie knew Sara and Victoria made the right decision to let Leucrotta live. If they killed her, they’d have only made her a martyr. This way she came off as she truly was—a really bitter bitch who needed to get the fuck over it.

To be honest, when the Packs and Prides began showing up, Angie worried. They didn’t speak and they watched each other with open hostility. She didn’t count on the Vorislavs, though. The whole bunch of them showed up except for One-Eyed Grandma. Angie had no doubt Broyna was back in her little shack probably raising the dead for her own amusement.