Shelly Laurenston: Here Kitty, Kitty!

Angie returned to her chicken, for once confident her friends were going to be okay. Still, she only managed to get one bite before Ban and Alek sat down. One on each side of her.

“So…you gonna stay with Nik?”

At Alek’s question, Angie choked on that one bite of food she’d managed to get. Much more of this and she might lose a few pounds.

“That is none of your business, gentlemen.”

“What if he married you?” Ban pushed.

What in the bloody hell is going on? “What?”

“Well, you human girls like that, right?”

Angie sighed. “I’m not having this discussion with you two.”

“That sound like a yes to you, Alek?”

“It sure does.”

“It does not!” Angie took a deep breath. “Go. Away.”

“Okay.” Ban sighed as the two men stood. “But remember, it takes forever for them Gucci people in Italy to get us in for our fittin’ and then to make our tuxes.”

“And they complain somethin’ awful when we go in there last minute, so make sure you give us ample warnin’. I hate being yelled at in Italian.”

Angie thought about throwing her food at their retreating backs, but she’d become completely distracted by the fact the Vorislavs actually had people inside Gucci making them clothes. Suddenly trips to Florence seemed in order.

Now smiling, Angie took another bite of her chicken leg. She’d just swallowed when Nik suddenly appeared in front of her. Taking the plate out of her hand and dropping it on the bench, he yanked her up.

“Come with me.”

Without waiting for her to answer, he dragged Angie away, taking her to a wing of the house blocked off from party goers. He found a study that, without a TV, Angie knew the Pack probably never used. Like her, the wolves enjoyed their TV. Dark and completely empty of anything but furniture, the room was perfect for what Nik needed as he pulled her inside, closing and locking the door behind him.

Keeping his grip on her until he pushed her onto the couch, he immediately started pacing in front of her.

“Is something wrong?” she finally asked.

“Look, sugar. You know how I feel about you.” She did? “But I can’t live here with these people. I mean—they’re dogs. Literally.”

“Nik, I don’t—”

“Or maybe, if you’re real set on it, we can build our own wing or house on the property.”

“Nik—”

“But Miki’s nightly yellin’—I mean, did you hear that last night?” No. She didn’t hear it. But every time Conall and Miki woke up Nik, he woke her up and fucked her again. No wonder Sara kept muttering about moving the pair to their own wing. “I mean, what exactly does he do to her? And then you got Zach and Sara using everything in this house as their personal bed, and I refuse to learn how to howl for anybody—”

“Nik!”

He stopped rambling. Even stopped pacing.

Angie took a deep breath. She had no idea where this was leading, but she felt the need to be very clear. “There is no way in hell I’d live here.”

“Really?”

“Really.” She loved her friends, but come on…the days of slumber parties and debating who would lose their virginity first were long gone. They would always be her best friends, her sisters, but that didn’t mean she needed to live with the crazy heifers. “Why did you think I did?”

“Them dogs! They said you’d wanna move in here to be close to Miki and Sara. That y’all always planned on living together.”

Angie snorted out a laugh, then kept laughing.

“What? What’s so damn funny?”

“I hate to tell ya this, hillbilly, but you are now officially part of the Pack.”

“Everybody needs to stop sayin’ that to me.”

She shrugged. “Might as well face it.”

“I don’t wanna be one of them. You ever see them hunt? When they’re done, they roll around in the muck. They act just like—”

“Dogs?”

“Exactly.”

“Look, Nik. Do you wanna know why I’m sure you’re part of the Pack now?”

“Yeah. Enlighten me.”

“’Cause they’re fuckin’ with ya. And you’re lettin’ ’em.”

“What?”

“Dude, I have no desire to move here. I love my friends. They’re my sisters. And they’ll always be my sisters. No matter where I live…which won’t be here. Visiting, yes. Living here, no.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Thank the Lord!” Nik threw himself onto the couch beside her. “Them boys had me scared out of my ever-lovin’ mind.” He put his head on her shoulder and suddenly Angie didn’t know quite what to do with the man. “I kept having this vision of waking up in the middle of the night hearing ‘Oh, Conall. Oh, Conall.’ Over and over again until the end of time.”

“I’m not moving in here.”

“All right then. I guess that’s settled.”

Angie nodded. “Good.”

“Except that does beg the question of where we are going to live.”

Angie sat forward. “What is this ‘we’ thing? Why do you keep

saying—” She looked over to find Nik staring at her. Just staring. A cat that already had the mouse by its tail, so it was just entertaining to watch it trying to get away. “We’re a ‘we’ now?”

“I thought I made that clear the other night when I tied you face down to the bed and fucked ya proper.”

Angie looked down at her lap to stop herself from hysterically laughing. Really, how many times in a girl’s life would she hear those words?

“Um…” she cleared her throat, “what happened to ‘my kind lives alone’?”

Nik gave a deep sigh. “I’ve had to face the fact, sugar. I am my father’s son.”

Well, she already knew that. “That better not make me Natalia.”

“Naw. Unlike how she treats my daddy, you’re nice to me.”

Very true.

“You know…” He stretched out on the couch, his head in her lap. Acting like he owns the place. “We could live in North Carolina. But you know, my family. Or we can move to Texas. But those wolves will have to stay off our territory. Or maybe we could move to France—no, I don’t wanna deal with the French, although I do love their food. Maybe Italy?” He shook his head. “No. They can be as bad as the French. I don’t want those Italian men touching you. Maybe England, except they got them funny accents. That might start irritatin’ the hell outta me.”

“Nik.”

Gold eyes locked with hers. “What, sugar?”

She thought about making a break for it, but she’d seen Nik move. He was way too fast for her and her baseball bat was in their bedroom.

Their bedroom. Not hers. Not his. Theirs.

Forcing herself to calm down, Angie ran her hands through his hair. Then she made the biggest leap of her life. “Maybe we could split it between Texas and North Carolina. But I’ll have to be here for Mik. God knows poor Conall will need somebody to help him deal with how crazy she’ll get during the pregnancy.”

Nik shrugged. “That’ll work.”

“And we’ll have to figure out what to do about holidays and stuff.”

“Okay.”

She cleared her throat. “And I love you, Nik.” She really did. With all her heart, soul, and…

“I know, sugar. You’ve always loved me.”

Cockymotherfuckinfriedchickeneatin’ cat!

He thought for sure she’d start ripping hair out of his head. Instead she tried to push him off her lap.

“I don’t know why I put up with your goddamn, motherfucking shit, hillbilly, but—”

Nik grabbed her wrists, leaned up, and kissed her, cutting off her tirade. His tongue sliding in and dragging around hers. She sighed in response, her body softening against his. His dick hardened and grew inside his black jeans. That damn sigh of hers got him every time.