Shelly Laurenston: Here Kitty, Kitty!

By the fourth ring, “Yeah?”

Man, she’d never hear the end of this shit from Sara and Mik. Letting herself get carried off by hillbillies. “Hey, Sara. It’s me.”

Okay, she thought to herself, let the abuse begin. But all she heard was a little sniffle.

“Angie?” Sara’s voice sounded so small. What the hell?

“Yeah?”

Then Sara Morrighan burst into tears.

Her friends didn’t cry… ever. She cried once but anyone would cry if a jealous cheerleader tossed them down a flight of stairs. “Sara, what the hell is wrong?”

“I…we…” Sara couldn’t speak she was crying so hard.

After a moment, another voice came on. “Who is this?”

“Zach it’s me. What the fuck?”

“Jesus, Angie. Shit.” He spoke away from the phone. “Sara it’s Angie. Honey, she’s fine. Sara,” he growled, “stop crying.”

Angie shook her head. That Zach. He sure knew how to be Mr. Compassion. Turned out just what her best friend needed, too. “Marrec called us early this morning,” he stated into the phone. “They found your purse, blood, and some torn up hyenas.”

Angie closed her eyes. No wonder Sara was crying. She thought Angie was dead.

“No one called you and told you I was okay?”

The hillbilly winced and she realized he also thought her friends had been informed.

“Nope.”

“I’m fine, Zach. Really.”

“Where are you? What happened?”

“I have no idea what happened. And as far as where I am…” She glanced over at her captor to find he’d stretched himself out on the bed. One arm hung over the side, swinging back and forth, his fingers brushing the carpet as he blatantly stared at her legs.

“Hey. Hillbilly. Where the hell am I, anyway?”

He looked up at her through long black lashes. “North Carolina.”

Angie stared at the man. “I’m sorry. Could you repeat that?”

“North Carolina. That’s where you are. At the moment.”

“Zach. I’m…I’m in North Carolina.”

“North Carolina? How the hell did you get into North Carolina?”

“I don’t know. But I’m ready to come home now.”

Zach muttered a soft curse, then, “Okay. Okay, we’re coming right now.”

The way he said that…something was going on. Something that wasn’t about her. She knew it.

“What’s going on, Zach?” She reached down and rubbed her calf. Damn Carolina bugs .

“Nothin’. We’ll be there in a few hours.”

“Zach,” she warned, “of the three of us, I am not the nice one. So I’d like it if you answered me.”

Zach sighed and Angie could hear him moving.

What the hell was going on? And what the hell did the hillbilly think he was doing? Instead of a bug, it was his big fingers brushing against the skin of her ankle, causing her entire body to clench.

Again with the touching .

She moved her leg away and covered the receiver. “Cut that out.”

Zach returned. She had the feeling he switched rooms. “Okay, Angie. This is the deal. The hyenas made a grab for Miki. A full-on assault right at her school.”

“Yeah, I know. Conall got hurt, but when I talked to Sara last night she said he was doing okay.” She reached down and slapped away the hand caressing her calf.

“Yeah. Yeah. He’s fine. It’s just…well, we’re pulling in the Pack right now to protect Miki.”

“Protect Miki? What the hell for?” One of the last people she could think of who needed protection was Miki. And one of the last people she could imagine wanting to protect her was Zach.

“Not permanently or anything. Just for the next…uh…nine months or so.”

Angie froze, her eyes growing wide. She barely even noticed the big hand wrapping around her ankle.

“Zach, are you…are you saying that Miki…”

“Yeah. Her and Conall, uh…” Zach chuckled. “Got kinda close.”

She squealed. Of the three, she was definitely the most girly. And when your best friend got pregnant, you squealed, causing the hillbilly to snatch his hand away. “Holy fuckin’ shit, Zach! You’re fuckin’ shittin’ me!” She may be the most girly, but bikers still raised her.

“Nope. Our little Conall’s going to be a dad.”

Man, did she have work to do. Sara would be completely useless in this situation. She hated kids. And Miki, being Miki, would be so busy analyzing she would neglect important things like items for the baby. A crib, some diapers, a desktop computer that could patch into hypersensitive government databases undetected—it would be a Kendrick after all. So, Miki would need her to help.

Hell, Angelina Santiago was going to be an aunt!

But that also meant she needed to see the bigger picture right now. She looked over at the hillbilly cat who’d stormed into her life. He rolled onto his back and stretched both arms over his head, legs stretching out long. The man had to have the biggest thighs she’d ever seen on a human being.

Yeah, this has disaster written all over it.

She shouldn’t trust him. Not really. But her instincts were never wrong. The only power she inherited from her grandmother. When she met Sara and Marrec she automatically knew they were different, but good people. And before Sara’s grandmother ever spoke, Angie smelled the woman’s evil and insanity all over her. Those same instincts told her clearly this big idiot could be trusted. At least with her life he could.

“Zach, I want you to do something for me.”

“Anything. Name it.”

“Wait ’til the Pack’s there. Protect Miki.”

“Ang, I can’t leave you there. If for no other reason, your friend will have my head.”

“And if something happens to Miki?”

Zach had no answer for that. And with good reason. “Please, Zach. Do what I’m asking. I’ll be fine.”

“I don’t even know who you’re with.”

“Hey, hillbilly.”

He looked up at her, his head back against the bed. “Stop calling me that.”

She wouldn’t, but he didn’t need to know that. “What’s your name?”

“Nikolai Vorislav, but I wouldn’t tell him that.”

She ignored him. “Nikolai Vorislav.”

A cold, brutal silence hit her from the other end of the phone. Uh-oh. “Zach?”

“Put him on.”

Nik stared at her feet. She had the prettiest toes he’d ever seen on a woman. And her skin. Christ knew how she kept it so soft. When he marched upstairs to let her out of the closet, his anger marched right beside him. But one look at her, leaning back in the closet like the queen of goddamn Sheba, and his dick almost pounded past his zipper. Lord, the things he could do to that body.

As it was, she still only had on the sheet. She wore no underwear and he was dying to get another look at that tattoo on her back. Especially if that meant he could see her completely naked. He already knew she looked good completely naked.

Human, you idiot. She’s human. Too needy. Too…boring. Remember? Of course, how boring could this woman be when she used toilet parts as weapons?

No, he needed her gone before he ended up doing something he’d regret for a real long time.

She stared at him for a few seconds before shaking her head and muttering under her breath, “Those goddamn bitches better be worth this bullshit.” She covered the receiver of the phone. “I need to stay.”

Nik’s eyes snapped up to her pretty face. “Where?”

“Here.”

Nik shook his head and turned over on his stomach. “I don’t think so, sugar. You hit me with a toilet.”

She raised one eyebrow and he felt little comfort from that expression. “And your brothers snatched me across state lines—several of them. Your choice, hillbilly. I stay here for a couple of days and you keep me safe or your brothers go where they so clearly belong and learn not to bend over. And since they let my friends twist for the last few hours, you know I have no problem with that.”