Shelly Laurenston - Here Kitty, Kitty!

Nik let out a growl. A low, threat-growl. They normally lasted no more than a few seconds. His stretched out for about fifteen. The woman pissed him off that much. Yet she didn’t react. She didn’t move. Didn’t cower. Didn’t do anything except stare at him. She was like a freakin’ house cat. Except he did see the tiny goose bumps that ran down her arms and across the exposed part of her upper chest.

“Is that a yes?”

He blinked, his nostrils flaring. If he didn’t know better he’d swear his growl just turned her on.

Okay. Now this woman is starting to scare me.

“Do I have any choice?”

“No,” she responded coldly. “Now you talk to him, assure him that you’ll keep me safe, and you be goddamn nice and charming.”

“Or what?”

“Or I start setting things on fire.”

And he knew she meant it. He at least knew she’d try.

He held his hand out and she tossed the phone to him. He brought it to his ear. “Hello?”

“Vorislav?”

“Yeah.”

“Zach Sheridan.”

Nik smiled. “Hey, Sheridan. How’s your sister?”

“Great. How’re your balls?”

Ah, yes. What a college graduation that was. Degenerating into an ugly fight between two families. They didn’t even shift, just began beating the shit out of each other. And Nik clearly remembered Zach Sheridan trying to put his balls through the roof of his mouth. Actually, that was the last thing Nik remembered about that fight.

The only ones who didn’t fight? Alek and Nessa. After all that, the two were still friends, although long-distance ones.

“So, why exactly did your brothers pull her out of Wolf territory?”

“I don’t know. You’ll have to ask them. But I’m sure it had something to do with impressing your sister.”

Nik reared back when that dog growl leaped at him through the phone. “Keep your brother away from my sister.”

Oh, this could prove to be mighty fun . “I don’t know. My brother thinks she’s awfully cute.”

“I wonder how cute she’ll think he is when they start finding pieces of him all along the Eastern Seaboard.”

“Do you have a point, little puppy? Or you gonna keep nippin’ at my heels?”

“Hey,” Angelina whispered. “Is that you being nice?”

“Sssh, darlin’. Big boys talkin’.”

From the expression on her face, Nik thought for sure she would launch herself off that dresser and beat the living tar out of him.

Man, what an uptight little thing .

“Look, hillbilly-pussy, how do I know my friend will be safe with you?”

“My brothers saved her, didn’t they? And they didn’t see any wolves out there helpin’ her. But if you’re so worried, ask your sister.”

“What does that mean?”

“She’s been here. On our territory. Stayed in my momma’s house. Eaten our food. Hunted our deer. It’s been quite a few years since then, but not much has changed.”

“Don’t bullshit me, Vorislav. There’s no way my sister was ever on your territory.”

Normally Nik would kick the hell out of anyone who accused him of lying. Because he prided himself on his Southern honesty. But now he smiled. He couldn’t help himself. “She never told you, did she?” The silence he got back answered his question. Poor Nessa. He knew she’d be getting a call soon from one angry big brother. “Your little human will be just fine. Don’t worry about a thing.”

Good Lord, he wanted her to stay. He really wanted her to stay.

“You better protect her, Vorislav. The hyenas have gone postal and we don’t know why.”

“Don’t worry, little doggie. I won’t let anything happen to her.” He reached over and grabbed hold of her ankle. Just like he thought she might, she yanked her foot away from him. But in the process, slammed her head against the heavy gilt frame of the mirror behind her. Nik winced as she gripped the back of her head. “I’ll even protect her from herself.”

“Yeah. Well, good luck with that one.”

He tossed the phone back to Angie, hitting her in the forehead since her hands were still massaging the back of her head.

“Ow!”

“Sorry.”

She caught the phone before it slid off her lap and hit the floor. She glared at him as she put it to her ear. “Zach? We cool? Okay. And don’t take any shit from Sara and Miki. If they got a problem, they can call me. But do yourself a favor…don’t eat anything Miki fixes for you.” She ended the call.

“Well, now. Looks like I have myself a guest.”

“Yes. You do.”

“So, what’s the first thing? Hungry?”

“That’s mighty Southern of you, but I’d prefer clothes first.”

“But they’re so unnecessary.” The woman hit him with a toilet and he ends up flirting with her. This simply couldn’t be normal behavior, even for shifters. He blamed his father and the man’s defective tiger genes.

She slipped that amazingly hot body off his dresser and moved toward him slowly.

“Dude.” She crouched next to him. “Maybe we should get some things straight.”

“Dude? Did you just call me dude?”

“I’m only staying here temporarily because I have to. Not so you can have a party with the Texas girl.”

He propped himself up on one elbow.

This was a woman who could easily make him crawl. Happily. “But we have such great parties here, sugar. The body shots alone can be quite entertaining.”

“Clothes. Food. Now.” She stood up. Mmmmhhmm. Tall. “Or I really will set shit on fire—and I’ll make sure to start with you.”

He willed his dick to behave as he stared up at her. Maybe he’d break his “no full-humans” rule this one time. Just for her.

“So shift that ass into gear, hillbilly,” she walked out the door, the damn sheet she wore blocking his view of her delectable tattoo. “I don’t have all fuckin’ day.”

No. He shook his head. He would not be abandoning his rules for this one. He knew crazy when he saw it. The majority of his family was crazy. And he wasn’t about to add another one to the pile.

As hot as the woman was—and good Lord she was hot—he would only worry about making sure she survived the next couple of days. With that mouth, it wouldn’t be easy. Then, when the wolves arrived, he’d toss her skinny ass out of his house.

Her head popped back through the door. “I’m sorry. Was I not clear when I said move your fuckin’ ass?”

Nik growled and followed after her.

Oh, yeah . When this was all over, he was going to beat the living tar out of his brothers.

“I don’t see the problem, sugar.”

Angie crossed her arms in front of her chest. “First off. Stop calling me sugar. Second, I would never allow that… thing to touch my body.”

He looked at the dress he held in his hands. “What’s wrong with it? It’s a nice, simple sundress.”

Did he really believe for a second she’d wear the dress of a dead woman? “It would be fine. If I were ninety…and boring.” And dead.

“Look, until we get you something else—”

With a growl, Angie advanced on him. Startled, he backed up until he hit the wall. She reached around his waist, digging into his back pockets.

Smiling, “What the hell are you doing?”

“Doing what I always do. Taking care of it myself.” She located his wallet, pulling it out and stepping away from him. “I swear. The shit I have to do just to get through the day.” She quickly found his credit card and took it out. He had one of those all-black credit cards. A redneck the man may be, but a painfully rich one. You couldn’t even order this card…you had to be invited. Nice .