Here Kitty, Kitty!

Chapter Eighteen

Nik reached for her but his hand touched nothing but empty cotton sheets. “Angie?” He pushed himself up on his hands, trying to get his eyes to focus. His body so exhausted from the last two days. Fuckings. Kidnappings. More fuckings. It took a lot out of a man.

He sniffed the air, but he caught her scent everywhere, including all over him. “Angie?”

“What?” She stepped out of the closet, the door partially closed and completely blocking her from his view. She wore nothing but a pair of denim shorts, cowboy boots, and a black lace bra. She looked good enough to eat. His cock stirred and so did he.

“Come here.”

“Why did you call me?”

“No reason. Just come here.”

She grinned. “Were you worried about me?”

“No.”

“Wondering where I disappeared to?”

“No.”

“Aw, Nikolai, that’s so sweet.”

“Shut up.” He yanked the comforter over his head. He felt her straddle his back, probably still wearing those boots.

“You are so crazy about me you don’t know what to do with yourself.”

She may be joking, but she had no idea how close to the truth she was. “Shut up.”

She grabbed the comforter and tried to pull it off, but he held tight. “Admit it. You can’t fight it.” Nope. And he’d stopped trying.

“This conversation is pissin’ me the hell off.”

She tugged enough of the comforter away to be able to push her face in next to his. “Say it, you big kitty.”

“No.”

She actually tsk, tsk’d him. “Denial is an ugly place to live, hillbilly.” She leaned in and kissed Nik on the cheek. Such an innocent, sweet touch that almost had him spontaneously coming.

How did he let this happen? How did he let this woman get into his life and under his skin? He blamed his father. Yup. Definitely his daddy’s fault. Nik had defective tiger genes because of that man. Well, at least he knew his mother would make the man suffer as much as she could possibly manage.

That had to be worth something…

Angie knew she should stop teasing the man. If she kept it up, she’d probably scare him off and she wasn’t even remotely done with him or his big thighs.

Smiling, she slipped out of bed, and started to walk away, but his long arm reached out and his big hand caught her around the wrist.

“Where you goin’?”

She tugged, trying to pull her arm out of his grasp. “Out with Sara and Mik, shopping.”

“No. Stay.” He pulled her onto the bed. Giggling, she turned her back to him, trying to get off the bed. But he wrapped his big arms around her and pulled her into his body. “Besides,” he whispered in her ear, “I still didn’t have my breakfast.”

Angie bit her lip. Dammit! Much more of this and she’d forget all about promising anything to anybody. But today was more than about shopping. She needed to make sure all was right with “her girls” and to start gently easing Sara down the path to “Truce-ville”. So, any fun with Nik would have to wait until her return.

Shit. Why couldn’t she be selfish about her love life like other women? Friends were supposed to take a backseat. Damn, damn, damn.

“Later. Nik!” She caught his hand as it started to unclasp the front of her bra. “Sara’s waiting for me.”

“She’ll wait. You’ll find her sittin’ by the door, just waitin’…your slippers in her mouth.”

Angie, fighting a laugh, slapped his hand. “That’s not funny. And get your hands out of my shorts.”

“Come on, sugar. Just a little somethin’.”

Knowing that if she didn’t get out now, Sara and Miki wouldn’t see her for another hour—or two—Angie dragged herself out of Nik’s arms.

She dropped to the floor. “Bad kitty!” She picked herself up. “Honestly. A girl isn’t safe with you hillbillies.”

Nik snuggled stomach down into the bed, his arms wrapped around one of the pillows. His muscles bulging as he flashed her a sleepy smile. “You like us hillbillies, sugar. Admit it.”

If she said yes to anything, she’d say yes to everything.

“I gotta go.” She backed up to the door. She couldn’t stop looking at him. Stretched out on the bed, his naked ass calling her name. She picked up a T-shirt from off the floor, knowing she had to get the hell out of Dodge before all her best intentions went out the window.

She gritted her teeth. Honestly, the crap she did for her friends.

Slamming into the door, she grabbed the door handle, wrenched it open, and quickly left.

Angie found Miki and Sara in the kitchen. Whoever Sara had on the phone, they were doing all the talking, because Sara only grunted and nodded. Grunted and nodded.

Angie sat down next to Miki at the table.

“You ready to go shopping?”

“No. I have no money.” Miki flipped the page of the catalog in front of her, barely glancing at her friend. “Nice T-shirt by the way.”

Angie looked down at what she wore and rolled her eyes. “If you can’t play with the big dogs, get off the porch” emblazoned across the blue tee in white letters.

“Oh, you have got to be kidding.”

“In a rush this morning were we?”

“Don’t start, Kendrick. And what do you mean you’re not going?” If Miki didn’t go, then why did Angie leave a randy hillbilly all by his lonesome upstairs?

Miki slammed the catalog down on the table. “I can’t afford any of this shit.”

Angie looked at the cover of the catalog. A baby furniture catalog. “And why is that?”

“Because being a professor doesn’t exactly pay for the high life.”

“I thought you didn’t want to teach.”

“I don’t, but I need the money.”

Sara hung up the phone and walked over to the table as Miki continued. “Conridge got me an offer from the university. If I wanted it.”

Angie picked up an apple. “Who?” Miki and Sara stared at her. “What?”

“Do you not listen to me at all?”

“I listen. When I find it interesting. Why? Who the hell is he?”

“My professor. Big fight with the hyenas. She watched me shoot a man in the knees.”

Angie shrugged. “Still nothin’.”

Sara flopped into one of the chairs. “She’s married to Van Holtz of the Van Holtz Restaurant chain. Filthy rich.”

“Oh! That Conridge.”

Miki rolled her eyes. “You’re amazing.”

“Thank you.”

Sara brought her knee up, bracing it against the table and used her other leg to rock her chair back and forth. Seemed some people never learned. Sara did that in junior high, fell back and busted her head open.

Angie shook off the image of a blood-covered Sara. “Miki, are you not staying with Conall? Did you decide to leave him?”

“I’m staying, ya know, for now.” Angie barely stopped herself from laughing in the girl’s face. Miki wasn’t going anywhere. She loved the big bear too much. It leaked from her every pore. “But I need the job. I can’t take money from a man with no money.”

Sara and Angie frowned at each other.

Sara shook her head. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“I’m not living off the Pack, Sara. It’s that simple.”

“That’s great and all, but Conall has his own money.”

“I’m not going to spend the man’s life savings.”

“You couldn’t spend Conall’s life savings if you bought Scotland.”

Miki, her frown so deep it changed the contours of her face, glared at Sara.

“What the hell does that mean?”

“The Víga-Feilans. They’re rolling in money. In fact, his father bought this house for the Pack. As a thank you for letting them in.”

Miki gripped the table with her fingers, but didn’t speak.

“And Conall’s money is separate from his dad’s. But he’ll inherit what they have, and since he’s an only child, he’ll quadruple what he has now. So, I really wouldn’t worry about—”

Miki stood. “Conall!” Her screech startled Sara, who pushed a bit too hard and sure enough ended up hitting the floor.

Angie stared up at her friend. “What the fuck is wrong with you?” If this was how she was during the beginning of her pregnancy, the next nine months would be absolute hell.

Miki seethed. Her hands clenched at her side. Her teeth gritted together. “If he has all the money, he has all the power.”

Sara dragged herself off the floor, one hand rubbing the back of her head. “You sure you passed those sanity tests?”

Conall strolled into the kitchen. “You bellowed?”

Miki pulled out a chair and stood on it—now they were almost at eye level. “You’re rich! Filthy, stinking, disgusting rich!”

“I guess technically—” Conall stopped when Miki’s fist hit his solar plexus.

“Ow!” Miki shook her hand out.

Conall didn’t even flinch. “Why do you insist on doing that?”

Angie held the black credit card in her hand. “I want you to realize the enormity of this situation.”

“Oh, good God,” Miki moaned.

“He handed you his black credit card and said ‘buy what you want, Miki-baby.’ First off the man has a black credit card. Second, he didn’t flinch when he gave it to you.”

Miki snatched the card back. “This is a stupid conversation. It’s a fucking credit card.”

The trio walked through the enormous department store. A Pack of shapeshifting females behind them. These women were clearly not in their element. The only black leather Fallons offered had Chanel stamped on it. No wonder Sara and her rough-and-tumble Pack knew nothing about this shifter-run store.

“It’s not a fucking credit card. It’s a commitment.”

Miki shook her head. “You make me sad.”

Sara sputtered out a laugh, but it died in her throat as she stopped walking. She grabbed a plaid business suit that would look perfect on her with a string of pearls.

“Explain to me again why we’re here?”

“Because we’re doing the girlfriend thing, and going shopping.”

“Can’t we go to Old Navy?”

“No. We had the Old Navy discussion. And no GAP. And no Harley-Davidson store. So get the fuck over it people.”

She smiled, making all the she-wolves take a step back. “Okay, let’s go then!”

Angie started walking. “Now I was thinking we start off in the dresses, maybe hit the juniors section for Miki…”

“Hey!”

“…and then get makeovers!”

Angie ignored the whining behind her. Like trying to put a muzzle on a dog. She turned a corner and watched a woman walk toward her. For a moment, she thought her another she-wolf because of the big leather jacket. But even she was too grubby to be a she-wolf with her worn high-top Keds that had small holes, her jeans that had definitely seen better days, and Angie would swear the oversized Bob Marley T-shirt the woman wore might have been owned by the man himself.

“Can we go, please,” the woman sniped at the gorgeous and much-taller blond women behind her. “I’ve never been so bored before in my entire existence.”

“Could you at least pretend to be female,” one of the women tossed at her.

Miki came up beside Angie and she grabbed onto the smaller woman by the scruff of her black T-shirt, holding her back, quickly noting the .45 she had holstered to the back of her jeans.

“What? What’s wrong?” Miki looked up, locking eyes with the small blonde. “I know you. You’re that bitch that was hittin’ on Conall.”

Startled, the woman still managed to grin. “I was not hitting on him.”

Sara walked up. “I keep smelling cat—is that you?”

“No, it’s…” Angie glared at her. “That’s not funny!”

“Sara Morrighan?”

Sara looked over at what Angie now knew was Victoria Löwe. Angie may be trying to take things slow but whatever powers ruled the universe clearly had other ideas.

Sara’s fangs burst from her gums, her lips drawn back in a snarl.

“Sara!” Wolf eyes turned to Angie. “Be nice.”

The female wolves moved up. Angie could feel their aggression swirling around them.

They started to pass the three friends, but Sara held her hand up. “Hold it.” The she-wolves stopped as the lion females stood around Victoria. They were so much taller than the little lioness, she almost disappeared.

Angie, taking a deep breath, stepped forward and in between the two groups of females. “Victoria.”

She nodded. “Angelina.”

“I’d like you to meet Sara.” Angie turned and smiled at her friend. “And Sara, this is Victoria Löwe.”

The two women eyed each other cautiously as their females waited for someone to make the first move.

Angie should have seen it coming. Should have been ready for it. But, for some unknown reason, she wasn’t.

“You’re awfully tiny to be a lion.” Miki crossed her arms in front of her chest and smiled “Sure your mother wasn’t doing a mountain lion on the side or something?”

Angie closed her eyes and growled.

Nik walked down the stairs, his hands running through his wet hair. He paused at the bottom step, a smile breaking across his face.

He walked into the enormous living room and found his brothers stretched out on two of the five couches, watching TV and playing with what had to be the ugliest dog Nik had ever seen in his life.

“What are y’all doin’ here?”

“We thought about leavin’…” Ban began.

“Especially after that tiny little midget girl tried to shoot us last night.”

“But we’re havin’ so much fun here…”

“And that big blond guy said we could stay awhile,” Alek finished.

Nik raised an eyebrow at his baby brother. “You’re hopin’ that dog’s sister shows up.”

“It’s good for a man to have dreams.”

“Pathetic.” Nik yawned then nodded toward the kitchen in the back of the house. “Did ya leave any food?”

“Not really.”

“And did those wolves get cranky about it?”

“You could say that.” Ban made room on the couch for the dog to jump up next to him. “A few of ‘em went out to get more.”

“But they were not happy about it.”

Nik climbed over the back of the couch and sat down next to Alek, plopping his feet up on the coffee table.

“So did you two love kittens make up?” Ban asked.

Nik stretched, feeling damn good about himself. “Somethin’ like that.”

“And let me guess,” Alek continued, “she’s really off limits now.”

More than ever.

He’d made Angelina Santiago his. Every time he fucked her last night—and he’d fucked her all night long—he’d made her his.

But he wasn’t in the mood to discuss that with his two idiot brothers. Not yet.

He held his hand out. “Remote.”

Alek dropped it in his palm.

“All I gotta say is them Yankees need to hurry the hell up. I’m starvin’. Even that dog is lookin’ mighty tasty.”

Ban, the protector of all things except deer, elk, rabbits, and cows, hugged the dog to him. “That’s not funny.”

“Yes it is.”

“You’re shopping?” Miki demanded.

Angie shrugged. “What do you expect me to do? Just stand here? Besides, these Manolo Blahniks are adorable.”

“Oh, for the love of all that’s holy.”

“You want a pair?”

“No!”

“No need to get tense. You’re getting so moody. Must be that Pack baby.”

“Stop calling her that!”

Miki sat on one of the benches.

One of the lions walked up to Angie. “What do you think?”

Angie looked at the shoe in her hand. “Bad color for you, hon. Try blue.”

“Thanks.”

Miki snorted in disgust. “You have got to be fuckin’ kidding me.”

Angie finished fixing the straps on the shoes she decided to try on. Standing up, she moved to the mirror. The salesman stood next to her. “Wow. Those look amazing on you.”

She looked at herself in the mirror. “You know…you’re right. These do look amazing on me.”

Seconds after Miki made a grunt of annoyance, a sound rang out over the entire floor of shoes and accessories that stopped every wolf and lion in their tracks.

Sara’s laugh.

They all turned to look at the two women huddled over in the far corner of the shoe department. Victoria had removed her denim jacket. Her sleeveless Bob Marley T-shirt showed off a Jimi Hendrix tattoo on one shoulder. Her jacket slipped to the floor. When Victoria bent to retrieve it, Angie spotted a Robert Plant tattoo on the other shoulder.

“Interesting,” Miki muttered. “I bet if you looked at her high school notebooks they’re covered in that stupid Van Halen logo, too.”

Angie chuckled as one of the salesgirls returned with a dress for her. “How about this?”

Taking the dress by the hanger, Angie looked at it carefully. Dark red and backless, she debated whether to get it for Sara’s party. She knew Nik would love her in it.

Christ, how pathetic am I?

“What do ya think, Mik?”

“What do I think? I think that lion females are really lesbians and the males are used strictly for their sperm.”

Angie’s head snapped up. “Miki!”

She gave that damn innocent smile. “What? It’s just a theory.”

The she-wolves looked down at the floor to hide their laughter while the lions glared. Well, most of them glared. One just grinned. Angie didn’t have time to analyze that, instead grabbing Miki by the scruff of the neck and dragging her past the staring wolves and lions toward the dressing room.

“I swear, Kendrick. I can’t take you anywhere.”

“Don’t blame me ’cause these bitches have no sense of humor. And you know I’m right.”

Angie found the dressing room. Since it was still relatively early, there were very few customers and she had a feeling she’d have the place all to herself. Good. She hated fighting with a bunch of bitches over some space.

Still gripping Miki by the neck, the pair walked around the corner into the enormous room, separated into eight big dressing rooms. Busy trying to figure out which room to grab, Angie slammed right into a woman.

Dianne Leucrotta stepped back with a curse. They looked at each other and Angie almost winced at what she saw. A deep jagged gash slashed across the woman’s face. From one temple, across and under her lip. And unlike Nik’s wounds from the toilet and even her own, Leucrotta’s still hadn’t really healed. And Angie wondered if they ever would.

“Wow, I totally fucked up your face.” Then Angie punched her. Leucrotta grabbed her nose and stumbled back away from them. Angie pushed Miki back and punched Leucrotta again.

“Jesus, Angie!”

“Get Sara.” She grabbed the hyena by the hair and slammed her face first into one of the dressing rooms.

It wasn’t until someone kicked his legs that Nik woke up. Alek, snoring beside him, his head resting on his shoulder. Ban snoring on the other couch, the noise rivaled only by the dog.

He looked into the impossibly cranky face of Zach Sheridan. “Y’all get food?”

“We had a full refrigerator before you three got here.”

“Where I come from, we don’t let the refrigerator get empty.”

“Where you come from, you marry your sister.”

Before Nik could rip the man’s head off—literally—Alek snapped awake. “Your sister’s here?”

Snarling like a rabid dog, the wolf stomped off.

Alek winked, gave an evil chuckle, and stood up to head to the kitchen.

Nik really did have the best family.

“You have no idea how happy I am that you’re here, Ms. Leucrotta. You’re exactly what I needed to make this day perfect.”

As she threw Leucrotta to the floor, Sara and Victoria stormed in, Miki right behind them. They stopped and stared at the bleeding Leucrotta on the floor.

“Jesus, Angie,” Sara groaned in exasperation. “I thought you worked this out in therapy—and what is that smell?”

Victoria’s head tilted to the side. “Hyena.”

Sara growled. “This is her?” Sara looked at Angie. “The one that came after you?”

“Yes. Notice the Louis Vuitton–damaged face.”

Miki grinned. “Nice, Santiago.”

Leucrotta tried to push herself up off the floor, so Angie slammed her back down with her foot. She really did like how these shoes looked on her.

“I was thinking, instead, of the two of you coming up with a truce. Maybe we could involve all three.”

Angie felt the air change, the tension build, and she knew Leucrotta was shifting right under her feet.

Miki, snatching the .45 out of its holster and pulling the slide back, snarled, “You shift, bitch, and it will be the last thing you ever do.”

Leucrotta let out a breath and the air surrounding them returned to normal. She’d stopped the process.

Victoria looked at Sara. “I am really starting to like your friends.”

The male wolves watched as the tigers proceeded to eat and eat and eat, clearing out most of the new groceries they’d brought into the house.

Few were ever ready to see tigers feed when they were truly hungry. And the Vorislav boys were mighty hungry.

Conall watched Ban finish off a plate of fried chicken legs. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything as disturbing as what I just witnessed. And I’ve seen Miki dance.” He looked at Zach. “If they stay for Sara’s party, we’re going to need another cow for the barbeque.”

Sara crouched beside Leucrotta. “You’re probably wondering why we haven’t killed you yet.”

“Although we’re sorely tempted,” Victoria added. She’d taken over Angie’s spot after dispatching her females along with Sara’s she-wolves to go deal with any lurking hyenas. Plus she seemed to really enjoy having her foot in the back of the woman’s neck. Much more pressure and Angie figured she just might snap the bone.

“See, this is the deal,” Sara continued. “We could kill you, but then this would keep going on. And we’re tired.”

“But you can’t be trusted.”

“Exactly, Victoria. A stereotype again hyenas, true. But we have no choice but to note past behavior. And this past behavior forced us to turn to each other to create a truce.” Sara stood up and preceded to move around the room. “See, before, you guys could keep having all that fun at our expense because we were killing each other anyway.”

“But we’ve created a truce that applies to the Cat Nation.”

“And most of the Packs. Although, if I were you, I wouldn’t approach the Víga-Feilans. Even though they’re not our friends, they’re really mean on principle.”

Sara stood over Dianne Leucrotta now, staring down at her. “And do you wanna know what this truce means to you?”

“Ooh! Let me tell her,” Victoria begged mockingly.

“Oh, Victoria, please be my guest.”

Still not moving that well-placed foot, Victoria crouched down. She dug her hand into Leucrotta’s brownish-gold locks, brutally yanking her head back. “It’s simple. You fuck with us—any of us—and you’ll have every cat, every canine within the U.S. and Canada coming after your hyena ass.”

Sara crouched down again. “But the beauty part—we’ll make sure to take out a few Clans on our way to you. When they find out this is all your fault, those hyenas will turn on you. There’ll be no place safe for you. No place safe for your family, friends, any of ’em.”

Leucrotta didn’t answer, merely stared at the pair.

Sara looked at Victoria. “I don’t know, Vic. I’m not sure she’s hearing us clearly.”

“I think you’re right.”

“Fine.” The two women stood. “Deal with it, Mik.”

Miki stepped forward and for the first time Angie heard Leucrotta’s voice…as she begged for her life.

“Wait. Wait!”

“Too late.” Miki aimed the gun at her face.

“No! No! No!”

Victoria ground her foot into the back of Leucrotta’s neck. “I don’t think I heard the right words,” she bit out between gritted teeth.

“We’ll stop. I swear it.”

Victoria looked up at Sara. “What do you think, Sara? You believe her?”

After a pause. “No. Miki take her.”

“No! I swear! I swear!”

The women glanced at each other. Finally, Sara looked at Angie.

“What do ya think, Santiago?”

Fighting the smile of pride she had for her friend at the moment, Angie nodded in agreement. “I say we give her a shot.”

“Cool!” Miki aimed her gun again.

“I meant a chance, psychopath.”

“Damn.”

Victoria removed her foot from Leucrotta, but before the hyena could stand, Sara again crouched in front of her, both her hands buried in the woman’s hair. She pulled her head back, their faces so close they could have been lovers.

“Listen to me carefully. If anything else happens to my friends, there is no place in this universe where you’ll be able to hide…” Sara’s voice dropped impossibly lower, “…from me.”

With that, Sara stood, dragging the woman with her. She put her on her own two feet. Pale, shaking, completely terrified, it seemed amazing Leucrotta hadn’t pissed on herself.

Sara stepped back and Leucrotta moved toward the exit.

“Oh.” Leucrotta’s whole body clenched in fear at Sara’s voice behind her. “And one more thing…”

Slowly, Leucrotta turned. “Yes?”

Sara glanced at her friend. “Angie?”

Angie stepped forward, slamming her fist into Leucrotta’s face. The hyena’s head smashed into the mirror behind her, destroying it as her body dropped like a ton of bricks. She probably wouldn’t be moving for several long minutes, giving both Pack and Pride time to get out of the store and avoid a full-on confrontation. And Angie still owed the bitch for her ruined Louis Vuitton bag.

Sara smiled. “You always had the best right hook.”

“Remember that boxer I dated? He taught me that—and not to use my teeth during blow jobs.”

Miki locked her gun, shoving it back in its holster. “Well that was information I could have lasted a lifetime never knowing.”

They all stared at the television. Twenty male shapeshifters quietly watching The Howling.

“If shifting was always that painful,” Conall muttered more to the couch he lay sprawled across than to anyone else, “I’d never do it.”

“Who put this piece of shit in anyway?” Zach demanded.

“No one. It’s on cable.”

Zach lifted his head off the floor. “Then why the fuck are we still watching it?”

Conall pointed across the room. “Because the remote is over there.”

They all looked at the simple electronic device. At the moment, it looked miles away.

“Well who the fuck put it way the hell over there?”

Ban’s hand shot up. “Sorry. That was me.”

Zach laid his head back on the floor. “Damn hillbillies.”

“We prefer the term redneck,” Nik muttered.

They all fell into another sleepy silence, until Alek’s head snapped up. “Y’all smell that?”

Conall jumped up as the banging on the door started. By the time he reached the hallway, they all stood behind him. He pulled the door open and six Pride males pushed past him. Big. Well-dressed. Boring.

“Where are they?” the lead one roared.

Zach crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Where are who?”

The lion, fangs bared, stood in front of Zach. He was taller than the wolf, but Nik was impressed the Alpha didn’t back down. Instead, Zach looked kind of amused.

Ban nudged Nik. “Look, it’s the pretty kitties.”

One of the lions glared at Ban. “And look what we have here…alley cats. Why am I not surprised to find them hanging out with the dogs?”

Alek growled low, but Nik kept him under control with a hand on his shoulder. “Now, now, Alek. You should never attack a man brave enough to wear those shoes.”

“Where are our females?” the leader demanded again. “I got a call saying they were coming here.”

“Coming here?” Zach shrugged. “Sorry, don’t know anything about it. But tell me, do you lose your pussies like this all the time?”

Fangs burst from gums and bodies began to shift. The lion tackled Zach the wolf. Conall, shifting quickly, went after them. Nik watched another lion go for Conall, and his Southern sense of honor wouldn’t allow some lion pricks to abuse his hosts, so he shifted and threw himself at the big gold beast. But his weight shoved them all through the open door and out onto the stairs.

They fell in a mass of snarling, snapping claws and fur. He felt fangs sink into his hind leg, but it lasted only a second as Ban grabbed the lion by the scruff of the neck and tossed him away.

Nik landed on the back of another lion, pushing him off Zach. They rolled a few feet trying to get a good hold, but instead crashed into a gorgeous set of legs.

“Dude! The new shoes!”

Nik and the lion looked up to see a group of women calmly watching them. In fact, someone had pulled out a bag of chips and started sharing.

Angie reached down and brushed the top of her shoes. “Do you have any idea how hard it is to get cat hair off anything?”

She shook her head, grabbed some shopping bags and headed toward the house. “See you ladies later. I’m exhausted.” She turned on those gorgeous heels. “And don’t forget. All of you are coming to Sara’s birthday party. Right?”

A small woman, who smelled like lion but based on her clothes and height alone simply couldn’t be, nodded. “Absolutely.” She looked at Sara. “Perfect time to solidify the truce, don’t ya think?”

“Sure. Whatever. Wanna see the bikes?” Sara walked off toward the garage, female lions and wolves following behind her.

Miki started to follow, but Angie called her from the front door. “Get your ass up here, Kendrick.”

“I wanna go—”

“No. Because apparently we have no impulse-control during this breeding process when it comes to that mouth, now do we?”

Stomping around the male lions, wolves, and tigers at her feet as if they were stuffed toys, Miki headed up the stairs. “I can’t tell you how much I hate that fuckin’ psychotherapist voice you put on.”

“Well, when one is dealing with a nut…”

The door slammed shut behind the two human females while the shifter females disappeared among the motorcycles.

The males stared at each other, eventually withdrawing claws and fangs from vital organs. A little blood spilt but not much.

Nik wondered what they’d do next. Fighting seemed kind of wrong now that the females had a pact. But he didn’t have to wonder or worry long. A small group of deer ran past heading deep into Pack territory and they all took off after them, leaving him and Conall.

Conall, not about to leave his pregnant mate alone with lions swarming over his territory, turned and trotted back to the house. Nik, however, had no such worries. Angie seemed to have quite a way with handling cats. Hell, she handled him, didn’t she?

No, he had other plans for the delectable Ms. Santiago. And they definitely involved those shoes.

Nik padded around to the back of the house. She’d left the window open, so he took a step back and jumped. He cleared the windowsill easily, landing without making a sound.

He turned toward the bed and she was already there. Waiting for him. Naked. A sheet pulled up between her legs and covering her chest.

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…”