Here Kitty, Kitty!

Chapter Two

“You rude, motherfucker!”

“You try to kill me in my own home and I’m rude?”

“You kidnapped me!”

“Woman, I did no such thing.” As he spoke, he looked up and saw his brothers staring at him through his poor abused door. He saw the truth in their eyes. Christ, they had kidnapped her. Those idiots!

“Well, how do you explain me getting here, hillbilly?”

He looked back at the beautiful woman sitting on his floor. Man but she was pretty. Shame she was such a highfalutin’ bitch.

“There seems to be some kind of misunderstanding—”

“Really, Jethro? Ya think?”

He closed his eyes and counted to ten. He needed to remain calm. Although this woman seriously tested the tiger in him. When he opened his eyes again to answer her, calmly, she was diving for the open window.

With a roar that shook the house, he went after her. He had her by the waist before she even reached the balcony. That’s all he needed. Some crazy heifer with a broken leg because she jumped out his second-story window.

“You motherfuckingbastardsonofabitchwhorecocksuckerprick!”

Nik dragged the kicking, screaming woman out of his bedroom and to the room that had belonged to his old Aunt Abby. A crazy tigress, she’d believed everyone plotted constantly in hopes of stealing her valued “possessions”. So when she moved in for the last year of her life, she’d insisted on a walk-in closet with a lovely lock on it. For the first time since the old woman died, Nik locked that closet. Right after he tossed her crazy butt inside.

She kicked and screamed louder, but Nik ignored it as he adjusted the padlock. He had to find out what the hell his brothers had been up to and he still hadn’t had his cup of coffee.

Nik was not a happy man.

Angie banged on the door one more time, but she knew he’d left the room. She felt him leave, even though he did it silently.

“Goddamn redneck!” She hadn’t been this angry in a long time. Not since the judge ordered her to go to anger management. One little incident with a baseball bat and a guy’s knees and suddenly she’s marked as a raging lunatic. Typical.

She felt around in the dark and eventually found a light. Flicking it on, she yelped in surprise and jumped back as far as she could manage.

She stared at the stuffed wolf silently staring back at her. Angie didn’t want to know if it was once like Sara since, upon death, the shifters didn’t change back.

She bit back a sob of absolute rage. She wanted to go home.

Now!

A pair of jeans quickly pulled on, Nik walked into his kitchen. A cup of fresh, hot coffee found its way into his hand and his butt forced into one of the kitchen chairs.

“Drink it, Nik,” Reena ordered as she poured herself a cup. “Before you say or do anything that we’ll all regret, drink your damn coffee.”

With a low growl, he took a sip. French roasted. His cousin and sister knew him well. He had what he considered “foo foo” coffee in his cabinets. But he kept that for company—when he had company. He liked coffee strong enough to remove old paint.

“Feel better?” Kisa asked as she handed Aleksei, her twin, a piece of cantaloupe. Aleksei took it and took another step toward the exit. As did Bannik. Idiots.

“Don’t even think about leavin’.” Nik took another sip of his coffee. His head hurt. Man, that woman had a lethal way with a toilet.

“Why is that woman in my house?”

Bannik and Aleksei glanced at each other. Apart, they were two of the brightest men Nik knew. Predators with hearts of gold. But together…Lord, they could be stupid.

“It’s the girl from the airport,” Alek offered. Like that was an explanation.

Reena sat down catty-corner from Nik. “What girl at the airport?”

Ban grinned. “Big brother here practically tackled that poor girl at the airport ’cause he thought she was cute.”

“I didn’t tackle her.” Nik looked at his cousin, who was really more of a sister to him. Her mother, for reasons no one could quite put their finger on, had shunned Reena when she was barely seven. The tigress stopped caring for her, feeding her, or anything else. Reena wandered over to their territory and his mother took her in, raising her as one of her own. “It was an accident.”

Reena raised an eyebrow. “I’m sure. You are known for being quite clumsy.”

“Shut up.”

“Anyway, we got to this town Daddy wants so bad and there she was. Struttin’ around all those wolves like she owned the place. A full-human.”

“Still doesn’t explain how she got in my goddamn house.”

“I’m gettin’ to that.” Ban scratched the scar across his stomach. The price he’d paid for his daughter. Tiger females were brutal lovers, but Ban loved his daughter and Nik feared for any man who would one day come into her adult life. “See, she has this little store with really nice stuff in it. Me and Alek would go and check it out, ya know, every day or so. Anyway, last time we were there, she left early and when we walked out, we smelled hyena. Which seemed strange, ’cause it’s wolf territory.”

Nik’s head fell back with a sigh. “I am so bored by this.”

Ban didn’t use less words, but he did talk faster. “Anyway, we go to the parking lot to see if she was okay, and she’s got this hyena female down on the ground and is crushing the holy hell outta her windpipe. Which we would have let her go on doin’, but this Clan of hyenas came out of the trees and she was kinda outnumbered at that point. So me and Alek stepped in. She got banged up a bit, but that was kinda our fault ’cause we kinda hit her when we leaped over her to get to the hyenas.”

“That still doesn’t explain why she’s here,” Nik roared in frustration.

“We couldn’t just leave her there. Clearly them wolves were not takin’ very good care of her.”

“That’s really gallant, but both of you have quite substantially large, albeit tacky, homes, so I’m not sure why her skinny ass is in mine.”

“Well, me and Alek knew you liked her too. So on the way back, we rolled dice for her, and you won.”

“It seemed only fair to include you when we were playing since you saw her first.”

Nik stared at his brothers. He prayed that there were cameras all over his kitchen and someone was going to jump out at him and scream, “You’ve been punk’d!” But that didn’t happen.

“You two do realize you’ve brought her over state lines?”

“How else do you think we got from Texas to here?”

Nik lifted his coffee mug, about to chuck it across the room at his brothers, but Reena’s cool hand on his arm stopped him. “What he means, you two Neanderthals, is that it’s now a federal offense. Life in prison mean anything to you?”

“We rescued her. I didn’t see any wolves out there trying to help. Ask me, she should be damn grateful.”

“She is not grateful. She’s crazy. Look what she did to me.” Nik pointed to his still oozing forehead. “And in case you’re wonderin’, yeah, this hurts!”

“If you don’t want her, I’ll take her.”

Alek shook his head. “No. We should roll for her again.”

“You’re right. That’d be the fair thing to do.”

“You’re not takin’ her anywhere!” Nik snapped. “The only place she’s goin’ is back to her people.”

“Um…” Kisa, always painfully shy, cleared her throat. “Actually, the town she lives in, those aren’t her people.”

“Because she’s human.”

Kisa shook her head. “Actually, she is considered part of a Pack. Just not that Pack.” She cleared her throat again. “After I cleaned her up last night—”

“You cleaned her up?” The words were out of Nik’s mouth before he could stop himself and his brothers were all over it.

“Don’t worry, big brother,” Ban offered.

“We didn’t see her naked,” Alek finished.

He glared at both of them. “I don’t care if you did.” Yes he did.

Nik looked back at Kisa. “Go on, darlin’.”

“Well, I did a little research on her. You know, to find out what we were dealin’ with. And she’s part of Alek’s little girlfriend’s Pack now.”

“She ain’t my girlfriend,” Alek sighed out.

“What girlfriend?”

“Nessa Sheridan.”

Nik finally grinned, “Sweetie pie Nessa?”

Alek glared at his kin. “Don’t call her that.”

“Is that how you found out about that property Daddy wanted? From your little girlfriend?”

“She ain’t my girlfriend.”

It had been years since Nessa Sheridan brought that pretty little ass of hers to visit. One of the few wolves they ever allowed on their territory. College friends for four years and for some unknown reason his usually suave brother couldn’t quite get what he wanted from her. But, in usual Vorislav fashion, the man kept trying. His phone bills must be brutal, though. The woman had lived in Europe for quite awhile now.

Of course this still created a very big problem. “If we’re talkin’ the Sheridans…we’re talkin’ the Magnus Pack.” He’d never met the other Pack members but he remembered Nessa’s brother and father well enough. And he knew the rest of that Pack’s reputation. Wolves. Bikers. Nut cases. Since he last had to deal with that “little gang”, they’d wiped out the Withell Pride and had taken on a new Alpha Female. Some psychopath who had the entire Cat Nation double-checking the locks on their doors at night. She’d only been Alpha for six months, but apparently she was damn scary.

“The…” Reena’s sharp gold eyes lasered over to her cousins. “The Magnus Pack!”

“Why,” Nik asked Kisa carefully, “is an unmarked human part of any Pack?”

“She’s best friends with their Alpha Female.”

“The crazy one?”

Alek and Ban ducked as Nik’s coffee mug went flying. He didn’t throw it, Reena did. “You idiots! Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” Apparently Reena had heard about the Magnus Pack’s Alpha Female as well.

“Don’t yell at us,” Ban shot back.

“You’re right! I should just kick your butt!”

“Stop,” Nik barked.

“Um…” Kisa raised her hand like she was back in fifth grade. “Anyone else think she’s gotten kind of quiet up there?”

They all looked up at the ceiling. And Nik was almost surprised not to see blood seeping through the walls.

The lock removed, the door swung open and Angie squinted at the bright sunlight pouring through the windows. She leaned against the wall, her arms crossed in front of her. Once her eyes adjusted to the light, her breath almost caught in her throat. Damn, but the man was beautiful.

So tall. Six-five, maybe. Black thick hair with hints of red and several streaks of white. Not grey. White. And what she’d missed when she crashed into him at the airport were the big round swirls of white hair behind each ear. That looked unbelievably weird to her, and yet she had the almost overwhelming desire to run her fingers through it and find out if it felt any different than the rest of his hair. She also noticed he kept it short in the back, but he let the front get a little long, so it fell into his eyes. His nose, long and slightly flat at the tip, reminded her a bit of a cat’s muzzle. And his gold eyes with green flecks reflected the sunlight coming into the room. The lids of his eyes slightly slanted, so she guessed he had some Asian in him.

He’d finally put some clothes on, too. Loose fitting jeans and an old blue T-shirt with Navy written on it. He didn’t wear any shoes on his big cat feet. Good. If necessary, she could break his foot.

The pair eyed each other for a full minute before Angie couldn’t stand the silence anymore. “Well,hillbilly, ya lettin’ me out? Or are you going to stand there staring at me all day?”

He scowled and stepped back from the door. “Fine. Get your skinny ass out here.”

Angie’s attempt at being elegant flew out of the room, because his words caused her to trip right into him. She didn’t know whose skinny ass he was talking about, but it couldn’t be hers. She hadn’t been skinny a day in her life and thankfully never wanted to be. Angie had many issues, but problems with self-image had never been one of them.

He grasped her by her arms to stop her fall and she felt the heat from his hands go right through her skin. His gruff tone from a mere second ago changed, as he asked, “You okay, sugar?”

She yanked her arms away from him. She detested being touched. Always had. And she found his touch particularly annoying. His voice, though, with its damn Southern accent sent her pulse racing through her entire body like an out-of-control wildfire. “I’m fine. And don’t call me sugar.” She walked into the middle of the bedroom. “Now what, country?”

He shrugged, an annoying smile tugging at his lips. Then he walked over to the side of the bed, grabbed the cordless phone off the bedside table, and tossed it to her. She caught it with one hand, but she didn’t know what he expected her to do with it. Did he want her to call and make a ransom demand? Or just shove it up his tight ass? More likely that before she made Sara pay the bastard one damn cent for her freedom.

“What the fuck do I do with this?”

“Well, sugar, it’s called a phone. They’re these amazing new inventions—”

“I know what it is, you mother—” She gritted her teeth, cutting off her curse. If she let the full weight of her fury go, she’d stand there and curse him for the next seventy-two minutes.

She clocked it once.

“I’m not going to ask them for ransom.”

“Ransom.” He laughed. “Who’d pay ransom for you?”

“Why you slimy little—”

“I’m giving you the phone so you can call your friends and tell them to pick your skinny ass up. Today.” At her frown of confusion, he added, “Trust me. I didn’t kidnap you. My idiot brothers did. Thought they were doin’ a good thing. Personally, I would have left your ass there. Let the dogs take care of ya.”

She didn’t ask for hillbillies to kidnap her, but she sure as hell didn’t need to hear she wasn’t worthy to be kidnapped either.

She quickly punched in a number on the keypad and put the phone to her ear. The phone rang while she moved past the hillbilly and easily pushed herself up onto the empty dresser. Her feet didn’t touch the floor and she was glad to see her pedicure had held up quite nicely under the recent abuse.

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.”

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.