Here Kitty, Kitty!

Chapter Four

“Did you buy her a pony, too?”

“Don’t start, Reena.”

“I mean, exactly what is wrong with you? Has all rational thought left you to blow that kind of money on some woman that you don’t even know?”

Nik wouldn’t look at his cousin. Instead he buried his head into the couch cushions.

“Well? Answer me!”

“I think she’s cute,” he mumbled sadly into the expensive leather.

“Oh, good Lord!” Reena launched herself onto Nik’s back, batting his head around with her hands. Funny, it never hurt this much when they were tigers. “Have I taught you nothing?”

“Stop doing that. Now.”

She grabbed hold of his T-shirt and pulled. “Send her ass back.”

With a sigh, Nik sat up, knocking his cousin off his back. When she hit the floor, he barely glanced at her. “I can’t. I’m supposed to protect her.”

“Just ’cause they’re afraid to transport her. Send her in the jet.”

Nik found himself suddenly interested in his bookshelves. Maybe he should get new ones.

“Nikolai Vorislav, them dogs don’t know about the goddamn jet, do they?”

“It’s none of their business.”

“They left her here because they had no other way of safely gettin’ her back to wherever the hell those dogs roam. But if we can take her ourselves—”

“She’s stayin’. And I’m not discussing this anymore.”

“The woman hit you with a toilet.”

“She was scared. I almost think she regrets it now.”

“You think she regrets it. I think the bitch is crazy.”

Nik sighed again. “Yeah. But damn if she don’t look good in a sheet.”

“I’m leavin’.” Reena stood, clearly disgusted by her cousin. “The boys will be home from their daddies’ soon and you’re starting to piss me off.”

Reena took several steps away from him and spun around. “And just so we’re clear, you’re turning into your daddy.”

Fangs burst from Nik’s mouth. “I am not turning into my daddy.”

Reena folded her arms in front of her chest. “Did you care that Alek and Ban didn’t see her naked?”

Nik glared at his cousin, but didn’t answer.

Reena chuckled. “Too late.”

Angie sat on the floor of the bedroom that was now her temporary home. Shopping bags surrounded her and she went through each one, pulling out and meticulously folding each item. It gave her hands something to do while she silently beat herself up.

What the hell had possessed her to rub the man’s forehead?

She wasn’t like Miki and Sara. Though they hid it well, both craved affection and love. Angie craved occasional sex and not to get the shit annoyed out of her. Otherwise, she happily co-existed with herself. She didn’t even have a pet. The only full-time companions she needed were her two best friends, but even they went home at night.

Angie carefully folded a gold tank top and laid it on the pile. She shook her head.

Why the hell am I unpacking? Getting comfortable?

Sara wouldn’t get comfortable. Sara would have gotten drunk and beaten the brothers within an inch of their lives. Miki would have…well, Miki would have dug an underground tunnel, extricated herself a safe distance, and then blown the house up.

Neither of them would be unpacking clothes after a little shopping spree with their kidnapper.

Wow. She really was a girl. Could she be any more girly? Any more dull? Any more dangerously weak and stupid and female?

“Hey, darlin’.” That came from the balcony of her room. Without missing a beat, Angie grabbed one of the baseballs she’d purchased from the sports store, crouched, turned, and pitched it.

The ball slammed right between the eyes of one of the hillbilly brothers. “Shit!”

Startled and hurting, he went to grab his head, forgetting he was on the other side of the balcony. The outside of the balcony. He fell back, disappearing from sight.

“Uh-oh.” Maybe she should have waited before attacking. She wasn’t too sure how well the family would take to her killing one of their own. Especially after trying to kill the other brother earlier.

Grabbing another baseball—just in case—she quickly walked to the balcony, and leaned over the railing.

Three of Nik’s siblings were down there and she guessed the two hysterically laughing were the ones who had not been on her balcony.

“What are we looking at?”

Angie gasped, his voice right in her ear. Big arms braced on either side of her.

The motherfucker is in my space!

Angie turned and swung with her free hand at the same time. Her hand contacted with a concrete slab…or a hillbilly chest. Either way, she felt like she’d broken her knuckles.

“Motherfuckinggoddamnsonofabitch!”

“Aw, sugar. Did you hurt your hand?”

Angie didn’t know what annoyed her more. The fact her punch didn’t even faze him or that he hadn’t moved back away from her. Yeah. She was sure of it.

Both annoyed the shit out of her.

“Lemme see.” He took her hand, but she snatched it back before he got a good enough grip on it.

“Keep your hillbilly paws off me.”

He held his hands up. “Okay. Okay. No need to get all hysterical.”

“I am not—” Angie took a deep breath and did the counting technique her anger-management counselor taught her. Ten. Nine. Eight…

“And what exactly are you gonna do with that?” His eyes glanced at the baseball in her hand and back at her.

She looked up into his smiling face. No. He didn’t smile at her. He smirked.

Condescending prick.

She looked at the baseball in her hand and, for a brief moment, Nik thought she might try and shove it up his ass. Man, this woman was quite the hellcat.

Instead of rectally damaging him, she muttered, “Three, two, one,” under her breath, and calmly looked at him. “Pick something.”

Nik looked down into that pretty face. “I’m sorry?”

“I said pick something. Anything around here, and I’ll nail it. Dead on. I used to date a minor-league baseball player.”

“Really?”

“Yup. He loved teaching me stuff.” Nik just bet. “It was the only time I didn’t tell him to get his fuckin’ hands off me.”

Nik rubbed his nose to stop from laughing. He leaned against the balcony. “Anything, huh?”

Ban stared up at them, rubbing his forehead. When he realized Nik watched him, he began making kissing faces and pointing at the pair of them. When Angie turned around, he stopped.

Sarcastically, “How about nailing my bonehead brother in the head again?” Since he assumed it had already happened once based on the knot already growing there.

She shrugged. “Okay.”

“Wait, I was kid—” But it was too late. She sent the ball blazing down from the balcony and popping Ban right in the head…again.

Man, that baseball player taught her well.

Ban let out a stream of curses he probably hadn’t used since he left the Marines and again gripped his forehead.

Nik ran his hands through his hair. No, he’d never hear the end of this one.

While Ban rubbed his head with one hand, he grabbed the ball from the ground at his feet with the other. Nik knew exactly what he had in mind. “Don’t even think about it.”

“That nutcase hit me in the head! Twice!”

She put her feet between the bars and leaned far over. “Who the hell are you calling nutcase, slow boy from down the lane?”

“She sure did hit ya.” Nik laughed. He probably shouldn’t be so proud of that fact, but he couldn’t help himself. “Why the hell were you up here anyway?”

Ban dropped the ball and took several steps away, closer to Nik’s side of the balcony. “I wanted to see if she wanted to come with us to the dinner tomorrow.”

Angie suddenly perked up, pushing Nik aside to look down at Ban. “A dinner? Like a party?”

“Yes. But I changed my goddamn mind!”

“Well that’s plain mean.”

“Forget it. I ain’t takin’ you anywhere. The slow boy from down the lane has spoken.”

Nik placed his hands on the railing, “accidentally” rubbing against Angie’s bare arm. “Good. ’Cause she’s comin’ with me.”

She turned on him. “I am not.”

He didn’t want to analyze why she seemed more than comfortable going with Ban, who she popped in the head with a baseball, and not him. He was definitely better looking than Ban.

“Sssh. Don’t interrupt, sugar. Big boys talkin’. ”

“We are not bringing her now,” Ban snapped.

“Sure we are. Daddy’ll love her.”

“Momma won’t. She hurt me. I’m gonna have a knot on my head.” Yeah. And once he made up some bullshit story, every tigress there would be falling all over their Christian Dior dresses to take care of the big idiot. They loved Ban. He was a proven breeder.

Nik brought his head right next to her so he could whisper in her ear. “He’s got a point, sugar. You done gone and hurt her baby boy. Ban’s her favorite.”

She didn’t answer him. She was too busy leaning away from him. He didn’t understand it. He’d bathed that morning.

He wondered how far she’d go, so he leaned over a little more. Immediately, her body leaned farther away from him. He wasn’t even sure she knew she did it. He stood up straight, and so did she.

He leaned over again. So did she. So he kept going, now desperate to see how far she’d go.

She hit the floor.

“Dammit!”

He stretched out his hand to help her up, but she slapped him away. She got to her feet and looked damn cute doing it, too.

“You all right, sugar?”

“Yes.” She brushed non-existent dirt off her dress. “And stop calling me sugar.”

“Naw.”

“Naw?”

He shrugged. “Naw.” He smiled at her. “Besides, ain’t you sweet as sugar?”

She snorted. “Naw.”

Aleksei suddenly appeared on the other side of the railing. “Ya gotta come with us.”

Startled, Angie jumped back. “Are there stairs or something next to this fuckin’ balcony?”

“Naw,” both brothers answered.

She leaned over the railing, giving Nik an amazing look at those legs. Damn, girl. “Then how…”

“It’s our hind legs. Tigers can jump really far,” Aleksei offered.

“Really?” She bit her lip. “You must have amazing thighs.”

What the hell did the woman think she was doing? Flirting with both his brothers. And completely ignoring him!

Aleksei stared at her, completely lost. “They’re not bad.”

“Interesting.”

Alek leaned in closer and all Nik wanted to do was toss the man’s ass off his balcony. Why is he on my territory anyway?

“Ignore Ban,” Alek insisted. “Just come with us.”

“I’d love to. I do love a good party.” She glanced at Nik. “And I think I have just the dress.”

Nik barely bit back a snarl. “Only one?”

She shrugged innocently.

“Great.” Aleksei grinned. “Well, I better take care of Ban’s big fat head. I still hear him whimpering.”

“I ain’t whimperin’,” Ban yelled from the patio.

Aleksei winked at Angie. “Yes he is.”

She gave a wave of her hand. “Do what you must, hillbilly. But I want my baseballs back.”

She headed back into her room. Aleksei leaned in close to his brother. “Man,” he whispered. “That woman is hot. And I think she likes me.”

“I think she likes anyone dumb enough to be controlled by her.”

“You mean like you, Mr. Twenty Grand Man?”

Nik glared at his brother, slapped his hand over the man’s face, and shoved him off the balcony.

“That wasn’t funny,” Alek yelled once he landed.

Nik leaned over the railing. “Yes it was.”

Angie placed her newly purchased clothes in the chest of drawers as Nik walked back into the room. He closed the balcony doors and she almost screamed at him to open them back up. She finally had to face it, the man made her nervous. And closing her off in a room with him wasn’t really helping.

He picked up the bat she had laying on her bed. “And what do you expect to do with this?”

Kill you in your sleep?

“Pretty little thing like you. What? You gonna beat up the big, bad hyenas with it?”

She carefully smoothed out a chemise she’d placed in the drawer, and turned to face the hillbilly, closing the drawer with her backside. She folded her arms in front of her chest and silently regarded the man for several moments.

“Is there a problem, hillbilly?”

“If you keep calling me hillbilly there will be.”

She stepped away from the dresser. “Oh, I’m sorry. Do you prefer redneck or Jethro or—?”

“You could use my name.”

“I sure could. But I choose not to.”

Anger flashed across his face, but it quickly disappeared. Replaced by a slow, easy smile that almost had her melting at his feet. “I wonder what it would take to get you to say my name.”

Uh-oh. “Don’t go gettin’ any funky ideas, hillbilly.” Especially since she had so many of her own.

He dropped the bat back on the bed. “Like what exactly?” When she didn’t answer, he walked toward her. “I asked you a question, sugar.”

“I’m not playing this game with you.”

He stopped right in front of her, gently taking a lock of her hair and twining it around his big index finger.

“I don’t play games. I’m a real sore loser.”

He stared at the hair he had wrapped around his forefinger, his thumb smoothing it against his skin. It took Angie a second to realize he’d stepped even closer to her. She wanted to take a step back, but if she did he’d end up yanking her hair. And she didn’t want to look like she was trying to run away from him.

When, exactly, did she lose control of this situation anyway?

Freakin’ cats!

“Damn, girl. You sure are pretty.”

Well, at least he didn’t try and bore her with “beautiful”. Men said that crap to her all the time, but they wouldn’t know beauty if it came up and kicked them in the nuts. Miki, who they all but ignored, was beautiful because if the girl set her mind to it, she could destroy the universe. Sara went beyond beautiful with her strength. The woman had lived in pain and with that fucking bitch Lynette for years and not only survived but kept her soul. They were beautiful.

Angie had a really great sense of style, amazing friends, and absolutely no delusions about herself. Or anyone else for that matter.

“That’s very kind of you.”

“Not really.” He continued to wrap her hair around his finger until his hand rested close to her cheek.

He had her trapped with the tall dresser at her back and her hair wrapped around his hand. She had to lean her head back to get a good look at him. The hillbilly towered over her. The man was big. Huge. Conall-sized. Just a little leaner.

She cleared her throat, trying her best to maintain a bit of pseudo-calm. Of course, she didn’t feel calm. She didn’t feel scared either. She didn’t know what she felt except extreme panic and a growing wetness between her legs very few men had been able to get out of her without their hands or mouth on certain parts of her anatomy. And that sound. What the fuck was that sound?

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Ever since he took hold of her hair, she kept hearing that damn sound.

Good God. That was her! That thumping noise emanating from between her legs. Was her clit supposed to sound that loud pounding against her panties? And could the hillbilly hear it? This could get seriously embarrassing.

“Look, hillbilly,” she looked for a way around him, but he wouldn’t move and he seemed in no hurry to release her hair, “if I’m gonna stay here, maybe we should get a few things straight.”

He leaned in suddenly, his grip tightening on her hair. And, man, but did that feel good. He put his nose right against her neck. Is the man smelling me? “What exactly would those few things be, sugar?”

“First off, stop smelling me.”

“Sorry. It’s just…” He took another sniff. “You smell good enough to…”

“Don’t you dare say it.”

“…lick.”

Then he did. Right across her jugular. His tongue, warm and dry, pulling the skin of her neck as it rasped across it.

She almost dropped. Right there. Right at his giant, hillbilly feet. But at the same time, her fight or flight response kicked in and she did the only thing she could think of. She brought her knee up, aiming for his nuts.

But the fucker moved like lightning. He grabbed her knee before it ever touched him. His hand slid around and up, bringing her leg up and out. He leaned his body against hers, his lean hips between her thighs and he wrapped her leg tightly around his hip.

He did it so fast, she didn’t even realize what the hell had happened until his body pinned her against the dresser, the heavy wood banging against the wall behind it.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Nik knew he had to stop. He knew he needed to back away and let her get on with her packing or unpacking or whatever the hell she’d been doing when he walked in. Then he would go outside as tiger and kill the first unlucky thing that came across his path. Hopefully one of his brothers.

But he couldn’t. He couldn’t walk away from her. He never met a woman capable of making him this feral before. He considered himself out of control at the moment, at least by Vorislav standards. She really did smell good, though. She tasted even better.

Damn his brothers to hell and back! Why the hell did they bring this vicious, foul-mouthed piece of ass into his home? Yesterday his life had been going so well. Quiet. Simple. With the occasional elk thrown in for good measure.

Now, more than twenty grand in the hole and a healthy knot on his forehead, he had some stranger pinned up against his furniture while he ground his painfully hard erection into her amazingly hot crotch. And, man, but did that feel good.

Her hands, still covered in scratches and scrapes from the day before, grabbed hold of his T-shirt. But instead of pulling him in for the kiss he desperately wanted to give her, she shoved him away.

“Get the fuck offa me!”

Nik released her and her hair immediately. He didn’t want to, but never in his life had he ever forced a woman to do anything she didn’t want to—and making his baby sister eat dirt didn’t count—so he wasn’t about to start now.

Like an alley cat trapped under his couch, she hissed at him, “Don’t ever put your fuckin’ hands on me. I don’t like to be touched.”

“Really? ’Cause it smells like you didn’t mind much.”

Goddamn, motherfuckin’ shapeshifters! As far as Angie was concerned—they cheated! Being able to smell fear, panic, pain, and now lust ripped away her ability to lie her Latina ass off.

And, to her growing rage, he was right. She didn’t mind much. For the first time ever, she didn’t mind being cornered. By a lunatic hillbilly, no less. A lunatic hillbilly who made her feel like she hadn’t had sex in a thousand years…and that this might be her one and only chance.

No, sex with the hillbilly wouldn’t be the problem. Her lack of control would be the problem. She could see it in his eyes. Angie would never be able to control him. Never be able to tell him what to do and just have him do it. His brothers were easy. A few complimentary words, a few glances from beneath her lashes, and she could lead them anywhere. But not this one.

This was not some big kitty she could lead around by his cock. This one was a big, mean, woman-eating tiger. And she’d do well to keep her legs closed and her body off-limits.

Controlling men and sex were the only things she ever had going for her, she wasn’t about to give that up to this asshole.

No matter how badly she wanted him to push her onto all fours and fuck her from behind.

“You need to go now.” She pushed herself away from the dresser. His eyes narrowed at her sudden and brutally cold detachment. Scooping some folded clothes off the floor, she pulled open the dresser drawer and carefully placed them inside with the others.

“So it’s like that, is it?”

She glanced at him over her shoulder. “Like what?”

He shook his head. “You know, sugar, if you wanna pretend what just happened didn’t. And that what we both felt, we didn’t. Well, that’s on you.”

The bedroom door opened as he headed out. “But we’ll both know you’ll be lyin’ your pretty little ass off.”

Then he was gone, the door closing quietly behind him.

Angie glanced down at her hands. They were shaking. Badly. Not from fear, though. She didn’t fear the man. Not even close.

And for the first time ever, Angie regretted she really hated being touched.