And, as usual, Sara wasn’t about to fight for any man. “Yeah. Fine. We’re done. Whatever.”
“Good.”
He grabbed Sara and tossed her over his shoulder.
“Hey!”
“Quiet.” He nodded to Angie. “See you in the mornin’, Ang.”
“Night, Zach.”
“Put me down, Zacharias.”
Turning on his heel, Zach walked toward the door, his hand reaching up and slapping Sara hard on the ass. “Don’t you ever freeze me out like that again.”
“Put me down!”
“I’m going to put you down. Then I’m gonna fuck ya senseless. And I’m not even going to care whether you enjoy it.”
Sara grabbed his ass. “Well, I guess I’m gonna have to put up a fight then. Hope you still have some bandages in the bathroom.”
Zach slammed the door shut, and Nik finally lifted his head from her chest, looking deep into her eyes as Sara yelled down the hallway, “Shopping tomorrow!”
“I told you, hillbilly,” Angie sighed. “Family.”
“I see it now, sugar. ’Cause only family can embarrass you that much.”
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.