Shelly Laurenston

“Explain to me again how matricide is illegal in some states,” Sissy growled from behind him as he pulled her toward the enormous staircase.“In all states. Plus, I think there are some moral restrictions around it, too.”“That’s not fair. Clearly, these lawmakers haven’t met my mother.”“I wouldn’t know. Besides, this is all so foreign to me,” he explained once they hit the top step.“My mother loves me and would do anything for me, so I’ve never had a desire to kill her.” Light brown eyes abruptly narrowed. “Throw that in my face again, and your sweet momma will benursing your mauled body back to health.”“Sweet talker.”

“Gee. What’s that puddle at Nik’s feet? Why, that’s Angie Santiago. She used to be an ice princess now she’s just a sopping mess.”

“Don’t threaten me with your eyebrows. I’m not. I’m interrogating you with my one raised eyebrow. If I was threatening you, I’d use both eyebrows. Like this.”

“Zach glanced out the window to what had to be the quietest town he’d ever been in. “Big gang problem around here? Lots of cow jacking?” “We have all sorts pass through our little town, thank you very much. Bikers. Cowboys. The always dangerous rodeo clowns.” “Rodeo clowns?” “Don’t ask.” Zach shrugged. “I don’t want to know.” “Any other condescending questions about my town?” “Oh, I’m not being condescending. I’m very interested in your tiny little town, with its tiny little people. I bet you guys even have a movie theater.” Sara barked out a laugh. “You certainly are a charmer.”

“It’s handwritten,” Freddy whispered.“What is?”He pointed at the sheets of paperCoop held.Glancing down, Coop shook his head.“No, buddy. This is from a printer. It’sbeen typed.”“No. It hasn’t. Me, Denny, and thetwins watched him do it for like an hour.He wrote out each one. By hand. We hadto leave when Zoe began to cry. She wascompletely freaked out.” Freddy leanedin a little bit more and again whispered,“I think if she’d stayed any longer, shewould have stabbed him to death. And Idon’t think the rest of us would havetried to stop her.”

“Are you my daddy?”Ricky Lee Reed, originally of Smithtown, Tennessee, and only replanted to New York City a few years back, gawked at the child who’d asked him the question for a mere moment before he turned his attention to the adult female who held the child.He’d admit it wasn’t a question he expected to get, you know, ever. For a bunch of reasons, too, but mostly because he didn’t know this woman. He wasn’t one of those guys who nailed so many females he forgot their faces or names. So then . . . why was this child asking him this question? And even stranger, why was the female raising her brows and suddenly asking, “Well . . . are you?”Wait. Wouldn’t she know? Shouldn’t she? Good Lord, this city.”

“Your charm makes me want to punch you in the nose.”That made Ricky chuckle. “I’m not trying to piss you off, darlin’. Just trying to get you to give me a chance.” “Why?” she had to ask. “I’m really not that interesting. I’m cute but not stunning. I’m not excessively tall. And sexually, I’m rather vanilla. So then what is it?”Rickey decided to be honest with her. “I like your hair.”She suddenly went tense. “You don’t have to be mean.” “I’m not. I like curls. If we have sex, can I play with them?” “I don’t even know how to respond to that.”

“Smith shrugged and came over to Cella and Crush. Another shifter, a black bear, waited to lead them out, the security cameras conveniently and temporarily turned off.“What did you really do to him?” Cella had to ask her.“Nothin’.”“Smith,” she said, stopping by the bear. “The man shit, pissed, and vomited after spending less than thirty minutes with you. There has to be a reason.”“Got me. All I did was stare at him until he told me something I could use.”The bear looked Smith over. “Did you stare at him with those eyes of yours?”“I have my daddy’s eyes.”“Annnnd, we now have our answer,” Cella announced before they made their way out of the maximum security prison and headed home.”

“Wow,” the bobcat muttered from his desk. “Your sister’s right. Your legs really are skinny.”Toni briefly thought about swiping all the cat’s crap off his desk, but that wasn’t something she’d do to anyone who wasn’t one of her siblings. But that was the beauty of being one of the Jean-Louis Parker clan . . . sometimes you didn’t have to do anything at all, because there was a sibling there to take care of it for you.“It must be hard,” Kyle mused to the bobcat. “One of the superior cats. Revered and adored throughout history as far back as the ancient Egyptians. And yet here you sit. At a desk. A common drone. Taking orders from lowly canines and bears. Do your ancestors call to you from the great beyond, hissing their disappointment to you? Do they cry out in despair at where you’ve ended up despite such a lofty bloodline? Or does your hatred spring from the feline misery of always being alone? Skulking along, wishing you had a mate or a pack or pride to call your own? But all you have is you . . . and your pathetic job as a drone? Does it break your feline heart to be so . . . average? So common? So . . . human?”Toni cringed, which helped her not laugh.”

“He is a pimple on the cock of humanity”

“Good God, woman. Hit the brakes on the freight train that is your mouth.”

“All right. Talk to me darlin'. You're not insane. A little crazy, but not insane. And this...everything you've gotten...in the last few days...do you know how many people would kill for this?""But...”

“Don't yell at me." "This is not yelling. This is panicked loud talking!”

“Ulrich Van Holtz continued to read the latest tome on world economics, pretending to be bored, but in truth absolutely fascinated!”

“My brother got shot three times two months ago, and he didn’t get the fever.” “I bet your family gets shot at a lot, huh?”

“You’re like seven feet tall, aren’t you?”“I am not seven feet tall,” he snapped at her as if she’d really insulted him. “I’m six-eleven.” When she smirked in disbelief, he added, “And three-quarters.”

“Mace-Let's get something straight right now woman...we are a couple.Dez-I never agreed to that!Mace- Don't care!”

“He mockingly gave her the raised eyebrow back. "You never gave me an answer.""Yeah. I did. In fact, my exact words were 'no'.""Yes, but I've chosen to ignore that until I hear what I want.”

“No. Not for saving my life. Besides, that’s in your canine DNA. Like a St. Bernard.” “A whirlwind of deadly blows,” she reminded him.”

“Either Mitch goes with me…or get used to finding your wife hiding in trees.” “That’s just mean.” “I’m a Smith. What did you expect?” “Good point.”

“To work, Sissy. To. Work. Not to start shit. Not to race. Not to gamble. And definitely not to get arrested or turn all of Japan against you. Remember, I’m not stationed right around the corner like before.”

“I swear, Bobby Ray, you don’t have the sense the Lord gave a rabbit.”

“I’m not talking about them. We told you before, Smith, we wouldn’t play if her”—he pointed at Sissy—“or her”—he pointed at Ronnie—“were playing.” Mitch looked at her. “Uh…Sissy?” Sissy rounded on the coach. “I can’t believe you are still holding that against us. It’s been years!” “He was in traction for three months. A shifter! In traction!” “He was in my way!”

“I can’t see straight. But that’s okay.”

“Is this you helping me? I don’t think this is you helping me.”

“Now y’all, cut it out. Brothers and sisters shouldn’t act like this.” Sissy stared at her brother’s mate. “Are you new to the neighborhood?”

“He tried to make me wear a suit.” “Why?” Sissy asked dryly. “Are you planning on going to a funeral after our date?”

“Mitch grabbed hold of the car keys and held them over his head so Sissy couldn’t get them. She, in turn, grabbed his nuts and twisted until he gave her the damn keys.”

“Mitch glanced at Ralph and back at Brendon. “I think he’s snoring.” “Or those are hunger growls.” “Bastard.”

“Brendon wasn’t exactly surprised to find Mitch sitting by the lake at three in the morning, staring out over the still water. Of course, he would have much preferred if he wasn’t sitting with a crocodile next to him. It was one thing to enjoy a predatory game of tug with him, but it was another to treat him like the family’s pet dog.”

“Mitch was looking really good these days. Healthier. Stronger. Happier…except at this moment. He looked unusually cranky.”

“Isn’t it enough you have poor Mitch here playing against bears?” They all looked at “poor Mitch,” who seemed to be having the equivalent of an orgasm eating that slice of cherry pie.”

“Really, Mitch Shaw had absolutely no shame. Sissy knew this when he walked into the Lewis Sisters’ Pie Shop and dropped to his knees in front of the cold case. His hands rested on the glass, and he looked at each pie like a small child would. “I…I can’t make up my mind,” he gasped. Like Mitch needed to make up his mind. He could finish everything in that case and still be hungry less than an hour from now.”

“You can’t be hungry.” “You keep saying that like you expect my answer to change.”

“They watched as the Shaw brothers played tug of war with a crocodile over what Travis would guess was a nine-point buck. The buck was still kicking, too, but that didn’t stop the brothers or the croc. “I’m sensing the crazy gene, hoss,” Donnie mumbled. “Ya think?”

“It wasn’t really fair. He was only sorta human!”

“That’s why Ronnie was Sissy’s best friend. She hated all the right people.”

“Did you see that?” “See what?” And he couldn’t keep his voice from breaking as tires squealed. “Boot sale at Marlands. We are so going back there”

“To quote my daddy, don’t be such a pussy.” “But I am a pussy.”

“Of course they do. It’s like an elaborate game of fetch—ow!”

“Now he was hungry, tired, and covered in boar’s blood. He hated hunting his own food!”

“Can you believe him? I think the boy has lost his goddamn mind. Who the fuck plays tug with a crocodile?”

“Mitch, Mitch, Mitch. If I stay, you’ll only fall madly in love with me like so many men before you.” “It’s you we have to worry about,” he sighed out. “You’ve already been trapped in my erotic web of lust. Might as well give it up to the daddy of all cats.” Grinning, Sissy stretched out next to Mitch, her arm thrown over his waist. “You keep on dreamin’ that dream, kitty.” “I will. I own ponies in that dream, too.”

“See…I’m the United Nations of the shifter world. Willing to take all comers.”

“Back then, they’d liked their cars the way they’d liked their men. Big, powerful, and mean.”

“Sissy didn’t know feeding Mitch would be so enjoyable—except for the expense, of course. He’d pretty much groaned and purred during the whole meal. Everything she put in front of him made him smile, and then he’d feed like he hadn’t eaten in days.”

“They stared at each other for several seconds. Finally, Mitch said, “Thanks for your high level of concern.” “It doesn’t quite live up to your high level of whining.”

“Sissy could walk home while you drive me and the groceries back.” “Or,” Sissy countered, “I could gut you here and let your rotting corpse attract the hyenas while we go home and enjoy a nice, quiet meal at my parents’ house.” Mitch thought about that a moment but finally shook his head. “That doesn’t really work for me.”

“What?” Sammy Ray yelled back. It was like the Smith family had only one volume level.”

“He’s jealous of you.” “Is that right?” “Of course! Because no matter what he does, when he puts on your shorts and one of your bras, he never looks as cute in them as you do.”