Shelly Laurenston

“Mace watched his beautiful sister. She took after their mother. He took after his father. And they got along about as well as that pair did.”

“Didn’t she know? “Yes” to dinner today. “Yes” to marriage tomorrow. Dammit, he had a schedule to keep. A schedule that involved getting her sweet ass into bed as fast as humanly possible.”

“Mace growled and wondered how much prison time a man would do for tossing his sister into the East River.”

“Because isn’t that what the holidays are all about— letting your family make you wish you were an orphan?”

“In fact, his adult brain acted like his adolescent brain used to. It stopped functioning. All it wanted to do was wrap itself around the owner of that scent and purr.”

“He’d hate to start killing people at this stage in the game. Especially some poor schmuck who happened to marry the wrong woman.”

“You do things just to irritate me, don’t you?” Smiling, enjoying himself immensely, and determined to give her a wonderful and relaxing weekend, Van pushed Irene’s wet hair from her face. “Don’t be silly, doc.” He kissed her lips, nuzzled her chin. “Of course I do things just to irritate you.”

“Suddenly Van was confused. “I thought you hated it when I bossed you around?” “I do. Normally. Out there.” She pointed at the door he stood in front of. “But I’ve noticed that my sexual response is heightened when you order me around during intercourse.” Van stared at her. He didn’t know what to say but he noticed she’d suddenly started to glow…and are those angel wings?”

“It was informational. About how to perform oral sex on men. You know, one man teaching another. It was really fascinating and I’ve always wondered about the techniques he discussed—ow. Ow! You’re squeezing a little hard, Van Holtz.”. . .“Well, if you’re willing to be my test subject—ack!”

“Is ignoring me supposed to endear you to me somehow?” “No. That’s the job of my thighs and my get-lost-in-them-forever dreamy eyes.” He leaned in even closer and blinked his eyes several times. “Mesmerizing, aren’t they?” Irene couldn’t hold it back anymore. It flooded out of her and she couldn’t stop it. Even when everyone turned and stared at her, including Jackie and Paul, she couldn’t stop. And she tried. Because laughing this much really would only exacerbate his ego even more.”

“Even when things went out of control, his kisses never seemed brutal or vicious. Just…determined. The bastard.”

“Van Holtz, you bastard! You’re doing this on purp…on…oh! That feels very nice. Do that again.”

“Irene closed her book and stared at the older Van Holtz. “I don’t dislike him. But that was recent. I used to not like him but he’s been very kind since I’ve been here. So now I like him. I’d almost say we are friendly…but perhaps that’s too big a leap at this stage.” He gave a soft laugh. “I see. Are you always this…uh…” “Brutally honest?” “I was going to say direct, but brutally honest works as well.” “Yes. I am. And I know—it’s a character flaw.” “Not at all. I love honest people.” “Everyone says that…until I say something they don’t like. Then I’m a bitch.”

“The ref blew the whistle and the pack took off. The “jostling” from earlier had turned into a “melee” Sun Tzu would have been afraid of.”

“Do you ride?"She smiled, her fingers lightly sliding around his ear. "Not since I hit that barn"Zach’s hands paused on her flesh. "You hit a barn?" "I had to avoid the cow”

“Smirking, Cella stared at the five males in the elevator before asking the women with her, “Show of hands for anyone else who’s had this fantasy before.” He wasn’t exactly surprised when all those hands went up.”

“Can't introduce ya,' the feline admitted.'Why not?''Don't know his name.''Snuggling up to a man y'all don't know. My momma was right. Yankees are whores.''Well, I know him,' MacDermot volumteered.The She-wolf stared at her. 'So?''You said y'all.''I didn't say 'all y'all.' So I wasn't talking to you.''I don't understand your country-speak,' McDermot complained, dropping into the desk chair across from Crush.”

“The full tigers watched him silently. All females. Thankfully. He would be less than happy if he had to take on some territorial male.Well, this little adventure was only going to last through today. As soon as night came, he would get his furry ass out of here. Even if he had to scare some poor security guard to death. Then he would be heading to California. He had some dog butt to kick.Sighing, Nik looked up to find a small child staring at him. A small child busy picking his nose.Could this get any worse?The females stirred restlessly near him and he caught the scent they had.Oh no. Please. Not that.They stood in front of him, completely unaware of his presence and arguing like two ten-year-olds.Nik didn't bother searching for a way out. There was no way out. Those two evil witches trapped him. Trapped him in hell.Throwing up his hands in anger, Alek turned away from Ban, facing the tiger display. Alek's gold eyes stared at Nik for a moment, a frown of confusion pulling his brows down. Then he smiled. And then he just became plain hysterical.Bastard! This wasn't and never would be funny!Ban stared at Alek for several confused moments before catching sight of Nik.As his brothers literally rolled on the ground laughing hysterically--and freaking out all the zoo visitors--Nik seethed”

“So, what happened to your face?”Sara grabbed Miki by her T-shirt and jeans before she could dive over the counter at the Asian girl they called Kelly.Angelina leaned forward as Sara pulled Miki back to her, “You know what they say about curiosity? That it stabbed the annoying biker girl over and over and over again until she spit up blood.”Oh, yeah. That was subtle.”

“Good.” She seemed relieved, “They’re here.” She stood up andwalked to the front of the parking lot just as four beautiful, tricked-out Choppers, all manned by women, pulled in and halted next to the girl.“Check it out.” Angelina elbowed her friends, “Lesbians. In Texas .”

“Her dark brown eyes were staring straight at him. “Pretty teeth.” She had a light Texan accent. Not as hearty as the others he’d been hearing on his ride from California. “Long.”Her right index finger was in his mouth. It suddenly occurred to him that he hadn’t yet retracted his canines. She smiled at him. “You’re pretty too.” Wow, she was REALLY drunk. With a sudden surge of strength, she slammed Zach against the far alley wall. Thenshe was leaning into him, “I’ve never seen anyone as pretty as you.” Zach had been called a lot of things in his lifetime, “pretty” had never been one of them. She growled as she smiled… uh, no… leered at him.She kissed him”

“Miki burst into laughter while Angelina looked validly concerned. “Sara, honey, you’ve got to let your toy go.”“Hey!” Zach snapped.”

“Relationships are one thing. I kind of agree with you there. But I'm talkingabout sex. Don't you have...uh...needs?" "Yes. But I take care of those by myself. I have a very handy vibrator.”

“She watched as it grew before her eyes. Then it hit her, he hadn't been erect in the first place. Well exactly how big did that thing get anyway? Was that normal, even by shifter standards? And why did she suddenly care? "Uh...doc?" Horrified but not willing to show it, Irene looked into Van Holtz's face. And yes, the smirk was decidedly worse now. "Looking for anything in particular there?" "No," she answered honestly, "just fascinated by the size. It seems inordinately large.”

“I absolutely could create a lightsaber." "You could not create a lightsaber." "I could too. It's all a science." "I thought being a Jedi was mystical?" Irene snorted. "Mystical, my butt. It's all about science.”

“What the hell was that?” one of them asked. “Jackal,” Irene stated quietly while watching city streets turn to suburb. They weren’t taking her to a main airport but a small airstrip. One built exclusively for private planes. “Did she just call us jackals?” one of them joked. Irene grinned which wiped the smile off the man’s face. “No. I said the howl you heard was jackal.” She looked at Jenny. “They’ll be coming for you.” Jenny glanced at the men and back at her. She looked terribly concerned she had a lunatic in the car with her. “The jackals will be coming for me?” “No. The wolves.” Jenny sighed. “Why oh why do I always get the nutcases?” “Oh!” Irene pointed excitedly. “See that spot up there?” “What about it?” “That’s where it all started. Where I crossed the Rubicon.” Exasperated, Jenny snarled, “What the fuck are you talking about?” “It’s feeding time,” Irene whispered. “That’s it.” Jenny threw up her hands. “We’re so medicating her.”

“Jack linked her arm with Irene’s. “Good. You deserve to be happy, sweetie. Now what about his Pack?” “They look frightened and I have absolutely no idea why. I’m nothing but appropriately pleasant.” “Price you pay as the new Alpha Female.” “I understand all that, but running from the room every time I walk in seems a tad harsh, wouldn’t you say?” “You do have a point.”

“It’s all right.” He stretched his shoulders out, the flesh between his blades sore, which meant his grizzly hump had grown while he was still human. Rare and not good. “Really. It’s all right. And I can understand if you’re not comfortable staying here tonight.” He looked up at her. “Or if you want some space or…if you…if you…why are you getting naked?”

“But remember in tenth grade, when I wanted to go out with that junior and you said, ‘Eh. I don’t think she’s the right girl for you’?”“She wasn’t.”“Because she was setting things on fire!” Ric announced loudly, making Gwen burst out laughing and Lock roll his eyes. “I’m serious, Gwen.” Ric went on. “And when I say setting things on fire, I mean entire buildings. Mostly schools. She’d been setting them on fire or trying to, for weeks. I didn’t find out until the cops came and arrested her during gym class. But does he say to me, ‘She’s setting things on fire! She’s crazy! Stay away from her!’ No. He says, ‘Eh. I don’t think she’s the right girl for you.’ And he’s all calm about it over our chocolate pudding in the cafeteria.”“I don’t see the point of getting hysterical.”

“Lock surveyed all the costumes. Some must have cost a small fortune and some were ridiculous. “Is that supposed to be a used condom?”

“I invited this old buddy of mine over for dinner. He’s president of the United States of America, and he’s bringing about three hundred people with him, but no problem, I’m sure we have something in the freezer.”

“Now how about waffles for breakfast? Or is too late for breakfast?”Mitch rested back in his chair. “Maybe too late for breakfast, but it’s never too late for waffles.”

“He opened the front door and Gwen said, “Lock?”He stopped immediately. “Yeah?” Did he have to sound so eager when he was the one making the decision to go? Damn him! “Uh…could you leave him here? He kind of comes with the place.” Frowning, Lock glanced down. “Oh, jeez!”Oh, jeez?“Sorry about that.” He immediately dropped the lion he’d dragged from the couch to the door, back to the couch, and back to the door. “Habit. Usually I bat my prey around until they stop fighting and drag them off to the brush to…well…you know.” He looked down at Mitch. “Sorry about that…uh…”“Mitch,” she told him. “Mitch. Right. Sorry about that, Mitch. And nice to meet you.”

“Attacking someone without warning for something they did weeks before? Check. Ready to turn a simple breed dispute into something far uglier with the razor blade she kept on her at all times? Check. Using blood as a weapon of rudeness? Check. Threatening death? Check. Attacking a helpful stranger or friend? Check. Kissing a helpful stranger or friend without warning or permission? Check.Yeah, it only took Gwen six weeks to become her mother.”

“She did an excellent job, dear. We have a new water heater now. A waterless water heater. I plan to examine it tomorrow.”“No!” his entire family said, making him jump.Even the granddaughter on his lap looked up into his face and said with the solemn wisdom of a four-year-old, “Don’t, Grandpa.”

“His mother had often told Lock that he was much too polite to ever be a true intellectual.”

“Why was she sitting in a tree?”“She was hiding from the organ thieves.”Ric blinked. “Sorry?”“Do you really want me to explain it?” “Not particularly.”

“He didn’t. But I didn’t beat him up,” Lock quickly added. “I…I simply threw him five…or maybe it was fifty feet into a tree.”The two friends gazed at each other for a long moment.Finally, Lock shrugged. “That does make it all kind of awkward, doesn’t it?”

“While the two females snarled viciously at each other, Ric grabbed a stick from the ground and waved it between Jess and Blayne. “Look! Look! A stick! Who wants it? Who wants it? Go get it!” He threw the stick and Jess and Blayne watched it flip across the forest floor. Once it landed, they looked back at Ric.“Dude,” Jess told him, “that was just rude.”

“And all Jess knew about Gwen was that she threatened Brendon Shaw’s cranky sister with acid during the wedding. Not that Jess blamed her or anything, because Marissa Shaw could be a real bitch, but Lock deserved a lovely sow who loved him, pampered him, and understood his obsession with honey.”

“Jess and Ric watched as a shifted Blayne chased the squirrel, caught the squirrel, toyed with the squirrel, let the squirrel go, only to go chasing after it again. Until she was distracted by the crow that she tried to catch in her mouth.“So…when are you due?”Jess winced at Ric’s question as Blayne ran into a tree, backed up, and went after the bird again.“Mid-March.”“And you’re having a—”“Yes. Yes, I’m having a wolfdog.”“Huh.”Blayne was turning in circles now, trying to catch her tail.“Blayne,” Jess called out. “Blayne!” The wolfdog immediately stopped and started to walk over to Jess and Ric. Too bad the dizziness got the best of her, though, because she stumbled sideways into another tree and slid down, panting.”

“What are you wearing?” Blayne glanced down at the tiny velvet green minidress she wore. “Jess asked us to be Santa’s helpers tonight.” “You look like Santa’s whores.”

“Reaching out, Lock snagged Blayne by the forearm and pulled her back. “When this is over, she still better love me.” “Don’t worry about anything,” Blayne promised. She leaped up and kissed his cheek. “You’re the bestest bear ever.” “Yeah, but I better not be the loneliest,” he called after her.”

“So, taking a page from the Alla Baranova-MacRyrie handbook of motivational techniques, Lock said, “Hey, I totally understand if you can’t do this.”

“Ric stared up at the lion siblings. How Lock hadn’t killed them already, he didn’t know. If nothing else, Ric would have had them…managed by now. They’d be alive, but in Siberia.”

“And wow…was that a lot of perfection to look at. Seven feet and three hundred and fifty pounds of perfection. While most guys—most guys being her brother, cousins, and uncles—would be lapping this up—pocketing numbers, getting girls to strip, and playing “who can get my kilt to rise”—Lock looked more like a bear cub cornered by hungry grizzly males. But what exactly did he expect in that outfit? She didn’t want to imply he was asking for it but…he kind of was!”

“Maybe if you’d worn a shirt—” “They said they didn’t have a shirt!” “Then I have nothing for you, my friend. You’re trapped. I, however—” “Take one step away from me, you Mr. Darcy wannabe, and I’ll snap your spine.”

“I thought it was bad when they made me wear this Jane Austen–suitor outfit, complete with cravat. But you! You look like you just escaped the set of Braveheart.”

“Sorry!” the She-dogs yelled from the other side. “We’re closed!”

“,I like her.” Because she makes you shine.”