“I ripped my left arm out of his hand and slammed my elbow into his solar plexus. He exhaled in a gasp. I lunged for the dagger and sat on top of him, my knees pinning his arms, my dagger on his throat.He lay still. “I give up,” he said and smiled. “Your move.”Er. I was sitting atop the Beast Lord in my underwear, holding a knife to his throat. What the hell was my next move?”

“Enough," Curran said. An unmistakable command saturated his voice. Jim clicked his mouth shut. I crossed my arms. "I'm sorry, is this the part where I fall to my knees and shiver in fear, Your Furriness? Silly me, I didn't get the memo.”

“No, you’re not going with him.”I crossed my arms. “Who decided that?”He put on his “I’m alpha and I’m putting my foot down” expression. “I decided.”

“I’ve seen your foot up close.” Curran pointed to his chest. “I’ve seen it here.” He moved his hand to his jaw. “Here.” He touched the place over his cheek where my kick had cut him. “And here.”

“Since when do you give a crap about my welfare anyway? I think you're confused as to the nature of our relationship. You and I, we don't get along. You're a psychopathic control freak. You order me around and I want to kill you. I'm a pigheaded insubordinate ass. I drive you mad and you want to strangle me.""Once! I did it once!""Once was plenty. The point is, we don't play nice. We-"He jerked his arms out from under my knees, pulled me to him, oblivious to the dagger, and kissed me.”

“I gave him my best cryptic smile. He did not fall down to his feet, kiss my shoes, and promise me the world. I must be getting rusty.”

“Grigorii spared a single glance in his brother’s direction. If looks were daggers, that one would’vesliced straight through the volhv’s heart. “Here it comes. ‘My oldest son . . .’”“Is a doctor,” Evdokia finished in a singsong voice. “And my daughter is an attorney.”Vasiliy raised his chin. “Jealousy is bad for you. Poisons the heart.”“Aha!” Evdokia slapped the table. “How about your youngest, the musician? How is he doing?”“Yes, what is Vyacheslav doing lately?” Grigorii asked. “Didn’t I see him with a black eye yesterday?Did he whistle a tree onto himself?”Oh boy.Curran opened his mouth. Next to him Jim shook his head. His expression looked suspiciously likefear.“He is young,” Vasiliy said.“He is spoiled rotten,” Evdokia barked. “He spends all his time trying to kill my cat. One child is adoctor, the other is an attorney, the third is a serial killer in training.”