“I think you’re killing her, Mace.”

“Good.” He pulled her closer to him and buried his face in her hair.

Dez waved desperately at Smitty. Unlike his now-human-again sister, Smitty was still naked. “Help me,” she barely managed.

“Well, darlin’, what did you expect? You had us worried sick.”

“That’s not helping,” she squeaked.

The door slammed shut and Dez finally felt safe.

Sissy Mae shook her head as she quickly handed her brother’s clothes to him. “I think they got some other lions. I heard it.” Once dressed, Smitty gave Sissy a big, brotherly bear hug.

“That’s not our problem. And good job, little sister.”

The girl glowed with pride at her brother’s words. Or it just looked like she glowed because Dez couldn’t fucking breathe!

“Still dying!”

Mace finally released her, and she took in big gulps of air. He swung her around to face him. “That’s it! No more helping strange children you don’t know.”

Dez pulled away from him, her breath coming in ragged gasps, the adrenaline finally leaving her body. “Are you insane? I’m a cop. If a kid comes to me, I’m gonna help ’em. So get that fuckin’ thought outta ya head.”

Mace took a deep breath as his gold eyes drilled holes into her. After a moment, “Fine. But next time make sure they don’t have fangs.”

Dez grinned. “That I can do.”

Chapter Twelve

D ez opened her eyes. Then closed them again. Never again would she drink anything referred to as “Uncle Willy’s ’shine.” Her head throbbed. She had no idea where she was…or whose arms were currently wrapped around her.

The body behind her snuggled closer and purred. In that instant, her head cleared and she knew Mace held her. She smiled. What a night. In all her years as a Marine and a cop, she never went through anything like that before. And the fact that she survived…well, she felt pretty impressed with herself. But the night didn’t end there.

Once away from the club, they took Shaw to a Midtown hospital. Apparently owned and operated by shifters, it was the only place that could truly care for the badly wounded man…or…whatever. The Pack and Mace were all ready to drop Shaw off at the emergency room and be done with him, but Dez couldn’t do that, and for some unknown reason Sissy wouldn’t allow it.

“We just can’t leave him,” Dez had argued. Not after his little heroic turn in the bowels of the Chapel. Of course, her sudden sentiment garnered an annoyed sniff from Mace and blank stares from the Pack. But eventually they saw her side of things. So they sat around the waiting room, chatting, eating, and…well…waiting. She even got her wrist x-rayed and bandaged. Only a sprain. No major damage.

Dez found herselfliking Smitty and Sissy Mae’s Pack more and more as she got to know them. They were sweet and charming as only Southerners knew how. And they seemed to tolerate Mace well enough. Even after he roared at Smitty when he found Dez scratching his happy spot.

Eventually Mace’s cousin, Elise, blew into the waiting room. It turned out she would be the only Llewellyn Pride female there that cold, rainy night. Sissy Mae and Smitty seemed dumbfounded by the lack of caring from the other females, but Mace wasn’t surprised at all. Eventually the doctor told them that Shaw would survive. Elise disappeared after that, and the rest of them headed back to the Pack’s uptown hotel.

That’s about the time the drinking started. She really shouldn’t drink. Dez knew better. Hence the Marine tattoo on her ass she had removed a few years back. Of course, now that area had a big ol’ lion bite in it.

At least this time around, Mace made sure she didn’t do anything too painfully stupid. He simply didn’t let anyone near her.

Now it was the morning after. She still had on her bustier. Her body still ached from the beating it took the night before. Her wrist freakin’ screamed “cut me off” at her. But she had Mace. She really couldn’t ask for a better Christmas present than that. Hell, who could?

She sighed and snuggled closer to him. One of his hands gently caressed her stomach over the leather top while he snored. As she thought how sweet it was that he touched her even in his sleep, his hand slowly moved lower. Dez raised an eyebrow. Tricky cat.

She grabbed his hand with both of hers to stop its lowering course. That’s when his other hand began moving. She grabbed both his hands in hers, but he kept going lower while she kept pulling him back up. That’s when the uncontrollable giggling started. Christ, she was too old for giggling.

They tried to be quiet since they were on the floor with Smitty’s Pack in his main suite—with that kind of drinking, one rarely made it back to her own bed. Then Mace pushed her onto her back, him on top. He pinned her arms over her head and leaned into her.

“Don’t you dare, Mace Llewellyn,” she whispered fiercely.

“Don’t dare what, baby?”

“Get off me, Mace.”

“No way. Gotcha where I want you.”

“I’ll scream.”

“They’ll just think you’re having a good time.”

Dez growled. “I’ll scream ‘walk.’”

That’s when they knew the wolves were wide-awake. They all burst out laughing.

“Jesus Christ, Mace. Would you let the girl go?”

Sissy Mae pulled open the hotel curtains. Afternoon light flooded the room, and everyone groaned except Mace. He still focused on Dez, his eyes narrowed. She’d got him and they both knew it.