It was when he opened his eyes and looked at her, though, that she felt every female hormone in her body suddenly zap to life. Those astounding dark gold eyes framed by coal-black lashes completely did her in. Add in that six-foot-six, nearly three-hundred-pound, muscle-bound body and Rhonda Lee Reed was in hog heaven.

So not surprising she’d lost utter control of this situation.

One second staring at the blindingly boring Engineering 101 textbook, wondering if her plan to go back to college continued to be one of the better ideas she’d recently had, and the next—in the lap of a damn cat with his tongue in her mouth.

At the end of the day, though, she blamed Sissy Mae Smith for this. Her best friend since she’d turned three, that evil female had gotten Ronnie into more trouble than seemed possible for two good ol’ She-wolves from Tennessee. There were rock stars with cleaner pasts than her and Sissy. Not that they ever did drugs or anything run of the mill like that. Hell, who needed drugs when Sissy had no qualms about getting her drunk on tequila, wrapping a bungie cord around her waist, and shoving her off the side of a building with Sissy’s famous “Would you just trust me” yelled after her? Then there was that slight run-in with the Mexican police, and that little town in East Germany that ordered them never to return…

Oh, and those Vegas cops—yeah, they wouldn’t be going back to Nevada anytime soon either.

Honestly, Sissy Mae could start a knife fight in a convent.

Still, Sissy wasn’t the one tussling with an overgrown house cat. She and the rest of the Smith Pack were off enjoying Christmas day while Ronnie stayed behind to babysit. Which, in the big scheme of things, was definitely something his Pride should be doing. Where were those damn females anyway? One had shown up, seeming extremely “put out,” and once the doc told them Shaw would live, she’d skedaddled right out of there. Didn’t even go in to check on him. And that’s when Sissy Mae sucker punched Ronnie.

“We can’t leave him alone,” she’d said. “No one wants to wake up in a hospital alone,” she’d said.

“And?” Sissy’s big brother, Bobby Ray, had demanded. “What are we supposed to do about it?”

Ronnie knew how this would play out and had quickly ducked behind Mace Llewellyn to hide. Like Shaw, Mace was a big buck. So maybe if Sissy Mae couldn’t see her…

“Ronnie Lee will stay. Won’tcha, Ronnie?”

If Ronnie thought she could get away with it, she would have spit the water she’d just gulped down, right in Sissy’s face. Because now that Sissy had picked her specifically, no other She-wolf would stay. So either they all left and Shaw would wake up alone in a strange hospital or Ronnie would have to stay.

With an entire Pack to protect her, plus three big brothers, her pain-in-the-ass momma, and ofcourse Daddy, Ronnie would never wake up in a hospital alone. The thought anyone would have to go through that, even a cat, made her feel like she had to do something.

Grudgingly, through gritted teeth, she’d agreed. “Fine. I’ll stay.”

Now here she was necking like a horny seventeen-year-old with a man she didn’t even know. Okay, and true, this wasn’t the first time she’d done this. She knew that. Hell, there were a number of .38 Special and Charlie Daniels Band concerts where she and Sissy Mae had left quite the indelible mark. But she’d promised herself three weeks ago, when she’d turned thirty, that those wild days were over. Instead she’d go and get her degree. Try staying in one place longer than five minutes, which meant no more backpacking across Europe, Asia, and Africa with a nutbag—aka Sissy Mae. And no more fooling around with shifters she barely knew.

What made this even worse? The poor bastard wasn’t even in his right frame of mind. She should be pushing him off her and tucking his big—exquisite—body back into the hospital bed so he could get over that fever in peace. She definitely shouldn’t be tightening her thighs around his waist and pulling him closer.

Only whores do that, Ronnie Lee.

There went her mother’s voice again. Lately she hadn’t been able to get that woman’s damn voice out of her head. It was starting to make her crazy!

Slapping her hands against his big shoulders, Ronnie pushed him back. “Stop. Stop. We need to stop.”

“Why?” he murmured, leaning in close to nibble her neck.

“Cause this is…um…” Ronnie had a hard time concentrating with him swirling his tongue against a spot right under her ear, but she had to try. “It’s…um…something.”

His teeth gripped the wet flesh of her neck and bit down. Not too hard but hard enough. Her fangs burst out of her gums as her body shook.

“We have to stop. Right now!” Never had she lost control like this before. Her fangs didn’t just “slip out.” Ronnie Lee always had control when it came to males. Always. That’s what made it so easy to walk away the next morning. And she always walked away the next morning.

“Don’t make me stop,” he begged, his enormous hands trying desperately to pull her back against him. “Please.”

Yup. Definitely caught in the fever, because lions didn’t ask for anything. They sure as hell didn’t say please or beg. It wasn’t in their nature.

He gripped her waist and yanked her tight into his lap. She could feel the powerful heat of his hard erection rubbing against the inside of her thigh. Much more of this and she’d be lost. Much more of this and it wouldn’t matter if her momma never let her back in the family home.