“Yup…well…I didn’t have a knife. I’m not really good with knives.”

“I see.”

“I had a baseball bat.”

She looked off down the path that led to the house. Headlights headed their way in the murky light that came before it went pitch black.

“I guess you learned to use that from the baseball player.”

“Nope. He taught me to pitch. The head of the motorcycle club I dated when I was sixteen until Marrec found out…He taught me how to use a baseball bat. I don’t think he expected me to use it on him, though.”

She glanced at Nik, “Hey, don’t look at me that way. He’s back on solid food.”

“You gonna tell me what happened?”

“What’s there to tell? He was mean to my friends. That’s all I needed to know.”

He grunted and, for some unknown reason, seemed satisfied with her answer. Maybe it was a shifter thing. She’d stop telling her dates that story long ago. They’d go to the bathroom after dinner and never return.

“Someone’s coming.”

Nik nodded, but he seemed eternally interested in her legs. “I know.” His hands wrapped around her knees and she marveled at the size of them. “Do you have a boyfriend, Angelina?”

Why did the men in his family insist on asking her that question?

Angie thought back on the rodeo clown. He’d wanted to be her boyfriend. At least, he did in the beginning. But like all the others, he soon realized her friends were the most important thing to her and she really didn’t want anyone touching her unless it involved fucking. That last bit seemed to be the biggest problem for him. She had no idea why. He still would have gotten laid. But instead he got needy and possessive. She hated that.

“No. I don’t have a boyfriend.”

“Good,” he squeezed her knees.

Suddenly, the man’s hands were on the move, sliding up her legs, his thumbs disappearing between her thighs. Angie jumped, practically off the chair, as a little whimper escaped her throat. Her hands grabbed his wrists and he stopped moving. But she knew he could have kept going if he wanted to. His arms were like big, thick steel rods.

“I felt you underneath me this morning, Angie. I don’t think anything’s ever felt that good before.”

Angie glanced around. No one seemed to be paying them any mind. But she didn’t know how much longer she could keep this calm thing going. With just words the man made her desperate to come.

“How you moved, your responses…Sugar, you make me hurt in all the best places.” He rubbed the inside of her thighs although he didn’t move any further toward her crotch, which she was grateful. She didn’t think she would have been able to stop him. Not because he would have forced himself, but because sheknew she wouldn’t want to stop him.

“God, woman,” he whispered. “I can’t wait to get inside you. To feel your pussy clench around my cock when you’re coming. To hear you say my name like you did this morning when I had your breast in my mouth.”

“You really need to stop now.”

He finally looked into her face and whatever he saw, he seemed damn happy about. He let out a breath and Angie swallowed in response. “I’m so glad I’m not feeling this way by myself.”

She gave a desperate chuckle, “What? Are you kidding?”

“Hey, Nikky boy!” Nik glanced over and Angie realized the vehicles that had been heading toward the house had parked and a load of relatives or neighbors already out and socializing. She hadn’t even noticed. A young man, clearly another shifter based on his size alone, waved at Nik.”

“Hey, Cleats. Be with ya in a sec.”

Nik turned back to Angie.

She cleared her throat, “We…uh…better…ya know, your relatives and all.” Well that made absolutely no sense.

“Yeah. We better. But, Sugar, you need to let me go.” She blinked, she didn’t know what he was talking about. “Besides, you’re starting to draw blood.” He gazed down at her lap and her eyes followed his. She still had a death grip on his wrists, but her nails dug into his flesh and she could see blood starting to form on his skin.

“Oh, God!” She yanked her hands away. “I’m so sorry.”

He grabbed her hands back. “For what? For telling me you want me in no uncertain terms? Sugar, don’t ever be sorry ‘bout that.”

He squeezed her hands, gently laying them back in her lap. “I gotta go make nice with the kin or daddy will never hear the end of it. Which means I’ll never hear the end of it.”

Nik stood up, glancing around. He glowered and Angie again followed his gaze. The females were chatting and giving each other hugs. But the males were staring at her. For the first time since she found out exactly what Sara was, Angie felt uncomfortable around shifters.

Nik leaned down, his hands on both sides of her face. “Sorry, Sugar, but this one can’t be helped.” He kissed her. A hard, demanding kiss that made her grip his wrists again as he practically yanked her out of her chair. His tongue slid inside her mouth and curled itself around hers. She’d never been with a man that could make her lose all sense of herself. Not when she kept such a rigid leash on her control. But with Nik, she forgot where she was, who else was around, or why the fuck she was there. All she knew was that Nik was the most amazing kisser she’d ever had the pleasure of meeting and that his grandmother’s fried chicken probably was the best in the South.