“I patted your knee.”

“See? Intimate.”

She laughed and shook her head. Baby-soft brown hair brushed his arm. “You’re an idiot.”

“Sometimes.” Brendon relaxed back, letting his arms hang a bit so they didn’t get tired. “Look, I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me tonight. I know it wasn’t easy.”

She shrugged like she’d taken care of hopped-up-on-fever lions every day of the week.

“I guess I owe you a Christmas present, huh?” he asked.

“A Christmas present? For little ol’ me? What would you get me?”

“What do you want?”

She snuggled in a bit closer to him, and he threatened his cock with bodily harm if it even thought about rearing up again. She-wolves didn’t snuggle up to just anybody, and he didn’t want to scare her off.

“Let’s see—rich guy asking me what I want for Christmas.” She squinted at him. “You are rich, right? You’re not living off those Pride females, are ya?”

Not in this lifetime. “No. I’m not living off them.”

“Oh, well then, that opens up so many possibilities. I’ve always wanted a Maserati.”

“A Maserati? Little tall for that, aren’t you?”

She turned glittering hazel eyes his way. “And what does that mean?”

“That you’re tall. Maybe too tall for the car.”

“That better be all you mean,” she muttered.

“No, I’m sure your feet can fit in there fine.”

“Now see! There it is. We are not to discuss my feet.” They both glanced down at the cowboy boots resting on the bed. Christ, those feet were big. But those boots she had on were sexy as hell. “They get me where I need to go.”

“How could they not?”

“You do understand I have no problem leaving your naked ass out on the road.”

“I understand.”

“So you be nice to me.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Now you are gettin’ me that Maserati. And jewelry. From that blue box place.”

Brendon forced himself to frown so he wouldn’t laugh instead. “Do you mean Tiffany?”

“Yeah. That place. I want diamonds and platinum. Necklaces and bracelets should do me fine.”

“You don’t really seem like the jewelry-wearing type.” She didn’t even have on earrings.

“I’m not. But I can sell it and put the cash in the bank.” She looked at him. “It seems wrong just to take cold hard cash from you.”

“I’m glad you have a moral standing.”

“I do. I haven’t killed you yet. Although it’s crossed my mind several times thisevening.”

“Thank you for not killing me.”

“You know, you could forget about the car and jewelry if you did me one little favor.”

“Which is?”

“The next time you see a Pack, you don’t think to yourself ‘Hey, look at them dogs.’ You think, ‘Ahh. Wolves. The mightiest of the mighty. The bravest of the brave.’”

“I’d really rather buy you the car…and an island.”

She poked her elbow into his side; a lesser man would have definitely grunted from pain. “Bigot.”

“Cat hater.”

She laughed and Brendon nuzzled her neck with his nose. “You smell good.”

Swatting at his face as if he were a wasp, “Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. You’re not helping me keep my semblance of cool control.”

“Why would I?”

“Typical.”

He shrugged as best he could in his bindings. “I like you. I don’t feel bad cause I like you.”

“You don’t like me. Your fever likes me. I know once you’re through this you’ll go back to being an asshole cat.” Leaning close to him, her lips near his, “And won’t that be the fun morning-after for me.”

“We can deal with the morning-after later. Let’s talk about the here and now.”

“Forget it, Garfield.” She made to slip off the bed and his strength surged powerful and strong. He snapped the rope binding on his left arm and quickly grabbed her arm, holding her in place.

“Don’t go.”

“I knew I should have used the chains my aunt has in her basement. Why she has those chains I don’t wanna know.” She grabbed his hand and tried to pry his fingers off. “Now if you’ll get your dirty cat paws off me—”

With a short growl, Brendon snapped the rest of his bindings and had her under him in seconds.

To be quite honest, nothing had ever felt so right before in his entire life.

Once again she had to ask herself, How do you get yourself into these situations?

True, she never should have sat so close, but he’d seemed quite lucid and she liked talking to him. There were few outside her Pack or family she had any interest in actually having a conversation with.

It definitely didn’t help that she really liked this man being between her legs. She liked it way more than she should.

Big fingers dug into her scalp and then massaged. Without meaning to, she growled, her body immediately responding. In fact, if the bastard moved two inches lower, he’d find her happy spot and her leg would start shaking. How embarrassing would that be?

“You…you need to stop.” And I need to stop panting. And moaning.