Hour of the Lion

thigh. His thumb inched up to press on the seam of her jeans-right over her pussy.

She almost cut herself with the knife. Flushing, she glared and tried to move away.

He pulled her closer.

Heather snickered. “Oho, so that’s the scent in the wind. How’s Calum feel about this?”

What exactly was this? Vic glanced down at Alec. Surely Heather wasn’t meaning some relationship.

He had a lazy smile on his face. “Oh, Calum is all in favor.”

“Well, damn. About time.” Heather presented Alec with a carrot as if awarding a prize.

God, she hated being ignorant. “Okay, guys, I’m confused. What are you-”

“I’ve noticed some gaps in her education,” Heather said, frowning at Alec.

“No time. And”-he gave Vic an appeasing smile-”we didn’t want to scare her to death.”

“Scare me? What would-” A squeal from the doorway interrupted her.

“Alec!” Sarah, bitchy-sister-number-two, rushed in and pulled up a chair beside Alec. Her wide hips were balanced by equally large breasts, and she’d placed herself where Alec couldn’t miss seeing all that cleavage.

Feeling positively puny, Vic concentrated on her cutting. She didn’t care. She was leaving, wasn’t she?

Heather’s eyes held sympathy. “Mom and I are making cookies tomorrow. We could use some help. Stirring without an electric beater is tiring.”

Vic managed a smile. “I’d like that.”

“Good. Around ten or so. The house has a blue door since Mom had a feng shui kick a while back.” She picked up the broccoli Vic had sliced and dumped it on the tray. “If you bring the dip, we’ll take this out to the living room.”

“Hey,” Alec protested as they left him.

“That woman reminds me of kudzu,” Vic said, glancing back. “Whatever it wraps around will suffocate and die.”

“Good description,” Heather agreed. “And Alec is so polite with women, he won’t tell her where to take herself. Should we go back and rescue him?”

All that cleavage-he probably doesn’t want to be rescued. The thought made her voice harden. “He’s a big boy. If he wants to turn down what’s being offered, he knows how to do it.”

Going into the living room provided no escape, for there was Gretchen chatting animatedly with Calum, one fragile hand on his arm while she gazed up into his eyes. Seeing the guys with other women hurt, dammit, like someone was slicing her chest open, and that didn’t make any sense. Sure, she’d slept with Calum, slept with Alec, but hell, she didn’t own them. Not even close.

Heather set the tray down on a coffee table in front of the Elders who had taken over the couches. “The dip?” She held out her hand, then followed Vic’s gaze. “Oh, girl, you’ve got it bad.”

“It’s not like that. I-I’m not even sure I’m staying. We’ll probably never see each other again.”

“Well, honey, you just keep telling yourself that.” After setting the dip down, Heather looked around the living room. “Meantime, hmmm…”

“What?”

“You know, when I was a teen, and we first learned to trawsfur, Alec and Calum would leap out of the trees and pounce on me. They almost scared me to death.” Heather’s lips curved into an evil smile. “Although, I did bite Alec once, that’s not nearly enough payback for all the misery they caused. A delayed revenge is much sweeter, don’t you think?”

“Mmmmh, I guess I’m more of a kill-them-now sort of person.” Would anyone notice if she escaped to her bedroom?

“I’m not. There he is… C’mon, I want you to meet my brother.”

Vic hesitated and then followed, shaking her head. Men usually talked sense-women could be totally incomprehensible.

Heather’s brother was a whopping big dude, Marine-sized, with keen brown eyes, shaggy brown hair, and a mouth made for laughing. She liked him immediately.

“Now look at what my little sister brought me today,” he said, taking Vic’s hand and holding it to his very muscular chest.

Heather cleared her throat. “Excuse me, Daniel, but I’m still here. And you’re only my big brother by all of ten minutes. Victoria-”

“Vic or Vicki; nobody calls me Victoria. Almost nobody,” Vic corrected. Although it didn’t sound wrong when Calum said it.

“Vicki, then.” Daniel kissed her fingers before releasing her hand. “I’m Daniel, crippled from being raised with this evil woman.” He grinned at his sister.

“Oh, sure. And all those scars you and Tanner gave me after you learned to trawsfur? The way you’d swing at me with your giant claws, and you call me evil?” Heather punched his arm, grinned at Vic. “I left a six-pack of beer outside, want one?”

“Something cold and alcoholic? You bet.”

Heather wrinkled her nose at her brother. “She sounds just like you.” She took a step, then touched Vic’s arm and whispered, “He’s completely healthy and entirely single, in case you wondered.”

Vic stared after Heather. No, she hadn’t wondered, and although Daniel was exactly the type of man she enjoyed, she sure didn’t need any more guy problems.

“You look like a lost lamb,” he said and linked his hand with hers. “C’mon, we’ll find a corner to commandeer and avoid the wolves…and cats. In fact, I think I’ll keep you to myself for a bit.”

“That won’t be possible,” a cold voice said from behind Vic. Calum moved in, standing close enough that his hip and shoulder brushed hers.

Daniel lifted her hand, pushed her sleeve up to her elbow, exposing the bare skin. “Well, now, doesn’t appear like she’s lifemated. Are you lifemated, Vicki?”

“I’m not sure I know what it means, but I don’t think so.”

“Oh, you’d know,” he assured her, although his steady gaze never left Calum’s.

Alec appeared on her other side, just as close as Calum. She was beginning to feel like a t-bone in front of starving animals.

When she heard an actual growl coming from Alec, Vic turned to stare at him. What the fuck?

“Vixen,” Alec wrapped his big fingers around her biceps. “Let’s go over-”

Oh, right. The minute she found someone to talk to, they’re all over her like bees on honey. Not happening. She pulled her arm out of his grasp, and her hand from Daniel, and glared. “Excuse me, Sheriff, but I think you have some cleavage-I mean Sarah-to see to.” Before he could react, she spun to face Calum. “And I’m sure the Ice Queen desires your presence.”

When Daniel laughed, she lost it completely. The hell with it if her behavior wasn’t very rational. And weren’t they lucky she didn’t have her Glock? She stepped out from between the two brothers, pausing to smile at Daniel. “Maybe some other time when I’m in a better mood. I’m partied out.”

As she walked away, she heard Daniel say plaintively, “Mommy, I want that one. Can’t I-” and then he choked and groaned.

Reaching her bedroom, she shoved a chair underneath the door handle and flopped down onto the bed. What a wussy, abandoning the field to Cleavage and Ice Queen. Very bad strategy.

* * *

As Alec watched, his brother stalked past the stunned guests and escaped outside. “Well, that was a surprise,” he murmured. Calum’s famous control had snapped with a vengeance.

“By Herne’s horns, he hits harder than you do,” Daniel wheezed, still hunched over his stomach. “You know, you two used to have a sense of humor. Especially about women.”

“Not this time.” Spotting Aaron’s glare-no fighting inside-Alec pushed Daniel out the front door. The frigid air slapped against his face, restoring his equilibrium.

“Yeah, I get that.” Daniel waggled his eyebrows. “She’s incredibly appealing. Does she even realize you’re