“Okay. As soon as I’m allowed I’ll take a walk and go see her.”

“Not without the guards.”

Sheri grinned. “Of course not.”

“Let’s see, what else.” Mrs. Anderson tapped her finger against her chin. “Oh! Someone vandalized Wallflowers.”

“What?”

“Yup. Threw a brick through the front window. I don’t know why they didn’t do any other damage, but Emma arrived to find the window totally smashed. Luckily whoever did it wasn’t there any longer and no one got hurt.”

Sheri knew why no other damage had been done. That was next. If Emma and Becky continued to harbor her, things would only get worse for them.

The older woman chattered, giving her all the Pride gossip. Most of the people she mentioned Sheri didn’t know, and she felt her mind beginning to drift back into sleep.

“Lunch!” a male voice announced from the doorway.

“It’s about time.” Mrs. Anderson got up and got the meal, two nice big bags full of fast food burgers, fries and milk shakes. “I know this isn’t exactly the healthiest thing on the planet to eat, but frankly, my dear, I never could resist a Big Mac,” she shared with a guilty grin as she handed Sheri her food.

Biting into her own burger, Sheri could only nod in agreement. Yum .

Chapter Seven

She had a bruise the size of his fucking head on her hip. The sight of it made him furious again as he gently helped her into the tub. He’d bought several large candles in glass jars, placed them on the counters and the edges of the tub and lit them so she’d have soft lighting for her sensitive eyes. She’d smiled when she’d seen it, and that made the extra trip to the store worthwhile.

“God, that feels so good,” she moaned as the hot, bubbly water covered her creamy skin.

She’d been home for maybe an hour, and he couldn’t stop touching her. Two days in the hospital; two days of pain Parker needed to pay for. Every bruise, every mark on her was etched into his brain, a visual reminder of the payback he meant to exact. “You need help scrubbing your back, princess?”

She smiled up at him, soft and sweet, her blue eyes languid. “Maybe later. Right now I just want to soak out the aches.”

He knelt down and, careful of her injuries, gently pulled her mouth to his. It was the first time since the attack he’d been able to really kiss her, and he took full advantage. He persuaded her lips apart, tasting her mouth like it was fine chocolate, slowly and with exquisite care. He loved the way she tasted, sweet as honey, tart as apples. He could sit there and kiss her all day long.

When he reluctantly pulled way she was panting and her eyes were glazed. She licked her lips and swallowed. “You know, I feel much better now.”

“Do you?”

“Mm-hmm.” Wet arms encircled his neck as she tried to pull him back down to her mouth.

“Well, then, if you’re a good girl maybe I’ll tuck you into bed after your bath,” he purred.

Her eyes flashed red as his fingers tweaked one bubble-covered nipple. “What if I’m a bad girl?”

He growled, his eyes flashing gold. “Then I’ll just have to punish you.” He stood abruptly, lips twitching as she gasped in surprise. “Now be a good girl and take your bath.”

“Pig,” she pouted.

He laughed all the way down the stairs, his heart lighter than it had been in days as he heard her amused sigh.

As soon as her muscles were all nice and warmly relaxed from her bath he had every intention of seeing his princess safely ensconced in his bed. He then had every intention of licking every inch of her body.

And once she was boneless he’d curl up around her and finally get his first night’s sleep in days.

He heard the phone ringing and decided to answer it in his office. “Hello?”

Silence.

“Hello?”

Nothing.

That stupid danger sense of his was tingling again. “What the hell do you want, Parker?”

“I think you know the answer to that, Giordano.”

Adrian leaned one hip against his desk, every sense alert. He could hear Sheri splashing gently in the tub.

Outside the house was silent. He could hear Parker’s breath over the phone, and the sounds of traffic in the background. “She’s my mate, Parker.”

Parker laughed. “Sure she is.”

“She bears my mark.”

“She bears my mark,” Parker snarled.

“Sorry, Muttley, but you need to back the fuck off. She’s all mine.”

He could almost feel the other man smile. “Sheridan has the sweetest pussy I’ve ever fucked.” Adrian’s Puma growled possessively and his eyes flashed gold. “And she loves taking it up the ass. I bet I’m still the only man who’s ever taken her there. She screams so loudly and clamps down so hard around your cock you feel like she’s going to squeeze it off.”

Adrian snarled silently, his mind racing. There might just be a way to get Parker focused on him and not Sheri. He smiled coldly. “I know,” he purred. He could hear the other man’s breathing accelerate. “I love it when those sweet lips of hers wrap around my cock. Did you know I was inside her when she marked me?” Adrian laughed softly at Parker’s growl. “That’s right, Parker. I bear her mark.”

“I’ll fucking kill you,” Parker panted.

“She’s upstairs, naked, wet, and waiting for me, Parker. As soon as I hang up this phone I’m going to go upstairs and fuck her until neither one of us can see straight.”

“You’re a dead man!” Parker screamed.

“Then I’m going to curl up around her and sleep with her in my arms. My arms, Parker.” Parker’s growl wasn’t even human anymore. He hoped the man had control of his change, or things could get really ugly really fast. “And do you know what I’m going to do tomorrow night?”

“What?”

The gravelly voice on the other end of the line let Adrian know it was time to end this. “The same damn thing I’m going to do tonight. Fuck my woman.”

“I know where you live.”

If Parker thought that would scare him, he had another thing coming. “Bring it on. In the end it’ll be my cock in her tight little pussy.”

He hung up the phone and took a deep breath. It had taken every ounce of his self-control to play that little game with Parker; talking about his princess like that with her fuckhead ex was the hardest thing he’d ever done. He didn’t even want the other man thinking her name, let alone spewing his filth about her body.