“ My shirt.” He gently tried to pry her arms off her chest, but she wasn’t letting him. He almost pouted over the fact that she’d covered her entirely edible breasts. Damn, he wanted a taste so badly his mouth watered. He realized they’d fit perfectly in his mouth and had to hold back a groan. His dick was beginning to press insistently against his black pants, the thin material doing nothing to hide it.

“Huh?”

He stared at her, scrambling to remember what they were talking about. Oh yeah. The shirt. “I paid for it.”

“What?”

He looked up from her breasts and frowned absently. “I picked out this outfit and paid for it, therefore it’s my shirt and I can rip it any time I want.” With a gentle hand Simon began cleaning the blood from her stomach, paying special attention to where Livia’s claws had dug in.

“I am so killing Emma, vows of eternal friendship or not.” Becky fumed, struggling briefly when Simon tried to move her arms out of his way again.

“I just want to see if she scratched you there.”

From the way she glared at him he was pretty sure she wasn’t buying his act. “Trust me, I didn’t get scratched there.”

“What about here?” He rubbed his fingertips gently over the top slope of her left breast.

Becky slapped his hand away. “Bad kitty!” When he reached for her again, she smacked him upside the head.

Simon grinned at her, loving her fire. “I can’t help it. It’s been so long since I’ve had a beautiful, half-naked woman on my couch.”

“Yeah, sure, that’s such a rare occurrence.” She rolled her eyes and scooted back from him with a groan. “This particular half-naked woman is off limits, buster.”

Simon’s frown was ferocious. “You did it again.”

“Did what again?” Becky inched a little further away from him on the chaise, but unless she wanted to do a back-flip over the armrest she really wasn’t going anywhere.

“Pulled away. Backed off.” He sighed and dropped the washcloth into the warm, now pink water.

“Becky, I…”

“Your phone’s ringing.” Becky looked towards the kitchen with an amused grin.

“What? No it isn’t.”

The phone rang. Becky smirked. Simon looked at her strangely and got up to answer the phone.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Simon.”

“Oh, hi, Adrian.”

“How’s Becky?” He could hear the sounds of the masquerade in the distance. Adrian must have called on his cell after stepping outside the mansion.

“You heard, huh?”

“Rumor flies fast, especially where the Alpha and his new Curana are concerned. Is she okay?”

He sighed. “Yeah, she’s fine.”

“And she’s your mate?” Adrian’s grin could be clearly heard.

“Yes.” He stared, puzzled, at the woman lounging on his chaise. How the hell did she know the phone was going to ring?

“Mind if I keep Belinda…occupied? Seems she’s a little upset right now.”

“Belinda? Hell no, go for it. Just remember she’s on the prowl for a mate.”

Adrian laughed. “Don’t worry; I’m not planning on sleeping with her, just keeping her from rushing over to your place. Is Becky still bleeding? That must be driving you nuts.”

He looked back at Becky and frowned at her smug smile. “Yeah, she’s bleeding on my couch as we speak.”

“Have you cleaned the wounds and begun dressing them?”

“Gee, Doctor Dufus, what the hell do you think I was doing before you called?”

“Asshole.” Adrian’s amusement was once again loud and clear. “We still on for next Saturday?”

“Yeah, we are. Anything you need me to bring?”

“Nah, I got it all covered. I remembered to pick up everything we forgot when we did your floors.”

Simon and Max were helping Adrian install new hardwood floors in his living room. Remembering all of the screw ups that had happened when they’d installed his floors, Simon couldn’t help but grin. “All right.

See you then.”

“I’ll have donuts and coffee ready to go. And tell Becky I said get better, and welcome to the Pride.

Bye.”

Simon hung up and turned towards her, finger raised, mouth open.

“Phone’s ringing.”

Simon tilted his head, listening. The phone rang a second later. Becky snickered.

“How the hell do you do that? It’s freaking spooky.” He shook his head as he picked up the receiver.

“Hello?”

Becky listened in as half the Pride called to check up on her, snickering silently over Simon’s frustration.

She’d always known when the phone was going to ring, even as a child. It had freaked people out back then, and still freaked most of them out now. Except for Emma, who didn’t really freak over much.

She was surprisingly touched; she didn’t think that many people cared about her. Or was it because Simon was the Pride’s Beta and had declared her his mate? It was possible all this “hail-fellow” stuff was pure political bullshit. Sniffing the Beta cat’s butt, as it were.

“That’s it, the answering machine is going on.” Simon ended yet another phone call with a gruff laugh.

“Phone’s—”

“ Don’t say it!” Simon pointed a commanding finger at her, but his tone didn’t fool her. She could tell he was fighting a grin. He turned on the answering machine just as the phone rang. He left the machine to take the call as he stalked back towards her with a fresh bowl of water. “That must drive Emma nuts.”

He sat on the edge of the chaise once again, leaning one hand against the back of the sofa.

Becky bit her lip to keep from giggling at the look on his face. “Nah, she’s used to it. She just makes me answer it.” She hissed out a breath as he began cleaning her wounds once again. “Oh, ow.”

“I know it hurts, baby.” His hands were gentle; his expression was anything but. “I’ll hunt her down and kill her if you want.” She stared at him, seeing the dark rage in him again. It was the same rage that had scared her spitless as he hovered over Livia, his claws dug deep into the blonde’s stomach. “I’m very good at stalking my prey.”