LITMIR.BIZ

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lifted a box of condoms and gave her an I-know-what-you’re-doing-tonight chuckle, followed shortly by, “Want me to do a price check on this? I think it’s on sale.”

      “Uh, no. I’ll pay full price.” Thankfully she would never have to face the guffawing teenager again.

      Driving home, Katie wondered just how Jorlan would react to her purchases. Would he give her that slow, bone-melting smile of his, then jerk her into his arms? Oh, yes. That was exactly what he would do, and she didn’t need magic abilities to predict what would happen after that.

      Katie parked her car in the driveway and hefted the bags from the passenger seat. She practically floated to the front door—which was unlocked, she noticed, frowning now. Hadn’t she specifically told Jorlan to stay inside?

      Just where had her alien warrior gone?

      “He better be here,” she muttered fiercely.

      Scowling now, she shoved open the front door and marched inside. The first thing she noticed was that the TV volume was up way too high. She could hear multiple male voices laughing, joking and burping. But Jorlan wasn’t in the living room, she soon discovered, and the TV wasn’t on.

      The voices were coming from her kitchen.

      Katie experienced a flash of confusion and dread. Not knowing what to expect, she gulped and slowly stepped one foot in front of the other until she stood inside the kitchen. When she saw the source of the noise, her eyes widened and her jaw almost dropped to the floor.

      “Hey,” her brother Denver called. He sat on the bar stool at the counter, a beer in one hand and a margarita in the other. His bottom lip was swollen and bloody. “Did you come to join the party?”

      Before she could answer, her other three brothers called, “Look who finally got here,” in disjointed harmony.

      “What’s going on?” Katie eyed each one of her siblings through narrowed eyes. “And where are your cars?”

      “We parked in back,” Erik explained. His sandy-colored hair, which was normally smoothed back from his forehead, was standing on end and in complete disarray.

      Nick rubbed his fingers over his black and blue cheek. “When I told the boys what you asked me earlier, they decided to bring the party here.”

      Katie wanted to stomp her foot. She settled for growling, “You promised not to tell!”

      He shrugged. “I lied.”

      “We wanted to meet Jordie boy,” Gray piped in, his voice slurred. Grinning, he threw his arm around Jorlan’s shoulder. Gray had a black eye; Jorlan had a cut lip. Both men wavered a bit on their feet. “We sure are glad we met him. Got to work out some tension.”

      “Worked out some tension,” Jorlan echoed. He nodded, swayed. Nodded again.

      “You’ve been fighting?” Her incredulity echoed off the walls, though she supposed she shouldn’t have been surprised at all. These were her brothers, after all, and they derived great joy from pounding the hell out of each other.

      Nick swaggered to her and planted a kiss on the end of her nose. He darted away before she could slap him. “We had to make some things clear to Lover Boy.”

      “What kind of things?”

      “How to treat our baby sister, for one.”

      “You’re kidding me, right? Please tell me you’re kidding.” When no one spoke, she gave in to her previous impulse and stomped her foot. Once. Twice. “I could kill you all. I really could.” She jerked a hand through her hair. “Besides using Jorlan as a punching bag, what else did you do to him?”

      “Nothing.” Erik held up his left hand in the Boy Scout salute. “Honest.”

      Jorlan moaned and clasped a hand to his head. “The chamber is spinning. Make it stop.” His golden complexion was slowly turning green.

      Concerned he might have a concussion, Katie dropped her shopping bags and raced to his side. His pungent scent invaded her nostrils, and she suddenly knew his condition had nothing to do with a head injury. Good Lord. She waved the air in front of her face. “You got him drunk,” she accused.

      “Sure did.” Gray frowned. “Didn’t realize Anguillaers were such lousy drunks, though. The man can’t hold his booze worth a damn.”

      “That’s because he’s never had any, you idiot.” She hadn’t meant to scream the words, but honest to God, she was about to surpass her big-brother tolerance level. “Just how many beers did you give him?”

      “We didn’t give him beer. Precisely,” Nick hedged.

      “Then what precisely did you give him?”

      “Tequila. Straight from the bottle.” That from Gray, law enforcer extraordinaire.

      Jorlan swayed. He almost fell, but she managed to hold him up with her hip. She just couldn’t freaking believe this. Her alien warrior was wasted. Totally and completely smashed.

      “Katya,” he said slowly, carefully articulating each syllable. “I think I am dying.”

      “You’re not dying,” she replied dryly. She led him to the living-room couch and helped him ease down. With every motion, he groaned. Sitting beside him, she smoothed his forehead. “But by morning, you’ll wish you were already dead.”

      Jorlan slapped a hand over his eyes and moaned. He muttered something in a language she didn’t understand, but she knew by his tone that the words weren’t pleasant.

      “I’m sorry, Jorlan,” she said, her voice now soft and gentle. “I don’t know what you’re saying.” She traced his eyebrows with her fingertips, and would have been surprised had she seen the I-told-you-so look Nick gave the rest of her brothers.

      Jorlan spoke again, this time in English. “What sort of devil brew did your brothers give me? I wanted ‘lick her,’ not death.” His voice was slurred, almost incomprehensible, and she had trouble deciphering what he said.

      “What the hell is this?” Nick shouted.

      Katie whipped around, expecting to find…what? A decapitated body, maybe. Or a ticking bomb about to explode. What she found was Nick holding one of the plastic bags, a dark scowl pulling at the corners of his lips as he rifled through the contents.

      Katie jolted up so quickly Jorlan’s body bounced on the couch springs. His arm swung up and down as he grappled for something solid to hold on to. She didn’t stop to help him.

      “Give me that!” She launched herself at Nick.

      A split second before their bodies collided, Nick tossed the plastic satchel to Gray. Gray missed. The contents spilled across her carpet.

      Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. The only sound to be heard was the ticking of her grandfather clock. All eyes were fastened on what lay oh, so distinctly on her floor. Instead of diving to the ground and snatching everything up, Katie straightened, angled her chin to a proud tilt. She couldn’t control her blush, however, and knew if a fire detector had been nearby, she definitely would have set it off.

      “Four boxes of condoms?” Gray shouted.

      “Handcuffs?” Erik added, his tone a bit more discreet.

      “Rope and a feather duster?” Denver yelled. His eyes sparked with fire.

      I am not here, Katie thought. I am not standing here while my brothers ogle my purchases. I’m swimming in a clear blue ocean with the wind whipping my hair and the water splashing around my body.

      That fantasy came to an abrupt halt with Nick’s next words. “What kind of kinky shit are you into, Katie Kat?”

      That did it. Her temper exploded.

      “Get out. All of you.” She jerked a finger to the door. “Get out right now. I’m not speaking to any of you for the rest of my life.

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