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  Jaycee was still laughing, smiling with her wide mouth, her eyes sparkling under the dim lights. Dimitri leaned down and kissed her.

  Jaycee started; then she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him back, as only Jaycee could kiss.

  The music spun around them, the late-night dancers melding into the darkness. Dimitri sensed their needs, Shifters never shy about them, but they faded to nothing against the fires of Dimitri’s own desires.

  He licked through Jaycee’s mouth, tasting her spice. She crushed against him, a warm armful, her breasts soft against him. She pulled back the slightest bit, smiled up at him, and then brushed her tongue across his mouth.

  Dimitri growled. He dragged her closer, the music surging through him, his heart speeding with it. He saw an answering spark in Jaycee’s eyes as her body ceased swaying, the two of them going still in the middle of the gyrating couples.

  Jaycee touched his face. Flickering lights played in her eyes, hiding what she thought. Dimitri leaned to her once more, his next kiss deeper, opening her mouth to his.

  The music abruptly died and the lights snapped on. Dimitri blinked and jerked his head up, looking for danger, but it was only the club owner trying to close up.

  Jaycee laughed at him. She’d been doing that since they were cubs.

  Dimitri took her by the hand and led her out, speeding his steps as he got closer and closer to the door. He and Jaycee ran out together into the night, which was finally cool after a day of heat. The parking lot was mostly deserted, the space where Dimitri had left his truck, dark.

  He halted with Jaycee on the passenger side of the pickup, pressed her back against the door, and leaned into her to kiss the side of her neck.

  “You take my breath away,” he whispered.

  He expected Jaycee to make some quip, a joke at his expense, but when Dimitri raised his head, her eyes were gentle.

  “I wish . . .” Her words died along with her smile, and she closed her mouth.

  At any other time, Dimitri might have prodded her to finish the sentence. Tonight, he didn’t have the patience.

  He lifted her hands over her head, pinning her against the truck while he resumed kissing her. Jaycee’s mouth moved with his, as did her body. She was pliant against him but strong, vibrant.

  He hadn’t made love to her since the night a couple of months ago when Kendrick had first mated with Addie. Kendrick’s mating frenzy down the hall had touched Dimitri and Jaycee, and they’d had a fine time in Jaycee’s room. Jaycee had been a little panicked about it in the morning, but she hadn’t kicked him out.

  Dimitri had then mate-claimed Jaycee when she’d been ready to race into grave danger to save Kendrick’s life—the mate-claim meant Dimitri could refuse to let her put herself in peril. Not that she’d listened to him. Jaycee hadn’t yet accepted the claim, but she hadn’t rejected it either.

  Of course, Jaycee would never be an obedient, docile, submissive female, mate-claim or not. She didn’t obey without question and had no trouble telling alpha male Shifters, Dimitri included, what she thought of them.

  Dimitri hadn’t pressed her into making a final choice with the mate-claim or to come to his bed. He wasn’t an asshole who was going to lock her up until she gave in to his will and became his sweet little submissive mate.

  Although that might be fun. The thought made him want to smile, and to kiss her harder.

  Jaycee made a faint noise in her throat as she struggled against his hold on her wrists. Then noise turned to a hum as she relaxed against him.

  Dimitri eased back from the kiss, but he didn’t let her go. He moved his kisses to her throat, inhaling her warmth. He licked the hollow of her collarbone, just below her fake Collar. The silver links were warm, and he bit them.

  Jaycee’s pulse beat hard beneath his mouth. Dimitri released her hands, but only so he could skim his under her tank top, finding the heat of her skin, the lace of the dark blue bra she wore. Her eyes half closed as he found and unhooked the fastening, then slid his hands around to cup the weight of her breasts.

  Her skin was soft, the heat of her intoxicating. Jaycee wrapped her arms around him as she had inside, rocking a little as though they still danced. Dimitri kissed her as he swept his thumbs across her breasts, her nipples tightening under his touch.

  Dimitri jumped when he felt her fingers sliding beneath his waistband, then the heat of them on his backside. He stepped more firmly against her, sacrificing one hand’s hold of her beautiful breast to scoop her closer.

  Jaycee’s kiss turned fierce, her longing palpable.

  Mate-claimed. Mine. Dimitri growled in his throat. The wolf in him needed her, wanted for them to curl up together and shut out the world.

  You and me, his thoughts rolled. It’s always been you and me. Dimitri wished he could say that to her without his tongue getting tangled.

  Jaycee didn’t seem to mind his tongue right now. She was sucking on it.

  Dimitri held her against the cool side of the truck. A warm breeze blew around them, stirring Jaycee’s hair.

  Jaycee broke the kiss, regarding him with languid eyes. “You kiss nice, wolf.”

  Dimitri couldn’t answer—his mouth wouldn’t cooperate. If he could ramble on poetically or at least toss off the sexy lines of the heroes in the books she liked to read, he was sure he’d have been taking her on the truck’s front seat by now.

  “Jase,” was all he could manage.

  She pressed a finger to his lips. “Shh. Talking causes all kinds of trouble.”

  It did—she was right. Jaycee moved again, dancing against him though there was no music. Just starlight and a Texas breeze, and a beautiful woman with her hand down the back of his pants.

  Dimitri braced himself with his fist on the side of the truck and curved over her. She smiled up at him, eyes sparkling, as she moved her hand from his backside and around his waist to close it on his cock.

  “Oh, fucking hell,” Dimitri said. No problem with those words.

  Jaycee squeezed him, no room to stroke, but it didn’t matter. Her fingers were firm points of heat, sending fires up his spine to explode into his brain.

  “I’m a cat,” Jaycee said softly, leaning into him. “I like to play.”

  Her legs, bare most of the way under her short skirt, were hot against his. Dimitri couldn’t move, and he didn’t want to. “I’m wolf. We’re m-more d-d-dir . . . shit.”

  “Direct,” Jaycee said. “I know.”

  He loved that she always knew exactly what he was trying to say. No one else did. Dimitri usually wanted to swipe his paw at others who grew impatient and tried to finish his sentences, because they invariably got them wrong. Jaycee never did.

  Be with me for always. Not just playing. Not just scratching an itch.

  Dimitri gave up on words and kissed her again. Better things to do with his mouth than talking.

  Jaycee’s fingers stoked the madness in him. She met his kisses with strength, the two of them locked together in the night.

  “Hey,” a voice behind them said. Jaycee stilled, but neither of them broke the kiss, neither of them turned. It was the club’s manager, the human who ran the place. “Cops will be coming,” he said apologetically. “They always do, to make sure Shifters aren’t here after curfew.”

  Shifters should have gone to their Shiftertowns hours ago. Being found outside would lead to arrest and who knew what else. If the cops and Shifter Bureau discovered Jaycee’s and Dimitri’s Collars were fake, that could lead to complete disaster.

  Jaycee slid her hand from Dimitri’s jeans, turned her head to break the kiss, and let out a sigh. “Gotcha. Thanks.”

  Dimitri stepped back from Jaycee as the man moved on. Words bubbled up in his mouth but were unable to come out.

  If he and Jaycee didn’t have to wear Collars, they could stay out all night, do whateve
r they pleased, like the rest of the humans around here. But Kendrick had decided his group would pretend to be Collared Shifters so they could interact with the Shifters in captivity—and Kendrick’s word was law in their little band.

  While Dimitri struggled with speech and his anger, Jaycee dipped her hands into his front pocket and came up with keys jingling from her fingers. “I’ll drive,” she said.

  She was around the truck and inside before Dimitri could grab her. The truck roared to life and began to roll forward. Dimitri snarled, grabbed at the passenger door, and got himself inside the instant before Jaycee put her foot down on the gas and squealed out of the parking lot.

  * * *

  “Son of a bitch, Jase, you drive like a mamuna.”

  Jaycee turned her head to look at Dimitri next to her. He was hanging on to the seat, sinews standing out on his arms. “A what?”

  “A she-demon. Would you watch the road?”

  Jaycee turned back in time to avoid hitting a car that had slowed for a turn. She’d seen it, but she liked to mess with Dimitri, who believed her the world’s worst driver.

  “Is that Russian?” she asked.

  “S-Slavic. Jase.”

  Jaycee moved around more cars and kept roaring down Ben White toward the west side of Austin and out into the countryside beyond, heading for Kendrick’s ranch. The city had built up a lot even in the short time she and Dimitri had lived in South Texas, and development seemed to follow them as she drove through the night. She turned south after a time, heading into ranch country west of San Antonio.

  She could still feel the imprint of Dimitri’s hands on her breasts, his mouth on hers. She hadn’t been able to stop herself from touching him, had needed to pull him into her right then and there.

  Jaycee was going to lose herself in Dimitri if she wasn’t careful. Lose herself and never come back.

  She made herself feel better by driving like a maniac. Jaycee was actually a very good driver, extremely careful while seeming not to be. It made Dimitri crazy—so much fun.

  “Stupid curfews,” Jaycee growled. “I wanted to dance all night.” With you.

  “It doesn’t hurt us to be c-careful around humans,” Dimitri said. He slapped his hands on the dashboard as Jaycee slammed on the brakes to make a turn. He growled. “Yeah, I hate it too.”

  “Kendrick gives in to Dylan too much,” Jaycee said, though Dimitri already knew her opinion. “Dylan’s covert ops could get us all killed.”

  “Kendrick and Dylan are f-friends now,” Dimitri reminded her.

  “And we’re just the lowly trackers.” Jaycee decelerated to keep her eye on the very straight road. Animals could rush across without warning, and she had no wish to hit an innocent. “We have to do what we’re told.”

  She felt Dimitri’s glance of surprise. “You love being a t-tracker. P-proud. You’re one of the only females allowed to b-be one.”

  “I know.” Jaycee let out a sigh. “But it isn’t enough anymore.” She shook herself. “Don’t listen to me. It’s not like I want to quit, or think what we do isn’t important.” She simply wanted . . . something.

  It called to her. What? Freedom? Dimitri? The mating instinct? She had no idea.

  “That’s okay,” Dimitri said. “I d-don’t listen to you anyway.”

  “Shithead.”

  Dimitri only laughed and fell silent.

  They were in darkness now, making Jaycee feel better. She never liked being cooped up in a town. Even better when they pulled up to the ranch.

  The ranch house was big and sprawling, built to accommodate large numbers of people. Kendrick and a few of his top trackers lived in the house; most of the other Shifters lived in the small cottages beyond it. At the moment, nocturnal Shifters were roaming the grounds, wolves and wildcats enjoying the night or, in a few cases, each other.

  Jaycee lived in the house, where she could better keep an eye on Addie and the cubs, while Dimitri had elected to build his own place. It helped his sanity, he said, to have a retreat from the chaos of the larger house.

  Jaycee liked the chaos. She’d been orphaned as a cub, and though taken in by a Feline family, she’d spent too much time alone and feeling alienated. Then, just before her Transition, her foster pride had been captured and Collared, caught in the massive roundup of Shifters twenty or so years ago.

  The morning before Shifter Bureau came to take them, Jaycee had gotten into a fight with the alpha male of the pride, which she often did, and had run off alone to cool down. When she’d finally come home, the entire family was gone. The next-door neighbors, human, had told Jaycee what had happened. They’d offered to hide her, but Jaycee, terrified, had run away.

  Kendrick had found her after she’d been hiding out for weeks, stealing food to survive. He’d taken her to his compound, where he’d already stashed dozens of Shifters who were escaping the roundup. Jaycee, beginning her Transition from cubhood to adulthood, had been volatile and confused, afraid and withdrawn.

  She’d fallen quickly in love with Kendrick, the first male ever to be kind to her. Her foster father had always made sure Jaycee knew she wasn’t one of the family, at the bottom of their group. Kendrick, by contrast, was an alpha who treated everyone fairly and recognized that Jaycee was quite dominant. He’d also recognized her fighting ability and trained her to be a tracker.

  Dimitri, about her same age, had befriended her from the start. They’d suffered through the high emotions of their Transitions together and had shared their first sexual encounter when both of them came out of the Transition to rampaging mating need. They’d decided, after the clumsiness of that, to never speak of it and be friends only.

  Dimitri had been an exceedingly good friend. He’d had Jaycee’s back whenever and wherever she needed it, and she’d returned the favor. When Dimitri had too much trouble speaking, Jaycee didn’t mind sitting in silence with him.

  They’d been through twenty years of protecting Kendrick and his Shifters, living through every danger, every emergency, every hasty relocation, every hardship. When their first leader had gone insane—Kendrick had been the leader’s second as well as the Guardian—and Kendrick had taken over, Dimitri and Jaycee had been side by side behind him.

  The we’re just friends thing between Jaycee and Dimitri had changed over time, the two of them becoming closer and closer. Once Jaycee got it through her thick head that her feelings for Kendrick had been only a girlhood crush, she’d looked at Dimitri differently, realizing what a special part of her life he was.

  Now their relationship was at a crossroads. Jaycee knew if she did reject Dimitri’s mate-claim, she would have no second chance with him. She and Dimitri could no longer have the closeness they’d shared, the friendship that had been quiet in its strength.

  But if Jaycee accepted, then she’d be his forever. Bound. The mate always came first, so Jaycee would have to do what was best for Dimitri over all else.

  Of course, Dimitri would then be obligated to do what was best for Jaycee. The responsibility went both ways.

  As they reached the bottom step of the front porch, Dimitri, instead of mounting the stairs, pulled Jaycee back into the shadows. His arms went around her, and his mouth came down on hers in a hard kiss.

  The kiss was hot and possessive, filled with the raw longing they’d shared at the roadhouse. Jaycee had loved holding him in her hand, feeling how ready he was for her. She deepened the kiss, opening for him, trying to show she wouldn’t mind if they skipped the house and went together back to his cottage.

  His hard cock pressed her through his jeans, Dimitri still wanting her. Jaycee pulled him closer.

  Dimitri broke off with a suddenness that made Jaycee gasp, shot her a grin, and went on up the steps. His jeans were tight over his ass, his back straight with Lupine grace. Shithead.

  Jaycee’s heart pounded, but not in anger. Longing filled e
very part of her, turning her blood molten.

  Damn it, why couldn’t he be hideous-looking and a total jerk? It would be easy for Jaycee to tell Dimitri to get lost if he were sniveling and mean with a perpetually runny nose.

  “Uncle Dimitri! Aunt Jaycee!” The cry came from inside the house, and then two cubs tumbled out the front door, barely missing Dimitri. They were followed more slowly by an older boy who tried to look admonishing at the younger two.

  Jaycee spread her arms. “Hey, sweet things!”

  The two youngest, little boys with mottled black and white hair and very green eyes, hurtled themselves at Jaycee and climbed into her arms. The older boy, a Lupine called Robbie, hung back until Dimitri held out both fists. Robbie grinned in sudden pleasure and thumped his fists to Dimitri’s.

  “What are you three doing up?” Jaycee demanded, trying to look stern. Difficult when all three were so adorably cute.

  “Waiting with me,” a deeper voice behind them said.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Kendrick came out behind the cubs onto the porch. The two younger ones, Brett and Zane, clung happily to Jaycee, but Robbie, older than they were and trying to be cool, folded his arms and remained next to Dimitri.

  “Put the cubs to bed, Jaycee,” Kendrick rumbled. He gave Jaycee a long look as though he knew both her exhaustion and restlessness. “Dimitri can give me your report.”

  “Only if he tells it right,” Jaycee said. She stuck her tongue out at Dimitri, who only gave her a knowing look in return. Jaycee thought about how eagerly she’d stuck said tongue into his mouth, flushed, and sucked it back in.

  The younger boys, who were both white tiger Shifters like their father, wriggled in Jaycee’s arms but didn’t try to get down. “We’ll go to bed if you say, Jaycee. Right, Robbie?”

  Robbie, an orphaned Lupine Kendrick had taken in, looked reluctant. He wanted to stay up and discuss tracker business with the grown-ups.

  “Come help me, Robbie,” Jaycee said, setting the cubs on their feet. “Your brothers are getting to be a handful.”