~

Parker was impressed by the witches. He’d pretty much expected them to fight tooth and nail in an attempt not to go to pack land, and here he was, driving home with his mate at his side.

It hadn’t been his winning charm — his wooing capabilities — or his alpha male ways that had won the day, but their concern for the elders of the pack. He’d always been told that witches were meddlesome, devious, and not something to be taken lightly. Even the local witch, Evangeline, that his father had allowed to live in the town close to pack land had been a force to be reckoned with in her day.

But these witches, although a force to be reckoned with in his book, God only knew that he’d been zapped enough already — were also charitable, caring, and unless it was an act – which he didn’t think it was — only too willing to help the elders plight if they could.

That said something in his book that perhaps witches weren’t all they were made out to be. When the elders had started to get sick, and even Raff’s blood couldn’t help them, the vampire had thrown out the idea of getting witches on board. He hadn’t been sure about it at the time, but now he was grateful for the vampire’s help.

If only for the fact that he had his mate by his side, granted she was a witch, granted she was zap-happy, but for the first time in a long time — his future didn’t seem so grim. Maybe that was selfish considering the elders plight, but the thought of a family seemed to calm him, and his beast — even as the thought of a witch mate somewhat terrified him.

There she sat, fidgeting as if she was considering throwing open the door and tossing herself out, as if she was plotting something against him with her flicked looks and glares in his direction, and yet — there she was, sitting there being driven to pack land, putting someone else before herself. He liked that a lot. That showed strength of character.

It wasn’t as if she was hard on the eyes. He’d been attracted to her from the first moment that he’d seen her at Raff’s place — and she certainly had curves in all the right places that he couldn’t wait to explore.

That was if she ever stopped zapping him long enough for him to get lost in her.

That would come, he was sure of it. Not only did he have the mating pull on his side, but he was determined that he could woo her without it.

He’d treated her badly the first time that they’d met, and he hadn’t done himself much justice at any point since. The first thing that he needed to do was hold out an olive branch and hope that she didn’t shove it right back at him where the sun didn’t shine.

“I wanted to thank you for this…”

“There’s nothing to thank me for, yet. Let’s see if we can help first,” Kat tossed back.

She’d been jarred out of her thoughts by the alpha’s deep, sexy, gravelly voice that had hit her like a sledgehammer to her nerves. It was bad enough that they were sitting together, so close – too close for her liking, in the confined space of his truck.

It was even worse still that it was only the two of them in the truck — Mel had gone in Grayson’s truck, and Paige had insisted on taking her own car — for escape purposes should the chance arise — and the vampire had chosen to go with Paige.

Kat felt as if she could cut the tension in the air between them with a knife. At that point; she would rather have had the vampire in the truck with them than be alone with him. At least, it would have given her something to concentrate on rather than be focused on his big, manly presence that dinged her alarm bells in more ways than one.

“Still, you’re here — that says a lot,” Parker said. He wanted to give credit where it was due, and he also wanted to break the tension in the air between them.

At least if they were talking, even arguing, maybe he could get a handle on the overwhelming feeling of having her that close without being able to touch her. Her scent was thick in the air around him, and he didn’t think that his mate would appreciate it if he opened the windows and created a giant wind tunnel just to find some relief.

Mine…

That scent was powerful, potent, and he’d like nothing better than to nuzzle against her neck and take it at the source. Nothing better than to feel her soft body against his. Nothing better than to woo her.

“It does?” she asked and snapped him out of it.

“Yes.”

“Like what?”

“That you’re willing to put others before yourself…”

“Oh good, I was so worried I was selfish and beyond redemption,” she tossed back.

Kat cut him a scathing glance, and noted that he’d turn to look at her, one eyebrow cocked in a questioning glance, and his lips were poised as if he was about to speak, but didn’t.

“What else?” Kat asked.

“I’m not sure I want to answer that question after being misconstrued…”

“Misconstrued? Big word…”

“Yes, someone brought me word of the day toilet paper,” he tossed back and shot another look in her direction. Her lips were pressed together, but he couldn’t mistake the fact that she was trying to quash a smile.

“Touché.”

“Are you going to jump up and down on everything I say, or are you going to let me finish?” Parker tossed back.

“I’m going to let you finish,” she gave an emphatic nod. Parker opened his mouth to speak, but she wasn’t done yet. “Then I’m going to jump up and down on everything you say.”

The sound of his deep, sexy chuckle fill the air, and she had to flick a look in his direction just to see what the man looked like at that moment in time when he wasn’t broody and scowling.

He looked as sexy as hell when he didn’t have the intense look of constipation about him or the look of a man that was utterly confused and clinging on by the skin of his teeth. When he was smiling — he was sex on a plate with a big dollop of sexy sauce on the top of it, and a damn sexy cherry to top it all off.

Damn, how was she supposed to resist sex on a plate with a big dollop of sexy sauce, and a sexy cherry to boot? She could practically feel her panties loosening up as it was.

Kat had known that it was risky doing the whole boy-girl in a truck thing, and yet, she’d tempted fate. Not that fate needed tempting — because it had thrown her in with the sharks at the deep end and hadn’t really expected her to swim.

Although, being eaten alive by that man didn’t seem like a bad situation to be in at that moment. She mentally slapped herself around the back of the head and berated herself for the X-rated thoughts that were playing in her mind. And boy, were they X-rated?

Yes, he was sex on a stick.

Yes, he was an alpha male.

Yes, they were mates — but that didn’t mean that she had to like it, or not fight against it, or, hell, not make him work his furry backside off for it, did it?

“I know you want to fight against the mating pull — it’s what witches do,” he said, and watched out of the corner of his eye as her head snapped around on her neck in his direction like she was a crocodile about to take a bite. “You said you’d let me finish.” He heard her huff, but she didn’t say anything. Progress. “But, you’re risking the mating pull getting even worse by being with me. That’s what I wanted to thank you for.”

“Can I speak now? Have you finished?”

“Yep.”

“How about if I said that all shifters go rogue and eat helpless, hapless, harmless humans?” she asked, and heard him take a breath ready to speak. “I let you finish — now you let me finish.”

Kat waited for a second in the silence to see if he was going to oblige. One large hand lifted from the steering wheel, and he motioned for her to continue.

“Not all witches, like not all shifters are the same. I guess I should be out there deviously meddling in people’s lives, getting my jollies off by doing evil and mean things, but witches are good — witches are light in the darkness – love and light with a dash of sugar and spice. So get over yourself, Alfie. Accept our help, and keep your paws to yourself…”

Mine…

“Now, hold on a…”

“For now,” she finished her sentence over the top of his interruption, and the both of them turned to look at the other, a frown mirrored on their foreheads.

“For now?”

Damn, it was a slip of the tongue, and she just knew that he’d pick up on it. Stupid!

She’d meant to berate him, warn him, not wave a red flag in front of a bloody big bull.

“For — what?” Her eyes darted around in her head as if she was trying to compute something so mammoth, so screwed up, that she just couldn’t find the answer.

“You said; for now,” he said, but it was the cocky smile that spread across his sexy face that started to ring the alarm bells in her mind.

Those bells reminded her of an overzealous monk pulling on the rope with everything that he had until the momentum yanked him up in the air. That was how she felt – she was that silly Monk going up and down in the air, up and down, and floundering.

“How would you know what I said? You interrupted me when you said you wouldn’t. Talked right over the top of me like a misogynistic, male chauvinist alpha.”

“That’s right — you go right ahead and try to deflect it — even if it’s not going to work.”

“Maybe, if you’d kept your mouth shut…” She left the sentence hanging there as she waved an absent hand in the air between them.

Of course, she was going to try to bloody deflect it. What else could she do? Sit there and chew on her own foot.

They say silence is golden, and when his low chuckle started to rumble toward her, she’d have to agree – what she’d give for silence. That chuckle only got bolder, louder, and rumbled into full-blown laughter.

Kat tossed a look in his direction, and the man even had the audacity to toss his head back on his neck and really go for the damn belly laugh. Because that didn’t grate on her last nerve and make her want to magically slam his thick head off the steering wheel.

“Oh, shut up!” Kat grumbled as she folded her arms, pushed herself back in her seat, dropped her chin to her chest, and eyed the road ahead as if she wanted to rain down fire and brimstone upon it.

Jerk!