Sounds from the kitchen alerted Alice to Carly’s return from the party. Beside her, Rex was deep in sleep. Well, at least she thought he was. She barely managed to get one leg over the edge of the bed before he was pulling her back against his solid chest and other hard things.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

His deep, raspy voice sent bolts of lust through her, pebbling her nipples and making her consider mounting him again. Her need to use the bathroom, however, took precedence.

“The bathroom.”

With a kiss to her shoulder, he released his hold enough to let her slip out of bed. When she looked back over her shoulder, his eyes were fixed on her ass.

“Don’t take too long.”

The promise in those words filled her with desire and a happiness she never thought she would get to experience. The image in the bathroom mirror reflected that, too. The new mark she bore in the curve of her neck confirmed that she wasn’t dreaming, and that it was, in fact, real.

The bite was already healing, but it would be a very clear “Property of Rex” sign to other shifters. Since she had placed a similar stamp of ownership on him, she figured it was only fair.

Rex was snoring when she emerged a few minutes later. Alice decided to take the opportunity to talk to Carly, so she donned one of the luxurious resort robes and padded out into the kitchen, where Carly was fixing a snack from some room service leftovers.

“How was the party?”

“Fun.”

“They didn’t have pizza?”

“They did, but I didn’t want to eat too much. Most of the girls only ate a slice or two.”

Alice empathized. Shifters had faster metabolisms than humans and required substantially more food to fuel their bodies. For a teenage girl, that could be mortifying.

“Warm some up for me, too, will you?”

Carly spotted the mating mark immediately and grinned widely. “How was your evening?”

“Pretty epic.”

They both laughed.

“Are you okay with this? Me and your dad?”

“Are you kidding me right now? I think it’s awesome and way overdue. Things haven’t been the same without you, Alice. Dad needs you and ... so do I.”

Alice stepped up to Carly and pulled her into a hug. “You have no idea how happy it makes me to hear you say that. I’m so sorry I left, Carly.”

“You had to.” Carly shrugged and wiped a tear from her eye. “But I’m really glad you’re back.”

“Me, too.”

“What about Johnny?”

Alice smiled, remembering the conversation she’d had with Johnny while stuck in the traffic jam. “Things are going flawlessly, as usual, but I think I’m going to take my own advice. By the way, you’re still fired.”

“He only has a few shows left on his current tour. Then he’s going to take a year off to spend some time in the studio. I may need to schedule a few short trips, but most of it can be handled remotely until I can find someone I trust to take over the day to day stuff.”

“How does Dad feel about that?”

“We haven’t discussed it.”

“Discussed what?” Rex appeared from the bedroom, looking incredibly smug and gloriously sexy in nothing but a low-slung pair of snug-fitting jeans. Shirtless as he was, the mark of her mating bite was clearly visible.

He stalked over to Alice, pulled her into a possessive embrace, and then kissed her soundly.

“Me helping Johnny finish out his tour.”

“No.”

“What do you mean, no?”

“I mean, no. We’re mated now.”

“So?”

“So, you belong here with me. With us. Not with that fucking panther.”

“I thought I made it clear that ‘fucking panther’ is like a brother to me,” she said, poking Rex in the chest. “I am going to hand select and train a worthy assistant, but that’s going to take some time. Johnny was, is, and always will be a big part of my life, so get used to it.”

Rex growled at her.

Alice growled right back.

“You are so fucking sexy when you get riled.”

“I mean it, Rex.”

He sighed. “All right. But if you go, I’m coming with you.”

“What about your schedule?”

He grinned wickedly. “I’ll let my personal assistant handle the details. She can work magic with any schedule.”

Alice tried to keep her expression resolute, but it was terribly difficult when he smiled at her like that. And when he was petting her back with long strokes? It was nearly impossible.

“Fine.”

“Fine.”

“Now feed me, woman. You can’t expect me to pleasure you all night without sustenance.”

Carly choked. “Didn’t need to hear that.”

“Then I suggest you make use of those noise canceling headphones, because I’m going to—”

Carly covered her ears with her hands. “Enough! I get it.” She grabbed her plate and a soda and headed to her room. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“You embarrassed her,” Alice said, shaking her head.

Rex was unapologetic as he palmed her ass, pulling her over to straddle his lap. “She’s going to have to get used to it. I’ll be fucking you every chance I get.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck, settling comfortably over his rock-hard shaft. “Is that so?”

“Absolutely. You got a problem with that?”

“Nope.” She grinned. “Because I was thinking the same thing.”