Page 36 of Nicolette

Now it was my turn to be confused. “Thanks for the news flash, but I already knew that.”

“I don’t think she gets it,” Circus whispered loudly to Dice, then walked up and handed me the clothes, catching my hands as I went to take them. “Only a whore would be fucked so carelessly in our world. Sweetbutts, hangabouts, and a lay are to be used for instant gratification taken quick and hard. You are absolutely none of those things, and we would not disrespect you by treating you like you are.”

“Oh,” was about all I could come up with to say on that matter.

“So we will have to wait to fuck you properly until after work is done,” Dice added, in case I still wasn’t clear. “You should get dressed unless you plan to meet everyone naked?”

“Would that help or get me bonus points?” I asked, not really being serious.

“No, people would die,” he answered without hesitation, his eyes glowing as his feline became upset at the idea. “I strongly suggest you wear the clothes.”

Wow, this guy doesn’t really get sarcasm. Also, why is that fucking hot? I shouldn’t be turned on at the thought of him killing someone just for seeing me naked. Damn, what are these men doing to me?

“Clothes it is. Just give me a sec to put them on, and we can go. Oh, Nine didn’t have any food in his place. Is there somewhere we can grab something? I’m starving,” I asked as I shimmied into the black distressed jeans.

There was a crash that had me snapping my attention back to the guys, only to find Dice pinning Circus to his kitchen counter with a knife to his throat.

“You didn’t feed her?” Dice roared.

“Whoa, hold up,” I yelled, rushing over to them and grabbing the wrist that held the knife. “Look, I didn’t tell him I was hungry or ask for something to eat.”

“The fucking idiot should have known. You’re a new shifter. No more than four hours pass between meals or snacks. That’s the rule,” Dice fumed. “She could’ve killed that bitch Amaretto because she was hangry, and then you’d have forced Nine to kill her too. Stupid, stupid, stupid… get your head in the game if you really want to challenge Nine to have a place beside her.”

Now I was totally confused and getting irritated. They were talking in riddles when it was about me, and I was fucking standing right here. With a grunt, I slammed my elbow into Dice’s nose, then used my grip on his wrist, yanking it toward me and rolling him the opposite way off the counter. He landed in a crouched position glaring up at me, but I wasn’t trying to hurt him, just enough to get his brain to snap back into gear.

“That’s enough,” I snapped, and a strange feeling of power seemed to have been added to those words.

Dice slowly stood and put his knife away.

“Now, take a deep breath and tell me what the fuck you’re talking about,” I ordered, and the same sense of power cracked in the air.

Gripping his head, Dice grimaced and shook it like he was trying to clear his mind. “What are you doing to me?”

My lioness roared, and I almost seemed to snap back to myself as if something else had taken control at that moment. I stumbled backward until I crashed into the wall and slid down to squat as I dropped my head in my hands. “What the actual fuck.” I gasped. A hand rested on my bare shoulder, and I flinched, but they simply gripped me tighter instead of pulling away. Looking, I met Dice’s gaze. “I’m so sorry. I have no idea what just happened, but I feel like it was something awful.”

He cupped my cheeks and slammed his lips to mine as if we both needed to reassure each other. I quickly gave in and wrapped my arms around his neck, letting him pull me closer so my chest was pressed against his. After a minute, he pulled back and peppered kisses all over my face, the last one landing on my lips again in a quick peck.

“It’s okay, love. I just had no idea how dominant you were. Nine is the only one who can get inside my head like that. I wasn’t expecting it from you,” Dice reassured me. “I deserved it, though. I let my impulses get the better of me. I have a feeling that’s going to happen often when it comes to you.”

“Are you telling me that because I’m stronger than you, I can order you around?” I asked.

He simply nodded in answer.

“Neko, you’ve experienced it yourself with Nine,” Circus pointed out as he came to sit next to me. “He did it a few times at the house when he needed to make sure you were in control of yourself. There is a skill to using that kind of… let’s call it magic for convenience’s sake. It got away from you when you got mad at us, so the power behind it was probably more than you needed. Which is why darling Dice got a bit of a brain freeze with your orders.”

“So I’m going to be able to order anyone around just because I’m stronger than them?” I questioned.

Circus leaned his head back and closed his eyes as if my question brought something to mind. By the slight downturn of his mouth, I’m betting it wasn’t anything good. “That, my perfect little Neko, is the burden that all alpha types have to bear. What’s that bullshit adage from Spider-Man again, ah… ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’ You hold the power to make us do just about anything, but before you get totally freaked out, Nine is still stronger than you, so if you ever need to be stopped, he’ll be able to do that, no problem.”

In a way, that did make me feel better. It was good to know that if something like that happened again and my lion couldn’t snap me out of it, someone could shut it down. Dice rose to his feet and offered me a hand, which I took without a second thought. What was it about these men I trusted so instantly? It was so unlike me after all I’d been through and been taught time and time again that you could trust no one.

“You should finish getting dressed. I’ll try not to cause more trouble,” Dice murmured before he shifted into his feline form.

I still couldn’t process the fact that this man, who was practically on the same level as a serial killer, looked like an adorable house cat. What made it even better was the permanent pissed-off expression he had on his face, as if he thought it was bullshit too. His alert emerald eyes tracked me as I pulled the black tank top on, then added the slouchy oversized T-shirt that had slashes all over it. The shirt was a little too long, so I tied a knot in it, making it stop at the top of the jeans.

“We’ll need to go back to Nine’s place. I have my shoes and the leather jacket there,” I told the guys.

“Right, well, off we go then,” Circus said, walking out of the bedroom.