Page 51 of Titan’s Mate

“And me,” Kitty said.

Brandon just shook his head again. “You yahoos are lucky Mari has a sense of humor, or Titan would have squashed you both like bugs.”

“You mean Squatched us,” Remy said.

“Truth,” Titan said.

“What about them?” Mari pointed at Lila and Damien, still with that mischievous glint in her eyes. “Are they perverted too?”

Damien held up his hand in a ‘not me’ gesture. “I was raised hooman. I’m a nice Catholic boy.”

His mate Lila snorted. “If you ever told your priest about what we did at Vic Salzano’s the night we met, he’d have a heart attack right there in the confessional.”

Damien just grinned at her. “The part where we robbed his safe? Or the part in the powder room on the marble countertop?”

Lila kissed him. “How about the part where you don’t repent any of your sins?”

Damien put his arm around her and kissed her back. “I do not. At least, not the ones I’ve committed with you.”

Brandon sighed. “And there you have it. You’re welcome to smack down anyone in the crew who gets out of line. Or have Titan do it for you.”

Mari beamed at him. “Thank you! And also thank you for letting me stay in your territory.” Her gaze wandered to the cardboard boxes piled at the side of the dining room, and she looked hopefully at Jaeda. “Now can I see the sex toys you brought back from home?”

“Yes!” Kitty jumped off the counter. “I knew we were going to be friends.” They went off to look through the boxes.

“Is there any dinner?” Titan asked hopefully.

“We’re cooking out,” Colt said. Callie had joined the other girls at the pile of boxes, and they were squealing and giggling over something.

Titan and Brock exchanged guilty glances. “I think we ate all the food this weekend.”

“Like we didn’t know that?” Remy said. “Duh. We stopped at the store.”

Titan looked around at his crew, and Mari fitting right in. He was a little surprised how glad he was they were all home.

After dinner, Brandon took Mari aside for a talk in the nearly-finished game room that took up the other half of the first floor.

Brandon made her nervous. He was about the same size as the other guys—all except Titan—but he felt much bigger. His alpha dominance crackled through the room, and she knew that his ‘request’ for a talk was really a command—and he had the will and the ability to enforce it.

And then he said Titan couldn’t come in with her.

Her nervousness must have shown on her face, because Brandon ran his fingers through his dark hair and said, “For fuck’s sake. I don’t bite.”

Titan widened his eyes. “You do so! Want to see my scars?”

“Well, I won’t bite her, okay? I can’t remember ever meeting a shifter less likely to be able to defend herself.”

“Untrue,” Mari said, miffed at this slighting of her animal. “My bear is ferocious and terrifying.”

Brandon gave her a half-grin. “I’m sure. I’ll try not to provoke her.”

Titan just shook his head, but he let Brandon lead her into the other room. They sat down on a brand-new, plastic-covered couch. The room still had tarps all over it, and the drywall hadn’t been painted yet.

Brandon said, “Ferocious? Seriously? I know you’re a panda.”

Mari said, “There was a panda in a zoo once that attacked a guy. Okay, he fell into the bear pit and tried to get between it and its bamboo shoots, but still. It was not pretty.”

Brandon laughed. “You know, just when I’m thinking you’re the total opposite of Squatch, you say something like that and I realize you’re way too much alike.”