Badger to the Bone (Honey Badger Chronicles #3) - Shelly Laurenston Page 0,65

You’ve already mastered the hard stuff. Shifting on command . . . ? Stevie learned pretty quick. Charlie can’t shift at all. And it took me a while to figure it out. So you’re halfway home.”

Zé moved closer so that they were only inches apart. “Look, if I haven’t, or if I don’t . . . I just wanted to thank you.”

Max gazed up into those stunning green eyes and decided it was time to make her signature “move.” She was known for her “move,” and few men could resist it.

So Max made that “move,” leaning in until their bodies were touching. Yeahhhh, the “move.”

But when Max looked up to continue staring deeply into Zé’s eyes, he was gazing at something behind her.

“Yo! What are you looking at? I just made the move.”

“Someone’s lurking by your house.”

“What?” Max spun around and tried to see what was there, but as a honey badger, she didn’t have the amazing long-distance sight that cats had.

She was worried that Devon or his men had come to get her and that meant her sisters were in danger. So she pulled away from Zé and quickly ran toward the house, keeping her body low. She jumped over the fence that surrounded their rental property and ducked behind the oak that Stevie liked to hide in when she felt the squirrels were threatening her.

Max peeked around the tree trunk and waited. After several seconds, a hand landed on her shoulder. In the next instant, she had one of her blades out and pressed against the throat of the cat standing beside her.

“Do not sneak up on me!” she whispered, annoyed but impressed that Zé didn’t back away from her blade. He knew moving was more dangerous than simply standing still when dealing with a predator.

Without speaking, Zé pointed his finger toward the backyard. Max went around to the other side of the tree and spotted a male lurking near the garage. Finally, she could let out her breath.

“Dammit.” She stepped away from the tree and ran toward the male. He was peering into the clear glass doorway of the garage, so he didn’t see her coming. She moved silently, without effort, and when she was a few feet away, she launched herself at his back. Once on him, she wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck, pressing the blade she’d used on Zé to her cousin’s throat.

“Hiya, Dougie. Kinda late to visit, isn’t it?”

* * *

Knowing Max could handle herself, Zé gave himself a moment to . . . uh . . . relax. Although, he had to admit, his current non-relaxation was due to Max and that move she’d made just as he’d seen someone trying to break into her house.

Now he was standing here, forcing himself to think about old football plays to help him get rid of the hard-on he currently had.

He’d had past girlfriends who did stripper-like moves to get him turned on, but none had done more with less than Max.

With his erection finally under control, Zé stepped away from the tree and strode across the yard to Max and whatever criminal she was currently dealing with. As he got close, he realized whoever the guy was, he should be happy Zé was around. Because the knife Max had pressed to the man’s throat was already drawing blood.

“Want me to call the cops?” he asked.

“Nah,” Max replied, resting her chin on the shorter man’s big shoulder.

“You can’t bury him here,” he reminded her, not really in the mood to see her murder anyone. “Besides, won’t killing him upset your sisters?”

Max laughed. “I’m not going to kill him because this is my cousin Dougie. Well, one of my many cousins. You may remember him—he and his brothers were at the house with my Uncle Will. They were here when you first arrived.”

“You were dribbling a basketball.” Zé frowned, trying to remember. “And you were doing that just to annoy your sister . . . ?”

“That’s right. And I thought my uncle was staying in Manhattan at that fancy, overpriced hotel.”

“We are,” Dougie put in. “And I’m not here for you, cousin.”

“Then who are you here for?”

“Your father.”

It happened so fast, it was almost stunning. Max’s always-there smile dropped away and her brown eyes darkened. She released her cousin, stepping away from him and sliding her knife into the back of her jeans.

“What are you talking about?”

Dougie faced her. “The word is he’s back in New York and every