handled, don’t you think?”
Max jammed her hands into the back pockets of her shorts. “Look, Zé, I hope tonight wasn’t too much for you. I mean, my mom, watching bears feed, fighting for the cupcakes . . . Dutch. I know this kind of existence isn’t for everyone.”
“I actually had a relatively pleasant time. Except for Dutch. But your sister handled that.”
“You and Charlie. I don’t get it. I love Dutch. He’s fun, he can eat frozen meat because he’s got that wolverine jaw, and he’s not afraid to eat a rattler if there’s one slithering around. What?” she asked when Zé just stared at her, not saying anything.
“Are you two . . . together?”
Max laughed. Hard. She couldn’t help it. “When it comes to Dutch . . . I’ve seen too much.” She stopped, glanced up. “That rhymed. Huh. Anyway, one time he got drunk at homecoming and somehow managed to set himself on fire. If Tock hadn’t been there to put him out, the rest of us would have let him burn. But he’s my boy. He always has my back.”
“But I don’t have to worry about him, right?”
“Worry about him?”
“Yeah. Worry about him getting in my way.”
“I’m not a building you’re trying to climb. And no. You don’t have to worry about Dutch.”
“Good,” he said, a small smile on his lips. “See you in the morning.”
But Max wasn’t going to let him get away with that. When it came to sex, cats might play games but honey badgers didn’t and he might as well learn that now.
* * *
Zé was about to go into the house when Max cut in front of him and blocked his way.
“Something wrong?”
She went up on her toes and slid her hand behind the back of his neck. He watched as her lips came close, already parted and lush. She didn’t wait for him to come to her; she simply made her wants known. And he liked it.
When her lips touched his, he grabbed her waist and pulled her close. Both her arms went around his neck and her tongue slipped into his mouth.
They should have been testing and easing into this. Finding out what each other liked through exploration. But there didn’t seem to be a question to answer. It was as if they both just knew.
She sank her hands into his hair, digging her fingers into his scalp. He began growling at the sensation and pushed her against the wall next to the back screen door. The kiss quickly grew out of control. He pushed his hand between her thighs, brushing his fingers against her covered pussy. In return, she wrapped her hand around his denim-encased dick and began stroking.
Their intensity grew, both of them pushing each other. Any second, he knew, they’d start ripping off each other’s clothes. Right out here, in the backyard.
Max pulled her hands away, only to place them on his shoulders. She pushed him around so that he had his back to the screen door; then aggressively stepped into him. Sadly, the screen was not as strong as the wall and their combined weight took the whole thing down.
With mouths open in shock, they gawked at each other. Then, from somewhere deep in the house, Charlie yelled out, “I am not fucking paying for that, you two horny idiots!”
* * *
Mairi lowered the long rifle. She’d been using the scope to watch her cousins. She had no intention of shooting Max. That would be too easy, now wouldn’t it? She wanted a proper fight with her. It had crossed her mind to start shooting people at that party. But this was the States, wasn’t it? And something like that would make big news. Random “extremely large innocents” shot at a summer party. “News at eleven!” She’d be in an American prison faster than she could spit, so it was best not to get off track.
She carefully took her weapon apart and put it back in its case. She locked the case and made her way off the small, full-human–owned house to the waiting vehicles down the block. She secured her case in the back and got into the passenger side. They headed back to the city and the hotel they’d been staying at.
Although she hadn’t really forgotten about Freddy MacKilligan, she wasn’t actively looking for him. She could deal with him later. She’d let her female kin deal with her twin aunts first, and then she’d find that idiot and twist him until he coughed