“Why would you think that?”

“When she sent the guards for McDonald’s…uh-oh,” she whispered as his furious expression registered.

“She sent the guards out for McDonald’s? ” he growled through clenched teeth.

“We were hungry.” He glared at her. “Besides, I don’t think both guards went.”

“Oh, well that’s all right then. Not.”

She frowned at his sarcastic tone. “Give them a break, Adrian. It’s not like you were dealing with soldiers or cops. You’re dealing with people who have been asked to guard someone, almost a complete stranger, against a threat they’ve never faced before.”

“So?”

“So, take it easy on them because I really like McDonald’s?”

He sat up and glared down at her, holding both hands in front of him as if he was weighting something.

“Hmm, let me think. Your life, a Big Mac. Your life, a Big Mac.” Both hands waved in the air. “Hey, no contest, right?”

She bit her lip to keep from laughing. “It was a really good Big Mac. And we are talking McDonald’s French fries.”

He growled, and she quickly decided to change the subject. He looked ready to climb out of bed, get dressed and hunt down her “guards” to give them the sharp end of his teeth.

“So explain to me again why it’s your responsibility to go after Rudy.”

He sighed. “It’s the job of the Marshal to remove threats to the Pride.”

“And Rudy is a threat to the Pride.”

“Yes. The moment he went after you and Belle, he became a threat to the Pride.”

She’d known her decision to join the Pride could have consequences. The price Belle had paid was, in her mind, too high. She closed her eyes as the guilt threatened to choke her.

“Hey.”

She opened her eyes and saw the anger in his.

“You better not be blaming yourself.”

“And what if I am?” she whispered.

He shook his head. “You are not responsible for the actions of Parker.”

“If Belle hadn’t volunteered to protect me she wouldn’t have been hurt.” Relief lit his eyes at her tone of voice, and she knew he understood that she wasn’t upset.

She was pissed.

“Belle is going to be fine. I promise you that.”

Sheri shook her head. “How can she be? Mrs. Anderson told me they had to put a pin in her hip! If they did she won’t be able to change, you know that.”

He sighed. “That woman talks too much,” he muttered.

“Tell me about it.”

His lips twitched, the rest of the anger leeching away. “We’re trying to figure that one out.”

“And what about Emma’s store?”

His eyes widened in shock before dark lashes dropped over them, hiding his expression. “What about Emma’s store?”

“I know about the window, Doc Obvious.”

He laughed. “That’s a new one.”

She rolled her eyes. “Stick with me, kid, I’ve got a million of them.”

“I plan on it,” he purred, gently cradling her body against his. He reached up with one hand and gently tweaked one of her pale nipples.

“Uh…”

“I know just which part I’d like to stick to, too.”

She thought about bopping him on the head, but it hurt too much to move. “First off, I’m in way too much pain for what you have in mind. Secondly, I will not be distracted by sex.”

“No?” He pouted down at her, eyes twinkling with mischief.

“No.”

“You’re sure?” he asked as his hot tongue swiped quickly across her puckered nipple.

“Sure,” she gasped, not sure anymore what she was agreeing too.

“Marry me?” he whispered just before he kissed her with mind-bending thoroughness.

“Sure…wait, what?”

“Too late,” he grinned triumphantly.

“Hold on there, weren’t we fighting a minute ago?”

“Nope.”

“But—”

“Hey, no take-backs!”

“ Adrian !” She laughed, loving the look in his eyes as they twinkled down at her.

He shook his head, clucking his tongue. “That wasn’t the kind of screaming I was going for tonight, sweetheart. Guess I’ll just have to try harder.” He sighed happily.

“Dork.” She laughed breathlessly as his mouth landed on her breast again.

He laved her nipple gently, barely sucking it between his lips. “Hey, studies show that orgasms are very good for pain management. It has to do with all those lovely endorphins crashing through your body.

Hold very still, sweetheart.”

“Not…sure…I can,” she panted, desperate to get closer to him. The pain in her body seemed to recede when he touched her like that, so maybe there was something to that endorphin thing, after all.

Or maybe it was just his touch. Everything seemed better when he touched her.

“If you don’t hold still I’ll have to figure out some other way to help you sleep,” he whispered, grinning his wicked grin. He kissed the tip of her nose when she whimpered and froze. “Good girl.”

He nibbled his way down her neck to his mark, but didn’t bite. She wanted him to, oh, so desperately, but he merely shushed her and moved on.

Butterfly-light kisses worked their way down her body, stopping at each breast to lovingly pay homage.

Lips, teeth and tongue came out to play as he did his best to make her forget her pain. He kept his body away from hers, hovering over her as he moved down, almost as if he was afraid to touch her. He lingered on the bruise on her hip, barely breathing on it as he growled over it. The barely there kisses soothed the ache in her heart more than the ache in her hip. She closed her eyes and shivered as he worked his way down one leg. He kissed both of her feet reverently before working his way back up the other leg. He spread her legs apart, softly kissing up the inside of her thigh. She waited for him to nip her there, wanting to feel the bite of his teeth, but again he refused. Instead, he began a long, languid, wet lapping at her pussy that had her drenched in seconds. It took everything in her not to follow that hot tongue as he methodically worked her over, slit to clit, never stopping, speeding or slowing.