"I'm crazy about her."

"She's got big tits. What were those anyway? Triple Ds?"

"I'm sensing that knot on your forehead was not enough of a clue to keep your grubby dog paws off my woman." And they were definitely triple Ds.

"Don't get me wrong. She wears those big tits well. But they're big. Huge!"

Christ, drunk Smitty was annoying. Wolves simply couldn't hold their liquor.

Mace sighed. The evening started off nice enough. The two friends went to dinner. Discussed their new business plans. Flirted with the waitresses. Well, Smitty flirted. Mace watched and thought about Dez. Walked around Times Square. Started a fistfight. Ended a fistfight. Talked their way out of an arrest. Made their way down to Avenue A. Chatted with some very nice hookers. Talked their way out of an arrest by cops pretending to be nice hookers. Ate some pizza.

They could have kept going, but around two A.M., they found themselves back at Smitty's hotel room with two bottles of 'shine and a minibar chock full of junk food. Really, the two of them didn't need much else. An hour and a half later and Smitty was falling-down drunk while Mace found himself longing for a woman who kept staring at him like one of those nutcases she probably faced everyday on her job.

"Bobby Ray Smith, where are you?"

Mace nudged Smitty. "You are so busted."

The hotel room door flew open and Sissy Mae Smith stormed into Mace's room. He didn't even know she had a key. "Dammit, Smitty!"

"What?"

Mace looked up at Sissy Mae, a very pretty girl version of Smitty. Mace learned to love the younger woman as his baby sister. He'd protect her exactly like Smitty would. There were very few people in his life he cared that much about. The fact that several of them were wolves still confused him to no end.

"You have got an entire city waitin' to be explored and what the hell do I find you doin'? Sittin' here drinkin' with Mace!" She smiled at Mace. "Hey, Mace darlin'. How ya doin'?"

"Fine, Sissy. Thanks for asking."

"How come you're nice to him?"

"Cause he's Mace and he already lives here. But you, you idiot..." Smitty drunkenly waved his baby sister away, and Sissy kicked a couch cushion at his head.

She glared at Mace. "Although I don't appreciate the great lion dragging my big brother down to the very pits of hell."

"Do you mean Long Island?"

"And what is going on with your hair?"

Mace ran his hand through the unruly locks on his head that had been sprouting all day. "Mane's growing back in."

"Weren't you damn near bald when we saw you this afternoon?"

"It grows fast." While on active duty, he had to shave his head every day to keep his C.O. off his back. But letting his mane grow back became his first step toward being a civilian again. Besides, he got the feeling Dez would like putting her hands in his hair. He knew he wanted her to put her hands in his hair. Preferably while he gently sucked her clit into his mouth.

Sissy Mae sniffed. "Lions are freaks."

Mace saluted Sissy with his Mason jar of 'shine. "Thank you kindly, Sissy Mae."

Smitty awkwardly pulled himself to his big wolf feet. "Would you like to live here, little sister?"

Sissy Mae turned her glare on her brother. "What are you talkin' about now, you drunken idiot? And what in the hell happened to your forehead?"

Mace raised his hand. "That was my fault."

"I'm talkin' about movin' the Pack here. At least...part of it."

Sissy Mae scowled. "Why the hell would we..." Mace watched as she realized the implication of her brother's words. The Smith Pack of Tennessee had too many Alpha Males among Smitty's four brothers. One of the reasons he left the Pack and joined the Navy. Mace met Smitty when a high-ranking officer with jaguar blood decided to create a SEAL team made up of shifters only. It worked surprisingly well, and they did a lot of damage over eight years. When the team disbanded, Mace and Smitty decided they were ready to leave the military. Smitty got out six months before Mace, and the infighting between him and the other Smith brothers got pretty ugly.

Mace knew he'd never go back to the Pride, so he made Smitty an offer. It seemed logical the two friends should start a business together. Smitty agreed. Yet he didn't want to leave his baby sister. Although Mace didn't think she'd ever let him.

"Bobby Ray Smith, are you saying we should leave Tennessee and move to New York City?"

"Yup. That's what I'm sayin', Sissy Mae Smith."

Sissy threw herself into her brother's arms. "Yes! I was hoping that's what you were gonna say! I love this place! It's so exciting!" She looked at Mace. "Are we going to be working with you?"

"You are not going to be working with Mace. I am going to be working with Mace. You're going to find something nice and safe to do-like knittin'."

Sissy Mae laughed. "Yeah, right. So, Mace, are we going to be working with you?"

Smitty stumbled away from his sister.

"Now listen up, little sister-"

Sissy Mae slapped her hand over her brother's face and shoved him onto the couch. By the time he landed, he was snoring.

Mace watched two big feet stand in front of him. Wolf females always seemed to have the biggest freakin' feet. She crouched in front of him and smirked. "What's the matter, Mace?"

"What makes you think something's wrong?"

"You haven't been pompous or superior in the last ten minutes. So somethin' must be wrong."

Mace shrugged. "The woman of my dreams turned me down."

"For marriage?"

"Dinner."

Sissy Mae shook her head. "Is this the girl you've been talkin' about since I met you?"

"Desiree MacDermot. The woman I've been waiting for all my life."

"You know, my momma's right about you. You are a wolf in lion's clothin'. Get all bunged up over one woman. I can't even get Smitty to do that and he is wolf."

"That's not helpful."

"You want helpful, Mason?"

"Yes. I want helpful. Make yourself useful, woman."

"Fine. Call her as soon as you wake up."

"What?"

"Call her as soon as you wake up and ask her out."

"Why?"

"Trust me on this."

"I'm not a morning person."

"Mace..."

"Okay. Okay." He glanced over at Smitty, then back at the man's sister. "Let's write Omega on his forehead again. He hates that."

Chapter Three.

D ez woke up cursing. The ring of her damn cell phone completely disrupted her lovely dream involving Mace, her, and her handcuffs.

She grabbed for the phone on her nightstand. Knocked it off. Reached down and grabbed for it. Fell out of bed. Hit one of the dogs in the process. Wrestled the phone from the dog's mouth. Then groggily crawled on all fours back into her warm and cozy bed.

"MacDermot," Dez mumbled into the phone, assuming it would be work.

"Hey."

Dez's arms went out from under her when that voice tore through her dazed, sleep-drowned mind, and she landed flat on her face. Mace and that voice of his slid all the way down to her clit and moved in.

Why the hell was he calling her? What the hell was his deal? And how the hell did he get her number anyway? All right. Forget that last stupid question. He probably had a full background check done on her by now. The man was a SEAL, after all.

Not knowing what else to say, Dez hit him with the first thing that came to mind. "Who is this?"

She crossed her eyes. Well those brilliant phrases kept rolling right from her mouth. You're such an idiot, MacDermot.

"It's Mace."

"Oh," she replied casually like she didn't almost come from his "hey" alone. "Hiya, Mace." She used her shoulder to cover the mouthpiece on her phone, shoved a pillow over her face, and yelled into it. After a moment, she calmly went back to the conversation. "What's up?"

She heard him stretch. "Nothing. Just checking on you."

She closed her eyes and her legs. Took a calming breath. "Oh. That's sweet."

"I'm known for being sweet."

"No, you're not."

He laughed softly and she bit her lip to keep from moaning.

Really...is there anything better than the gravelly six A.M. voice on a man? Dez didn't think so. And Mace had one of those in spades. She may have to dig out her vibrator. It has to be around here somewhere.

"You're right. I'm not." A moment of silence descended, and Dez wondered if they already ran out of things to say. She should have known better. "You just getting up?"

"Not really. It's only six A.M. and I don't have to go to work. So, I'm just lying here."

"Really?" She heard his body move, the sheets rustle. She imagined him naked and in bed. She closed her eyes. Okay. She needed to stop doing that right now. "What are you wearing?"

Oh no! They were not going to have this conversation. She couldn't handle it. Hell, she couldn't handle him. "Christ, Mace, we haven't had one of these conversations in a long time."

"Yeah, but at fourteen they were relatively tame. We're much older now."

"Don't remind me."

"So?"

"So what?"

"What are you wearing?"

"I'm not discussing that with-"

"Are you naked?"

"No!" Dez rolled her eyes. Good God, the man could be persistent. "A tank top and baggy shorts."

"Panties?"

With a throat clear, "No."

He purred. At least that's exactly what it sounded like. Purring. She didn't remember him purring before.

"Did you...did you just purr?"

"Yup. I'm thinking about you with no underwear."

"Jesus, Mace. You're killing me."

"Is it making you wet?"

"Mason Llewellyn! We are not having this conversation."

"Why?"

"Well, I am hoping to eventually arrest your sister for murder."