The Mane Event
Page 85
They saved my life.
Marissa let out a big sigh. Youre gonna keep throwing that in my face, arent you?
Brendon grinned. Yup.
Stop! Oh God! Please stop!
Ronnie grabbed the ringing hotel phone beside her bed, ripped it out of the wall, and threw it across the room. Moaning in absolute agony, she carefully laid back on the mattress.
No sound. No light. No nothing. She would allow nothing into her safe space.
She remembered last night clearly. No lovely blackouts for her. No. Ronnie Lee must remember every humiliating second. Like telling her Pack she wanted Brendon Shaw to run his mane all over her body.
Even worseshe couldnt stay here knowing Shaw may show up at any time.
Of course, her rational mind kept telling her it didnt matter. It didnt matter if she found Brendon Shaw standing outside her room doing the mambo again. The reality remained he wouldnt remember much after such a bad fever. He probably woke up in bed thinking it had all been a weird dream. Nothing more. Nothing less. So worrying about an impromptu meeting in the hotel lobbykind of dumb. Even for her.
Very, very slowly, Ronnie Lee turned onto her side and forced her vicious bout of nausea down. She was a Reed, dammit. She wouldnt let some cat get under her skin and have her running scared like a big girl.
Then, as she slipped into a deep sleep, she promised herself for the thousandth timeNo more tequila.
Brendon ignored his daughter climbing up his back and getting comfortable on top of his head while his son gripped his leg and tried to bite his knees with his less-than-deadly human baby teeth. The little guy wouldnt come into his fangs until puberty hit, and his mother would probably drop him off at Brendons house and not come back for him until he turned twenty-one.
There you are. Allie Llewellyn closed the door to the solarium behind her, blocking out all that yelling. I figured youd have to escape as soon as the fighting started.
I should have never brought Marissa when Missys here. He realized his mistake in the first ten minutes of their arrival. As soon as Missy, head of the Llewellyn Pride, walked into the enormous Llewellyn compound living room, Marissa was in her face demanding to know why none of the Llewellyn Pride had stayed with Brendon at the hospital and why none of them had bothered to call her. When Missy snarled that she was not an answering service it went straight downhill from there.
Three hours later and the two females were still going at it.
Allie stretched out in a lounger and stared at him. You seem unusually cheerful, considering all the yelling and drama.
It must be the holidays.
Laughing, she said, Okay. Whats hername?
Thats on a need-to-know basis, and you dont need to know.
Brendon actually liked Allie. Not when she was around Missy but one on one. Allie and Eriks mom, Serita, were relatively nice and theyd made breeding with them quite entertaining.
You do understand that Missys not going to like you getting involved with someone from another Pride. At least not without a trade contract.
Our contract involves the kids and the kids only.
Im not arguing. Just letting you know. And theres some slight whining in there because Ill have to hear about it. Constantly.
Blocking his daughters tiny fist from making contact with his eye, he asked, It sounds like shes still raging over Mace and his Bronx mlady.
Allie laughed at his use of mlady in a sentence. Oh yeah. Shes still raging all right. Besides, were down to two males now. Petrovs gone. Youre gone. And Mace wont let her trade him out for more. Her life is in shambles. Allie rolled her eyes. Personally I could care less. Little Miss Evil Kitty over thereshe pointed at her daughteris more than enough trouble at the moment. I certainly dont need to add to it with another cub until shes a tad older.
Makes sense. Brendon picked up his son and placed him on his knee, ignoring the teeth he sank into his forearm. But Missy needs to understand, I wont let her use my kids as leverage against me.
Allie shook her head. I wont let that happen, Brendon. Im not saying she wont try, but I wont let her get away with it. She smiled at him. I like you. You irritate me much less than most males. Besides, our darling little brat will rip my long silky locks out if I ever try to get between her and her daddy.
And Serita?
Missy will be lucky if Serita doesnt start her own Pride. Theyve been fighting like two cats in a bag lately. Besides, we both know she cant use the kids. We all read that contract we signed. Its quite airtight.
Damn right it is. Three high-priced lawyers who specialized in shifter law and his sister made sure of that.
I dont blame you at all, she said with a sigh, leaning back into the lounger and staring up at the ceiling. Nothing is sadder than an old Pride lion who hasnt seen his cubs for decades. Like his dad hadnt seen Mitch.
Allie yawned, her eyes fluttering closed. You coming out to dinner with us, Brendon? We have reservations at that new sushi place uptown. The chef is supposed to be a god.
Marissa let out a big sigh. Youre gonna keep throwing that in my face, arent you?
Brendon grinned. Yup.
Stop! Oh God! Please stop!
Ronnie grabbed the ringing hotel phone beside her bed, ripped it out of the wall, and threw it across the room. Moaning in absolute agony, she carefully laid back on the mattress.
No sound. No light. No nothing. She would allow nothing into her safe space.
She remembered last night clearly. No lovely blackouts for her. No. Ronnie Lee must remember every humiliating second. Like telling her Pack she wanted Brendon Shaw to run his mane all over her body.
Even worseshe couldnt stay here knowing Shaw may show up at any time.
Of course, her rational mind kept telling her it didnt matter. It didnt matter if she found Brendon Shaw standing outside her room doing the mambo again. The reality remained he wouldnt remember much after such a bad fever. He probably woke up in bed thinking it had all been a weird dream. Nothing more. Nothing less. So worrying about an impromptu meeting in the hotel lobbykind of dumb. Even for her.
Very, very slowly, Ronnie Lee turned onto her side and forced her vicious bout of nausea down. She was a Reed, dammit. She wouldnt let some cat get under her skin and have her running scared like a big girl.
Then, as she slipped into a deep sleep, she promised herself for the thousandth timeNo more tequila.
Brendon ignored his daughter climbing up his back and getting comfortable on top of his head while his son gripped his leg and tried to bite his knees with his less-than-deadly human baby teeth. The little guy wouldnt come into his fangs until puberty hit, and his mother would probably drop him off at Brendons house and not come back for him until he turned twenty-one.
There you are. Allie Llewellyn closed the door to the solarium behind her, blocking out all that yelling. I figured youd have to escape as soon as the fighting started.
I should have never brought Marissa when Missys here. He realized his mistake in the first ten minutes of their arrival. As soon as Missy, head of the Llewellyn Pride, walked into the enormous Llewellyn compound living room, Marissa was in her face demanding to know why none of the Llewellyn Pride had stayed with Brendon at the hospital and why none of them had bothered to call her. When Missy snarled that she was not an answering service it went straight downhill from there.
Three hours later and the two females were still going at it.
Allie stretched out in a lounger and stared at him. You seem unusually cheerful, considering all the yelling and drama.
It must be the holidays.
Laughing, she said, Okay. Whats hername?
Thats on a need-to-know basis, and you dont need to know.
Brendon actually liked Allie. Not when she was around Missy but one on one. Allie and Eriks mom, Serita, were relatively nice and theyd made breeding with them quite entertaining.
You do understand that Missys not going to like you getting involved with someone from another Pride. At least not without a trade contract.
Our contract involves the kids and the kids only.
Im not arguing. Just letting you know. And theres some slight whining in there because Ill have to hear about it. Constantly.
Blocking his daughters tiny fist from making contact with his eye, he asked, It sounds like shes still raging over Mace and his Bronx mlady.
Allie laughed at his use of mlady in a sentence. Oh yeah. Shes still raging all right. Besides, were down to two males now. Petrovs gone. Youre gone. And Mace wont let her trade him out for more. Her life is in shambles. Allie rolled her eyes. Personally I could care less. Little Miss Evil Kitty over thereshe pointed at her daughteris more than enough trouble at the moment. I certainly dont need to add to it with another cub until shes a tad older.
Makes sense. Brendon picked up his son and placed him on his knee, ignoring the teeth he sank into his forearm. But Missy needs to understand, I wont let her use my kids as leverage against me.
Allie shook her head. I wont let that happen, Brendon. Im not saying she wont try, but I wont let her get away with it. She smiled at him. I like you. You irritate me much less than most males. Besides, our darling little brat will rip my long silky locks out if I ever try to get between her and her daddy.
And Serita?
Missy will be lucky if Serita doesnt start her own Pride. Theyve been fighting like two cats in a bag lately. Besides, we both know she cant use the kids. We all read that contract we signed. Its quite airtight.
Damn right it is. Three high-priced lawyers who specialized in shifter law and his sister made sure of that.
I dont blame you at all, she said with a sigh, leaning back into the lounger and staring up at the ceiling. Nothing is sadder than an old Pride lion who hasnt seen his cubs for decades. Like his dad hadnt seen Mitch.
Allie yawned, her eyes fluttering closed. You coming out to dinner with us, Brendon? We have reservations at that new sushi place uptown. The chef is supposed to be a god.
