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“Lies,” Ball hissed.
“No.” Niko went to stand by Zee and although he wanted to be with her, and only her, he gave Ball a tight smile. “Any crimes you committed here fall under our authority and nobody, not the local U.R.N offices, none in the special units in local PDs, nobody in the whole county or even the state wants to mess with your stupid ass.” Boone smiled, cold amusement showing in the curve of his lips and glint of his eyes. “The dumbest damn thing you ever did, son, was assassinate a Prime. But then you went and tried to kill more people in the pack. Now you’ll have plenty of time to regret just how stupid it was to take on Appalachia.”
“And trespassing,” Zee added, not looking at Ball.
“Of course,” Shale said, amused. “We can’t forget trespassing.”
Ball still resisted, struggling with such intensity against Shale’s firm hold that his shirt tore. He half-stumbled forward and Shale, in a move so swift that human barely saw it coming, shifted his grasp to the man’s shaggy hair.
“If you want to go about this the hard way, I’d be happy to oblige, you bloody fool.” Shale started walking. Ball tried to jerk away one more time but Shale’s grip was an unmovable vise and the man ended up tripping, then stumbling. Boone stepped around them and went to open the door.
Shale nodded his thanks and kept walking while Ball’s enraged and pained yelp tore from him and bounced around the small chamber.
But neither Zee nor Niko were watching.
When the door behind Shale closed, leaving them in relative privacy, Zee took another step forward, then another.
She didn’t stop until she was right in front of Niko, her bare toes pressed to his, her breasts brushing his chest.
“Did you ever spread word about me staying in the territory for a few days?” she asked, tipping her head back to study him.
His lids flickered and caution crept into his gaze. “Ah... no. Things have been a little weird lately.”
“Hmmm.” She angled her head in understanding. “With Shale being on the mend still, it’s probably for the best that I just get this out of the way so you don’t feel the need to put another babysitter on my ass.”
“Zee, listen—”
She touched a finger to his lips, heat shivering through her when his lips continued to move. “Hush, Niko. You have to let me do this.”
His brows furrowed as he stared at her. “Do what?”
The surly, bad-tempered growl almost made her laugh. She kept her face somber through sheer will alone.
“I’ve made my decision.”
The glint in his eyes now looked like panic and he caught her waist.
“Zee, listen—”
Rising on her toes, she nipped his lower lip. Hard. “I’m talking, Niko.”
He glared at her, the golden glow starting to spin in the depths of his eyes.
“And really, there’s nothing you can do about it,” she said, smiling in the face of his temper. “I’m staying.”
She lowered her hand and kissed the finger she’d had on his beautiful mouth, then touched that finger to his lips once more.
“No point in arguing here, okay?”
“Zee, listen, I know I’ve made some... wait.” He blinked and shook his head, backing up a few steps. In a soft, bemused voice, he asked, “Did you just say you were staying?”
She smiled. “I did.”
She barely had time to catch her breath before he hauled her up into his arms, spun around and pinned her to the plain white wall, his mouth crashing down on hers. She laughed into his kiss, delirious with the love she felt for him, and the love he felt for her, flooding the connection between them.
