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She smashed the crown jewels, sending him to the ground in a ball of agony as she heaved out a deep breath.
“Fucking bitch!”
Liz didn’t have time to respond. Her calves were free, but her wrists needed more work. She worked back and forth, then noticed the two big cats rolling around on the docks, their cries sharp and full of feral roars.
Ben finally found himself on top of Vito, pressing his paws into his throat and snarling in his face. His head was over the dock, pressing farther and farther back into the muddy waters.
Moretti continued to squirm around on the ground, which gave Liz time to finally break herself free. She managed to snap the plastic in half, bringing her hands to her chest, trembling from the restrained position. She forced herself to her feet despite the dizziness.
Ben struggled with Vito, having switched positions near the dock. Liz knew that cats weren’t good swimmers, but were shifters?
Moretti grabbed her ankle and was trying to get to his feet. She kicked at him, connecting with his jaw, his teeth clamping together like a wind-up toy.
She had knocked him out cold and limped forward, unsure what to do to help her love. Blood flew up into the air as the cats slashed and fought, going toe to toe in the final round.
Then she saw the solution. She just needed to be strong for the next thirty seconds.
“Hey!” she yelled.
Vito had Ben’s arm in his mouth, about to chow down when he looked up at Liz. “Come get me, asshole!” she cried out. “I’m the one you’re jealous of, isn’t that right? Leave my Ben alone!”
Ben’s eyes glimmered at her with a look that asked her what in the fuck she was doing.
She tried to tell him telepathically to stay on alert and trust her.
Vito did just as she predicted. He shoved Ben down, then came at her with the fury and speed of an oncoming train. She turned and ran toward the boarded-up building set back from the water. Unfortunately, she hadn’t realized how fast a lion was. Its breath heated her back as she rounded the corner of the warehouse and threw herself to the ground.
A loud crash just inches above her head told her that her plan had worked. She peeked open an eye to see the feline on the ground, knocked out cold. She glanced at the horizontal pipe sticking out from the wall and saw a dent where the lion’s head had bashed it in.
Chapter22
Liz
Liz launched herself away from the unconscious cat and waited, her heart racing in her chest like a stampede for Vito to blast back up and maul her, which caused her knees to shake until they completely buckled. In her peripheral vision, she saw the flash of burning orange and black rush to her side.
Ben caught her in his tiger form before she smacked onto the pavement. He used his paw and gently lowered her until she was on her back. Liz stared up at the sky, which was a dead chrome gray. Her wrist felt like a pulsing heart.
Before her eyes, Ben shifted into his human form. She would have marveled if she had been a tiny bit more conscious, but the world before her was spinning like a black hole.
“Liz?” Ben whispered frantically.
He brushed her hair out of her face and curled it over her ear. The gesture made her chest warm, aiding her in forgetting about the pain caused by the strike in the head and the inflamed pulse of her wrist.
Liz smiled up at him, that handsome disheveled mess who had likely saved her from certain doom. She reached up to his cheek with her uninjured hand, and he instinctually kissed her palm.
“Ben,” she said, voice raspy, “you came back.”
His face disintegrated before pulling her into his arms. Liz was engulfed in his embrace, his teakwood and mint scent. She felt his shoulders shake as she weakly raised her arms to wrap around his head.
“I have to tell you something,” she whispered as she stroked his hair.
Ben pulled away from the hug, his eyes as glassy as a calm lake. He pushed more of her hair behind her ears, his eyes wandering her with infinite care.
“Let’s get you home first,” he whispered. “You’ve had quite a day.”
Liz started to chuckle in his arms, and he did too. Their world around them was quiet and at ease, finally, beyond the groaning of the Moretti boy as he came back to consciousness.
They both gazed over at him for a second as he began to try to crawl away.
