Page 168 of Carnal Urges

She looks at him down her nose and tosses her hair over her shoulder. “That’s Queen Bitch to you, fuckboy.”

I don’t understand this woman. Why isn’t she crying? Sobbing? Pleading for her life? She’s alone, unarmed, and surrounded by ten gun-toting men. She’s standing in the middle of a dark, rainy street, with no way to escape and nowhere to go if she did.

She’s been fucking kidnapped!

There must be something mentally wrong with her. That bump she took to the head when Kieran accidentally dropped her onto the asphalt back in the parking garage where we snatched her knocked something loose in her pretty skull.

Whatever the reason, I don’t have time for this shit.

I say coldly, “You have five seconds to get back in the car.”

She looks me up and down, green eyes assessing. “Or what? You’ll shoot me?”

“In three more seconds, you’ll find out.”

“If I’m dead, I’m useless to you.”

I drop my voice an octave and hold her gaze. “There are plenty of uses for a dead woman. Isn’t that right, Kieran?”

“Aye, boss. Plenty of uses.” Licking his lips, he lets his gaze travel the length of her body, head to feet and back again.

Instead of putting the fear of God into her as I expected, it lights a fuse of fury under her ass.

Her nostrils flare. Her cheeks turn red. Her eyes burn two holes straight through me.

She folds her arms across her chest and snaps, “That’s sick, dude. You need help. The professional kind. Seriously, just… ew.”

After a beat, Kieran turns and looks at me. “Did she just call youdude?”

He’s trying not to laugh, the son of a bitch.

Keeping my gaze on Sloane, I answer through gritted teeth. “She did. And if you don’t lock the fucking doors this time when I get her back into the car, I’ll let this crazy bird kick your balls even harder than she did Sean’s.”

Without waiting for an answer, I walk closer to where Sloane stands. She’s about fifteen feet away from the SUV she escaped from, taking advantage of the slowed speed when the car braked for a corner to leap out and run.

I realize I should’ve had Sean cuff her, but she was blacked out at the time, slumped against the door in the back seat and looking all kinds of defenseless and pathetic.

Two things I now know she’s not.

How long she was awake and pretending not to be, timing her escape attempt, is anyone’s guess.

I take my time approaching her and stop a few feet away. Far enough to be out of reach from that vicious kick of hers that took Sean down. Despite wearing heels and a skirt, she adopts a fighting stance, balancing her weight on the balls of her feet and raising her fists to eye level.

She’s ready to defend herself. To physically fight me.

Me,a man twice her size and weight with years of military background, weapons training, and hand-to-hand combat experience.

It’s ridiculous, but also oddly appealing.

Examining my expression, she says, “You think I’m funny? Take two more steps closer and you’ll never be able to have kids.”

“I don’t have time for this nonsense. Get back in the car.”

“Why, are you afraid to fight me? You should be. Even though I’m smaller than you, I’ll win.”

“I see you’ve taken the David and Goliath story to heart, but Biblical parables aside, there’s no universe in which we fight and you win.”

“I can break your jaw without breaking a fingernail.”