"Why don't you let me worry about that? Now, are we going?"

"You're not. I get why you want to post the trackers outside my store to keep an eye out. That makes sense. But what happens when a cop comes by and sees you in there with me? Then I get arrested too, for aiding and abetting. I can't run my store if I'm in jail."

"I said, let me worry about that."

"Forget it. Stay here and take care of Mabel, and your Spike guy with his tatts can watch out for the gang."

Ronan came back to her. "Here's the deal, Lizzie-girl. I go with you, or you don't go."

"Stop calling me Lizzie-girl." She jabbed her finger at his chest. "It's my store, my life, my sister, and we'll do this my-- Hey! What are you doing?"

Ronan had his giant hands on her soft waist, and he lifted her off her feet. She squirmed and glared, but he lifted her higher, higher, until she was over his head. He often picked up Olaf like this, and Elizabeth was not much bigger than the cub.

"Ronan, you put me down!"

"Nothing doing, sweet thing. Not until you realize that I'm your bodyguard now, and that's all there is to that."

"You arrogant . . ."

Ronan saw her hand coming at him, fingers stiff, right for his eyes. He ducked out of the way in time, but the move made him lose his hold. Elizabeth kicked out, not contacting him, but with enough force to twist from his grip and land on her feet. She never touched him, and yet, there she stood, a couple yards from him, hands on hips, breathing hard, triumph on her face.

Ronan growled. "You fight dirty."

"I learned how to a long time ago."

"You know something, Lizzie-girl?"

Elizabeth canted one hip . . . Aw, wasn't that adorable? "What's that?" she asked.

"I fight dirty too."

Before Elizabeth could scream, Ronan ran at her and lifted her again, letting the momentum carry them forward until her back was against the outside wall of the Den. Ronan pinned her tightly, his body against hers, so that she couldn't squirm, kick, or do any neat karate moves with her hands.

Elizabeth struggled, and she glared, and the more she glared, the more Ronan wanted to laugh. She smelled sweet, like the honey she'd poured on her toast. One drop of that honey lingered on the corner of her mouth, and Ronan leaned down and licked it away.

Chapter Six

Elizabeth froze. She felt the moist heat of his mouth, the flick of his tongue, the warmth of his lips. He was strong, his hands on her waist attested to that, yet his touch on her mouth was everything that was gentle. Elizabeth hung in his grasp for a long moment before she returned the faintest of pressures.

They were face to face, so close that Elizabeth saw the faint line of scar that laced from the corner of his cheekbone up the bridge of his nose. Where he'd broken it, she surmised.

She did nothing. Ronan studied her a long time, his eyes warm, his gaze sliding to her lips.

Slowly Elizabeth brought up one hand to cup his cheek. She let her thumb drift over the firm line of his mouth before she closed the inch between them and kissed him again.

Their lips fused, unmoving heat, slow goodness. Elizabeth felt the thump of his heart, the beat of hers in return, the Texas sunshine soaking into her bones, as hot as her blood.

"Oh, give me a break," came a male voice from the porch. Scott, finally out of the shower and shirtless, leaned on the railing, his dark hair wet. "You told me not to touch the humans, Ronan. Why don't the same rules apply to you?"

Ronan eased out of the kiss. Slowly, he lowered Elizabeth to her feet and turned around.

"I'm taking Elizabeth to her store," Ronan said, voice neither harsh nor conceding. "Mabel is to be protected. She can move around Shiftertown, but not out of it, and one of us is to be with her at all times. Tell Rebecca."

"I'm not a babysitter," Scott growled.

He was defiant, but Elizabeth sensed him backing off under Ronan's stare. Elizabeth had seen these dynamics before, at every home she'd lived in. Sometimes the adult radiated menace and the kid took a step back, shoulders slumping in submission; sometimes it was kid who was in control.

Ronan was definitely in charge here. "Not a babysitter," Ronan said. "A protector. We all are."

"Bodyguards," Elizabeth said. Scott flicked his gaze to her, then took it instantly back to Ronan. "Not my choice, but Ronan's right," Elizabeth went on. "Mabel and I need protection until we figure out how to be safe from these guys. I'd really appreciate it if you made sure Mabel was all right. And if anyone comes looking for her, I'll be glad to know you and Rebecca are around."

Scott's gaze flickered again, but the enraged defiance eased out of him.

"Well, if you're going to stroke my ego, all right then," Scott said. "See, Ronan, you only have to ask nice."

Ronan shrugged. "Elizabeth's nicer than me. Go tell Rebecca, and don't be a shithead."

Scott gave him a sneering look, but it was more mocking than angry. "I'll tell her I found you kissing Elizabeth. I thought you said you'd conquered your mating frenzy a long time ago."

"Go," Ronan growled.

Scott went, but at least now he was laughing.

"I'll be glad when his Transition's done," Ronan said, exasperation in his voice. "It's like living with a volcano."

"What's a mating frenzy?" Elizabeth asked.

"Don't humans have that?"