Page 3 of Imperfect Gifts

“Thankfully, I’m a human at the moment.”

“And you areallwoman,” Elijah said. “Look at thosetits, Eazie.”

Elijah stepped forward and grabbed her breasts, and the Krav Maga muscle memoryfinallykicked in. Genie knocked his hands loose and punched him in the face before she realized what she was doing.

The other brother, Ezra, made the inhuman noise of a cat’s growl, stepped forward, grabbed her arms, and twisted them behind her back. He put his face next to hers and said, “Not cool. Apologize to my brother.”

She had no idea where she found the courage to stare him in the eyes and stand up to him, but she told him, “I’m the one owed an apology.”

He shook his head. “This is the sex slave floor, yes? You don’t knock someone’s hands away when they touch your tits, sweet cheeks.”

“I’m a free person, a nurse, here to feed Brooke, the Master Vampire. I’m no one’s slave.”

Elijah’s hand was on the way to slap her across the face, and Ezra grabbed his wrist to stop him six inches before he made contact. Ezra still held Genie’s wrists with his other hand, and he released them and stepped back, pulling his brother farther away.

“She speaks truth, brother, and we haven’t been here long enough to mess with the Master’s food. We should return to our assigned suite.”

“You should not have left your suite,” a voice said from the hallway, and Genie’s knees nearly gave out. She took two steps back and sat on the sofa, though it was more of a collapse and completely ungraceful.

“Are you okay?” Dev asked her, and his dark brown eyes meant safety, rather than the danger of the too-blue-to-be-real eyes of the cat shifters.

She wanted to tell the huge snake-shifter she was fine, but then she began to hyperventilate and she couldn’t stop.Fuck, she thought she’d gotten beyond this. She could handle the biggest emergencies with clearness of thought and purpose at the hospital without thinking twice so long as there was nothreat to her, but the slightest danger to her own physical safety and her body wanted to hide in the shadows.

The snake shifter pulled something from his pocket, and within moments, both cats were face down on the floor, their wrists and ankles bound together with what appeared to be a zip-tie made especially for a hogtie, and the snake was beside her, sitting on the sofa. He gingerly pulled her into his lap and held her.

“Brooke has gone through their minds and telepathically replayed their memories of what happened so I could watch. I told you to stay in your room, little owlet.”

She barely managed to wheeze between breaths, “I didn’t know it was … dangerous to look out … my door!”

“It shouldn’t have been, but these two arrived while a few other things happened, and I put them into what should’ve been a locked room, but it seems they’ve learned how to defeat electronic locks. Are you okay to go to Brooke now? She expected to feed in the hours before the sun’s return, but I failed to keep you safe, so you are no longer obligated to provide sustenance.”

Genie shook her head. She was doing this for the bikers, and she needed to follow through.

“If I can just get something to drink?” She could manage a whole sentence, but had to gulp air in for the next. “A couple of shots of whiskey would be great, but tequila is fine.”

“Your metabolism won’t burn through it?”

She shook her head again. “Faster than human, but not as fast as most shifters. It’ll give me five to ten minutes of calm, and once I’m settled, I can hold onto it.”

* * * *

Dev adored the little owlet. Such a curvy, cute little package. There’d be hell to pay for not keeping her safe, but he’d face those consequences later — as would the two cats currentlyhogtied on the floor. He telepathed someone to bring some top-shelf whiskey and a shot glass, and he held Genie in his lap while she downed three shots, then three more, and finally sat relaxed in his arms.

“The bikers usually give nicknames, yes? Is Genie your real name, or a nickname?” He wanted to know more about this woman, and it was the only question he could think of that didn’t sound inappropriate.

“It’s Georgina, but I’m fine shortening it to Genie.”

“They didn’t give you a nickname?”

“Yeah, they did.”

He caught the hints of, not embarrassment, but discomfort over sharing. So, Genie wasn’t her usual nickname, but one they’d decided to call her. Knowing the bikers as he did, this meant she had some magical skill, but not real magic. Something sexual, most likely.

“What is it you can do that is magical, little owlet?”

She snuggled her face into his chest. “Maybe I’ll show you, someday, if you’re interested.”

“Oh, I would very much be interested, but I’ll need permission from my Master, since you come to us through our treaty with the bikers.”

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