“Hey, whatever rocks your socks,” Roxie said.
Lilith continued to growl. She paced around at Eli’s feet. Her snarling was punctuated with nasty-sounding barks. She jumped again, and her teeth sliced through his jeans and boxers and hit the flesh of his left butt cheek.
Here we go again, Eli thought.
“Ssh!” he hissed, returning to a squat. He gently twisted Lilith’s collar, brought her head forward and down toward the ground, and flipped her.
“God,” Roxie said, shaking her head. “I can’t believe she bit you again. She’s so incredibly stubborn.”
Eli nodded.
“So is this why you needed her shot records?” Roxanne asked, her voice quite small.
“It certainly is,” he said.
After five minutes, Eli asked Roxie to fetch his duffel from the foyer and lay out his first aid supplies—he’d need to bandage up soon.
After ten minutes, Eli had to adjust his position from squatting to kneeling, relieved when the circulation returned to his lower legs.
After fifteen minutes, Lilith let go with a great sigh and unclenched her muscles in surrender. Her head fell against the kitchen tile with a thud. Once more, Eli praised her, stroked her, and allowed her up.
While Roxie was busy loving her up, Eli returned to the refrigerator and pulled out the plastic food container of brown rice and chicken. Just as he turned to pick up the dog bowls, Lilith barked, tore across the floor, then jammed her body between Eli and her bowls.
He paid no mind. With calm, smooth movements, he reached down and gathered the empty stainless-steel food bowl and took it to the counter. He dumped about half a cup of the rice-and-chicken mixture into the bowl, then put his hands in it, mushing it all around.
Lilith was growling. The hair on her back was standing up.
“What the—” Roxanne’s mouth fell open. She scrambled to her feet. “I have spoons, you know.”
“No, thanks,” Eli said, ignoring Lilith’s frantic growling and barking as he ran his fingers through the mixture. “I am putting my scent all over her food,” he told Roxie.
“Right,” Roxie said. “But why would you want to do that?”
Eli chuckled. “This is not what I want—it’s what she needs. It demonstrates to the dog that she only eats after the pack leader has had his fill. I would suggest you do this at every feeding, until she understands the concept.”
“Gross, but okay,” she said.
Eli put the bowl down and walked away, heading to the kitchen sink. Lilith sniffed at the food but seemed more focused on the intruder than her snack. Eli turned on the water and waited a moment, not acknowledging the dog. But when she failed to eat any of her food, Eli promptly removed the bowl from the floor and placed it on top of the refrigerator. He returned to the sink. “How about you give me a tour of your house once I’ve patched myself up?” he asked Roxie, rinsing his hands in the water.
She laughed, walking toward him. “I don’t get it. Why would you tease a dog like you just did?”
“I never tease,” he said. “That was part of her lesson—she eats immediately after the pack leader, not at her leisure. She didn’t touch the food I gave her, so the food disappeared. It will be like that at every feeding from now on.”
Roxanne crossed her arms over her chest. “But I don’t feed her that way.”
Eli smiled as he glanced over his shoulder. “You do now.” He pointed to a ceramic dispenser on the counter. “Is this the soap?”
Roxie sighed, and joined him at the sink. He could see her try her best to smile.
“Here, let me help you.”
That’s when she touched him. She gently rolled up the sleeve of his denim shirt, sucking in her breath at the sight of the lacerations on his arm. He’d had worse. This wasn’t nearly as bad as the Saint Bernard from Spokane last year.
Roxanne squeezed out a couple drops of the soap, and worked it into bubbles in her hands. She had very pretty hands, he noticed. Slim fingers. Clean white nails kept short. He ran his arms under the warm water and looked down at her. He grinned. She frowned.
“She tore you up,” Roxie said.
“I’ll be fine.”
All the while, Lilith paced and patrolled at their feet, snarling and barking.
Roxanne placed her soft hands on his arms, spreading the soap. Her touch was quite gentle. She managed to get soap into all the places where the skin had been broken, but didn’t rough them up. The sting of the soap was already plenty bad.
“She hates men,” Roxie said suddenly. She looked sheepish. “Did I tell you that?”
He laughed. “I believe you did.”
Roxanne sighed. He almost sighed, too—the feel of her hands caressing his forearm was overtly sexual. He wondered how he could convince her to dole out the same first aid treatment to his ass. Suddenly, a vision flashed in his brain—Roxie’s hands moving on his hard cock like that, up and down, up and down.
“The girls told me a long time ago that I was the cause of Lilith’s aggression toward men,” she whispered, her hands still moving. “I didn’t want to believe them.”
She stopped her ministrations and reached for the spray attachment of the faucet. She directed a stream of water onto his flesh, dialing down the force of the spray so it wouldn’t hurt him. Then she unfolded a soft cotton towel from a drawer and patted him dry.
“You’re going to need stitches,” she said.
“Won’t be the first time. Would you mind handing me one of those bandages?” Eli nodded toward the supplies she’d placed on the counter.
Roxanne nodded, her face full of concern. She unwrapped a roll of gauze. “I see you’re prepared for everything,” she said.
“Always.”
Roxanne helped him cover the deepest cuts with square bandages, wrap gauze around his whole arm, and tape everything in place. When they were done, she raised those gorgeous dark eyes to his face. “I’m trying not to look at her, you know? But I’m really worried she’s going to bite you again.”
“No worries, right?” Eli smiled at her. “I’ll survive. Shall we?” Eli asked, gesturing for Roxie to show him around.
“She’s doing better, isn’t she?” Roxanne asked, the hope evident in her voice.
“Much,” he said, feeling the dog begin to sniff at his ankles. In fact, if she’d gone from biting to sniffing, they were definitely headed in the right direction. Sniffing was normal behavior for dogs. Biting wasn’t.
“This is the dining room,” Roxie said. “My mom gave me all her old furniture when she moved to Mexico a few years ago.”
“Mexico? Is she running from the law or something?”
Roxanne laughed, and it was the first real laugh he’d heard from her that day. Yes, things were going much better.
“Not exactly,” she said. “Mom just wanted to retire in splendor, so she’s living in a beach house in some town full of aging hippies and artists. She didn’t want to keep anything from her old life.”
“Ah,” Eli said. “She sounds like an interesting woman.”
Roxie grinned. “Yeah. She is.” She led him into the living room, and as he glanced around, he decided he really liked the way she’d fixed up her house. They were smack in the middle of the city, but the place felt comfortable. Solid. It was quiet, too. Her choice in furniture was simple but it seemed just right. All the while, Lilith continued to sniff at Eli’s legs.
He stopped in his tracks. Above a small fireplace mantel was a poster-sized photo of Roxie and Lilith, dressed as some kind of all-girl jungle warrior gang. A laugh exploded from Eli before he could pull himself together.
“Yeah. There’s a story behind that,” Roxie said.
“I bet.”
Roxanne sighed. “Lucio has his own fantasy pet photography business, right? Well, he let all of us do a photo sitting of our choice with the idea that he’d use them in a promotion. I chose the Amazon Woman motif, you know, the whole warrior priestess vibe. I thought it was perfect for
me and Lilith.”
“Excellent choice,” Eli said, giving himself a few moments to take in the details of Roxie’s photographic splendor, from the feathered headdress, to the thigh-high animal-hide boots and matching ragged-edged miniskirt, to the figure-hugging breastplate and coordinating spear. Eli had to admit that despite all the ways he’d imagined Roxie in his mind’s eye, never once had he pictured her in a breastplate. Apparently, he’d done himself a disservice.
“You make a fine warrior woman,” he whispered.
Roxanne sighed. “You’re teasing me. Go ahead. Everyone else has.”
Eli smiled and shook his head, looking down into her eyes. “I mean it,” he said. “Look at you.” Eli placed his hands on Roxanne’s shoulders and turned her to face the photo, her back to him. He leaned into her ear. “That woman is strong and beautiful. She’s nobody’s fool.”
He felt her relax beneath his touch. It seemed every time their bodies made contact there was a hot electric rush that moved through him. Just like now. Roxie must have felt it, too, because she leaned into him briefly before she caught herself and straightened again.
Eli smiled, unable to take his eyes from the framed photo above the mantel. He saw much more in that image than he was letting on. Obviously, it had been difficult enough for Roxanne to ask for his help, to let him into her home, and trust her dog to his care. Eli knew he’d be pushing it if he told her what he really saw in that photograph.
That girl up there was a tigress, a sexual goddess standing on firm, parted thighs, creamy breasts shoved forward by the ridiculously tight costume, a sensual smirk on her mouth. And in those dark eyes was rock-solid determination. Holy hell, it would take a strong man to handle all of that.
Eli’s mind flooded with a vision: he was slashing his way through the thick and tangled jungle to get to her, braving alligator-infested waters and slobbering pumas, the sweat soaking through his clothing and running into his eyes as he pressed on …
“So you think I have what it takes to be a good pack leader for Lilith?”
Roxanne’s voice shocked Eli from his imaginary quest.
“Ah, yeah,” he said, clearing his head.
“You don’t sound very sure.”
Eli grinned to himself and gave her shoulders a friendly squeeze. “If you ever doubt you have what it takes—in pack leadership or life in general—just take a deep breath and be the woman we see right here, in this photo.”
Roxie giggled.
“Look at yourself up there, Rox. Your head is held high. Your shoulders are back. Your eyes are scanning the horizon. You are at peace with your own power. At peace with the world. This is no joke—just look at your dog in this photograph.” Eli pointed to the image of Lilith, who, despite the ludicrous costume, seemed perfectly composed.
“She seems really calm, doesn’t she?” Roxie asked, amazement in her voice.
“She does.”
“Was it because I was pretending to be a powerful and competent warrior priestess and she picked up on the change in my energy?”
“Stranger things have happened.”
Roxanne turned and looked over her shoulder at Eli. “Thanks for pointing that out,” she said, giving him a crooked little smile.
She showed him the rest of the living room. Eli took note of the corner she’d made into her office. A modern, U-shaped desk of pale wood held her laptop, phone charger, and a lamp. A credenza behind the desk held her files and books. A table beneath the desk housed her all-in-one printer.
Displayed on the edge of her desk was a selection of man-hating novelties including coffee mugs, bumper stickers, and baseball caps.
“So this is where all the magic happens?” he asked her.
She let go with a genuine, happy laugh. Truly, that jubilant sound sent shock waves through him. He’d never heard anything as delightful. And at that moment, with her head tilted back and her eyes shining, he’d never seen a woman more beautiful.
Roxanne Bloom and her laugh gave him the shivers. How sad that she hadn’t had many opportunities to laugh like this lately.
It was then that Eli noticed a portable phone on the floor in the corner of the room, its back panel lying in several pieces a couple feet away. “Hey, your—”
“Got it,” she said. Roxie snatched the phone and threw it in a desk drawer. She slammed the drawer shut. Then she returned to him and smiled. “So, what’s next?”
Eli decided not to ask. Clearly, she’d thrown the phone across the room at some point in the recent past, but she’d tell him about it when she was ready. Eli smiled.
“Take me upstairs,” he said.
“Say what?”
Eli watched the panic hit her wide eyes. As if on cue, Lilith snarled and barked at him.
“Did you catch that?” Eli asked, gesturing for Roxie to proceed ahead of him up the stairs. “You got scared, and your dog got scared.”
“I … I am not scared,” she said, heading up the steps in front of him, wagging her hips. He wasn’t sure it was intentional, but he appreciated it, regardless.
Eli chuckled to himself. If he went by the standard routine here, he’d be the one leading the group upstairs. The leader always went first. But he didn’t want to miss the chance to admire Roxie’s ass. Besides, Lilith stayed behind both of them on their walk up, which was the main objective.
“Why would I be scared?” Roxie asked, catching him ogling her when she whipped her head around.
“That’s for you to ponder,” Eli answered, giving her a reassuring smile.
Of course she was scared. Roxie Bloom, Chief Emasculating Officer of i-vomit-on-all-men.com, was taking a man upstairs. And the man had been staring at her booty. It probably freaked her the hell out. He’d love to know what she was thinking at this very moment.
If things were different, Eli would have reached out and stroked those perfect globes of female flesh that wagged and wiggled right in his face. The girl looked downright delicious in jeans. He had a suspicion that she’d look even better out of them.
But this wasn’t the time or place. The ferocious Lilith was right behind him, her nose suddenly sniffing at his crotch. He needed to stay focused.
“Why are we up here, anyway?” she asked when they’d reached the top of the steps. She was frowning.
“Haven’t you figured out what I’m doing yet?” Eli walked past her, helping himself to the second floor of her home.
“Maybe not. What exactly are you doing?” she asked.
“I’m taking over, babe,” he said. “And I need to mark my territory.” He headed into the bathroom without an invitation, glancing her way. “I’ll be leaving the door open, so, if you must, step into the other room until I’m out of your line of sight.”
He watched her mouth fall open. When he started to unzip his Wranglers, Roxie skittered into what looked like the spare room. He kept talking to her through the open door.
“This is for Lilith’s benefit,” he said.
“I’m sure she appreciates it as much as I do,” Roxie answered.
Eli chuckled as he raised the toilet seat and unzipped his jeans the rest of the way. Showmanship aside, he really did have to go.
He sensed Lilith inching closer. He hadn’t yet looked at her. From the moment he’d entered the front door, and through all the jumping and the biting and the growling, he’d never made eye contact with the dog or looked at her directly. In the language of dogs, that would have indicated one of two things: aggression or that the pack leader had lost his focus as protector and provider. If he’d looked at her, or if he’d ever once displayed the tiniest hint of anger or fear, it would have been the signal for Lilith to step into the role of emergency pack leader. It’s what had happened with Lilith and Roxie. It’s why Lilith didn’t trust her owner to keep her safe. It’s why Lilith couldn’t relax and enjoy being a dog in the loving care of a human.
As of today, Lilith was no longer in charge around here. The pecking order had changed.
Eli began to relieve himself, and Lilith was fascinated. She sniffed the air. She ventured closer. But all it took was one soft shh from Eli and she backed away.
Oh, yes. Things were getting a lot better.
Eli finished up, flushed the toilet and washed his hands. He stepped out of the bathroom and into the upstairs hallway, Lilith at his side, more curious than concerned.
Roxie emerged from the spare room. She flipped her hair over her shoulder and raised her chin in defiance. Eli had to concentrate on his breathing, because his own animal instincts were rattling the cage. He wondered just how satisfying it would be to sink his teeth into that flawless female flesh of hers.
“What next?” she asked, balling her fists at her sides. “Is this where you change into your jammies and get in my bed?”
Eli smiled. “Never wear ’em, sweet thing,” he said.
Chapter 8
Roxanne went numb with disbelief. Eli Gallagher just strolled right into her bedroom like he had every right to. Her brain ricocheted back and forth between fury, terror, and trying to remember which books were on her nightstand and which panties might be lying on the rug.
Then it hit her. Oh, God, no … before she fell asleep last night she’d been reading a DIY guide to female orgasm. She’d even used a yellow highlighter on critical passages.
Why? Why? What had she ever done to deserve this?
“Nice,” she heard him say. “Real nice.”
Was this guy for real? Who the hell did Eli Gallagher think he was? And what in the world was going on in her bedroom?
Then she heard Lilith growl. She heard Eli make that hissing sound that was really starting to get on her nerves, and then it got quiet.
Roxie ran across the hall and into her room, stopping with a gasp. Eli Gallagher had opened her closet and was sorting through her clothes. “I like your taste,” he said, sensing that she’d come to stand in the doorway behind him.
Lilith revved up her growling again. Roxie didn’t blame her. If Roxie were a dog, she’d have responded to Eli’s alpha male exhibition in the very same way—bites to the ass included. She wondered if God’s Gift to Dogs and Girls would expect her to wash those wounds, as well. Ha! Like that would ever happen!