Did she blush? Oh, yeah. Hard-core. Did she care? Kind of. Would she back down? Never! She kind of felt like a great warrior of old, about to face down her worst enemy.
“Eight boxes of condoms?” Gray blurted out.
“Lube?” Erik spat.
“Massage oil and a feather duster?” Denver yelled, incredulous. “What kind of weird shit are you into, sis?”
To stick with the warrior of old mindset, or throw the biggest childlike tantrum ever?
Easy. Tantrum. “Get out! Get out right now. All of you.” She jerked a finger to the door. “You’re the worst best brothers in the world, and I’m not speaking to any of you ever again. Except to say I shudder to think about the things you’ve done with your girlfriends.”
“Gross.” Gray wrinkled his nose. “You think about us with our girlfriends?”
The others nodded, peering at her expectantly, not the least contrite. Not a single man made a move toward the exit.
Gray waved to the now unconscious Jorlan. “You told me you weren’t seeing anyone. The next thing I know, Nick is calling me and going on and on about your adventures on the bathroom floor with a romance cover model from overseas.”
She shot a narrowed glance to Nick, the world’s greatest tattletale.
He shrugged, all, What else is a brother supposed to do? “Hey, do you mind if I pluck some of those feathers from the duster? The girl I’m seeing is really into—”
“Out!” This time, she did a foot stomp and pointed at the door at the same time, letting them know she meant business.
“You can’t be mad,” Erik said, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “We love you, and we will do anything to protect you.”
“‘You can’t be mad,’” she mocked. “That’s such a James thing to say.” How many times had she heard those same words from her father?
You can’t be mad, Katie Kat, because I have your best interests at heart.
You can’t be mad. I did the best I could.
You can’t be mad. I did nothing wrong.
“Actually,” she said. “That’s such a douche thing to say, and you can’t be mad about it, because it’s the truth.”
Gray punched Erik’s shoulder. Denver laughed and Nick snorted.
Erik offered a sheepish grin. “Okay. You got me there.” He was the peacemaker, a former army ranger who’d received an honorable discharge after sustaining a life-threatening injury. “Be as mad as you wish.”
“Thank you. I will,” she said, but he’d taken the wind out of her sails. She sighed. “I will get you guys back for this, you know that, right?”
“Oh, yeah. We know. You always do.” Denver crossed the room to dig his knuckles into her crown. “Jorlan is the first man you’ve shown an interest in. To our knowledge, that is. We wanted him to know we have your back. Always.”
“Mistreating you is the same as mistreating us,” Gray said with a nod.
Despite herself, Katie softened. Even though they drove her crazy and made her wish she was an only child, she loved her brothers with every fiber of her being. There’d never been a day, hour or minute that the five handsome, wonderful men hadn’t cared for and protected her in some way.
“So,” she said. “What do you think of Jorlan? He makes an impression, right?”
“Big-time,” Gray replied.
“He’s different. In a good way,” Denver added. “I never knew a man could fight with a spatula.”
Katie smiled. A polite way of saying Jorlan was weird as crap. “He may be different, but he’s mine.” For now, at least.
Erik nodded. “Why don’t you bring him to Dad’s on Saturday? Give us a chance to make up for our behavior tonight.”
“We promise we’ll be good.” Nick pressed his hands together, pleading, while displaying his infamous “if you believe that it’s time for a mental evaluation” grin.
“How do we share the same parents?” she muttered, and he laughed outright.
“I know, right?” He slung an arm around her shoulders. “It’s not fair that I got all the good genes and you got what was left over.”
Loud guffaws rang out, until even Katie was grinning.
“I’ll think about attending Saturday, okay?” Her time with Jorlan was limited, though, and she kind of wanted to keep him all to herself. “We have a lot to do before he leaves.”
Jorlan…gone forever…
Her chest tightened, panic surging through her, but she pasted on a happy smile.
“The minivan is here,” Nick announced.
They must have ordered an Uber before bringing the bag of condoms into the living room.
Her brothers stretched out in front of her, back to chest. In assembly line fashion, they kissed her on the cheek one by one and moved to the door.
“Love you,” she called as they exited.
A chorus of “I love you, too,” fired off.
Alone with Jorlan at last, Katie locked all of the doors to keep related and nonrelated predators out. Jorlan never woke. He didn’t even rouse when she settled at his side and leaned in to get a hit of his sandalwood scent.
Sleep had relaxed his features, giving him a boyish aura she’d never before associated with him.
Boyish. The word echoed in her mind. Though she tried, she couldn’t imagine this hard, strong (drunk) warrior as a boy. He was just so larger-than-life. His innate sensuality and commanding demeanor were so potent, as if they’d marinated inside him for eons. Often he evinced the patent stillness of a predator, as if he were more animal than man.
She’d have an easier time believing some ancient mythological god had created him fully formed from a mix of blood, iron and the essence of seduction.
He was life. He was war. He was sex.
Yeah, a mythological god. Yessss. The description fit Jorlan to a T. His physical attributes were beyond exceptional, everything from the dark shadow that covered his jaw to the muscles and sinew that corded his entire body. The way he smelled. The way he tasted. The huskiness of his voice.
Katie glided her fingers over his jaw, loving the rough texture. And oh, hadn’t she wished to slip her hands over warm flesh instead of cold stone only two days ago, when she’d stood before Jorlan’s statue?
Sighing, she fit a downy blanket over him and kissed his brow. “What am I going to do with you, Jorlan en Sarr?”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
JORLAN AWOKE SUDDENLY.
Sunlight streamed over him, scorching his eyes. He squeezed his lids tightly shut. Sunlight meant morning had arrived, yet he did not recall what had happened the evening before.
Deep breath in, out. He opened his lids. Again, his irises got scorched, forcing him to squint. Why was the light so much brighter than usual? Why did his head pound so sharply he feared it might explode? And why did his tongue feel dry and parched, as if some creature had crawled inside and died?
Was he dying, mayhap? Had he been ill?
Slowly, the details hazy, his head began to fill with memories. Working for Katie, the trip to the store…drinking “lick her” offered by her brothers, and immediately regretting it as the world spun round and round.
Ah. The four were responsible for his torment.