Burning Up

wore brown dress, ugly brown dress, with ugly brown shoes.” Her grandmother’s hand stroked over Ria’s hair, hair that Miaoling had once said held the silk of China but the lush chocolate shade of an entirely different culture. “But he’s so handsome. Pretty green eyes, yellow hair. And he’s nice. He laughs at me silently all night across the dinner table. He knows what I’m up to.”
    “But he asked you to marry him anyway.”
    “After one week. And crazy Miaoling said yes, and we came to America.”
    “So quick,” Ria said, shaking her head. “Weren’t you scared?”
    “Pah, why scared? When in love, no scared. Only impatient.”
    “Don’t say it, Popo !”
    But it was too late. “Impatient to use woman parts!”
     
    E mmett hid his grin in his jasmine tea. His hearing was leopard-acute. He could hear everything Ria’s grandmother was saying—and damn if he wasn’t half in love with the lady already. No wonder Ria’s grandfather had married her.
    Glancing up, he caught Alex’s expression as her husband folded her into his arms. All her bluster aside, Alex really was worried about Ria. “No one will hurt your daughter again,” he said quietly, rising to his feet.
    They all looked at him for long minutes, until finally, Simon, Ria’s father, nodded. But when he spoke, it was to say, “She’s not for you. She’s taken.”
    Emmett raised an eyebrow. “She’s not wearing a ring.” And if some moron had been stupid enough not to claim her when he’d had the chance, that wasn’t Emmett’s problem.
    “She will,” Simon said. “We’ve been friends with Tom’s family, the Clarks, for years. The marriage proposal is a formality.”
    Emmett could hear Ria and her grandmother even now, giggling in the bathroom. Neither of them had mentioned this Tom in their discussion of utilizing “woman parts.” The leopard gave a feline grin of satisfaction, though the man kept his face expressionless. “I have a feeling that nothing is a given with your daughter—she’ll make her own choices.” Of course, he had every intention of making sure she chose him, but no need to tell her parents that. Not yet.
     
    T wo hours later, after a quick meeting with the DarkRiver alpha and a number of other soldiers, Emmett rubbed at gritty eyes as he accepted the beer Nathan threw him. “I’ve got to head home, get some sleep.”
    “Take a few minutes to relax,” the sentinel—one of the pack’s highest-ranking soldiers—told him. “You’ve been taut as a bow all night. Everything go okay with the girl who was attacked?”
    “Yeah.” Emmett had no intention of discussing Ria further with anyone. Not tonight. “What was that Luc was saying about the Psy?” Changeling concerns rarely intersected with those of the unemotional psychic race, but from what he’d caught tonight, it might in this case.
    Nate took a swig of his beer. “You know how they dominate politics. We’ve heard they might try to neutralize the Crew themselves.”
    “Why? They don’t give a shit about human and changeling casualties.” The sole reason the other race stayed in power—aside from the fact that their competitors had a way of withdrawing from the race after the publication of one scandal or another—was their ability to make money, money that did occasionally trickle down to the voters.
    “We’re starting to step on their toes,” Nate said. “Psy like to be the top dogs in any given situation.”
    “Guess we’ll have to move fast.”
    “We’ve got a little time.” The other man put down his beer. “Apparently, not everyone in the Psy ranks is convinced we pose a credible threat.”
    Emmett snorted. “They really can’t see beyond their ivory towers, can they?”
    “Humans and changelings don’t figure much on their radar.” Nate’s smile was distinctly pleased. “And while they’re busy deciding whether or not to bother paying attention to us, we’ll take this city.”
    Emmett raised his bottle in a toast. “To a successful campaign.” However, right then, he was thinking less about Dark-River’s takeover of the city, and more about a very private campaign of his own. Come on, mink, play with me.
     
    R ia lay in bed that night and sighed. She’d been cosseted, petted, and smothered half to death by her family in the hours since her return home. Most days, it would’ve made her certifiable. Today, she’d needed that warm blanket of love.
    Warmth. Heat.
    Her body softened,