“Eli must have put it on the end of the tailpipe, or had someone else do it”—most likely Dominic—“and now it’s totally inflated and dragging behind us.” When Marcus stopped the car, she removed the condom, feeling equally irritated and amused.
Marcus had quickly come to learn that Kathy hadn’t been exaggerating when she told him the pranks were an ongoing thing. Pulling off the road, Marcus turned to Roni, who was focused on her cell phone. “So, basically, you and Eli have an inherent natural drive to win and prevail, and you exercise that drive on each other?”
“Don’t try to understand or rationalize our sibling bond, Marcus. I’m not sure it’s possible.” Roni had planned to avoid her mother, but Kathy was waiting—arms folded—at the front of the main lodge when they arrived. “Great,” she mumbled as they exited the car. “I get to have another lecture about living in sin.”
“I don’t know . . . I’m pretty sure a scenario of a pure little virgin being corrupted is a fantasy we could work with. If you think it’ll hurt too much, I could just put the head in.”
“Perve.”
“Ha, you smiled!”
“I do not smile.”
“Sure you don’t, Dimples.” He grinned at her low growl.
As Roni neared, Kathy said, “You haven’t been answering my calls.”
Roni expertly dodged her mother and walked straight into the lodge. “Because I only like intelligent conversation. Besides, Marcus and I have been . . . busy.”
Kathy followed her into the relatively empty living area. “Females should save themselves for their mate.” From her seat on the sofa, Janice nodded her agreement. Eli just snickered.
“Mom, I wasn’t a virgin before Marcus, so I hardly think it matters.”
Janice sneered. “You’re a constant embarrassment to your mother.”
“Well, I do try.” As Marcus came up behind Roni, her aunt immediately perked up and flashed him a flirtatious smile. Typical. And creepy. Ignoring Eli’s smug grin, Roni gave him a nod of greeting.
He arched a brow. “What, no scowl? No outburst? No attempt to get me in a headlock?”
Studying an imaginary speck of dirt on her T-shirt, she asked, “Have you checked your Facebook profile recently?”
He stiffened. “My Facebook profile?”
Roni shrugged. “I could be wrong, but you might find that your inbox is pretty full.” Eli immediately dug his phone out of his pocket.
Slipping an arm around her, Marcus splayed a possessive hand on her stomach. “What did you do?” He remembered her using her cell in the car, but he hadn’t thought she was hacking into Eli’s Facebook account.
She shrugged again. “Not much. I just sent out a little message.”
Eli’s face turned a worrying shade of red. “Oh my God! I can’t believe you did that!”
“Did what?” asked Marcus.
“You sent this to every single person on my friends list?”
His pretty little wolf somehow looked the image of innocence. “What did she do?”
Outraged, Eli explained, “She sent this out to every single one of my Facebook friends: ‘MALE SUB SEEKS MALE DOM. MUST ENJOY ANAL SEX AND BE WILLING TO EXPERIMENT. NO EXPERIENCE REQUIRED.’”
Marcus couldn’t help it—the laughter simply exploded out of him.
“Sis, you’re evil! Everyone now thinks I’m gay, submissive, and into kinky shit!”
“How many responses have you gotten so far?” chuckled Marcus.
“A shocking amount. I wouldn’t have even suspected these people were into this stuff.” Eli looked at Roni like he wanted to strangle her. “I will get you back for this.”
“So you always say, little brother.”
“Roni, how could you?” Kathy turned to Marcus. “Still think ‘petulant’ can’t be applied to her? Honestly, she’s so immature, it’s embarrassing.”
Sometimes, Marcus really wanted to yell at this woman. “That’s not petulant or immature, it’s inventive and hilarious. Your daughter never fails to make me smile.”
She snickered. “Well, I’m guessing she must be very talented at making you ‘smile.’”
Picking up the double meaning, Marcus released Roni and turned to Kathy. “Don’t talk about Roni like that.”
The dark, menacing tone made Roni tense. Marcus looked just as he had on Quinn’s territory—intense, dangerous, and intimidating. Crap. Not that she thought he’d actually attack her mother. No, the problem was that Eli had straightened in his seat, his wolf watchful and weighing whether Marcus was a threat that needed dealing with. This could get bad.
Kathy gasped. “Excuse me? She’s my daughter.”
“Which is all the more reason why you should talk to her and about her with respect.”
Roni tugged on his arm. “Marcus, just leave it.”
“No, I won’t leave it. All she ever does is put you down, criticize you, and make out like you need to change—and all because she can’t handle that you’re more dominant than she is.” Surprise flashed on Kathy’s face. “What, you think no one senses it just because you dictate to her like she’s less dominant than you?”
Again, Roni pulled on his arm. He didn’t budge.
“Do you really think it’s fair to do that to save your pride?” continued Marcus. “You treat her like a victim because you think making her look weak will make you look stronger.”
Roni yanked his arm this time. He still didn’t move. Trying a new tactic, she proceeded to leave the lodge, hoping he would follow her.
“You think you know my Roni so well, don’t you?”
“I know her a lot better than you do. Oh, and she’s my Roni, just to be clear.”
Outside, he trailed after Roni, calling out her name. She didn’t even slow down as she stalked to her lodge. Yeah, okay, he knew dominant females liked fighting their own battles. And yeah, okay, arguing with her mother probably hadn’t earned him brownie points. But he hated seeing that strained expression on Roni’s face, hated seeing the hurt in her eyes.
He found her in the kitchen making coffee. “Why do you let her get away with it?” He hadn’t wanted to snap at her, but his anger at Kathy was still fresh in his system.