Burning Up

so warm. Resting her head against his heart when he sat down with her in his arms, she breathed deep. Her body sighed. He smelled good. All hot and male and real, his after-shave something clean and fresh. Though he clearly needed to shave more than once a day. His jaw rasped against her hair as he settled her more firmly on his lap. Not that she minded, she thought, her eyes fluttering shut.
     
    E mmett stroked his hand over the hair of the mink in his arms. She was a little thing, and right now, she was at the end of her resources. Enraged at the thought that someone had dared harm her, he held her with conscious gentleness until he felt her begin to relax. When she sighed and snuggled closer, the leopard in him gave a pleased growl—right as Dorian looked into the van.
    The blond soldier nodded at Ria. “She okay?”
    “Where the hell are the paramedics?” Emmett snarled.
    “With the piece of shit.” Dorian shrugged. “I should’ve killed him.”
    The feral part of Emmett wanted to tell the man to go out there and finish the job, but he forced himself to think past the leopard’s need to maul and tear. “We need any information he can give us on the Crew, so let’s hope he can talk later.”
    “This is when a Psy would come in handy,” Dorian muttered, referring to the psychic race that was the third part of the triumvirate that was their world. “One of the telepaths could rip the information right from the bastard’s head.”
    “You guys are gruesome,” said a drowsy feminine voice.
    Emmett looked down to find Ria’s eyes closed. “Yeah, we are.” But he had a feeling she was already asleep, her lashes dark-moon crescents against skin so creamy, he wanted to taste it. Returning his attention to Dorian through sheer force of will, he said, “Did you find any emergency contact details in her wallet?” He’d left the young soldier to handle that while he took care of Ria.
    “Yeah—parents are on their way.” Dorian’s smile was sharp. “Her daddy sounds like he’s itching for a fight, so maybe you shouldn’t look at her that way.”
    “Mind your own fucking business.” He tightened his hold.
    Raising his hands, Dorian backed off, laughing. “Hey, your funeral.”
    “Go get a paramedic here.”
    “I think Tammy just arrived—she can stitch up your girl.”
    The DarkRiver healer popped into the van on the heels of Dorian’s statement. “Let me have a look at her,” she said in a soft voice, putting her kit on the floor.
    Ria’s eyes snapped open at the other woman’s first touch. Emmett ran a hand down her back in reassurance. “Ria, this is Tamsyn, our healer. You can trust her.” To his leopard’s delight, he felt her body relax almost at once.
    “Call me Tammy.” Tamsyn smiled. “Everyone does.”
    “I know you,” Ria said an instant later. “You bought a chunk of jade from my mom’s store.”
    “Alex is your mom?” Tammy smiled at Ria’s nod. “I told her I needed something to threaten my mate with when he got blockheaded, and she said, why not a block for a block?”
    “That sounds more like my grandmother.”
    Tammy grinned. “All women sound like their mothers after a certain age.” A wink.
    Ria found herself smiling despite herself. “Then I’m doomed.” She held out her hands for Tammy to clean. “It doesn’t actually really hurt anymore.”
    “Hmm, let me see. You got this falling on your hands?” Tammy was cleaning the dirt and debris from the wounds as she spoke.
    Ria nodded, wincing at the sting of the antiseptic. “Yes.”
    The healer looked at her now clean palms. “No cuts that need stitching,” the gorgeous brunette murmured. “Let me look at your face, sweetheart.” Her hands were incredibly competent and careful, for all that she looked like a fashion model, with her height and her elegant bones.
    Ria had always wanted to be tall. That was the one thing she hadn’t inherited from her father. Instead, she was stuck with her mother’s diminutive height—but not Alex’s naturally slender body. No, Ria had gotten stuck with short and “curvy.” Hah, more like generously padded. Her mother ate six dumplings in a row and had room for more. Ria ate three and put on five pounds.
    “You asleep?” It was a rumble against her ear.
    She shook her head. “Awake.” Sort of.
    “Your face is going to bruise some,” Tamsyn told her, “but there’s no permanent damage.” She soothed something over the skin. “This’ll help keep