Heat . Amy Blankenship

but Devon beat him to it.

      Devon gave Trevor the evil eye as the other man followed them inside but didn’t say anything. Devon hated the fact that he owed Trevor for saving Envy… but hated it more that it was Trevor he owed the favor to.

      “You don’t need to come in with us,” Envy offered, trying to diffuse the tense air around the two men. She even gave Trevor a small smile and a nod to let him know she wasn’t just being mean, but really appreciated his help.

      Trevor’s eyes softened when he locked gazes with Envy. “I’d feel better if I knew you were being taken care of.”

      Envy inwardly cringed… totally wrong thing to say.

      “Are you saying that I can’t take care of Envy?” Devon stopped and demanded as they reached the stairs that led up to the living quarters.

      “Not in so many words,” Trevor said as he followed Envy up the stairs.

      Devon’s eyes widened and he raced up behind Trevor and pushed him harshly against the wall. “Then explain it to me Care Bear.”

      Trevor shrugged against the wall, “Sure thing Thunder Cat… you suck!”

      “Go to hell!” Devon growled loudly.

      “I feel a flashback from Saturday morning cartoons coming on,” Envy muttered and rubbed her forehead. “How about you two stop spraying testosterone all over the place and play nice for a change? I’ve got a major headache, my arm hurts like hell, and the last thing I need is for you two to start fighting over who the better man is.” She looked at Trevor, “Either shut up or go home, right now I don’t care which.”

      Devon smirked until Envy turned her glare on him. “And you… I have the right to deny you kitty cat. Keep it up and you’ll be reduced to yowling from the alley fence.”

      Tabatha had been waiting to hear something for a while when she heard Devon tell Trevor to go to hell. She opened the door just in time to see Envy tell both of them off and couldn’t help but giggle. At least she wasn’t alone anymore.

      “Are the boys misbehaving again?” Tabatha asked.

      “You have no idea,” Envy grumbled as she walked into Warren’s office with the now-silent Trevor and Devon behind her.

      Envy slipped the jacket off of her shoulders and Tabatha’s eyes widened at the blood-soaked bandage around Envy’s arm. She started to have a flashback of her and Envy being held hostage by Raven and his gang of bloodsuckers, but forcibly pushed the vision back into her mental lock box.

      “Will one of you guys get the first aid kit?” Tabatha asked while looking Envy over to make sure her shoulder was the only injury.

      “I’ll get it,” Devon answered and walked into Warren’s connecting bathroom.

      “What happened?” Tabatha demanded when she unwrapped the bandage and saw where a bullet had grazed her friend’s arm.

      “Got shot at, growled at, nearly clawed, and barely outran an explosion,” Envy said with a grin but the grin disappeared when she noticed the look on her friend’s face. “I’m okay, I promise,” she quickly added.

      Ignoring Envy, Tabatha glared up at Devon when he came back into the room. “Where the hell were you when Envy got shot?” She couldn’t help it. “This is my best friend and you’re supposed to be taking care of her!”

      Trevor laughed inwardly, glad someone besides him was finally giving Devon a much-needed ass chewing.

      “Fighting for our lives,” Devon said in his defense. “I couldn’t get to her but Winnie the Pooh over here got her out.”

      “That was after Hello Kitty let her get separated from him,” Trevor finished trying not to crack a grin at the thought of Devon still thinking he was a werebear… if Devon only knew the truth about what he really was. The urge to grin went away when his gaze returned to Envy. If Devon knew the truth, then Envy would know and he was tired of getting caught in his lies by her.

      Tabatha and Envy gave each other a resigned look and Envy mouthed the word ‘help’ knowing Tabby would understand.

      “Hey Trevor, can you give me a ride home?” Tabatha asked trying get Trevor out of the room before Devon bit his head off... or Envy truly went off on the two of them.

      Trevor sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets. “Sure, let me go down and get the car started.”

      Once Trevor had sullenly left, Envy gave Tabby a look of relief. “Thank you!”

      Tabatha smirked, “Don’t thank me because now you both owe me one.”

      “I’ll give you everything I own!” Devon exclaimed with a grin.

      “Does that include Envy?” Tabatha asked, her eyes twinkling.

      “Not a chance,” Devon answered giving her a wink.

      Tabatha made a disappointed face, “Well, that just takes the fun out of all of it.”

      Envy giggled as Tabatha pranced out of the room, mock-slamming the door on her way.

      Chapter 2

      “Put me down you bloodsucking lunatic!” Alicia yelled while clawing at Damon’s back from where he’d thrown her over his shoulder. The moment she’d realized they weren’t headed toward Night Light she had wanted him to stop… obviously wanting and getting were two different things. “I want to go see Micah!”

      “Michael told me to bring you back here and this is where you will stay,” Damon ordered as he calmly walked into Alicia’s room. He tossed her down onto the bed and winced when her nails left long welts on his back. Growling he added, “I don’t think your boyfriend will be overly disappointed if you’re a little late to his bed… side.”

      Alicia huffed and tried to scoot off the bed but Damon was immediately leaning over her with a palm firmly planted on each side of her shoulders.

      Damon glared down at her, trying one more time to put her under his compulsion spell, “Damn it, I said stay!”

      “I’m not a dog, I’m a cat you...” Alicia’s mind went blank for a second as she stared up at him, watching the way his hair dangled down around that perfect face. She felt something in the pit of her stomach awaken with longing. Lowering her gaze to his lips, she used the only thing she could think of to get her mind off kissing him… aggression.

      “You’re not the boss of me!” Alicia hit him in the chest but regretted it when Damon squeezed his eyes shut in pain and leaned down closer to her.

      “Did no one ever spank you growing up?” Damon growled breaking out in a sweat. He rolled away from her to lie on his back beside her.

      “You wish.” Alicia frowned wondering how in the world he had just carried her across town like a Neanderthal and now looked like he was going to pass out because she’d hit him for it. “Are you all right?” she asked suspiciously, not wanting to feel guilt for her retaliation.

      Damon opened his eyes only to come face to face with a stupid teddy bear. His amethyst eyes narrowed reading the collar it was wearing… ‘Micah'… figures.

      “I’m just dandy… and you?” he answered as he pushed himself into a sitting position wondering why he bothered getting involved with humans… especially females. They were nothing but trouble. Standing up, he started for the door hoping he didn’t do something lame like pass out. “If you try to leave this house before Michael gets back, I’m going to feed that teddy bear to you.”

      Alicia glared at the door until he was gone then cocked her eyebrow at her innocent teddy bear, “Well I know what I did… but what did you do to piss him off?”

      She rolled her eyes and reached over to turn on the lamp. Damon had been in such a hurry to throw her on the bed they hadn’t even turned on the light. She was about to grab teddy