“They were there for you. That’s why it never occurred to them not to go.”

Livy pushed her empty plate away and sipped more of her wine.

“Oh,” Vic said, “I should warn you . . . Toni found out that Blayne asked you to photograph her wedding.”

Livy winced a little. “Did Blayne duck in time?”

“No, but thankfully I was standing there, so I managed to get hold of Toni before her claws made contact.”

“You’re fast.”

“Speed’s important for my line of work.”

Livy watched Vic roll to his back, his hands behind his head, his gaze on the ceiling. She reached back and grabbed her camera off the couch. She adjusted the shutter for the low light in the room and raised the camera so she could look through the viewfinder.

Without moving his position, Vic asked, “Are you taking my picture?”

“Yes. But you’ll have to hold your position. It’s dark in here.”

Livy lifted one knee and balanced her camera on it. She checked the composition. Adjusted her body so that the camera moved the tiniest bit. Happy with that, she pushed the release, her heart racing a bit when she heard the slow-because-of-the-low-light click of the shutter.

“That better not end up on the Net,” Vic teasingly warned.

Livy took a few more before crawling over to Vic’s side, the camera held in her hand. She straddled his chest and looked through the viewfinder. “I wish the fireplace worked,” she murmured. “The firelight would look great on your face.”

“My cheekbones again?”

“They are fabulous.” Livy reached down and tipped Vic’s head slightly to the side. “Thanks for bringing me here,” she said. “I really needed this.”

“Toni said to get you away from Melly. This seemed like the best option. Not sure what you’ll do, though, when we head back.”

“My cousin Jocelyn is going to take Melly to one of our New York safe houses, which I appreciate.”

“One of your New York safe houses? You mean your family’s safe houses?”

Livy snapped Vic’s picture. “You can find Kowalski or Yang safe houses all over the world. In some cities, we have several.”

“Have you ever used them?”

“No. You never know when a relative is going to be there. Sometimes several, if there was a very big recent job and they’re lying low. And then you must deal with family, which I try to avoid. Besides,” she reminded him, placing her camera aside, “I have your house if I need to crash somewhere.”

“Anytime you want . . . just no more holes. It’s costing me a fortune to get those fixed.”

“What if I fix them?”

“No holes.”

“Fine.”

Livy stretched down, her arms sliding around his neck. She nibbled his jaw, then bit hard into his neck. Vic’s body jerked beneath her and he snarled a little.

“You play rough,” he grumbled, his arms still behind his head.

“I can stop if you want me to.”

“No need to be hasty. Just pointing things out.”

Livy licked her way back to his mouth, teasing his lips with her tongue. She twisted his hair around her fingers and massaged his scalp with her knuckles.

It was funny, Livy didn’t usually “play” with men. She was kind of a get-in-get-out girl. But this was Vic, and she actually enjoyed his company in and out of bed.

Vic finally pulled his hands out from behind his head and stroked them up Livy’s sides and around to her back, smiling as soon as he unleashed his claws, the tips dragging along her spine.

Sighing, Livy kissed Vic, burying her hands deep into his hair, and holding his head tight while she took his mouth.

But then he suddenly pushed her away. “Here,” he growled, pushing a condom packet into her hand.

“The cat awake again?” she asked, moving down his body until she straddled his knees and had easy access to his cock.

“What do you think?”

Livy removed the condom from the packaging, but she held on to it while she took Vic’s cock into her mouth. She deep-throated him, sucked, deep-throated him again. She pulled back, ran her tongue around the tip, then sucked him deep again.

That’s when Vic snarled, “Unless you want a mouth full of—”

She pulled his cock out of her mouth before he could finish that lovely description and put the condom on it. Livy took her time lowering her pussy onto it, but Vic suddenly gripped her waist and yanked her down.

Vic gasped but Livy laughed. “So impatient.”

“You take too long.” He ground his hips up and Livy wondered if he was trying to reach the back of her throat that way. And wondered if he possibly could.

Livy pressed her hand against his chest. “Are you going to let me do this, or are you going to try and rule from below?”

Vic studied her for a long moment, gold eyes squinting at her.

“No,” he finally stated. “You can take control later.”

Vic lifted Livy off his cock and before she knew it, she was on her knees in front of the couch, her head and arms resting on the cushions. Vic settled in right behind her, a knee pushing her legs apart. Then he was inside her, buried deep. Big, long arms stretched past Livy, his hands taking hold of the couch back. It was like being mounted by a giant, which she found shockingly arousing.

“What’s so funny?” he panted against her ear.