“So what did happen to your face, Saria?” Drake asked, although he could barely see anymore. Blood dripped steadily from the wounds on his face and burned in his eyes.

She knelt beside the couch, handed him a cool cloth for his chest while she went to work on his face. “They hit Lojos as we were going inside . . .”

“Yeah,” Lojos interjected. “Jules and Gaston had no problem hittin’ me.” He glared at his brothers. “It’s evident none of you had a problem with them hittin’ me.”

Remy feigned indifference. “Our new exalted leader took care of that.”

Drake jerked Saria’s wrist down, removing the cloth so he could send Remy his darkest, most intimidating scowl. “Shut the hell up, you Cajun jackass. I’m not your leader.”

Saria laughed softly. “Maybe you really do need me after all. You certainly get yourself into messes. Don’ worry, I’ll take care of you.”

Joshua and Jerico snickered. Evan turned back to the window hastily, but not before Drake caught the big grin.

“I hope all of you are enjoying yourselves,” he snapped and laid his head back, closing his eyes, more because he had to than because he was dismissing them. “Tell me what happened to your face, honey.”

Saria wasn’t a dabber. She washed the blood from the deep lacerations and then, before he knew what was happening, doused him with disinfectant. He nearly fell off the couch, howling. Saria rolled her eyes and pushed him back down.

“We’re just gettin’ started,” she pointed out. “You really are a baby, aren’t you?”

“You’re certainly not one of those women who believes in making a fuss over a man, are you?” His voice dripped acid.

“You mean mollycoddle him?” she sniped right back.

One of her brothers snorted. The argument wasn’t getting him anywhere. Why had he thought her young and sweet and innocent? He had a damned tiger by the tail and he hadn’t even realized it. So much for Drake Donovan, the man whose instincts never failed him. He caught her wrist again. This time she was scrubbing the hell out of his chest. Their eyes met and he felt himself falling like a ton of brick. Dark, enormous eyes locked with his. All those golden flecks intrigued him, all that dark chocolate enticed him.

“You’re a very scary woman, Saria Boudreaux.” He touched the bruise on her face with gentle fingers. “How did this happen?”

She rolled her eyes. “You’re not distracted easily and never give up when you want something, do you?”

“You might want to remember that in the future.”

She sighed. “I hit my face on the side of the building. Jules is strong and I knew he’d freak if I got hurt. I couldn’t get out of his hold so I jerked toward the building. I didnn expect to hit quite so hard, but it worked. He let loose to catch me around the waist so I wouldn’t fall. He was all worried, so much so that it never occurred to him that I managed to pull my knife and lock it where it counted until I said somethin’ to him.”

“Poor man,” Gage muttered. “He shoulda been expectin’ you to pull somethin’ on him. I’m a little disappointed in him.”

“Take a look at my head before you go and feel sorry for that ass,” Lojos suggested indignantly. “He nearly killed me.”

“It’s a bump,” Mahieu corrected, but he once again checked his brother’s head.

“Pour a little of Saria’s disinfectant over it,” Drake suggested. “It’ll fix him right up.”

“Go to hell,” Lojos grumped.

“This disinfectant is good stuff,” Saria said. “In any case, I need to take a look at your back, Drake. Roll over.”

He groaned. “I don’t want to move.”

“You should have thought about that before you got in the fight.”

Drake opened one eye and looked at her. Her eyes had gone liquid as she looked at the injuries. His heart began to pound. “Baby,” he said softly, uncaring that her brothers—or anyone else heard him. “You can’t cry. Not now. You’ll break my heart.”

“You did this because of me.”

“I did this for me,” he corrected. “My leopard and I are one and the same. Fuckin’ idiots think they can intimidate the world. They shoved and I shoved back harder. That’s all. It will happen again.” He studied her slightly averted face. “Did I scare you?”

She shook her head, but Saria didn’t want to lie to him. She lifted her chin and looked him directly in the eyes. “Maybe. A little. I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

He wrapped his palm around the nape of her neck. “I was careful for the most part. I didn’t want to really hurt anyone, just more like teach them a lesson.” He pressed his forehead against hers. “I’m not a violent man.”

Joshua, Jerico and Evan choked dramatically and began coughing.

Remy snorted. “And if you believe that, Saria, I’ve got a sinkhole I can sell you for farmland.”

“You’re not helping my cause,” Drake complained.

“Ignore them. I always do,” Saria advised. She swallowed, leaned closer and brushed her lips over his. The lightest of touches, but his body stirred—and damn it all—it hurt.

He swore there was a snicker coming from somewhere, but when he glared around the room, everyone was looking away. He rolled over very carefully, his breath hissing out of his lungs, his body on fire. “Fucking jackasses. I should have done a lot more damage.”