"Stop following me." "Am I not a gentleman, obligated to see his lady home?" "If you laugh at me one more time, I swear I won't be responsible for what I do." Raven became aware of the slinking figures then, the burning eyes following her. Her heart nearly stopped, then began to pound. "Fine!" She whirled around and glared at him. "This is great! Just great, Mikhail. Call in the wolves to eat me alive. I find the idea so 'you.' So logical." He bared his white gleaming teeth at her like a hungry predator and laughed softly, teasingly. "It is not the wolves that would find you delicious." Raven picked up a broken branch and flung it at him. "Stop laughing, you hyena. This is not funny. Your arrogance is enough to make me want to throw up." It took every ounce of self-control she had not to laugh. The beast was far too charming for his own good. "Your American colloquialisms are very colorful, little one." She threw another branch, and then followed it up with a small rock. "Someone needs to teach you the lesson of a lifetime." She looked like a beautiful little spitfire, all sparks and flame. Mikhail drew in his breath slowly, carefully. She was his, all fire and fury, all independence and courage, all heated passion. She melted his heart with it, entered his soul with her soft laughter. He felt it in her mind, although she was being extremely careful not to allow him to see it. "And you think you are the one to do this thing?" he teased. Another rock came flying at his chest. He caught it easily, and deliberately polished it before dropping it to the forest floor, all the while his dark eyes holding her gaze captive. "Do you think I'm afraid of your wolves?" she demanded. "The only big bad wolf around here is you. Call all your wolves. Go ahead." She glared into the secret, dark interior of the forest. "Come and get me. What did he say to you about me?" Mikhail pried her fingers loose from the branch she held like a club, allowing it to fall. He curved an arm around her slender waist, brought her small, soft body up against his much larger, rock-hard frame. "I told them you tasted like warm honey." He whispered the words with his black velvet sorcerer's voice. Turning her in his arms, he cupped her small, beautiful face in his hands. "Where is all that marvelous respect a man as powerful as myself deserves?"