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his arm harder against his captive’s windpipe. Brown eyes narrowed heatedly while Houston’s fingers dug unnoticed into the arm that pinned him.

Chapter Six
     
     
    Titania watched in horror, her knuckles shoved between her teeth to stop the scream fighting to get free. Her heart pounded, her throat burned in fearful surprise, but it all quickly changed to anger when Diego continued to hold Houston immobile to the wall.
    “Diego! Stop it. Let him go.” She was shocked to find her voice steady.
    Diego released Houston though it wasn’t done with any sense of expediency, sending one last warning glare as he did so. Houston ran a hand over his throat, swallowing once.
    “Who the hell is he?” Houston snapped. “And how the hell did he get into your room?”
    “I flew,” Diego replied in a flippant tone.
    Houston’s eyes narrowed. “I bet you did.”
    “Would you two quit it!” Titania glowered at the both of them. “Houston, I told you, he saved me from Thomas.”
    “I’m hiring you that damn bodyguard. This is freakin’ ridiculous,” Houston said. Titania saw when Houston spotted Diego’s long jacket. “Leather. You!” Diego stood motionless at the accusation. Houston tensed, fists forming, and Titania threw herself between them.
    “Stop it! Right now.” She saw Houston’s gaze grow heated, only able to guess at what was circling through Diego’s head.
    “You know perfectly well. I will not let anyone harm you. Friend or foe.”
    “Well, just quit it,” she snapped back with force, unaware she had done so. “Diego, you know Houston wouldn’t hurt me.” She shoved at him, though his solid frame didn’t move. He looked relaxed. As relaxed as a cougar with a sore paw.
    When neither man relented, she purposely put a hand on each chest. “If you two don’t quit this posturing, so help me…”
    “ Cara , I do not posture,” Diego said in a purr. He lifted a hand to cover hers on his chest, and she felt a wave of comfort surround her. Titania felt a simultaneous vibration of disapproval under the fingers pressed into Houston’s chest.
    “What’s going on in here?” Laney asked, rounding the corner. “I could hear you down the hall.” Houston took two immediate steps back and braced an arm around Laney, pinning her to his side, shielding her. His eyes never left Diego’s.
    To Titania, it looked like battle lines had been drawn.
    “How did he get in here just now? The room was empty,” Houston asked, a sharp demand in the words.
    She sought Diego’s gaze, and he nodded once. She turned to say, “He’s gifted. Like us.”
    “Not like us,” Houston told her coldly. “You’ve really done it this time, Tani.” She saw some of the heat leave Houston’s expression when he shook his blond head. “Christ, Tani,” he growled, shoving his free hand through his hair.
    “Well, you think I need a bodyguard. He did help me once already,” she said, tossing out something to uphold her end of the argument. Houston’s fierce refusal was apparent in the tight hold of his shoulders, the grim slash of his mouth.
    “Him? Are you kidding?” Houston stared at her, then narrowed his eyes back at Diego.
    “I am capable,” he drawled in answer to Houston’s dark looks. “And no one would ever touch her again.” It was a promise, a threat of retribution should Houston ever dare to hurt her either. No one else would get the chance.
    Houston chose to ignore the other man. “Tani, come on. You don’t know this guy, anything about him. Let me get you a professional.”
    “Don’t bother,” she replied, ignoring his cajoling tone. “You want me to have a guard dog. I found one. Don’t get all pissy because you don’t like him.” She crossed her arms, lifting her chin in defiance. It didn’t help that she had to look so far up to cross glares.
    Houston raked a hand down his face. “Fine,” he relented after several tense seconds. “But the first time he screws up, he’s gone.”
    Houston