Thirteen
Page 73
He was across the room, on the bed, mouth to mine before I could finish.
I leaned over the side of the bed, hair falling in a curtain as I peered at the carpet. Adam tugged me back up. “What’s wrong?” he murmured as he pulled me against him.
“I have rug burns.” I rubbed my ass. “I’m trying to figure out how I got rug burns.”
“We were on the floor.”
“Were we?”
“Briefly, yes.”
“Huh.” I pushed up in bed. “How’d I miss that?”
He chuckled. “Well, either it was so good you lost track of where we were, or it was so bad you were busy compiling your grocery list.”
“I don’t buy the groceries. Paige does.”
Another chuckle, this one vibrating through me as he pulled me on top of him. “Then I’m going to pick option one. And if I’m wrong, don’t tell me.”
I stretched out on him, arms folded on his chest, chin propped on them. “No, it was option one. You were very good. Of course, I expected it. I’d heard that about you.”
He blinked and lifted his head to meet my eyes.
“Purely unsolicited information,” I said. “Some of your hookups liked to share.”
“That’s not at all awkward.”
“It never bothered me. I always figured since you had to wait for me, you might as well be getting some practice.”
He laughed. “Well, you’re very good, too. I might remember the floor, but only because I hit my knee on the nightstand. Otherwise, it’s all a blur. A nice blur.”
“Thank you. I had practice, too.”
Another laugh. “And that doesn’t bother me. As long as you don’t get any more practice anyplace else.”
“Mmm. Maybe. Depends on whether you can keep up.”
“Oh, believe me, I can keep up.”
He flipped me onto my back, slid onto me, and we “rested” some more.
THIRTY-THREE
I woke up first. I stretched and felt Adam’s arm over me, his leg across mine, and there was a moment, confused and drowsy, when I forgot what had happened. I was shot back to all the other times we’d shared a bed on a case or a tent on a camping trip, and I’d lain there, knowing he’d only thrown his arm across me in his sleep, and I’d think I wish …
Now I opened my eyes and saw him there, naked, his arm around my waist, his leg over mine and I thought Oh. That’s all I could think for a minute. Just Oh. Then I squeezed my eyes shut and felt a prickle of tears, emotions cycloning through me, joy and wonder and bliss and a little terror, too, the terror of finally getting the one thing I wanted above all others, and realizing that getting it doesn’t mean keeping it. But whatever happened, I would never forget the feeling of waking up and seeing him there, and I’d never regret it.
His eye cracked open and he hesitated, as if, like me, he had to take a moment to clear his head and remember. Then he smiled, slid his other arm under me, and pulled me into a slow, delicious kiss.
A phone buzzed. We both bolted up, blinking and looking around.
“Yours,” he said.
“Right. So where …”
He stretched over the edge of the bed, reached down, and pulled up my jeans. I tugged the phone from the pocket.
I answered. “Hey, Elena. Are we late?” I checked my watch. We’d been gone just over an hour.
“No, but Lester has decided he needs to leave pronto.”
“We’ll be right there.”
As soon as we were through the hotel front doors, we saw the rental car come flying around the corner two blocks down. Clay gunned it. We met him at the curb and jumped in, not even getting the door closed before he peeled away. He made a quick right—nearly mowing down people using the crosswalk—and roared past two streets before taking the next corner, circling back the way he’d come. I saw the back of Lester’s town car turn a corner ahead of us.
“Keep back about a hundred feet,” Elena said. “There’s not enough traffic for us to get closer and we’re fairly sure we know where he’s going.”
“Got it.”
“So what happened?” I asked as Clay fell into tailing position.
“We’d moved onto the patio to nurse drinks. We overheard Lester excuse himself. He came outside. He seemed to take a call. A very quick one. Then he went back in and said there was a situation at home.”
I remembered the conversation Adam and I had earlier that day. About getting called into work at convenient times.
“You said it was a quick call?” She nodded. “Very quick.”
“Did you hear it ring?”
She shook her head. “I figured it was on vibrate. But I see what you mean. It might have just been an excuse.”
Lester did head straight home, though not fast enough to suggest there was any situation there. The tactical team confirmed that—they’d been watching the house since we arrived that afternoon and hadn’t seen anything out of the ordinary. Just Lester’s wife and college-age son for dinner, then the high-school-age son bringing a friend over to play video games. After Lester went inside, he seemed to call it a night, meaning we were stuck outside, patrolling the perimeter with a squad of tactical guys who really didn’t appreciate our intrusion. Especially when their orders now came from someone who was both female and a werewolf. Elena acted as if she didn’t notice their reservations.
As for the house itself, I’d never seen Dallas—before my time—but Elena said she once had a foster family whose idea of family time was to watch the show, whether everyone wanted to or not. She was pretty sure Lester had his place modeled after JR’s ranch house. Or maybe it was the other way around. It was big. It was boxy. It was blindingly white and shimmered in the Texas heat.
Since the property was a ranch, there was a lot of acreage to be watched. If anyone was planning to break in, though, they weren’t hiding in the hay barn, because that’s where the tactical team had set up, on the unused second floor, a spot that gave them a good vantage point on the house.
The size of the property meant that while it was difficult for us to monitor, it was just as difficult for Lester to maintain proper security. His fence would deter deer and little else. Two guards were out on patrol. The rest of the security was on the house itself, much of it electronic. Two Cabal technicians had gotten access to the attic. By the time dusk fell, we’d be able to rappel across the narrow gap between the second floor of the barn and a dormer window.
I leaned over the side of the bed, hair falling in a curtain as I peered at the carpet. Adam tugged me back up. “What’s wrong?” he murmured as he pulled me against him.
“I have rug burns.” I rubbed my ass. “I’m trying to figure out how I got rug burns.”
“We were on the floor.”
“Were we?”
“Briefly, yes.”
“Huh.” I pushed up in bed. “How’d I miss that?”
He chuckled. “Well, either it was so good you lost track of where we were, or it was so bad you were busy compiling your grocery list.”
“I don’t buy the groceries. Paige does.”
Another chuckle, this one vibrating through me as he pulled me on top of him. “Then I’m going to pick option one. And if I’m wrong, don’t tell me.”
I stretched out on him, arms folded on his chest, chin propped on them. “No, it was option one. You were very good. Of course, I expected it. I’d heard that about you.”
He blinked and lifted his head to meet my eyes.
“Purely unsolicited information,” I said. “Some of your hookups liked to share.”
“That’s not at all awkward.”
“It never bothered me. I always figured since you had to wait for me, you might as well be getting some practice.”
He laughed. “Well, you’re very good, too. I might remember the floor, but only because I hit my knee on the nightstand. Otherwise, it’s all a blur. A nice blur.”
“Thank you. I had practice, too.”
Another laugh. “And that doesn’t bother me. As long as you don’t get any more practice anyplace else.”
“Mmm. Maybe. Depends on whether you can keep up.”
“Oh, believe me, I can keep up.”
He flipped me onto my back, slid onto me, and we “rested” some more.
THIRTY-THREE
I woke up first. I stretched and felt Adam’s arm over me, his leg across mine, and there was a moment, confused and drowsy, when I forgot what had happened. I was shot back to all the other times we’d shared a bed on a case or a tent on a camping trip, and I’d lain there, knowing he’d only thrown his arm across me in his sleep, and I’d think I wish …
Now I opened my eyes and saw him there, naked, his arm around my waist, his leg over mine and I thought Oh. That’s all I could think for a minute. Just Oh. Then I squeezed my eyes shut and felt a prickle of tears, emotions cycloning through me, joy and wonder and bliss and a little terror, too, the terror of finally getting the one thing I wanted above all others, and realizing that getting it doesn’t mean keeping it. But whatever happened, I would never forget the feeling of waking up and seeing him there, and I’d never regret it.
His eye cracked open and he hesitated, as if, like me, he had to take a moment to clear his head and remember. Then he smiled, slid his other arm under me, and pulled me into a slow, delicious kiss.
A phone buzzed. We both bolted up, blinking and looking around.
“Yours,” he said.
“Right. So where …”
He stretched over the edge of the bed, reached down, and pulled up my jeans. I tugged the phone from the pocket.
I answered. “Hey, Elena. Are we late?” I checked my watch. We’d been gone just over an hour.
“No, but Lester has decided he needs to leave pronto.”
“We’ll be right there.”
As soon as we were through the hotel front doors, we saw the rental car come flying around the corner two blocks down. Clay gunned it. We met him at the curb and jumped in, not even getting the door closed before he peeled away. He made a quick right—nearly mowing down people using the crosswalk—and roared past two streets before taking the next corner, circling back the way he’d come. I saw the back of Lester’s town car turn a corner ahead of us.
“Keep back about a hundred feet,” Elena said. “There’s not enough traffic for us to get closer and we’re fairly sure we know where he’s going.”
“Got it.”
“So what happened?” I asked as Clay fell into tailing position.
“We’d moved onto the patio to nurse drinks. We overheard Lester excuse himself. He came outside. He seemed to take a call. A very quick one. Then he went back in and said there was a situation at home.”
I remembered the conversation Adam and I had earlier that day. About getting called into work at convenient times.
“You said it was a quick call?” She nodded. “Very quick.”
“Did you hear it ring?”
She shook her head. “I figured it was on vibrate. But I see what you mean. It might have just been an excuse.”
Lester did head straight home, though not fast enough to suggest there was any situation there. The tactical team confirmed that—they’d been watching the house since we arrived that afternoon and hadn’t seen anything out of the ordinary. Just Lester’s wife and college-age son for dinner, then the high-school-age son bringing a friend over to play video games. After Lester went inside, he seemed to call it a night, meaning we were stuck outside, patrolling the perimeter with a squad of tactical guys who really didn’t appreciate our intrusion. Especially when their orders now came from someone who was both female and a werewolf. Elena acted as if she didn’t notice their reservations.
As for the house itself, I’d never seen Dallas—before my time—but Elena said she once had a foster family whose idea of family time was to watch the show, whether everyone wanted to or not. She was pretty sure Lester had his place modeled after JR’s ranch house. Or maybe it was the other way around. It was big. It was boxy. It was blindingly white and shimmered in the Texas heat.
Since the property was a ranch, there was a lot of acreage to be watched. If anyone was planning to break in, though, they weren’t hiding in the hay barn, because that’s where the tactical team had set up, on the unused second floor, a spot that gave them a good vantage point on the house.
The size of the property meant that while it was difficult for us to monitor, it was just as difficult for Lester to maintain proper security. His fence would deter deer and little else. Two guards were out on patrol. The rest of the security was on the house itself, much of it electronic. Two Cabal technicians had gotten access to the attic. By the time dusk fell, we’d be able to rappel across the narrow gap between the second floor of the barn and a dormer window.
