“There,” I say, leaning back with a grin as two hours of work finally pay off. “It’s armed.”
Reed shifts beside me and I catch the flash of his teeth.
“What,” I say. “Why are you smiling like that?”
He tips his head back. “Just thinking you came up with the best plan I’ve ever seen. Who looks at a problem like this and goes,cardboard camera, plus a laptop that snitches?”
“A desperate librarian,” I say.
“Can you just walk me through this again?” he asks. “Just so I don’t mess up.”
“I don’t think you can,” I say. “But sure. See that camera?” I nod out at the bay, pointing to the dummy security camera we spent fourteen minutes cutting out of a box, painting black, and outfitting with a glossy scrap of plastic for a fake lens. But zip-tied to a steel beam, it looks remarkably real—and obvious. “Anybody with clean hands who approaches and sees that isn’t going to care,” I explain. “But someone with bad intentions? They’ll spot it and turn right back around.” I tap the laptop screen. “That’s where the webcam catches them. If someone steps into frame and leaves within ten seconds, or if the program clocks them running, the terminal pings us.”
Reed huffs a laugh, a warm rumble that travels straight through my thigh where his leg is pressed to mine. “Genius.”
“You learn to get creative when you have a book thief, no time to watch hours of tape, and a budget of zero dollars.” I lean my shoulder back against him. “Anyway, the rest of the plan is simple: when the program flags a suspect, we go get physical. Well, you do.”
“Oh, don’t you worry about that.” Reed looks at me and his scent goes thick. My Omega lifts her head, and before I know it, I’m purring.
Whoops, I tell myself as Reed bites his lower lip.I probably shouldn’t be encouraging a climate of fornication in a tool shed.
Except... uh, why not, actually? The program is the one doing all the heavy lifting. The laptop will scream if anythinginteresting happens out there, which technically leaves us with absolutely nothing to do in the meantime.
“So do you realize you’re basically a spy?” Reed asks, a lazy swipe of his tongue dampening his bottom lip. “Brainy, beautiful, running stakeouts... I need you to know it’s doing alotfor me right now.”
“Glad you noticed.” I meet his eyes. “People hearlibrarianand think cardigans and shushing. Now you know cardigans are just camouflage.”
“That’s the most dangerous thing I’ve ever heard,” he murmurs. He shifts, and his hand lands on my knee. Sliding slowly up my thigh.
My heart thuds against my ribs.
“Your heart’s going,” he says.
“Anticipation,” I whisper.
“Is that what we’re calling it?”
His fingers slide higher, dragging the fabric of my leggings. A heavy, pooling heat settles low in my belly, slick already gathering between my thighs.
Every instinct I have tells me to climb into his lap.Do it,my Omega says, already on her feet.He’s right here. He’s ours. What are we waiting for.
He leans in. The tip of his nose drags up the side of my throat, along my jaw, and I tip my head into it. “So what are we gonna do until your laptop pings?”
Fuck it.
I turn my head and drag my tongue up his jawline, slow. He goes completely still. “We can keep each other company.”
Now he’s the one turning his head and his mouth is on mine, then both hands.
He tastes of the bitter coffee we split an hour ago before heading to the shed. His tongue slides into my mouth and I melt, fisting the front of his jacket to haul him closer.
“Reed,” I breathe, and he uses the gap to drag his mouth down my throat, his teeth scraping my collarbone.
He lifts me to my feet, guiding me backward until my spine hits the cedar wall. In one fluid motion, his hands hook into my leggings, pulling them down. The shed air catches me with a cold shock, but then he’s touching me, sliding right into the slick, and the gasp I let out is embarrassingly loud.
“Damn,” he whispers against my ear, his breath hot. “Already so wet for me?”
Two fingers slide deep, and my head cracks back against the wall as a white-hot shock tears straight up my spine.
