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“All right,” she said, sounding even wearier than before. “I think that’s enough for one night.” She looked to me. “Thank you for your quick observations.” And then to Rose. “You’ll have the support you need early tomorrow morning. In the meantime, I think we’d all better get some rest. That creature is moving slowly now. If that changes, we won’t be any match for it at all if we’re already exhausted.”
Chapter Six
Rose
Lady Northcott had pretty much ordered us to sleep. Unfortunately my mind didn’t take those kind of orders easily. The sleep I did get was strung through with dreams of that unearthly demon form turning its massive head toward me and the world around me crumbling into dry rot. I woke up more than once with sweat sticky on my skin.
The third or fourth time, there was just enough near-dawn light seeping through the room’s one small window that I could make out the other cots the Assembly had arranged for us in this makeshift dorm room. I hadn’t wanted to be separated from any of my consorts overnight, and we’d wanted to be close at hand where the Assembly could reach out to us in case the demon changed tactics all at once, so we hadn’t gotten a whole lot of choice in our bedroom situation.
The guys were all sprawled on their respective cots, the rising and falling rasp of sleeping breaths filling the room. Except for the cot at my right—Gabriel’s. It was empty other than a tangle of sheet and blanket.
My pulse hiccupped. I sat up, the sweat on my arms turning cold.
He wouldn’t have left. He’d sworn he’d never really wanted to leave us in the first place. I couldn’t imagine any reason why he’d do that now.
But my heart still thumped a little too quickly as I eased out of the room. The sound of fingers pattering over a keyboard reached me from the office the Assembly had set up for us on the opposite side of the hall.
My nerves settled as I pushed open that door and found Gabriel frowning at the screen of the laptop Damon had been using earlier. He edged back his chair at the squeak of the hinges and gave me a smile that didn’t quite erase the worry from his gaze.
“Hey, Sprout,” he said, opening his arms to me. “Up already?”
“I should be saying that to you,” I said as I let myself sink into his lap. I looped my arm loosely around his neck. “I woke up and you weren’t there.”
“Oh, shit, I’m sorry,” he said before I had to explain any more than that. He hugged me close. “I didn’t mean to worry you. I’d just been tossing and turning for an hour, figured if I was going to be awake anyway, I might as well try to do something useful with that time.”
I peered at the computer screen, the glow harsh on my still-tired eyes. “Did you find anything you think will help?”
He shook his head. “I’ve got to admit I’m not even totally sure what I should be looking for. My searching has been kind of aimless. Not much better than nothing. I wish I could figure out a way to help more than this.”
He sounded so overwhelmed in that moment that my heart squeezed. I touched the side of his face, drawing it closer to mine.
“You’re helping plenty,” I said. “You help just by being here. We’re stronger together, and I’m so much stronger because I have you. Don’t you ever forget that.”
Gabriel cupped my cheek and kissed me in answer. As his mouth moved against mine, a pang of longing shot through me, for this closeness I hadn’t gotten to really enjoy with any of my consorts in the last stressful few days. Even the last time Gabriel and I had come together, it’d been more about healing some of the wounds our relationship had be dealt, not simple enjoyment and passion.
When had anything between the six of us ever gotten to be simple?Wouldit ever be?
As if he’d read my thoughts, Gabriel pulled back from me, just far enough to speak. “I don’t care what any of those officials think, Rose. I don’t care what any of them say. This isright. This is where I’m meant to be—where we’re all meant to be. They can take their prejudices and shove them where the sun don’t shine.”
A laugh escaped me, and then I was kissing him again, with more hunger than before. Yes, this was right. Right, the way our breaths blended together. Right, the heat of his tongue teasing over mine. Right, the tingling of my skin as his hands eased up my sides.
The longing swelled into a need. I shifted myself on the chair to straddle him. Gabriel gripped my waist, watching me for a cue but with eyes lit with desire. I drew a flicker of my spark to my fingertips with a twist of my wrist and spelled the door’s lock into place.
I didn’t want any officials walking in on us—but they couldn’t tell us that the love we were about to make wasn’t valid.
I’d worn a loose dress to bed in case I was woken and had to spring into action in a hurry, but I hadn’t bothered with a bra underneath. Gabriel’s thumbs traced the curves of my breasts and stroked my nipples into pebbles. I whimpered, rocking against him. Our kisses turned sloppy as he eased up my dress and eased down my panties. I fumbled with his fly, my urgency growing as he slicked his hand over the ready folds between my legs.
When he pushed into me, I held him there for the first few seconds, just reveling in the sensation of being filled, of being connected in every possible way. “I love you,” I murmured.
“God, Rose, I love you too,” Gabriel said, his voice ragged. He tugged me down for another kiss as we began to buck together toward our release. Each pump of his cock inside me echoed the eager thump of my heart. And when I came, my consort following me just moments later, our cries twined together in perfect harmony.
If this wasn’t right, then there couldn’t be anything in the world that was.
* * *
I was supposed to meet Investigator Ruiz in the front hall at eight am, and I made it there on time and with all my clothes in order, even though I’d ended up falling back asleep cuddled up with Gabriel on the office couch. The enforcer turned toward me with a faint smile.
“We may need to wait a few minutes before we head over to the Assembly’s holding building,” she said. “The other enforcers assigned to this case will meet us there, but I’m expecting someone whose presence might benefit us.”
