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“I understand why helping others matters to you,” Bones said in a carefully controlled tone, “but if you want to continue your crusade to rid the world of undead murderers, you can do that with me. You don’t need them.”
“You’re right,” she said at once. “But they needme. They’ll try to hunt vamps and ghouls without me, and it’ll get them killed. I became friends with many of them over the years, and they’re good guys. If Don leaves me no other choice, I’ll leave, but until then, I will fight to make him reconsider.”
She always took the hardest path. Always. Somewhere along the line, he’d forgotten that. Wasn’t this a ruthless reminder?
“All right,” Bones said at last. He wouldn’t try to stop her, but he also couldn’t let things continue the way they had. Still, that was a talk for later. “With luck, we’ll have a little time before we have to deal with Ian. Perhaps even a month. Don’t tell your boss who I really am, if Tate hasn’t figured it out. There are some details I need to settle first before Don realizes that you didn’t kill me back in Ohio.”
“What details? With Ian?”
Bones grunted. “With Don. I’m waiting to confirm some information on him, and I’ll tell you when I have it.”
Her gaze turned sharp. “What information?”
“I’ll tell you when I have it,” Bones repeated. It shouldn’t be long, either. One of his people had rung him earlier and said to expect a delivery tomorrow. With luck, it would contain the proof he needed.
His determination not to say more now must have shown on his face because Cat closed her mouth with a disappointed click.
“Now, I’ll follow you over there, but tell me more about this building,” Bones said, changing the subject. “If they tried to force you to leave, where would they take you? The airstrip?”
“Yes, they’d try to fly me out, if they were going to get rough with me. Planes and helicopters don’t normally take off there, so if one does tonight, chances are I’m on it.”
Bones gave her a hard look. “Your mind’s set on wanting to work there, but think a bit, Kitten. If they can’t persuade you to leave me, and they reckon you’ll try to escape if they hold you, what’s to stop them from simply killing you? I guarantee no aircraft will take off with you on it, but I don’t fancy you walking into a death trap. How certain are you of these men?”
Her lips pursed as she considered it.
After a minute, she shook her head. “Unless they’ve exhausted all other options, they won’t pull that trigger. They’d try to salvage me first. If I started randomly killing people, then yes, they’d try to take me out, but otherwise…no. That’s not Don’s style.”
She paused, drawing in a deep breath while her gaze became strafed with pain and guilt.
“What is it?” Bones said softly.
She stared at him, her eyes turning brighter not from the green lights that heralded her vampire nature, but tears.
“When I left you, I thought it was the only way to save both you and my mother.Really, I did. But over the years, I’ve gotten to know Don. He can be a calculating son of a bitch, but he’s not the prick I first thought him to be. Don would never leave my mother defenseless if I took off with you, which is what he threatened to do when I first met him. Yes, Don might try to kill me if he thought I’d destroy his operation, butonlyas a last resort, and only because he genuinely wants to help people that vampires and ghouls have victimized. That’s why I’m not afraid to go in now, Bones, no matter how much Don will hate that I’m dating a vampire.”
So many words to sum up just a few: I was wrong. That’s what her gaze said, and it rang through her voice as she admitted-finally-that she hadn’t needed to leave him before. Therehadbeen another way.
Bones came nearer, forgetting his intention to let her make the first move. He also didn’t care about the clock ticking away on when she had to leave, or anything else as he stroked her cheek, feeling her warmth seep into his palm. Then, his other hand moved to her hair, and he tilted her head back while gripping that silky mass.
She stared at him, her heartbeat fluttering as her hands slid up to grasp his arms. Only the space of a breath separated their lips, and hers parted in anticipation.
Bones dipped his head, claiming their soft, velvety fullness. A moan vibrated in her throat, and he savored it before moving past her lips to taste the sweetness within. Her tongue met his, brushing it with greedy strokes that blasted at his crumbling control. Her body seemed to flare with new heat, too, until each brush of her hands seared him, and when she pressed her full length against him, it nearly undid him, as did the way she touched him with desperate, almost fevered strokes.
Her heartbeat pounded against his chest, and still, she wasn’t close enough. He needed more, and he ravished her mouth until he felt drunk with her taste. Finally, he let her feel how much he wanted her, and when he rubbed his hard length against her center, her muscles bunched, and a cry wrenched out of her.
She suddenly hurled herself out of his embrace. Bones let her, but he couldn’t keep from gripping her arms so he still touchedsomeof her. She was panting and staring at him with animal-like need that still didn’t come close to the fire raging through him, and when she looked at his mouth, a groan tore from him.
“If I kiss you again, I’m not going to stop.”
A strangled sound escaped her; half invitation, half despair. “We can’t. Not now. If we do, it’ll be easy for my team to capture you since you’ll already be pinned underneath me.”
He laughed even as the image tore through his control, making his hands tighten on her before he forced himself to relax. Still, he couldn’t let her go.
“I’ll happily risk it.”
She closed her eyes for a second. Then, she peeled his fingers from her arms and backed away.
“Not now.”
