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He laughed and slid his hand down her back to squeeze her ass. “Is that right?”
“Hmm,” she said sleepily. “I hope you don’t mind if your mate uses you for her own filthy pleasure.”
His lion purred happily, and the beast’s contentment infused Wes with a warmth he hadn’t felt since before Derek died. He pulled Eleanor in tight against his body as her head thunked down on his chest, and she snored softly.
He kissed the top of her head and kept his voice low. “No, my beautiful mate, I don’t mind.”
CHAPTER 17
He had sand in his mouth again. He swiped his gloved hand across his lips, knowing it was a useless gesture, but, fuck, did he hate that gritty feeling. Boone and Grayson were forever bitching about the heat, but it was the sand that got to Wes.
It was everywhere and in everything. A fine layer of grit that never really washed away no matter how many showers he took. It got in his hair and under his nails, in his ears and up his nose. Hell, he’d find it in his fucking underwear, despite his layer of clothes.
There was nothing quite like the maddening itch of sand in your underwear.
Wes squinted out the windshield as he drove through the operating base toward the outer gate. His sunglasses provided little help against the glare of the desert sun. He glanced over at Derek sitting in the passenger seat. He studied the map and, like always when he concentrated, the tip of his tongue stuck out from between his lips.
“Let me get this straight, Coop,” Boone’s voice drawled from the middle of the backseat of the armoured Humvee. “You thought sending us out on a new patrol was better than relaxing on base? Where I might remind you, there’s a kiddie pool full of water waiting for my hot and sweaty feet to be dunked in and a DVD of Back to the Future waiting to be watched.”
“You and that fucking movie,” Grayson grumbled. He sat directly behind Wes, and Wes glanced at him in the rear-view mirror. Grayson’s dark hair needed a haircut, Wes could see it curling against his neck below his helmet, and he hadn’t shaved this morning. He looked tired and out of sorts.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Boone said with a grin.
“It means,” Cooper sat directly behind Derek, “that it’s a stupid movie, and we’re all fucking tired of watching it.”
“You’ve cut me deep, Coop,” Boone said. “It’s like you don’t even want to be a part of the Michael J. Fox fan club anymore. I, for one, will not stand to hear you besmirch the name of the beloved Canadian icon known as Michael J. Fox.”
Cooper laughed. “Says the guy who refuses to watch one rerun of Family Ties.”
“Because I have taste,” Boone said.
“Since when?” Derek said without looking up from the map.
“Watch it, buddy,” Boone said with a mock growl.
“I’m just saying that a grown-ass man who owns a pair of adult-sized Batman Underoos may have questionable taste, that’s all,” Derek said.
“I’m wearing them right now,” Boone said proudly.
Grayson and Cooper both laughed, and Wes grinned at Derek. Derek returned his grin and folded the map. The gate ahead of them opened, and Wes drove through, his stomach tensing the way it always did when they left the relative safety of the base. He glanced at the speedometer before decreasing his speed a little. The roads weren’t exactly in great shape and -
“Fuck! Wes, look out!”
His gaze shot to the road, and he stomped on the brakes. The vehicle lurched to a stop. Wes’s seatbelt cut into his chest, and Derek made a painful grunt as his seatbelt locked up.
“Fucking hell, Wes. Where’d you get your driver’s license? A fucking gumball machine?” Boone said.
His heart beating in his chest, Wes stared at the lizard sitting in the middle of the road. It had green spots on its torso and a black head. Its tongue flicked out lazily to taste the air as Wes glared at Derek. “A fucking lizard, Derek?”
“It’s a Timon princeps,” Derek said. “Also known as the Siirt lizard.”
“I don’t care,” Wes said.
Derek peered through the windshield. “Doesn’t mean you should just drive right over him.”
“Yeah, Wes, you fucking monster. He probably has a little lizard wife and a couple of lizard kids at home. Maybe even a lizard mistress on the side,” Boone said.
Grayson laughed as Wes’s lion growled in annoyance at Boone.
