“Do you believe I’ll be faithful to you? Not just for this case but for all others? No matter what I’m assigned.”
All? All! Were they talking . . . forever? “I . . . think so.”
Disappointment replaced the contentment. “For now, that’s good enough. I will prove myself to you.”
She closed her eyes. “It’s not a matter of proving yourself, bluejay. It’s a matter of believing you won’t grow tired of me.”
“I won’t grow tired of you.”
How confident he sounded. “All right. Okay. We can try a real relationship. But things have to stay the same. We have to keep it a secret.”
“Evie—”
“No. I don’t want to be the reason you and Michael break up.”
“We won’t break up. We’ll fight and make up.”
She heard the doubt in his tone. “Maybe. But I know him, and he’ll say things that he’ll never be able to take back. You’ll be hurt, and I’ll be mad.”
His expression softened. “He’s a spy, Evie. He taught me everything I know. He’s going to find out sooner or later.”
“But—”
“No buts. Right now I have a reason to sneak over. Very soon I won’t. How are you going to explain my presence?” He wound a lock of her hair around his finger. “Because I’m not sleeping without you.”
Falling faster . . .
“I don’t want to sleep without you, either,” she admitted. “But. Yes, there will be buts. We’ll tell everyone sometime after the case, as planned. No reason to distract our only backup.”
“Fine. Once John is found, I’ll give you a week. A business week, just to be clear. You aren’t taking the weekend, too.”
“Two weeks.”
“Three days.”
“You still haven’t learned to bargain!”
“Two days.”
“One business week,” she said on a sigh.
He kissed her. “Agreed. Now, can we commence with the snugging?”
“No. More loving.” She wrapped her arms around him and nibbled her way across his jaw. Lazy pleasure, that’s what this was, and she was going to enjoy every moment of it. The fire no longer raged, it simmered with promise of things to come. “Solo will flip, you know. He hates me.”
“Now you’re grasping,” Blue said, flipping to his back and placing Evie on top of him.
Mmm. The new position opened up a whole new world for her to explore. “Doesn’t matter,” she said, flicking her tongue over one of his ni**les. “It’s still a valid reason to me.”
His hands tangled in her hair. “Well, then, he just doesn’t know you.”
“He’ll try to talk you out of seeing me.” The other nipple received the same spa treatment.
“And I won’t listen.”
Gah! He had an answer for everything.
“Any other objections?” he said.
She kissed her way to his navel. “You are so frustrating, coming up with intelligent responses.”
“And you are maddening.” There was an edge to his voice . . . a hum of desire. “Clearly, we deserve each other. Now, stop messing around, princess. You’ve teased me enough.”
“Poor Blue. Needing your woman again? Sorry, ducky, but I’ve only just begun.”
“Too bad. I want you to suck me.”
“I will . . . if you’re a good boy.”
“I haven’t been a good boy a day in my life.”
“There’s a first time for everything. Now, shut up and let Pudding Pop do her thing.”
Twenty-three
EVIE SAT UP WITH a gasp.
After her brush with death, Blue suspected she would have a nightmare and hadn’t let himself fall asleep. He was glad.
“It’s all right,” he said, urging her to stretch out beside him. “I’m here.”
Trusting him, she curled into his side. He kissed her forehead.
The sun wouldn’t rise for another hour, and darkness clung to the bedroom. In this secret hideaway, he would keep her safe, even from her dreams.
“So, what are we going to do?” she asked. “Now that we’ve both been nailed as agents, I mean.”
He traced his fingertips along her spine. “We’re going to place all three of the Stars in a holding cell and beat them until someone reveals John’s location.”
“I like it. First, though, we have to catch them. And, Blue, I wasn’t able to inject Tyson. It was mission fail, all the way. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it. We’ll track him another way. Who knows? He may be so cocky, he’s still at the hotel, thinking he’s secure.”
“What if we beat them, and they still refuse to talk?”
A possibility. “I’ll use compulsion. Daddy Star says he took a drug to counteract the ability, but it can’t last forever.” And if that failed, he’d think of something else.
“Well, it’s too late—or early—to do anything now, and we’re both in need of a recharge. So why don’t you give Michael and Solo a call, update them on everything that’s happened, and I’ll draw us a bath.”
“Deal.”
She rolled from the bed and he picked up his cell phone. Solo answered on the first ring and Blue explained the situation. They agreed to meet in two hours.
“You sound shaken,” the otherworlder said.
“Yeah.”
“She means that much to you?”
In deference to Evie, he ignored the question. “Do me a solid and tell Michael what I told you.”
“Sure.”
Blue heard water pouring from the faucet in the bathroom and grinned. “I’ve got to go.”
Naked, he strode to the doorway and crossed his arms. Evie was already lounging in the tub, honey-scented bubbles all around her. His body was conditioned to react to the fragrance and did so instantly, hardening.
“Someone can’t get enough of me, I see,” she said, and tsk-tsked.
“Someone doesn’t deny it.”
Pleasure flushed her cheeks. “How can he?” Her tone was droll. “His hard-on gives him away.”
He barked out a laugh. The things that came out of her mouth . . . good enough to eat. “By the way, we’re hosting a meeting in a few hours. Which means, my sweet little apple bottom, that there’s just enough time for us to have our bathtub playdate and eat breakfast. Off of each other.”