I clasped my arms around his neck as he carried me out of the guest room and into his bedroom, kicking the door shut with his foot. He laid me on the bed, and I kept hold of his neck, trying to tug him down with me.

“Oh, you want me now, do you?” he drawled.

I responded by wrapping my legs around his hips to drag him down on top of me. “Less talking, more sex, please.”

He was totally on board with that plan.

TWENTY-FIVE

I woke to an empty bed. Padding into the guest room, I stood under the shower until I felt human again, letting the hot water soothe my sore, aching muscles. Not that I could soothe the ache between my legs. I shivered. The things I’d done with Caiden yesterday. His tongue…his fingers…oh, and his dick…

Focus.

I had a plan for today. After my morning classes, I had the rest of the day free thanks to a cancelled afternoon lecture, and I was going to use it to meet my mother, if I could persuade the others to help me out.

First things first. I had to call her.

“Winter? Why are you calling so early?” was her greeting.

“Mother. Are you free this afternoon? I thought we could meet for coffee.”

I heard her sigh heavily. “I am going to be in Alstone this afternoon, so I suppose we could meet. Do you know the Wilson Lounge?”

“No, but I’m sure I can find it.”

“Meet me there at two thirty, sharp. Dress smartly, Winter. It’s an upmarket establishment, not a student hovel.”

Ha. Had she even seen Alstone College? “Yes, okay. See you then.”

“Goodbye.” She ended the call before I could say anything else.

Step one complete. Next step, see if someone could drop me in Alstone. I couldn’t wait to get my car back so I could stop relying on others to take me everywhere.

“Cass, can you do me a favour?” I eyed him hopefully over my bowl of cereal as I sat at the kitchen island. We had a lecture together first thing, so he was driving me to university. Apparently, Cade and Z had gone to the gym. Why, when they had an amazing gym in their basement, I had no clue. “Could you drop me in Alstone town later? I’m meeting my mother. I want to try and get her to talk to me about my dad.”

He rose from his seat and came around the island, giving me a quick one-arm hug and dropping a kiss on my head on his way to the dishwasher. “Yeah, course. What time?”

“Two thirty. Actually, better make it a bit earlier so she doesn’t complain about me being late.”

“Will do. Come on, we’d better get going, or we’ll be late.” I followed him into the hallway, grabbing my bag, and he shouted for West. He came running down the stairs, and together we headed out.

“Winter?” West leaned forwards from the back seat of the car, and I twisted around to look at him. “I couldn’t get any matches for those photos of Petr. I’ve forwarded them on to my contact to see if he can come up with anything.”

“Shame. Thanks, though.” My face must’ve fallen, because he squeezed my shoulder comfortingly.

“Don’t worry. If anyone can dig up info on this guy, Mercury can.”

“Mercury? What kind of name is that?”

“Code name,” Cass informed me.

Of course. I rolled my eyes.

“This isn’t just for fun,” West told me. “It’s way too dangerous for us to give our real names online. We have a policy to never reveal anything about ourselves.”

“Oh.” That actually made sense. “Are you sure we can trust him with this?”

“Positive. He’s always come through for us before. He won’t let us down.”


Tags: Becca Steele The Four Romance