“I have a friend in the art scene who has a pad in Manhattan,” Jin put in. “He gave me carte blanche to stay there when he’s not in town, which is most of the time. He just left for a month-long trip across northern Africa. I don’t have the key on me, but we’ve got magic on our side, so…” He grinned at me.
We could keep driving around until I heard back from Margo—or we could get some real rest. I hesitated. “Let’s take a look at this place. I want to be sure we can get out of there quickly if we need to.”
* * *
I checked my phone for the millionth time as we pulled up outside the building where Jin’s friend had his “pad.” Damon had confirmed that he and Kyler would head over here when they’d finished their errands, but still nothing from Margo. I resisted the urge to nibble at my lip and peered out the window.
I’d been picturing some Manhattan high-rise, but what I saw actually put me more at ease: a four-story brownstone with a hair salon at its base, an alley beside it, and a fire escape snaking down its brick side. We’d have at least two exit routes, then. And it’d be easy to keep an eye on the street outside to see if anyone was approaching. The enforcers would have to get close to attack us physically in there. They couldn’t tip over a whole building like they had the SUV.
A quick spell got us past the front door and then the door for the actual apartment. It was two floors of open-concept space, all creamy walls, leather and ebony furniture, with modern art in stark colors and shapes all over the place. A crisp, slightly ocean-y scent hung in the air. The whole setting was so different from what we’d been living with for the last few days that a slightly hysterical laugh slipped out of me.
“He’s got a bit different artistic tastes from you,” I said, turning to take in all of the paintings on the walls.
“Yep,” Jin said. “Modern to the bone. But we do manage to get along somehow anyway.”
There were three bedrooms upstairs. I walked into the first one, took one look at the king-sized bed with its fluffy duvet, and collapsed right into it. For a second, surrounded by feathery softness, I actually felt relaxed.
Gabriel chuckled. “Enjoying yourself, Sprout?”
“I’d be enjoying myself even more if I had company,” I said, and then reality caught back up with me. I pushed myself upright and flicked my hand through the air to send out another testing wave of magic. It didn’t meet anything at all around us. Even the tingling from before had faded. But we’d been through too much for me to take comfort in that.
“We should keep an eye on the area around the building,” I said. “Someone watching the front and the back from the windows at all times.”
“Sure,” Gabriel said. “But not you. You’ve worn yourself thin enough as it is. Lie back down and get some rest.” He gave me a crooked smile. “At least once in a while I should get to give the orders. I’ll take the front window.”
I muttered a vague protest, but I didn’t reallywantto get up. I flopped back down on the pillow. “I’ll keep an eye on the backyard,” Jin said. “Nice little balcony back there anyway.”
Seth paused by the doorway. “Well,” he said, “since it sounds like the surveillance is covered…”
He climbed onto the bed and wrapped his arm around me. I turned to snuggle closer with a happy sigh. My hand traced down his muscular body, easing around the pendant I’d been able to cast a protective spell on during a brief stop for gas this morning. I tipped my head to steal a kiss.
I’d meant it to be just quick and sweet, but as Seth’s mouth moved against mine and heat flared through my body, I couldn’t remember why I wouldn’t have wanted this to last forever.
“Are you up for more?” he murmured against my lips. The huskiness of his voice took my breath away. When I’d gone to check on him in the back seat this morning it had turned into a quick tumble, but it was hard to imagine the hunger I felt for him and all my consorts ever completely fading. Maybe it would ease off a little when our bond wasn’t quite so new, but right now I wanted as much of them as I could get.
“Always,” I said. Then I pulled back a little farther to search his gray-green eyes, like his twin’s but always more serious. “Are you sureyou’reup for it? You were just hurt, and this morning we already—”
He interrupted me by nuzzling my cheek. “I wouldn’t offer if I wasn’t eager. You know, there’s one thing I’ve been wanting to do that there really wasn’t much room for in the car.”
Before I could ask what, he was already sliding down my body. His hand opened my jeans and tugged them down in two smooth motions. He kissed my stomach, my hip bone, the sensitive skin just above the band of my panties. A tingle of anticipation shot up from my core. Heat pooled between my legs.
Seth stroked a finger over my clit and down my panties, drawing the wetness of my arousal through the fabric. Then he eased those down too. His breath spilled hot over my sex as he lowered his mouth to me.
I whimpered, clutching at his close-cropped hair, as he swiped his tongue across my clit and lower. His thumb dipped inside my opening. Pleasure spiked through me with each caress of his lips and hand, sending the light of my spark flooding through every nerve.
“Seth,” I mumbled. And then I couldn’t form any coherent sounds at all. His teeth grazed my clit and his fingers worked deeper inside me, and for a few minutes I was nothing but bliss beneath my consort.
Chapter Twelve
Damon
“She answered!” Rose bounded down the stairs to the lower floor of the apartment with an excited light in her dark green eyes. “Margo Elands. She’s all right. She said she can meet me at Wolfe’s Pond Park in a couple hours.”
I glanced over at my consort with a grin from where I was standing watch by the front window. “Meetyou? Pretty sure we’re all along for the ride, angel.”
“I did mention I’d have company. Probably we shouldn’t be too obvious about it.” She breezed over to give me a quick kiss with an energy that was infectious. I tugged her to me a little harder, stealing a few more seconds with that heavenly mouth. When she drew back, I didn’t think it was just excitement flushing her cheeks.
“There’s some pizza left from last night,” Gabriel said from the back of the apartment, nodding to the fridge. The greasy cheese smell of the stuff we’d ordered in still lingered in the air. “If you’re not too picky about breakfast.”