by Honor James
A few minutes later, she heard the door open and then Artaxias’s voice. “Your toothbrush and paste are on the sink. I also grabbed you a shirt and left it next to your items. Don’t be too much longer, Lilly, if you fall asleep in there, I may not hear you.”
“Thank you.” She opened the door to the shower and looked out at Artaxias. “I will only be, like, two more minutes. Then I will be out. After that, I need to test my sugar levels and have a shot, and then I’m so down with sleeping with you that it’s not even funny.”
“You have a very odd manner for expressing yourself.” His head was tipped slightly and he looked, well, confused. Then he gave himself a shake. “Take all the time you need. I brought your items upstairs. There’s a mini-fridge in my room that I put your medicine into. In the morning, we’ll figure out a better spot for it. But, since the fridge in the kitchen is currently full, I figured this was the better place for at least this night.”
“It will be the best place for it, period. I plan on spending a great deal of time with you and in your bed. I plan on sleeping with you every night for the rest of forever, so yeah.” She shrugged. “I think that would be a good idea at least, spending time with you. Right?”
He narrowed his eyes for a moment before slowly, cautiously nodding. “Yes?” That didn’t sound overly definitive. More like a question really. Ax cleared his throat and shifted on his feet. “Finish your shower. I’ll just be outside when you are done.”
“Wait.” She stopped him with a word. “Do you want me to spend my nights with you? If not,” she gulped. “If not you should tell me now. If not I understand, but it might cause issue with us working together, with how I feel for you already. If you don’t want me you should tell me now.”
He moved faster than she could track and was right before her. One of his hands came up to cup her face. “I will take whatever you want to give me, Lilly. But I’m also trying to give you the time you need to know me as well. I’m sorry if I’m doing all of this wrong. I’ve never been in a true relationship before, Lilly. I have no idea what I’m doing so if I step wrong, tell me.”
Leaning out of the shower, she pressed her forehead to his and smiled. “If a woman, namely me, tells you that she wants to sleep in your bed, don’t make her feel like you aren’t so sure about it. If you want me, tell me,” she whispered. “Because I do so very much want you. I want both you and Gavriel in my life, but I very much need you.”
“Understood,” he said. “I’m sorry if I made you feel otherwise. I just wasn’t entirely sure of the correct answer that wouldn’t make me look desperate. But to set your mind at ease, yes, I do want you in my bed. Very much so,” he admitted, looking a little embarrassed.
“Good. Then in your bed is where I will be until you kick me out of it,” she assured him with a smile. “Now, get out of here so I can rinse my hair, honey.” So that she could finish her shower without pulling him into the shower with her.
“I don’t plan on letting you out of it any more than absolutely necessary. And then only for work and your health. Beyond that, you’re mine.” Ax pressed a kiss to her lips and drew away quickly. “When you’re done, I think I’d better grab a shower, too. A very, very cold one,” he muttered, turning toward the door and speeding out of the bathroom.
“That sounds absolutely wonderful to me,” she assured him quietly, even though he left the room before she could speak. Leaning her head on the wall of the shower, she shivered, but not from cold. “Goodness, that man has me turned upside down and inside out.” And she honestly didn’t care. As long as he was close, she was happy.
He was waiting for her when she finally exited the bathroom. “Do what you need to do. I set your bag on the end of the bed, and the ampules are in the fridge in the closet.” Leaning down, he kissed her lightly. “I’ll be out in a few minutes.”
“Thank you.” Lilly lay her hand on Artaxias’s arm and gave it a light squeeze. “Thank you. For everything,” she told him with a smile. “I think that this will be good. As long as you are at my side, I’m happy and I hope that you will be, too.”
“I’m happy, Lilly,” he said softly. “I’ll be about ten minutes. Do your thing,” he advised, taking her hand in his and kissing her fingers. Winking, he let go and stepped toward the bathroom, snatching up a piece of clothing before shutting the door. A moment later, the water came on.
“Thanks.” She went into the bedroom and did her thing, taking her blood sugar levels and then giving herself an injection. She was just putting her supplies up when Artaxias walked out. “Feel better?” she asked with a grin.
“Not really, just cold,” he said, tying up the drawstring on his cutoff sweats. He moved to the window and drew the heavy curtains. “You all good?” he asked, indicating the bag of her items. He went to the door, shut it, and then came back to stand near her.
“I am. I had to up my dosage tonight, but that’s not uncommon. If you would, tomorrow, just make sure that I’m eating better than I did today? That way I’m not running into this same issue, please?”
Nodding, he touched her cheek gently. “Climb into bed, whichever side you prefer.” He took her case from her and set it on one of the dressers. Turning back, he moved to pull the blankets from the pillows. “Come on, Lilly, you look tired and we have to work at some point tomorrow.”
She climbed into bed and watched him as he moved. When he finally made it into the bed, she moved to his side, curled her body around his and sighed. “There, just exactly where I want to be and what I want to do.”
He was still for a moment before he relaxed and drew up the blankets. His arms wrapped around her and tucked her closer. “Sleep, Lilly. We’ll sleep as long as you need and go about our day at whatever pace works for us.”
“That sounds wonderful to me. Thank you, Ax,” she whispered quietly and rubbed her cheek to his chest. “Rest well.” It was mumbled before the lightest of breaths came from her lips, and the softest of snores accompanied the breathing.
Chapter Seven
Artaxias set a plate before her. Pancakes, fresh fruit, scrambled eggs, and turkey sausage. He poured coffee for them both and sat next to her with a bowl of fruit. He’d told her he tended to have some fruit after his morning feeding. To kill the taste of the bagged blood, as he explained it. “Cream and sugar.” He tapped the containers on the table before her.
“No, thank you.” She looked at the food before them and sighed happily. “Now this is a feast,” she told him happily. “Thank you for making me another meal. I’m certainly glad that you like to cook because I very much love to eat.”
“You can give me a list of your favorite meals. I’ll see what I can do to ensure you have them and they are healthy. We want to have you around for a very long time.” He sipped at his coffee as he watched her. “And definitely let me know if there’s anything you absolutely hate to eat.”
“Don’t worry, I’m more than a little verbose when I don’t like something. You will be fine. So far, everything has been utterly decadent and I’m more than happy to have you creating anything at all for me. I happen to love food a great deal and will eat pretty much anything.”
“Well I’m glad you’re open to anything, Lilly. But, as I mentioned, if there’s something you hate or even mildly dislike, say something. I’d hate to cook you a full meal and find out you won’t touch most of it.”
“I will. So far I haven’t met a food that I don’t like, so I really think that we will be good. Seriously, we are good. So cook anything and everything that you want and I will clean you out of house and home. Or something like that.” Her words were teasing, her smile bright.
“Uh-huh,” he said with a frown. “Eat your food, I think you’re in need of something in your belly.” He stabbed a piece of fruit and chewed as he watched her. “We will need to go to the office. The captain wants us to sit in on a meeting. He’s had all the files dug up on various cases with the same signature as this one, with that unique metal. Hopefully we can
find something in there to lead us where we need to go.”
“I hope so, too,” Lilly said with a shake of her head. “Did Gav stay with his mom last night?” she asked suddenly. She felt a little bad that she had only just realized her other mate wasn’t there. “Or is he in his bed still sleeping? And is he okay with me sleeping with you?”
“He didn’t come back last night. He called this morning to say he was on the other side of the Veil and would be for at least today. He’s hoping he’ll be back tonight. According to him, his mother’s not coming out of the latest lapse like she should. So he’s taking her to see her doctor and discuss fully and completely disabling the chip. She’ll have to call the old-fashioned way from now on, I hope.”
“That poor man,” Lilly whispered with the shake of her head. “I feel bad for him,” she said quietly. “I really do. I wish that there was something that we could do for him.” For right now, though, she was more than happy to simply enjoy this time with Ax.
“We are doing it for him right now. We’re continuing the case and, should he need us, he’ll call. It’s not like it will take long to get there, Lilly. If we’re needed, we can make the trek in under an hour. For now, we have a killer to stop and that has to take priority. For the moment.”
“All right. As long as you are certain, Ax. I want to be sure that we are able to do whatever we have to in order to close this case and then go on with our lives. I very much want to do whatever it is that we have to in order to have our happily ever after.”
“And we’ll get it, or as close to it as is possible with me in the mix.” He smiled and gave her a wink. He was messing with her, again. “Eat up, we have a lot to do today and I let us be lazy far too long. We should get going, just in case Gavriel needs us at some point.”
“Sounds good. And you let us be lazy because you enjoyed it every bit as much as I did. Admit it,” she prodded. “Come on, you know you want to admit it, so you should. You wanted me sleeping in your bed for as long as you possibly could get me.”
“Of course I did. Never say that I didn’t,” he told her. “Plus, you needed the extra time to rest. You’re always pushing yourself, but after yesterday, I wanted you to relax.” Something else they still had to figure out. Why she’d fugued as she had.
“There is something.” Lilly’s body language clearly shifted. “Something about the body. There is something there. I don’t know what, but it’s something big. I think I should look at it again, Artaxias. There is something that I’m missing.”
“No,” he said firmly. “Something on that body sent you into a trance. Then all you wanted to do was make a phone call, on a landline. I’m not letting you near that body again. Not until we figure out what the hell is going on.”
“On a landline? I have not used one of those since I was five. I do not think I would even know how to use one.” That was all kinds of confusing. How in the hell would she use a landline? For that, where would she find one? “Then we need to ask Briar to go over everything with a fine-tooth comb.”
“She is,” he assured her. He pushed his empty dish aside and drew his mug closer. “For now, we need to report to the captain. After that, you and I are going to see if we can figure out what set you off. I had Briar take pictures of the body, close-ups mainly. You’re going to go through them, one by one, until we see what it is that made you insist on making a call from the landline.”
“Oh boy. Are you sure that’s something you want to do? I mean, really, is it something that you would be willing to do with me? What if it’s the body and not the images?” she asked with a frown. “I don’t recall what was on the body, I know that you said tattoos, but for the life of me I can’t think of what kind they were.”
“I’m willing to risk it. I think the photos will work. If they don’t, then we go back to the body. But from what Briar said, it was the tattoo that got to you. So we’ll start with the photos and go from there. I know I can get you back out of it, I did it before. It’s keeping you from a landline that might be tricky at the office. There are a couple there, so I’ll post agents at each one to keep you from getting there if you get past me.”
“Sounds good. I trust you.” Lilly looked up at Artaxias and gave him a smile. “If you say that you can do something, I believe you completely. Just make sure that I’m unarmed. I don’t want to hurt someone if I go under again.” And anything could be a weapon. Lovely.
“We’ll be in a clean room, you’ll be in nothing more than your jeans and a shirt. No shoes, no bra, and no jacket, and I’ll pat you down.” Artaxias grinned. “Though I will admit, I’ll likely enjoy that part a little more than the rest of it.”
“Oh, I think I will enjoy it, too. Are you sure that we can’t maybe be naked? I would totally vote for that one. I think that I would very much enjoy it, and I can’t see how I would be pulled into any kind of trance with you naked, with me. Yum.”
“No, we need to remain dressed. One never wants to be caught with their pants down in that place, let alone naked. The last person that it happened to still is on mental stress leave. And it’s been four years.”
“Okay, why? I am more than a little confused. Why in the world would anyone be upset because of being naked or whatever in the clean room? I’ve never seen one so I’m lost.” She admitted. “Really and totally lost.”
“It’s not the clean room that’s the issue. It’s the fact that the last guy, the one on psych leave still, was caught with his pants down. Photography and humiliation quickly followed. Plus an ad on an internet dating site. Not for his choice of dates though,” Ax told her. “He was very annoyed after the fifth time Darrel called for a hookup.”
“Oh dear god in heaven, are you serious?” Lilly looked Artaxias up and down and grinned. “I’m sure that you would get a hell of a lot of interest, Ax. Then again, I would be naked with you, so…” She trailed off. “What do you think would happen then?”
“Many things, but I’d hate to think we were cutting Gavriel out. We can’t do anything without him or he’ll never have the bond.” Reaching over. he took her hand in his. “As much as I’d love to have you all to myself like that, we can’t until after the bonding. And since we are getting to know one another first, per your request, no getting naked.”
“Right. Wait, huh?” And then it came back to her. “Oh yes, because if we were to make love without Gav, it would cut him out and I don’t want that. And I only want to get to know you guys because I’m a total freak. I really am. I don’t know how we will be able to find peace. I ramble, a lot, and I’m more often than not working on some new kind of weapon. I don’t sleep a lot. I eat like a horse. I’m really not that girly, I’m not. I’m…well, I’m weird.”
“You are not weird, you are you. You are Lilly, our mate and perfect for us, to us. So, no more of that weird talk. We happen to like and adore you as is. All you do when you speak like that is make it seem like we don’t know what we want. We do need you.” He leaned in and kissed her fingers.
“As long as you are sure. I just wanted you to know before we did anything too intense, okay? I like you, a lot. More than like, honestly. You turn me inside out and backward, and so does Gavriel. I want to know what life would be like with you both. Sleeping with you in the same bed, sharing meals with you, heck, even meeting Gav’s mom. I want it all.”
“And you’ll have it all, Lil, promise. We will take this as slow or quick as you determine. You can also ask me anything you want. I’ll tell you absolutely everything you want to know. Some of it’s not pretty, but that’s a part of life.”
“Thank you for that. I want to know all about the men that I love. Pretty or not, it has shaped you into the men that you are and I love you for that. I like who you are. No matter how you got there, I like who you are now.”
“Gavriel’s life has been relatively mundane in comparison. But I do have a few”—he coughed into his hand—“a few years on him.” His crooked grin said he knew it was more than a few. Which, given all
Gav had told her before, meant a hell of a lot more than just a few years.
“All that matters is that you are here with me. All that matters is that you love me, honey. That is what matters. I don’t care how old you are, Ax, all that matters is that you are with me now. You care for me and I care for you. That’s what is important, right?”
“‘Course it is,” he told her. “Though you might appreciate the age I have. Seen and learned a lot in my time,” he said with a wicked grin. Then he got up. “Finish up while I clean up a bit. We should get moving in the next fifteen minutes. The captain wants to see us before we do anything else today.”
“Oh, hell no. You cannot say something like that and then walk away from me. You are killing me here.” She moaned and followed after him like a lovesick puppy. “What have you learned in all your years, Artaxias?”
Chuckling, he shrugged. “This and that. I’m sure you’d love to hear it all, but…” He shrugged. “It’s likely best I not share it until we’re ready for more. Wouldn’t want to wind you up for any reason when I can’t do anything to help you. I will say this, though, I learned this trick with my tongue.” He smiled slowly and turned away from her.
Her whole body shivered. Just that fast, she was wet and horny. “Gods.” She breathed out slightly and licked her suddenly dry lips. “Right, yes that needs to wait until all three of us are together because something tells me that we will not be waiting long before we complete this bond. Sooner rather than later, and yes, I know that’s a dramatic one-eighty from earlier but come on, don’t you feel it, too?”
“I’ve felt it since the moment I saw you at the security desk, Lilly. I recognized you immediately, not just because of your name and the markings, but because of you. When I was close enough, your whole being cried out to mine and vice versa.”