Orgasm stil sent hard tremors through her, making a soft cry spil from her throat. A fierce smile bared his teeth as she clenched on him helplessly. “Just like that, sweetheart. Give me everything.”
She shouldn’t. She couldn’t. She had no choice. Her reaction to him always caught her by surprise, and the way she lost control around him only attracted her to him more. She liked that, wanted it. With the high stakes involved in her work, the only time she real y al owed herself to let loose the fetters on her self-control was in bed. And there she craved it. But leaning on any one person for her needs, her pleasure, was a bad thing. Gods, what a mess she was.
Folding in on him, she found herself caught securely against his broad chest. Her muscles felt limp, wrung out, spent. She relaxed for the first time in what seemed like forever. Closing her eyes, she buried her nose in his throat. He smel ed so good. Like heat and man and honey, just like he tasted. She smiled at the contrast, but it fit him. His palms stroked in lazy circles on her back while their breathing evened out, their heart rates slowed, and the sweat dried on their skin. She yawned and nuzzled closer, the first tendrils of sleep tugging at her.
She jolted when he lifted her off of him and jackknifed in bed. “Damn it!”
“What?” She rubbed her eyes, trying to focus through the grogginess.
He groaned and rol ed off the bed and to his feet in one smooth motion. “Your aunt is going to be here in exactly one—”
The doorbel rang.
“That tel ing the future thing is kind of freaky sometimes.” She stretched against the mattress, arching her back to work out the kinks. He immediately closed his hands over her breasts, bending forward to kiss each one in turn. He sucked her nipples hard, biting at the tight crests. She squealed and laughed, shivering as renewed desire throbbed through her body. “Okay, okay! Freaky, but useful.”
“Sadly, yes.” His eyes narrowed, and he tilted his head, the cal used tips of his fingers stil stroking her nipples. “Mil ie’s about to use her key on the door.”
“Shit.” Chloe scrambled to her feet, pushing his hands away from her breasts, but that didn’t cover the creak of her front door swinging open. Scooping her clothes off the floor, she used a spel to shake out the wrinkles. “Hurry up and get dressed!”
His lips twitched as he watched her, but he obligingly reached for his garments. “What, you don’t have a spel to put the clothes back on?”
She snorted on a laugh. “I didn’t do it on purpose, so, no, I don’t have a counterspel handy. You’l just have to do it the Normal way.”
“That’s okay.” His voice was muffled when he pul ed his shirt over his head, then his tousled blond head popped into view again. “I’d rather have you take your clothes off for me than put them on.”
She laughed outright at that. “Shut up, Kingston!”
“Chloe?” Mil ie cal ed from outside the bedroom door.
“I’l bring out your bags.” Merek sat on the bed to lace his boots, jerking his chin to point Chloe out of the room. “You go head them off before they come in here and see the wreckage.”
Her gaze darted around. Gods, the bed was a disaster. Not one of her four pil ows was in sight, and the fitted sheet was ripped and bal ed in the middle of the mattress. The air reeked of sex, so much so that she had a feeling Alex would be able to smel it from out there. Hel , a stupid Normal would have been able to figure out what had been going on in here.
Jerking her clothes back on, she used a bit of magic to tidy herself, and prayed no one could sense she’d been freshly fucked. She wasn’t ashamed of what she’d done, but that didn’t mean she felt the need to advertise.
She stepped out of the bedroom and snapped the door shut behind her. Philip’s eyes narrowed; he slid his hands into his pockets, and let his gaze wander around the room as he looked anywhere but at Chloe.
Mil ie’s smile was smugly satisfied. She nodded in approval, but thankful y said nothing.
Alex’s eyebrows arched, and he didn’t bother to hide a grin. “Wel , then. I’m going to go make some coffee.”
He suited actions to words and strode into the kitchen.
Chloe sighed and went to scoop Ophelia into her cat carrier. She was not happy and distinctly uncooperative. Chloe glared down at her familiar. “Look, you either get in the carrier, which I know you have enough magic to unlatch any time you want, or I can leave you here as werewolf terrorist kibble. What’s it going to be?”
Ophelia gave her a slitted-eyed stare, an offended sniff, and turned with her tail waving in the air. She circled the carrier before she stepped in with the kind of queenly air reserved for Marie Antoinette going to the guil otine. Chloe rol ed her eyes, snapped the door shut, and engaged the latch. She had no idea how long the cat would deign to remain in there, but she was there for the moment, and that was al Chloe was going to worry about.
Merek walked out of her bedroom and set her suitcases beside Ophelia’s carrier. A thought occurred to Chloe, and she turned toward the kitchen. “Alex, you might want to pause on the coffee making. We can pick some up at the airport. They have Starbucks there.”
“I broke out the travel mugs.” He poked his head out of the kitchen. “This French press you have makes better stuff than Starbucks. Since we’re flying in Aunt Mil ie’s private plane, she said we could take it with us.
It’l be done before you load Ophelia and your suitcases in the car.”
“I’l take care of that.” Philip reached for the familiar’s carrier while Merek retained possession of Chloe’s bags. The two men sized each other up for a moment before Philip grunted. “You take good care of Mil ie’s girl, you hear? I’m not just talking about her safety.”
“Philip!” Chloe and Mil ie echoed, shock in their tone.
Of al the people Chloe would ever have imagined worrying about a man hurting her feelings, Mil ie’s brick house of a boy toy hadn’t come anywhere near the top of the list. He hadn’t even been on the list.
Mil ie recovered first. “Yes, wel . Philip has the right of it, but I think Detective Kingston is smart enough to understand that or I wouldn’t be sending Chloe and Alex with him.”
“Yes, ma’am. Sir.” Merek dipped a nod in Philip’s direction, and both of the men headed for the door.
Chloe shook her head, but had no idea what to say at that point. She just sighed, walked over to Mil ie, and let herself be pul ed into a warm hug. The older witch kissed her forehead. “Your detective wil check in with me once a week on a secure line, so I’l know you’re safe, even if I don’t know where you are. Philip arranged everything, including some discreet channels to keep us apprised of Agent Caval i’s investigation.” Mil ie’s arms tightened painful y. “If you don’t check in, I’l know you’re . . .” She let go, brushed her hands off. “You’l be fine. Merek is the best. I checked into him. Of course.”
“Of course.” Her aunt wouldn’t send her with anyone who wasn’t the best. Gods, Chloe was going to miss her. Even more than her work, which fed a craving few could understand, she was going to miss the people in her life. Mil ie. Tess. Even the normal y taciturn Philip.
B ut people were the most important thing. Mil ie had taught that lesson wel . The science Chloe developed was always geared toward helping people, improving their lives. Mil ie’s work in the political arena achieved the same ends, just with a different means.
It was ironic that she and Alex had to give up their entire lives, al their people except each other, in order to stay alive, but that was the way the cookie crumbled. It sucked; it wasn’t fair, but life wasn’t. It was just life, and she wanted to live a lot longer before she saw the end of it. She’d fight to her last breath to make sure Alex got the chance to do the same.