When I woke up the following morning, I was sprawled down the couch. The backs of my fingers on one hand rested against the hardwood floor.

My other arm was around Kate.

I almost jumped when I realized this. Opening my eyes to the unfamiliar weight, I noticed how she was draped over my chest, her head against my heart.

Kate…

I almost didn’t want to wake her.

But I could already see that the sun had risen outside, the night having completely moved without us.

Hell, the television was still on…

My fingers felt around against the wood for the remote. Once it was in my grasp, I clicked the power button and watched the old glass screen shut off with a fuzzy burst.

I lifted my watch.

It was nine-thirty in the morning.

Ignoring the urge to brush her aside so I could take a leak, I breathed in and out and enjoyed the pressure of her body on mine. Kate murmured in her sleep, and I squeezed her a little tighter against me.

My heart swelled with love.

I wanted her back for so long. It had been such an unachievable dream to have her in my life again that I’d turned my back on those thoughts years ago…

And here she was, in flesh and blood, pressed against my chest.

Indulging in her body’s limp weight on me, I felt myself wondering if I could bring myself to give her what she wanted.

I wondered if I could tell her the truth.

Every time I thought back to that time of my life, my chest seized with panic. The fear had whittled me down to the mere clay that I was made from, barely clinging to my mind.

Kate expected – demanded answers.

Who was I to deny her that?

But if she only knew the sheer pain that struck my chest when she brought it all up, her persistence only growing…

Maybe I can do it, I thought.

Maybe I can give her what she wants so badly.

Kate murmured in her sleep, shifting against my chest. Taking advantage of the pivotal moment, I lightly pushed her.

She snapped to a jerking awake, holding herself up on her palms as she blinked widely and gazed around slowly.

“Kate… wake up,” I commanded.

“I… I’m awake…”

“Need to get up,” I told her softly. “We fell asleep here.”

She looked at me as if seeing me for the first time, slowly accepting consciousness. After a moment of gazing half-asleep into my eyes, she suddenly pulled away, curled up a few feet across the couch.

“Sorry! I didn’t mean to… to fall asleep here… on you…”

“It’s okay,” I replied truthfully. I pushed myself up to a seated position and stretched, a great yawn ripping my jaws apart.

I left her to her startled thoughts on the couch as I wandered to the bathroom. As much as I had loved her warmth and slumbering form against me, her knee had been on my bladder, and I was one wrong move from having a real problem.

After that little moment of sweet relief, I started making us breakfast. Kate had already fallen back asleep, but it was about time that I was up, so I put some coffee on for myself.

I felt bad about disturbing her, so I left her a plate of breakfast on the counter and changed into newer clothes. By the time I was done, so was my cup’s worth of coffee, so I took it black and drank deep.

With the comfort of my Devil’s Dragons leathers around my torso, I grabbed my keys and took to the streets again.

It must have rained overnight, because there was a rolling fog along the Metairie streets. It cast a supernatural glow around the town, and I felt pleased in having already familiarizing myself to the local land.

There were still four days left before I could meet my contact. I knew what to expect, but couldn’t shake the foreboding feeling that things weren’t going to be as easy as I had been told…

I shook my head to clear it, but the empty space was filled with thoughts of Kate. Neither of us had spoken on what we were doing together. It had been natural to scoop her up with me on my way out of Lafayette, but now that we were here…

What are we doing?

The building sexual tension between us was thick enough to cut with a knife. I had to drive away thoughts of ramming into her against the bedroom wall, before dragging her to the bed and mounting her like an animal…

I knew she felt it too.

She’d been careless in challenging me. Kate should have known better than to play games… I took control, and I kept it.

I’d won our standoff in the shower the other morning. She hadn’t dared to try that again, and I suspected it was because she couldn’t trust herself in that situation.

Maybe I didn’t, either.

Never would I ever lay a hand on her that wasn’t welcome… but it was hard to keep from fucking her senseless.

Get a grip, I growled to myself.

If you’d just tell her what happened you’d already have had your way with her, as often as you fucking wanted.

I shoved my thoughts down and tried to mentally run on autopilot. It was only after a few minutes that I realized I’d left Metairie.

In fact, I’d left the greater New Orleans area. I was heading north on the Interstate, which meant crossing Lake Ponchartrain. And that meant that I was in for a trip.

The lake spread out like a sea beneath me, stretching into the distance against each and every horizon. After my time in the desert, I marveled at the size of the thing.

The Lake Ponchartrain Causeway was a great concrete thing, stretching out in front and never-ending. I understood it to be the largest bridge over water in the world at more than 20 miles long.

I hadn’t really looked up anything more than that, never expecting to go over the thing. But thanks to distraction…

The long drive across in late morning traffic took an hour to cross. Hitting the mainland again, I paid the toll and then had to turn straight back around. The causeway connected the cities of New Orleans and Covington, but that other one didn’t have anything necessary to me.

That said, the long drive sure as shit worked for clearing my head. By the time I finally hit New Orleans again, I had over two hours of fresh air in my system.

Since I was apparently up for a field trip, I took another drive around New Orleans. Instead of scoping out the outlying districts, I drove for the downtown area.

Poydras Street cut through the center of the business district, offering immensely tall buildings and endless businesses. Hell, they even set up some weird geometric art in the median for a good stretch.

I wondered what it would be like for this place to be a common sight for me. My entire adult life had been spent in deserts – one across the ocean, and one here.

The city sure as fuck looked nice.

Maybe I could get used to this.

At a red light, I imagined the Devil’s Dragons fanned out around Hunter. It was almost too ridiculous a thought, and I cracked a small smile.

Those fuckers, in a city like this? The business down here, with luck, would be ripe for the taking… But would the gang adapt to the concrete jungle?

My eyes trailed up the towers that surrounded me. Glass windows coated great steel behemoths that scraped the Heavens, dressed in advertisements and all special snowflakes unto themselves.

A horn blared behind me, and I glanced forward. The light had gone green without me. I quickly hit the gas, leaving these thoughts behind at that intersection.

I continued onward. My eyebrow rose when I saw a sign for Tchoupitoulas Street, a landmark road that cut straight across Poydras.

Fuck me sideways, I thought to myself. How the hell are you supposed to say that one?

Curious, I hooked a right and took a look at this. The street was peppered with small restaurants and bars, but nothing terribly exciting.

I hooked a right at the end, met back up with Poydras Street, and went back the way I came. Once I was on the Interstate again, I headed back west towards Metairie.

There was so much to think about.

Hunter’s place here, with the club…

Kate’s place in my life…

I hated it when things were beyond my control. Kate could change her mind and pull a runner at any moment, although I trusted her to stick around. But this limbo that we lived in… I knew that I would have to show her I cared if I wanted to keep her near.

Which meant coming clean…

I resolved myself to tell her soon.

But the Devil’s Dragons still preyed on my mind. The more I thought about meeting with my contact, the worse I felt about it. The lack of confidence was startling to me, but it was growing harder to shake the feeling that I was going to be in it for the long haul here.

You’re only supposed to be here a few weeks, I reminded myself.

Sure, Hunter Hargreaves had left the timescale open-ended, but that had been my doing. I liked my ass covered in case something went wrong.

And nothing is gonna go wrong, Grizz. Everything’s gonna be fucking peachy, you’ll see. I allowed myself a grin when I realized that I almost even convinced myself.

But I had been wrong.

Dead wrong…