Once we’d made it clear of the emergency services swarming the bomb site, I was able to relax a little. Of course Jonathan could have made the questions go away, but the fact that someone had set the whole thing up made me incredibly nervous. How would we even know if they were real policemen or not? They could be in Mr. Grey's employment or something else entirely.

We needed to get to this contact in Alaska and get more information. It was like we were fighting a war but with no idea what was at stake, which only put us at a disadvantage.

“Guys, I think we need to get a better handle on what we're up against,” I said, breaking the tense silence in the car. On leaving the townhouse, we had split up between two cars, and I had ended up in the back of River's Aston Martin. Squashed uncomfortably between the two biggest men that could have possibly fit in the cramped backseat, I was perched forward slightly to avoid being crushed to death by muscular shoulders. When we had reached the cars, I had worried I might be torn in two between Cole and Vali so had offered to sit in the middle. A suggestion I was now regretting as I shifted to get comfortable.

“I agree,” Wesley commented from his position of luxury in the passenger seat. “It might be worth heading up to that village in Alaska anyway. Maybe one of this guy's neighbors can tell us something about where he is or how to get in contact with him.”

“That's a good idea, Wes,” River agreed, tapping the steering wheel thoughtfully as he drove.

Vali snorted a chuckle, and I turned to look at him. “What?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at the small smirk on his face.

“Nothing,” he grinned, like a big old liar.

“It's clearly something,” Cole snapped from my other side, and I sighed. “Why don't you share with everyone what's so funny?”

Vali met my eyes and raised his eyebrow as if to ask if I really wanted to know, then when I just shrugged, he gave me a wink. “I was just thinking about that dream you had back at my place, dragă,” he smirked, and my eyes widened. Shit.

“You know the one,” he continued, totally ignoring my shut-the-fuck-up look. “The one about… Wes… while you were in the bathtub…”

Oh dear God, no. I felt my face flame bright red, and I carefully kept cheek turned so I didn't have to see Wesley's expression.

“Really?” River commented from the driver’s seat, and I reflexively looked up, meeting his amused gaze in the rearview mirror. “Isn't that interesting.”

Unable to help myself, my gaze darted to Wesley's in the mirror and found him staring back at me intently, his expression unreadable. To break a little tension, I cleared my throat and tried to sit back in my seat a little.

“So, um, where are we heading?” I asked in a blatant attempt to change the subject, and all four men in the car seemed to be fighting back grins at my expense.

“There's an Omega safe house not far outside the city,” River informed me, thankfully allowing my subject change. “We will head there until plans can be made to get us all up to Alaska. Wes, call the twins and let them know.”

Caleb and Austin had taken Austin's Challenger and were following behind us as River navigated his way out of the city and into the countryside.

“So how long do you intend to hang around?” Cole muttered to his brother over the top of me, and I lay a warning hand on his knee. He held Vali's gaze but picked my hand up in his own and threaded our fingers together tightly, possessively.

“As long as I damn well feel like it,” Vali replied in a tone that held no doubt he was trying to piss Cole off. Shifting his body, Vali slid an arm over my shoulders to rest on the side of my neck. He began slowly stroking his finger down my skin, and I suddenly felt like the last steak in a pack of hungry dogs.

“Uh, how far did you say the safe house was again?” My voice betrayed the tension I was feeling, trapped between these two gorgeous men who were currently fighting for dominance. Wesley turned in his seat to look back at me, then shook his head at Cole as if scolding his childish behavior.

“Here,” Wesley said, stretching out his hand for me to take. Not questioning why he wanted my hand, I reached forward and clasped his. The next thing I knew, I had vacated my awkward seat between the Romanian brothers and was sprawled inelegantly across Wesley's chest.

He gave me a cheeky smile. “Has to be more comfortable than caught in the cross fire back there.”

The two imposing men in the backseat were glaring death into the back of Wesley's head, and I laughed, rearranging myself into more of a comfortable position. Or trying to anyway.

Eventually Wesley must have grown frustrated with my wriggling because he picked me up and re-set me on his lap, bracing my back slightly against the door with his arms around me.

“Better?” he murmured, his lips only inches from my ear, and I nodded silently.

“All right, can we all just keep it civil for the remainder of the drive?” River asked, using his in-charge voice.

“Yes, sir,” Cole and Wesley both replied, almost as a reflex, and River shot me a look.

“Yes, sir.” I grinned and saw a tiny smile pull at his lush lips. Vali made a noise, which had me looking back over at him, but I couldn't make out the expression on his face.

For a long time, no one spoke—I suspected because no one could think of anything to say that wouldn't spark another argument and River had given an order to keep things civil. Before long, I grew tired of the tense silence, so laid my head on Wesley's shoulder and closed my eyes. His fingers stroked soft lines down my arm, tingling my skin through the thin sweater I wore, and I relaxed into his embrace. I was beyond glad that things didn’t seem to be awkward between us. But if that dream really was a shared thing, then did that mean I hadn't imagined that sexy body under his oversized hoody?

Oh fuck, now I can't stop thinking about it.

My hand crept up from where it had been resting in my lap and slid across Wesley's chest, pausing near the zipper of his hoody.

“Sweetheart,” Wes whispered, “what are you doing?”

“Just curious,” I whispered back, not moving my head from his shoulder, but cracking my lids back open so I could see. My fingers teased the zipper down just a couple of inches, then snaked back up to the neckline of his shirt.

“Curious about what?” he murmured, not stopping me.

Rather than answering him, I slid a finger under his neckline and tugged the fabric down just enough that I could see the very top lines of his tattoo, confirming my theory. Satisfied, I released the fabric but kept my hand tucked inside the neck of his hoody.

“Just curious whether I had imagined that body or not.” Raising my head up a little, I whispered the words near his ear so the rest of the car wouldn't hear. A small groan slipped out of him, and he shifted a little under me in his seat.

Coughing awkwardly, he shifted his arms to circle my waist and pulled me in closer so I could feel his rapidly increasing feelings for me, and I bit my lip in satisfaction.

“Well, that would mean I hadn't imagined yours…” he whispered back to me, his thumb brushing the underside of my breast and making me sigh, remembering the feeling of his hands on me during our not-dream.

“Do you two fucking mind?” Cole asked from the backseat, but not actually sounding that annoyed. “We still have a decent drive ahead, and I'd probably prefer not to do it with a raging hard on.”

“I would second that,” River groaned, adjusting himself one-handed before turning his attention back to the road. Wesley was clearly trying not to smile while his face flushed with heat, and I snuggled back into him to show I wasn't embarrassed. From the backseat I could feel Vali's heavy stare boring into me, but I had no idea how to deal with him yet. He was an issue for future-Kit to deal with.