LEXINE SAT AT the corner of the kitchen island, relaxing with her feet up, eating strawberries, and watching Sterling. He sat at the kitchen table, reading over some document, in a white T-shirt, jeans, and bare feet.
When had bare feet become so sexy? How had Lexine lived with someone for years and never realized how gorgeous the man and his feet were?
She shoved a strawberry in her mouth and wondered if Sterling felt the same thing about her. Did he even know she was looking at him?
“Hey, Lexine. Hey, Sterling,” Lennox said from behind her.
She looked over her shoulder and watched her brother walk into the room. “Hey,” she said back.
“Hey,” Sterling said without looking up from his paperwork.
Her brother went to the fridge, opened it, and shut the door. “Where are my strawberries?” he said as he turned around.
Lexine had just taken another bite and tried to swallow it before he noticed. It wasn’t completely chewed and hurt a little going down. She tried to hide her bowl and fork under the counter, but Lennox saw her.
“You little snot,” he said as he tried to swipe her food.
Lexine jerked away, laughing, until she moved too far and winced as she pulled the muscles of her aching vajayjay. At the same time, she dropped several pieces of fruit on her lap.
Lennox frowned. “What’s wrong?”
Lexine reached down to put her food back in the bowl as she said, “Nothing. I’m just sore.” She whipped her head up. “From working out,” she quickly added.
Sterling didn’t lift his head, but she saw the cocky smirk on his face.
Figures. It was his fault she was like this.
Sterling hadn’t bothered to leave when Phoenix was in heat. Instead, he’d tied Lexine to his bed and fucked her all night. At the time, she’d loved it. Loved it so much she hadn’t thought about Dante and the cat-shifter all night, but now, her fricking vagina was practically on fire. She didn’t know how shifters did the whole heat thing. She’d only experienced it for a night. Rumor had it, shifters were in heat for days.
Lennox was still scowling at her, so she put the bowl on the counter.
“Grab a fork. I’ll share.”
“No, I’ll share because they were mine in the first place.”
“Ah, but I’m the one who cleaned and cut them up.”
Her brother didn’t respond, but he got his fork and didn’t try to take the strawberries away from her.
“Sterling, you’re not saying much, man,” Lennox said.
Sterling looked up for the first time. “Sorry. Just looking over some stuff.”
“That’s a lot less fun than the night before.”
“What do you mean?” Lexine asked.
“Rumor has it, Dante wasn’t the only one getting it on all night.”
“Let it go,” Sterling said as he looked back down, dismissing the conversation.
Her brother wasn’t going to be deterred. “I don’t think so. Apparently, the female was a real screamer.”
Lexine willed her body not to show any reaction, but her face began to heat despite her restraint. “Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah, Morgan said she heard them all night.” Lennox furrowed his brows. “I’m surprised you didn’t hear them. You didn’t go out last night, did you?”
Stick as close to the truth as possible. “No, I was here, but I didn’t hear anything.” It was sort of accurate. She hadn’t known she was a screamer and hadn’t heard herself.
“What was it like?” Lennox prodded.
Sterling sighed and set the papers down, obviously seeing that her brother wasn’t going to go away. “Like right after you go through conversion times ten, okay?”
“Holy shit,” Lennox said. “I was a damn hornball after my conversion. No wonder your lady friend was screaming.”
Sterling’s mouth was set in a grim line. He obviously didn’t like her brother talking about her like that even though he had no idea it was her.
Lennox didn’t seem to realize that Sterling was getting pissed. “Wow.”
“What’s wow?” Hunter said as he joined them in the kitchen.
“Lennox,” Sterling warned.
But Lennox just talked right over him, “Were you here last night? Apparently, Sterling here got it on with some girl who was of the vocal variety. Did you hear them?”
Hunter shook his head. “No, but I wasn’t here all night.”
“Did you have to go out and find a piece?”
“What?” Hunter said at the same time Lexine said, “Lennox, come on, a little tact. We’re not pieces of ass.”
In his true fashion, Lennox ignored her and answered Hunter’s question, “Dante’s female shifter. She was in heat. Didn’t you feel the effects of it like Sterling did? He said he’d never been so horny in his life.”
Sterling held up a finger. “That isn’t what I said exactly.”
Lennox waved him off. “It’s what you meant,” her brother said as he turned back to Hunter, who was frowning. “So, is that what it was like for you?”
Hunter looked uncomfortable. “Uh…”
“Lennox, leave him alone,” Lexine said.
Her brother rolled his eyes. “I just want to know what it’s like. Can’t blame a guy.”
“Um, yes, I can,” she retorted.
Giving her the finger, Lennox walked over to Sterling and nudged his shoulder with his hand. “Who is she? Maybe you’d like to share, or does she have friends?”
Lexine made a gagging noise. “Gross,” she whispered under her breath.
Sterling looked up at Lennox. “I said, let it go. She’s none of your business, and I’m not sharing her with anyone.”
Lexine got a little tingle inside her belly, but that only lasted for a second before Lennox leaned over and read Sterling’s paper.
“Transfer papers? To California?” Lennox straightened. “What the hell, man? Are you leaving us?”
The little tingle inside Lexine’s belly turned to a rock.
Hunter looked surprised. “You’re moving? But it won’t be the same. The king and queen are here.”
Sterling glanced at her but then quickly turned his eyes back to her brother and Hunter. “There are rogue vampires everywhere that need policing. Besides, I’m just exploring my options. Nothing is definite yet.”
She didn’t understand why he would do this.
The garage door opened, and Dante walked into the kitchen. Everyone turned to look at him, forgetting about Sterling’s situation for the moment. He looked distraught and stressed out, but Lexine found that she didn’t care.
That wasn’t right. It wasn’t that she didn’t care; she did. She just cared like a friend would, but she didn’t care like she would have a month ago.
Sterling stood. “You okay, boss?” His voice was full of concern.
And, with everything else, why was it that all she could think about was how Sterling had ordered her around in bed last night? He had definitely been in charge there, but you wouldn’t know it now by his submission to Dante.
Dante went over to the liquor cabinet, grabbed a drink, and leaned back against the counter. “Honestly, I don’t know.” Dante rarely drank, always saying he should be a good example.
Lennox tilted his head. “Wait a minute. What were you doing out? I thought that whole heat thing lasted for days.”
Dante took a sip of his drink. “It’s supposed to. Apparently, something happened, and it only lasted about half a day.”
“Ooh, is your female okay?” Lennox asked.
Dante took another drink. “Nope. And I really don’t think she’s my female.”
“What happened?” Hunter asked.
Dante didn’t answer. He just took one last swig of his drink, downing it all. He put his glass in the dishwasher and turned back to them. “What are all of you doing here? Shouldn’t you be working?”
Lexine and Sterling were supposed to be out in the field, but there didn’t seem to be a point when they had a plan to go after Lucas in a few days. But they couldn’t tell Dante that.
“Yeah, Sterling and I were just getting ready to go.”
“What about you guys?” Dante asked Hunter and her brother.
“It’s my night off,” Hunter said. He cleared his throat. “I was going to go out, but if you need me—”
Dante waved him off. “No, go. Have fun. Someone should.”
“I was going to head out in a few,” Lennox said. “I have to meet up with Reid.” He raised his brow. “Do you want to come with? Reid’s cool.”
Reid was the tech guy for the cat-shifter sentinels.
“No, thanks. I should probably catch up on paperwork.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Listen, I’m sorry I haven’t been around much lately. I know I’ve been preoccupied, and you haven’t seen me much when I’m not working. I apologize.”
“That’s okay, Dante,” Lexine said. “We understand.”
Everyone but Dante stared at her like she’d grown horns.
“What? Was I lying?”
Hunter looked away first. “No, Dante, Lexine is right. We understand, and if we really need you, we know you’d be there.”
Dante headed to the hallway and slapped Hunter on the back. “Thanks.”
Once their leader was gone, silence filled the room.
“Well, I’d better go,” Hunter said. “Later.”
“Later,” the three of them answered.
Lexine stood slowly so as to take care of her tender bits. “Listen, I have to go talk to Dante for a minute. I’ll be right back.”
“Okay,” her brother said. “I’ll probably be gone when you get back. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Okay,” she said.
Then, she glanced over at Sterling. His mouth was set in a hard line again.
“I’ll be back,” she told him.
She went down the hall to Dante’s office and knocked on the door.
“Come in.”
Several minutes later, she left the office and walked back to the kitchen. Sterling had put on his boots and was sitting with his transfer papers, but this time, he had a pen in his hand. He wasn’t writing, but it wasn’t a good sign.
He looked up when she entered.
“Do you want to get out of here?” she asked.
Sterling stood and glared at her. “Everything okay?”
She didn’t know what he meant. “Yeah.”
Sterling stared at her, as if he thought she was going to say more, but she didn’t know what else to say.
He nodded, as if he’d given up on something. “All right, let’s go then.”
“After you,” she said.
Sterling headed for the garage. As soon as the door opened and Sterling was out of eyesight, she grabbed his paperwork and threw it in the garbage.