Eleven
Careful not to jostle Niko, something Rylee appreciated, Luca carried his brother to the rug in front of the fireplace and set him down so the wolf faced the kitchen.
“Wouldn’t he be more comfortable in his bed?” she asked. Although Luca had been injured, he was already moving better than he had been. Surely getting Niko upstairs wouldn’t be so hard.
Luca shook his head. “You’d be too far away. He’ll want to be able to see you when he opens his eyes. Otherwise, he’ll come looking for you instead of resting.”
“It’s not like I’m going to go anywhere, except maybe to get my bags in the barn later.”
Niko’s soft growl told her just how much he approved of that idea.
Luca was already moving through the living room toward the stairs. “If you were my mate, I’d expect him to do the same. I’ll get your bags in a little while,” he said, glancing over his shoulder at her before heading up.
Well, that was that. She wouldn’t argue with either of them right then, but she hoped they wouldn’t expect her to be under constant supervision going forward. She wasn’t a street rat anymore, and she was more comfortable around people than ever, but that didn’t mean she didn’t appreciate time alone.
Crouching down next to Niko, she ran her fingers through the soft fur at his neck. “Get some sleep. I’m going to see what I can do about dinner.”
His long tongue snaked out as she pulled away, glancing over the top of her hand, but otherwise, he didn’t move. After a few seconds, he sighed and closed his eyes.
In the span of a day, the job had gone from a regular—if dangerous—mission, to ridiculously complicated on top of it all. She needed a plan. One that would take the enemy away from Dexter and the people she was already considering her own. The plain truth was that Niko wouldn’t have been injured had she not shown up at his garage.
One, Niko wouldn’t be put in danger. Big plus. Two, she could work on her own timeline. Three, she wouldn’t owe anyone anything. Rylee ticked the pros off in her mind. And the cons? Those were easy. She wasn’t a tracker, and she didn’t know the area. Finding the damned hard drive would take a while, which in turn would mean the big bads that were on her tail would be around longer, putting not only her, but the pack and all of Dexter in more danger. Her gaze skittered to Niko again. Who was she kidding? If he was that protective of her and didn’t want her to go to the barn for her bags, there was no way he’d stand by while she went after the cougars on her own.
Even if he did, she wasn’t stupid. Doing so wasn’t just risky, it was suicide. Using her head was what had kept her alive on the streets, as well as on her various missions since then. As much as she hated the thought of him being in danger, she needed Niko. Not that she had a whole lot of choice in the matter. She wasn’t the one who’d hired him to do the tracking in the first place, Aric Wolfe had. She couldn’t fire him even if she wanted to.
She had no doubt the wolf shifters in the sleepy town could hold their own against the cougars. The data she’d scrutinized pointed to the large cats being solitary creatures. They sometimes worked in pairs, and occasionally with two other cougars, but they weren’t pack animals like the wolves. But the vampires? They did what they felt needed to be done even if it went against their natures. If it meant storming a town with a whole army, that’s what they’d do. Not to mention those bastards were hard to kill.
Sighing, Rylee headed into the kitchen. One of the first things she’d done once she’d gotten herself on her feet had been to find an apartment and learn to cook. She was no gourmet chef, but she could whip together a chicken stew and dumplings like a champ.
Stressing over something she had no control over wouldn’t help her, or anyone else for that matter. There wasn’t a damned thing she could do until they found the asshole who had the hard drive. She’d meet with Jaxon and give him what little information she had. From there, they’d figure out what to do.
Once the stew was simmering on the stove—and after a quick check to ensure Niko was still sleeping—careful not to make a sound, Rylee slipped out the front door. She’d grab her things from the SUV and bring them in. If the kitchen held state-of-the-art appliances, it stood to reason that if she went looking, she’d find a washer and dryer to launder her new clothes in. Eau de Department Store wasn’t her favorite fragrance.
She paused on the front step, looking and listening. If anything was amiss, she’d go back into the house and wait. With the sun dipping low in the sky, the shadows in the yard lengthened, but she could see well enough to know it was empty. Setting a brisk pace, she headed to the barn.
Her gaze roved over all the shiny metal and chrome until it came to rest on the bright pink Ducati. Ursula’s paint gleamed in the spotlit stall, and Rylee wished she could take her out for a spin, but that would have to wait. If that vampire was still around, she didn’t want to lead it straight to the farm.
Her stomach rumbled as she hefted half the bags out of the SUV. How had she bought so much stuff in one shopping trip? Sweeping the yard again, she left her packages on the front porch and made it all the way back for the rest when that uneasy feeling settled into her stomach again. Peering around her, she picked up her pace, jogging to get back to the house. Nothing looked out of place, but she wasn’t taking chances.
She bounded up the steps heading to the front door, barely registering that the first load of she’d brought up were no longer where she’d left them.
Closing the door and locking it behind her, she dropped her bags to the floor before crossing into the living room. The spot where Niko had been curled and sleeping was empty. Damn it. She listened for any sound that might indicate where he was. If he hurt himself, she was going to be pissed. This was why she worked alone. Worrying about someone else left her vulnerable. Instead of concentrating on what was going on outside, she was focusing on her mate.
She went to the window and peered out. Nothing. Maybe she’d get a better view from upstairs. Not to mention that she could check on Niko. He had to have gone up there, right?
The faint sound of running water greeted her as she bounded up the stairs. If she wasn’t mistaken, it was coming from the room she’d shared with Niko the night before. Her pulse slowed a few beats as some of the tension in her chest released.
Resisting the urge to go straight to him was damned near impossible, but she forced her shaky legs to take her to the window at the end of the hall instead. If he was in the shower, he couldn’t be hurt too badly. Pulling the curtain back enough to peek through, she checked out the tree line at the side of the house. Still nothing.
“What are you looking for?” Luca asked from right behind her, making her heart all but leap out of her chest and a small scream rip from her lips.
“You scared the shit out of me,” she yelled just as the bedroom door crashed open and a very wet—very naked—Niko came barrelling out.
“What’s wrong? Why did you scream?” Niko asked, his chest heaving, his eyes darting between her and Luca.
“Jesus, put some clothes on, bro. I don’t need to see that shit unless you’re about to shift,” Luca said.
“Step away from my mate,” the growl in Niko’s voice would have left lesser men trembling, but Luca just shook his head.
“I’m not after your woman, and you’re an asshole if you think I’d ever do such a thing. She ran into the house like her ass was on fire. I was checking on her.” Even as he said the words, Luca stepped back.
“He just startled me, that’s all,” Rylee interjected, stopping the chest-pounding before it could go any further. She pointed her finger at Niko. “You’re not supposed to be on two legs yet.”
“And you were supposed to stay in the house,” he admonished right back at her.
Luca cleared his throat and shuffled his feet before slipping past them both, heading to the stairs. “I’m going to go check on that stew. I’m starving.”
Niko’s lips thinned, and she’d swear she heard a small grunt as he redistributed his weight. “He didn’t deserve that,” she said once the man was out of sight.
“I know. I’ll apologize later.”
“I went to grab my things out of the SUV so I could wash my new clothes. I came back in right away,” she said as way of explanation for her actions. She had to tell him about her uneasiness, but she needed to know that he was okay first. “You, on the other hand, could have done some serious damage. How’s your leg?”
He narrowed the gap between them. He still looked damned sexy in the middle of a hallway without a stitch of clothes on and favoring his leg like he was.
“Healed enough to shift without causing problems.”
Healed enough, my ass. “That’s why you’re limping?” she waved a hand toward him, then yanked her gaze up to his again after it landed on another part of his anatomy entirely.
“I’ll be as good as new in an hour. The muscles and ligaments are healed. The bone is set enough to walk on. I’m sorry if I worried you.”
Had he been abrasive or even offhand about the whole thing, she could have hung on to her frustration, but this left her defenseless. “Does it still hurt a lot?”
“Enough, but it’s tolerable. So, why did you come running into the house as though your ‘ass was on fire’, as Luca put it?” he asked once he was standing within arm’s reach.
Her heart rate spiked, and it took everything in her to keep her hands to herself. The man was seriously gorgeous in all his naked splendor. She wanted to launch herself at him like she had in the barn the day before and touch him all over, but until he was fully healed, there’d be none of that.
As though reading her mind, he took hold of her hips and drew her flush against him. “I felt like I was being watched outside. It’s getting dark out. I was afraid the vampire might have found us.”
Niko nuzzled her neck, sniffing the skin just beneath her ear, then pressed a soft kiss to the tender spot. “It’s Emmet and, most likely, some of the pack. Jaxon must have sent them.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Luca spotted him when he got your bags for you. If anyone shows up, we’ll know it.” He wrapped his arms around her waist, and buried his nose in her hair. “You smell so good, I could eat you up.”
A zing of pleasure ripped through her. She’d love nothing more than to let him have a taste, but it was obvious he wasn’t going to take care of himself unless she insisted. “We’ll talk in another hour or two. Let’s get you fed and back to bed.”
“We can skip the eating,” he offered as he grazed the shell of her ear with his teeth.
Maybe going straight to bed wouldn’t be so bad. He shifted his weight again, and the muscles of his shoulders bunched, bringing her back from the haze of lust blinding her.
Wiggling out of his grasp, she gave him a little shove. “Unless you want to come to the dinner table in your birthday suit, I’d suggest you get some clothes on before joining us.”
Niko tried making a grab for her, but she twisted and pulled further back. “Nope. Not until you’re fully healed. Dinner first. Sex later,” she promised. Pretending like it wasn’t going to happen wouldn’t fool either one of them.