"Mine," he said, softly now, and pulled my body into his. The sun rose, and there in the darkness of a borrowed room, we slept.
• • •
We awoke to riotous noise—pounding on the front door that had both of us shooting upright. The sun had only just dipped below the horizon again, but not quite far enough along to pull us from sleep.
"What in God's name?" Ethan asked, his voice still slumber slurred, his hair more surfer than moderately pretentious Master vampire.
The pounding sounded again. Someone was in a hurry.
Ethan moved to climb off the bed, but I stopped him with a hand. "Get dressed. I'll see who's there first. Luc will kick my ass if I let yours get kicked." I had a bad feeling this was going to be one of those nights on which I really, really wished I could sleep in and defer being an adult for a few more hours.
I pulled on Ethan's shirt from the night before and buttoned it up. It wouldn't do as protective armor, but there weren't enemies at the door, at least not of the CPD variety. I'd tempered my own katana with blood and magic, which left me sensitive to the presence of steel and guns. I didn't sense any outside.
Now draped in tailored and expensive menswear—only the best for our Master—I trundled back into the living room. Ethan's katana was propped beside the door; I'd taken mine to bed, just in case. I picked it up and took a cautionary peek through the peephole . . . and found a shifter on our stoop.
"Open up, Kitten. I know you're there."
I opened the door; a cold breeze lifted goose bumps on my bare legs.
He stood in the doorway, six feet and some-odd inches, all muscle and wolfish energy. His hair was tawny and gold tipped, and it reached his shoulders in shaggy waves. His eyes were amber colored and, at the moment, swirled with amusement.
"Kitten," said Gabriel Keene, the Apex of the North American Pack. He gave me an up-and-down perusal. "I trust I'm not interrupting anything?"
"Sleeping," I managed, crossing my arms over my chest. "We were sleeping."
Ethan stepped behind me, chest bare, buttoning jeans. "I'm fairly certain you know precisely what you were interrupting."
Gabe smiled broadly, revealing straight, white teeth. "Doesn't matter now, since you're both awake. Get your asses dressed. We've got business to attend to."