of his dark head, drawing him down for a slow, reassuring exchange as vital to both their lives as oxygen. Finally rocking back, Cee Cee rubbed the hint of her lip stain off the slight curve of his mouth, adding, “Got a break in the case tonight.”
His fond gaze narrowed into glittery emerald slits as his thumb sketched along a small bruise beginning to bloom on the side of her face. “At no little cost, I’m guessing.”
“To us, no,” she assured him, catching his hand for a tender squeeze. “To his employers, plenty. It’s the break we’ve been waiting for.”
“Am I allowed to know what it involves?”
Treading carefully where their work was concerned was their unspoken rule. Straying into areas of conflicting interest had a bad habit of creating strained, or worse, estranged bedfellows. But his mate’s hesitation set all Max’s warning bells clamoring like the Cathedral’s call to Sunday service, urging him across that line.
“Detective?”
Cee Cee shrugged off his smooth prompt, gaze dropping to the vee of his white shirt as if fascinated by the sprigs of dark hair revealed by those open top buttons. “Just the job, Savoie. Nothing out of the ordinary.”
“Cher, your definition of ordinary encompasses a wealth of things that make my blood run cold.”
A husky laugh. Dark eyes flashed up to flirt with his. “Max, you’re the most hot-blooded man I know. Nothing scares you.”
“Except,” he drawled out low and lethal, “the thought of you in danger. Especially now.”
“We are not having this conversation.”
Her curt response frosted the air between them. As gradual as a glacial advance, his expression settled into unreadable lines, covering emotions he feared he could not control. “And just when do you think it would be appropriate to discuss the risks you take with the safety of my wife and child?”
A taut impasse ensued, testing fierce convictions and even stronger wills. Neither broke nor eased down until Cee Cee bit out, “Do you want to know what I think of your macho male posturing?”
“Please.” A tic jumped in his cheek. “Enlighten me.”
Chin hoisting to a prideful angle, her gun-sight stare targeted his. “I think,” she growled, “it makes me hot as hell.”
Max blinked.
Before he could move, strong fingers curled in the lapels of his jacket. A twist of her athletic body and the hard thrust of her hip upset their already precarious balance, dropping him onto his back atop the parlor sofa, her long, muscled frame astride him. Her mouth took his, bruising, hungry. Urgent fingers started down the buttons of his shirt until the sound of a raspy throat clearing from the hall froze them in place.
“As a courtesy to visitors, a closed door would be appreciated when that guest hasn’t seen his own mate for weeks.”
Cee Cee sat back, turning to scowl at their company. The displaced shapeshifter king who’d just lost his home and nearly his life, met her killing glare with a wry smirk as she grumbled, “Lucky you’re still on the mend. If you weren’t so delicate, this discussion would have a whole different tone.”
“At last. A reason to be thankful for being tossed off a cliff while my whole world was burning.”
Cee Cee caught back the apology forming on her lips. Sympathy wasn’t wanted or needed. Instead, she suggested, “Phone sex. Highly recommended in such situations. Preferably from the privacy of that very nice room you’re occupying upstairs.”
Cale Terriot’s wide grin cracked all the harsh angles of a face roughly hewn by pain and responsibility. His amusement rumbled. “Thanks for the advice. Think I’ll go make a call. ‘Scuse the interruption.” He waved a hand. “Carry on.”
Once the sound of halting footsteps on the stairs faded, Cee Cee turned back to the matter at hand . . . only to find it discouragingly deflated. An impassive stare suggested her attempt to derail their conversation was now back on track to nowhere she wanted to go. Max’s cool remark confirmed it.
“Shall we go up as well, Detective, so I can check for further bruising of the marital property?”
“Only if it’s for pleasure instead of business purposes.”
His failure to smile sank hopes of an enjoyable postponement of that conversation she’d been trying to avoid.
– – –
A closed bathroom door while his mate showered twisted Max’s fears tighter. Was she hiding evidence of worse damage or just from him in general? Neither was acceptable. He shrugged out of his jacket, movements rote as he brushed undetectable wrinkles from the exquisite fabric before hanging it in the massive