Her lips parted on a soft gasp. “Really? That’s good.”
He quickly brought her up to speed. “I’d rather stay here with you, but this needs to be dealt with.”
“Well, of course you have to go.” There was no aggravation or resentment in her words, just pure understanding. “You’re looking at me like you expect me to curse you for leaving. I knew coming into this that your position of sentinel is super important to you; I knew you’d be on call, even on your days off. I’m not mad that you need to go, I get it.”
He let out a long breath he hadn’t even realized he’d been holding. “Hopefully, I won’t be too long.”
“I’ll be fine here.”
“Are you sure?” He palmed her cheek. “You could spend some time with Harper and Asher while I’m gone.”
Her nose wrinkled. “That would require getting dressed and slapping on some makeup. I don’t have the energy for that. I’d rather just stay home, and maybe binge watch a TV series.”
That made the corner of his mouth hitch up. “I like that you call this ‘home’ already.”
“It is home.”
“Yeah.” He sipped from her mouth, silently cursing the fact that he had to leave. “I had plans for this body this morning. So many, many plans.”
“You can carry them out later,” she whispered.
“Later.” He kissed her again and then edged out of bed. In the bathroom, he went through his morning ritual, telepathed Levi to say that Devon would be staying here, and then returned to the bedroom. She was sitting cross-legged on the bed, the sheets pulled up to cover her breasts, reading something on her phone.
Pulling on his clothes, he asked, “You’re sure you’ll be okay here?”
She looked up at him—didn’t give him a brief glance or answer without moving her gaze from her cell. No, she gave him her full attention. He fucking loved that.
“I’m sure,” she said.
He liked that she’d be in the building, where she’d be safe, but … “I don’t like that you’ll be alone.”
“If you’re worried that I’ll get lonely or bored and decide to go out, don’t. I’m not stupid. Venturing out alone while I have danger lurking isn’t on my list of things to do. I’m not going to make it easy for the fucker to get to me.”
Finally dressed, he crossed to the bed and planted a fist on the mattress either side of her. “If for some reason you do need to go somewhere, call Ciaran and ask him to teleport you wherever you need to go. Also tell him to give me a telepathic shout-out so I know exactly where you are. Okay?”
She turned her face upward and rolled her eyes. “If it’ll make you feel better, okay.”
He dropped a kiss on her mouth. “Thank you.”
Knuckles rapped on the front door and then a familiar mind slid against his. It’s me, said Antonio. You ready?
Yeah, replied Tanner. “That’s Antonio,” he told her, straightening. “I have to leave now.” His hound rumbled a dark growl, not wanting to go, even as it knew its Prime needed it. “I might be a few hours,” Tanner warned her.
She crossed her eyes. “Yeah, pooch, I get that. I’ll be fine.” She flapped her hand toward the door. “Now go. Shoo. Good dog.”
Lips twitching, he narrowed his eyes. “You’ll pay for that later, kitten.”
She smirked. “Sure I will.”
Shooting her a mock glare, Tanner spun on his heel and left the apartment.
*
A short time later, he and Levi flanked Knox as they stalked through the lavish hotel lobby that was all gleaming marble tile, domed stained glass ceilings, and designer rugs. Some people were in a line near the front desk, hauling luggage. Others were relaxing on the designer couches in the sprawling seating area beyond the bank of elevators.
The uniformed staff had a habit of rushing to Knox with queries the moment he stepped into the building, but not today. Probably because he was exuding a “You really don’t want to fuck with me right now” vibe.
Knox made a beeline for the head of the security team, who was unobtrusively leaning against a marble column near the water fountain, taking in everything.
The male straightened as they approached. “Mr. Thorne.”
“Derek,” Knox greeted. “Is Muriel still contained?”
“Yes, sir.” Derek fell into step beside the Prime as Knox immediately headed in the direction of the security office, since it was the only room that provided access to the detention room—a space specially designed to hold demons.