the knee, pushing my knee up into my stomach.
“How does that feel?” Knight asked.
“Good,” I managed. He pulled my leg straight and put it back on the floor, reaching for the other one. A massage of my other thigh followed, and although I didn’t want to admit it to myself, I was getting incredibly turned on.
“We’ve been noticing these sudden comas popping up for over two months,” he said. Hmm, hence his repeated calls to me over the last couple of months. He didn’t say it but it was there in his eyes. I felt a little bit guilty, but quickly banished the feeling. If Knight had really needed to get in touch with me, he would have invaded my happy little jog months earlier.
“So, I guess you want me to review the files?” I asked, thinking I could use some consultant work. My savings account had been dwindling recently, but I just hadn’t been able to bring myself to call Knight for work—it wasn’t that I was avoiding jobs, I was avoiding Knight.
“If you feel so inclined,” he answered with a grin and brought my foot back to the ground, offering his hands. I took them, and he pulled me up.
“Any ideas on what could be causing all the comas?” I asked.
He made his way back to the couch and sunk into it, stretching his arms above his head and clasped them behind his neck. I was convinced he liked showing off his chest and huge biceps. “Healthy victim one day, comatose the next.”
“Toad Wallow?” Toad Wallow was a potion—one drop and you’d be dead to the world for a week at the most, then you’d wake up with one raging headache, but at least you’d wake up. Course, it didn’t seem the same could be said for these victims.
Knight shook his head. “None of the patients have reflexes, and their EKGs come back inactive.”
“Somnogobelinus,” I whispered. “A sleep goblin, a Dreamstalker.”
Knight nodded. “All roads lead to Rome, or a Dreamstalker in this case.”
I shook my head. “There are only two registered Dreamstalkers in the ANC files: one has been locked away in a Netherworld prison for centuries and…”
“The second was locked away five years ago,” Knight finished for me, with an approving smile.
“Ah, so you have done your homework.” Apprehending Druiva, the Dreamstalker in question, had been one of the most difficult cases Splendor ANC had ever seen. I’d been a junior Regulator at the time and hadn’t really been involved, but it was one of those legendary cases that was still discussed, even now.
“I have.”
“And are they still locked away?” I demanded, thinking we’d found our solution if the answer was “no.”
“Yes, as of yesterday, they are both doing time in Banshee Prison from here until eternity, both under extra security.”
“How can this be then?” I asked, and slunk back into the computer chair, suddenly irritated by the fact that I’d let Knight touch me. I was like mush in his hands—if I was going to keep my distance, I needed to avoid him. Damn it all, I’d been doing a pretty good job before he’d just waltzed back into my life as pretty as he pleased.
Knight shook his head and dropped his arms, thank Hades. A chest that broad should have been illegal. “We’re baffled, which is why I wanted to bring you into the case.” He stood up and approached me, causing me to shrink back into my chair. “Will you help me, Dulce?”
I just nodded before the vision of his lips against my neck slapped me back into reality. Knight needed to know this arrangement would be purely professional, purely business. “Yes, on a few conditions.”
Knight sighed and started pacing my living room. “Name them.”
“One, you have to be professional.”
He faced me, his mouth open in mock offense. “I’m always…”
“No flirting, no accidental touches, no running your fingers down my neck, no lips on my shoulders…”
He chuckled. “You enjoyed that; don’t deny it.”
I had enjoyed it and couldn’t deny it, so I merely ignored him. “No double-entendres, no gifts…”
“Okay, I get it,” he said none too happily. “Is that all?”
“No sex jokes, no invading my personal space, no comments on my appearance, no lustful glances and absolutely no winking.”
Knight threw himself back into the couch and faced me with a perturbed expression. “I should have found someone else to help with the case.”
I laughed. “Don’t be a spoil sport. You know I’m the best.”
He offered me a boyish grin. “Yes, you are.”
Inwardly, I breathed