“Has been awhile,” Mace replied.
“Fuck, you’re screwed.” Vance came around the other side.
“Have been that way awhile too, around about the minute she turned her brown eyes on me,” Mace explained.
“The eyes? I thought you’d go for –” Luke came up to the men from behind.
“Luke,” Lee cut him off in a warning tone.
Luke half-grinned. “I was gonna say the voice. That sexy, throaty voice. Shit.”
“Gotta admit to likin’ the voice,” Eddie muttered in agreement.
“I f**ked it up with her,” Mace told them, indulging an extremely unusual moment of sharing.
Luke’s hand came to Mace, his fingers tightening around Mace’s neck where it met his shoulder. The two men’s eyes locked.
“You’l sort it,” Luke said.
Luke was right, he would.
* * * * *
They al drove company Explorers to The Castle, Hank and Eddie riding with Lee. The Ford Explorers in Nightingale Investigations garage were al kitted with tracking devices,
communication
equipment
and
bul etproof windows.
Lee’s overhead was a bitch.
Marcus was already there when they arrived.
Mace grabbed the workout bag he’d packed with his clothes and a bunch of shit he took from Stel a’s place when he let Vance in to start instal ing the cameras (he’d never given back her key, she’d never asked for its return) and he went straight to Stel a.
She was asleep on her side just like last night, smack in the middle of the bed, her long, dark brown hair al over the pil ows and fal ing in her face. Her head was tilted forward, her face resting on one of her hands, the other arm was thrown out in front of her, palm up.
She was out, didn’t even move when he came in. Likely she’d taken pain kil ers. She wasn’t a particularly light sleeper but when they were together she’d always woken up when he got home.
Juno rushed him when she heard him. Mace dropped the bag, sat on the side of the bed and rubbed the big dog down from ears to rump.
“Lie down,” he murmured when he was done.
Juno licked his hand and trotted back to the other side of the bed and settled with a groan.
Mace pul ed off his boots and clothes and slid in bed behind Stel a. He fitted his body to hers, wrapped his arm around her middle and pul ed her tight against him.
Then he listened to her breathe until he final y fel asleep.
* * * * *
Stella
Mace was there again when I woke up in the morning; his hard body pressed the length of my back. I was mostly on my side and bel y, my top leg cocked deep and even Mace’s leg was cocked the length of mine.