“Computer, keep bogies in sight and continue to contact Control . . .”
“No,” Gypsy told him quietly. “They’ll have your transponder number, possibly to the vehicle as well as your phone. They have to have or they wouldn’t have known you were headed to the hotel rather than my apartment. If they’re using traditional GPS, then your vehicle transponder will still appear to be on the interstate, though very soon, they’ll realize it’s not. Block your transponder and satellite number until we’re closer to the hotel.”
He was silent for long seconds before giving the computer the command and listening silently as it was confirmed.
Hell, he should be confronting her over the information she had. Jonas was going to blow a gasket, because the connecting routes she gave the computer to use weren’t listed as connecting on the Bureau’s GPS files. Which meant they weren’t listed on anyone’s files. That information, added to her knowledge of transponder and satellite signal tracking, was like a f**king nail in the coffin where hiding her was concerned now.
Fuck, this was a mess.
A mess he had no idea how to save his mate from.
CHAPTER 19
They arrived at the Navajo Suites without incident and pulled into the valet parking, where a Breed Enforcer stepped forward as Rule moved around the Dragoon to open her door. She stepped from the vehicle mutinously, glaring at him, full female fury gleaming in her eyes.
The moment the threat of danger had passed, she had sat back in her seat silently and completely refused to speak to him.
Just what the hell he needed. His mate angrier than ever at a time when he needed her cooperation the most. And he couldn’t blame anyone but himself.
If he hadn’t been too damned stupid to realize exactly what had been going on over the past few months . . .
If he hadn’t been too damned stubborn to claim what was his when he’d first suspected who she was to him, and offered instead to trade his helpless, vulnerable mate for Lawe’s warrior mate . . .
No wonder his brother doubted they were actually kin.
Hell, Rule was beginning to wonder why Lawe had even claimed him after that ridiculous offer. Because no woman could fit him more perfectly than his Gypsy.
And no doubt Lawe felt the same way about his own fiery mate.
“I would prefer to go home,” she told him as his hand curved around her upper arm to escort her inside the lobby.
“I would prefer you hadn’t left to begin with and had given me the time I needed to explain what was going on,” Rule bit out, furious with himself more so than her, but furious all the same.
“Yeah, I really wanted to wait until you managed to disinfect yourself before you gave me a ride home.” She was clearly offended.
Tugging at the grip he had on her arm, she made the journey across the spacious floor just as difficult as possible without calling attention to the fact that she was there involuntarily.
“I’d stop attempting to piss me off while it’s still possible for me to maintain control, sweetheart,” he advised her. “Because, trust me, you have no idea the edge I’m riding right now.”
For all her anger, for all the pain and hurt feelings that flowed through her, though, the smell of her heat still managed to intoxicate him. Arousal spiced with a hunger he couldn’t quite decipher fully. Emotions he couldn’t identify quite yet created an exhilarating scent that had his dick iron hard.
Talking would definitely have to come later.
First, God help him, first he needed to show his fiery little mate exactly who she belonged to. Exactly why she couldn’t continue to fight him this way. If it didn’t stop, then there wasn’t a chance in hell he could protect this incredible gift he’d been given.
It was his place to protect her. And he was beginning to suspect she was going to need more protection than he had ever imagined.
She was his mate.
His mate.
She was his.
One woman.
A woman he was beginning to suspect could complete him in ways he had never imagined.
...