“You know.” Leaning against the dresser she’d just pulled a shirt from, he watched her curiously as he crossed his arms over his broad, naked chest. “Several weeks ago my room was gone through. A scent blocker was used, but what the intruder was unaware of is that the perspiration they left throughout the room wasn’t safe from detection when the room belongs to the intruder’s unmated mate.”
Unmated mate? It was all she could do not to roll her eyes, but she was pretty f**king tired. His bathroom sex had pretty much sapped what little energy she’d gained while she slept earlier.
“You’re reaching, Rule,” she breathed out roughly, certain there was really no getting out of this, at least without really lying to him, and that, she found suddenly distasteful.
A spy who couldn’t lie? Hell, wasn’t that one a first?
His gaze focused on her like a laser, brightening, the blue iris enlarging just enough to send her heart racing.
“Then,” he continued as though she hadn’t spoken, “when we picked up those tails last night, you knew exactly how to pull up the GPS on the Dragoon and evade whoever was following us. How did you know that, Gypsy? No one outside the enforcers who use those vehicles knows about the new systems that went in just before we left for the op in Window Rock. That, or the transponders and satellite phone trackers we carry. Especially no human civilian.”
She shrugged nonchalantly, rather enjoying the game he’d started. At least for the moment. She was certain that the time was coming, though, when he wasn’t going to allow her to deny her knowledge of where she’d gained her information for long. And God help her, she could only pray he didn’t get Jonas Wyatt involved with this.
“Someone must know about it,” she informed him, as though the subject were no more than amusing. “Because I had to have heard about it somewhere. Though it’s really not that dissimilar to the GPS and backup systems used by National Law Enforcement.”
“And how would you know about their GPS and backup systems?” He latched onto that immediately. “Last I heard, National was just as proprietary about their technical information as the Breeds are.”
“More so, actually.” She smiled. “I guess it’s all according to who you have as friends, Rule. I have a lot of friends. And remember, I do work part-time at the Navajo Covert Law Enforcement office.”
He actually grinned. Ducking his head for a moment, he stared at a point that could have been his bare feet. He was shaking his head, though, and that smile was flashing a bit more of the healthy canines at the side of his teeth than she found comfortable.
His head lifted enough to stare up at her through the veil of those thick, inky lashes. The gleam of those blue eyes, barely glimpsed for the long lashes, was entirely too wickedly sexy. It made her stomach kind of jump.
“Yeah, you have a lot of friends, baby,” he said softly, causing her heart to trip nervously. “And whoever the f**k trained you did a damned good job of it. Had any Breed other than Jonas questioned you, then I have no doubt you would have convinced them you were just the party girl you pretend to be. But no other Breed would have seen your response when you jerked that towel from my hand. And I know, only training can create the quickness you used in doing that. Just as only training could have taught you the move you used last night when Rhyzan made the mistake of touching you in that bar. And yes, one of the enforcers watching that little move described it perfectly as I was pulling in.”
Gypsy widened her eyes innocently. “That is one freaky Breed, Rule. You should keep him out of the general public if you really want to convince the public you’re harmless.”
“Is that what we’re trying to do?” he asked her.
“Isn’t it?” She kept her appearance amused, archly mocking, and prayed she could pawn off the racing of her heart and her nervousness on the simmering arousal still vibrating through her body.
“You’re not distracting me,” he warned her then. “You’re calm, giving all appearances of being slightly confused, a little nervous but game to play along. Damned good training, just as I said. But I’m probably the one person in the world you’re never going to be able to fool whenever you attempt to lie to me. I know your scent more intimately than any other Breed ever will, and I’ll catch that hint of deceit creeping out. You won’t have to say a word. I’ll know you’re preparing to deceive me before the words ever leave your mouth.”
Well, wasn’t he just damned sure of himself?
Gypsy moved across the room then, watching him warily, as though she were indeed just as confused and nervous as he indicated she was playing at. They both knew he was right, but nothing could hurt her, or him, if she didn’t admit to it.
“Look.” She gave a nervous little laugh that wasn’t entirely faked. “This has been really interesting, Rule, but I think I’d prefer you find another game to play.”
He tracked her with his eyes alone, but when she reached the door, a dark rumble suddenly filled the room, causing her to stop and stare back at him in surprise.
“You haven’t denied searching my room yet, mate,” he reminded her.
Gypsy cocked her hip, mimicked his stance with her arms crossing over her br**sts and glared back at him.
“You didn’t ask if I had searched your room, Rule.” She stressed his name rather than using the title of mate in the mocking tone she wanted to use. “I did just that the first time you threw me to the bed and had your way with me, as soon as you left the room afterward. And I didn’t even need a scent blocker to do it nor did I have to break in, if you’ll recall. I don’t know what you think I was looking for, though. I wanted a drink of water, and wanted to know exactly where I could find the T-shirts when I needed one.” She plucked at the front of the gray shirt mockingly. “Is there anything more you want to know?”
“I want to know why, even while revealing that you did indeed go through my room that night, the scent of your lie is still pouring from your body?”
“What lie?” Distress filled her voice now. “What are you accusing me of, Rule?”
She knew damned well what he was accusing her of, and the very fact that he was so damned confident, and pushing a little more with each sentence out of his mouth, had her consciously battling her rising nerves.
“Jonas is looking for someone, Gypsy. An informant for a secretive sect of warriors located within the Nation that’s known to aid Breeds and humans attempting to escape and forever disappear from the Genetics Council. Finding that informant is imperative. It could be all that’s standing between life or death for Amber.”
She hated Breeds.
And she was beginning to hate this mating crap and didn’t even understand what it was. What she did know was that it was all she could do to keep from giving him what he wanted. She wanted to tell him the truth so damned bad she could barely stand it.