Wild Country (The World of the Others #2)- Anne Bishop Page 0,140

pay attention to what he’s telling you.”

Restless animals. Something more than weather.

“I’ll stay sharp,” she promised.

“I have to go.”

“Me too. I think Jesse is still in town. Anything you want me to tell her if I see her?”

He was silent for so long she wondered if he’d ended the call. “If she’s going to be in town another day, have her call me. Otherwise I’ll see her when she gets home.”

“Okay.” The next words came out in a rush. “Take care of yourself.”

“Always.”

She heard the smile in his voice as she ended the call. Then she sighed and turned off her alarm. No point trying for a few more minutes of sleep.

She padded through the house, let Rusty out for her morning piddle, started the coffee, put fresh water and some kibble in Rusty’s bowls. Once the pup was back inside, Jana took a quick shower and returned to the kitchen wearing a long T-shirt and a towel wrapped around her head.

She found Barb, heavy-eyed and rumpled, staring into the open refrigerator.

“You have a case of refrigerator blindness this morning?” Jana asked as she took two mugs out of the cupboard and poured coffee into them.

“Poop on you,” Barb muttered.

Amused—and wondering if her housemate was actually awake—Jana steered Barb to the counter. “Drink coffee. Find your words. And your brain. And your bounce.”

Barb made an unspellable sound but shifted her focus to staring at the mug of coffee instead of the inside of the refrigerator.

Jana made scrambled eggs and toast and watched Barb come back to life as they ate breakfast.

“Long night?” she asked.

“Long,” Barb agreed.

“Do we need to have a talk about the birds and the bees?”

Barb stared. Then blushed. “No. Absolutely not. No.”

“If I promise not to tell your brother the cop?”

Hesitation. “Maybe.”

Oh, gods. Well, she’d brought it up, hadn’t she?

She glanced at the clock and realized she didn’t have time to find out more. Kane had stayed in the office last night with Cory, so she didn’t have to drive him to work today, but that didn’t mean Virgil wouldn’t be standing by the police car waiting for her. Or he could be trotting to work on his own, marking territory as he went.

But she didn’t think that would be the case this morning. If Tobias felt uneasy when everything should have been fine again, it was a good bet that Virgil knew why.

* * *

* * *

Jesse woke slowly, feeling ripe and deliciously languid. Used in the best sort of way.

Maybe she would stay in bed all morning. She could order a meal and have it delivered to the room and spend a few hours nibbling and reading. She always had a book tucked in her overnight case, even if she didn’t expect to have time to read more than a chapter. This morning she could indulge herself and …

“Arroo!”

“Cory!” Jesse jackknifed to a sitting position and looked at the empty crate. Virgil had taken the puppy yesterday, and except for checking now and then to make sure Cory was all right, she’d left the pup in the sheriff’s office and stayed focused on whatever she could do to suppress the panic that had built in people who didn’t know what was going on but knew they had nowhere to run if the terra indigene turned against them. Then the news, brief as it was, that Meg Corbyn had been found alive.

Despite the majority of residents not knowing why the crisis was over, only that it was over, fear and stress had morphed into manic relief that left people—and she was among them—entertaining foolish ideas. And doing things that, perhaps, hadn’t been wise. Except, gods, it had been a long time since a man had pleasured her the way she’d been pleasured last night. And if this languidness was caused by the amount of blood Tolya had taken, it was a small price to pay for feeling so incredible.

As she swung her legs over the side of the bed, Jesse noticed the note anchored under the book she’d set on the bedside table.

Jesse,

Your puppy is at the sheriff’s office playing with Rusty. She is fine. You should eat a hearty breakfast this morning. Meat is recommended.

Tolya

P.S. You might want to wear a scarf if you are going to see your son later today.

“Scarf?” Jesse muttered. “In this heat?”

She scrambled out of bed and stared at her reflection in the full-length mirror. The bruises on her inner left thigh and the inside of her right elbow were