Edged Blade (16 page)

He recalled correctly. Once he’d been my shadow and I bet he could even tell me all the places where I was known to enjoy fries. “That works.”

“I’ll see to it. And I’ll make sure the burger no longer bleeds.” He winked and slid outside. I turned in a slow circle, looking around the room.

I hadn’t brought anything with me other than the gear I carried in my bag. There was an extra set of clothes in there, but I didn’t want work clothes. I wanted something warm and soft against my skin as I cuddled up on the lake-sized bed that took up almost a quarter of the opposite wall.

Ducking through the door that led the shower and his office, I moved into his closet. There was a built-in set of drawers and I tugged open the top one, staring down at the clothes I’d left here more than a year ago.

Everything was still in there.

Jeans, panties, bras, shirts, the spare work clothes I’d brought just in case.

I took out underclothes, a pair of soft cotton pajama bottoms and a faded T-shirt that had
Memphis
scrawled across the chest.

Exhaustion beat at me as I stumbled into the lavish bathroom. It was done in earth tones with gold accents, more elegant than you’d expect from a guy like Damon.

The only thing that kept me from falling asleep in the shower was the fact that I knew I’d drown if I did. Once I’d washed the soot, blood and sweat away, I fell face-first onto Damon’s big bed. It was soft as a cloud and I grabbed the pillow, bringing it to my chest.

It smelled of Damon.

Smiling, I closed my eyes.

It was a surprise when I woke up curled around Damon.

The feel of his hand curved over my ass was a surprise after so many nights alone. A surprise, yes. But a welcome one. Snuggling deeper into him, I murmured, “I don’t want to move. Ever.”

His hand smoothed gently down my spine and his lips brushed over my brow. “Good morning, Goldilocks.”

“Somebody’s been sleeping in your bed.”

He laughed softly. “My favorite somebody.”

He moved and I caught my breath as he pulled me on top of him.

“You smell like smoke.”

“Job got hot,” I said, reaching down to trace my finger along his cheek. His skin was warm, five o’clock shadow darkening his jawline.

“What time is it?”

“A little before three. Scott said you’ve been here since ten.”

I yawned and my jaw cracked. “Yeah. Spent most of it sleeping.”

He nodded at the tray on the table across the room. “He sent food, but it’s cold by now. I’ll call for more.”

I sat up, eying the burger and fries. I hadn’t even heard Scott come in. It was unsettling, but there was nowhere I was safer than in Damon’s quarters, whether or not he was there.

“I need to call Justin—check in and see if he got everything wrapped up.”

“You need food.” His voice was flat. “Kit, you’re exhausted.”

I grimaced as I threw my legs over the side of the bed. It was so tall, my feet didn’t even touch the floor.

“I’ll eat.” I
was
exhausted. Sighing, I looked around, searching for signs that anything had changed.

“This job…”

I looked at Damon. His nostrils flared as he breathed in the air.

Nerves clenched inside me. “Yeah?”

“What exactly were you doing?”

“I…ah…” Shrugging, I looked away. “I told you about it. NHs were being held against their will. We busted them out.”

I felt his reaction more than saw it. Because I wasn’t ready to talk about Shanelle yet, I turned back to him, crawling across the lake of a bed until I could bend down and press my lips to his.

I bit his lower lip and he groaned, pulling me to him.

I’d missed this more than I’d thought possible.

As he cradled the back of my head, a wave of emotion flooded me, left me feeling stupid with love.
Wow…

That was it.

Just…

Wow
.

The last of the walls I’d unconsciously erected between us started to topple. I could feel myself surrendering completely to the need and love that still burned inside me. I was tired of being away from him, tired of the fear that wouldn’t go away.

Breaking the kiss, I lifted my head to look down at him.

I’d hidden from all of this for too long while I struggled to come to grips with everything. Now that I was ready to deal with it again—deal with
us
—I was back in that crazy area where what I felt for him was constantly throwing me off balance.

Emotions had never been my strong suit and what I felt for him was too big. But that didn’t mean I’d give it up. And if some sexy shifter with a need to take back her place in his life tried to come between us, I’d cut her down.

“What is it?” he asked quietly.

I shook my head.

“Don’t lie to me,” he said. “You’re worried about something.”

I made a face at him. “I didn’t lie. I shook my head. Difference.” Shoving the tangle of my hair back, I thought about Shanelle, and the million questions that still burned inside me.

“Kit…”

“You have a couple of silver hairs popping up on your head. I never noticed.” I grinned at him.

“You probably caused every one of them.” He studied me. I felt the warmth of his breath ghosting along my skin as he tugged me closer. “Come on, Kit…”

I blew out a breath. “Look, I was…”

There was a hard knock at the door. “Go away,” Damon shouted.

The knock came again.

Sighing, he let me go and I rolled away, eying the door with a mix of gratitude and sympathy. Damon didn’t like it when his orders weren’t followed.

He had the door open before I even made it off the bed.

“Sometimes I think you have a death wish, Chang.”

“It’s important,” the other man said.

Damon stepped aside, allowing his second in.

Chang’s gaze came straight to me, his mouth tight. He looked harder and colder than I’d ever seen him. “Where did you find her?”

“Ah…”

Damon’s gaze cut to me as he closed the door. His eyes narrowed speculatively and I saw the very
second
he figured it out.

My response was interrupted by another knock.

Chang’s eyes narrowed, a low growl in his voice.

“I told her to
wait
,” he said.

Damon continued to stare at me for a long, long moment. Then, without saying a word, he turned and moved to the door.

I wasn’t surprised, not really, when I heard her voice.

“Damon…”

From where I stood, I could see as she went to move in. I was doing the same thing—moving in to knock her
away
.

It wasn’t necessary, though, because Damon had already moved out of her reach.

Her face fell, although the expression was gone almost as quickly as it came. She smiled. “What…no hug?”

“Shanelle.”

He shot me a look.

Shanelle glanced my way and then back to him. Then her head whipped back in my direction

“You…”

She had big, brown eyes and as she stared at me, the heat that had been in her eyes faded to ice. “So he didn’t
hire
you, huh?”

“Nope.” I shrugged and dropped down on the couch. My sword was now in reach. Not that I expected I’d need it, but in a moment, she’d stop thinking about getting in Damon’s pants and connect some dots and come up with the right picture.

One that included the fact that
I
was the only one who’d be getting into Damon’s pants.

“Shanelle. You were expected over a week ago,” Damon said, drawing her attention back to him. “Where have you been?”

“Where…” She stopped and shook her head. “What do you mean, where have I been? Didn’t you…”

The words trailed off as Damon moved closer to me.

“Hire her?” he offered as he settled on the couch next to me. He kicked his legs up and put his feet on the polished surface of the table. “She just said
no
.” He slid me a look. “We’re going to talk about this job, Kit.”

I ignored him, my attention focused on the woman across from us.

“You don’t know,” she said quietly, her voice tight. “You
didn’t
know. You didn’t send her after me?”

Damon curled a possessive hand around the back of my neck. “Would be hard to do since I had no idea where you were.”

She didn’t even seem to hear him. She was staring at the hand he had on my neck and the tension in the air spiked.

“Shanelle.”

Chang’s voice was low and the authority in it was undeniable. Still, it took the woman several moments to drag her eyes from me—and Damon—to look at the slender man across the room. “You were told to wait,” he said when she finally looked at him.

She angled her chin up. “I was. I didn’t.”

Something that might have been temper snapped in Chang’s gaze, but it was gone too quick to say. I was kind of surprised to see that she was getting under Chang’s skin.

I didn’t know that was possible.

“Chang updated me on your petition and I understand you’re in my territory, regardless of that petition, for as long as it takes you to conclude the business you have with the Assembly. But…” Damon paused and although he didn’t change position, didn’t move a muscle or even alter his expression, everything about
him changed, from his demeanor to the very feel of the room. The power level punched up so high, the hair on the back of my neck stood on end. “Remember…you
are
in my territory. You’ll follow the laws or you’ll suffer the consequences.”

“Of course.” Shanelle made it sound as if she lived to serve.

And she just might…if it suited her needs.

Damon’s eyelids drooped low. “About the petition, that’s still under consideration. However, if you’re looking to return to the clan, then you better figure out a couple of things fast—and I mean
really
fast. Number one thing to figure out is that there’s a new way of doing things now, Shanelle. If you’re given an order, it’s
followed
. I don’t make allowances for old friends or bend the rules because it suits me at the time.”

Color flooded her cheeks. “Understood.” Her gaze skittered to me and then back. She inclined her head. “If I may…Alpha?”

Damon waved a hand. The gesture was casual. Everything about him was casual at the moment—a big cat stretching out to relax. But it was a façade. I could feel his tension even if I couldn’t see it or sense it any other way.

“As you clearly pointed out,” she said, her voice deferential, “things in the clan have changed. Ten years is a long time. Clan business is best discussed within the clan.”

Amused, I settled more comfortably against the couch. “Is that your subtle way of trying to get Damon to send me away?” I asked. With a restless shrug, I added, “I’m not much on being
dismissed
.”

Heat burned in her dark brown gaze. “You should show more respect in the presence of the Alpha.”

Damon skimmed his fingers along my neck and from the corner of my eye, I saw the way his mouth twitched, as if he was trying not to laugh.

“Perhaps you should concern yourself with
your
actions, instead of hers,” Chang said. The words were mild.

Shanelle went stiff as they were said. She bowed her head. “I mean no disrespect, but clan business belongs within the clan.”

“Yeah.” Damon nodded, drawing his hand away. The absence of his heat made me sigh.

He flicked a look at me as I shifted and curled up more comfortably on the couch. This wasn’t going to end up with either her or me bloody so I’d sit here and pretend to behave. For now.

“Clan business belongs with the clan.” Damon moved one big shoulder in a shrug. “Outsiders have no place here, but Kit isn’t an outsider. If I wish to discuss clan business in front of her, then that’s what I’m going to do. Tuck that into that
things have changed
file, Shanelle. Kit’s ours.”

He paused and slid me a look. His lids drooped, shielding his gaze. “She’s mine. Outsider rules don’t apply to her.”

The door shut behind Shanelle as she left. She ended up being dismissed out into the hall to cool her heels while Chang and Damon spoke

Right before she’d closed the door shut behind her, Damon had said softly. “One more thing, Shanelle. This section of the Lair is mine. Only me and my lieutenants can freely come and go down these halls. Stay out unless your presence is requested.” He paused and then added, “Kit’s the only exception. She can go wherever the hell she likes here.”

Her eyes had gone flat and she’d given him the nice, polite subservient response, but anger tinged the air around her.

Now, as the echo of her passing faded, Chang stood there, head bowed, hands folded together in front of him. He seemed to be struggling with something.

Finally, he lifted his head and stared at us.

“I apologize, Kit, Damon.” Chang’s eyes held as much emotion as I’d ever seen. “If I’d known she wouldn’t wait, I would have put a guard on her.”

“It’s not on you,” Damon said, shaking his head. “She’s the one who disobeyed the order, Chang.”

“I’m the one who didn’t realize she was so foolish.” Chang’s face was implacable.

“You two can toss this back and forth all you want, but Damon’s got the right of it,” I said, interjecting. If I left them to it, they’d snipe until they were growling at each other. “She’s a cat—she knows how clan authority works and she chose to ignore it.”

Chang narrowed his eyes while Damon smirked.

“Now that we’ve got that settled…” I gave them a brilliant grin. “What are you planning on doing with her? Can you send her back? We can put a pretty little bow on her head and say she didn’t work out, request a replacement.”

Chang covered his laugh with a polite cough.

Damon didn’t look quite so amused. In fact, he looked outright disgusted. “No.”

“Damn.” Leaning forward, I braced my elbows on my knees. “I was afraid you’d say that.”

“You could have just left her where she was,” Chang said.

“No.” I looked away. “That wasn’t ever an option.”

The weighted silence stretched out between us, shattered by the low rumble of Damon’s voice when he said, “Why don’t you tell us what happened, Kit?”