had
.”
Before his eyes could go completely green I held up my hands. “My point is, your obsession has already messed with me. The fact that you took Zarsa’s blood. That you did something that intimate with her. That you planned to get even closer. You’re right. It makes me want to wrap you up in rubber bands and then just sit next to you and snap them every time I feel annoyed at you. Which at this point would be all night long.”
He should have looked remorseful. But I thought my words actually excited him. His voice, always husky and low took on a rich undertone as he said, “Jasmine? Are you jealous?”
“Not quite,” I said softly. “But if you belonged to me. Only me. I would be.”
He knew exactly what I meant. He ran his hands up my thighs. Oh. So. Slowly. “Soon,” he whispered.
I shook my head. “Not until you’re ready.”
He pulled his hands back. My thighs throbbed, missing their weight, their heat. “My boys,” he whispered.
“I love them too,” I told him. “Because they were yours.” Startling thought.
I wish they’d been mine. I’d have kicked their asses up, down, and sideways before I’d have allowed them to be the kind of hellions who’d steal a farmer’s wagon. Then they would never have been in a position for that same farmer to shoot them dead
. “But you’re holding them too hard.”
He took a while to ponder the palms of his hands. The mask that typically held back every emotion he ever experienced had slid back into place. “I will have to think on it. This is not something I can just . . . do.”
“Sure.”
I watched him get up, go into the kitchen. I still had to tell him the man we were assigned to take out tonight wasn’t the Wizard’s henchman, but somebody our country would love to support if only we’d known about him. I sighed. It should be good news.
Guess what, Vayl? We don’t have to kill anybody tonight. Let’s partaaay!!
Except the uppity-ups wouldn’t buy our evidence. It was way too flimsy in light of their particular theory, which took into account everything they’d invested in this project. They wanted results. And since we couldn’t promise them that, at least not the kind they could parade across the TV screen, we’d no doubt lose our jobs before we had a chance to pull off the mission as we’d rearranged it.
I went into the kitchen. Vayl was sitting at the counter, pouring blood into a coffee cup. I took the stool beside him. “Is there any way we can avoid contacting Pete and the DOD dudes until our mission’s over?”
“Why?”
I explained what I’d learned about FarjAd Daei while he was out of touch. And my suspicions that my little rewrite of the Big Boss’s script would be met with either outright hostility — “You’re FIRED!” — or surface cooperation — “Well, what you say makes sense” — at which point General Danfer covers the receiver, tells an aide to call Dave on the other line, and orders him to follow through on the assignment Vayl and I inexplicably refuse to complete.
Vayl looked at his cup thoughtfully. “I apologize.”
“What?”
“You have shouldered the burden of this entire mission yourself.”
“Naw, not really. I mean —”
“Yes. And you must be frantic about David. But you have not said a word to me, your
sverhamin
. To whom you should feel free to reveal any thought. Any wish.”
I shrugged. “It’s what I do.”
He shook his head. “It was what you did before we met. Long before I gave you Cirilai. I have shoved you back into your former life. And you barely even noticed. Were you so comfortable there?”
I shrugged. “No. Horribly, terribly
un
comfortable. But I knew where I stood. Here, it’s like I’m never sure of my next step. Nobody tells me the rules until five minutes before I need to know. And you.” I shook my head. “Being with you is like riding the highest, longest roller coaster ever made.”
When he winced I added, “Don’t get me wrong. I love coasters. I’m just explaining why I can transition back to Lonersville so easily.”
He wrapped his hands around his cup. I could see the whites of his knuckles, so I was surprised he didn’t actually break it. He said, “Then I will have to make sure you come to like your new situation so well you cannot stand to slide back anymore. Not even for a day.”
As we stared at each other across the countertop I felt like he’d just made some sort of sacred vow. Especially when Cirilai sent a shot of warmth up my arm. I managed a breathy “Okay,” and realized I was considering climbing on top of that smooth flat surface, knowing that if I did he’d meet me halfway and whatever happened would be Guinness World Record material. Then Cole walked into the room.
I tried not to glare. But dammit! He was like a three-year-old. Always interrupting at the worst possible moment! He sauntered in like he was actually welcome, splayed himself across half the counter, and grinned charmingly. “So. What are we doing?”
Sending your ass to Portugal the first chance we get,
