She glanced at Gus to find he was staring off into space again. It was as if no one was home anymore.
“How about we go back to the house and check in with him in person?” asked Liberty. “Or better yet, we go home, and you check in with your son while I run away and hide.”
“You embarrassed about kissing him?” asked Bill as he started to guide her toward the main entrance that she’d come in from to start with. “Don’t be. He was over the moon. Bet he wishes you did more than kiss him. He likes you. A lot. And, Liberty Bell, the Russian doesn’t like many people.”
She’d gotten that impression from Rurik—that he wasn’t exactly a people person. As Bill opened the door for her, she paused. “How did you know where to find me and why did you come?”
Bill grinned. “Gus told me you’d be here. And it was his idea we take you for something to eat and a milkshake. Would you please tell him lunch can be whenever the damn well we have it?”
“Gus knew I’d be here? How did he know I’d be—” The words died on her lips as she spotted Rurik’s SUV parked haphazardly on the lawn of the university with students gathered around, yet again with cell phones out.
They were recording as campus police, in combination with local police, stood there, each looking as baffled as the next. Bill hadn’t been joking when he’d said he’d parked in a no-parking zone. Though he had left off the fact he’d used the lawn as a parking area.
Rurik stepped out from behind the SUV, his expression stoic as he handed one of the officers his wallet. From where Liberty was standing, it looked a lot like a badge was flashed before the wallet was returned to Rurik. He tucked it into his back pocket and turned his head, his gaze zeroing in on Bill. Annoyance flashed through Rurik’s blue eyes as he stormed toward Bill.
Liberty tossed herself in Rurik’s path, putting her arms out wide. “You’re not allowed to hose him off again, Jackass!”
The words were out and hanging in the air as she wrapped her mind around them.
Cringing, she bit her lower lip. “Erm, I mean Rurik. You’re not allowed to hose him off, Rurik.”
He stopped just before her, his breathing rapid, his pupils dilated. Everything about his stance screamed alpha and possessiveness. “The note said they had to find you. That it was an emergency.”
Her brow creased.
Bill eased up alongside her. “It was. Me and Gus want a milkshake and some lunch. Before anybody else gives me shit about the time of day, I ain’t had lunch yet so, yeah, it’s gonna be my lunch. Fuck the time. Now you should probably move your SUV. The campus-coppers look pissed. And I’m telling them any weed they find in there is yours.”
Rurik stared down at Bill. “Go get in the SUV. Take Gus with you and never pull a stunt like that again. I thought something happened to Liberty.”
“Nearly did,” said Bill, something in his voice off. He stared at Rurik, saying nothing, and then Rurik’s attention whipped to Gus.
No words were spoken.
Rurik paled and took hold of her upper arms, paying no attention to the gathered onlookers who were still filming with their camera phones. His gaze searched hers a second before the man’s mouth covered hers, his kiss hot and branding.
Onlookers began to cheer as if he’d just scored a goal.
As his tongue slid around hers, her legs became unsteady.
He cupped her face and drew the kiss to an end amongst the whistles and catcalls. Rurik didn’t seem to notice. He opened his mouth to speak but stopped and sniffed the air instead. It was bizarre, and she could have sworn the low growl that came from him was just like an animal.
“Can you drive?” he asked her in a gruff voice.
She nodded, still stupefied by the hotter than sin kiss he’d given her.
Bill held out a set of keys to her. “Here. I’m grounded. You need to get it off the lawn, Liberty.”
“Rurik?” she asked.
He dipped his head and kissed her lips chastely this time before running into the building they’d only just left.
Chapter Fifteen
Rurik rushed through the hall of the university building. Two doors opened and students flooded out, impeding his hunt as their scents mixed in with the one he was tracking.
The scent was so close to a scent he knew well but hadn’t smelled in over twenty years that he nearly shifted forms then and there, his concern for Liberty that great. He’d been tasked with gathering intel on her, not intervening in her life, but he couldn’t stop himself.
He’d gotten out of the shower and found a barely legible note scrawled on the side of a small brown bag that had been in the safe house upon arrival. The note informed him that there had been an emergency involving Liberty, and that Bill and Gus were going to assist her. That they had to get to her.
Fear had gripped Rurik down to his very core. All he could think about was that The Corporation had done something to her. That the enemy had realized that he had an insane pull to her. That they’d harm her to harm him.
Rurik had torn out of the house and ran across the street, all but forgetting how shitty his body felt, and how much everything on him hurt. He’d expected to find something horrific. Instead, he found no one was home. As he glanced back at the driveway of the safe house, he realized the SUV was missing. He’d panicked more before he forced himself to think rationally and logically.
Then he remembered who he was dealing with and tossed reason
