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I took it and threw it right at his head. The amount of force I generated made a little “whoa” escape.

“We drink our water, we don’t throw it.” His lip quirked up.

“Excuse me? Are you lecturing me on manners?” His face fell. “Look, Lachlan,” I said his name with a bit of edge to it. “I think your social graces are allowed to slip when you keep waking up in strange places covered in blood.” I stood up, wrapping the blanket around me like a toga and kicking my feet free. I inched closer to what I was hoping was the bathroom.

“I’m sorry about that. Our situation changed. We had to move somewhere… safer.” His slight British accent made him sound sincere. I would not fall for it, though. I’ve watched one too many Rom-Coms with the charming but asshole Brit.

“Yeah, right, look, is that a bathroom? Does it have a lock on the door?”

“I’m not sure there’s a proper lock…” He closed his mouth like he was going to say something but thought better of it.

“I’m going in there. All by myself. I’m a big girl.”

He rolled his eyes at me and sat on the couch. But he didn’t just sit. He sprawled. An ankle on his knee, one arm stretched out the length of the cushions. The other arm bent, fingers pinching his bottom lip. I licked my lips and took a step forward before I caught myself.

Nope. I am absolutely not going to think this asshole is sexy. Or the other one. None of them. Turning on a heel, I padded to the bathroom, dragging the blanket with me.

TWENTY-FIVE

Lachlan

I flexed my hands into fists. All this tension had to go somewhere. And beating a hole into the steel door did nothing to improve my mood. I had to play nice for the time being. And I had to pull it together. I felt scattered, ripped all over the place. I haven’t felt like this since Saint. I had to fucking stop doing that, too. My mind kept wanting to jump back to Saint, Warren. It wasn’t helping.

Aurora pushed the door wide and let herself in. She had changed out of the cocktail dress to something more casual. Casual for her at least, skin tight white jeans and a t-shirt that showed off her midriff.

She reclined on the couch and put her head in my lap, fanning out her blond waves.

“Ugh, I need a shower. You should have warned me we’d be playing with dead bodies.” She rolled toward me and playfully nipped at my belt buckle.

“Is it safe here?” I asked, shifting my position so she’d have to sit up.

“Safe or not, this is your only option for hiding out.”

I balled my fist to rub my temple.

She sighed and decided to answer my question. “Juliet couldn’t break in if she wanted to. There’s only one way in. It’s locked down. Each section of the building can be isolated. There’s camera’s everywhere. Hidden weapons, explosives. You get the idea.”

Aurora threw a leg over me to straddle my lap. My hands caressed her hips, out of habit more than anything else.

“Poor baby, you’ve had a rough night.” She leaned into me suggestively to wedge something out of her back pocket. She fanned a plastic bag with four fat white pills in front of my face.

“Benzos?” I asked. I reached for them, but she snatched them out of my grip.

“Or,” she said, tucking the stash into her bra, “we could head to the meat-packing district, find ourselves a little tweaker, and I’ll ride you until your eyes cross while you drink.” She bit her lip, her fang not quite breaking the skin.

I looked over Aurora’s shoulder when I heard the shower turn on. I reached under the hem of her shirt and skated my hands up Aurora’s body. I knew every curve, every dip of her body. She stretched her arms up to pile her hair on the top of her head. I edged my fingers under the cup of her bra, pushing it up. She wrinkled her nose, her grin turning from anticipation to lust. Once my fingers found the plastic, I withdrew my hands to tear it open. Aurora gave a disgruntled snort of protest.

I batted the pills about in the baggie with a fingertip. Aurora squirmed in my lap until I jostled my leg to get her moving.

“Go find her something to wear. Something comfortable, jeans, a sweater.”

Aurora made a disgusted noise and narrowed her eyes. I raised my eyebrow, daring her to say something.

“Fine.” She rolled her eyes and shimmied her bra back into place. She swatted my hand away from the bag and pulled out one of the pills. She held it between her teeth, pushed my head back and fed it to me from her lips. Her kiss was demanding and distracting. I turned my face away to crunch through the tablet. She dipped her head to kiss my neck and got off my lap. I chewed on the pill, turning it to acrid paste in my mouth.

“Also,” my voice stopped her at the door, she stretched her curves along the edge to look tempting, “fetch some things from my place, clothes, cash.”

“And then can we go play bite the tourist or something?”