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Which is great in theory, but not when he has covert—and possibly embarrassing—business on the other side of that door.

Finn really should have expected it.

“I asked you a question, and is that your phone in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?”

Gideon effortlessly climbs to his feet, even after what must be hours on the hard floor. He’s still fully clothed, with his shoes on, and a glint in his eye that means business.

There is no doubt in Finn’s mind that this is a predator, and it presses all of Finn’s buttons. Messy hair and a smirk that makes his belly clench. He follows Gideon’s tongue as he licks lips that Finn knows for certain are soft.Finn’s gaze then tracks down a well-built chest and over his loose sweats.

There is no doubt about it—that is Finn’s phone in his pocket. But now he’s also sporting a more persistent erection, which is definitely happy to see him.

“My eyes are up here, Finley. Where are you going at the ass-crack of dawn?”

Finn just points at the door with his chin, and Gideon gets the locks on the door open in a flash, all but yanking Finn outside with him.

“We can’t be out here for long. What are you doing out here with your phone? We are on fucking lockdown.”

Finn sighs and rubs the back of his neck; it’s something he’s picked up from Jay after all these years.

“Look, I had a dream.”

Gideon looks skeptical. “Like a nightmare? Come back inside. I’ll hold you, and you can go back to sleep.”

There’s a smirk on his face, but Finn knows with absolute certainty that Gideon means the casual words. He’s mastered the talent of being both asshole and hero, all rolled into one incredibly hot package.

“You know you’re such an ass, don’t you? I wish I could say it made you less attractive,” Finn blurts out.

He only realizes he said it out loud when Gideon’s eyes go wide. “Uh…oops.”

Gideon smiles; it’s big and wide. “So not a nightmare, then.” He looks at Finn’s semi and waggles his eyebrows. “Let’s go back in and I’ll get Jay on guard, then we can…”

His eyebrows go crazy again, that pink tongue rounding out his cheek salaciously.

“Fuck, Gid, quit that. It was not a sex dream, either. It was a dream where a voice told me Carnell is tracking my phone, and that I need to plant it on some guy heading out of town instead of smashing it.”

In less than three seconds, Gideon has him by the elbow and headed toward the elevator.

A flick of the down button, and once they’re inside, he pulls Finn’s T-shirtdown over his erection and holds his hand out for the phone.

“Stop yanking me around! Wait. Are you saying you believe me? But it’s weird. What if there’s nobody in the lobby?”

“Then there’s no one in the lobby,” Gideon says with a shrug.

“I guess then we’ll know it’s just my overactive imagination, right?”

But what if it’s not,he asks himself.Then what, Finn?

“Just give me the phone. When we get to the lobby, go to the night clerk and keep them distracted. If we are supposed to get it out of town, we’ll need it in this guy’s car so he won’t find it. Just follow my lead.”

Grateful for Gideon’s take-charge attitude, Finn grabs him by the neck and pulls him in for a deep kiss.

He doesn’t care at all that Gideon’s mouth tastes stale and of last night’s cinnamon toothpaste, or that they only have a few seconds, because Gideon opens for him eagerly.

Unable to resist the temptation to suck Gideon’s tongue into his mouth, he hums and then chases it with his own so he can run it over the tiny, sharp points of Gideon’s fangs, growling“Mate,”as he pulls away.

The elevator smells like lush, ripe black currants and rain when the bell signals their arrival.

Finn feels no small amount of pride in Gideon’s pink cheeks and kiss-raw mouth.