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“And the boat?”

“Theshipwas the one Blair and I sailed during our… ah… days on the wrong side of the Royal Navy.”

“Your pirating days,” she says with a laugh, tilting her head to give me better access to her neck. When my teeth press lightly into her skin, she shivers.

“Yes, little siren. My pirating days. When I was accustomed to taking exactly what I wanted.”

I reach up to bracket her throat lightly, and Nora’s heart is pounding hard and fast. Her breathing speeds up, and she presses into my hold.

“What if you’d found me on one of those ships you plundered?”

The idea of that shouldn’t be so erotic. It shouldn’t make me tempted to toss my treasure over my shoulder and carry her away, to act exactly like the pirate I once was and claim the prize I’ve won.

Instead of answering her, I tighten my grip on her throat and bring my other hand around to splay against the bottom of her stomach, just over the fastening of her jeans.

When her breath hitches, I chuckle and lean in to whisper in her ear, to ask her just how willing she’d have been to be the spoils of my victory.

However, before I can, a soft knock at the door makes both of us freeze.

Regretfully stepping away, I clear my throat. “Come in.”

Veronica pokes her head around the corner of the door and smiles apologetically. “Another visitor for you. I can tell him to leave, if you’d like.”

Knowing just how few people would warrant such an interruption, I shake my head. “You can show him in. Thank you, Veronica.”

She ducks back out, and a few moments later Blair appears, eyes immediately locking onto the two of us as a knowing smirk spreads across his face.

“Apologies,” he drawls. “I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

Beside me, Nora’s cheeks go a lovely shade of pink. I watch as it spreads down her neck, into the collar of her shirt, and I wonder just how far that delicious blush goes…

Blair clears his throat. “If you don’t mind, I’ve got some news that might interest you both.”

The smile on Nora’s face dies. “About Daniel?”

Blair nods, and the mood in the room abruptly changes. I take Nora’s hand and squeeze it gently before the three of us take seats around my desk.

“He’s back in DC,” Blair says. “A contact I have on the Hill let me know he arrived back in town yesterday for the start of the new session.”

The news he’s no longer in this part of the country is welcome, but I don’t really take the time to hear or process it for myself. My eyes are on Nora, watching her posture relax a little, and feeling my own do the same as she lets out a long, relieved breath.

“That’s… good to hear,” she says finally. “Did you find out how he got my information in the first place?”

A dark look crosses Blair’s face, smothered quickly for Nora’s sake. “We’re still investigating, but the Bureau is the likeliest source at this point.”

Nora nods, looking down at where her hands are folded in her lap, and I meet Blair’s eyes.

A flash of that anger, centuries-old and molten, and I know he’s telling the truth. I also know it probably kills him to have someone within the organization he helped build from the ground up betray everything the Bureau stands for. The protection of paranormal creatures, and their mates. An organization dedicated to helping us all find our footing in a world that’s not always welcoming. It puts a heavy weight in my chest.

At the core of it, too, is my gnawing guilt that if it weren’t for me, Nora would never have been put into this position. There would have been no record to be leaked, no threat to her safety, no upending of the peaceful life she fought to build for herself.

I hold Blair’s gaze, and some of that guilt is echoed back in the hard set of his jaw and the glint in his amber eyes. After all, who would know better than him the feeling of absolute helplessness and self-loathing that comes with being culpable in the harm of someone you only ever wanted to protect?

“So,” Nora says cautiously. “What next?”

“Next we keep an eye on him,” Blair says, reverting to the soothing manner it’s always so jarring to hear him use with others.

I’d call it manipulative, but I’ve never seen him use it for any purpose but a good one, and anything that might keep Nora calm and reassured is alright in my book.