Slade nodded. “I’m listening.”
I filled him in on Killion, the weird coffin the Tuatha had been keeping him in, and on his abilities and his confidence that he could bring down the Tuatha once he was recharged.
“He’s coming back for me in six days, then we’ll figure out a way to take you and your people with us.”
He looked thoughtful. “If he’s a danger to the Tuatha, they would have wanted him dead. The fact they didn’t kill him and kept him locked up means they couldn’t end him.”
That’s the conclusion I’d come to also. “He’ll help you. I know he will.”
“I don’t know this Killion, but I trust you.”
His words warmed me. I was so grateful to the powers that be that I’d found him. He already felt like a rock, an anchor in this cutthroat place. And now he was putting his life at risk to help me.
“What now?”
“Now, we wait.”
“Wait… As in here? Together?”
He shrugged. “I’m supposed to be clocked out. If I leave now, I won’t be able to come back for you.”
Yeah, I didn’t want that. “Okay, in that case, have a seat. I need to get out of these clothes.”
I stepped into the washroom and closed the door behind me, but it wasn’t long before I realized that the damn corset thing was a bitch to get off. It was a lace tie thing, and my arms didn’t bend that way. Where the fuck was Blossom? Surely she’d have known I’d need help getting out of this contraption? But then, if she’d been here, Slade wouldn’t have been able to sneak in.
Fuck.
There was only one thing for it.
I stepped out of the washroom with a wince. “Um, Slade… Could you help me with this?” I turned my back to him to illustrate the problem. “If you could just loosen the knot…”
A soft rumble filled the air, and it took a moment for me to realize he was chuckling.
“Oh, you think this is funny?”
“A little. Winter’s Blade bested by a corset. Lucky for you, I have plenty of experience in removing these.”
Huh?
The heat of his body brushed my back, and his fingers grazed my bare skin as he set to work. I bit the insides of my cheeks, ignoring the tingles that his touch sent skating across my skin. It was his shining one mojo that was causing this—primal and heady in its proximity. I’d heard about humans being seduced by the shining ones, lured, and fucked or feasted on. Wait, was Slade one of the Danaan that ate humans?
“All done,” he said.
I pulled away from him quickly.
“Danika?” He sounded confused.
I turned to face him, holding the now loose corset to my chest. “Do you eat human flesh?”
He frowned at the question and sighed. “No. Those of us who feel don’t eat humans.”
I exhaled in relief.
“Although,” he continued with a smirk, “if a human female were to ask me to eat her out, I would happily oblige.”
Wait. What the fuck? My neck heated, and he chuckled again.
“I like the way your skin goes pink,” he said. “It’s pretty.”
“Yeah. Well, I’d prefer you to keep your filthy jokes in check.” I closed the door behind me.
My pulse throbbed at the thought of Slade with his head buried between a woman’s thighs, but then the head was Killion’s, and the thighs were mine, and I was wet with longing for him.
I shook my head to clear it.
I needed to focus.
I had a lab to infiltrate.
8
The twilight Slade was talking about was just before sunrise. The gray period when the Tuatha slumbered so heavily that a herd of elephants wouldn’t wake them, but it was several hours away.
Slade insisted I sleep and that he watch over me, and I had no issue trusting him to protect me. There was something sincere, honest, and safe about Slade that even his monstrous features couldn’t take away from. It was all in the warmth of his deep brown eyes.
I settled on the bed. “Aren’t you tired too?”
He shrugged a massive shoulder. “I’ll live.”
“The door’s locked, and the bed can take the both of us.” I looked down at it, then up at Slade. “Okay, maybe not.”
He raised both brows. “Not unless you want to snuggle. I’m a snuggler, but I can’t promise I won’t get aroused pressed to a pliant female body.”
Wow, okay, at least he was honest. A little too blatant, but still.
“Fine, then we take it in shifts. Wake me in two hours.”
He nodded. “Agreed.”
I kicked off my boots, allowing them to fall to the ground with a soft thunk, and closed my eyes.
I opened them to a hand on my shoulder and a gentle shake.
“Wakey wakey, snoring beauty,” Slade said.
I snorted and sat up. “Huh? Two hours up?”
“Five, actually. It’s time to go.”
“What? You didn’t wake me?”
“And interrupt your solo symphony? No, I was enjoying it way too much.”
He said it as if he meant it, but he had to be joking, right?
He handed me my weapons belt. “Hurry, we have less than an hour.”
I clipped the belt on, pulled on my boots, and followed him out of the room.
He navigated like a pro, and we didn’t come across a single Tuatha or guard.
It was obvious he’d done his research. “You know the patrol rotation, don’t you?”
“I know which corridors will have guards at this time, yes.”
I lost track of the turns and stairs we took, but soon we were in an area with metal-grilled floors and no frills, as if the decorators had gotten to this point and thought, ah, fuck it.
“The lab is up ahead,” Slade said. “We get in, add your data, and get out. We’ll need to find another night to get into the red zone and grab your sister. Best to leave her actual retrieval until you’re ready to get us out.” He arched a brow. “When will that be, exactly?”
“Six days, if all goes to plan.”
“Then we need to organize an exit point for my people too.”
He led me around a corner before backtracking quickly, pushing me up against the wall and shielding me with his body.
The shock of his taut frame pressed to mine forced the breath from my lungs. “What?”
“Guard.”
“I thought you said—“
His hand was in my hair, tearing at the tie to set it free.
“What are you—”
“Just go with it,” he growled, then his mouth was on mine.
I bit back a yelp, expecting the tusks to hurt, but they bracketed my mouth, leaving his soft, firm lips to capture mine. I froze, protest trapped in my throat, as his hand came up to cup my face.
“Slade?” a rumbly male voice said. “I thought you clocked off for the night.”
Slade pulled back from me slightly, but his hand blocked my face from the guard’s view. “Kinda busy here, Jonus,” he said before turning back to my mouth again.
I gasped as he claimed my lips once more, plucking at them in a sensuous way that had heat spiraling low in my belly. Fuck, no. I squeezed my eyes shut, determined to endure not reciprocate, but my body responded, mouth parting to kiss him back.