“You don’t say.” Christian swung his eyes up to the ceiling.
“She doesn’t know I know. So let’s keep it between us. I don’t have proof, and you know how Viktor would blow up if I made the accusation. She still has him wrapped around her finger. We need to protect him without telling him. At least for now.”
“You have my word.”
I rested my chin on my hand. “Why do you think Vampire blood works on us but not sensory magic?”
“Maybe Breed magic only works with direct contact, transferring from one person to the other. But it won’t work in drinks or candy. I suppose Shepherd could test it out. I wager that if I put my blood in a glass, it wouldn’t affect you. Perhaps after a few seconds or minutes, it’s gone past expiration for a person under Sparrow’s curse.”
I hooked my leg over his.
“Careful where you put that knee, lass.”
I traced the outline of his nipple. “Where did you get your sweater and leather pants from?”
“My other home.”
“You could have bought a pair at the store.”
“I like my own pants.”
I furrowed my brow. “That’s a little out of the way.”
He scratched the side of his nose. “Had to make sure I didn’t leave the stove on.”
Christian was being facetious. His little cinderblock house in the woods didn’t have a stove. Would I be able to tell from drinking his blood if he was lying? Reading blood was a skill that took years if not decades to develop. Houdini only wanted to sow doubt between Christian and me, yet I couldn’t stop thinking about his insinuation a few months ago that Christian might have a bloodslave. If I confronted Christian and I was wrong, it would accomplish exactly what Houdini wanted—to split us apart.
Damn that man for getting in my head.
“You be careful yourself,” I said, touching his dark beard. “Sparrow might have sent more than two men this time to watch Lenore’s house.”
“And what would happen if I died?”
“I’ll be sure your remains are cremated and added to this mattress. Think of the poor mites yearning for a desert vacation.”
“And would you sleep on me?” he asked, cuddling me closer.
“I’ll remember you every time I use the vibrator. The real question is: Do you want me sleeping faceup or facedown?”
“Hmm.” He dragged me on top of him and then slowly pulled me up to meet his lips. “I think I like facedown best.” Christian gave me a smoldering look before pulling me into a slow, deep kiss. “But let’s try faceup just to be sure. After that, I’ll show you what I can do withmytongue—your ghost knickers be damned.”
No matter how much time went by, Christian still gave me butterflies.
CHAPTER15
“We had time to stop for donuts, Mr. Grinch,” Wyatt repeated while typing on his laptop in the front passenger seat.
Shepherd turned off the engine after parking in the driveway of the vacant property next door to ours. “You can’t even taste them.”
“No, but I can feel them in my mouth,” Wyatt replied.
“Is that what you told the hooker last night?”
“I would have told Candy a lot more if you hadn’t been your usual dickish self.”
“No prostitutes in our room.” Gem flicked the back of Wyatt’s head from the child seat between Viktor and me. “Just the idea of watching you do or say anything sexual in that outfit gives me the heebie-jeebies.”
Blue, who was sitting in the third row with Claude, touched Viktor’s shoulder. “Have you updated the team?”
