He said nothing, merely offered a grim nod. Of course, he was sure. No wonder he was acting as if she were one step from her grave all night. She probably was.
“He doesn’t know you’re with me,” Asher told her. “As far as I can tell, he doesn’t know anything about you. If he did, you never would’ve made it out of the casino tonight. You’re safe for now. With me.”
His calm reassurance helped take the edge off her fear—a little. She had no reason to doubt anything Asher told her, not even this. But he couldn’t protect her forever.
Nor was he offering that.
“Oh, God,” she murmured. “I have to warn Michael.”
“No, Naomi.” Asher shook his head. “The surest way to help your friend is to keep your distance now. Is there any reason for Slater to think the two of you were together on this?”
“No. We’ve never done a job together, and there’s nothing to link us together inside or out of the casino.”
“The house you share—”
“Is in Michael’s name only. I don’t even use the address on any of my IDs.” At his nod, she went on. “We arrived at the casino separately tonight, him about forty minutes before I got there. Once we were inside, we didn’t talk or signal that we knew each other.”
“But you did touch the machine to ensure he claimed the prize?”
She nodded. “We had it all rehearsed. The only change was my disguise. Before tonight, I’ve never been inside the casino without disguising myself. And I only ditched my old lady cover after I thought I’d been made somehow.”
Asher cursed low under his breath. “You took off your disguise because of me. Because I was shadowing you. I’m sorry, Naomi.”
“Not your fault.” She barely resisted the urge to reach out and touch the tightly clenched fist that now rested on the counter near her. “All the mistakes I’ve made have been my own. I only hope the ones I made tonight don’t end up hurting Michael. I’m not going to be able to relax until I hear from him that he’s okay.”
Asher gave her a vague nod. “You’ve had a long day. It’s only going to get longer. Go on back and get settled while I put out some food for the animals.”
She hadn’t realized how exhausted she was until he mentioned it. Her neck was stiff from stress, her body aching and tense. Her eyes burned from remnants of her hastily scrubbed-off makeup and facial prosthetics adhesive.
“Would it be all right if I use your shower?”
He gestured over her shoulder, toward the hallway leading to his bedroom. “Halfway down the hall on the left.”
“Thank you,” she murmured. She started walking that way, then paused to regard him over her shoulder. “I mean that, Asher. Thank you. For everything you’re doing for me.”
He merely stared at her, silent as he watched her leave.
CHAPTER 11
Asher grabbed a large bag of dog food from one of the cabinets and set it on the counter, trying to ignore to the sound of the water running through the old pipes of the house.
It wasn’t easy. The plumbing rattled and groaned, which was normally just a mild annoyance on any other day. Combined with the knowledge that Naomi was standing naked under the warm spray just a short walk down the hall from him, the shower noise seem to go on forever.
And with that awareness came a lot of vivid images he couldn’t seem to banish from his mind. Images of her black hair sleek and wet against her milky neck and shoulders, her petite body lathered with suds and slick under her moving hands.
He could practically feel her soft skin beneath his own hands, and as he imagined spreading her leanly muscled thighs to delve between them, first with his fingers, then with the full length of his cock, he shuddered with the rush of need that rolled over him.
“Christ.” He raked a hand over his clenched jaw, his fangs aching and extended, filling his mouth.
Kissing her had been about the worst thing he could have done—for her sake and his own. Because now he knew what her sweet, lush little mouth tasted like and it had only made him hungry for more. Hungry to know how sweet the rest of her would taste under his lips and tongue. Or under the sharp press of his fangs.
If it was only lust driving him, he might have been able to deal with it. He hadn’t fucked in a while, but he knew plenty of places he could go between here and Las Vegas to scratch that sort of itch. He doubted another woman’s body would be enough to slake what he was feeling for Naomi. She stirred more than physical curiosity or need in him. She stirred more than simple blood hunger too.
She piqued his interest in ways no other female had ever before. More than just sexy and smart, she was resilient and strong too. Tough and tenacious as hell, despite her diminutive size. He respected that more than he cared to admit. But along with the steel spine she so obviously possessed came stubbornness the likes of which he’d only seen in a mirror.
No doubt about it, the woman was going to be trouble for him.
Already was, since his threat to dump her on the Order was an empty one now. No, after tonight, she was his to protect. If Slater or Cain or anyone else had ideas about harming her, they were going to have to come through him first.
