“The phone I have is fine,” I said, trying not to get completely lost in his orbit. It was hard, though, because he was so close, big but gentle, and his voice a mere velvety purr.
“Fine isn’t good enough for you. It’s not even the bare minimum of what you deserve.”
“Thank you for watering my plants, Kieran,” I whispered, heart fluttering like it had its own set of wings. “For keeping them in the sink even though you don’t like them there.”
Gradually, we’d been moving closer, inch by precious inch, until our words were just mingling exhales and I couldn’t tell if it was my heart thundering or his. Maybe it was both.
Anticipation parted my lips, and his settled like they belonged there all along. A humming sound filled the air around us. Him or me, I wasn’t sure. But my fingers curled in the strands of his hair at the back of his head, and everything faded into the background, nothing but a blurred backdrop to the passion dripping from our lips.
My brain was nothing but vacant buzzing as I sank deeper into the kiss, into the man giving it, until I felt him deep in my bones. My fingers glided over his chest to fumble with the buttons on his shirt. The only thought I could form was the need to touch his skin.
A throat cleared.
A cough tried to intrude.
The scrape of his beard against my skin erased them both.
A high-pitched whistle cut through the room, and I winced, our lips disconnecting as Kieran brought his arm up to shield my head.
“Doc is here,” Ghost said, his voice a boom over the quiet of static of my brain. “He came to check the patient, not get a show.”
I pressed into Kieran, slightly out of breath. My face felt hot, and I didn’t want anyone else right now but him.
“Give us just a minute, Doc,” Kieran said, sounding much more coherent than I felt.
The bedroom door creaked and then snapped shut, and Kieran stood to place me against the fancy sheets.
Grabbing a handful of his shirt, I kept him from pulling away.
“Kieran,” I whimpered.
“I know, baby doll,” he murmured, leaning in. “Later.”
“Now.”
He smiled, and honestly, the way it transformed his face might be the eighth wonder of the world. “You and me, we’re gonna have lots of time soon. I promise. But there are some things we need to deal with first.”
“Like the someones who want me dead?”
His face darkened, and all the warmth he sheltered me with went cool. “Why didn’t you tell me they took your IDs?”
“I was getting to it,” I hedged. “You interrupted me.”
A baleful look crossed his face. “This is important information, Hazard.”
“I know,” I said, agitation building inside me. “They took the one thing I thought no one could. The only thing I really have.”
Kieran sat on the side of the bed, so close our bodies touched. “Tell me, baby doll.”
“My name,” I said, hoarse, and started picking at the skin around my nails.
Kieran tugged them into his lap. “Your name?”
“My birth certificate. My social security card. The papers the state gave me when they turned me out at eighteen. My life. My identity. It’s all I have.” I looked up at him, hoping he could see the despair I felt.
The muscles in my body protested when he pulled me into his arms.
“Why would they even care about that stuff?” My voice was muffled against his shirt. “It’s not like I have any money they can steal.”
