Her father’s face turned hard at her retort. Colm O’Brian clearly wasn’t a man who was used to being told no.
“Look Moira, either you come back home with us, or you keep fighting off every damned hunter who’s hoping to collect the bounty on you. I guarantee you that the Italians won’t be nearly as accommodating as yourmamand I are.”
“I’ll take my chances.”
Whatever he was going to say next was cut off by one of the Sapphic Security SUVs coming to a screeching halt on the curb. Wanda and Lois jumped out of the front doors, surveying the scene as Boris unfolded his giant bear body from the backseat.
“Where are Allie and Martha?” I asked, surprised to see them.
“They’re stuck in the elevator at the hotel,” Wanda said. “They were gonna climb out the top, but I told them to sit tight and wait for maintenance. Don’t want anyone asking questions because those idiots are channeling freakin’ Spider Man to escape an elevator.”
I turned my attention back to the O’Brians, but they were gone, as if they’d faded into thin air.
“What happened to your parents?” I asked Hazel.
“They disappeared,” she shrugged. “Probably thought these guys were cops.”
“As if,” Lois sniffed. “Lazy assholes can’t be bothered to do a damned thing. Couldn’t solve a crime if I handed them a map with an X that said, ‘find bad guys here’.”
Lois hated cops. And the FBI. And politicians. Basically anyone who wasn’t her mate, but particularly anyone who interfered with our cases. It was a miracle she was able to be as successful in the military as she was. It helped that she’d been assigned to an all-shifter unit though.
“Let’s get you back to the hotel where we’ve got the perimeter secured.”
It was worded like a request, but the tone of her voice made it clear that this was an order she expected us to obey immediately. Unfortunately Hazel didn’t get the memo on that.
“I want to figure out where my parents are staying, and who they’re working with,” she said.
“Negative,” Lois barked. “Those idiots will show up again later, we all know that. You’re a damned sitting duck being outside like this. Now. Get. In. The. Car.”
This time even Hazel heard the steel in my boss’s tone. We slid into the back seat, crowding against Boris who took up more than half the space by himself.
Martha and Allie were in the lobby, having just escaped the elevator.
“You guys okay?” Allie asked. “We heard there was trouble.”
“Yeah we’re fine,” I said. “But let’s get out of the lobby.”
“We’ll have to take the stairs,” Martha said. “The elevators are down for now.”
We trudged up ten flights of stairs with Allie in the front and Martha at the back, me and Hazel in the middle. By the time we made it to our floor, my mate was breathing heavily.
“Damn, I need to do more cardio,” she wheezed. “That was way harder than it should be.”
“Come on,” I said, grabbing her by the waist and throwing her over my shoulder. “Let’s get into our room.”
“Hey!” she protested, landing a few half-hearted punches on my back. “Put me down.”
I smacked her ass and she squeaked, then stopped struggling. The scent of her arousal filled the air, enough that I knew my coworkers could smell it, even though they were too polite to say anything. I made a mental note to remember how much the single smack turned her on. We’d have to try adding some spanking when this was all over and we could be together.
Well, I hoped we could be together. I had no doubt that Hazel was attracted to me. It had been crystal clear those two times we’d made out. But I didn’t just want sex with her. I wanted forever. I was falling in love with my mate, not just because of the bond, but because as corny as it sounded, I’d fallen for her the instant I laid eyes on her. I hadn’t needed my vamp or my wolf to tell me a damned thing.
Then stop wasting time and claim her,my wolf snipped.We almost lost her tonight.
Interestingly, my wolf had gotten more and more vocal the last couple of days, while my vampire had been uncharacteristically quiet. I wasn’t sure what was going on, and if I should be concerned about it or not.
After saying goodbye to Martha and Allie, I went through my routine of scanning the room for devices and threats, keeping Hazel on my shoulder the whole time. I liked having her there. Once the room was clear, I slid her down my body, setting her on her feet.
She stepped forward and gave me a hard punch to the shoulder. “You can’t toss me around like a bag of grain,” she said, pretending to be irritated with me.
