Dangerous Games (18 page)

After breakfast, coffee, and gentle small talk, he took my hand and led me down the small hall to his bedroom. “You need to sleep.” He pulled down the handmade patchwork quilt that covered the big old wooden bed, then gave me a stern look. “Alone.”

“Well, that’s never any fun.”

He touched a hand to my cheek, his fingers warm and tender against my skin. “Perhaps not. But you need to rest.”

Despite myself, despite stirring desire, I yawned. Hugely. He chuckled, and leaned forward to drop a sweet kiss on my lips. “If you feel like fun, I’m sure we’ll have time later.”

“I’ll hold you to that.” I stripped off my dress and climbed into his bed. The cotton sheets were cool and soft against my skin, the pillow cradling my head as gently as a lover. I was asleep before I could even say good night.

When next I woke, it was once again to the sound of silence. I yawned and stretched out the kinks, noting with relief there was little in the way of remaining twinges, then opened my eyes and looked about. Quinn wasn’t in the room, but his warm, sexy scent still teased the air. Weak sunlight peeked around the corners of the thick curtains covering the windows to my right, suggesting the better part of the day had slipped by. I shifted to get a better view of the clock on the bedside table, and saw it was just after four.

“Quinn?”

My voice seemed to echo through the small house. I frowned, flipped off the covers, and got up. Quinn wasn’t in the living room, nor the kitchen, nor the bathroom. In fact, he wasn’t in the house at all.

An odd mix of worry and anger ran through me. I spun on a heel and walked back into the bedroom. My clothes weren’t on the floor where I’d left them. Anger began to overrun the worry as I walked back to the living room. My purse, shoes, and phone were also absent.

The
bastard.

He hadn’t brought me here to give me a glimpse of his life. He’d brought me here to keep me away from a case
he
considered too dangerous.

I should have known.

Should have guessed it was too good to trust.

I picked up the small nude figurine sitting on the kitchen table and threw it against the far wall with all the force I could muster. It shattered against the stone, sending shards of fine white porcelain spearing through the room. I hoped it was expensive.
Fucking
expensive.

I took a deep breath in an effort to control the rage. Running around breaking things might make me feel better, but in the long run, it wasn’t going to help me much. First things first—check whether I still had a car, look for replacement clothes, then get the hell out of here.

A peek through the front curtains provided the unstartling information that my car had also gone. I resisted the urge to rip the curtains from their tracks, and let them fall back into place.

Next up, clothes. As it turned out, not only had my clothes gone, but all his. Not that running around naked particularly worried me, but the night was promising to be a cold one. The chill was already in the air.

The third item in my list proved to be just as elusive—the front door had been key-locked. So were all the windows as well as the sliding door out onto the patio. The key he’d used earlier was gone. Which, while not considered a fire code violation by the law, was a very stupid thing to do.

“Bastard, bastard, bastard.”

I’d have to break out. There was nothing else I could do. Without even thinking any more about it, I picked up a chair and threw it through the window. It smashed through the glass, hit the patio, then bounced up to crash through the railing and disappear over the side.

I shifted shape and leapt through the hole. Part of me was hoping like hell someone noticed the window and used it to steal all his fine—and undoubtedly expensive—bits and pieces.

He deserved that, and more.

I followed the riverbank, enjoying the feel of the damp earth under my paws, the freshness of the breeze against my coat, even if they did little to ease my foul mood.

As I got closer to central Warrandyte, I left the riverbank and moved into the streets, padding quietly along the sidewalk. Few people took notice of me. Most were in a hurry to get home, and in the dusky light, I looked like just another stray dog anyway. Under normal circumstances, the magic that helped me change would also have taken care of any clothes I might be wearing—just don’t ask me how, because it was a magic I didn’t question, just accepted. Of course, once we were back in human form, the clothes were usually a shredded mess, so while the magic might conceal the clothes when we were in wolf form, it certainly didn’t look after them. Lucky for me, that wasn’t going to be a problem on
this
occasion.

Was he ever going to get a piece of my mind when I caught up with him.

When I found a main road and was free of the trees, I shifted shape and pressed the com-link button in my ear. “Riley to base—anyone listening in?”

Silence was my only response—not that I’d really expected anything else. The trackers were long range, but the communicator part of the units were far more limited. With the hills and the trees, I pretty much figured it would be a miracle if I got through.

I tried a couple more times, just for the hell of it, but eventually conceded I’d have to contact them the old-fashioned way. I walked down the street until I found a phone booth. Thankfully there weren’t that many people out, meaning I didn’t have any immediate worries about someone reporting my nakedness to the police. I picked up the handset, rang the Directorate’s emergency number, and got put through to Jack.

Wouldn’t you know it, the caramel cow answered instead. “Guardian division. Jack Parnell’s phone.”

“Sal, it’s Riley. Where’s Jack?”

“In a meeting with the Director. What do you want?”

For you to get back into whatever annoying coffin you crawled out of. I cleared my throat, and said, “I need a car and clothes at my current location.”

“You lost your clothes?” Amusement crawled through her cool tones. “Though I suppose it wouldn’t be the first time. You wolves do tend to get careless about such things.”

“Maybe, but not this time. It was done to prevent me working a case.”

Sal sniffed. It was a superior sound if ever I’d heard one. “I’ve located your call position. We have a car in the area and I’ve sent an order for them to pick you up. They’ll take you home to retrieve some clothes.”

Better than nothing. Though if the increasing edge of amusement in Sal’s voice was anything to go by, she wasn’t being as helpful as it seemed. “Can you transfer me to the following cell number?” I reeled off Jin’s number. “I need to call my target and explain why I’m late.”

“Consider it done, wolf girl. I shall tell Jack of your predicament.”

And enjoy every moment, undoubtedly. “Tell him it was Quinn, and that I’ll report once I make contact with my target.”

She didn’t answer, just transferred the call. As I waited, a teenager walked by and almost broke his neck doing a quick double take. I gave him a wave and he grinned, his feet seemingly glued to the spot as he got out his cell phone and began dialing. Given the grin, I very much suspected it wasn’t the cops he was dialing, but his mates. I suppose it wasn’t every day a teenage boy found a naked woman standing in a phone booth. What were the odds I’d soon have an audience?

I smiled and, as he pointed the phone at me, gave him a thumbs-up. The answering wows and ahs were audible even from where I stood.

“Hello?”

Jin’s easygoing tones came on the line, and I snapped my attention back to my job. “Jin, it’s Riley.”

There was a brief pause, the squeak of a chair, then footsteps and a door opening. Then he said, “Hello, dear Riley.”

His voice had dropped several levels, and slid across my skin as smoothly as silk. A warmth that was part desire, part trepidation flooded my senses, as if just by speaking he could call to the wildness within me.

“When you didn’t answer your phone,” he continued, “I began to fear I’d scared you off.”

“I’m not that fragile.” Despite the fact that accurately described my state when I first woke up. “I misplaced my phone, that’s all.”

“Ah. I’m glad you rang, then.” He paused, and I heard voices in the background. One male, one female. Accompanying them was a slapping sound that sounded an awful lot like a leather belt against skin.

And given the business cards I’d found, it probably was.

“I’m afraid when I couldn’t get you earlier,” Jin continued, “I agreed to work. But we could go out afterward, if you like.”

“I’d like,” I said absently, trying to tune in to the soft noises behind him. The slapping sound was now accompanied by soft sounds of distress rather than enjoyment, and there was something about it that just snagged at my instincts. “Where would you like to meet?”

“I’m not entirely sure what time I’ll finish here, as we’ve a bit of work to do yet.”

Yeah, and I was betting it wasn’t serving customers alcohol.

“I could just wander into the club and wait for you to finish.”

Though if he was at the Hellion Club, I was backing out. Slapping and biting and even being restrained I could handle, but torture and humiliation just didn’t rock my sexual boat.

“I’m not at the Cattle Club.”

I swore internally. What was I going to do to get out of the date tonight? There was no way on this green earth I was going to go anywhere near the Hellion Club. I wasn’t
that
damn dedicated to the job.

“I’m at the Hunter’s Club,” he added.

Curiosity stirred. The Hunter’s Club was a fitness club, so what sort of exercise had people making choking noises? “Well, I can come along and watch all the pretty men exercise while I’m waiting for you.”

“Or you could come along for a massage and spa treatment. On the house.”

“So you don’t want me watching all the pretty men?”

He laughed. “To be perfectly honest, no. Besides, watching men sweat will probably get boring after a while.”

Not for a werewolf. I grinned. “What time do you want me there?”

“If you’re coming for a treatment, how about in an hour? It takes a few hours to go through both.”

“Are you going to be my masseur?”

“You can bet on it, babe.”

Anticipation thrummed through me, and suddenly it was all I could do to remember that this boy was bad, that he could be dangerous, and therefore had to be treated with caution. And
that
caution should be applied equally to the club, especially if those odd noises were anything to go by.

“I’ve gotta go home and change first, so I might be longer than an hour.”

“I’ll be here waiting,” he said simply, and hung up.

I replaced the receiver and turned around to discover my teenage ogler had gained a couple of mates—all armed with phones. A wise werewolf would have been discreet and shifted shape but I couldn’t see the harm in giving a few boys a cheap thrill.

A blue Ford pulled to a halt beside the phone booth and for a moment I thought my flashing days were about to be cut to a sudden halt by the long arms of the law. Then the passenger door was flung open and a rough voice said, “Get in.”

And suddenly I understood Sal’s earlier amusement. The voice belonged to Cole. Obviously, she didn’t realize she was actually doing me a favor. Grin widening, I blew the boys a kiss then climbed into the car.

He took off before I was even buckled in. “Those boys are going to have wet dreams for the next fortnight.”

“If it’s only for a fortnight, I’ll be most disappointed.”

He chuckled softly, and I raised my eyebrows. “The shifter is amused, not annoyed?”

He glanced at me. Despite his amusement, wariness still held sway in his pale blue eyes. “Oh, I’m pissed off about having to rescue a damn wolf careless enough to lose her car
and
her clothes, but at least I’ll get overtime.”

“So I’m not going to get a lecture about wantonly flaunting myself in front of a couple of young males?”

“I was a teenage boy once myself, you know. Those kids are going to be heroes to their peers.” His gaze swept down my body, lingering long enough on my breasts to send a warm flush through my system, then he looked back at the road. “There’s a coat in the back if you’re getting cold.”

“I’m aroused, not cold.”

“I know.” He glanced at me. “I’m just being polite.”

“Are all wolf-shifters as uptight as you?” I twisted around to grab the coat, making sure my breast brushed his arm as I did so.

His eyes narrowed slightly, but all he said was “You want to punch your address into the nav-computer?”

“Before or after I cover up?”

“Before.” He looked at me, amusement twitching lips that suddenly looked lush and kissable. “I never said I
wasn’t
enjoying the view.”

“So there’s hope for you yet?” I leaned forward and punched my address into the computer, aware all the while of his gaze lingering on my breasts. The shifter was a boob man, obviously. Just as well I wasn’t built in the stick-thin mode of most weres.

“There’s always hope for me. But for you? Not a chance.”