In a Fix (28 page)

I knew a brick wall when I was looking at it. Stubbornness on my part wouldn’t break through it, but maybe I could get around it with reason. “Wouldn’t it be better for Laura to stay with the boat? What if, um, a storm blows in, and, uh, the hatches need to be battened down or something? I know nothing about battening.”

“The weather is fine, Howdy. No storms on the horizon.”

“Why does Mark get to keep calling you that? You punched me in the nose the last time I did.”

“We were eight. And
you
called me ‘Howdy-Doody-In-Your-Pants.’ It’s not the same thing. Now, shut up. Listen, Mark—does Laura know about adaptors? Because if she doesn’t, it could be pretty limiting on you guys to have her along with you. I, on the other hand, could be a big help. I can be whoever you need me to be—you name it, I’ll adapt.”

“Laura knows about me,” Mark said.

Of course she does. Probably every little detail, I thought wryly. “But not Billy or me?”

“No,” he admitted. “She suspects there are others like me, but isn’t high enough up the food chain to know who they are. As far as I’m concerned, that’s need to know only, and she doesn’t need to know.”

“Well, see? How can she possibly help you in the field more than I can?”

“She speaks Swedish fluently. I need her ears.”

Well, shit.

“Okay,” I conceded. “That’s probably an asset. But I still don’t see why I should stay here. The boat will be fine.” And then inspiration struck. “Besides, if something does happen around the boat—say some Viking scouts decide to board and check it out—do you really want me in the middle of it? By myself? Using my own judgment? It might be safer all around to keep me closer to you.”

Mark looked a trifle perturbed. “Is that a veiled threat, Ciel?”

“No, of course not,” I said, trying to copy Billy’s innocent look. Hardly veiled at all, really.

“She has a point,” Billy said grudgingly. “Besides, if you leave her in the locker she’ll throw up. You know, it might be best to wait for the cavalry this time.”

“SÄPO will be a while yet.”

“Who’s Seppo?” I asked.

“More of a what,” Mark explained. “It’s the Swedish National Security Service. When we realized how damn many neo-Vikings have gathered here, SÄPO decided they needed to bring more men over from the mainland. But I don’t think we can afford to wait. After seeing what the Vikings did to Ciel, we know how far they’ll go to keep somebody quiet.”

Billy nodded his understanding. I looked from one to the other. Their concern for Trey scared me. “I really can help, you know,” I said.

Doubtful looks from both of them. Great. Skepticism in stereo.

Okay, so that wasn’t going to work. I could lie, of course. Promise to stay on the boat, and then follow them. But I really don’t like to lie, and there was that whole God thing to consider.

“I don’t want to be left on the boat alone,” I finally said, in a small voice. True enough, though it’s possible I made it sound more pitiful than accurately reflected my worry. Exaggeration isn’t as bad as lying, right? God might trip me or something, but He probably wouldn’t blow me up.

Mark’s mouth tightened, but I thought I saw concern thaw his eyes ever so slightly. When he finally gave in, I suppressed a cheer. “But there will be no adapting in front of anyone,” he said. “We can alter your appearance the nonadaptor way—Laura will help you with that—but there’s a risk the Vikings will recognize you. I still think you’d be better off here on the boat, but if you can accept those conditions, you can come along.”

I threw my arms around his neck and kissed his cheek, forgetting all about my discomfort with him and Billy. “You won’t be sorry.”

“Well,
I’m
sorry,” Billy said.

Mark gently disengaged himself from my embrace and said, sternly, “One more thing—you follow orders. You don’t do a thing that hasn’t been okayed by me or Billy. You got that?”

“What about Laura?”

“Or Laura. You are low man on the totem pole. The best thing you can do is stay out of our way, and don’t get into any trouble.”

“Aye, aye, sir!” I saluted, grinning. I couldn’t believe how easy that had been.

He pinched his eyes closed between thumb and forefinger, giving a single what-have-I-agreed-to shake of his head.

Billy gripped the back of my neck, making me shiver with a sneaky caress behind my ear. “Not to worry. I’ll watch her.”

Mark looked at him sharply. He didn’t seem all that reassured.

*   *   *

Laura decided to get Billy’s transformation started first, in case Mark needed him sooner rather than later. She gave no indication she’d seen anything amiss earlier. Discreet of her. Mark asked me to come up on deck with him, probably to continue his lecture on the proper behavior of me. Well, he’d said I could go with them and I wasn’t going to let him back out, no matter what kind of guilt trip he laid on me.

Ours was the only boat moored at the dock of the fishermen’s enclave. Rows of dark-roofed, mostly barn-red cabins were evidence of human habitation, but no one was in sight at the moment. The morning was a smidge on the cool side, but puffy white clouds and a gentle breeze hinted at warmer temps to come. Mark went to the front of the boat, scanning both land and sea for anything out of the ordinary. I followed him forward.

“Go ahead. Lay it on me,” I said, steeling myself for more admonitions and orders.

A short, dry laugh escaped him. “I’ve been hard on you, haven’t I, Howdy?”

He was admitting it? “Well … yeah. I guess. Kind of.”

He checked the rope anchoring us to the dock. Apparently it passed his inspection. “I have to be. Thomas would have my balls for breakfast if I let anything else happen to you.”

Now, there was an image. I snorted, but of course in a ladylike way. “Thomas needs to cut the big brother strings. Maybe if he’d get married and have some kids of his own, he’d let up on me. He’s worse than any parent.”

“He’ll settle down eventually. In the meantime, you’ll just have to put up with him. And me.”

Great. Remote nannying
. “What are you, his surrogate?”

He acknowledged his role with a slight smile. “Something like that. Which brings me to what I’m going to ask you.”

I set my shoulders and nodded, resigned to hearing yet another request that I behave myself and stay out of trouble, yadda-yadda-yadda. Instead, he looked me right in the eye and said, “What’s going on between you and Billy?”

I stiffened. Okay, that threw me. Had Laura said something to him? Was she a great big tattletale? “Huh?” was the most intelligent response I could come up with on the spur of the moment.

“Ciel,” he said after gauging my reaction, “you know I think Billy is a great guy. I rely on him—my job would be a hell of a lot harder without him. He’s as much like a brother to me as Thomas is. But … well, he’s not a man I’d want my kid sister involved with, if I had a kid sister of my own.”

I felt my face go pink, but was too flustered to camouflage it. “Whatever Laura told you—”

“Laura? What does she have to do with this?”

Oops. Guess she hadn’t said anything. “Uh, nothing. Nothing at all. I just thought … I mean … look, Billy’s just a tease, always has been,” I finished lamely.

“There’s teasing, and then there’s
teasing
. Billy is an expert at both. I have a feeling he’s shifted direction with you since he saw you kissing me on my boat.”

That startled me. “You knew he was watching?”

He shrugged. “You made some noise when you tripped. He would’ve checked.”

Yeah. It hadn’t exactly been my most graceful moment.

“I don’t think he much liked seeing me in the sleeping bag with you either,” Mark added, as if the reminder of my clumsiness hadn’t been enough to embarrass me.

“So why aren’t you talking to him about it? Why me?” I said, a little grumpily.

“And what do you think Billy would do if I told him to mind his manners around you?”

My lips twitched at the thought. “He’d tell you to shove it.”

“Precisely. That’s why I’m talking to you.”

“What if I tell you to shove it, too?” Because I kind of felt like it.

His smile was broader this time, meant to engage cooperation. “I’m hoping you have more sense.”

I reserved comment on that. “So, you’re saying you think Billy would hurt me? I can’t believe that.”

“No, he wouldn’t, not deliberately. But he is who he is, and he doesn’t have a good track record with women. Or maybe too good a track record, I suppose, depending on your point of view,” he said, with an attempt at humor.

I narrowed my eyes and stared him down. “First of all, I am not ‘women.’ Don’t mistake me for one of Billy’s bimbos. Second of all, it’s not like that.”
Much. Yet. Whatever.

He looked skeptical, but moved on. “It’s not only the women. Billy’s reckless. You know he’s been involved in some pretty dubious operations. I keep him as busy as I can helping me, but he refuses to give up his own business interests entirely. He’s going to trip up one day, and I don’t want him taking you down with him when it happens.”

“He would never…” I stopped, since we both knew he might. Billy had always fluctuated between tempting me into trouble and pushing me back to safety. It was like he needed to know I’d follow him, but then didn’t want to worry about me. I was used to being the yo-yo companion for his shenanigans. I just didn’t like to think he’d play with my feelings the same way.

“Listen, Ciel,” Mark said in a patient voice that was starting to grate on me. If he reverted to ruffling my hair, I was going to tenderize Thomas’s breakfast for him. “It’s easy to get swept up in the moment, especially with a guy like Billy. He’s good-looking. Smart and funny. Add the adrenaline of a dangerous situation, and it makes everything feel that much more intense.” He looked out to sea before he continued, offering me a bit of privacy from his gaze. “The … uh, sensations … can go to your head, and you might not be thinking clearly.”

I balled up my hands, but kept them at my sides, which showed great restraint on my part. What he was saying might be true, but I sure as hell didn’t need to hear it from him. Now, if he were giving me a better reason to stay away from Billy—say, like, “I’m wildly jealous and don’t want another guy near you,” for instance—it
might
be a whole ’nother ball of wax. But this pseudo big brother crap wasn’t doing it for me.

I forced myself to speak evenly. “Don’t worry about me. If I can handle your kiss—and I believe I somehow managed not to lose my head there, even after a few drinks—then I’m sure I’ll be able to cope with Billy’s attention.”

He looked at me sideways, apparently amused.

“What’s so funny?”

He shook his head, still suppressing a smile. “Nothing.”

“Tell me,” I insisted.

He shrugged. “That was you kissing me, not me kissing you.”

“Oh, so there’s a difference?” I didn’t say
yeah, right
, but he got the subtext.

“Look, never mind. Forget it.”

“No, I really want to know,” I said, with an edge to my voice. A smart man might’ve noted the danger. Not that Mark was one to back away from danger.

“Yes, there’s a difference,” he said. “And if you’d ever been kissed by me, you’d know it.”

I expelled a short, derisive blast of air through my nose. “Much of an ego there, Mark? Gee, I’ll try my best not to swoon in your presence.”

“Look, Ciel, I may have gone about this the wrong way. I didn’t mean to make you mad. I’m just trying to get you to understand—”

“Understand what?” I jabbed his chest. “Reactions?” Jabbed it again. “You’re one to talk. If I recall correctly, you—” (Jab.) “—reacted more than I did back on your boat. But
maybe
I’m misremembering.” (Jab, jab.)

He took my hand, firmly, the flint back in his eyes. “Stop that.” The patience was gone. Good riddance. “Of course I reacted. I’m human. You’re human, too. That’s all I’m—oh, hell.”

He pulled me to him and lowered his head, stopping with his lips mere millimeters from mine. “Shall we see if your defenses are as good as you think they are?” he said, his voice silk over steel, no doubt intended to make me run away like a frightened schoolgirl.

Ha. Fat chance.

“Give it your best shot, spook,” I said, calling up a sneer, sure my anger at him would provide all the insulation I needed.

Um, yeah, about that …

Okay, so I was wrong. Turns out one kind of heated emotion isn’t that far off another, and sometimes they even morph into each other. Kind of ironic for that to take an adaptor by surprise.

It started out tamely enough, with a brush of soft, warm lips over mine. A quick flick of his tongue gave me a start, but I returned it in kind, showing him he couldn’t steamroll me. Easy, peasy. I could do it all day without breaking a sweat. But then his tongue got busier, and I may have made a small noise in the back of my throat.

That was my mistake. He latched on to my itty-bitty response—really, it hardly qualified as a moan at all—and fanned it until I couldn’t have backed away, even if I’d been inclined to try. Which, to be totally honest, I wasn’t. And this time I couldn’t even blame the Scotch.

He was right. It
was
different, different as night and day, and he was definitely night. The summer-in-the-mountains, black velvet, stars-like-fireworks kind of night, so soft and sensual it made my skin go crazy. A little voice in my head—it sounded remarkably like my thirteen-year-old self—started squealing,
This is Mark! Mark is finally kissing you!

I kept my breathing under control, but I couldn’t do anything about my heartbeat. He had to know the effect he was having on me, that he’d accomplished his purpose within the first ten seconds of his lips touching mine, but he didn’t stop. He drew it out. I knew why he was doing it, knew I should pull away, but—

Screw it.
I kissed him back, letting my hands slide up his chest—geez, he had nice pecs—and behind his neck.

He dropped his arms and pulled me roughly to him, teasing me with his arousal. I pressed against him, and, okay, I wiggled. Only a little—I couldn’t help it. A small part of me was angry he was right, that I was so easily sucked into the embrace, but it was subdued by the part saying, S
hut up already! Wiggle some more!
A fine time for my inner slut to make an appearance. She was even worse than my thirteen-year-old ghost of hormones past.