She pursed her lips. "You're never tired."
"I am now. Quiet down."
It made her chuckle, that edge of sleepy crossness in his tone. "Stay in bed awhile."
"Damn right."
"I have to get up." She pried an arm free and did stroke his hair. "Go back to sleep."
"I would if you'd shut up."
She laughed, then slithered free. "Roarke?"
"Oh Christ!" He rolled in defense and buried his face in the pillow. "What?"
"I love you."
He turned his head, heavy eyes slitting open with a lazy gleam that had her juices flowing. That, she thought, was the magic of him. That he could make her yearn for sex after what she'd seen, what she'd experienced.
"Well then, come back here. I can probably manage to stay awake long enough."
"Later."
His response was a grunt as he pushed his face back into the pillow.
Deciding not to take it the wrong way, she dressed, ordered up coffee, strapped on her weapon. He hadn't stirred a muscle when she left the room.
She decided to check in with McNab first and found him sprawled out flat in her sleep chair with Galahad draped over his head like fat earmuffs. Both of them snored.
At her approach, the cat slitted one eye open, gave her a bored look, then offered her an irritable meow.
"McNab." When she got no response from him, Eve rolled her eyes and gave his shoulder a light punch. He only snorted and turned his head.
The slight shift had the cat drooping lower. Galahad retaliated by digging in with his claws. McNab snorted again and smirked in his sleep. "Watch the nails, honey."
"Jesus." Eve punched harder. "No sick sex dreams in my chair, pal."
"Huh? Come on, baby." His eyes opened, glazed and heavy, then focused on Eve's face. "Uh, Dallas, what? Where?" He lifted a hand to the weight on his shoulder and closed it over Galahad's head. "Who?"
"You forgot why, but don't ask me. Pull it together."
"Yeah, yeah. Man." He turned his head again and found himself eyeball to eyeball with Galahad. "This your cat?"
"He lives here. You awake enough to give me an update?"
"Okay, sure." Struggling to sit up, he ran his tongue around his teeth. "Coffee. I'm begging you."
Because she shared the addiction, she was sympathetic enough to go into the kitchen and order him a double-sized mug, strong and black.
The cat was in his lap when she came back, kneading McNab's thighs and watching him as if daring the man to protest. McNab took the mug in both hands and downed half the contents.
"Okay, wow. I dreamed I was off planet on some resort island and making it with this incredibly built mutant with fur instead
of skin." He eyed Galahad again and grinned. "Jesus."
"I don't want to know about your prurient fantasies. What have you got?"
"Right. I checked out all the high-end hotels in the city. No single man booked a room last night. I ran the mid-level ones, same results. I got personal data. Disc's on your desk, marked."