Kissing Sin (Riley Jenson Guardian 2)

"Hot, preferably."

His gaze skated down me, and a luscious smile teased his lips. "You smell almost edible." He poured hot water into two mugs, then slid one across to me.

"So does that." I plonked down on the nearest stool and sniffed the coffee appreciably. "It looks like our unwitting hosts have been gone for a few days."

He nodded. "A fact backed up by the lack of perishables in the fridge."

I sipped at the coffee, then asked, "Is there a phone here?" It was the only thing I hadn't seen on my search.

"On the wall behind you." He studied me for a second, then added, "There's someone in your life you need to ring urgently?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Would it make a difference if there is?"

His expression tightened a little. "Of course it would."

"I thought stallions were into collecting harems?"

"Yeah, but unlike our animal counterparts, we draw the line at stealing other stallion's mares."

"Ah." I drank some coffee, letting him wonder for a little while. "So how many women have you got in your herd?"

"Four before I was captured."

"A nice even number."

He raised an eyebrow. "You don't seemed shocked."

"Wolves tend to have several mates at any one time - at least until we find our soul mate."

"So at the moment?"

"I'm playing the field. But I've had up to five mates." Though not at the same time. Male wolves tended to get a little testy about sharing that way.

"And when you find your soul mate?"

"We're monogamous."

"Unlike us stallions."

It was a warning - a gentle one, but a warning all the same. A smile touched my lips. "When I take on a permanent mate, it'll be a man from my own race. I want to have babies one day." Though my vampire half might already have snatched that desire away from my grasp. Rhoan, my twin, had discovered two weeks ago he was infertile. I'd been undergoing similar tests, but whether I'd gotten the test results was anyone's guess, as I could remember going there, but not leaving, "So, the people you must ring are... ?"

"The pack-mate I live with, and my boss."

"Meaning you're sleeping with your boss?"

I choked on my coffee. "No," I said, when I could. "I work for the Directorate of Other Races. They tend to get a little concerned when one of their people disappears - even if it is a lowly paper pusher like myself."

"Then I'll go have a shower while you ring them." He walked out. I enjoyed the sight, then grabbed the phone and dialed Jack's work number. All I got was a computer voice telling me the number did not exist. His home number got the same result, as did my home number, so I tried their mobile phone numbers. Both were cither turned off or out of range.

That bad feeling reappeared, sitting like a lump in the pit of my stomach.

Kade came back in a few minutes later, as deliciously naked as before, but looking and smelling fresher.

"Nothing," I muttered, throwing the phone on the bench.

He frowned. "The phone's not working?"

"It's working, but the calls aren't going through."