"They always watch me when I come here, simply because they know you come here. They don't want me with you."
"Why?"
He grinned. "Because they don't want you pregnant with my kid."
I raised an eyebrow. "Again, why?"
The gleam in his eyes suggested that was something he wasn't ready to impart yet. And I had an odd feeling the reason went back to the man behind the crossbreeding.
"Don't tell me," I said dryly. "You can't say."
"You catch on quick."
Not quick enough, obviously. It had taken me entirely too long to realize he - and Talon - were using me. "If I stop coming to the Blue Moon, they'll get suspicious."
"Which is why on Saturdays you will come here and we shall ignore each other."
Oh, goody. I had a night off to play as I desired. "Ignoring you means being with other wolves if my alpha isn't there. That contradicts your terms, doesn't it?"
"You are free to be with whom you wish that day only," he amended. "Do you agree to the terms?"
I hesitated, not wanting to seems overly eager. Not that I was. But he was a means to an end, and besides, whether I liked him personally or not, he was usually a good lover. "What if I do fall pregnant? What then?"
"Then I will support you and the child, and do everything in my power to protect you."
"There's a major flaw in that thinking. You could be dead in five years." So could I, but I wasn't about to point that out.
His smile was hard, his eyes icy. "Believe me, I have ways of ensuring you're protected."
I didn't think I was ready to know just what he meant by that.
"Do you agree?" he asked again.
I would have agreed to just about anything, but he wasn't to know that. So I let the silence stretch between us, letting him think I was mulling over the terms when all I wanted to do was make the down payment and get the first lot of information.
"Yes, I agree."
"And my payment?"
He got it. Then I got my starting point.
The man who didn't exist.
Kade Williams. The first person I saw as I came out of the Blue Moon was Kade himself. He leaned against one of the building's canopy supports, arms crossed and gleaming a rich burgundy in the dying light of the afternoon.
His smile lit his face, warming his eyes, but just as quickly, everything faded. He straightened abruptly.
"Riley - "
I stopped in front of him, and thrust my hands on my hips. "Why the hell didn't you tell me you were military?"
Something skittered through his eyes. Surprise, perhaps. "Because I wasn't sure you were who you said you were."
"And when you knew?"
"You haven't the clearance. You're just a secretary."
"My God," Rhoan said, walking up behind Kade, "you're really looking for a punched nose, making a statement like that."