"Hey, sexy," he said, his mellow tones sending heat flashing through my body. "How do you feel about a midnight picnic? "
"As long as there's sex and coffee involved, you can count me in."
"Then meet me at the zoo in twenty minutes."
"The zoo is closed."
"There's no such thing as closed when you have lots of money. Oh, and be naked."
I laughed, the sound thick with anticipation. "Only if you are, vampire."
"That's hardly practical when I have to pay our entrance fee."
"So why make me be naked?"
"Because I intend to cover your nakedness with chocolate before we go in, and then I intend to lick every single inch of it off you again."
The thought had me fanning myself. "Chocolate is a food. Food and vamps don't mix."
"This is a special chocolate designed for vampires."
Meaning I probably wouldn't want to know the actual ingredients. "I'll be there in eighteen minutes."
"Don't be late."
I wasn't.
And the picnic was everything my wolf soul could have wanted, and then some.
"Well," Kade said, leaning back in his chair and giving me a knowing grin as I walked into the room the following morning. "Here's a wolf who looks very satisfied with life."
"Completely satisfied." I held up a cup and raised an eyebrow in question.
"What, we're drinking machine muck rather than the divine liquid from Beans?"
"Beans was packed to the rafters with Directorate personal wanting the decent stuff. We'll have to time our coffee runs better." I poured two mugs then headed over to his desk.
"I won't be a happy little horse if I have to go back to drinking muck."
"There's nothing little about you, my friend. I know this for a fact."
He grinned. "So you do."
I handed him a mug. He took a sip, then grimaced. "Definitely going to have to get the timing right."
"What's been happening here?"
He snorted. "The cross-checking of the emo list continues. We can't find backgrounds on four of them."
I frowned. "What do you mean, you can't find their backgrounds?"
"Just that. No birth certificates, no death certificates, no rebirth notices. They don't exist, according to the paperwork."
"Well, paperwork has been known to be wrong." I walked over to my desk and sat down. "Where's Iktar?"
"Got the day off. Some family gathering." Kade shrugged. "How's the murder investigations going?"
"That's the question I was about to ask," Jack said as he walked into the room. He was holding one of Beans's thick-ribbed cups in one hand, and the rich scent of mocha coffee permeated the room, making my coffee smell even fouler.