His hoarse laughter abruptly cut off as Caia padded over to him, and softly, almost a caress, nudged her head against his. His muscles strained in reaction to her touch. Finally, it registered that she was asking him to turn around so she could change. Lucien laughed again. He had already seen her naked at the pack run, and he hadn’t been gentlemanly about looking away then.
But he acquiesced because she’d asked and it was the right thing to do. By the time he turned around again, Caia was already in human form, clothed, and scaling the wall of the house to climb into her bedroom window. Lucien quickly changed and found his clothes lying in the dirt near the back door. Just as he pulled his T-shirt on, he looked up at her window to see her staring down at him. She wore a small smile and gave him a slight wave before disappearing into the darkness of her room.
An ache, a burn, flared across Lucien’s chest.
With a shock of awareness that set him back on his heels, Lucien realized that all he wanted right then … was to melt into the darkness with her.
10
Behind Enemy Lines
Lars stared anxiously at his superior, who, in a matter of minutes, had obliterated the furniture in the room with a flick of his wrist and the point of his finger. His superior did not care a whit for the nervous fear oozing out of his lackey, who still hadn’t mastered the basic communication spell. While he realized that all warlocks and witches had different levels of talent and ability, it was clear Lars’s did not lie in the communication and transportation division. Surely to Gaia, he could master a basic communication spell!
He let out a slow exhalation, reining his temper back in. He couldn’t truly lay his rage at Lars’s feet. His agent was to blame for his foul mood. She was yet to check in and his patience had worn itself into non-existence.
The phone rang then, making Lars yelp in nervous startlement. With a withering look, he flicked his wrist and encased his assistant in a glass cage so he couldn’t hear him and couldn’t be heard during this very important call.
“Someone is in deep, deep trouble,” he answered with soft menace.
He heard the sharp intake of breath before she hurriedly replied, “My lord, please. I’m doing the best I can. Things are progressing well, I think.”
“No,” he disagreed. “The information you have sent tells me nothing. We have no in yet, and we need an in.”
“I’ll get you an in,” she whispered.
“Oh, you will,” he smiled viciously, even though she couldn’t see it. “In fact, if you don’t get me the information I need to wage war on this despicable race of … of dogs within the next few months, I will go in all spells blazing. And if that happens, my dear little spy, you will be the first casualty.”
11
Trade-Off
The intimate run with Lucien had given him a permanent starring role in Caia’s dreams. Sometimes the dreams were so real, she felt consumed by them, lost in them, finding it difficult to fight her way through the sleepy fog into reality. The fact that the dreams inevitably ended with Lucien kissing her, however, was the wake-up call she needed. Kiss. Bam! She was awake, and Lucien-free.
Caia tried to control her fantasies—she really did. She lived with the guy. He was Pack Leader, for goddess’ sake. But it wasn’t like she could avoid him. When he wasn’t at work, he usually hung around the house with Ryder so people always knew where to find him. And Ryder and he were always so friendly, welcoming her into their company.
They were her friends.
It was during these little gatherings that her eyes would drift over Lucien’s face, his fierce silver eyes and sultry mouth. And then lower, to his strong, sinewy forearms and large, capable hands. The tug in her lower belly would get more insistent. She had no clue what was happening to her. She even daydreamed in class, and she was not the daydreaming type.
Caia doubted he daydreamed in return. She was just a friend to him, right?
Ugh, she didn’t even want to think like that. Of course, she was just his friend. Didn’t she get that feeling when they played during their run together? He suddenly pulled back like he didn’t want to cross some line with her. She’d been disappointed but amused at his ‘properness’ at the time. But, in truth, it was kind of hard to get over her crush when he acted like such a gentleman.
A week after their run, a run she hadn’t even told Jaeden about, Lucien called to her from the hallway as she finished her breakfast. Caia frowned and glanced at the clock. Jaeden was late to pick her up. After Lucien called her name again, she took a last bite of toast and strolled out of the kitchen to find him standing at the front door, a big grin on his face. “I want to show you something.”