Dangerous Games (Riley Jenson Guardian 4)

And I absolutely hated the fact Rhoan could be so damn cheerful when he'd just woken. It wasn't decent - not before several cups of coffee, anyway.

"If you rang me to say that, I'm going to tell Liander what you did last night then step back and watch the fireworks. "

"You are such a bitch."

"I'm a wolf and I'm female. Being a bitch comes with the territory. What's your excuse?"

"Living with a bitch."

I snorted softly. "What do you want, wiseass?"

"What time are you supposed to report to work?"

"Oh, crap." I was obviously late, otherwise Rhoan wouldn't be asking the question. I flicked the covers off my head and cast a bleary eye the clock's way. Nine-fourteen.

Yep, I was late.

"Jack wants to know how soon we can expect your presence."

"I'm at Kellen's." Which wasn't that far away from the Directorate, so at least I didn't have to battle too much traffic. "But I have to shower and dress, so give me half an hour."

"Don't be any later. He's in a mood."

Oh great. That meant something hadn't gone well and it didn't matter if that something was in his private life - though I actually wasn't sure if he had a private life - or his work life. We'd be made to pay. "I'll be there."

I hung up.

"Work?" Kellen asked.

"Yeah. They want me in ASAP."

"You want the usual coffee before you go?"

I twisted around and kissed him. "That would be fantastic."

His green eyes sparkled in the early morning light, doing all sorts of things to my hormones.

"Fantastic would be you staying in bed with me," he said.

"I can't."

"I know." He slapped my rear lightly. "Go have your shower. I'll handle breakfast."

I went. After showering and dressing in record time - which made twice in twenty-four hours I'd achieved this miracle - I had a quick cup of coffee and some toast, shared a more leisurely kiss good-bye with Kellen, then headed down to my borrowed car.

I got there only a few minutes over my half-hour deadline. But by the time I parked, went through all the scans and security checks and then headed down to sub-level three and the old conference room that had become the daytime division's temporary headquarters, another ten minutes had slipped by. Jack swung around as I entered, green eyes as stormy as I'd ever seen them. Yep, the shit had hit the fan somewhere along the line last night. Hell, being late was pretty much a common occurrence where I was concerned. It had never bothered him before and I doubt it was the cause of his anger now.

Even so, I opened my mouth to apologize, but didn't even get a chance to say the words before he was in my face and roaring.

"What the hell were you doing last night?"

"Having some of the best sex of my life." I paused a beat, then added dryly, "You obviously weren't."

I here was a muffled snort from behind us. Rhoan. I didn't react, just met Jack's bloodshot, green-eyed stare with a calm I certainly wasn't feeling. I hadn't seen him in full rant mode often, but I had seen him. And if there was one thing I'd learned after nearly eight years of being a liaison and his personal assistant, it was that it was better to use humor to diffuse the situation than to fire back. Which is what my instincts were clamoring to do.

"No, I wasn't," he said. "I was being harassed by my PA because someone was using Directorate resources without permission."

Ah, so I'd been right. The caramel cow had been in his ear. "Boss, if you'd just fuck the woman and get it over with, I'm sure all our lives would be a whole lot easier."