Broken Bonds (Lizzie Grace 3)
I frowned. “This whole thing has the feel of an operation that’s been run before, though. They were obviously very certain that any photos taken of them at the Ballan witch’s shop wouldn’t lead to them being identified, and I suspect they know enough about the bracelets and magic to store them separately until they’re needed.”
“Finding those bracelets will at least stop any more kills within the reservation.”
“True, but Aiden’s after justice, not just a cessation of kills.” I grimaced. “And while I don’t know a lot about tracking magic, I suspect the control bracelet would have to be active and in use for us to be able to track them down.”
“It’s still worth a shot.”
I took a sip of coffee and then nodded. “I’ll talk to Aiden about it.”
Belle picked up a piece of bacon and munched on it. “I wonder how they got these bracelets to their victims in the first place? It’s not like they could walk up to any old person on the street and hand it to them. Given the large numbers of humans now living, working, and visiting the reservation, they couldn’t be positive they were handing it to a werewolf.”
“I daresay that’s a question Aiden has already asked the victims’ families.”
“Speak of the devil, he’s just approaching the door. I suspect he wants breakfast, and I’m not talking about food.” She rose and gathered the plates. “I’ll leave you to ‘discuss’ matters while I go get dressed.”
I picked up a pepper shaker and tossed it at her. She dodged and ran up the stairs, laughing.
I walked over to open the door and then leaned out. He’d parked farther down the street and was striding toward me; the tiredness so evident in his expression fled when he spotted me. “Morning, gorgeous.”
I smiled. “You look utterly beat.”
“And you look good enough to eat.”
I stepped back so he could enter. “Eating is always appreciated, but I’m afraid the time and location are totally wrong.”
He made a low sound in the back of his throat that was part laugh, part growl, and then wrapped an arm around my waist, pulled me close, and kissed me. It stole my breath and made me dizzy with desire.
“Damn,” he muttered eventually, his breath a short, sharp blast of heat aga
inst my lips. “We really need to work on our timing.”
“Yeah.” I leaned my forehead against his for a moment and dragged in air in a vague effort to calm the inner firestorm. “Are you going home or back to work?”
“Home.”
“You’ve been working all night?”
“There’s only seven of us in all,” he said. “We need to keep an operational team going during the day.”
“And being the boss, you feel obligated to do the lion’s share of the out-of-hours work.”
His quick smile was somewhat wry. “That too.”
I raised a hand and ran it lightly down his stubbled cheek. His eyes were bloodshot and the shadows under them deep. “Are you coming in for breakfast? Or are you going straight home?”
“I’d love breakfast, and I’d love to spend more time with you, but I think I need sleep more.”
“Then I appreciate you dropping by for a quick kiss.”
“A man cannot survive on food alone—or so I’ve recently rediscovered.” He smiled. “Right along with the fact I simply cannot get enough of you.”
As if to prove it, he kissed me again, with such intensity that if it hadn’t been for his grip around my waist, I would have been little more than a puddle around his feet.
“However,” he eventually added, voice husky, “that’s not entirely the reason why I stopped.”
“You shatter my heart, Ranger.”
It was dryly said and he chuckled softly. “That’s certainly not on my agenda. Not now, not ever.”