Eternal Hearts (38 page)

She turned and pushed the door closed, but just as she spun back around to face the room, something black flickered in the corner of her eye. She jumped, threw the folder in the air and started screaming as a hulking shadowy figure appeared a few feet away. And it wasn’t until the darkness faded that she realized the large intruder was not only someone she knew rather intimately, but was also laughing at her.

She glared up at Drake. “What the hell is wrong with you? You scared the crap out of me!”

He managed to stop laughing, but he apparently couldn’t control the beaming white smile. “Sorry, I forgot you hadn’t seen me do that yet.”

“You just appear places?” she asked, clutching a hand to her chest. She waved air towards her face with the other.
“You just…out of nowhere?”

He nodded. “I can. I usually only do it when I want to get somewhere quick though.” His eyes slowly slid down her body. “And since I was coming back to you…well, I wasn’t about to walk.”

She ignored the flutter low in her stomach. “How do you do it?”

“Well, I can actually do it two ways. I can either travel the shadows, or I can focus on someone I know or a place I’ve been…and then I just kinda show up somewhere close to my target.”

She bent down and gathered the contents of the folder. “I bet that comes in pretty handy.”

“What?” he asked.

She stood up then walked over and dropped the folder on the desk before she spun on her heel to face him again. “Did you suddenly forget what we were talking about?”

And there was the lopsided grin she’d been waiting for.
“Yeah, but only because I was staring at your ass.
You wouldn’t be interested in taking that coat off, would you?”

She tapped a finger against her chin while she considered his question. “I don’t know. It is rather comfortable.”

He must not have agreed with her, because before she knew what was happening, he snatched her up and dumped her on the bed. She laughed when he dropped down on his side next to her then pulled her so their noses touched.

“I think you’d be much more comfortable if you were naked,” he said, then nipped at her mouth. “In fact, I know you would be.”

“You think so, huh?” She pinched his bottom lip between her teeth. “And exactly what will you
be
wearing?”

“You?”

“I think that could be arranged.” She leaned forward to kiss him, but froze when instead of meeting her; he pulled back and rested a hand on her cheek. “What’s wrong?”

“I need to tell you something.”

She closed her eyes and prepared for the worst. “What?”

“I have to leave when you wake up tomorrow. My contract on you is over. Actually, it ended as soon as you left for your meeting with Christian.”

“Are you coming back?”

“Yes, I’m coming back. I’m kinda in a little bit of trouble for telling you about the contract, well that, and for touching you. Not that I regret either decision. I’d gladly get in more trouble for you.”

Toni sat up and glared down at Drake as anger stormed through her. “They won’t do anything to hurt you, will they? Because if they think for one minute I’m just gonna sit back and let them hurt you – they don’t know me at all. I have a temper when it comes to the people I care about, and I’m so not afraid to use it on whoever they are.”

He let out a loud laugh then pulled her back down next to him. “No, they won’t hurt me. No need to unleash the Warrior beast. I do have another contract though, that’s why I have to leave.” He paused to take a deep breath. “That’s actually something you’ll have to get used to if you stay with me. I still have a job to do, but from what I hear…so do you.”

She really didn’t want him to leave, but she understood he had to do his job. And honestly, she had more than enough to do herself. “Yeah, Christian gave me a task to do, and I have to finish it before he’ll let me stay in the city.”

“Well, then me going is probably a good thing anyway. You’ll be able to focus on what you need to get done without me trying to interrupt you. And I’d hate myself if I knew you didn’t do what you needed to because I kept you busy.”

She wound her fingers into his hair then pressed her lips to his. “You’re awful,” she breathed between kisses, “but you’re also probably right.”

“So…about that coat.”

“What about it?”

“I don’t like it.”

She smiled at him. “Then do something about it.”

She waited, almost impatiently, when he finally broke from her mouth and fumbled with the large buttons. But the purely devious smile that curved his lips when he realized she still wore the pants he’d ripped back in the alley was more than worth the wait.

When Drake growled and tore off her pants the rest of the way, followed by her shirt…Toni knew it was going to be a great night.

***

Clint looked up from his newspaper when he heard the door chimes go off. He grinned as Derek sauntered through the doorway of Grey’s, his hair messed and wild, red lipstick smudged on his neck. “Having a good night, Derek?”

Derek sighed as he slumped down on the couch. “I
was
having a good night, until the woman I was with started asking me about my fiscal reports, which haven’t been released yet.”

Clint snapped the wilting newspaper straight and shook his head. “Why on God’s green earth do you keep pursuing women who work for rival companies?”

“I don’t know.” Derek’s mouth quirked into a half smile. “I guess I keep hoping that maybe someone with common interests will actually like me for more than my company.”

Clint arched a brow. He knew Derek’s smile was a ruse. His best friend was lonely, and having a hard time finding a woman who wanted him for more than his impressive bank account. “Did you ever think of looking for a woman who doesn’t care about wealth?”

Jacob began laughing first, closely followed by Derek, who then
grinned
rather wide. “It’s really hard to find a woman who doesn’t want my money, Clint.”

“Not all women want money,” Clint said as he shifted on his cushion to face Derek. “Why don’t you look for one who already has plenty of her own?”

His nose wrinkled up as though he’d just caught a whiff of something rotten. “Because the ones who have their own fortunes are usually snotty debutants, who either want the social prestige behind my last name…or they just want my penis.”

Now it was Clint’s turn to laugh, and he did so, loudly. “I’ve known you since we were five, Derek. I’ve seen your penis more times than I care to count, and I gotta say…it’s not that great. I’d rather have the money.”

“You saw my penis back when we were kids.” He looked up at the ceiling and smiled. “I clearly remember the awed jealousy on your face when you realized you’d never compare.”

Clint held the newspaper out and stared down at his zipper. “I don’t remember that. However, I do know that mine’s been used in the last century.” He looked back to his friend and smiled. “There’s probably dust and cobwebs on yours.”

Derek didn’t look the least bit amused. “There aren’t any cobwebs on my dick. Besides, just because I don’t stick it in every woman who walks by, doesn’t mean I don’t use it. I’m selective, where as you…you’re just a man whore.”

“I am not a whore! Just because I happen to love women, and they love me back – doesn’t make me a whore.” He threw the paper at Derek. “Maybe it’s your dusty penis that scares women away.”

“Knock it off, children,” Martin yelled from the counter. “Stop talking about genitals in the middle of my shop.”

Clint looked at Derek, and then cast a glance around the room before focusing back on Martin. “But we’re the only ones here.”

Martin nodded. “And maybe that would change if you stopped talking about your penises.”

“There’s someone out there who doesn’t want your money, Derek, you just haven’t found her yet,” Jacob chimed in as he flipped a page in the magazine he’d been reading. “However, you still have a few years or so before she turns up in the city.”

Derek shot Jacob a nasty glare. “Don’t you even start with the divine prophecies over
there.
That crazy Angel voodoo shit still freaks me out.” He waved a hand towards the door. “Go do God’s work somewhere else.”

Jacob laughed as he raised his unnaturally blue eyes. “I have the gift of far sight, what can I say? At least now you know you’ll eventually find her.” He stood up, set the magazine on the table, and then straightened his shirt. “If you’ll excuse me, I have a date.”

Both Clint and Derek’s mouths dropped open. “You have a date?” they asked in unison.

Jacob only grinned before he walked out the door.

Derek sank back into the corner of the couch. “He scares the hell out of me, Clint. And I’m too old to be scared like that.”

“He scares almost everyone,” Clint said as he picked up his coffee. “Well, except Toni. She absolutely adores him. Which reminds me, what happened with Drake?”

“Drake is…Drake. He’s pissed because he’s in trouble, and even more because he loves her.”

Clint choked on his coffee. “What do you mean he loves her?”

“Drake loves her. There’s nothing else to say. It’s really not complicated. Well, it’s love and for some reason love always seems to be complicated, but the fact that he loves her isn’t.”

“So if the contract is over, what’s the problem then?” Clint asked as he leaned forward and set his mug on the table. “Isn’t he allowed to be around her now?”

Derek shook his head. “He broke the rules, Clint. He touched her while the contract was still in place. Then he told her he had a contract on her because she overheard him talking to Brick and thought he was going to kill her. And when they got into an argument about it, he damn near told her about The Organization.”

Clint rolled his eyes. “So what if he told her? She already knew Oktober was an assassin, and I told her that
him
and Drake were friends. It wouldn’t have taken her long to connect the dots.”

“How did she know about Oktober?” Derek asked as he sat up straighter. “Wait, you told her that Tober and Drake are friends? Why the hell would you do that?”

“Because she deserved to know the truth.”

“I can’t believe you told her,” Derek said, looking more than just slightly appalled. But then all at once, his eyes went as wide as the room. “You’re the reason they got in the argument. You do realize Drake’s in serious trouble over all this, right?” He jabbed a finger in Clint’s direction. “Damn it, Clint! If you’d have kept your mouth shut and let Drake tell her when he was ready, he wouldn’t be hip deep in the shit he’s in right now.”

Clint narrowed his eyes. He felt bad enough as it was. All he’d meant to do was to save Toni the heartache of finding out later. “How much trouble could Drake possibly be in? It’s not like Crypt can do anything to him, the kid’s damn near indestructible.”

Derek’s laughter sent an uneasy slither across Clint’s skin. “Thanks to your interference, Crypt ordered him to leave her. He wants to make sure it’s not a phase for Drake, and that he doesn’t tell her anything else. Crypt’s just trying to protect The Organization. Apparently, he should’ve worried less about Drake and more about your big fat mouth.”

“He doesn’t need to worry about my fat mouth,” Clint snapped. “I don’t answer to him.” He poked at the air in front of Derek’s face. “This, right here, is why I refused to get caught up in that piece of shit you call an organization.”

“That’s all well and good, but it doesn’t change the fact that I run it in Chicago, or that I still have rules to follow. Did you ever stop to think about how much trouble you were causing for me? Or were you so caught up in playing daddy that you didn’t think through just how much effect your cause would have this time?”