Moon Mark (19 page)

Geo raised white brows. “I knew you hated fish, but I didn’t realize you were starving yourself.”

I shook my head. “No. It’s the drug.” I gulped down my third glass of water, licking the small droplets off the corner of my mouth. “I’m hoping if I eat and drink enough, it’ll leave my system sooner.”

He nodded. “Let me know if that works.” His lips twitched. “While you’re peeing every hour.”

I nudged his left shoulder with my right one. “Be quiet. This is an experiment.”

Geo draped an arm over my shoulders and kissed my right temple. “Are you done now?”

“Almost.” I finished off my sandwich and wiped my mouth with a napkin, stifling a yawn. “Is this your private house?”

He nodded his head. “I purchased it recently. I thought you might like it.”

I stared. “You bought it for me?”

“Not exactly.” His eyes narrowed, an expression of disgust on his features. “I bought it for the animals they keep here and produce. Every time you bite into fish, you grimace. So I decided to indulge your Human side.” His stare was pointed. “But fish is better for brain power.”

My lips twitched. “Point taken.” And now I understood why the Kireg ate the foul-smelling dish at every meal. “But I do appreciate you thinking of me.” Another kind gesture. He surprised me left and right. “Perhaps you’re not quite as high on the asshole scale.”

“Oh, I am,” he muttered. He took my hand and pulled me from my chair. “But I can’t have my mate hating the planet she lives on.”

I laughed as I followed him outside. “So this is all a bribe?”

“Maybe a little one.” Scowling purple eyes glanced at me, and then quickly peered away. “Is it working?”

“A little,” I answered honestly.

“I hope so because these animals are revolting,” Geo muttered.

His head turned left and right, his eyes taking in the many animals penned in their cages. He wrinkled his nose at the smell lingering in the air, a mixture of cut grass and fresh manure. In some areas, it was sour enough to make my eyes sting. The gravel under our feet crunched deeper into the earth with each step we took.

He glanced down at his shiny black shoes, dust now coating the tops, and then to my black, scuffed boots. “At least, you have the correct footwear for this.”

I snickered, my lips curving up at the edges. We continued on our trek down the small path, eyeing each new animal that we passed. They weren’t at all the typical critters for a farm. I didn’t even know what they were called—yet. But whatever meat had been on my sandwich had tasted like sliced chicken.

I eyed the old red barn fifty feet in front of us. “Is that where we are heading?”

Geo peered down at me, his purple eyes accessing. “It isn’t as it seems, so prepare yourself. The Dynasty family who lived here before were active members. They also hunted, so there is a secret passage at the back. The schematics are perfect for the job you’ll be doing.”

I nodded and wiped a bit of sweat off my forehead. “Making a bomb.”

“Yes.” He glanced at my right cheek where my hair was hanging and glared.

I punched his left shoulder. “Don’t say it. I was still woozy when I got out of the shower. It’s only a small bruise.”

“The line on your cheek matches the color of your eyes.” He bent and brushed my hair back, examining the bruise—for the third time. “You need to be more careful.”

“I’m fine,” I groused. I pointed at the lock on the door. “Do you have a key?”

“It’s a fake lock. If you try to tamper with that, you’ll be electrocuted.”

I blinked. “A little more warning next time.”

“I wouldn’t have let you touch it.” Geo snickered and opened the door.

I followed Geo inside, lifting my feet over the small barrier of the entrance. I eyed the rotting silver timber, my brows puckered. Little wooden pieces flaked off on my right boot when he shut the door behind us. This barn was certain to be ancient. “Is that to keep the rain out?”

“That is correct. This area may have stunning mountains, but this barn sits on a flat and low area of the ranch. Water rushes straight down that path right at the barn.” He gestured behind him with his right arm. “I’ll take you to the secret passage now. Unless you have more lingering questions about the very fine construction of this building?”

I snorted. “Lead the way, smartass.”

He winked. “Of course.” There was a thin layer of hay covering the entirety of the dark floor, the only light inside shining in through the slats of the wood siding. He veered to the right side of the barn, quickly glancing over his shoulder. “Don’t walk on the left. Trust me.”

“I don’t even want to know,” I hissed, staying far away from that side of the barn.

“No, you really don’t,” he mumbled under his breath.

The mansion and grounds were pristine. Opulent even.

Just not the ‘barn.’

I cleared my throat when I noticed rusted butcher knives hanging in a dark corner, scrutinizing every detail of the rundown structure. I pointed at the iron hooks hanging from a low side section. “Are those—”

“Don’t ask,” he rumbled.

I lowered my arm, my eyes narrowing on the hooks. But I kept quiet.

Wonderful. We were inside a Dynasty’s slaughter house.

Though I wasn’t frightened. Not in the least.

I was only interested in each section we passed.

Geo stopped at an impressive black square box toward the back of the barn. It went from the ground all the way to the ceiling. There was a slit down the front. It appeared to be an elevator. He pressed his palm to the small circle indention on the right, a red horizontal light rolling down the screen and scanning his handprint.

His purple eyes were on me. “I can’t believe you find this place fascinating.”

I held up my right hand, stopping him. “I like information. And this place is full of it.”

He snorted. “Of course, my mate would be even odder than I am.”

I returned, “Intelligence is better than no intelligence. You know that.”

“Yes, I do.” His gaze flicked between mine before he quickly dipped and kissed my lips.

I stared. “What was that for?”

“Because, even though you are a pacifist at heart, you still want to be with me.”

My grin was slow. “Well, like I said, you grew on me. And peace will come soon.”

He ran his fingers through his hair, for the first time appearing tired. “Sacred Moon, I pray it does.”

The doors opened to a comfortably sized elevator interior. It was well lit in comparison to the barn. We stepped inside. Geo pressed the bottom button—there were five of them in a line going down. It started descending, an area beneath the busted barn. His hands were clasped in front of him. All business. “Your materials will be here tomorrow. You’ll still only have two weeks to complete it.”

“That won’t be an issue.” I hesitated but grabbed his left hand. I intertwined our fingers together as the elevator stopped and the door opened. “Where will I be working down here?”

He was staring down at our joined hands, his expression hidden by his long lashes. “Your handprint will work on the elevator, so this is the floor you’ll be on.” We stepped outside the elevator at the same time, our hands still joined. “Only you and I have access to this elevator. None of the house staff are allowed down here.”

“So I’ll be carting the material all by my lonesome.”

“Yes. Will that be an issue?”

“No, most of it light weight. Easy for traveling to another location.”

He led us down the hallway. There was only one way to walk—straight forward—so I strolled down the whitewashed hallway, completely at ease with my current living situation. I opened the door and stepped into a room, exactly like the conference bunker of the previous stronghold. An outer area circled a glass conference room. I snorted and flicked my eyes at him. “Well, if it’s done right at one place…why not the next, right? And it is bomb proof.”

His lips twitched. “Exactly.” He took over the lead and pulled me further into the room. He released my hand and walked around the room without me, pointing at the ceiling. “There are emergency ventilation units in here, too.”

Even now, I felt a slow kindling deep in my gut just seeing him prowl across the tiling, his black pants pressing against his thigh muscles with every confident step he took. I glanced down at my own clothes and brushed off a white, long hair stuck to my shirt. The man was always dressed immaculately for whatever situation while I preferred to rush when getting ready. Though I did think that I looked damn good in this Kireg style choice. Confidence had never really been an issue for me on that front. He just looked…better.

Delicious.

I blinked and pulled my thoughts from heading down that road. “Those are perfect.”

He couldn’t stop the grin that curved his lips. “I can stay for a few more hours.” He tipped his head at the bare table next to his hip. “We were rudely interrupted this morning.”

My eyes instantly flared in desire, my tone quieting. “I’d like that.”

His own eyes darkened. “Hop up on the table, and I’ll show you how gentle I can be.”

This Kireg—this
man
—was definitely delicious. “You’re everything I never knew I wanted.” My cheeks instantly flushed at my brutal honesty.

His tone quieted, softening. And so did his eyes. “Keep talking like that, and I’ll steal the stars for you.”

I smiled. “I’m not always sweet.”

His eyes held mine. “That’s why we fit in the strangest way.”

I believed in peace, not war.

And still, I had made bombs for him.

I had even endured a long hov-craft ride with Corza’s constant chattering to bring them here.

The least he could do was pretend to be impressed. Instead, he palmed the ball in his hand while he glared at the explosive. “This is it? Really?”

I pointed at the box at his feet. “There are twenty more inside.”

“It doesn’t look like much,” he rumbled. The white ball was the size of his fist.

“The best presents come in the smallest packages.”

He snorted and peered down at me. “Is that a Human phrase? Because I can tell you from experience that women adore big objects.”

My eyes narrowed ever so slowly as a burning jealous roared inside my mind. “Let me show you.” I grabbed the bomb from his hand and typed in its number on my tablet. I shoved the tablet against his chest, and growled, “Hold that, Mr. Women-Love-My-Cock.”

His jaw started to slack, and he grabbed it quickly. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

“No shit,” Corza muttered next to him.

“Sacred Moon, Corza, this is still new to me,” he groused.

“Just shut up,” I mumbled. I cocked my arm back and tossed the bomb as far as I could from us. It went a decent distance, far enough away we wouldn’t be harmed. I turned and tapped the tablet back on. “Get ready for the boom.”

I hit ‘DETONATE.’

The ground shook under our feet as it exploded. Dirt and debris shot into the air, raining down on us. The silver trees closest to the explosion site were splintered and toppling over. And the gust of wind that hit us knocked our hair back.

I cocked my head, eyeing the destroyed area. “It’ll work for blowing up buildings.”

Corza choked next to me and pulled a twig out of her hair. “That was impressive.”

I shrugged. “It doesn’t have to be
big
to make a big impact.”

Geo handed the tablet over to Corza and pulled me close into his arms. He pressed his forehead against mine, and whispered, “My apologies.”

I glared up at him under my lashes. “Accepted.”

His lips slowly twitched. “Are you sure?”

“Not really,” I humped. “But just keep comments like that to yourself.”

“I will.” He rubbed his forehead back and forth against mine. “I might have missed you a little.”

It had been two weeks. “Nice way of showing it.”

He grunted. “I apologized, Madeline.”

“I know.” I sighed and sank against him. “Corza said you weren’t going to let me stay.”

“You’re not a fighter. You don’t belong here, and you know this.”

“Do I have to go right away?”

“No,” he hummed. “Would you like to go inside?”

I ran my hands up his muscled chest and draped my arms around his shoulders. “As long as we head straight to the bedroom, Mr. Big-Cock.”