Priceless (21 page)

“
Oh, you know me, I can find you anywhere. Sweetheart.
”
His voice was all smooth and silky, but his eyes were wild. Not a good combo.

“
Yes, and this lady here was just getting me my paperwork.
”
No need to make a scene in front of the hotel staff.

O
’
Shea buried his face into my hair as the woman lifted her eyes.
“
She can
’
t see my face
,
”
he
whispered into my ear.

“
Oh, I understand that . . .
Poopsey.
”

He grunted as if I
’
d hit him. I snatched the papers out of her hand and threw a rumpled twenty over the desk.
“
That should cover any paper costs
,
”
I said over my shoulder
.
“
Poopsey
”
snuggled into my hair as if we were long lost lovers.

The elevator slid open and we hustled inside. What I didn
’
t expect was O
’
Shea almost pinning me up against the far wall,
his
face now against my neck.

“
Cameras
,
”
he
said
, his lips tickling against my collarbone.

“
You beyond owe me
,
”
I said.
“
I am going to own you after this.
”
I was trying not to feel the hardness of his body
against my own. I knew how the man worked out; like it was his religion
. He wasn
’
t the only one who knew how to tail a person.
I placed my hands on his shoulders and tried very, very hard not to think about how this looked. When the door binged, O
’
Shea grabbed me around the waist and slung me over his shoulder.

Slapping me on the ass
,
he said,
“
If you
’
re going to own me, I might as well make this worth it.
”

I squawked, but didn
’
t protest overly much. His words were playful, but I could feel the strain in
them, the tremor in his hands against me.

We got to the room and he slipped me off his shoulder, pressing himself against my back.

“
Hey,
”
I said, fumbling for the key card
.
“
You might like all this touchy feely,
ram-Rylee-against-the-wood-
paneling
business, but I can
’
t get the damn door open if you don
’
t give me some room.
”

O
’
Shea eased off me, just enough that I could take a deep breath and slide the key card through the reader.

With the click of the door, the air whooshed around
us, a distinct scent of wet
dog swirling towards
us. Crap, this might be a problem.

“
Ryl
eeeeee
!
”
Alex howled out, his black fur soaking wet, the sound of the shower still running.
Bugger, I hadn
’
t thought to tell him to stay out of the water.

The door slammed and I spun, pinning O
’
Shea against it, tipping a short sword up into his groin.
“
Don
’
t pull your gun
,
big man.
”

He stared over my shoulder, his eyes wide.
“
What the hell is that?
”

“
Did you hear me?
”
I didn
’
t ease
up on the blade.

“
Adamson.
”
M
ild tremors
went through him
. Moving slowly, he lifted his hands up over his head.
“
Now, what the hell is that?
It can talk?
”

I stepped back, bumping into Alex who peered around my legs.
“
This is Alex. He
’
s a werewolf.
”

Alex, being who he was, lifted one giant paw and flopped it at O
’
Shea in a loose wave.

“
A werewolf?
”
He started to lower his hands and I poked him with my knife.

“
No guns.
”

“
Does he bite?
”

Alex shook his head.
“
No bites.
”

O
’
Shea pushed himself back against the door
, his eyes wide and so dilated I would have thought he was high if I didn
’
t know better
.
“
A talking werewolf.
. . before, I thought maybe I had been hearing things.
”
His voice was soft and his eyes lifted to mine.
I
’
d only ever seen his
nearly-
black eyes angry, not this
shell-
shocked confusion
.
I
t
actually made me feel bad for him.

I lowered the sword, propping it against the wall next to the bathroom. Just in case.
“
Alex is not like most werewolves. He
’
s submissive
,
and for all intents and purposes
,
I
’
m the boss. Right?
”
I dropped a hand
on
Alex
’
s damp head. He pushed into my fingers, forcing me to scratch behind his ears.

“
Go dry off, Alex
.
”
I point
ed
to the bathroom. With a grunt and a wag of his tail
,
he did as I said, leaving O
’
Shea and me alone.

“
First of all, how did you find me?
”
I slipped out of my jacket.

O
’
Shea
’
s eyes narrowed.
“
I thought you didn
’
t carry guns.
”

I fingered the shoulder holster I wore, then turned so he could see the back
,
how it criss-crossed and held the sheaths for my blades
.
“
Swords, not guns.
”

“
Why?
”

Big breath in
.
R
ealize he has no idea about your world
.
“
As you may have noticed, guns and bullets do weird things when placed up against the supernatural. Like take corners and kill people they shouldn
’
t. Swords don
’
t. And if they are edged and spelled ri
ght . . .
”
His eyes continued to widen and I thought about what I
’
d said, and how he
’
d not answered my first question.

“
I
’
ll explain everything, if
you
tell me how you found me. Otherwise, I
’
ll pick up that phone over there and dial 9
-
1
-
1
,
”
I said, doing my best not to be too bitchy.

“
I
’
ve been profiling you for years.
You have a pattern. Every fourth time you need a room
,
it
’
s either this hotel or the one across the street
when you are on a
. . .
case
.
”
H
e leaned forward, placing his
elbows
on his knees.

Hmm. That was interesting
and not in a good way
. If he could find me that easy, we were going to have to move, sooner rather than later.

Hands clenched into his dark slacks
.
“
This can
’
t be happening.
”

I
barked out a laugh and
kicked off my boots.
“
Really? This is my life, man. And it looks like you
’
re about to get a serious dose of the true reality of this world.
Want to tell me what really happened
when I was locked up
in the cellar with the ones who
you were shooting at
?
”
I was betting
there was more to the story than he
’
d told me already
.

“
Besides my partner being shot with my gun even though I wasn
’
t pointing it at him?
”
H
is dry tone
told
me he was coming out of the funk.

“
Yes.
”
Best to keep things short and sweet at this point.

“
They hit me with
—
”
O
’
Shea flipped his hands in the air and then jumped as the blow dryer came on in the bathroom.
“
How can he manage that with those claws?
”

“
It
’
s one of the things that takes him a while, but he can manage
,
”
I said
, going right back to my original question
.
“
What did they
nail you
with?
”

Pushing off the door
,
he started to pace the small space between the far window and the door.
“
It was, I don
’
t know, a spell?
”
He lifted his eyes to mine
for confirmation
,
and
it
hit me how fast our relationship had changed.
All of a sudden he was looking to me for help.

“
Most likely. Can you tell me what it looked like? Colours, density, sound?
”
I leaned back on the bed, letting out a sigh. This hotel had good mattresses. I flipped an arm over my eyes.
“
All those things can help me figure out what they might have
spelled
you with.
”

The bed squeaked and I looked out from under my arm to see O
’
Shea crawling toward me
, his eyes dilated, a smile on the edge of his mouth as he took in a deep breath
. Oh crap.
“
Never mind,
”
I said, rolling away from him.
“
I know what they hit you with.
”

“
You do? How?
”
Those dark
eyes roved my body
as if I were naked
.
Yup,
though
that was not the worst spell he could have been hit with, and at least I knew how to counter it.

I was already slipping on my jacket.
“
I
’
m going to go and get something to break it. You stay here.
”
Already my boots were back on.

O
’
Shea stood and his eyes clouded over.
“
You aren
’
t going to tell me what it is?
”
Now that was a
defiant
thread of anger I heard.

“
It
’
ll only freak you out.
”
I took a breath.
“
Alex, stay in the bathroom until I get back.
”