Wicked Flames (Solsti Prophecy) (39 page)

“Me too,” he whispered back, kissing her hair.

And I always will be.

Her mind was too tired to process the random thought, or wonder where it came from, or why it sounded like his voice was in her head. All she could do was sink into his warm strength, feeling content in ways she never had.

C
HAPTER
35

B
RIGHT
SUNLIGHT
FORCED
ITS
WAY
through each thin crevice in the wooden blinds, but still Gin slumbered.
Like an angel
. Mathias looked at her face, so peaceful now. No worries or questions. He’d held her, listened to her breathing, and watched her eyes flicker beneath closed lids as she dreamed.

Good thing he didn’t need to sleep every night, because he would’ve hated to miss this. He must’ve held a female while she slept at some point in his life. But gods help him, he couldn’t remember it. Every experience with Gin systematically erased each similar one from his past, taking his desire and intimacy to a brand new level. And he couldn’t be happier.

Voices and footsteps echoed in the house as the others rose. Plates and cups clinked on the granite counters, and the scent of French toast wafted through the floorboards. If he wanted to, he could listen to individual conversations, but he didn’t. Nothing urgent was going on.
Yet.
He heard the staccato tap of fingers on a keyboard and guessed Rhys was still working.

Gin sighed and snuggled closer to him. The sweet press of her body had his cock swelling toward her, but he didn’t want to wake her yet. She’d had a hell of a day yesterday.

Her cinnamon and orange scent hung over him like a gauzy curtain, wending its way deeper to curl around his heart. He had no idea if she usually slept this late. Time to move that question into the certain-knowledge category. He planned to be at her side every night from now on
.

The tapping at the keyboard stopped and Mathias detected a low whistle. Then a shout. Rhys.

“I’m in. Boo-yah!”

The tenor of the voices changed. A few asked
where?
Several pairs of feet shot into motion.

And, it’s go time
. Mathias sifted his fingers through Gin’s dark hair and whispered, “Wake up, Ginger.”

“Mmphf.” She flipped over and gave him her back.

He grinned.
Two can play wake-me-up
. Too bad they didn’t have time for the version he had in mind. He pushed her hair away from her nape and dropped lazy kisses along her skin. “Ginger.”

“Mmm.” She reached back to grab his leg, sliding her fingers up his thigh. Her naughty hand moved higher and higher—

Holy gods, yes
. He wanted this woman more than he wanted to breathe. His cock throbbed against her ass. He suppressed a growl, not wanting to startle her, and grabbed her hand before she found what she was looking for. “Fuck, baby, I want you, but—”

A swift knock sounded on the other side of their door and Brooke’s voice carried through. “Gin? Mathias? Are you up? Rhys needs to talk to you.” She paused. “Gin. He has photos.”

“We’ll be there in five,” Mathias called
. God damn evil Deserati demon.
He rolled Gin to her back and covered her legs with his. “And you and I will continue this later.”

Her luminous green eyes seared his soul in the dim room as she reached up and threaded her fingers through his hair. “You have a sexy morning voice.” She dropped her hands, tracing his jaw. “And sexy morning stubble.” She wriggled her hips. “And a sexy morning hard-on.”

He flexed his hips into her softness. “You’re killing me. We have a house full of people waiting for us.”

She pressed her lips into a pout. “I wish we didn’t.”

He stared down into her expressive eyes. “When we finish this, I’m keeping you in bed all day. Maybe all week.”

“Promise?” Her lips turned up into a smile that was content, sexy, and confident.

He wanted to see that smile every damn day. “I promise.” The words tumbled out without hesitation.

Mine.
The realization hit him with the force of a Deserati tail strike. He’d promise anything she asked. Anything, ever, always.

Like a last puzzle piece falling into place, he understood. She was more than a job and had been since he’d first laid eyes on her.

She was his other half. His mate.

He rocked his hips against her, barely able to hold back the urge to claim her and make her understand.
Now.

But they had a job to finish.

And did she want to be his mate?
 

“Mmm, you’re not making this easy.” Her voice broke into his revelations. She sighed and glanced to the window. “The last thing I want to do is look at that demon again. But I know I have to.”

“I’ll be with you. So will your sisters, Ria, anyone else you want. We’re all here for you.”

She smiled. “I’m glad you’ll be there.”

Always
. He dropped a swift kiss to her perfect lips, then pulled her out of the mass of bedding. They dressed in the borrowed clothes from last night, and Gin put on those crazy red slippers. He shook his head.

She jutted her chin. “I like them. I may just keep them. Nicole will have to get another pair for herself.”

“Gunnar’s probably glad to get those out of his room, anyway.” He opened the door and led her through.

She stuck her tongue out. “That means they’ll be in our roo—” Her lips froze in a perfect
O
and her eyes went saucer-wide. “Uh…I mean…I don’t know what I mean. That just popped out.” Her eyes dropped to study the floor.

“Hey, it’s fine. I like the sound of—”

“Gin!” Brooke called from the base of the stairs. She jogged up on light feet and stopped on the second level. “There you are. Ready to help find this guy?”

“Yes.” Gin brightened at her sister’s presence. She gave Mathias a tiny shrug, then squared her shoulders and followed Brooke downstairs.

Mathias followed, pondering her slip. The words had come out naturally, and he’d damn well liked that little fact as much as the words themselves.
Our room.

They beelined for the computer where Rhys sat. He swiveled in his chair. “You ready to do this?”

Gin nodded, and Rhys pulled a chair over for her. “You said his name was Xavier. Check this out. A dude named Xavier Martin has been visiting water treatment plants in the area, getting them started on using his new filtration process.”

“What? How is that legal?” Nicole rested a hand on her hip.

“He submitted a proposal to the EPA and got a grant. After a given number of weeks with expected results, they approved limited implementation. He’s also been published in a science industry journal. Looks like the same shit-tastic topic. Filtration.”

“Did you run his name through any search engines?” Gin asked.

“First thing I did. Says he graduated from Cal Tech in 1995. But I can’t find a record of his birth or a town where he grew up.”

“So the places he’s visting match the coordinates on the test tube I found?”

“Yup.”

“Can I see his photo?” Gin’s voice was calm, but Mathias heard her heart rate pick up its pace. He crouched next to her and took her hand.

Rhys tapped a few keys, and a man’s picture popped up on the screen. Gin sucked in a breath and put her hand over her heart. “That’s him.”

Low murmurs rumbled behind them as the others got close enough to see the Deserati. Mathias kept his eyes on Gin and rubbed his thumb over her knuckles. “You okay?”

She nodded, her face pale.

“This is a huge break. Exactly what we needed.”

She stared at the screen and the expression on her face morphed from timidity to revulsion. “What are you going to do to him?”

“Stop him. By any means necessary.” Mathias growled.

“Where is he, anyway?” Gin asked.

Rhys tore open a bag of M&M’s and tossed a handful into his mouth. “I’ll find out. Give me five minutes to get into his email.” He turned and his fingers began flying across the keyboard.

“If you’re going after him, I want to go too.” Gin turned and looked at her sisters, then at Mathias.

“We’ve been ordered to not take you three, if we can help it. I don’t want you—any of you—in harm’s way.” Mathias stood.

Kai rocked back on his heels. “Has Arawn actually met any of the Solsti?”

Mathias shook his head.

Kai folded his arms over his chest. “And there’s the problem. If Gin is anything like her sisters, she won’t take no for an answer.”

“I don’t want her in danger.”

Kai held up his hands. “You’re preaching to the choir, Hunter.”

“We can’t all go charging over to him. We’ll take as few people as possible.” Mathias shoved a hand through his hair. “Look, I need to go to help get us to his exact location. Ria is still on security detail, so if you go, she goes.”

“But if he’s doing something with the water, maybe I can figure it out,” Gin said.

“And maybe I can fix it somehow,” Brooke piped up. “Since I can manipulate at the molecular level. Gin can describe it to me.”

“It’s freezing. You can’t get in the water,” Gin said.

“Actually, I can. I’m now the proud owner of an insulated wet suit.” Brooke grinned. “I don’t know what this bitch has planned, but I wanted to be prepared for anything.”

“If she’s going, I’m going,” Kai said.

“Hey, if you’re both going, I’m going too,” Nicole said.

“And I should go, in case anyone gets hurt,” Ashina added.

Other voices chimed in until the room was in a full-talk frenzy. Mathias pinched the bridge of his nose. Damn it. A small team was best. But a mate’s urge to protect his other half was stronger than common sense. Or so he heard.

That warm feeling pulsed in his chest again, and he opened his eyes to see Gin staring at him. She leaned closer. “I won’t be left out.” Her eyes blazed. “And I want to work with you. Fight on your side.”

“I want that too, just not against an unknown enemy.”

“Aren’t they all unknown, until you fight them? Don’t you guys train to be the toughest and expect the worst?”

“God dammit, Gin. I can’t let anything happen to you.”

“Nothing will. Look at what you and Ria did in my parking lot. And that was against eight.”

He took her hand, pulling her away from the crowd at the computer and closer to the windows. Snow still fell, covering their landing spot from last night. “By now he knows you’re gone. He’ll be able to detect the scent of Lash demons in his house. I’m betting he, and maybe Elegia, will have an extra big hard-on for revenge. That’ll make him more unpredictable at best, and more lethal at worst.”

She folded her arms over her chest. “I can figure out what he’s been doing to the water.”

Fuck
. She was right. He hated to admit it, but they’d get answers faster if she was on-site. “We have no idea what, exactly, he’s doing.”

“We know he says he’s created a new filtration process, which is when they remove the tiniest particles. Then it goes to the disinfection stage, then storage.” Gin fiddled with a hair tie at her wrist “And if it’s sitting in storage, it may go to the public soon. What if he’s poisoning it?” Her voice rose on the last sentence.

Ria appeared at Gin’s side. “I don’t mean to eavesdrop. But I totally eavesdropped.” She shrugged. “I’m still on the job, you know.”

Gin and Mathias looked at her expectantly.

“Gin’s right about taking a look at the water. And I don’t know Brooke well,” Ria held up her hands for emphasis, “but I’ve heard about her skills. I say we bring her along, in case she can undo any damage Xavier might have done. We don’t know how much time we have.”

“Thank you,” Gin said, and wrapped her arm around Ria. Both women turned to him.

Mathias knew when he was defeated. “Fine.” He motioned between the three of them. “Us, and Kai and Brooke. That’s it.” He looked over to Rhys. “Rhys, anything?”

“He’s supposed to be in Fairhaven today,” Rhys said around a mouthful of candy. “’Bout an hour from here.”

“All right. Rhys, you stay here in case we need you to hack us in anywhere in the building. I’m going in, along with Gin, Ria, Kai and Brooke.” Murmurs began from the group, but he talked over them. “All the Watchers know that small groups are best for this kind of takedown. And there will be a bigger one later. That’s why we’re here.”

Nicole glared from her position in Gunnar’s embrace. “I really don’t like staying out of this one. But I see your logic. And I know you work well in small groups. But it feels all wrong, having my sisters heading into a fight without me.”

“What if you were in the area, as backup?” Brooke asked. “Both of you,” she gestured to Gunnar and Nicole, “and Raniero and Ashina.”

“And what am I, chopped Neshi tail?” Brenin smirked from the couch.

“Sorry, dude. You drew the short straw today.” Kai threw an M&M at Brenin.

“Okay, I can work with that. The four of you stay in one car, a few miles away. Just in case. That way everyone is nearby. Cool?” Mathias asked.

A chorus of yesses and nods went around the room.

“Then let’s go.” He turned to Gin. “You’re not leaving my side. Understand?”

She had the courage to wink at him. “Understand. I know you’ll find me if I do.”

He took her arm and pulled her close. “I will always find you.” He kissed her, not caring if anyone in the room saw. The conviction to protect her exploded into something infinitely greater. His heart crashed into his ribs with the force of the feeling. “I will always protect you.”

C
HAPTER
36

I
WILL
ALWAYS
FIND
YOU
…I will always protect you.
Mathias’s words echoed in Gin’s mind as their SUV rocketed down the highway.
Always…
A contented feeling bloomed in her chest, knowing he meant the find-and-protect part. But the always part? Why did that make her feel so damn giddy? Considering that their relationship had started out based on deception, she had every right to suspect he was lying.

But he’s not.
She knew it on a deep, instinctive level. She squeezed her eyes shut and gave herself a mental kick in the booty. The deception was where it belonged: in the past, alongside her stubbornness. And this man was in her future.