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“Here, Mr. McAllister,” Victoria sashays out of the back of the service office in black leggings that are practically painted on, hips rolling like they’re on ball bearings. “This is our note saying we’ll have the car ready by noon tomorrow, and if we don’t, this is a contract guaranteeing that you’ll have one of our rentals,” she coos with a killer smile.
McAllister’s grumping fades to murmured grumbling, then vanishes completely as he signs off on things without even reading them and storms back into his unfortunate relative’s car to be taken home.
“Thank you,” I groan, wrapping my arms around her. “That was completely necessary to save that man’s life. Or at least a limb. I think in the circumstances, Manny would be okay with a free rental over manslaughter.”
“Oh, it wasn’t a free rental; it was a full-price rental. I just said it was guaranteed. Manny has what, six rental cars, and none of them are currently used? I felt like it was a safe bet that he would get one.”
“See, this is where you get taken upstairs,” I pick Victoria up and fling her over my shoulder, squeezing her ass as it rests in its new spot on my chest, “and ravished a little, and then taken out to dinner and a movie.”
“Ravished a little? A little?” Victoria teases, flailing her legs and dropping her pen on the desk.
“Don’t be greedy, missy,” I tease, even though I’m the greedy one.
Some part of me is satisfied now that I have her. I have my mate, my other half, and the restless hatred and searching have gone out of me. I’m even beginning to relax and think that maybe Pazcuso has decided I’m not worth the hassle. Maybe he’ll just get his new guy to build something else. That thought makes me uneasy, but I feel like I really can’t do anything about it, though. I can’t fix that situation without going back to the CrossRealms, and I ain’t going.
Home is here. Just up those stairs. Home is in my arms. I hug Vic’s legs tightly and feel her giggling against my back.
“If it weren’t chilly and dirty, I’d have you posing on my toolbox. My pretty pinup,” I sigh when we reach the upstairs. For days, it’s been our nest. Easy meals like mac and cheese, easy nights of watching reruns on television, talking with Manny and Rhea for an hour before bed, and then making love.
Dreams come true.
“What’s wrong, babe?” Victoria can tell something is off in my thoughts when I sit her down and just hug her.
“This is a happy dream. A cozy little winter hibernation with my favorite old television shows from the fifties on after a supper we share, talking to Manny and Rhea every night. Making love. Somewhere, there’s a nightmare creature being made. I don’t know how to deal with that. Wouldn’t the hero charge into the villain’s lair and end the mad scientist meets mobster program?”
Victoria bites her lip. “The hero has other things to do. To protect. The hero knows there’s a target on his back, and he’s not running. Pazcuso knows where you are. You don’t know that you’re safe, Lazarus, or if they’re just trying to amass enough idiots with guns to come after you.”
Idiots with guns. In my little town? I hug Vic hard enough that she squeaks.
“Okay. Okay, picture it like this. You know Superman and Batman?”
“God, I love Adam West,” I sigh.
Victoria grins up at me. “Superman guards Metropolis and Batman guards Gotham, right? They know there are bad guys out in the world, all over the world. They’re not idiots, and if we open another comic book, boom, there’s another city full of villains with one hero to defend it. No wonder they need sidekicks.” She shakes her head in disgust. “You’d think people could team up or something.”
“I’m sure they do, sometimes.”
“Well, the point is, they know the world is full of threats, but they can’t be everywhere at once. They have to defend the home front and stop the evil from getting into their city.”
I’m pretty sure Superman would go to where the threat is. He can fly. But I don’t say that. I think of leaving Pine Ridge and ending up dead in California. The real kind of dead. The kind where Rhea sobs so hard she can’t walk, and Victoria is a widow before I get the chance to make her a bride.
“You know what we should do after ravishing happens?” Victoria looks at me and slowly pulls off the clingy little sweater she’s wearing.
It’s not fair. She has the best breasts in the world. If she stood around topless, entire armies would just stop and stare, totally chill. Well... No. The guys at the back would probably start pushing to get to the front to see better; pushing would lead to punching, and it would still be a whole thing, but the point is that my brain can’t do hard things when Victoria is unhooking her bra and slowly running her fingers over her nipples as they tighten up in the cool air of the apartment.
“What?” I ask, shaking my head and trying to pretend I’m not just thinking about sucking those little berries into my mouth.
“We should go help the Night Watch guys. Didn’t you say they patrol every night?”
“Yeah. Two to four people, taking different areas. Town and campus. They’re not out in the housing developments and the woods, or over by Onyx Farm.” I run my hand over my mouth, hoping I’m not drooling.
Victoria leans her head back against the wall, one leg curled up as she balances on the other, making herself moan as she plays with her breasts, squeezing them, rolling the nipples that I want in my mouth, damn it.
“Why not those places? Not enough manpower?”
“Uh, well, I think the centaurs, selkies, and kelpies who typically don’t mix much with the rest of the world have the woods and farm covered, plus there are other guardians. Things you don’t see. That we don’t know about. Manny’s mentioned stuff before, but I don’t care enough about things to ask. I mean, I didn’t. And uh, yeah. We could always use more manpower. Womanpower?”
Victoria’s hand slides into her waistband. Through skintight black fabric, I can see her hand moving. Cupping. Circling at the apex of her legs, making my tongue jealous.
