"We don't have to call Lucian," Tiny said quietly, and Mirabeau turned startled eyes his way.
"We don't?" she asked hopefully.
He shook his head. "I can get us into the SUV and get it started without keys."
"You can?"
She was peering at him now as if he were a god. It made him smile wryly. While he liked that she was looking at him like that, it would have been nice if it were for a different reason than that he could help her avoid calling Lucian, he thought, then admitted, "It's one of many more dubious skills I possess. I had something of a shady past before Jackie's father took me under his wing and taught me to be a PI. If not for him, I think I probably would have become a criminal. Fortunately, he caught me while I was still young."
Much to his surprise, the words made Mirabeau's mouth widen into a full-fledged smile. Moving toward him across the bathroom, she chuckled, and admitted, "That touch of shadiness just makes you even more attractive."
Tiny felt his eyebrows rise and smiled. He was certainly attracted to her and had hoped it was returned, but while Marguerite was hoping they were life mates, and Stephanie had made a comment or two about their lusting after each other, he hadn't really seen any evidence of it from Mirabeau before then. He couldn't seem to take his eyes off her, but she had been all business up until that moment, so he said, "More attractive? You do find me attractive then?"
"Oh, yeah," she assured him huskily, glancing down and running one finger lightly along the bare skin just above the towel around his waist.
Tiny sucked in a breath, his stomach jumping and his body along with it. He wasn't at all surprised to see his towel tenting outward as little Tiny came to roaring life. Neither was he surprised that Mirabeau's smile had widened even farther and now had a satisfied edge.
Her eyes were beginning to glow with what he knew was evidence of her own desire when she lifted her face to his again, and her voice was a soft growl as she said, "After this assignment is done, we'll have to do something about that."
Tiny was already reaching for her, and her words didn't stop him from drawing her forward to press against his chest and other less flat parts.
"Why wait?" he growled, then covered her mouth with his. He kissed her with all the desire he'd been experiencing since joining her in the tunnels. His mouth was demanding, and even though he was getting a response, he knew she was holding back, that her sense of duty was struggling with her own desire, and she wasn't giving him all of herself.
Breaking the kiss, he began to nibble his way across her cheek to her ear, and whispered, "We're on a break right now. Stephanie's safe and probably sleeping, and we have a couple hours before dawn...consider this a dinner break."
Mirabeau pushed him away so swiftly, he thought at first he'd somehow offended her, but then she kept pushing, urging him away from the bathroom door and backward across the bedroom to the king-sized bed. Tiny felt it bump up against the back of his legs, then Mirabeau was pushing him back onto it and climbing on top of him to straddle his toweled hips.
"Dessert, not dinner," she whispered, and bent forward to kiss him. This time she unleashed all the passion he'd suspected she was holding back...and more. She was like molten fire, pouring over him, her mouth melting into his, and her body plastering itself to him like warm wax. Her hands caught and pinned his to the bed, and she slid her tongue into his mouth and did things that had him groaning and thrusting his hips upward against her.
Mirabeau's own hips were not still. She was shifting and rotating on his groin, her breasts pressing against and rubbing across his chest as she did, the combination sending his excitement through the roof, so that it seemed to vibrate through him in waves, growing stronger with each reverberation. Growling low in his throat, Tiny tugged at his hands, managing to catch Mirabeau by surprise and pull free of her hold. They were immediately everywhere, trying to touch all of her at the same time, first sliding up her sides, then covering her breasts through the cloth of the thin cotton tank top she wore then shifting to slide beneath it to touch her bare skin.
Christ, I've never experienced this kind of passion before, Tiny thought faintly, as his fingers slid over the hot skin of her stomach. It felt like they were both burning up; she was almost feverishly warm to the touch, and he was burning up from the inside out. He wanted to feel all of her against him. He wanted her naked flesh pressing down on his everywhere, and he wanted to thrust his body into hers and bury himself in her moist heat. But that would bring an end to it, and he wanted this never to end.
Mirabeau moaned when Tiny's hands found her breasts under her tank top. She was immediately hit by wave after wave of almost unbearable pleasure. Wanting more of it, she broke their kiss to rise up on him and cover his hands through the cloth and squeezed his hands encouragingly. She then opened her eyes and met his gaze as she let her hands drop to the hem of the top he'd bought her. Tiny licked his lips and watched as she slowly tugged it up and off over her head, revealing a perfect, porcelain torso. His own darker, suntanned skin stood out where he covered and caressed her breasts, and Tiny didn't think he'd ever seen anything quite so lovely.
"You're beautiful," he whispered, letting his hands drift away from her breasts to clasp her by the sides and enjoy the full view of her from the waist up.
The words brought a smile to her lips, and she let the scrap of black cloth drop to the bed beside them, then reached down to run one finger down his chest toward the top of the towel. She shifted her hips over him then, closing her eyes and groaning as a shaft of pleasure shivered back and forth between them.
Tiny couldn't resist anymore and returned his hands to cover her breasts. When he did, Mirabeau opened her eyes to peer at him. Her smile becoming a grin, she bent forward, pressing into his caress until her mouth was just above his. Her tongue slid out and she licked his lower lip, then caught and sucked it between her own lips. She tugged and sucked at it gently, letting it slip from her mouth, and murmured, "Mmm, delicious. I'll have to thank Lucian for assigning you to be my backup when I next see him."
"Marguerite," he corrected automatically and tried to claim her lips again, but she pulled back slightly, her expression frozen.
"What?" she asked carefully.
Tiny hesitated, suspecting he maybe should have kept his mouth shut. Wishing he had, he reluctantly admitted, "Marguerite is the one who suggested we work together on this assignment."
As he'd feared, that announcement definitely ruined the mood. A pail of cold water couldn't have had more of a shocking effect on Mirabeau. Horror immediately covered her face, and she jerked upright, all signs of passion gone as she asked sharply, "Marguerite suggested you be my backup?"
He nodded slowly.
"But Marguerite only interferes when she thinks--" Her words died, and she stared at him, the horror on her expression growing exponentially. It seemed she wasn't pleased at what it meant, that Marguerite thought they might be life mates.
He met her gaze for a moment, then asked huskily, "Can you read me?"
Mirabeau sat back slightly on his hips, rocking back a bit as if he'd hit her, but after a moment her shoulders straightened, and her gaze shifted from his eyes to his forehead and concentrated there. He knew without a doubt that she was trying to read him and simply lay still, waiting. When he spotted the flash of fear shoot across her expression, Tiny knew instinctively that she couldn't read him, and that, rather than being pleased, the knowledge terrified her.
Even having seen her expression, Tiny wasn't prepared when she suddenly slid off him and climbed off the bed. She was at the door before he could even think to speak.
"What about the SUV?" he asked desperately as she started out of the room. The minute the words were out of his mouth, he felt shame claim him that he'd allowed himself to forget her intention to get blood for the girl. Judging by the way Mirabeau halted and her shoulders bowed, she felt much the same way as she was reminded of the reason she'd been pacing his room in the first place.
/>
She stood silent and still in the doorway for a moment, but then released a long sigh. Mirabeau didn't even glance back when she finally said, "It won't hurt Stephanie to wait a couple of hours this one time. She's probably asleep anyway. We can leave at dawn and feed her when we get to the SUV as planned. I'll wake you."
Tiny sighed as she left the room and closed the door. While he'd been reluctant at the idea of being a life mate when he'd realized what Marguerite was up to in suggesting he accompany Mirabeau for this assignment, he'd gotten over that in a hurry once he'd met her. But it seemed Mirabeau would need more time to adjust to the idea. While she wanted him, it seemed it wasn't enough to get past whatever fears she had regarding finding a life mate.
Marguerite was right, Tiny realized as he peered down at the aching tent pole his erection had become. He was definitely going to have to be patient with Mirabeau if he wanted her. On that thought, he lay back on the bed with a sigh to wait for his towel tent to fold.
Stephanie seemed to be asleep when Mirabeau returned to the room they shared, so it startled her when the girl suddenly whispered, "I know you're afraid of letting people in again because it hurts to lose them as we have, but surely it's worth it? You don't wish you'd never known or loved your family, do you?"
Mirabeau stilled, shocked by her words, and to hear them from a girl who was so young. Such insight and wisdom from a kid was rather unusual, but then Stephanie was proving to be an unusual kid.
"Dani said that to me a while ago," Stephanie admitted quietly. "And she's right. I have to not be afraid to care for people again. I would miss out on a lot of good stuff. We both would."
Mirabeau heard Stephanie moving and glanced over in time to see her finish turning onto her side away from her. It seemed it was all the girl had to say, which should have left Mirabeau to crawl into bed and go to sleep for the few hours she had until dawn. However, while she crawled into bed, she didn't sleep. She lay there thinking about the fact that Marguerite had set her up, that she couldn't read Tiny but wanted him with a desperation she hadn't experienced for anyone else in all her more than four hundred and fifty some years, and that meant he was probably her life mate. She also thought about what Stephanie had said. While the idea of caring for anyone again was terrifying, did she really want to miss out on what they could share just to avoid hurting later?
All those thoughts ran around and around inside her head as the night crept past. It was all so scary and confusing that Mirabeau was actually relieved when she saw predawn light through the crack in the curtains. She still didn't know what she was going to do about Tiny, but it was a relief to get moving and have something to do besides lie there fretting over things.
Chapter Nine
"Want a bite?"
Mirabeau jerked her head back a little with surprise as Tiny raised what he'd called a chili cheese dog in front of her face. Frowning, she murmured, "I don't eat foo--" The last word died on a gasp of surprise as Tiny suddenly pushed the food forward, catching her on the upper lip and the bottom of her nose.
"Nice one, Tiny," Stephanie laughed between bites of her cheeseburger.
Scowling at the pair of them, Mirabeau pushed away the dog Tiny was still holding out to her and wiped the warm chili from her nose. However, her scowl was replaced with surprise when she licked her lip to clean it and a savory, spicy taste exploded on her tongue. Mirabeau couldn't contain the murmured "Mmm" as she swallowed the bit of flavorful food.
"Good thing I got you one too despite your claim not to want anything, huh?" Tiny teased, lifting a second plate with a chili dog off the tray he'd brought to the table and setting it before her.
Mirabeau hesitated, she really didn't eat much anymore. She indulged on occasion to keep Jeanne Louise company, but she rarely bothered otherwise, food had become boring over time. This chili stuff, however, was not boring at all, she thought as she watched how Tiny carefully picked up his own hot dog smothered with the thick chili and bit into it. Perhaps she'd simply been eating the wrong foods, she thought as she emulated his actions.
"Or maybe Tiny's your life mate and your taste buds, along with your libido, have come back to life like Decker's did," Stephanie said dryly.
Mirabeau paused midbite to scowl at the girl, but she couldn't hold the expression. Her mouth was alive with the wonderful combination of flavors she'd bitten into. Her eyes involuntarily closed as she savored the explosions taking place in her mouth. Chili dogs definitely rocked, she decided, and wondered how it was she'd never had one before.
"Try an onion ring," Tiny urged, holding a round breaded object out to her.
Mirabeau accepted the odd item, turned it curiously in her hand, sniffed it, and then took a careful bite. Her eyes widened with surprised pleasure as an entirely different flavor filled her senses. Damn, that's good too, she acknowledged, and smiled when he slid a smaller plate with a mound of rings in front of her. He'd bought two of those as well, she noted.
"How about a chocolate shake?" he said next, and a thick-looking, creamy drink was set before her as well.
This time Mirabeau didn't hesitate to try the offering and as the cold, creamy, chocolate slid across her tongue and down her throat, she understood what he was doing.
"You're trying to kill me with pleasure," she said on a sigh.
"If that were the case, you'd be naked, and I'd be eating this off your supine body," Tiny growled. He then leaned toward her and licked away a drop of chili that rested on her upper lip.
Mirabeau swallowed thickly, her eyes finding and locking on his until Stephanie groaned, and muttered, "Oh, gross. Get a room."
Mirabeau saw the chagrin flicker in Tiny's expression and knew he'd forgotten the girl was there, just as she had for those few seconds. She shared a wry smile with him, then, as if by agreement, they both turned their attention to their food and began to eat, trying to pretend that the moment hadn't happened.
Unfortunately, Stephanie wouldn't let it rest, and asked, "Are you two going to get together after you get me to Port Henry, or what?"
Mirabeau gave her a quelling look, but the girl wasn't willing to be quelled.
"Oh, come on, he's your life mate, right?" she said, waving a french fry around as she spoke.
"You don't know what you're talking about, Stephanie," Mirabeau said sharply. "Eat your food. We have to get going."
"Oh please, even if I couldn't read your thoughts, anyone could see you two are hot for each other."
"Enough Stephanie," Tiny said quietly. "Now eat your food. We're already very late getting you to Port Henry. We really shouldn't have stopped here."
And they shouldn't have, Mirabeau acknowledged. By now the people in Port Henry had probably called Lucian in a panic that they hadn't arrived...and there wasn't a darned thing they could do to reassure them that everything was all right. Mirabeau hadn't had a cell phone when she'd left the church, and Tiny's phone had gone missing. He suspected it had been lifted while he was shopping for clothes and food. He'd told her as much as they'd made their way to the SUV in the predawn light.
Mirabeau had considered stopping to use a pay phone to call in, but one of Lucian's last instructions had been not to make contact in any way but through Tiny's cell phone unless it was an emergency. He'd said Tiny's cell was set up specially to be untraceable, while calls from any other phone wouldn't be. He was determined no one was going to figure out where Stephanie was, and he was the boss, so there was nothing she could do to soothe any worries anyone might be having.
And they would be worried, she thought unhappily. By her guess, between getting lost in the tunnels and their stop at the hotel to clean up and rest, they were probably at least five or six hours behind schedule, which meant they should have arrived in Port Henry about three or four hours ago. Instead, they were half an hour southwest of Toronto, eating quite the most delicious food she'd ever enjoyed in one of the ugliest, dreariest-looking diners she'd ever seen. Tiny had picked it after sev
eral hours of Stephanie's whining that she was hungry. He'd called it a truck stop and said they always had the best food.
Mirabeau had to admit the food was indeed good. They just really shouldn't have stopped to get it, and had Tiny not been so obviously exhausted from driving all the way up from New York, she would have said so. However, the man had been yawning and wiping his weary eyes for the last hour they'd been on the road, and she'd decided a break was probably smart. She planned to offer to take over driving when they returned to the SUV he'd managed to get them into and get started that morning, all with nothing more than a hanger they'd taken from their room and a screwdriver they'd gotten from the handyman at the hotel. It had been rather impressive to watch him in action. But then he was impressive just to look at, she acknowledged.
"All done? Shall we go?" Tiny asked, and Mirabeau glanced down at her empty plates wryly. So much for not eating. She'd pretty much inhaled the offerings he'd brought her.
"I need to go to the bathroom," Stephanie announced, slurping the last of her own shake, a pink one that smelled of strawberries.
"You take her to the bathroom, and I'll get the SUV started," Tiny suggested, getting to his feet.
"Hey, I'm not a kid. I can take myself to the bathroom," Stephanie protested, scowling at him.
Rather than point out that Mirabeau was to be with her to ensure she remained safe, Tiny grinned, and teased, "I thought you girls always went to the bathroom in packs?"
"Sexist," Stephanie muttered, but amusement was tugging at her lips as she got to her feet.
They were pretty quick in the bathroom, but Tiny was quicker. He'd started the SUV and pulled it up to the door to collect them when they stepped outside.
"I was going to offer to drive," Mirabeau murmured as she climbed into the front passenger seat after closing the back door behind Stephanie.