Page 72 of Flesh and Fury

“I’m game,” Ari replied. It had just gone four in the morning but his words were instantly followed by the loud rumbling of his tummy which made them all laugh.

“I’d guess,” the chief said.

They stopped at an all-night diner which the local gas station attendant recommended as a place where the locals go. Ari could have kissed him when the server brought over his favorite breakfast of chicken fried steak and eggs. The gravy was outstanding and the steak and eggs were cooked to perfection. It always paid to ask the locals where they eat whenthey were in tourist towns. Ari and Eoghan had learned that many times on the road.

After breakfast they went for a quieter option of hotel in the busy touristy town and stopped at the Wyndham Travelodge, grabbing two rooms. They promised to check in with each other after getting a good rest to make up for their lack of sleep the night before.

And sleep they did until Ari finally woke when the bed moved. He rolled over and spotted Eoghan’s retreating boxer brief covered backside as he disappeared into the bathroom, closing the door with a quiet click. He rolled to his back, lifted both arms and stretched, letting out a loud yawn as he glanced at the clock. He had to blink twice before the green, digital numbers came into focus. Six thirty-two.Huh?He sat up in bed as the door opened, and Eoghan padded back across the floor to the bed.

“What day is it?” Ari asked, rubbing his eyes.

“What do you mean?” Eoghan looked over at him and laughed.

“What?”

“Aw, honey, you just look too cute when you rub your eyes like that. It’s Tuesday. You’ve been asleep for nearly twelve hours. We’re in Havasu.”

“Damn!” Ari exclaimed, falling back on his pillow and throwing an arm over his eyes. “I’m so disoriented.”

“I hate it when that happens,” Eoghan said, rolling toward him, and then throwing a leg over him, grinding his groin into Ari’s abdomen before scooting lower.

Ari immediately reacted, reaching for Eoghan’s hips as his dick started to fill. “Baby, I need to fuck you,” he growled.

Eoghan smiled and leaned down, kissing him passionately but then inexplicably rolling right back off him again.

Ari protested, frowning as he reached for him, missing him by inches as he scooted backward, chuckling. “Tease! Get your ass over here.” He chased him across the bed, dragging the sheets in his wake. He somehow managed to get tangled in them at the very edge of the bed, and crashed onto the floor as Eoghan jumped off, and danced away from him, laughing.

“Fuck!” he said, rolling to his ass and yanking at the sheets which were obstinately holding onto his feet. It took several seconds to untangle himself, swearing left and right. But by the time he was free, Eoghan had disappeared into the bathroom. The laughter behind the door mocked him, and the stubborn erection he was sporting as he struggled to his feet refused to go down. He walked over to the door, rested his forehead on it, and smiled to himself, despite his unquenched lust for the man. When he finally stepped back from the door, he had to raise his voice over the laughter on the other side. “I know we don’t have time to fuck right now, but trust me, when we do, you’re gonna be punished, Sapphire!”

The laughter only got louder.

A half hour later, freshly showered and beard trimmed, Ari felt a hell of a lot better as he and Eoghan met the chief on the lobby level of the hotel a few minutes after seven.

“I hope you both got some rest,” their boss said as soon as she saw them walking over. She’d traded her Laura Croft outfit for a less showy pair of jeans, T-shirt, and sneakers. She looked very much like a woman on vacation now. “I’d like to make it to Flagstaff just after one so we can find a place for the vampires to hold up and sleep. We’ll need them rested and fresh for the coming fight.”

“I slept like a log,” Eoghan said.

“Yeah, so did I,” Ari said.

Neither of them addressed the elephant in the room, which was the fact that he and Eoghan had shared a roomwith a solitary king-sized bed when they’d checked in earlier. Clearly, the chief didn’t care whether they were a couple or not. She already knew Eoghan was gay, based on the PMs she’d seen on Kellen’s computer. And she’d witnessed the fight in the restaurant at the office where Eoghan had punched his ex so hard he’d landed on his ass. The chief could put two and two together and no doubt had figured out that they were a couple.

“Good. We’ll grab some food before we go.” She looked them up and down. “I assume you haven’t eaten since this morning?” She headed out to the forecourt and looked around the parking lot, no doubt spotting the SUV at the same time they did. “Over there,” she said, nodding to the vehicle as they walked beside her.

“A drive-through works for me,” Eoghan said, glancing at Ari. “Right?”

“There’s an In-N-Out Burger near London Bridge,” Ari said, consulting his phone as he opened the back door and got in.

“That’s great,” the chief said. She looked at Eoghan. “Do you want to drive or—” She let the question hang.

Ari watched Eoghan shrug from the backseat where he waited. “Works for me, Chief.

“Good.” She tossed him the keys and they headed out.

By the time they’d finished their animal style double doubles, fries, and vanilla shakes and picked up the vampires, it was nearly eight thirty, but they were once again underway. Ari fell asleep in the backseat to the sound of soft rock which he hated but the chief liked as a driving companion. When he next opened his eyes, it was still dark. He sat forward and noted the dashboard clock read one-ten. He’d been asleep for a little more than three hours.

“Nice nap?” the chief asked as their eyes met in the rearview mirror.

Ari frowned, noting that Eoghan was now sitting in the passenger seat and their boss was driving.When had that happened?

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