Page 32 of Blood on the Ice

“No, no,” Jackson interrupts. “Eli will send you links to an encrypted website where you can pass information unless it’s benign. He monitors our phones for all the bad stuff, but until I can shake loose and have him go through your office and home, we shouldn’t discuss this over the air anymore.”

Merciful Aine. He really believes one of us is being hunted by a paid killer, not a random psycho.

“Okay. Do we need to take precautions tonight when I have visitors?” I ask, suddenly concerned.

“Yes. Go outside, put music on in the background, and have your magic user cast a silence circle. Don’t take any chances, Morgana. We don’t know what we’re dealing with.”

My chest tightens and I feel both of my inner beasts stirring, angry and protective over the people they consider mine—even Channing. “Understood. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!”

I think we’re covered there, buddy.

Once I hang up, I pad downstairs to find Lucas still sprawled out on the couch but looking a lot less like he’s going to burst. He gives me a brilliant smile and my heart thumps in my chest like it’s going to escape if I’m not careful. I walk over and sit on the edge of the couch, brushing a lock of blond hair off his forehead.

“Do you think I’ll need to intervene with the Coach? I don’t know if everything will be fixed tonight, and I bet you have practice tomorrow.”

His eyes soften, and he shakes his head. “We do, but I can text him. I haven’t had an attendance problem and with the need to talk to the team without me, he might welcome one skipped practice.”

Nodding, I think about that. If what he told me about having issues with the other players at the morning practice is true, then the coach definitely needs to have a conversation with the team. Lucas shouldn’t be there, either, because he needs to get those guys to understand that they should support their team member until there is a reason not to. I’ll shoot him an email if Lucasends up not being able to go. A word from me reminding him of how generous a donor the Wolfenberg matriarch is might grease the wheels, too.

Not that I’m going to tell Lucas that, of course.

His eyes flutter and I can tell he’s tired. We should definitely get some rest before the crowd arrives. Whatever this is, it’s draining the hell out of the big guy and he refuses to admit it. “Hey. How about we leave some of this until later? We’ll watch a movie and if we take a nap, well, then it happens.”

“I highly doubt a woman like you naps, especially during the day,” he grumbles.

I shrug and give him a bright smile. “There’s a first time for everything, Lucas, and you seem eager to claim some of them.”

“I like the sound of that.”

Lucas was mistaken…Idefinitelyfell asleep.

I look around, squinting at the waning light in the living room as I take in my surroundings. My phone is on the table in front of the couch, buzzing with some notification. I pause, waiting to see if it’s followed up by a phone call and when it’s not, I close my eyes and soak in the warmth. Lucas, warmer than expected, wraps around me from behind. I’m worried about him—hell, even my beasts are worried. They’re seldom of the same mind as me, but I haven’t lived this long without learning control.

However, Des has popped out from under my curls to put her head near his ear, and that’s never happened before.

If I hadn’t accepted Zuzanne’s theory before, waking up with my most cantankerous snake snuggling this man tells me everything I need to know. She hated Magnus, and her feelings about past lovers ranged from dislike to indifference. There’s no going back from the swirling magic of mating, it seems, even if you didn’t intentionally allow it to happen. At least Lucas is sweet, smart, and has a biteable booty—it could be so much worse, I suppose.

“I can feel you overthinking from here,” the polar grumbles under his breath. His arms tighten on me and he shifts his hips, rubbing against me in a way that gives meveryinappropriate thoughts as someone taking care of a poisoned person.

Turning my head a little, I look across the arm I’m pillowed on. “Stop that. You are definitelynotwell enough for anything that vigorous, buddy.”

His lips form an adorable pout, and I laugh. That only gets him to bat his lashes like an ingenue as he sticks his lip out. “But I’m being a good boy. I took a nap and everything.”

Oh, that revved my engine. I enjoy a very good boy and it’s been a long ass time since I’ve been able to play with one.

I give him a stern look, leaning back a little to help neutralize the lip I want to bite. “Seems more like you’re being a brat to me. You know you’re too weak to play this game.”

Lucas huffs, still looking put out. “Fine. But I’m owed spankings if I wait this bullshit out. I get the feeling youreallyenjoy the thought of being in charge.”

“How do you know that?” I frown as I finally give in, dragging my teeth over the delectable lower lip, then tugging on it before I let go.

His eyes dance, and he lifts his free hand, tapping his nose with a smirk. “You smell delicious. It’s impossible to ignore.”

My face reddens despite my lack of shame. I have no problem admitting I’m a very sexual being and taking what I need is normal for me. But something about him lying here, being so damned cute and soft, is making my body act like an idiot. I haven’t felt this ridiculously girly since I was a teenager—and people rode in carriages back then, for fuck’s sake.

“I suppose that can be part of your punishment for being saucy, then. Ignatius isn’t a shifter and I don’t know about Slade, but I don’t get shifter from him. Only you’ll know and you can suffer because you can’t do anything about it.” My lips curve up in an evil grin as I look at the pale bear. “That will teach you a lesson, I think.”

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