Page 70 of Silent Lucidity

Tenthil furrowed his brow; something in her tone suggested he wouldn’t like what she was about to suggest. “Where?”

“Cullion’s.”

“Wouldn’t his assets have been claimed by now?”

“I don’t know much about the way finances and inheritances work here, but I heard enough from him to understand that they’re complicated. It’ll probably take months for anyone to legally get their hands on his money, probably longer because he had no next of kin. But we’re not going after that stuff. He had credits stashed in a few places around his house. Places no one else knew about.”

Tenthil’s mind raced through possibilities; Cullion had been wealthy and well-connected—both through legitimate and illegal avenues—and had flaunted his fortune everywhere he went. News of his death would have spread rapidly. That meant scavengers, opportunists eager to pounce on the chance of pilfering a vacant manor.

“With your bioelectric-thingy we could sneak in undetected. I think there’s a secret way in we can use, and I can show you where he stashed the credits he got through shady deals,” Abella said. “I was usually beneath his notice, a pet more than a person, so he didn’t care if I was around while he conducted business so long as I kept my mouth shut. Bastard thought I was too simple-minded to understand anything that was going on apart from when he told me to dance.”

“There are likely guards posted,” Tenthil said. “His connections would want his assets protected until they can divide them appropriately. I’d be taking you directly into danger.”

“Tenthil, we’ve been in danger since the moment you took me. Sometimes you have to face the danger head-on if you want to eventually get past it, and I refuse to sit around while you put yourself at risk. Anyway, Cullion always went on about how the bodyguards he employed were the best in the business, and how many of them did you take down by yourself?”

He tilted his head. “Thought you didn’t want any more death.”

“I don’t. We’re not going there to kill anyone, and we’ll do our best not to…but I’m not going to stop you from defending our lives.”

Tenthil stared into her eyes, searching them—though he wasn’t sure for what. Perhaps a sign that she was joking? “Isn’t it the last place you want to go?”

“It’s just a place. The person who hurt me is gone…because of you.” She pressed a kiss to his lips. “This is the only way I can think of for us to get those credits. Unless you have a better idea?”

He ran his tongue over his lips, picking up a hint of her taste upon them, and drew in a deep breath. Her scent—tinged with the perfume of her arousal—flooded his awareness. His cock stirred, and sweet venom trickled from his fangs.

Abella’s plan was better than anything he might’ve come up with, and he had to accept the fact that anything they did would endanger them both—even if it was merely because he’d be forced to leave her alone while he worked. But having a plan didn’t mean they had to rush off to it. There was some time…and they were still in bed, naked.

“Only one other idea,” he said.

Abella raised her eyebrows. “What is it?”

Tenthil propped himself up on an arm, placing his other hand on her shoulder. He pushed her onto her back and shifted himself over her, letting their bodies touch, skin to skin, heat to heat. Lowering his head, he kissed her lips, then her chin, her neck, her collar bone, working slowly down her body.

“Oh…” Abella breathed.

He kissed her flat stomach and the bruises on her hips. She shivered and caught her lower lip between her teeth when his chin brushed over her pelvis. Without breaking eye contact with her, Tenthil spread her thighs, dropped his mouth to her sex, and slid his tongue between her folds to tease her clit.

Abella gasped, and her head fell back. She moved her hands to his head, twining her fingers in his hair, and pressed his face down, wordlessly asking for more.

Tenthil obliged.

“Oh, I really love this plan,” she rasped.

Fourteen

Tenthil eased the hovercar’s throttle as they entered the airspace over the Gilded Sector’s residential area and glanced out the window. “There.”

Abella leaned closer to look at the manor through the driver’s side window, placing her hand on his thigh to brace herself. Her hair fell over his sleeve. He longed to feel the delicate strands brush against his bare skin.

Priorities, he reminded himself.We have a job.

“I didn’t think seeing that place again would bother me, but…” She frowned. “The sight of it makes everything I experienced there come rushing back to me. Silly as it is, it feels like if we go inside, he’s going to be there, waiting for me.”

Tenthil dropped his hand to cover hers, giving it a squeeze. “He’s dead. Forever.”

Abella looked at him and smiled.

He guided the hovercar through a wide, looping turn, angling the window toward the manor. The exterior lights were on, and there was a vehicle parked out front—a bulky, armored transport, the sort favored by many private security firms. The logo painted on its front marked it as property of Tegris Security, one of Starforge’s competitors.

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