Page 19 of Darkhan

She scoffed, too breathless to truly laugh, and sank down onto the island. It was large enough that only her head dangled over the edge. “No fair. You got two breakfasts.”

He chuckled as his body heat moved away and she heard the faucet turn on. “If you’re implying you’d like a second, I can help you with that. But I’d feel better if we moved somewhere you’d be more comfortable.”

Her face turned red as she remembered the sensation of her mouth being stuffed full of him. It ought to have been awkward, and certainly not something someone should crave, but she was definitely willing to do it again. She wanted to see if she could do better, if she could take all of him properly.

She nearly missed his low grunt of displeasure as the water turned off.

Drawing herself out of her inappropriately wandering thoughts, Harmony forced herself to sit up as Zeno turned toward her again. “What’s—”

He held a finger to his lips, a wet washcloth dangling from his hand, and his phone to his ear. “I would offer ‘good morning,’ but it’s not like you to call for no reason.” He tapped the screen and set the device beside her, pressed a finger against her mouth as if to re-emphasize her need for silence, then promptly dropped down and brought the cloth up between her legs.

Harmony sucked her lips between her teeth to keep from making a sound at the sudden sensation.

An unfamiliar, faintly filtered male voice spoke through the phone’s speaker, both working to distract her and make her mildly uncomfortable. The latter mostly with herself when she realized she wasn’t as bothered with having Zeno where he was while the phone line was open as she should have been. At least, not until the man’s words fully penetrated. “I wish I was calling under better circumstances, but this phone call is a courtesy I’m really hoping you don’t make me regret.”

He paused just for a moment, but long enough for Harmony’s brow to pinch. It almost sounded like he was agitated, or trying to offer a warning. Not that she knew the man with the gruff, older-sounding voice. So she listened and tried not to think about the steady movement of cloth at her center.

“In about two minutes, two of my people are going to be at your door,” the man continued. “I need you not to roast them. More importantly, I need you to cooperate so we can all get on with our lives.”

Harmony glanced down at Zeno as he pulled away, carefully folded the towel, and wiped what she sincerely hoped was the clean side quickly across his face. She wanted to askwhat in the world the stern man on the phone was talking about, but she also didn’t want to make herself known to that man.

Zeno tossed the towel in the direction of the sink as he stood. “Care to tell me why you’re sending a team to my personal residence first thing in the morning, Scott?” He scooped Harmony up off the counter and set her gently down on her feet without making a sound.

The man Zeno had addressed as Scott let out something like a sigh. “They’re in the elevator, Darkhan. Officially, I must be recused from the case due to our association.”

Zeno growled. “And unofficially?” He snatched up his phone, lifted Harmony by the waist, and propelled them at a breath-stealing speed across the open space until they were up the first flight of stairs.

Scott’s words trailed in their wake. “Unofficially is why I called.”

Zeno shoved the phone into a pocket as he set Harmony down in a room on the second floor she hadn’t seen yet—which was most of them, if she was honest with herself. The room he’d taken her to was obviously for laundry.

She glanced at his empty hand, assumed the call had ended, and looked up at him. “What’s going on?”

“We’re about to have guests, Little Dove,” Zeno said, his jaw tight with obvious displeasure. He brushed his fingers over her face, pressed a kiss to her forehead, and indicated the machines. “Your panties are in the dryer. Grab them, then hurry upstairs and put on the shorts I set out for you last night. I can’t have you parading around in front of others without clothes.”

Harmony opened her mouth. Closed it. Blinked once. “My panties.”

A brief flash of wicked amusement tipped his lips. “I needed information.” He gave her a gentle but distinct nudge. “There’s no time to explain, unfortunately. We have to deal withthis first.”

Harmony pouted, but she remembered Scott saying their unannounced guests were already on their way up. “I still have so many questions. Who are these people that you seem worried?” It took her a moment to figure out which one was the drier. His machines were so much nicer than the ones from the laundromat she was used to.

Zeno was already striding for the door. “The government.”

Harmony nearly fell face-first onto the machine she’d been leaning toward. Thegovernment? That was not an answer! Why would any government group be pursuing Zeno? She managed to pull her nice, freshly cleaned panties from the machine, untwisted them, and was stepping into them when someone pounded on the door downstairs.

Her heart jumped into her throat.

Zeno had seemed familiar with the man named Scott, but it was clear he hadn’t been prepared for this. Whatever this was. Did that mean he was in trouble? Was it possible he was going to be forced away? What would she do if he had to leave the country entirely? It wasn’t like she had a passport.

Harmony waited until she was sure Zeno was downstairs again, more or less a barrier between her and the government people who felt like invaders, before slipping from the laundry room to scamper upstairs. The shorts he’d directed her to put on had fallen to the floor while they’d slept, but she had a general idea where they were.

The tones of multiple voices barely carried to her, but it was enough for her to know Zeno had opened the door. Something inside her insisted that making contact had started some sort of clock. Whatever was going to happen, the countdown had begun.

All she could do was rush into the shorts Zeno had kindlyset back on the bed and hurry—carefully—back down the stairs. She moved as fast as she could, but her mind had plenty of time to panic. Plenty of time to imagine so many ways she was about to be walking into a nightmare.

Did shifters have some kind of Visa system and Zeno’s had expired? Was this because he’d flown her like three blocks in a public space the day before? Had one of her neighbors seen him shooting fire at Ricky and this was their way of earning Ricky’s favor?

Maybe it had nothing to do with her or him being a shifter. She had to consider that, despite all they had talked through before, it would be a long time before she knew everything about him. Perhaps he had debts, or some kind of warrant, and collecting on those was a more intricate system for men like him. She didn’t know much about that kind of thing, outside of how it was portrayed in the movies her father sometimes watched.

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