Page 37 of Assassin's Mark
Chapter Eighteen
I tried to help, sitting beside Remi’s bed for the afternoon and into the evening, but Leah refused to rest. Her lips were white, her eyes anxious. Afraid. She took turns hovering over Remi, fiddling with the tubes and wires leading in and out of his body as if getting everything just right would mean the difference between life and death for her patient—or herself—and pacingthe length of the room and back, biting her nails down to the quick. I lost count of the times she would stand at the opposite end of the room, staring up at the windows that revealed a darkening sky, eyes clouded with what looked like panic. Not worried about herself, but her daughter, obviously.
“Isn’t there someone who will take care of her?” I asked.
Leah snorted, the sound at once grimand amused. It was the only response I got.
A hand settled on my shoulder sometime much, much later, waking me from a light doze. I’d nodded off after dinner, I guess, but I wasn’t sure when.
“Go on to bed, Abby.”
I blinked up at Leah in the gloomy light. “You need sleep too.”
But the woman only shook her head. “Not gonna happen tonight. Besides”—she nodded toward Remi’s still form—“I’m usedto long hours and late-night vigils.”
I imagined that was true. Standing, I stretched my cramped muscles and glanced toward the door to the main room. “What time is it?”
Leah looked at the slim watch on her wrist. “Eleven.”
Levi hadn’t come to get me. Was he still awake? Would he have the cuffs waiting?
I rubbed the phantom aches from my wrists. “Can I get you anything before I go get readyfor bed?”
Leah settled herself in my chair, eyes locked on Remi sleeping a few feet away. “No.”
She didn’t trust me. I didn’t blame her.
I grabbed a plastic cup and poured myself some juice on my way through the kitchen. The warehouse was eerily still, the only sound a slight snore escaping Eli with every exhale as he lay on the couch, a pillow bunched under his head at one end, his big feethanging off the other. Levi stared at his computer screens, the faint glow spotlighting him in the otherwise dark room, emphasizing the chiseled cheekbones and tight jaw. A god directing mere humans to carry out his whims. He didn’t look up as I passed.
“Grab a shower,” he said quietly, though not quiet enough to miss the thread of steel underlying the command.
I rolled my eyes, knowing my backwas to him as I continued toward the bedroom. “Sure. I’ll enjoy the hot water until it runs out. Thanks.”
I wouldn’t swear to it, but I thought I heard a sound almost like a laugh, choked off abruptly. The man was a pain in the ass, so why did my step lighten at his response?
True to my word, I stood under the hottest water I could stand until it turned tepid. When I flung the curtain back,a squeak escaped.
Levi stood, feet planted, arms crossed. The god was no longer interested in carrying out whims; or maybe he was. Maybe that look in his eyes said the whim he was interested in included me.
I cleared my throat. “What do you want?”
“You.”
My laugh sounded strained, even to me. “I’m not on the menu, but there’s a cold shower available.” My gaze dropped to the straining crotchof his jeans. “Looks like you need it.”
Levi was on me before I could do more than lift my towel to my chest. My wet back met the warm tile as he crowded me against it, his wide shoulders blocking the light, the room, everything. Sight and sound and sensation—all were overtaken by Levi’s presence. He became my world. My temptation.
My rising hunger.
I clutched the towel to my naked skin andpunched his shoulder with my other hand. “Back off.”
What the hell has gotten into me?
“Your tongue is going to get you in trouble, little bird.”
See?
And then the image of my tongue on Levi’s most vulnerable places flashed across my mind’s eye. In that case, would it be me or Levi in trouble?
