Page 20 of Guarding the Doctor
When my twenty was up and I told her that I was ready to retire from the military, Bella immediately suggested coming to Seattle. She’d gotten me an interview with Lois and let me stay with her and Lucy for a couple of weeks while I looked for anapartment. My big sister had really come through for me, and now, thanks to my job at Sapphic Security, I’d met my mate.
But Bella was right, I needed to keep my focus on the job. I knew that Dr. Xi was still suspicious of Kathryn. The way she’d come down to rub it in about Seth’s death was clearly her way of trying to see if Kathryn reacted. And while my mate had kept her face neutral, she hadn’t been able to hide the increased temperature and heart rate that accompanied her anger. And a fox like Xi would have easily picked up on it, the same way I did.
Kathryn seemed subdued when she came out for coffee the next morning. I knew she’d slept poorly – I could hear her through the wall tossing and turning. She really should have let me give her that orgasm.
“Good morning,” I said.
“Morning,” she mumbled. “Need coffee.”
Yuri met her at the pot, a plate in hand. “Your breakfast.”
She poured a cup of coffee and gave him a wan smile. “Thanks Yuri but I’m not hungry, I’ll just have coffee.”
“Eat,” I ordered.
Her eyes narrowed, but she didn’t respond.
“I make very nice breakfast casserole,” Yuri said coaxingly. “Is full of healthy things. You will try please.”
She sighed, but took the plate, bringing it to the table where Yuri and I were already eating. I saw her eyes linger on my juice glass of blood, but she didn’t comment. Vamps weren’t squeamish about it. To us, blood was medicine. And while nothing tasted as good as blood taken from a living donor, we weren’t allowed to do that except in certain specific circumstances, so we contented ourselves with preserved blood from human blood banks or animal sources.
Under Yuri’s watchful gaze, Kathryn picked up a forkful of casserole, bringing it to her mouth while I stared at her pouty lips like some kind of a creeper. She closed her eyes briefly, a look of appreciation on her face.
“This is delicious, Yuri.”
My fellow agent beamed. “Yes I know. Breakfast is most important meal, that is whatBabulyasays when she teaches me to make this.”
At her puzzled look he explained, “Babulyais word for grandma in the language of my people.”
“Well your grandma made a good breakfast casserole,” Kathryn said, taking another bite.
I sent Yuri a nod of thanks, and he winked back at me.
“What’s the plan for today?” Kathryn asked.
“You and I do our shift, and Martha and Yuri continue to snoop,” I told her. “Sooner or later we’ll uncover something.”
“I hope so,” she said quietly. “I’d hate to think Seth died in vain.”
“We’ll figure out what’s going on and shut this thing down,” I promised. “Lois checked with her contacts, as far as we can tell, no one in the U.S. government is trying to make new shifters. And there’s no reason for them to, given that they’ve got entire units of shifters in every branch of the military.”
“Who is it then, the Russians?” Kathryn asked.
Yuri unleashed a string of Belarusian. I didn’t need to speak the language to know that it was all cursing. The bears had not been shy about sharing their opinion on the Russian government.
“Or the Chinese,” I said. “Those are the two most likely culprits, according to Lois.”
“Why wouldn’t they do these experiments in their own hospitals then?”
“If they want to use the shifters against us, it’s way easier if they’re already here. Then they don’t have to worry about getting them into the country,” I told my mate. “Now finish your breakfast. We need to head out soon.”
Kathryn
Istared sightlessly into the traffic while Yuri and Darla talked quietly in the front seat. I had a lot to think about. What to do about my blown up condo. How we could stop whatever Xi was involved in. But instead, I focused on the kiss.
I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it. All night, every time I closed my eyes I could feel Darla’s lean body beneath me, the feeling of her tongue tangling with mine. I hadn’t meant to jump her like that – I’d never done anything like that in my life -- but I’d certainly enjoyed it. Maybe a bit too much. I mean, what would even come from this? Eventually this whole thing would be over, and I’d hopefully be able to go back to my normal life. And my normal life didn’t really fit with an adventure-seeking vampire and her band of supernatural bodyguard friends. And that’s assuming that I really was Darla’s mate, and this wasn’t just some crush that she’d misinterpreted as a mate match.
Maybe we could have a fling though? I’d been single for several months and I had a lot of pent-up sexual frustration to work off.
