Well, shit.
Kieran didn’t want his partner at his hotel or anywhere near Alex until he knew what was going on. Maybe not even then. “Ugh.”
Remy laughed. “I’m not feeling the love. What’s going on?”
Remy should know what was going on. He’d want to help, but Kieran would deal with that later. “I don’t want to get into it over the phone. But can you trust me?”
All trace of amusement left Remy’s voice. “Of course.”
“Grab a hotel on the strip but don’t use the Graham chain,” Kieran told him.
“No problem,” Remy agreed. “I’ll text you my hotel and room number. You want to meet me there when I get in?”
“Yeah,” Kieran agreed. That would give him enough time to do his research, stalk around and come up with a plan.
“Watch your back,” Remy said.
“Will do,” Kieran promised before he hung up. Since he had his pants in his hand he gathered up the rest of his clothing and added them into the same laundry bag he’d shoved his sweater in earlier. He glanced at the bed—it was mussed up a little but not too bad. And he appreciated that housekeeping had added the same amount of blankets and pillows he’d had on it the night before.
He had work to do and strode into the living area. Kieran went directly to the curtains that hid the large windows. He pulled them open, giving him an astonishing view of the Strip. There were hundreds of people on the streets right now, and any one of them could be a Walker.
Okay, enough stalling.
He rubbed his hands together. Research was needed, and as much as he hated it, if he wanted answers, the job had to get done. He grabbed his laptop from the table where he’d left it the night before and took it to the desk that sat right next to the window. At least he’d have the view to appreciate as he sorted through files.
Humming, he opened the computer lid and powered it on before he strolled back over to the table and poured himself a fresh cup of coffee. He carried it with him to the desk and sat. Kieran logged on and waited. He had to connect to the Internet, glad he’d ordered the extra amenity even if it was an additional fee. Then he logged into his secure server so his movements couldn’t be followed.
After he was as protected as possible, he opened his emails. As expected there were two emails from Lettie. The subject lines were the names that she’d researched for him. He was surprised to see one from his boss as well.
Kieran opened Caspar’s first. He grinned as he read. It was the basic checking-in talk and telling Kieran to behave himself. There was no chance in hell he’d be doing that. But the email did tell him that Dean hadn’t spoken to Caspar yet.
He closed the email without responding. Let Caspar wonder what he was up to. Next, he hovered the mouse icon over the email with Dakota’s name in the subject line. Did he want to go there? When he’d first asked Lettie to look into her, it had been before they’d slept together. Now it seemed…creepy. He already knew her, didn’t he?
Earlier he’d admitted to himself that he didn’t see Dakota as a shifter that was out to hurt him. There was a big part of him that wanted to keep that fantasy alive. What if he found something that changed his feelings about her? Maybe her family, or other shifters she knew, had captured or tortured Walkers like those who’d taken him. He wouldn’t be able to stand it.
Cowardly maybe, but Kieran chose the email for Dean first.
There was no message, just an attachment that he double clicked open. A picture of a younger Dean was the first thing he saw. He was a good-looking kid who’d grown into a handsome man. He’d resembled Caspar more when he’d been younger. They shared the same square chin and high cheekbones. It was hard to hate the guy when he reminded Kieran so much of a man he cared for.
He scrolled down past the picture. Dean had attended the Organization’s boarding school in California. So Angel and Remy probably wouldn’t know him. They’d both gone to school on the east coast. Dean had been a good student who’d aced all his classes, especially math and science. Kieran read about all of Dean’s accomplishments and was impressed. If he’d been in charge, he would have put Dean in a lab or as a technician. He would thrive investigating, just like Lettie. Maybe Dean was good in the field but he had a feeling that it was his last name that had decided his position.
Vaguely, he wondered how Dean felt about that.
According to the file, Dean had been partnered with Dakota for three years. A long partnership that had benefited the city of Las Vegas. There was little on his personal affairs in the file but that was to be expected. The juicy stuff would be harder to find, but Kieran was a determined man.
He minimized this email and pulled up the program that gave him access to the Organization’s files. He typed in a request for cases in the Las Vegas area for the last six months.
Jesus!
Over four hundred open, closed and current cases. How did the agents there get anything done? To narrow down the numbers, he typed in Dean’s name. That was a little more manageable. Still just shy of one hundred. He picked the newest and opened it. He’d work his way back. If he didn’t get a good idea of how Dean and Dakota worked after reading through these, he didn’t know how he would.
* * * *
It was almost ten at night but no one had seen Kieran leave his suite, so Dakota hoped he was still in for the night. After she and Dean had left the hotel earlier, they’d been called in to assist some of the other agents.
A group of shifters had decided to try their hand at breaking and entering. They’d used brute force instead of finesse and that was what had got them busted. It wasn’t hard to follow their scents to where they’d crashed.
But that had made her later than she’d wanted.
She knocked softly on Kieran’s hotel door so as not to disturb the occupants in the rooms around him. Dakota leaned closer to the door and could hear sounds. She moved from foot to foot as she waited.
When he opened the door, her breath caught. Kieran wore only a pair of sweats and a T-shirt. She hadn’t seen him dressed down before and she liked it. Almost as much as when he was naked. He looked good in his street clothes but now? He actually took her breath away. His hair was ruffled like he’d been running his fingers through it. To see him so laid-back and in comfort made her feel like she was seeing a side of him very few did.
Without a word, he opened the door the rest of the way. She stepped in and picked up the smell of coffee, food and wine? It had to have been a better meal than what she and Dean had picked up on the fly. Dean loved fast food, and while Dakota tried her best to shovel some of the same crap down, she always felt slightly nauseous after.
Kieran closed the door and with a hand to her lower back, led her into the living space of the suite. The suite looked even more lived in than it had the night before. The room wasn’t as neat as when she’d left earlier but still tidier than her own place. She wondered if he was always neat or if it was just because he was in a hotel room.
“Would you like a drink?” he asked as he strolled to the table ahead of her. “I had a bottle brought up.”
“Yes, please,” she replied as she shrugged off her coat and placed it over Kieran’s on the back of the couch.
Kieran poured her a glass of a dark red liquid then strolled toward her. “I’d wondered if I would see you tonight.”
She accepted the glass as she nodded. “I got caught up in work.” She glanced around and saw that he’d been working on something himself at the desk. His laptop was open and he had a notebook sitting next to it. If he was on vacation, was that for business or pleasure?
He followed her gaze. “Research.”
When he didn’t elaborate, she shrugged it off. She knew that Kieran was still wary of her. She wished she knew what his problem with shifters was so she would be able to make him more comfortable.
She could call Caspar or have Dean do it but then she’d have to admit that her interest was personal. Not that she was ashamed of it, but Dakota had a feeling that Caspar wouldn’t want anyone to know about her and Kieran.
She’d even thought about calling up his file but that felt like a breach of trust. All she could do was hope that eventually he would be comfortable enough to share his past with her. Her only worry was that something would come between them before he fully trusted her. Dakota knew she would fight for him but if he was the one pushing her away, she wasn’t certain she would succeed. It was very obvious that he was damn stubborn. She glanced over at him and saw him watching her. Dakota smiled before she took a sip of her wine.
“Have you eaten?” he asked.
“We grabbed something at the drive-through earlier,” she told him. “After you stopped following us.”
Kieran laughed. “You have to tell me how you spotted me.”
“It was easy,” she said while strolling to the window to look down at her city. “Yours is the best ass I’ve ever seen. I’d know it anywhere.”
She saw him approach in the reflection in the windows. Kieran placed his hand on her shoulder before he leaned into her. Holding her glass in her right hand, she reached back to grasp the back of his leg to hold him close.
“I thought I was sneakier than that,” he said.
Dakota sipped more of the smooth liquid. It had a good, bold flavor that she appreciated. She leaned more toward hard liquor or beer but this was nice. Especially with Kieran pressed up against her as she watched the lights twinkle below. “You probably are but since you were on my mind, it most likely made it easier.”
“On your mind?” he asked. He brought his arms around her to place his hands over her stomach.
She allowed herself to rest her weight against him while continuing to drink. “You know you were,” she said. It was easier to speak her mind not having to look at him. “I was impressed this morning.”
“I hope you were impressed last night, in the middle of the night
and
this morning,” he teased.
Dakota laughed. “Yeah, yeah, I was but I was talking about my clothes and breakfast.”
He sighed, and she started to turn around but he tightened his hold. Maybe this was less demanding for him too, not having to face her as they spoke. “I didn’t want you to feel like… Just…even though I was gone this morning, I enjoyed our time together and hoped you’d be back.”
She smiled at his confession so she gave him one of her own. “There was no way I wasn’t coming back, whether you wanted me to or not.”
“Good,” he whispered before he brushed his lips over the side of her neck. “I’d hate to have to track you down.”
“And you would, wouldn’t you?” she asked.
“I believe I proved that today,” he said.
“True,” she agreed. “But I have a feeling that was more professional than to chase after me.”
He brushed his cheek over the top of her head. “Okay, but I behaved myself because you were in the vehicle.”
Dakota laughed. “Well, I appreciate that. So I guess you’re not going to lump me in the same bracket with Dean anymore? I’m safe from what other people told us could be very imaginable payback?”
“You were safe the minute I walked into the bar last night and saw you,” he confessed. “Your partner is not.”
“He’s just doing what his uncle’s asked,” Dakota pointed out.
Kieran tsked her. “Nope. You can’t take sides or I won’t be able to guarantee your safety.”
“Safety?” she asked. “I really like my partner and don’t want to break in a new one. Do not kill him.”
He sighed. “Fine, I won’t kill him.”
If Kieran didn’t sound so serious, she would be amused. As it was she was a little frightened for what Dean had gotten himself into. “You promise?” she pressed.
“Yes,” he replied. He skimmed his hands up to cup her breasts and began to knead. That was one way to change the subject.
Dakota dropped her head back against his solid chest and arched her back so that she was pressing into his touch. Her nipples hardened as her breath sped up. The electric current that she’d felt the night before was still there, but now instead of being surprised she just enjoyed it.
“Kieran,” she murmured. “We really should talk.”
He groaned and the vibration against her back tickled some. “I just agreed not to kill your partner. I also promise not to maim him or take him out of duty. There, nothing else to talk about!” He ended with scraping his teeth on her ear.
Dakota moaned and had to fight herself from giving in. “That is not what I meant. We can’t just jump straight into bed this time.”
“Why not?” he asked.
She frowned and turned around. “Seriously?” Didn’t he wonder where this was going between the two of them?
“What?” he asked as he ran his hand through his hair. It surprised her when he took a step back from her. Like he hadn’t just been seconds from dragging her off to bed or taking her right there on the floor.
“How do you do that?” she asked before she downed the rest of her wine. She stalked over to the table before she picked up the bottle, refilling her glass.
“What are you talking about?” He sounded frustrated, and since he was showing some sort of emotion, she relaxed some. If he argued and fought, then he was invested.
“How do you turn it off and on like that?” she asked. “Is it because I’m a shifter?”
“Don’t.” He pointed his finger. “I’m trying not to think about the fact that you’re a shifter.”
Bottle in one hand and glass in the other Dakota froze. “You want to repeat that?” she asked in warning.
Kieran strode across the living area then back to her. “I didn’t mean it that way,” he finally said after a few tense moments.
“I think you did,” she said. Dakota set the wine and glass down. Why did that hurt so much? She barely knew Kieran but hadn’t she been thinking long term? Just earlier she’d been prepared to fight for him but if he couldn’t ever accept her jaguar, what could she do? She was part shifter—that was just who and what she was. “I’ve been telling myself that I could convince you that I’m not like whoever hurt you in the past. You just need time to see me as a person first.”
“I do,” he told her.
They were only about ten feet away from each other but it felt like so much more. “No,” she said. “You’re lying to yourself. Because you don’t see me as a person first—you only see me as a person. You’re ignoring the biggest part of me.”