Julian shook his head as he remembered how Tess had bluffed with both Djinn. With a sleight of hand and a little misdirection, she had slipped a blank sheet of paper in the envelope and sealed it, while retaining the real information on another piece of paper. It had been an insanely gutsy move.

Slowly, Graydon lowered his glass. The sentinel's normally good-humored expression had turned sharp and cold. He said, "I would very much like to know what that information was."

Julian cocked his head. Sometimes you had to work for years to get a little payback. And sometimes the opportunity for payback fell in your lap out of a bright blue sky.

"Tess can never talk about the contents of the envelope she gave to Soren," he told the other man. "That was her side of the bargain. But I might have in my possession some other information about him, if you're interested."

"I am very much interested."

He warned, "If I give it to you, it can't be traced back to the Nightkind demesne. Malphas can't get the idea that Tess betrayed her end of the bargain. The threat of exposure is the only thing keeping her alive."

"That's a weighty decision," Graydon said. "I can understand why it would make you pause. All I can say from my end is I would never betray a confidence that put someone else in danger of retaliation, especially from Malphas."

Julian smiled at the unmistakable ring of truth in the other man's voice. Graydon had a decency that went bone deep. "I know you wouldn't."

Quick, light footsteps sounded. Both men turned as Melly came into the room. She wore soft, fleecy clothes and slippers, the dove gray outfit loose and comfortable. As soon as she caught sight of Graydon, a smile wreathed her face. She walked over to hug him.

She told him, "Thank you so much for coming to help look for me."

As a smile lit his rugged features, the sentinel patted her back. "It was nothing. I'm just glad to see you're all right."

"It was so totally not nothing." Melly smiled up at him. "And if there is anything I can ever do for you, please let me know."

The Wyr's expression gentled. "I'm not like the Djinn. I didn't help to collect favors."

"I know." Melly touched the back of his hand. "But I still mean it anyway. If you ever need anything."

Graydon said, "Thank you."

"That goes for me too," Julian said. As Graydon's gaze touched on him, he added telepathically, I'll get you the intel by the end of the day.

Something hard, ruthless and eager flashed in the other man's eyes. It was there only for a moment. If Julian hadn't been looking directly at him, he would have missed it entirely. Within an eye blink, Graydon looked as affable and good-natured as he ever did.

Yeah, Julian thought. I bet people underestimate you a lot, yet there's a reason why Dragos made you his First among all his sentinels.

Gregoire appeared and unobtrusively added a few bottles of bloodwine to the liquor cabinet. Telepathically, he said, Mister Xavier will be arriving within the half hour, sir.

Will he? Displeased, Julian frowned. Xavier was supposed to be on his estate, recuperating from the effects of the brodifacoum poisoning.

He mentioned something about updating you on the citywide search. As quietly as he had arrived, Gregoire slipped out again.

Melly said to Julian, "Bailey texted. She'll be here in about an hour." She paused. "Did I forget to tell you Mom is sending me twenty troops?"

At the mention of her twin, her smile had faded and the skin around her eyes had grown tense.

"You're both very busy, and that's my cue to leave." Graydon bent to kiss Melly's cheek, scooped up his jean jacket in one hand and nodded to Julian. "I'll look to hear from you later about what we discussed."

"Count on it," said Julian.

"Good hunting."

As he watched the other man leave, he said softly, "You can count on that too."

Fifteen.

H.

e turned his attention back to Melly. Her expression was calm and self-contained, but she had wrapped her arms around her middle again. Her stance was so defensive, it made his chest ache just to look at her.

He thought of the laughter and closeness they had achieved in the bedroom for such a brief time, and he ground his teeth.

"I can't believe I'm going to say this," he muttered.

She looked at him. "Say what?"

Walking over to her, he tilted up her chin and kissed her. "Come sit with me."

She followed him as he walked to one of the sofas and sprawled at one end. "You're not mad about the troops, are you?"

He snorted and pulled her down beside him. "No. We're lucky if that's all your mother chooses to do. Frankly, I'm a little surprised she hasn't bombed Northern California yet, but that's probably because you're still here."

She chuckled. The sound was wan.

Hungry to touch her and to feel her in his arms again, he pulled her against his chest. With a big sigh, she laid her head on his chest. He put his face into her soft hair. She smelled like his shampoo, and he loved that so damn much.

He said, "You don't have to confront Bailey right away, do you?"

She lifted her head to consider him. Her expression had turned grim. "What do you mean?"

"You love your sister. I know you do." He looked at her steadily. "Would you say that she loves you?"

A series of emotions flashed across her face. Fury, hurt, puzzlement. Even calculation. Finally, she said, "Yes, she loves me."

"Here's the thing," he told her. "While we may have pieced together some information today, in reality, everything happened over twenty years ago. The truth is, we don't know exactly why Bailey did what she did or if she regrets it. We don't even know for sure that she did it."

"She did it," Melly said. "You know it, and I know it. It's the simplest, most obvious explanation."

He sighed. "Okay. But the only thing we really know for certain is that it's old news. You can take time to think about things and decide what you want to say, or how you want to act. The past isn't going anywhere."

As he spoke, he took a curl and wound it around his finger. He loved to touch her. He simply loved it.

"Why are you saying all this?"

He responded slowly, so he could feel out his words. "Because you do love her, and because she loves you. If you and I can draw a line between now and what has happened in the past, maybe you can do that with her too." He shrugged. "If you want to."

She rubbed his chest, an absentminded caress that soothed his soul. A sense of well-being stole into him. He was enchanted at the exotic sensation. He and well-being... They were not well acquainted with each other.

After a few minutes, she asked, "What would you do?"

I would grind her bones to dust.

He was quite proud that he did not say it.

"That doesn't calculate," he said. "I don't have a twin with whom I've been connected all my life. Relationships are breakable, Melly. It would be smart for you to be sure you know what you want to do before you break them."

One corner of her mouth lifted. She cocked her head. "You're so adorable when you're being openhearted and wise."

His eyebrows shot up. "I can honestly say nobody has ever said that to me before."

"It was worth it just for the look on your face." She grinned, but it faded again quickly. More soberly, she said, "Thank you."

"You're welcome." He brushed his lips on her forehead.

"You would totally destroy her, wouldn't you?"

"Absolutely," he said without hesitation. "Her, along with anybody else who might have been involved."

Groaning, she collapsed so that her full weight lay on him.

Hooking an arm around her neck, he murmured, "But I can see how things might be different for you. After all, she's family. You have a golden opportunity, baby. Don't do as I do."

She stretched to kiss him lingeringly.

"Mmm," she murmured against his lips. "I want to stop thinking about other people. We have... What do we have, forty minutes before Bailey and the troops show up? We could do an awful lot in forty minutes, soldier. Dirty, dirty things."

The tip of her tongue tickled his lower lip in invitation. Instantly, he grew hard as a rock. He groaned against her mouth. "We have something closer to fifteen minutes, I'm afraid. Gregoire told me telepathically that Xavier will arrive very soon."

"What?!" She collapsed on him again.

"I'm a guy. I could totally make it happen in five minutes." He cupped her breast. She wasn't wearing a bra underneath her fleecy top, and the full softness of her round flesh filled his hand. As he molded and caressed her curves, she let out a shaking moan. Wickedly, he whispered in her ear, "We could cut loose, you know. Every man for himself. I look after my orgasm, you look after yours. Right here, right now. Quick and dirty."

As he talked, her breathing deepened. With a sexy roll of her hips, she ground her pelvis against his erection. She groaned, "Quick and dirty. Oh God, I could almost do it. No, I can't. Not down here. Xavier's such a gentleman I know he knows about sex, but if we happened to get carried away, I really don't want him to see me like that."

"Upstairs," he growled.

She raised her head. Her beautiful eyes had glazed, and a dark wash of color tinged her cheeks.

Suddenly, she moved. Rolling off him, she raced for the hall.

For a second, he held frozen. He had been teasing.

A crack of laughter snapped through him, and he leaped after her. Even when he was young, he hadn't felt this young. Their mischievousness made him feel buoyant and recharged.

He pursued her up the stairs and into his suite. Once they were both inside, he slammed the door. She was already tearing off her top and kicking out of her pants. The feminine hourglass of her body was magnificent. The tuft of private hair at the juncture of her thighs was a dark gold, and her plump nipples were rosy pink.

He lost the impulse to laugh, and his need became aggressive. He didn't think he could ever get enough of her. Yanking the fastening of his jeans open, he snaked an arm around her waist and carried her to the wall, flipping her so that she faced away from him. A breathless whine broke out of her.

Pulling her back against him, he spooned her and whispered in her ear, "Is this okay?"

Nodding, she wriggled back against him. "You've got some catching up to do, soldier," she gasped. "I'm starting without you."

That was when he realized she was fingering herself, bracing herself against the wall with one arm.

A growl ripped through him. With a greedy, irrational sense of jealousy for those fingers, he sank to his knees to watch her pleasure herself. She had a heart-shaped ass that was begging to be bitten. He rubbed his teeth along her skin, hissing with frustration. He had bitten her too many times already in the past few days.

Her hand moved rhythmically between her thighs. "Not fair," she gasped. "I'm seriously aching here. Where are you? You better not be jerking off down there."

He burst out laughing. She paused to give him a glare. Rising to his feet, he spooned her again, took her by the hips and knocked her feet wider apart. She collapsed against the wall even as she groped between her legs for him.

Grasping his penis, she arched her hips back and guided him into place. He pushed in.

Entering her from behind made him feel more massive than ever. She was so tight, so hot, clenching on him like a wet, velvet fist. He pressed his face into her hair and started to swear through clenched teeth.

Then he was all the way in. She caressed the base of his cock and his testicles. Her fingers were soaking with her own arousal. Her inner muscles tightened on him as she pushed back, fucking him as he fucked her. He was ecstatic to be inside her, and furious at the world.

"Why can't we find any time, goddammit?" he growled against her shoulder.

"I know," she gasped.

Never any time. They wasted so much time.

He had wasted so much time. He had done this to them.

Grasping a fistful of her long, luxurious hair, he shoved in and in, while her gorgeous body moved and flexed with the onslaught. He needed to suck on her nipples and nuzzle her breasts. He needed to lose himself in the beautiful folds of her flesh, tease that tiny, exquisite clitoris of hers, listen to her gasp in his ear, and whisper things she would never dream of saying to anybody else.

He needed to be surprised into laughter by the next thing that fell out of her mouth, and to shelter her from all harm.

This was not the quick and dirty sex he had been expecting.

Something burning fell out of his eyes and splashed onto her shoulder. She twisted, staring.

"Stop," she said.