Lilly's Torment(20)

"Understood," he said. "I'm sorry if I made you feel otherwise. I just  wasn't entirely sure of the correct answer that wouldn't make me look  desperate. But to set your mind at ease, yes, I do want you in my bed.  Very much so," he admitted, looking a little embarrassed.

"Good. Then in your bed is where I will be until you kick me out of it,"  she assured him with a smile. "Now, get out of here so I can rinse my  hair, honey." So that she could finish her shower without pulling him  into the shower with her.

"I don't plan on letting you out of it any more than absolutely  necessary. And then only for work and your health. Beyond that, you're  mine." Ax pressed a kiss to her lips and drew away quickly. "When you're  done, I think I'd better grab a shower, too. A very, very cold one," he  muttered, turning toward the door and speeding out of the bathroom.

"That sounds absolutely wonderful to me," she assured him quietly, even  though he left the room before she could speak. Leaning her head on the  wall of the shower, she shivered, but not from cold. "Goodness, that man  has me turned upside down and inside out." And she honestly didn't  care. As long as he was close, she was happy.

He was waiting for her when she finally exited the bathroom. "Do what  you need to do. I set your bag on the end of the bed, and the ampules  are in the fridge in the closet." Leaning down, he kissed her lightly.  "I'll be out in a few minutes."

"Thank you." Lilly lay her hand on Artaxias's arm and gave it a light  squeeze. "Thank you. For everything," she told him with a smile. "I  think that this will be good. As long as you are at my side, I'm happy  and I hope that you will be, too."

"I'm happy, Lilly," he said softly. "I'll be about ten minutes. Do your  thing," he advised, taking her hand in his and kissing her fingers.  Winking, he let go and stepped toward the bathroom, snatching up a piece  of clothing before shutting the door. A moment later, the water came  on.

"Thanks." She went into the bedroom and did her thing, taking her blood  sugar levels and then giving herself an injection. She was just putting  her supplies up when Artaxias walked out. "Feel better?" she asked with a  grin.

"Not really, just cold," he said, tying up the drawstring on his cutoff  sweats. He moved to the window and drew the heavy curtains. "You all  good?" he asked, indicating the bag of her items. He went to the door,  shut it, and then came back to stand near her.

"I am. I had to up my dosage tonight, but that's not uncommon. If you  would, tomorrow, just make sure that I'm eating better than I did today?  That way I'm not running into this same issue, please?"

Nodding, he touched her cheek gently. "Climb into bed, whichever side  you prefer." He took her case from her and set it on one of the  dressers. Turning back, he moved to pull the blankets from the pillows.  "Come on, Lilly, you look tired and we have to work at some point  tomorrow."                       
       
           



       

She climbed into bed and watched him as he moved. When he finally made  it into the bed, she moved to his side, curled her body around his and  sighed. "There, just exactly where I want to be and what I want to do."

He was still for a moment before he relaxed and drew up the blankets.  His arms wrapped around her and tucked her closer. "Sleep, Lilly. We'll  sleep as long as you need and go about our day at whatever pace works  for us."

"That sounds wonderful to me. Thank you, Ax," she whispered quietly and  rubbed her cheek to his chest. "Rest well." It was mumbled before the  lightest of breaths came from her lips, and the softest of snores  accompanied the breathing.





Chapter Seven




Artaxias set a plate before her. Pancakes, fresh fruit, scrambled eggs,  and turkey sausage. He poured coffee for them both and sat next to her  with a bowl of fruit. He'd told her he tended to have some fruit after  his morning feeding. To kill the taste of the bagged blood, as he  explained it. "Cream and sugar." He tapped the containers on the table  before her.

"No, thank you." She looked at the food before them and sighed happily.  "Now this is a feast," she told him happily. "Thank you for making me  another meal. I'm certainly glad that you like to cook because I very  much love to eat."

"You can give me a list of your favorite meals. I'll see what I can do  to ensure you have them and they are healthy. We want to have you around  for a very long time." He sipped at his coffee as he watched her. "And  definitely let me know if there's anything you absolutely hate to eat."

"Don't worry, I'm more than a little verbose when I don't like  something. You will be fine. So far, everything has been utterly  decadent and I'm more than happy to have you creating anything at all  for me. I happen to love food a great deal and will eat pretty much  anything."

"Well I'm glad you're open to anything, Lilly. But, as I mentioned, if  there's something you hate or even mildly dislike, say something. I'd  hate to cook you a full meal and find out you won't touch most of it."

"I will. So far I haven't met a food that I don't like, so I really  think that we will be good. Seriously, we are good. So cook anything and  everything that you want and I will clean you out of house and home. Or  something like that." Her words were teasing, her smile bright.

"Uh-huh," he said with a frown. "Eat your food, I think you're in need  of something in your belly." He stabbed a piece of fruit and chewed as  he watched her. "We will need to go to the office. The captain wants us  to sit in on a meeting. He's had all the files dug up on various cases  with the same signature as this one, with that unique metal. Hopefully  we can find something in there to lead us where we need to go."

"I hope so, too," Lilly said with a shake of her head. "Did Gav stay  with his mom last night?" she asked suddenly. She felt a little bad that  she had only just realized her other mate wasn't there. "Or is he in  his bed still sleeping? And is he okay with me sleeping with you?"

"He didn't come back last night. He called this morning to say he was on  the other side of the Veil and would be for at least today. He's hoping  he'll be back tonight. According to him, his mother's not coming out of  the latest lapse like she should. So he's taking her to see her doctor  and discuss fully and completely disabling the chip. She'll have to call  the old-fashioned way from now on, I hope."

"That poor man," Lilly whispered with the shake of her head. "I feel bad  for him," she said quietly. "I really do. I wish that there was  something that we could do for him." For right now, though, she was more  than happy to simply enjoy this time with Ax.

"We are doing it for him right now. We're continuing the case and,  should he need us, he'll call. It's not like it will take long to get  there, Lilly. If we're needed, we can make the trek in under an hour.  For now, we have a killer to stop and that has to take priority. For the  moment."

"All right. As long as you are certain, Ax. I want to be sure that we  are able to do whatever we have to in order to close this case and then  go on with our lives. I very much want to do whatever it is that we have  to in order to have our happily ever after."

"And we'll get it, or as close to it as is possible with me in the mix."  He smiled and gave her a wink. He was messing with her, again. "Eat up,  we have a lot to do today and I let us be lazy far too long. We should  get going, just in case Gavriel needs us at some point."

"Sounds good. And you let us be lazy because you enjoyed it every bit as  much as I did. Admit it," she prodded. "Come on, you know you want to  admit it, so you should. You wanted me sleeping in your bed for as long  as you possibly could get me."

"Of course I did. Never say that I didn't," he told her. "Plus, you  needed the extra time to rest. You're always pushing yourself, but after  yesterday, I wanted you to relax." Something else they still had to  figure out. Why she'd fugued as she had.                       
       
           



       

"There is something." Lilly's body language clearly shifted. "Something  about the body. There is something there. I don't know what, but it's  something big. I think I should look at it again, Artaxias. There is  something that I'm missing."

"No," he said firmly. "Something on that body sent you into a trance.  Then all you wanted to do was make a phone call, on a landline. I'm not  letting you near that body again. Not until we figure out what the hell  is going on."