We woke hours later. Darkness had fallen, and the clock on the side table blinked a lazy one in the morning. Liam was already awake, his breathing faster and less regular than when he slept. I sat up, grimaced at the twinge across my ribs, then traced my fingers along the stitches that went from the bottom of my sternum almost to my belly button. Good thing Crystal had small hands or I had no doubt that line would be even bigger.
Liam swung his legs over the edge of the bed. “You hungry?”
I smiled in the darkness, wondered if he could see my lips curve upward. He hadn’t asked if I was okay, or how I was feeling. Damn, each time I thought he might not know me as well as I thought, he showed me how wrong I was. Good man.
“Yeah, let’s get something to eat.”
At some point while we’d slept, Dox must have brought in clothes. My jeans had been washed and dried, and there was a fresh button down shirt for me. Jeans and a long-sleeved shirt for Liam. Even as a werewolf, the early December weather was cold for him.
“You never even twitched when he came in,” Liam said as he stepped into his jeans.
I frowned. That wasn’t like me. Then again, I was safe with Liam; maybe that was it. I buttoned up the shirt and slid the jeans on, then looked around for my weapons.
“Dox has them.”
“Am I that easy to read?” I pulled on my leather coat. As much as I’d missed this clean cold snow while in London, now that I was home, I was back to hating it. And while it wasn’t raining or snowing at the moment, the New Mexico winter was in full swing.
He opened the door and gave me a cocky grin. “For me, yes. Anyone else, probably not.”
With a snort, I headed out, pleased to note that while my ribs ached, they were indeed already healing well. More than halfway healed from what I could feel with each step I took.
We headed to the bar that thumped with loud music and had strobe lights on the roof, as if to call down some alien space ships as per its name.
“What can we expect?” Liam moved to my side, but didn’t take my hand. No, we weren’t really the hand holding type of couple. More the kick your ass if you look at us wrong type of couple. The thought made me smile.
“I don’t know. I’ve never been to The Landing Pad when it was open and full of patrons.”
“You can’t get jostled.”
We stopped outside the door. I put my hands on my hips. “Your point is what?”
He mimicked me. “Let me go in and get Dox, or at least make sure that I can clear a path.”
Irritation flared along every synapse I had. A small part of me knew that he was just doing his job as ‘the guy’ and as ‘the alpha’, but it bothered me. I was no shrinking violet to be handled with fucking kid gloves.
Before he could say anything else, I turned and kicked the door open. Patrons scattered away from the door and a path opened up straight to the bar.
I raised an eyebrow at a seriously frowning Liam. “Thanks, but I think I’ve got it.” Okay, so it was brassy and maybe stupid, as my ribs reminded me with a sharp twinge that they weren’t fully healed. But I just couldn’t let him take care of me in public like I did in private. I just didn’t have it in me to be that girl.
Growling under his breath, he followed me in. No one even stepped close to us. The crowd there was mostly humans, but I caught sight of a few supernaturals trying to blend in. A leprechaun in the far corner chatting up a pretty red-headed girl, a water nymph sitting on a table surrounded by men … and Doran, his arm slung over the shoulders of Crystal, the young Shaman who’d helped save my life. His eyes tracked me, as he whispered in her ear. I just shook my head and moved to the bar.
Dox gave me a big grin and shouted over the music. “Your girl is a natural bartender!” He pointed to the far end of the bar where, to my shock, Pamela was slinging drinks. And I mean slinging them. Spinning the glasses across the bar, she flipped them into the air at the same time as she grabbed a bottle of booze from under the table. I squinted, watched the half pause of the bottle and the glass in mid air. The patrons cheered as she poured drinks with a flare that most bartenders took years to learn, if they ever managed at all.
“Well, I suppose that’s one way to practice being subtle with her spells,” I said softly.
Liam didn’t laugh, didn’t answer; he just closed the distance between us. “Dox, you got any food in this joint?”
Dox raised his eyebrows, silver rings glinting in the light. “Don’t go insulting me, Agent. You remember what happened last time? No, never mind, you wouldn’t remember much of that.”
I laughed, grimaced as my stomach muscles clenched, and slid onto a barstool. Liam sat beside me, but turned sideways so he could keep an eye on me, no doubt. I stifled the urge to tell him to chill. Alpha, I had to remember he was an alpha to the core and every urge he had to protect was in overdrive because I was hurt. Still, I struggled not to tell him to back off.