Daniel cursed and sat back, but he knew Dev was right.
“I’ll contact Declan tonight,” Dev said. “I’ll talk to him in the morning. We meet with the wolves in a few weeks. It could all be over by the end of summer.”
“Dev, you know what to do if he uses that thing,” Daniel said.
“She’ll be protected,” Dev assured him. “I’ll make my brother understand. I’ll get consent one way or another, and then we won’t have to worry about it. If they try to come for her, they can fight all of Faery.”
I watched, my sleepy eyes loving every bit of them, and I knew I would do whatever it took to protect my men. I would play Marini’s game, but I was going to find a way to change the rules.
Chapter Fourteen
Zack was on me before I even closed the door to the office the next morning.
“You want another shot, Zoey? You want to try to take me out this morning?” Zack gave his chest a masculine thump as he advanced toward me. “Let’s try it again and see who ends up unconscious on the floor.”
I grinned down at my former bodyguard because I found the situation entirely amusing. “Wow, Zack. That little nap did nothing to help your disposition. Maybe I should tranq you again.”
Zack growled and seemed just about to change and chase me down when Lee pulled him away from the stairs. “Now, Zack, you should be thanking Zoey. You no longer have to spend every minute of the day following her around the mall. I thought you’d be happy to get reassigned to Quinn. Now you can worship him from up close.”
Zack gave his brother a shit-eating grin as I joined them. “We’ll see how you like having to follow Zoey. You won’t be able to prowl around like you prefer, brother. Not when you’re her primary baby-sitter. You have to keep eyes on her every minute because she’s like a two-year-old following the first shiny object that catches her attention.”
I rolled my eyes. “That’s not true.”
“Is, too.”
“Is not.”
“Both of you stop it.” Lee got in between us and turned his attention to me. “Zoey, hold still.” He walked around me, lifting his head and breathing in long passes, filling his lungs up. “I need to get your scent.”
Werewolves make a big deal about scents. They’re connoisseurs of smells. What smells awful to a human is merely different to a wolf. They don’t make judgments or play favorites. Scent is simply a way to view the world or, in Lee’s case, a way to do his job.
Zack crossed his arms over his chest and watched with glee as Lee invaded my space. He rubbed his nose in my hair and across my neck, causing me to get goose bumps wherever he ran his sniffer. He held his arms tightly to his sides, not allowing himself to touch me at all.
Pure amusement lit Zack’s eyes. “You want Lee, you get a serious wolf. I swear he’s more wolf than human sometimes. He’ll smell you like this three times a day.”
“You would, too, if you wanted to be serious about your freaking job, Zack,” Lee grumbled. “She’s my responsibility. Her scent should be around me all the time. I should know it like I know the smell of my own home. I should be able to track her for miles because I know every nuance of her. You rely on that damn vamp blood, but it can’t replace memorizing every goddamn inch of her body. Now be quiet. I’m concentrating.”
I stood there and let Lee sniff me, feeling only vaguely uncomfortable as he ran his nose down my arms and into my arm pits. I’d cleaned up and used all the products a hygienic female should use, so I tried to be tolerant. I tried not to let Zack know how weird it all felt until, damn it, Lee just had to drop to his knees and go there. He put his damn nose right in my girl parts. I slapped his curly brown head.
He frowned up at me as Zack laughed out loud, practically bending in half. Lee’s eyes were impatient, and he looked at me like I was an idiot. “It’s the place where your scent’s the strongest. Why do you think dogs try to get their noses there?”
“It’s private,” I said, blushing.
“Not if I’m guarding you, it isn’t,” Lee replied, now starting on my legs. “Don’t you think I’m trying anything funny, sister. I assure you I don’t have any designs on you. The last thing I need in my life is some high-maintenance princess with a criminal mind and two damn husbands.”
I chose not to mention that I only had one husband. Dev was just my boyfriend. Lee continued on his quest to embarrass me to the fullest extent possible.
He sniffed my feet and then glanced over at Zack. “You should try it sometime. You would be able to tell all kinds of things about the client. It’s harder for them to lie when you really know their scent.”
“Please try it on Dev.” I would really love to see how my green-eyed boy handled a sniffing wolf.
“So what’s the report on the brat?” Zack ignored me completely.
“Well, there’s citrus, both soap and body lotion. She used something minty on her teeth. Shampoo, conditioner, and some other product but not hair spray. There’s the faint hint of sandalwood, but I bet that’s from Quinn. She likes her coffee black. She had something for breakfast with maple syrup. Her clothes were washed with soap, not dry-cleaned.” Lee was just warming up. “She had sex with Quinn this morning, probably in the shower, but she was with Donovan last night, maybe both. She isn’t completely human, by the way.”
Zack looked interested in that last bit. I was trying to deal with the fact that my bodyguard was always going to know when I had sex. I hadn’t really minded when it was Neil because I would have talked about it with him, but Lee wasn’t my gay husband.
“She’s a companion.” Zack leaned in now and I tried to pull back. He took a deep whiff. “You’re right. I’ve smelled that before. She smells a little like…”
“Felix Day,” Lee pronounced, and the brothers nodded at each other, obviously satisfied at solving that mystery. I chose to try to move past the morning’s embarrassing incident. There was a reason I smelled like Felix Day. A companion has strong angelic DNA, but I didn’t want to hear a bunch of crap about how unangelic I acted, so I kept my mouth shut.
“Well, I’m glad for you, Zack,” I said. “I think you and Dev will be very happy together. Now you can kiss his ass all you like.”
“I’d rather have you kiss my ass, lover,” Dev announced, walking into the club. He was followed closely by himself. Declan was in full-on Dev mode, appearing to be wearing the same suit, with the same shortish hair. “I’ll just let Zack save it on occasion, but I assure you, your lips are the only ones allowed to touch me there.”
I walked across the room and faced him with my hands on my hips. God, my heart beat harder the minute he walked in the room, and something fell in place for me. I needed him the way I needed Daniel. But I wasn’t going to let him know that. There were things that had gotten lost in the craziness of the previous evening. “What about those six priestesses your brother kept going on about? Are they not allowed to kiss your assets?”
“I have been informed I was horribly mistaken about those priestesses,” Declan said smoothly. “Please forgive me for the mistake. Devinshea left them behind when he left his temple. He has only one goddess now and intends to keep it that way.”
So the boys had their stories straight now. I wouldn’t be able to break them up. “He better keep it that way because he doesn’t want to piss me off. I consider it cheating even if it’s part of a religious ceremony. Those priestesses are going to have to find another priest.”
“Of course, my mistress,” Dev said with a smile. “Consider thousands of years of Fae tradition tossed aside.”
“See that it is,” I replied before turning to the other one. “What did I tell you about the glamour, Declan? I can’t handle two of him.”
Declan smiled as he dropped the illusion. “I don’t believe it for a moment, Zoey. From what I’ve heard, you handle two men with great efficiency.”
“And flexibility,” Dev offered. He turned to the wolves and regarded Zack with a businesslike demeanor. “Zack, we’re having some meetings today. I’m lunching with my brother and then we have club business to attend to. At dusk, we need to head out to the farm.”
Zack pulled his professional persona around him the minute Dev stepped into the room. He held his phone in his hand, his fingers moving across the screen. “Yes, I downloaded the schedule, sir. I made arrangements with Albert to have lunch delivered from your favorite restaurant. It will be served in the private dining room in twenty minutes. I have a bottle of wine chilling.”
I looked back at Lee. His brother was the consummate professional in his expensive suit and silk tie. Zack’s haircut had cost at least two hundred dollars. Lee was in old jeans and a wrinkled T-shirt with some sort of beer ad on the front. His hair needed a trim and his boots were worn. I smiled back at my wolf and let the sarcasm flow. “What are our luncheon arrangements today, Lee? Have you called The Mansion to have it catered in?”
“I don’t know what that is, Zoey,” Lee admitted, his low voice a rumble. “If you want some lunch, I think I saw some peanut butter and bread in the kitchen. While you’re at it, make me a couple of sandwiches, too. I can always eat.” Lee punctuated his statement by reaching behind his ear and scratching quickly back and forth. He sighed when he was satisfied he’d taken care of the itch. Zack was right. He was more wolf than man.