Chapter 13 - Lena

There's nothing worse than a hangover, except maybe a wine hangover in your thirties. Much as I would love to simply lay in bed and drown in my misery, I haven't gotten any sleep due to my lovely daughter and the fact that somehow, even at sixteen, she still kicks in her sleep.

I stumble down the stairs in search of coffee and start to piece together how much of an idiot I may or may not have been last night. The door is still locked the way I had left it when I left Cyrus outside on the porch. I glance at the temperature on my phone and feel a slight twinge of guilt. It's only in the high thirties.

I'm sure he was smart enough to go back to his own house, right?

I pick up the mug of coffee that my coffee maker has gloriously produced in two minutes and inhale deeply, reveling in modern technology. I pause to add creamer and sugar, then I head cautiously to the door. I see the now familiar shapes of the other guys striding across the yard from their car and frown when I notice there are only four of them out there. Shit.

I open the door to the porch and glance around, my heart catching slightly as my eyes settle on the image of Cyrus curled up on my porch swing, my dress pulled over him like a blanket, and none other than Roscoe, the town raccoon, snuggled in the circle of his arms.

"He's for sure going to have rabies," Rufus cringes as they approach and take in the scene.

"Or ticks," Kaius laughs, "Please, let it be ticks. I will never let him live it down."

"You guys are focusing on the raccoon, but can we take a moment to talk about the flowery dress?" Evander quietly laughs. Orion, at his side, covers his mouth to avoid laughing.

Kaius bursts out into a full-body fit of laughter, which causes Cyrus to stir as Milo joins me at the door, peering over my shoulder to see what everyone is looking at. He dissolves into a fit of giggles next to me, and I can't help but join in.

"Morning, Cy," I call lightly before shrinking back into the kitchen to start several more mugs of coffee. Much as I love my single-serve coffee maker, it is another thing entirely to deal with six additional people in the house. At this rate, I am going to need an industrial-level coffee maker to keep up with these guys.

"Not another word," Cyrus snaps from the porch before I hear shuffling feet on the deck. I should feel more guilty. I know I should, but he does look awfully cute with Roscoe.

I start setting mugs off to the side as they fill up while everyone walks in, attempting to disguise their amusement. I step into the living room to grab a quilt off the back of the couch and hand it silently to Cyrus as he stalks into the kitchen. His eyes stall on my chest, which is still covered by his shirt that I slept in. I hadn't really registered that I still had it on, but it was a really soft shirt.

"You say I don't play fair. It's freezing."

"You could have gone back to your house or the car," I offer with a laugh into my mug of coffee, but before I can take another sip, he takes it from my hand with a shake of his head and takes a long sip.

"Wasn't going to risk leaving you with just one person here on watch. It was my night anyway."

"You most likely won't get ticks," I giggle as I step around him to get another cup of coffee, "We do treat Roscoe for those too."

He snakes a frigid hand under the edge of his shirt and around my waist, pulling me backward flush against his body. A shriek of shock escapes me, and I turn to try and smack at him, but he just snuggles even closer refusing to let me twist around, wrapping the blanket around us.

"Cold hands," I manage between shivers.

"No shit."

"Um, not to interrupt you two torturing each other," Evander interrupts, "But I actually have some updates, Cy, if you have enough blood cells moving for rational conversation."

Based on the erection I can feel poking at my ass, I can tell there's at least some blood flow occurring. I squirm, trying to get out of the circle of his arms, but Cyrus just keeps me firmly pulled to his body, his hand low on the exposed skin of my stomach. I resist the train of thought that wants it to slide lower. Last night was temptation enough.

I retrieve my stolen coffee from him with my good hand, and he slides the free hand around me with the blanket. He's not giving up on this forced body heat plan of his. I begrudgingly stop squirming as that does nothing but make the erection a bit bigger. His hand shifts down slightly, just above the waistband of my pajama pants and pauses, his finger tracing a lazy circle around the edge.

I resist the urge to let my eyes roll back and sigh. God, I want him more than ever.

"He'll be fine as long as he sticks to just trying to steal body heat," I sigh as I stomp on his foot. He really does feel like he's freezing, and much as I may be mad at him, I'm actually a little worried now. A shiver racks him as he snuggles closer, realizing that I'm not running away. Damn it. Damn it. Damn it.

"What's the update?" He uses his hand to steer my hand and the coffee mug back to his lips, and I am begrudgingly compliant as the guilt over possibly getting him sick starts to settle in.

Good one, Lena. Marry a guy with no notice and become the talk of the town, then murder him by leaving him out in the cold. This is a wonderful plan.

"We finally got the one who attacked Lena to talk this morning," Evander offers as he pauses to place a file on the bar of my tiny kitchen. "He confirmed your suspicion. The mine that runs here on Lena's property is of particular interest to them. They have been trying to determine if it's something located in the mine or in her shop since they started arriving in town. She's definitely on their watch list, and so is Rosie."

Now I feel like someone has plunged me into ice water. A shiver runs through me, which has nothing to do with Cyrus's thawing skin but everything to do with fear. He increases the tension in his arm, squeezing me closer.

Flashes of images of someone dragging Rosie out of the house cause me to involuntary shake. I lean back into him a little, allowing myself to take comfort in his presence. The idea that people are after us or something they think we have is unsettling.

"Anything else useful you think you can get out of him? Did you confirm who he's with?" Cyrus's tone is so commanding and factual. It's a side of him I don't think I really remember ever seeing. It's different, and I hate to admit it"s a little sexy. That could also be because he's relaxed around me, pulling me against him as he leans back against the counter and settling his very present cock squarely against my ass.

"Negative, he's tapped for information. Did confirm he is Eclipse's Delta outfit. Definitely not a higher-ranking member of their team here."

"Right, get rid of him as soon as possible. It will free us up another body instead of having to leave someone watching him."

Evander shifts his weight and nods toward the file, "I think we're going to need to check out this connection with the mines. Is there a safe way into them from here, Lena?"

"There's an entrance back behind the pond. Going in from my side is risky. We had some cave ins about three years ago that may make it unstable."

"Where are the other entrances, or the safest one?" Evander asks, unfolding a map on the counter.

"To my knowledge, the one on the Harris family side of the river is the only safe one. There's also one on Sarah's property and one that's further up the canyon near my friend Peyton's place, but she had it sealed. Her kids are still small, and she didn't want to risk it."

Evander points at the spot on the Harris family's land, and I nod.

"Yeah, that's the spot. But just make sure you stop by the house and talk to Merl first. If you go mid-day, he shouldn't be drunk yet, but he's also more likely to have a gun on him, so just… tread carefully."

Evander nods and steps back to consider the map, seeming lost in his thoughts. Orion steps forward and slides another file across the counter, shrugging as Cyrus doesn't make a move to reach for it.

"The report on the doctor you asked for."

"Summarize, please."

"Well, tailing him was admittedly harder than it should have been," Orion comments as he takes a sip of his tea.

The one sole tea drinker in the group was odd enough to me, but everything about Orion is a bit odd. He is so quiet. He has this almost creature-like appearance. It's more than just the shape of his face reminding me of a fox; he just always gives off this predatory energy. Not in a creepy way like Tom, but like how a quiet predator observes you in the woods, watching everything and patiently waiting.

"You're tailing Creepy Tom?" I ask, trying to turn and look up at Cyrus over my shoulder. He just shushes me and nods.

"You call him Creepy Tom and you're surprised?" Kaius laughs.

I consider it for half a moment, then laugh and shrug, "Fair point."

Kaius's question breaks the tense energy, but I can't help feeling a bubble of irritation at how very little information Cyrus has been sharing with me. I still can't get past the other nagging question of why they haven't looped Sarah into all this.

"Anyway, he's managed to lose me every time. I can keep up with him for a while, and then he just vanishes. I can't pick up a trail at all."

Everyone looks a little more worried over this and gets quiet.

"Is that not normal or something?" I ask since they're all still looking around at each other with a new nervous energy.

"No," Cyrus confirms behind me, "I've never come across someone who could ever lose O more than once. He's the best tracker I've ever seen. For a supposed "small-town doctor" to be able to evade him multiple times tells me there's definitely something going on there."

The same cold feeling seems to pool deeper in my chest. There are far too many coincidences in all of this. I don't like it. I especially don't like that this is the first time I'm hearing about Cyrus having him tailed because he thinks there's more to Tom than meets the eye.

If he's still not telling me the full story, how am I supposed to trust him?

"I need to talk to you for a minute," I snap, my tone icy. I elbow him, step outside the circle of his arms, and head for the porch. Everyone seems to immediately be very preoccupied with their respective cups as I reach the door.

I snag the file that Orion left on the counter as I close the last few feet toward the door and stride onto the porch, cursing my impulse for air as it's colder out here, especially out of the circle of warmth that had been created by standing so close to Cyrus in the Kitchen.

He steps out behind me and shuts the door with a sigh, facing me like he's about to face a firing squad. He shrugs out of the blanket and hands it to me, but I just cross my arms and shake my head. No, I'd rather have the chills and stay alert than get sucked into complacency again.

"Why didn't you tell me you suspected Tom and were having him tailed?" I open the file on the table in front of me and flip through the pages. I'm surprised to see that some of the photos and reports are dated from back before the sham wedding.

"I didn't think you'd need to know. I was trying to keep as much of this off your plate as possible. I didn't want to worry you if it turned out to be nothing."

"Yeah, but you felt strongly enough about it to nearly beat the crap out of him yesterday, and to have Orion on him for how long? That seems like something that warrants some warning."

"Well, yes. I haven't really trusted the guy since I first met him. That and I really don't like him getting in your space like he did yesterday, not after how things have been lately."

"Me either, but that doesn't mean it needs to turn into a brawl."

He strides over to the rail of the porch and leans in the sun. The blanket is hanging in his hand, and the sun makes his tan chest and stomach even more distracting than usual. Damn him for looking like he stepped out of my favorite dream when I'm trying to stay mad at him.

"And how long are you going to keep this up before you loop in the actual law enforcement in town? My best friend is pissed at me because I am now giving her half-information and dragging her into this mess. Someone attacked me and Rosie and she wasn't my first call. It's putting everything and everyone on edge and at risk."

"I'm sorry. I just need you to trust me here."

"Can you see how I'm having a really tough time with that, Cy? You want me to trust you, act like things are fine between us, and go back to the way things were. Meanwhile, you're still keeping secrets from me. That's not how this works. That's not even how a friendship works, let alone anything more."

He inhales slowly and lets out a long sigh. He steps toward me and wraps the blanket around my shoulders without asking this time, pulling it gently over the right-hand side that's still irritated with me and all my antics the night before, but wraps it snugly as gently as he can before pulling me back into the circle of his arms.

"It's complicated."

I don't run this time, there's comfort there in his arms. I may be irritated. I may not trust him right now. I can't deny that here in his arms feels like home and calms all the anxiety.

"Welcome to real life. It's always complicated. You can't convince someone to trust you with half-truths and omissions. You want to convince me you're really here again, and in this? Stop keeping me in the dark. Stop treating me like I'm made of glass. Trust me a little in return. It's kind of a two-way street, you know."

"I'll try."

I look up, searching his eyes and can feel my resolve crumbling. I want so badly to be mad at him, but the liquid honey of his eyes is melting every ounce of my willpower. I stretch up on my toes and kiss him lightly on the lips.

His hand cups my chin lightly before he breaks away and pulls back again. Searching my eyes this time for something. I don't know what though.

"Don't try, otherwise I know you're only half in again. I need you to be all in here. Do it, or stop pushing for me to let you in. Because I'm not going to set myself up for a repeat of last time. I can't survive it again."

He opens his mouth to answer and is cut off by a buzzing in his pocket. Saved by the bell…