Steal the Night (Thieves #5)(16)

Dev’s green eyes were filled with concern. “Are you really all right, sweetheart?”

I nodded. “I’m fine. Except for the fact Lee doesn’t have any conditioner.”

Lee shook his head. “Why would I have conditioner? You should be happy I had shampoo. Normally I just use soap.”

“And he doesn’t have a hair dryer.” I had found one thing in his sparse bathroom that made me giggle. I pulled it out now. “But he does have eyeliner.”

Neil gave me a thumbs-up. “I always knew Lee was one of us, Z.”

Lee plucked the tube from my fingers. “That’s not mine, obviously. This is why I don’t have people over.”

“Really?” Dev asked. “I thought it was because you were a misanthropic jerk.”

“That too,” the werewolf admitted. “Now out, all of you, before Zoey starts deciding I need new furniture.”

He knew me too well. “You need some rugs too, Lee. I bet your little paws just go all over the place when you run around in here in wolf form.”

Hardwood floors would be hard to run on. When he was in wolf form, Neil always did that thing where all four feet went different ways and I had to help him up.

“Out,” Lee commanded. “Neil, you stay. Dev can take care of Zoey. Come on in and have a beer with me.”

Neil passed me his robe and I put it on over the T-shirt Lee had lent me that hit just above my knees. I was grateful for the robe so I wasn’t walking around the building half naked. “Night, Z.”

Dev took my hand and walked me down the hall to the elevator. It was a long, weird walk back to our place. The only way back up to the penthouse was to go all the way down to Ether and then up again.

He stopped in the middle of the hall and pulled me into his arms, squeezing me tight. “I’m so sorry, Zoey.”

I fought back tears because it felt so good to be close to him. I let my head rest against his chest. “I’m all right.”

I said the words as much for myself as for him. I was all right now because I was in his arms again and earlier in the evening, I wasn’t sure that would happen. I let him hold me for a long moment, the heat of his body warming me. Finally, I let go and turned my face up to his. “I love you.”

His hands cupped my cheeks. “I love you, my goddess. We’ve been putting off the inevitable, haven’t we?”

I nodded, happy that we were at least discussing the subject. “We have to deal with Daniel’s heart.”

Dev took a long breath and kissed my forehead before letting go and leading me to the elevator. “I’ll find a way. I won’t let him die on us and I won’t allow Marini to use you to steal for him again. I swear I’ll kill him first.”

“You owe Peter Hansen a couple of nights in the VIP room gratis,” I mentioned as Dev hit the complex series of buttons that would take us down to the club.

Dev frowned, obviously putting on his business hat. “Why would I want to do that? Do you know how much a night in the VIP room costs?”

“Nope,” I replied tartly. “If you don’t want your wife making business decisions for you, maybe you shouldn’t party so hard.”

“Perhaps I should think more before I pretend I am a teenager again,” Dev said. “I will admit I view my actions differently when it costs me money rather than my mother. I will never forget how angry she was to have to pay off the Madrid police force when Declan and I got arrested for public lewdness.”

Oh, yes, I might need that bail fund Neil had mentioned.

“I disagreed with them completely,” Dev explained. “I thought it was a beautiful act. Apparently there is a law or something…”

I laughed at the thought as Dev led me through Ether. It was quieting down because dawn was coming. The cleaning crew was busy setting everything back to rights. We walked up the stairs and I knew what I needed to do. I wasn’t going to let Marini wreck my special places. If he took my good memories of a place, then I would just have to make new ones.

I stopped his hand when he would have pushed the button to take us up to the penthouse. “Can we stay here for a while?”

“You don’t want to go upstairs?”

“I want to stay here for a minute or two.” An idea played in my brain. A way to burn off the bad memories.

I wanted to be here with him and though he couldn’t join us, I wanted to be here with Bris. If Marini had assaulted me in this room, then I had to remember that Bris had saved me. There was a sweetness to that. I could take it back. I could make this place mine again.

Dev turned and there was a slow smile spreading across his face. “You want to be alone with me, my glorious goddess? How may I serve your needs this evening?”

Need was the right way to put what I wanted. I needed him. I needed to shove Marini’s face out of my head and I knew just how to do it. “Why don’t you sit in that chair for me?”

He studied me for a long moment. I knew what he was thinking. Usually he was the dominant force in our sex life. Dev almost always took the lead. If he sat down in that chair, he would be conceding that power to me. “All right, if that’s what you need tonight.”

He obediently sat down and rested back in the chair, letting me know he was mine to do with as I pleased. Dev was part fertility god and that meant he instinctively knew what his partner wanted from him. It made him an incredible lover and now it made him rather submissive. I appreciated it and it let me know just how much he trusted me.