Steal the Night (Thieves #5)(42)

“Spoiled rotten?” Daniel’s voice was amused.

“Well, yes,” Dev replied. “And that will not be entirely my fault. I don’t know if you’ve noticed but Daniel isn’t exactly a hardass when his emotions are engaged. He might seem tough, but when it comes to his loved ones he’s very mushy.”

Dev seemed to have found a comfy spot on the pallet we had rolled out. He snuggled up to me, which pushed me into Daniel. I was sort of smooshed in between the boys, using Daniel’s chest for a pillow.

“Hey,” I said quietly as I felt a hand trying to find a way into my undies. I had shucked my jeans and bra and was trying to sleep in Danny’s T-shirt and my cotton underwear. Now I felt another hand working its way up to a breast. I slapped at both of them. “None of that, people.”

“What?” They managed to say it at the same time and with the same innocent tone.

“Go to sleep,” I ordered, settling in between them.

“Do you see how uncomfortable it is, Daniel?” Dev asked.

“Yes, I’m beginning to.” Daniel’s head came up and he listened intently for a moment. “Lee’s here.”

I saw the shadow of a huge wolf on the opposite wall of the bridge as my bodyguard prowled in. Zack followed him, carrying a backpack. Lee took one look at the three of us and growled low in the back of his throat.

“He wants to know why we’re sleeping under a goddamn bridge,” Zack translated and he sounded an awful lot like his brother in that moment.

Daniel sat up, regarding the wolf seriously. “We’re hiding out from Marini. He’s after Zoey, remember?”

Lee growled again and once more Zack spoke for his older brother. “And you hate motels why?”

Dev fielded that one. He was very serious about his answer. “There are many reasons for that, Lee. They don’t have a mini bar, for one. And the beds there are not very large. The mattresses are of an inferior quality…”

Zack didn’t have to translate for Lee this time.

“Well, you don’t have to be rude,” Dev said, turning to me. “He’s your wolf, Zoey. Handle him.”

“Lee, this really is the best place.” I used my most reasonable voice. “No one will think to look for us here. We can get to the airport easily, and Marini won’t even know we left. Also Ingrid is really good with glamours. She’s going to help me and Dev since Danny will be flying on his own.”

“I hate airplanes,” Danny explained. “They give me the creeps. It’s not natural.”

I shook my head. “Because flying on your own at thirty thousand feet is completely normal.”

“I would take you with me, baby, but Dev passed out at twenty thousand feet and then Zack had to give him CPR. It wasn’t a successful experiment.” Daniel yawned. It would be dawn soon and we hadn’t fed him from Dev’s magic. He would be out all day.

“I never, ever want to know what the two of you do when you’re alone,” I said, horrified, and then turned back to the werewolf. “It’s just tonight and tomorrow night, then we’ll get in a comfy jet. The good news is we have beef jerky.”

Albert had included it in our traveling bags. It was Lee’s favorite.

The wolf barked once and then lay down, his head on his enormous paws. He sighed and his eyes closed.

“He says the beef jerky better be good and he’s staying in wolf form because it’s more comfortable,” Zack interpreted. He saw all three of us looking at him and shrugged. “He mostly just growled throughout my childhood. I learned to translate. It was a survival skill.”

Zack smiled and tossed his pack down before setting himself on the ground without a complaint.

Dev wrapped himself around me from behind and I lay my head on Daniel’s chest. I snuggled down, loving the feel of them around me. Then a hand started caressing my ass.

“Dev,” I hissed.

“Go to sleep, Dev,” Daniel commanded with a chuckle. “She’s not playing with us tonight.”

“I am very uncomfortable, Daniel,” Dev pouted back, though he settled his arm around my waist. “I pick the next hideout.”

“Deal,” Daniel agreed as he drifted off to sleep.





Two days later, I looked curiously at my husband. “You’re staring again.”

I’d been trying to sleep. The seat on the private jet was surprisingly comfortable, and I’d had some anxiety dreams the last couple of days. I was weary and the flight was really long. I thought I’d take a nap, but I kept feeling Dev’s eyes on me.

“I’m trying to get used to you as a blonde,” he admitted.

Touching the small amulet that hung around my neck, I had to admit I understood the feeling. Ingrid had worked up glamours for Dev and myself over the two days we spent with the trolls. It was odd to look at the stranger staring at me when I caught my reflection, but Daniel had been serious about taking every precaution while we were still in the same city Marini was in.

“I think the eyes bother me more,” Dev said, looking me over thoughtfully. Though he’d sent Nim and Stewart across the pond on a commercial jet, he preferred to travel in his company’s Boeing. No muss, no fuss, and absolutely no security to worry about. Regular airport security might have had problems with some of our luggage. “I’m used to your hazel eyes. Brown doesn’t suit you. And the breasts bug the crap out of me. Why did she have to make them so small?”