“When I told you to get somewhere safe, I meant like hiding out in the bathroom or something. That's where all the other preternatural patrons went.”
I looked at her fully expecting her to deny it. But she didn’t.
“I followed her, and I shouldn’t have,” she said. “But she just told me what—”
The leaves picked up around us. The trees swayed, and Diana looked at Augusta. Diana who had been standing in front of the grave moved beside her. “Augusta, I don't think you should say anything to Cade right now. It's not because I want you to keep my secret, it's because he's in some kind of foul mood.”
That Diana thought I would hurt Augusta made me furious. And I turned toward her. “Your henchman is still at the bar. You'll probably want to go retrieve him. I don't think he'll be walking out.”
She blanched, quivered beside Augusta, but otherwise didn't move. I didn't think that she was behaving in a way that a woman who was trying to run from getting fingered for a crime would.
Very well. I’d heard disjointed pieces of their conversation when I’d sped over here. I wasn’t ready to let Diana off the hook, though. “Diana, are you ready to make a confession.”
Augusta held up her hand. “That’s what I want to tell you, Cade. She just did.”
I stared at Diana and then at my willful partner. Diana seemed fearful of what I was about to do next, and Augusta just seemed extremely excited about the information she must have just gathered from Diana. I wanted to impress upon her the consequences of disobeying my orders.
When some of the trees began to groan, I calmed down enough to where the surrounding foliage grew still.
Diana sighed in relief.
Augusta held up her other hand. I honestly believed she was trying to placate me. Inside, I smothered some amusement, while outside I gave her the fiercest glare in my arsenal.
“Are you having trouble seeing me, Cade?” she asked. “You’re squinting awfully hard.”
I shook my head at her. “I thought I explained to you how this partnership works. We don't do anything alone. You ever follow someone again, by yourself, it's over.”
She frowned at me, and I realized that the excitement that she had had was slowly draining away to be replaced with her own anger.
“You wanted me to sit in the car and wait for you while you handled things. Diana was getting away.”
Diana cleared her throat and spoke judiciously. “Augusta was never in any danger from me. And the only reason that I had Gabriel rough you up, Cade, was because I needed to...want the two of you to drop this case purely for personal reasons. I’m sorry,” she said.
“Why should I believe you?” I asked.
She took a deep breath. “Because I feel terrible for giving those chocolates to Odra. She should have never taken them and eaten them. They weren't meant for her, they weren't.” Diana looked down at the ground.
If they weren't meant for Odra, and Diana had given them to the victim, then was she saying they were meant for her? I looked over at Augusta. Her gaze was heavy. “They weren't from Diana or meant for Diana. They were meant for Dayle.”
****
We rode home in silence, which Augusta finally broke. “You don't trust me do you, Cade?”
Trust her? That was a loaded question. I didn't have faith in very many people. But what I did expect was for them to listen to me when I had their best interests at heart. “You shouldn’t have gone after her, Augusta. After I was finished with her bodyguard, then together the two of us could have gone and cornered her.”
“It's like you don't think I could have taken care of it on my own,” she said.
She stared straight ahead. I noticed the entire time that we’d spoken to each other she hadn’t looked at me once. It seemed as if she’d gotten angry with me when I was the one who was justified in being upset right now, not her.
“Augusta,” I said.
“You told me that we wouldn’t work together if I went off alone. But what happens if there's someone who we should follow up on and you're busy, and I'm available? Shouldn’t I have a little bit of leeway here?” she asked.
“I'm only going to say this once, you don't do the rough stuff. You leave that up to me.”
I clenched my jaws, and I couldn't help thinking about the old memories of my partner. Didn't she realize that I was only trying to look out for her? She was acting as if I was punishing her. I wasn't.
We didn’t speak for the rest of the drive until we reached my cabin. I got out and hurried to the other side of the truck to let her out.
Augusta rushed to the door and waited for me to unlock it for her. The moment I did, she walked in and went straight to her room.
I sighed. She was really annoyed with me. I wanted to talk to her. I wanted to communicate with her what I was going through when she had disappeared and I didn't know where she was. I hadn't meant to yell at her, but in my estimation, that was a whole lot less harsh than the alternative.
What if Diana and her bodyguard had been lying in wait in an ambush for Augusta? What if when she got there, they had hurt her? Did she think of that? Did she think what it would do to me?
I paused for a moment. I knew on some level I took these things harder than most other people. But on an even deeper level, I realized that I didn't want something bad happening to any person who partnered with me especially since what had happened to my first partner. I especially didn't want anything to happen to Augusta.
I had to admit it to myself. I was attracted to her and it was growing every day. The way that she smiled in the morning when she woke up. The way that she flipped her hair when we were talking and she was excited about something. The way her eyes lit up with joy every time she found a delight in my cupboards. It all just kind of got to me a little and, no matter what, I would not stand by and let Augusta be her own biggest enemy.
In this instance, I knew what I was talking about. She had to listen to me. We had to do things my way. There was no room for any objections.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
*Augusta*
THE NEXT MORNING, I WAS determined to find out whatever we needed to in order to solve the case. I woke up and began fixing breakfast. By the time Cade came out of his workroom from building the sleigh, the counters were clean and breakfast was on the table.
Cade came into the kitchen looking fresh and renewed as if he’d gotten the best sleep. I was aware he hadn’t. Sometimes a powerful vampire could rest his mind, though.
I put place settings down on the table for the two of us and sat down. “We have to help Dayle, you know.”
“Did you happen to make any bacon for me, by chance?” he looked at me as he asked the question.
The tingling began at my arms and traveled to my insides. Delicious trickles of desire spread out in my belly. I woke up with an insatiable hunger, but Cade standing there looking incredibly too sexy had me thinking about a lot of good things and none of them was the breakfast that I had just prepared.
“I made enough for you,” I said but left it almost as a question. Was Cade going to eat some bacon? I'd never seen him eat anything other than the packets of blood that he kept in the refrigerator. Could he digest food? I blushed at the thought. Was it rude of me to think that he couldn't?
His bicep flexed as he shifted in the doorway from where he stood with his legs crossed. I didn't know if he was waiting for me to invite him to the table, or waiting for me to make his plate. If he wanted food, at this point, he was going to have to get it himself.
When he didn't move, I realized I wasn't going to sit down and eat with him not joining me. “They’re eggs, too. I even made pancakes.”
In the process of picking up my plate and taking it over to grab some food, I glanced at Cade. He finally removed himself from the doorway, walked inside of the kitchen, took my plate, and ladled it with food. He heaped on piles of eggs, many strips of bacon, and four pancakes.
Sk
eptically, I looked at the plate. “Is that for you?”
“It’s for you,” he said with a half-smile that I was certain was meant to drive me into a premature mating frenzy.
I blushed. Mating frenzy? Oh goodness, where was my mind at this morning? I took the plate from him and we brushed elbows, and I swear it was like an electric prod sizzling along my skin where we briefly touched. I exhaled on a weak breath. He inhaled on a long one.
Quickly, I took my plate and sat down.
He grabbed some little strips of bacon and joined me. Curious, I stared at the plate in front of him on the table.
“Already tried calling Dayle this morning, and I haven't been able to reach him. I've left a few messages but he hasn't gotten back to me.”
I cut into my buttered pancakes that I’d drizzled with syrup. “Did you try emailing him?”
“Sent out a message to him as well. I was vague in case other eyes could see it,” Cade said.
“And he still hasn't gotten back to you?” I then ate a sinfully delicious forkful of pancakes.
In pure bliss, I closed my eyes enjoying my favorite breakfast. I was pretty ecstatic when I found out that he'd kept his cupboards full and anything that I had ever loved in my life, he had it stocked. Didn't know when he'd gone out and gotten so much food, but there it was. It was more than what he had in the refrigerator the first night I'd come here and quite frankly it charmed me a little.
I was fully aware that he probably didn't like to eat much but the fact that he was keeping me, a shifter who ate huge amounts of food, well fed, didn’t go unnoticed. No, it didn't at all.
Putting another bite of pancakes into my mouth, I waited for him to answer. When he was silent, I looked up to see if he'd heard and found him staring at me with the strangest look on his face. It appeared to be a mixture of pleasure and eagerness.
It seemed by my eating, he was delighting in some portion of it. As if he was feeling the enjoyment I was getting from the food just by sitting there and...not touching his bacon?
I frowned. “Are you going to eat that?”
He sat back in his chair and placed his hands on the table. I noticed his fingernails were always clean—he took really good care of himself. And again I wondered at the fact that he always smelled so good to me. This morning was no different. In fact, his scent was wonderful.
“Well, do you want to eat?” I asked.
He raised one eyebrow, and tilted his head, indicating the bacon on his plate. “After you consume your food, I was wondering if you could help me out with this.”
“I don't have that big of an appetite,” I said.
He chuckled softly. I liked this. It was better than the night before when we were arguing, but I still thought we needed to talk about that. And of course, there was the whole Dayle missing when we knew someone was after him.
“Then perhaps could you not eat all of your food, maybe save it for later, and eat mine with me?” he asked gently.
His expression softened. And I realized what I was seeing. He was looking at the way I enjoyed my food with wistfulness. The gesture of asking me to share his with him was endearing.
I smiled to myself not willing to admit it out loud. What would he think or say if he knew that I thought the big, gruff Cade who’d chewed my head off the night before, was sitting here looking cute?
One side of his mouth twitched, and he raised the other eyebrow. “Cute?”
I groaned. Goodness, we had to make some boundaries about his ability to hear passing thoughts. “What if I've decided that’s uncool?” I asked.
He held his hand out palm up. “I yield. No more listening to your thoughts this morning. Please, share my breakfast with me?”
That did it. I pushed my plate forward, slowly stood up, and walked toward him. He scooted his chair out and made room for me on his lap.
I blushed and slowed down. “Cade, are you sure this is a good idea? We need to figure out what we should do about contacting Dayle. And also making sure that he gets to a safe location, now that we figured out he’s in danger.”
“We’re snowed in today. Right now the roads are bad. Might be better tomorrow, but today we have to stay put.”
Mere inches from him, I stopped. “But what about Dayle?”
“I’m hoping he's all right. If we can't move about, chances are then the person we're looking for can't either. I'd say Dayle's pretty safe right now.”
Slowly, I took one step closer to him. “I really was upset last night with you. I was thinking today we could probably just work on what we know separately. Then maybe a little later on, we can come together with what we’ve discovered.”
Now, I was close enough that if Cade reached out he could touch my folded arms.
“I shouldn't have yelled,” he said.
“Does that mean you’ve considered what I said last night? Do I have a little bit of wiggle room to find information?”
His full lips puckered, and he looked at me seriously. “What I said last night stands.”
I shook my head and began to turn away from him.
He caught me with a hand. The grip was firm, but the way he spoke to me was gentle. “I was hoping we could talk about this, later. Do me the honor of finishing my breakfast, right now?”
His voice was a caress against my ears. His tone was a sweet lullaby to my mind. And the forceful drum of his heart beat nearly kept the same rhythm as my own.
Moments before my mouth had watered at the sight of the breakfast I’d cooked. Now my mouth had gone dry at the sight of the liquid desire that suddenly heated his eyes.
I licked my lips to wet them, and Cade slowly pulled me the rest of the way onto his lap and sat me down. The moment he rubbed my arm and brought the bacon to my mouth, a low purr escaped me.
Wondering what he would think, I cleared my throat. He grinned seductively in response and brought the bacon to my lips again. All he said was, “I wonder if I can make you purr again?”
What did he mean? Was he talking about the food or something else?
One by one he fed me the pieces of bacon until they were all gone. Contented, I leaned back in his arms and slowly they tightened around me. Repositioning myself in his embrace, I felt his hardness press against my back.
“Cade?” I asked.
He leaned down. His breath fluttered against the hair on the top of my head. And ever so gently I felt him kiss me. “Thanks,” he said.
He turned me around, and I had this feeling as if the stars were aligning at that moment. I knew then that we were going to share our second kiss.
Cade leaned close to me, and I sighed into him, deeply. His arms tensed around me. He moved the plates back.
I was fairly certain that I was about to take the place that the plates had just occupied. I was ready for it. I was nervous and anxious, but more than anything I was excited.
And then the phone in his back pocket rang. For a moment I was too stunned at the intrusive sound to do anything but stare at him as he swiftly brought his hand to his back pocket and pulled it out.
Still holding me, he frowned. “It’s Dayle.”
I nodded, hopping up. My breath was still racing, but his had already calmed. He didn't even sound like he'd been in the middle of anything when he answered the phone. I had to admit, Cade was good at not letting anything ruffle him.
“This is Cade.”
He listened for a moment, and then he filled Dayle in on his possible danger. “My recommendation is to stay put. Don't let any strangers inside wherever you are and keep your doors locked. If you have a firearm, keep it nearby.”
Cade listened for a moment and then said, “Do you have any enemies? Has anyone made any recent threats to you? Have you done something to anyone recently that might have made them want to come after you?”
I could hear Dayle and he couldn’t think of anyone who wanted to murder him. Great. He was a saint—according to himself.
He ended the conversation with Dayle. I began clearing the plates. At least Cade had warned Diana’s boss.
We’d come so close to breaking Cade’s rule of keeping this professional. I looked at him over my shoulder, and he was staring off into the distance with a slightly self-deprecating shake of his head.
“We need to get to work, Augusta.”
Work? Cade had said so himself that the storm was going to hold at least for the day. I wondered if it was a good idea to continue working this closely together with the growing tension between us.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
*Cade*
“IT’S THE CHOCOLATES THAT HAVE been throwing us off, I think.” Augusta bit down on her lip in an attractive way that had me wanting to taste it.
“There still is the matter of the fingerprint on the box that is too smudged to be a proper fingerprint, but clearly is not chocolate,” I said.
We were going over clues. It was pretty late in the evening and we’d pulled things apart, put them together, looked at them upside down, and we still couldn’t figure out who would have wanted to harm Dayle.
She played with her hair as she looked over the information that we had gathered, compiled and had in front of us in sort of a puzzle fashion as we put it together piece by piece.
“Which is why we should go to the gift shop where the chocolates were bought. Do you think the answer of the smudge on the box could be there?” she asked and then said, “We need to find out what the poison was.”
“It’s not silver, Augusta.”
Then she looked at me and her eyes widened. “Odra was a vampire, right? The only things that could have killed her were fire, decapitation, sunlight—because she wasn’t very old—or a stake through the heart.”
“Yes, but Slade was human. He could have been killed by any number of things—any type of poison harmful to humans,” I said.
“I think the question is, who was poisoned by what? No one’s found any evidence of anything in the wine. The chocolates seem pretty normal. Yet, from this picture here, Odra clearly bled before her body mummified.”
The Vampire's Alpha Mate: A BBW Tiger-Shifter Romance (Arcane Affairs Agency) Page 12
