Sunglasses at Night

by Jessica Lynch

  But she loved him. She was fighting for him. And if it was any other woman but his slayer, Adam would’ve taken her place in the fray.

  Not Tabby.

  She could hold her own. He’d seen her take down Nightwalkers twice her size, and heard the snarls and the growls and the grunts as she collared a feral shifter after only a few hours of sleep. Even a bolt of dark magic to the chest barely slowed her down.

  Eddie Daniels was child’s play.

  The fight was over before it had hardly begun. Adam gave Eddie credit. He must’ve known Tabby well enough not to underestimate her abilities. He fought her like he meant it, though he wasn’t trying to slay her. He just wanted to get past her so that he could get to Adam.

  It never happened. As Adam used the last of his control to stay back, and her uncle watched the scrap with a practiced eye, Tabby managed to use Eddie’s size against him, flipping him so that he was on his belly seconds not too much longer after she launched herself at him.

  “Tabby,” Adam growled out. He couldn't help himself. The idea of her killing a friend… co-worker… whatever… over him didn’t feel right.

  She stopped when the point of her knife was nearly kissing the back of Eddie’s neck. Feeling the point of her blade, Eddie went unnaturally still.

  Adam wasn’t sure if she held back because of him or not. He wanted to think so. One glimpse of Tabby as she straddled his back, her knife so close to being buried in Eddie’s throat, and he wasn’t so sure that it was anything but her self-control.

  God, she was amazing.

  A little intimidating, sure, but fucking amazing.

  “We kill the killers, Eddie. Aren’t we justified by being slayers? How does that make Adam any different? How many have you killed? I could take you out right now if I follow the code. But I wouldn’t do that… unless you go for my betrothed again.”

  “The Claws Clause,” murmured Boone.

  With a strange gesture—a quick slash with one hand, then the next—Tabby clambered off of Eddie. The other slayer laid flat on his belly for a few seconds more before he pushed himself up on his elbows, climbing up to his knees, and slowly moving back toward Boone’s side.

  Adam had no idea what was going on—and he didn’t like it.

  “What about it?” he asked.

  The older man crossed his arms over his chest. “There are few things that rival the Slayer’s Code,” he announced. “Ordinance 7304 is one. The Claws Clause. Our code says that we must eliminate the threats. To us, a threat to our secrecy is as much a threat as a Nightwalker draining its victims. Tabitha couldn’t put you down. Daniels failed to get past her. I could do it myself, and yet—”

  And yet? What did he mean, and yet?

  “My niece is a prize,” Boone said next. “The best of her classes in school, even more so in her slayer lessons. She throws herself into everything she does with the goal of being number one… whether it’s what she wants or not. She’s a slayer, not because it’s her passion, but because she was born into it. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

  Not even a little.

  “What does any of that have to do with the Claws Clause?” he said gruffly.

  “She called you her betrothed. Is that true? Did you really bond Tabitha to you?”

  Adam blinked. Holy shit. That’s right. It happened so fast, he hardly picked up on it since he was still gobsmacked by the way she casually—or, okay, not so casually—threw out that she loved him. But she did call him her betrothed, didn’t she?

  Did that mean—

  When Adam failed to answer him right away, Boone added quickly, “And, please, a simple yes or no will suffice. I’m well versed in how a vampire claims his mate and, if you don’t mind, I’d rather not know any details when it comes to what you and my niece do when you’re alone together.”

  Adam lost all of his color within weeks of being turned. Even so, he was sure he used at least half of a blood bag when it rushed to his pale cheeks, flushing at her uncle’s blunt insinuation.

  A jerk of his head. Yes.

  It was true. Even though he hadn’t fully claimed her yet with the final blood exchange, Debbie made it clear when she checked on Tabby following her attack by Priscilla. Somewhere along the line, between the two blood exchanges and the feelings brewing between them, a bond began to form. Adam might’ve instigated it—even though he still wasn’t sure how that happened—but now he had no doubt in his mind that Tabby cemented it on her end.

  She chose him, too. And while the bond wasn’t final—not yet—it still existed.

  And not just because they’d had sex. As far as Adam was concerned, that had just been a bonus. A really fun, really pleasurable bonus.

  His answer seemed to be good enough for Boone. At least, until he fired off another question that had Tabby groaning under her breath.

  “Did you get a bonding license yet? I understand there’s a Bumptown within driving distance of the city.”

  Colt’s Bumptown. Adam shook his head. “Not yet.”

  “I suggest you do that as soon as you can.”

  “Yes, sir.” Something about Boone Matthews reminded him of his sergeant on the force. He just screamed sir. “I will.”

  “Now you, young lady.”

  Tabby went stiff. Adam wasn’t sure he would’ve noticed it if he hadn’t been watching her reaction out of the corner of his eye—or if he didn’t know her as well as he did.

  Well, except for the whole “Boone is her uncle thing”. He chalked that up to family issues, kind of like how he couldn’t help but stumble and close up whenever he brought up his mom.

  “Boone—”

  “That’s Uncle Boone to you, Tabitha.”

  She took a deep breath. “You told me that I shouldn’t call you that in front of others as soon as I finished my training.”

  “That’s right. I did. I never wanted any of our crew to think you got special treatment because of how we were related. Maybe if I wasn’t in charge, it would’ve been different…” Boone let out a soft sigh. “A lot of things could have been different, but I wouldn’t change you for the world, Tabitha. I’ll always be your uncle, but I’m no longer your handler.”

  What?

  Adam’s head snapped toward Tabby, trying to make sure he heard what he thought he heard.

  She didn’t react. Not really. With a shrug, she said, “That’s it?”

  “That’s it.”

  “Gotcha.” A pause. “Uncle Boone.”

  The man’s lips twitched. Adam supposed it was his version of a smile.

  In the back of his mind, he was still trying to figure out how his sweet, sunny, funny Tabby was related to this walking skeleton with the gloom-and-doom attitude.

  As if he heard that thought, Boone turned to Adam.

  “You. Take care of my niece,” he ordered. When Adam nodded, he turned to Eddie next. “Let’s go. And when we get to headquarters, I want you to re-run your hand-to-hand training. Honestly, I’m embarrassed for you. You almost let her get away with slaying you with barely a fight, Daniels. You’re lucky the Nightwalker took pity on you and called her off.”

  The younger slayer didn’t even dare to glance back at Adam or Tabby as he followed after Boone like a puppy with its tail between its legs. He mumbled something to Boone, his only attempt at defending himself as they climbed into the black vehicle at the end of the street.

  Eddie probably thought he was quiet enough. Nope. Adam felt the jealous rage cool just enough when the other man’s softly mumbled, How was I supposed to know that she actually loved him enough to try to kill me for him, reached his ears.

  Because she loved him. Tabby loved him. Said it in front of a crowd and everything.

  He looked over at her.

  She was still staring after the car, even after Boone started it up and the taillights winked out of sight.

  Only once it was gone, did she speak up.

  “Poor Eddie. I’ve been on the receiving end of my uncle’s lec
tures more times than I can count.” She shook her head. “Let me tell you, that’s one thing I’m not going to miss.”

  She sounded so non-plussed. Unconcerned. Like being kicked out of the Society she devoted her life to didn’t bother one way or another.

  “You’re not upset?” he asked.

  “Nah.”

  “Tab… you’re not a slayer anymore.”

  “Not a licensed one, sure,” she said. “Still got my skills, though. And my contacts. I’ll be fine.”

  “And you’re… you’re okay with that?”

  Tabby shrugged. “Honestly? I expected something like this from the beginning. The second I let you live during that first hunt. Slayer’s Code,” she explained. “Even if you weren’t a killer Nightwalker, you watched me at work, then I told you what I was. So there went secrecy. From there, it was only a downhill slide that landed me here today. Since I met you, I broke every rule I spent twenty-five years following blindly. I’m lucky that he just kicked me out. It could’ve been way worse.”

  “Oh, Tab...” Adam felt some of his good mood deflate. His good mood, and the healthy erection that started to harden the second he realized that Tabby actually wanted him—that she loved and cared for him—as desperately as he did her. “Being a slayer is your life. And you’re losing it because of me.”

  “Don’t get sappy on me, champ,” Tabby said, bumping him in the side with her hip. “You’re right. Being a slayer was my life. I didn’t choose it, just like you didn’t choose to be turned. You make the most of what you’re given, right? And, sometimes, we get to take what we want instead. And me?” She reached out her fingers, stroking his thigh before brushing his bulge with the back of her hand. “I want you, Adam.”

  His hard-on came rearing back to life.

  “I’m all yours,” he promised. “Forever.”

  And, as a Nightwalker, when he said forever, he really meant it.

  “Good.” She tilted her head back, inviting his kiss. Adam braced her cheeks with his hands, holding her in place as he took control of it.

  By the time he finally broke the kiss, she was slightly out of breath. “You know. I just realized something.”

  Adam was dead. Technically. As a Nightwalker, he didn’t have to breathe—he did it more out of habit instead of a necessity, just like the way his heart still beat—but, on the heels of that kiss, with all the passion and emotion and love he poured into it, he was more than a little out of breath himself.

  Resisting the urge to steal her lips again, he swallowed roughly, croaking out, “What’s that?”

  “You lied to my uncle.”

  “Did I?”

  Before she could answer him, Adam picked her up easily, shifting her in his hold until he was using a bridal carry to march her back toward the front of her apartment building. It only seemed fitting, since the second he carried her over her threshold, he was making her his for as long as they both lived.

  Tabby hadn’t been expecting him to lift her up like that. Instead of shrieking, though, she swallowed her gasp of surprise before throwing her arms around his neck and demanding to know, “Where are you taking me?”

  “You heard your uncle. I’m going to take you to bed and bond you to me before you come to your senses and change your mind, then we can go get the bonding license squared away. Besides,” he added, “it’s not a lie if I already planned on blood-bonding you to me the second I thought you’d say yes.”

  Her laughter was a beautiful thing. Adam was sure he had never heard anything better. Well, except for the sound of her pants and moans and soft cries when she came around him.

  His cock agreed with him. Urging him to go faster, he listened to his dick and leaped up the four porch stairs before flying inside and racing toward the elevator.

  Once they were inside the small room, heading for her floor, he realized that she was still giggling under her breath.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “Nothing.” Another giggle, followed by a snort that shouldn’t have been adorable but, because she was Tabby, it was. “It’s just—”

  Ding.

  The elevator doors slid open. Adam stuck his boot against the side so that they couldn’t close again right away. Glancing down at his slayer, he cocked his head, a quizzical look on his face.

  “Sorry. It’s just… this might be the first time I’m looking forward to listening to my uncle.”

  Adam grinned, showing off the fangs that he would soon be using to bond her to him forever.

  “I couldn’t agree more.”

  Epilogue

  Two months later

  Adam stood at the bottom of the basement stairs, leaning with his back against the cinderblock wall, arms crossed over his chest, legs crossed at the ankle. He lost track of how long he stayed like that, smiling contentedly as he watched Tabby snore into the pillow on his side of their bed.

  Like clockwork, he was up as soon as the sun went down. He had been careful to scoot out of the bed, unwilling to disturb his mate. She needed her sleep.

  They’d caught a case last night that took them out of Grayson for the first time in weeks. It was early August, the night shorter than he liked since the sun seemed to rule during these dog days of summer.

  He couldn’t fucking wait until winter.

  Since there were still months to go until the sun was on his side, the pair of them hadn’t had as much time as they could’ve to finish the job. They’d had to hunt down their target quickly before deciding to hand him over to the local cops when the silver glow on Adam’s falchion revealed that the male wasn’t completely rogue, but a blood thief all the same. He deserved some Cage time, not to lose his head. So Adam frog-marched him to the nearest PD and Tabby confirmed with their client that the case was closed.

  There wasn’t enough time to pick up their fee before the dark of night ran out. Figuring they could get paid later, Adam drove Tabby back to his house—which, close to two months later, he still couldn’t believe was now their house—and proceeded to keep her up in the safety in their basement until it was well past noon.

  So, yeah. After the way Adam wore her out earlier that morning, Tabby earned her sleep. If it wasn’t for the fact that Adam had been looking forward to tonight for a while now, he probably would still be laying in bed with her.

  Not tonight, though. He’d spent weeks planning this behind her back, even getting in touch with her uncle so that the slayers didn’t interfere with her gift. Whether she realized what he was doing or not—and, based on the way his mate seemed to live in the present, he hoped he’d been able to hold onto the surprise—the two of them had been working toward this since the morning after their blood-bonding when Tabby stretched and, wearing his claiming bite proudly on her throat, turned to him and said, “Well, that was fun. So what’s next?”

  What’s next?

  Good question, he realized. And while Adam had enough money in the bank to support his new mate, he wasn’t a fucking moron. That would only insult his slayer. And, even if it didn’t, he knew that Tabby would never sit back and stay at home. She needed something to do.

  So did he.

  With Rafe gone, he had his revenge. Alexis was an afterthought. Unless she proved to be any kind of threat to Grayson, he wasn’t worried about her interest in him, even if he got a kick out of Tabby boldly claiming him as her betrothed—her mate—any time he mentioned her.

  But, just because the female Nightwalker up and disappeared like Priscilla Winters, that didn’t mean that crime stopped. And, sure. He wasn’t a cop anymore. Tabby had to give up being a slayer. They could still go out at night to protect their adopted city.

  She was right. He might have quit the force, but he still had his sense of justice and righteousness. And, just because she wasn’t a licensed slayer working under her uncle’s thumb, she could still kick ass when a Para proved to be dangerous to anyone else, paranormal or human.

  What’s next?

  Their second night as a bonded c
ouple, they went out to keep the streets of Grayson safe. So long as they were careful, the Grayson PD left them alone.

  In fact, one night a few weeks into their bonding, Adam ran into the same patrolman who stopped him for his P.ID. what seemed to be like a lifetime ago.

  Adam wasn’t quick enough to kill the spell on his falchion. Even if he had been able to, the blood spatter on his shirt and Tabby’s cheek would’ve been more than enough to drag them down to Central for questioning.

  However, instead of hassling Adam, he tipped his cap, shared a comrade’s nod, then continued on his beat. And he knew then that everything was going to be alright.

  Somewhere along the way, they started to pick up clients. Tabby wasn’t full of shit when she said she had contacts. One of the biggies when she was still a slayer was the code of secrecy. Now that she was a free agent, the Slayer’s Code went out the window. When someone in need—Para, human, or somewhere in between—couldn’t get in touch with a slayer, they called on Adam and Tabby.

  It wasn’t that long before he came up with his plan. And now, after weeks of putting it together, it was time to share it with his slayer.

  Adam placed his hands over Tabby’s eyes, chuckling when she started to bounce in place. Excitement had her unable to keep still. He moved with her, taking care to keep her eyes covered as he guided her forward.

  “I can’t wait to see my surprise. Where is it?”

  “We’re almost there. Be careful. There’s a crack in the sidewalk in front of you.”

  “I don’t have to be careful,” his reckless slayer boasted. “I have you to look out for me. I trust you, champ. You won’t let me fall.”

  If Tabby didn’t already own his heart, Adam would have handed it over right then and there. To be with someone who had that much faith in him when, not too long ago, he didn’t have any for himself… yeah. He was a sucker for his slayer.

  And he loved it almost as much as he loved her.

  The nondescript building at the end of the block wasn’t much to look at. But, as he pushed the door open and led her past the threshold, he hoped the inside made up for it.