Page 87 of Twisted Shadows
Then again, it wasn’t like Grayson ever shared his phone with anyone, and was there really a point in deleting pictures when other people had them too?
He moved his finger and hit Back instead.
Dr. Easterby had sent her itinerary to Prince Rupert, along with an unexpected text.
There’s going to be a big bill for charter flights, but it’s worth it: Jamey’s officially part of the team.
Grayson hadn’t thought St. James would ever forgive him for arresting Reece—twice—and he wouldn’t have expected her to. It was good, though; Dr. Easterby deserved to work with someone like St. James, who had the extra strength and speed but still had her heart.
Grayson: Call me in if you need me.
He had several emails from Stone Solutions and the Empath Initiative that gave him pause. There had been a break-in at the Bellevue campus of Stone Solutions the night before.
The police suspect arson, Vivian Marist had written.Perhaps the Dead Man’s attention is still on ensuring Vermont’s empaths don’t see so much as a photo of the Burlington murder, but if our foremost anti-empathy weapon could concern himself with a trifling thing like arson at the nation’s biggest empathy defense facility, I can have the jet sent for you.
Grayson considered her message. Arson and a break-in at Stone Solutions was a problem. But Reece was also still a problem, in a dangerous liminal state no empath had ever managed before, accidentally projecting emotions without even realizing it.
With a snap of her fingers, Marist could have the police, ten SWAT teams, the FBI—anyone she liked—coming to their aid.
Reece didn’t have anyone but Grayson right now.
He heard the rustling of a sheet as Reece shifted. Grayson glanced at the couch and found Reece’s eyes partially open, watching him.
Grayson closed Marist’s email without answering. He owed Reece some choice words about the picture, but what he said was, “Hey, Care Bear.”
Reece’s lips curved up. “Hey.”
Seemed like his sweet side came out in the mornings. Maybe Reece was always slow to rise. Maybe he was the kind of person who liked having someone in their bed, lazy wakeups that led to kisses that led to both of them getting up late.
Or maybe Grayson’s mind just insisted on spiraling straight into the gutter around Reece.
But it’d be so easy for Grayson to cross the room and get down on his knees next to the couch. Bury his fingers in that thick dark hair and steal a sleepy morning kiss. Run hands over Reece, to that bare lower back, up under his shirt, across skin that would be soft and fever-hot from that higher empath body temperature. Grayson could follow the path his hands had traced with his mouth, his fingers slipping under the waistband of those pajama pants, which would probably slide down easy—
Real easy, yeah. Because Reece would have been knockedunconsciousback at that first kiss. Grayson needed to cool his thoughts, because none of that was ever happening. Reece was off-limits in every possible sense.
Reece stretched lazily. “Did you know you’re too big for that stool?”
Grayson really needed to stop watching the way Reece’s movements pulled his clothes even tighter to his body. “I’m too big for everything.”
Reece snorted.
Grayson gave him a flat look. “That wasn’t a sex joke.”
“If you say so.”
“I wasn’t talking about my dick.”
“Maybe we should make room for him in the conversation.” Reece rested his chin on his arm, eyes wide and innocent. “A lot of room, apparently.”
“What we’redoing,” Grayson said, “is getting your empath ass up so you can eat something way too sweet for breakfast, and then we can get going. And you’ve got messages on your phone.”
“You can check them if you want,” Reece said, yawning.
“I don’t know your passcode.”
“I don’t have one.”
“You don’t—whydon’t you have one?”
