“Thank you. I’m sure Flame will call you soon.” She glanced at the clock. “He’s probably still at work. It’s only four o’clock. Most people get off work around five, right? You’re a wonderful person and he’d be stupid not to realize that. He seemed pretty smart to me in the little amount of time I got to spend with him.”

“I hope so. He did say he was sure I could make him roar.”

“Roar?”

“He’s part lion or something. He purred at me a few times while we were rubbing up against each other on the dance floor. It was the hottest thing. I swear it made me wet.”

Lauren chuckled. “TMI, Amanda. I don’t need to know that.”

“We’re best friends so there’s no such thing. Give it up, besty. Does Wrath purr?”

“He’s canine. He growls and snarls.” She bit her lip. “His cock swells at the end of sex and he’s locked inside me until it goes down. He snuggles with me afterward. It’s wonderful but that information stays between us.”

“No! Seriously? Wow. What did that feel like? The swelling?”

“Amazing.”

“I wonder if Flame swells. I can’t wait to find out. Of course now I’m a little frightened. He is seriously hung. I couldn’t miss that when we were pressed together and I noticed it was ‘ouchie’ sized. I can’t imagine it if he swells even bigger. I might take on more than I can chew.” She chuckled. “Or suck. You know what I mean?”

“Way too much info.”

“What about Mr. Hunk? Anything to write home about in that department?”

“He’s more than a letter. He’s worth an entire book.”

Amanda snorted. “Maybe it’s a New Species thing. Good thing they weren’t mixed with horses. That would totally be scary, right?”

“No shit.” Lauren scooted off her bed and dropped to her knees to dig one-handed under her bed for her suitcase. “I need to pack. I’m taking my cell if it’s in my car—hopefully they’ve brought it back here by now—but if not, Wrath probably has a phone I can use. I’ll call you in the next few days.”

“You better. Are you going to the NSO? Tell Flame to call me.”

“We’re going back to that headquarters place. It’s a secret so keep it hush-hush.”

“I’m the queen of discreet.”

“Right.”

“What is it like there?”

“He lives there underground. A lot of people hate them so keep your lips sealed about that place. He says it’s not safe for them to live where it isn’t secure—I guess that means anywhere other than their compounds—or he’d just stay here with me. He’s got a private room with a bathroom. They also have a big room with a kitchen and a living room. There’s even a pool table.”

Amanda laughed. “You could have him do you on it. Pool table sex is hot.”

“It’s in a room everyone uses.”

“Even better. The thrill of maybe getting caught.”

“I worry about you.” Lauren laughed. “Go back to sleep. I need to pack and get ready.”

“Don’t worry about how long you’re gone. I could pop in there and check on Tiger. I know where you keep the food.”

“Thanks. That would be great.”

“That’s why we have keys to each other’s places. Are you telling anyone else where you’re going?”

“Nope. Just you. If my family happens to call, tell them I’m out of town or something. You know the drill.”

Amanda laughed. “I’ll tell them you joined a nudist colony that worships women with big boobs. I’ll say a dozen sex-starved naked men grabbed you in a van and you’re doing the whole free love thing. They’ll enjoy that. When they start to bitch at me about how come I didn’t try to stop you, I’ll just tell them I was looking out for you by buying you a don’t-come-a-knocking-if-the-van-is-rocking bumper sticker. I’ll remind them how supportive I am.”

Lauren laughed. “Don’t you dare.”

“I’ll assure them that you’ll come home as soon as someone knocks you up and with all that sex with a dozen guys it shouldn’t be too long since you forgot your pills. They don’t know you take the shots, right?”

“I swear, Amanda, if you do that, and I know you would just to freak out my bitchy sister, I’ll personally call your grandma and tell her you’re ready for her to introduce you to men again because you so desperately want to get married. Remember the last time she started sending men your way? I don’t know which one was worse. The mortician she hooked you up with since most of her friends keep dropping dead or the horse jockey she met when she was dating that guy who liked going to the races. What was he? Four-nine? You had nightmares for months about those dates you suffered to avoid hurting her feelings.”

“You wouldn’t dare. It took me months to get Monty the creepy-ass mortician to stop calling me. He sent me flowers and I swear to God he stole them from graves. He missed one of the condolence cards once. He said he really wanted to have sex with me in a coffin and that was his version of tempting me to go on a second date with him. I refuse to talk about the jockey. He asked me if I’d ever worn a saddle while I tried to eat my dinner. I don’t even want to go to that bad, ugly place, Lauren. That was just mean to remind me. You just forget Grandma’s number and I’ll make up something nice to tell your family if they call me.”

“Love you. I’ll call.”

“You better. Love you too.”

Lauren hung up, dropped the suitcase on the bed, and returned the phone to the cradle. It didn’t take long to pack, shower and grab her e-reader. She downloaded a bunch of books while it charged, packed it, and prepared Tiger to be alone for a few days.

Wrath was coming! She glanced at the clock, only had a few hours to go, and time couldn’t move fast enough.

Chapter Thirteen

Lauren grinned when the doorbell rang early and rushed for the door. Wrath must be as impatient to see her as she felt to see him. She’d already gotten dressed, had eaten an early dinner and was more than ready to leave when she threw open the door with a grin in place.

Her joy died instantly when a stranger stood on her doorstep instead. The tall, thin woman bore an uncanny resemblance to her boss, Mel Hadner. Her heart raced, she tried to hide it, and had a sinking feeling this person just might be related to the woman who had tried to hurt Wrath and his team.

“Hello,” she got out. “May I help you?”

“I believe so. You work for my sister, Mel. I went to her office today after receiving an urgent message from her yesterday that she needed to speak to me but no one was there. Do you know where my sister is?”

“No,” Lauren lied. “No idea at all. She was in her office when I left.” That part was true.

“Today?”

“Yesterday. Today is my day off.”

A frown curved the woman’s thin mouth downward and lines appeared on her forehead. “I came here because I spoke to a few of the businesses near the office and they saw you pushing a man out of the office in a chair. They said he appeared drunk. My sister is missing and so are a lot of your coworkers. I’ve already been to their homes and they aren’t there, didn’t sleep in their beds last night, and haven’t been seen.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Their cars are in the parking lot but they have just disappeared. Do you know anything about that?”

Shit! Think! “I had a man come in to see condos yesterday who had a bad knee. He injured it when he stood after sitting so long viewing listings. I had to push him out to his car.”

The woman’s arms slowly lowered and a cold look entered her eyes. “That was almost believable. Not bad. You’re a fast thinker, aren’t you, Lauren?”

Mel’s sister lunged suddenly and grabbed Lauren’s shirt with both hands, shoving her back. A large man suddenly stepped out from where he’d been hiding against the wall next to the door and entered the apartment. Two more came from the other side of the door and yet one more entered and closed the door firmly behind the five intruders who’d invaded the living room. It was the last guy who held Lauren’s attention.