Bruce’s smile widened. “You’re staring, Kane.”
“Agent Wilcox.” Kane muttered the correction.
“Cuff me if you don’t like it.”
“I’m not a cop. I don’t cuff,” Kane said shifting in his seat and forcing himself to look at the panel of dials and wires.
“A shame.”
Kane got that shiver down his spine. The same one he got every time he thought about that bit of conversation where he and Willow should hook up with Bruce. It was seeming less and less farfetched. And boy, wasn’t
that
confusing for a guy who’d never wanted a man before.
He wasn’t sure he did now either, except the prospect of having Bruce naked, with those wicked eyes and laughing grin, loving the same woman as he did, definitely got Kane going.
“I need more sleep,” he muttered to himself.
“Want me to take over for a while?” Bruce offered.
“Would you know what you were looking for if you did?” Kane countered.
“Sure. Someone admitting they stole stuff.”
Kane couldn’t help but grin. “Thanks, but no thanks. This is officially an FBI investigation, and you are a civilian.”
“Yeah, aren’t you supposed to have a partner?” Bruce asked.
“Budget cuts.”
“Huh. You’d think the FBI would be immune from that shit.”
“You’d think,” Kane said, by way of agreement.
Silence resumed in the little van. Kane kept one earphone off his ear as he listened to Willow’s shuffling on the other end of the wire. The phone wire tap hadn’t proved productive over the past month. It had been crucial to get someone inside. Now that she was, Kane only felt his frustration mount. Someone was stealing those artifacts, but as far as Kane could tell, they weren’t being sold off. Why? Private collection hoarder? It had been known to happen. Maybe Dr. Felix was just waiting for suspicion to die down, and he’d sell it off in a few years.
Maybe. But Kane didn’t want to wait a few years to let it happen.
“Fucking teacup Chihuahua,” Willow exclaimed. “Back the fuck off, you little brat.”
A faint growl crossed the wire.
“I might smell like a tree, but I’m not one. How many trees do you know walk around and tell you
no
? Huh?”
“What’s her problem with dogs?” Kane asked Bruce.
“She hates them.”
“I get that. Why?”
“They, uh—they like to pee on her.”
“What?”
Bruce nodded. “Yep. All the time. It’s gotten to the point where seeing a dog anywhere near her, sets her off.” He reached over and unplugged the headphones.
“Shit! Shit, shit, shit, shit! Did I not just say I wasn’t your territory marker?” Willow demanded.
“Wow, Willow, I have no idea why he keeps doing that. He’s normally a sweetheart,” Austyn could be heard saying.
Bruce laughed. “Score one for the pup.”
He casually dropped his hand on Kane’s thigh. Kane moved his leg out of reach, not bothering to comment.
“I’m going to go clean up,” Willow said. “Maybe wander around your dad’s library. He had some cool stuff in there.”
Kane’s ears perked up.
“Yeah, he collects stuff from all over. You’d be surprised at some of the things sold in bazaars. Pottery shards and all kinds of things, taken off dig sites before he gets there. It’s crazy,” Austyn explained.
“Does he ever, you know,
borrow
any of the finds before they get to the museum?” Willow asked.
Kane winced at the obvious lead in.
“Dad? No way. He’s as straight as they come. He’s all about preserving history.”
“But it’s illegal to buy them at the bazaars, right?” Willow asked.
“Something like that. It’s stolen property at some point. And on the site, everything gets categorized and shipped off, so once he has his hands on it, it’s as good as putting it in Fort Knox.”
“Huh,” Willow answered noncommittally.
“So, lemme know when you’re done avoiding Peanut, here, and we can get back to studying for that final.”
“Okay.”
Presumably, Willow waited for Austyn to walk out of earshot, because Kane heard her mutter, “Pee-nut. Perfect name for the little bastard.”
Chapter Five
Willow couldn’t wait to yank the wire off her body and throw herself into the shower. A whole weekend of sponge baths was not her preferred method of personal hygiene. She hopped in her car and waved to Austyn who stood smiling from the steps of her mansion, bladder-impaired pooch in arm.
She didn’t acknowledge the white van parked down the street either, just made the corner and stopped to wait for Bruce. Turning into a plank of wood while driving, wasn’t her idea of a good time. This is why the Harpers kept a driver on retainer, damn it. But of course, being that Agent Wilcox was hounding her for cooperation, she couldn’t very well explain that without explaining why.
It would happen soon enough. He had to have questions about the Harpers’ odd behaviors. It was a miracle she hadn’t shifted into something in front of him already. Okay, there was the time she became a fucking coat rack in his office, and the pile of saw dust after he’d kissed her. But all in all, she’d been lucky.
Bruce slid into the passenger seat. He put his arm behind her chair, as she stared stonily ahead, aiming the nose of her car toward home. The van followed.
“That man is tightly wound,” Bruce said after a few minutes.
Willow smirked. “Bet you offered to relax him.”
“Not officially. He seems a little freaked out by my interest.”
“Well, you
are
intense,” Willow offered.
“I don’t understand humans. If you want something, take it. What’s so hard about that?” Bruce complained.
“We’re a complicated breed, Bruce. A complicated breed.”
“Your mom gets it. She bought me the first box of condoms I used with you.”
“Excuse me?” Willow’s voice cracked. God, she was so going to kill her mother.
“What did you expect a faery to do when she knows we’d be a good match?” Bruce asked. “Besides, she thought you needed to get laid.”
Willow rolled her eyes. “Of course she did.”
“She was right.” Bruce leaned over, nuzzling her neck as she drove.
Willow tried to shrug him off, but he slid a hand up her thigh, and truthfully, as much as she needed a shower, she
wanted
his hands on her. It could only be made better by having Kane’s hands on her too.
“When we get to my place, make sure Kane comes inside,” Willow told him.
“What do you have on your hot little mind, Willow Harper?”
“A little fun.”
“I like the way you think,” Bruce whispered into her ear. “I think you’re more faery than you realize.”
“Bite your tongue, winged-one.”
“Hey, these wings don’t come out unless I want them to,” he argued.
“Which seems to happen every time we have sex and you lose control,” she finished.
“Yeah, well, you bring out the horny faery in me.”
“Let’s hope we bring out the faery in Agent Wilcox.”
“Kane, his name is Kane,” Bruce added.
“Kane.” Willow smiled as she remembered reading it off his badge.
It was a good name, she decided. Kane brought to mind naughtiness, and long hard shafts. Yeah, a guy with a name like Kane offered a whole lot of promise. Getting Kane to admit that he wanted her, was going to be a challenge she enjoyed. Because that’s what it was all about. His rough edged ego and all-business all the time demeanor needed a little humility, and she was just the girl to make it happen.
Willow pulled up in front of her tiny house. She and Bruce exchanged looks, and Willow hurried into the house, leaving Bruce to get Kane inside.
She hurried to the back of her one-bedroom home. Dropping clothes when she got there, she tugged off the wire and cranked the hot water faucet. Willow tilted her face to the hot spray as its fingers penetrated her hair, reaching her scalp.
If she were honest with herself, this self imposed competition to get Kane in the sack, had more to do with proving something to herself than anything else. She and Bruce had a no-strings relationship. He stabilized her faery abilities so that they didn’t come up at bad moments. The fact that she liked him, enjoyed his company, and found him incredibly attractive, made their intimate relationship evolve naturally. Or as naturally as it could given that her mother had buried her nose deep into her daughter’s business.
But Kane, Kane—
Kane made her shudder. With Bruce she didn’t feel threatened to feel more than she wanted to. It was casual, even though they’d developed a friendship that was cemented by their faery bond. Kane made her feel like she was standing on a slippery slope without a handhold to stay upright.
True to any challenge Willow encountered, she needed to face this one too. If it was fun in the process, so be it. It would only further prove that she was in control of herself. Not Kane. Never Kane, or any other man.
Kane sat an extra few minutes in the van, absorbing the conversation he’d just overheard on Willow’s wire. Thanks to Bruce, who’d unplugged the headset to listen in back at the stakeout, he’d heard every word. What they were planning was a set up of a completely different nature. One that had nothing to do with the job, and everything to do with the nearly tangible chemistry between them. Yes, he admitted cautiously, even with Bruce in the picture.
He listened to Willow fumble with the wire, and the background noise of running water. Kane took a deep breath. If he was walking in there, he wasn’t going blind. He wasn’t going in meek either. The prospect of having two people plan his seduction was flattering, but also unnerving.
They both needed to get something straight. Kane didn’t get seduced. He seduced. Those two kids didn’t know what they were doing with their little games. If they wanted to play an adult game, he’d give them one. They’d either wise up or back off. And at the moment, Kane wasn’t sure which option he preferred.
Kane got out of the van, making his way toward the front door finding it already open for him. He stepped through, shutting the door behind him. He passed the kitchen where Bruce poured himself a glass of water. With the living room on the right, there was only one more doorway to go through. That one would be Willow’s bedroom. That’s where he headed.
Willow wanted a seduction? Then he was doing it on his own terms. They’d get this little tryst out of the way and get back to some real work. Kane unclipped his badge from his belt and put it in his pocket. For this, he was off duty.
Kane walked straight into her bedroom. Willow’s eyes widened as she tied the closure on her silken wrap. Her hair was still wet from the shower, and he could see the pile where she’d left her clothes and wire on the floor. He raked his eyes over her scantily clad form, taking in the points where her nipples pushed at the green material. His gaze tripped lower, where her hemline barely cleared the top of her thighs.
The full effect of moist, clean woman wrapped in silk, made for a fantastic invitation. He made no attempt to hide his scrutiny.
“I didn’t hear you come in,” she said breathlessly.
“I didn’t mean for you to.”
He figured she’d expected to come out and meet him in the living room with Bruce. By trumping her move, he’d rattled her. Good. Willow rattled was definitely a good place to start. She didn’t have time to put up that sex kitten facade. Here, she was just woman and he liked that a helluva lot more.
He paced toward her. Time to knock another chink in her armor.
“That wire works really well,” he began.
She nodded, confusion touching her pretty eyes. He heard Bruce’s steps come in behind him, but Kane didn’t bother to turn around. It was good that they were both here for what he’d say next.
“From the moment I put it on you, it sent every word of every conversation,” he murmured.
There it was, the moment she mentally replayed everything he could have heard. He saw it in the subtle lift of her brows, and the delicate flush pinking her cheeks. The color rosy-ed her neck and spilled across the visible cleavage. He let another moment pass as it fully sank in.
“Most of what you said requires some explanation, but there were several parts I understood completely,” he continued. Kane tugged on the tied closure at her waist, drawing out the silk belt slowly.
Willow licked her lips. “Like what?”
He could see her trying to put up that
I-don’t-give-a-shit
front. She almost had it in place. He narrowed his eyes, waiting for it to fully manifest. He knew she was locked and loaded when she cocked her hip, letting her robe slide open in the middle and giving him a great view of her naked pussy. He almost lost his train of thought. Almost. But seeing as how his train of thought was pounding her sweet cunt, derailing had just been put out of the question.