"All right. Get ready to do your stuff, because here I come."
I snapped the cell phone shut and picked up the bottle of sleeping pills Bones had stored in case I needed to keep Gregor out. What he hadn't guessed was that I might use them to let Gregor in.
Don had been very specific about the dosage. Four pills all at once. If I took less, they'd make me fall into normal sleep. I unscrewed the cap and popped two in my mouth, washing them down with a bottle of water. Then I grabbed a pen that had been stacked near my books. The pills metabolized quickly; I was already starting to feel dizzy. There wasn't any paper in this cell, so I ripped out a page from one of the books and scribbled on the small blank space.
I'm coming back...
The words blurred before I was even done writing them. With my last effort, I stabbed them into place with the pen. Then my vision blackened completely.
I was running, except for once, I wasn't being chased.
"Come closer, Catherine."
I followed his voice and saw him ahead. Gregor was smiling a cool, expectant grin. It made me slow down the last few paces.
"Remember our deal." I warned, feeling his power reach out with its invisible tentacles.
Gregor's gaze glinted. "Come to me."
For a second, I hesitated. I glanced behind my shoulder, hoping Bones would somehow appear. He didn't, of course. He was battling for his life and the lives of those around him. Well, at least now, I could help.
I crossed the space and let Gregor enfold me in his arms. Something that might have been his lips brushed my neck, but aside from that...
"Nothing's happening."
I said it into his chest, him being so damn tall. That blurry dreamlike feeling didn't cease even though the air around us seemed to electrify.
"I don't understand," he muttered.
"Of all the luck, now you're having performance issues?" I hissed, growing agitated over the thought of what was happening to Bones. "Come on, Gregor. Get your Dreamsnatcher on."
He held me tighter. "It must be you," he whispered. "You're blocking me."
Shit. Dropping my defenses was about the hardest thing for me to do, especially with a stranger I didn't trust.
"I'm trying not to."
His eyes blazed. "Your delay could be costly."
Damn him, he was right. I had to get into this. Fast.
I wound my arms around his neck and pulled his head down. When his mouth slanted over mine, I kissed him, slightly surprised that it felt familiar. With the distraction of him kissing me with a rough hungriness, I felt my shields waver and crack. Let go, Cat. Just ease up and relax...
A roaring pain swamped over me, like I was being pulled inside out. Amidst the white noise and confusion, I would have screamed, but I didn't have a throat, a voice, or a body. I felt the indescribable terror of being stripped from my own skin and flung into nothingness. It was the worst feeling of falling, only at sonic speed.
When it culminated, I wasn't reunited with my body; I was splattered back into it. The sensation of being blood, flesh, and bone again had me transfixed by the sound of my own heartbeat, a numbing cadence that was the sweetest thing I'd heard.
"Catherine."
Only then did the rest of my senses kick into gear. Guess a molecular transport will knock the ever-living shit out of anyone unlucky enough to experience it. It occurred to me that I wasn't standing anymore, though I was still wrapped up in Gregor's arms. In slow motion, my mind began to take inventory. Two arms, two legs, check. Wiggle fingers and toes, check. Ribs still hurt, okay. Heart pounding like a jackhammer, right. But something was missing.
Large hands slid down my bare back. Gregor, solid and very much not a dream, wore a triumphant smile on his face.
And just like me, it was the only thing he had on.
Chapter Thirteen
WHERE ARE MY CLOTHES?"
It was a furious demand that earned me a reproving frown. "Don't snarl so, Catherine. I can only transport the organic."
Maybe that was true, but it didn't explain why he was also au naturel. I doubted it was an accident. His caressing me sure wasn't accidental.
"Get your hands off me, Gregor, and go call off your men like you promised. Right now."
I didn't say it in the same angry tone. No, this was with a cold, flat insistence.
He stared at me in a way that made me think he was going to refuse. Then, with deliberate slowness, he uncurled himself from me.
"Don't try to get up yet, you'll need time to recover."
I was in a bed. Oh, sure, like this wasn't specifically orchestrated. "I'll be fine as long as you stick to your word."
He didn't respond, just strode to the door and yanked it open. I had enough instinctive modesty to flop onto my stomach, but there was still no coordination to my limbs.
Someone was right outside the room, and Gregor stepped back to let that person in.
"Lucius, observe."
Lucius, a tall blond who might have been Nordic, observed, all right. He caught an eyeful of me glaring daggers at both of them.
"I have my wife. She came of her own volition, so you can instruct Simon to pull back his forces."
"I have yet to learn that I'm your wife, and I came because you blackmailed me," I replied, giving him a look that said I didn't appreciate his play on words.
"Be sure to detail her exact condition for Simon to report," Gregor said, ignoring that. "And do be sure to include mine as well."
God in heaven, Bones was going to flip out. I felt a stirring of unease. Maybe I should have thought this over more.
"Oui, monsieur."
Lucius left without a backward glance, and Gregor shut the door. I didn't care for that, since he was still on the inside.
"Is he going to call this Simon? How close are we to there?" I asked, able to grasp some of the blanket and roll myself into it.
"He'll call." A light gleamed in his eyes. "But we're very far from Bavaria, Catherine."
"Bavaria?" Jeez, no wonder it had seemed remote. "Where are we now? Or I suppose you won't tell me."
It was very awkward having a conversation with a naked stranger. Gregor didn't make any attempt to cover himself, either. I wasn't looking, but I wasn't blind. He was built like a football player, with a whole lot of muscle and intermittent scars on his skin.
"I'll tell you. I'm not like that scavenger who shuttled you back and forth while keeping you sightless and witless."
That last sentence told it all. It had been me after all.
I gave Gregor a level look. "I might not be dreaming of you, but you're still in my head poking around. You must have been doing a pretty thorough job to know details like that."