Текст книги "Very Much Alive"

Автор книги: Dana Bell

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"She's my wife."

He felt Kir start as the words slipped out of his mouth. He flexed his powers again to adjust all of Jordan's paperwork from Greyto Saeter. It wasn't enough to change her insurance and license; he'd changed allof her legal paperwork. The larger change took less energy and concentration. While he was at it he filed a marriage license with the state, just because ... well, because. It soothed the beast inside him that needed to claim her firmly as his.

For a prankster god, it was a piece of cake.

The woman looked relieved. “I need you to sign the surgical release forms, please."

He signed everything she shoved at him, determined to see to it that his woman got the care she needed.

He looked over at Kir, who was staring at the curtained off area, a fierce frown covering his face. The thunder was louder now; the rain was coming down harder. The street was almost invisible out the window of the surgical waiting room.

Make thatour woman.Lightning arced across the sky, confirming his thought.

He stood there, clenching and unclenching his hands as he heard the doctor give the order to have Jordan wheeled to surgery. He was having a hard time controlling the raging fires within him. Someone, some stranger, was going to be cutting into her flesh, removing a bullet meant for him, and it was driving him crazy. The knowledge that he could have lost someone else he loved burned like acid in his gut.

Memory flashed behind his eyes of his sons, Nari and Narfi, one dead by the other's hand. Nari lost to madness for all time as he killed his brother; Narfi's entrails enchanted to hold down a god and used to bind Loki to the mountain.

Strong arms wrapped around him and held tight while inside he raged against the memories, both past

and present.

"How come she gets to be yourwife?” Kir grumbled.

Logan felt some of his anger drain away as Kir stroked his back.

"She could be mywife, you know.” He felt Kir grin briefly against his neck, but it didn't fool him. Kir was shaking. The urge to soothe his lover began to overtake the rage and pain inside him. “After all, she likes me better."

Kir sounded like a petulant child, but Logan knew the truth. Blondie was just as upset, and just as furious, as he was. Logan snorted. Shaking his head, he wrapped his arms around Kir, and settled down to wait for the doctors to return.

Jordan woke to nausea and confusion. She blinked, looking up at the bright white light overhead. “Don't go into the light,” she muttered, surprised when someone snorted next to her. Logan.Her brain immediately identified the sound, like she'd heard it hundreds of times before. Of course, Ihave damn near heard it a hundred times before.

She turned her head, surprised at how difficult it was. Her stomach rolled with nausea. She swallowed hard, fighting back the urge to hurl all over Logan's expensive leather jacket. He looked pissed as all hell.

“Where's Kir?"

"Right here.” She felt someone take hold of her hand. “Told you she likes me better.” Soft lips brushed her forehead. She turned to see Kir smiling down at her, concern shadowing his eyes. “Hi."

"Hi."

Another pair of soft lips brushed her forehead. “Welcome back."

She looked up into Logan's face, surprised at his fierce expression. “Thanks. Where'd I go?"

"You got shot.” She felt his hand tremble in hers, and tried to squeeze it, surprised at both the emotion flooding his face and how hard it was to get her hand to work. “Don't you everput yourself between me and a bullet again, you hear me?"

She closed her eyes wearily and licked her lips. “Yup. Next time, let your ass get shot. Got it."

"Jordan."

Her eyes opened to see Logan frowning down at her.

"Shh. Not now, Logan.” The two men exchanged a look over her head. She would have tried to figure out what it meant, but she was so damn tired. “Go to sleep, sweetheart. We'll be back soon to take you home.” Before she could process the fact that Kir had called her sweetheart, he gave her the sweetest kiss she'd ever received.

"He's right. Get some rest.” Logan's mouth replaced Kir's. His kiss was full of carefully banked fire.

“We'll be back in about an hour."

She had a hard time keeping her eyes open after the two men left her room, talking quietly as the door

shut behind them. What the hell was that all about?She drifted off to sleep, wondering what it would be like to have the two of them reallykissing her.

"What do you mean, you missed?"

Val winced at the hissed words as his father turned to face him. “I hit Jordan."

"What the fuckwas Jordan doing there?"

"I believe they may have hired her."

Grimm's mouth tightened. Val made sure to keep all expression from his face as Grimm glared at him.

“So what stopped you from finishing the job?"

Val blinked. “I shot Jordan."

"And?"

Val didn't answer, knowing there was no point.

"If Jordan is helping them, you need to remove her, as well. No excuses."

He bowed his head to his father, hoping the man didn't see the hatred in his eyes. The reason for his birth, the vengeance against his brother's murderer and the punishment of the man who'd masterminded it, had instead become service to the betrayer and an unending hunt for the betrayed.

And it was seriously beginning to piss him off, especially now that the end was so tantalizingly near. But the end had been near before, and Grimm had managed to stave it off.

He kept his expression blank as he left the office, knowing that his time was running out. If Jordan was working with Loki and Baldur, Tyr would soon find out. And Grimm would no longer accept mistakes.

How did the idiot miss again?

Grimm ground his teeth together, fighting down the urge to throw something. Something glass, that would make a nice, loud, shattering noise as it hit. He eyed the glass apple his wife Frederica had given him for Christmas about forty-five years ago and seriously thought about it. Better not. She'll notice the next time she's in the office and question it. Stupid bitch.

And the only person he couldn't afford questions from was Frigg. Her visions had let her know some of what he'd planned for Baldur and Hodr, but not all.

Not enough to stop him completely.

If Loki hadn't interfered, things would have worked out a great deal differently. And now Jordan, the traitorous little bitch, was picking Loki's side over his. And if Loki stayed true to form, there was no wayVal was getting anywhere near Jordan or Baldur again.

Unless...

Grimm smiled, and the window in front of him frosted over.

"Well. I see you're having happy thoughts."

Grimm turned to see Rina Southerland, Val's mother, standing in the doorway to his office. “Rina."

She shut the door behind her and smiled seductively. “We have a date tonight, remember?"

He smiled again. Indulging Rina was one of his favorite pastimes. And since Frederica was at one of her charity functions, he had more than enough time to indulge himself, as well. “Of course. How could I forget?” He walked over and pulled her roughly to him, kissing her passionately as she cupped his thickening cock through his slacks. For her he changed into the virile young man he truly was, not the Old Grimm everyone thought him to be.

For a frost-Jotun, Rina had more fire in her than any other woman he'd ever bedded, including his wife.

And, buried balls-deep in her pale, slender body, he even managed to forget his troubles for a little while.

Too bad he was going to have to kill her before he killed Val. After all, a wise man knew better than to rouse a mother bear.

Kir watched carefully as Logan placed Jordan in the back seat of his Lexus. They'd opted to buy the car when they realized how uncomfortable Jordan would be in Kir's Mustang. Logan had insisted on one of the best, most luxurious SUVs on the market and, since it would be Logan's car, Kir hadn't objected too much.

The trip back to their penthouse was surprisingly uneventful. The ride in the luxury SUV was smooth and quiet. Jordan dozed, not surprising considering the amount of blood she'd lost and the strength of the painkillers she was on.

He'd warned her that Val wouldn't hesitate to kill her if Grimm ordered it. He'd been half hoping he was wrong, but once again his father and brother had proven to him how little innocent lives mattered to them.

It had taken every bit of Logan's power to keep her family from finding her. One wrong move and Grimm would have been breathing down their necks. As it was, Kir knew they were probably going to have some pissed off younger Grimms on their doorstep soon. Jordan was begging them to call her siblings and he and Logan were close to giving in, at least where Jeff and her sister Jamie were concerned. No way in hell were they going to call Magnus and Morgan Grimm. And they couldn't tell her of the phone calls they were receiving from her sister. Some of them had made Kir's hair stand on end.

They'd started out pleasant enough, but the last one had been filled with threats that he was pretty sure were anatomically impossible without the aid of kitchen utensils and a lot of Vaseline. He still had no idea what a “rotating pineapple attachment” was, but he was pretty sure he didn't want to find out.

"She'll be all right."

He looked over at Logan, whose eyes never left the road. “I know."

"Are you really pissed that I put my name on the paperwork?"

Kir smiled. Logan was frowning, the expression one that let Kir know he was prepared to fight for his way. “No, just so long as she understands she's committed to both of us."

Logan snorted. “Once we've got her naked between us, she'll figure it out pretty damn quick."

A muffled snore sounded from the backseat. Kir turned to see Jordan's face buried in the upholstery.

She'd been in the hospital for almost a week and was still exhausted. Logan had put wards around her bed to keep her safe, but even then it had been a harrowing time. He couldn't keep everyonefrom touching her.

"How do we keep this from happening again?"

Kir bit his lip. “I don't know."

"Her fathers are going to pitch a fit when they find out what happened."

"Not to mention her boss. And her brothers and sister."

They looked at each other and winced. “Can we prove it was Val that shot her?"

Kir shook his head. “And even if we could, they'd still blame us for putting her in danger."

"Not us. Me."

Kir didn't say anything as Logan pulled into the parking garage and shut off the engine. They'd have to make sure the Lexus was added to their parking allotment, or they'd get towed. Since they didn't use their powers any more than necessary that meant a long, boring trip to the manager's office and filling out paperwork. Kir picked up Jordan, much to Logan's disgust. He smirked at Logan's disgruntled frown.

“Your car, your paperwork."

Logan groaned at Kir's grin. “Great. Where's an assassin or two when you need one?"

Logan left the manager's office with a smirk on his face. He'd gotten a lecture from the overly fussy man on informing management about any “changes to the status of the tenancy of the condo". Logan had been tempted to go back as the owner and give the man hell for upsetting a rich client, but he didn't really have time for that sort of fun. So he'd chosen a different form of punishment for the pompous asshole. He grinned. He wondered how long it would take before the manager noticed that his signature on every single document in that office had been changed to Dick Head.

He snickered as he stepped into the elevator. Kir would probably shake his head and try to talk him into changing it back. Jordan seemed more the type to try and makehim change it back. And maybe he would change mostof it back.

Maybe. If they begged really prettily.

He headed up to the twenty-second floor, eager to see them both, hoping Kir had settled her down in theirbedroom. The thought of Jordan's scent mingling with his and Kir's on their sheets was irresistible.

He opened the door to find Kir scowling at Jordan, who was busy trying to set up the video camera one-handed. She was pale and shaking.

Logan glared at her, all of his instincts screaming at him that she needs to be resting, not fucking around with electronics. And since his instincts were backed up by her doctor's orders, he felt fully justified in growling at her. “What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

She looked up at him and smiled wearily. “We need to get the YouTube video going."

"Now?"

"The sooner the better."

"The doctor said you're supposed to be in bed.” He turned to Kir. “Why isn't she in bed?"

"Because when I went to pick her up she started struggling and I was afraid she'd reopen the wound."

Thunder sounded outside, letting Logan know exactly how upset Kir was. The fact that Kir hadn't taken his eyes off Jordan was also not a good sign. He looked out the window to see a fine spring shower raining down on the city. “To bed, Jordan."

She stood up with a wince, her face paling even more. Beads of sweat dotted her forehead. “No."

Logan gritted his teeth. “I think Kir and I can figure out how to take a fucking video. Go. To. Bed."

She put one hand on her hip, the other half in and half out of the sling the doctor wanted her to wear.

“When I'm done.” She glared at him. “Oh, and by the way, I'm stillnot sure why you guys brought me here instead of to my apartment, other than the fact that you think Uncle Val will come after me there.”

She turned back to the equipment, muttering to herself.

When she hissed in pain, Logan decided enough was enough.

He looked at Kir, who nodded. Together the two men moved on Jordan, Kir in the back, Logan in front. They sandwiched her between them before she knew what they were doing.

"Guys, this isn't funny– hey!"

Kir held her arms while Logan picked her up. Together they two-stepped her into the bedroom.

Ignoring her protests, Logan kicked the door shut behind him. The two men carefully put Jordan down on the bed.

Logan stood and pointed a finger at her. “Stay."

"Woof."

He narrowed his eyes. “I mean it."

"Yes, Daddy."

He raked his eyes up and down her figure, allowing her to see the heat in his eyes. “Set one pinky toe off that bed, and Daddywill give you the spanking you deserve. Got it?” He grinned. “And don't think Mommywill stop me, either."

"Asshole,” Kir muttered. He handed Jordan a glass of water and a pain pill. “Here. Don't worry about the video. Logan and I will take care of it."

She made a face at them, popped the pill, and settled back down against the pillows. She looked like a pissed-off kid who'd been told to take a nap. “Do you have any idea what you're going to do for the

video?"

The look on Kir's face reminded Logan of a naughty little boy. “I have an idea or two."

Jordan stared at the two men blearily and wondered what they were up to. They'd exchanged a long look over her body before Kir pulled the comforter over her, careful of her shoulder. “An idea or two.

Why am I not reassured?” She yawned as the pain pill began working on her.

"Don't you trust us?"

Two identical, angelic looks, neither of which she trusted. “Hell, no."

Logan started to laugh. “Smart girl."

Kir just shook his head. “Get some rest, and let us worry about the video, okay?” He leaned down and gave her a kiss. She tried to stop him, hissing in pain when she tried to move her bad arm. Kir stopped her, gently pressing her arm back down. “Don't do that."

Logan leaned over her, taking Kir's place. “Aren't you the one who said you don't like pain?"

She stuck out her tongue and blew a raspberry at him.

He kissed her quickly, before she could pull her tongue back in.

"What is up with all of the sudden sucking of face?” She was yawning before she even completed the sentence.

Logan turned and sauntered out of the bedroom. “I'll wake you in time for dinner, sweetheart."

Sweetheart?She turned to Kir, who was smiling down at her. He was wavering in and out of focus.

“Kir?"

He brushed her hair away from her forehead. “It's simple. We've decided to keep you."

She blinked up at him sleepily. Damn, those pain pills are good.She watched him walk out of the bedroom door, gently shutting it behind him. I could have sworn he just said they're keeping me...

She drifted off to sleep before she could finish the thought.

Kir waited until he knew for certain Jordan was asleep. “Got the camera?"

"Yup.” Logan hefted the bag. They'd quietly dismantled all of the equipment, trying their best not to disturb Jordan. Kir's idea was a great one, but they had to head into Rittenhouse Square to make it work. Luckily he'd calmed down enough for the rain to stop, or they would have had to wait since the camera wasn't waterproof.

Logan set up the wards while Kir made sure everything was locked up tight. Logan had had to adjust them due to Jordan's presence, but the extra step hadn't seemed to faze him at all. “All set."

They headed for the elevator and made their way outside. They walked quickly to a secluded part of the park, shivering in the early spring air. They ducked behind the statue “Lion Crushing a Serpent,” by the

French sculptor Antoine-Louis Barye; the area was small and surrounded by bushes on three sides, perfect for what they wanted to do. At this time of night the kids who liked to climb the lion were already home, safely tucked away in bed. Logan set up the camera while Kir prepared the pot of soil he'd brought with him.

Kir took a deep, calming breath, and let it out slowly. “Ready when you are."

Logan's warm smile helped ease his jitters. Here goes nothing.

Chapter Five

"Hello?"

"He's alive, Oliver."

Grimm blinked, the blood rushing to his head as his temples throbbed. “Frederica, what are you talking about?"

"Our son, Oliver. Baldur is alive."

He sighed, trying his best to sound weary while his mind scrambled on how she could know the truth after all this time. “Darling, you know he's not. Hermod himself confirmed it when he saw Baldur in the Underworld.” And wasn't it a relief that Hermod was as stupid as he was gullible, or he would have noticed that Baldur was breathing.

Hermod was also known to be honest to a fault. He'd seen Baldur in Hel; therefore, Baldur must be dead, reinforcing the lie he'd told.

Good old Hermod. Grimm wondered if he was enjoying the Underworld as much as Hodr was.

"Have you had your tonic today, sweetheart?"

She paused, her breathing harsh over the phone. “No."

The extra-strength potion he'd made for her to take while Baldur and Loki were so close to his home territory would take the edge off her nosiness. “Take some, before you make yourself ill over this travesty of a hoax. I'll deal with Loki myself. I promise you that."

She paused again, then meekly said, “All right."

He heard her sipping and smiled. Stupid cow.Keeping her docile had been remarkably easy once he figured out the secret of the apples. “Now, go rest, and allow me to deal with Loki's treachery."

"I've sent you the link to the video he made, Oliver.” He could hear her stifling tears. “It looks so much

like our Baldur, right down to the eyes."

Grimm's blood ran cold at the thought. “I'll take a look, my dear. Go rest."

She sniffed. “Will you be home tonight?"

He thought of Rina, and the silken present she'd promised him that night. “No, dear, I think I'd better take care of this problem as soon as possible. Don't you think?"

She sighed. “Of course."

In his most loving, caring voice, Grimm said, “Get some rest. I love you.” He practically gagged on the words.

"I love you too."

He hung up, and opened the email Frigg had sent him.

By the end of the video, his entire office was covered in frost.

Val clicked open the email link his father had sent him. Deal with this!had been the subject line. Val had no idea what had the Old Man's briefs in a bunch this time...

His jaw dropped open in shock as Baldur's face took up his screen. He clicked on the “play” button.

"Hello, Aesir and Vanir.” Baldur's beautiful voice purred in Old Norse. Those pale eyes were cold as ice. “I think you all know who I am. Or maybe not.” Baldur moved back, smiling gently as he did so. Val shivered. “After all, you've been trying to kill me for centuries now, haven't you? Quite frankly, I'm getting tired of it."

The sudden deepening of his voice had Val leaning forward in his chair. What are they up to?

"Ever since that day in the Thing, you have hunted us and hounded us. You have given us no peace. You have murdered wives and sons, turned brother against brother, and destroyed lives in your quest to destroy my lover. But enough is enough. I will tolerate no more.

"A week ago Jordan Grey was shot trying to protect Loki and me.” He leaned in close to the camera again. Val groaned when he saw that Baldur's pupils had started to turn white. That's bad.“By the way, Val, I owe you one for that.” He pulled back to the sound of a dark chuckle. Loki's there. Make thatvery bad.“I owe allof you, actually.” His eyes left the camera lens long enough to watch Loki walk around and take position behind Baldur. “Watch carefully, people. I'm only going to do this once.”

Baldur stared into the camera, his gentle smile never wavering, as the pot he'd been holding quivered. A sprig of green appeared, rapidly growing in Baldur's hands until a perfectly formed white lily opened its trumpet-like flower. Behind him, all of the bushes sprouted tiny flowers as well, blue with white centers, just like Baldur's eyes.

It was a miracle, since those bushes were obviously yews, and incapable of flowering. This meant that it really wasBaldur standing there, and not some imposter like Grimm had been telling the gods for centuries. The magic of the Jotun, even Loki's, couldn't fake a truemiracle.

"These flowers have bloomed to mark both an end and a beginning.” Baldur's blue and white gaze was

glued to the camera. Val couldn't shake the feeling that he was staring right at him. You barely noticed Loki standing behind him, somehow in shadow.

Val groaned. Baldur was glowing. It was hisshadow his lover stood in.

"You all forgot something, you know. I am a God of Spring. I bring peace, hope, joy, et cetera.” He waved his hand, careful not to knock over the lily. Val could hear Loki's snort of amusement behind Baldur, noted the first hint of warmth to enter those cold eyes. “Just as you have given me no peace, now I give you no peace.” Those sky blue eyes darkened until the white pupils glared out of a circle of navy.

“No gardens shall bloom, no sun shall shine for you. Winter is in your hearts to stay until justice is served, both for the torment you've given Loki and myself and the injuries you've done to our families."

At that point, Loki leaned forward, placing one hand on Baldur's shoulder. “By the way, Frey? Thor?

Jordan's fine. We're keeping her safe.” That devil's grin that had gotten him into so much trouble over the centuries was on his face. “And we've decided to just plain keep her."

Oh, shit.Val watched as the familiar YouTube scrolling screen appeared, asking people to rate the video. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

No wonder Grimm was ready to blow a gasket.

Frey and Thor would probably start bellowing like bulls, knowing that Jordan was in Loki's hands. It wouldn't matter to them that she was also in Baldur's hands, since they probably still believed Baldur was an imposter. He wondered how many phone calls Grimm had already gotten from them.

And he wondered how Frigg would take the news that her son was still alive.

He blinked, startled, as his hands left the keyboard. He'd just emailed the link to each and every one of the Aesir and Vanir in his address book.

Damn it, Loki! What the hell do you think you're doing?

But deep down, he knew. He just hoped Jordan didn't get any more hurt than she'd already been. If she hadn't leapt to Logan's defense, she never would have gotten hurt in the first place. He'd aimed the shot to miss by just a hair, a hair Jordan had stepped into. Damn it.

There was a gasp from outside his office. Stepping out to see what was going on, he saw plants withering and dying. And from the gasps and yelling he could hear, all of the plants in Grimm and Sons were doing the same.

The true meaning of Baldur's curse hit home.

He turned and went back into his office, trying to hide his snicker behind a cough.

Damn, bro. Way to make your point.

God of Spring, indeed.

The incessant pounding on the door had Logan groggily getting to his feet. Kir was sleeping in the bed with Jordan, making sure she didn't need anything, while Logan had stayed up all night working. He'd just fallen asleep on the sofa after a long bout of research, both on the computer and in some of the more

esoteric books he owned.

It had been two days since they'd brought Jordan home, with orders to see to it that she got physical therapy. If Logan was right, though, she wouldn't need it.

He opened the door to a small, pissed-off redhead. Her wild curls danced around her head in their own fiery halo. Her foot was tapping a staccato beat as she glared at him. “Where's Jordan?"

"Good morning to you too, Jamie.” He blinked sleepily, scratching at his naked chest as he yawned. It was too damn early in the morning for this. “Jordan's sleeping."

Her pixie eyes narrowed. “ Where?"

He couldn't help it. He leered down at her. “In my bed. With Goldilocks."

She took a deep breath. “ Jordan!"

He winced and fought the urge to cover his ears. She had a set of lungs on her that would make an opera singer proud. “Fuck, shut the hell up. You want to wake the whole damn floor?” He grabbed her by the arm and yanked her through, ignoring her gasp when the wards flared up around her. Something about that bothered him, but he was too damn tired to figure it out. “Jordan was shot. She's just out of the hospital and needs her rest."

She growled up at him, cute as a kitten. “Exactly. Moron. Which is why I'm here."

"What's up?” Kir stepped out of the bedroom, all rumpled and warm, his black sleep pants full of wrinkles. Logan wanted to just slurp him up, especially when he yawned and rubbed his six-pack abs.

Jamie growled again.

He pointed with his thumb at Jamie. “The Chihuahua here wants to know where Jordan is. Ow.” He leaned over and rubbed his shin, glaring at Jamie. She'd actually kicked him, and now stood there, glowering at him. “Down, tiger."

" Where is my sister?” Jamie was actually shrieking, stamping her foot, her face turning beet red.

Kir looked at Logan and grimaced. “She's in bed, sleeping."

"Not anymore.” A sleepy, grumpy-looking Jordan stuck her head out of the doorway. “Morning, Jamie.

I see you haven't had your coffee yet."

"Jordan? You okay? Tweedledum here didn't want to let me in."

"I opened the damn door, didn't I?” He limped into the room, ignoring Kir's rolling eyes, and headed right for Jordan. He kissed her on top of her sleep-rumpled head. Her hair was sticking up, and it tickled his nose. He pouted down at her. “She kicked me."

"Poor baby.” She patted him on the head, yawning again. “Go make coffee, will you?"

"Work, work, work.” Logan paused by Kir long enough to exchange a quick kiss before he headed into the kitchen, grumbling.

"Cinderfelly, Cinderfelly, night and day it's Cinderfelly,” Jordan sang as she headed back into the bedroom, presumably to get dressed.

Logan stopped, stunned. He put his hands on his hips and turned, not surprised to see Kir collapsed against the doorframe, laughing his ass off. “Very funny, dickhead. Why don't you go deal with the evil stepsister while I put coffee on, okay?"

He caught the look of suspicion on Jamie's face as he headed into the kitchen, but at least some of the anger had left her eyes. Good. I don't want Jordan upset.And having her baby sister fussing would upset her, big time.

Calling Jamie hadn't been in their plans, but Jordan had begged and pleaded for them to call her family.

So they'd called Jeff, figuring he'd be the calmer of the twins. Poor Jeff had been stunned to hear what had happened, but he was out of town on a case and couldn't get back very quickly. He'd offered to call his brothers, Magnus and Morgan, but Kir had talked him out of it, saying Jordan wanted to talk to them herself. He just hoped little brother had listened, or he'd wind up with two pissed-off gods on his doorstep. Dealing with the twin, full-blooded sons of Thor was noton his to-do list today, thank you very much.

Apparently Jeff had opted to call little sis instead, who'd decided it was a goodidea to show up at the ass-crack of dawn.

Wait. Two women, one of them pissed off, together in our condo. Neither one of whom has had caffeine.

He shuddered and did the only sane thing he could. He hid in the kitchen and made coffee.

Kir pulled away from the doorjamb and wiped the tears from his eyes. Little Jamie was still standing there, hands on hips, glaring at him like he'd run over her puppy.

"What?"

He was baffled when she shook her head at him like he was a loon. “How bad is she?” She plopped down on the white chaise, staring at him a little less angrily.

"Hurting.” He winced when she glared at him again. “We're taking care of her, I promise."

"You don't even know her. How can you take care of her?"

He glided over to her, watching her face as she slowly took in his naked chest. The look was assessing and without heat.

The little minx is sizing me up!

"How does Jordan feel about this whole ... arrangement?” She waved her hand in the air, her brows still furrowed. “I mean, she's pretty big on the whole monogamy thing."

"Tri-ogomy."

Jamie blinked. “Huh?"

Kir shrugged, and yawned again. It was too fuck-all early in the morning for her to try and get him to make sense. “Three people, all together. Not sure monogamy is the right word."

"So you two are going to sleep around on her?"

"Around her, on her, in her ... yup, that covers it.” He fell onto the sofa and put his arm over his eyes.

Damn he was tired. Despite the fact that Jordan had slept most of the night peacefully next to him, it hadn't felt quite right. He'd missed having Logan in the bed with them. That would have made it perfect.

But they'd been too afraid of jarring her healing shoulder to risk it.