19. Date Night #3
Julian leaned away, his brows knitting together. “I don’t like this. Playing with your life.”
“What better weapon do we have than humanity?” Honestly, a little more humanity would cure a lot of the world’s ills. But I had no time to be philosophical. Not when my life was physically on the line.
Julian shook his head, his expression caught somewhere between awe and frustration. “You are the most beautiful and brave creature I have ever known.”
I opened my mouth to respond, but panic flashed in Julian’s eyes. Before I could process it, he had me pinned against the wall, his rock-solid body pressed against every inch of mine.
“Cyrus is coming,” he whispered into my ear, voice low and urgent. “Forgive me for this.”
Quicker than I thought possible, he threw off his shirt, unbuttoned the top of my blouse and tugged loose my ponytail, letting my hair fall around us like a curtain.
His hands gripped my hips, fingers digging in as he pulled me closer—so close his mouth found mine, consuming me before I could even gasp.
But it didn’t take long for my lips to soften under his or for my body to melt into him. For a few blissful moments, everything else fell away—the night’s discoveries, the lies, the unknowns, the fact that Rafael had let Cyrus through. I didn’t even question why Cyrus was here so late.
All I could think about was Julian. How he tasted sweet, like grapes warmed on the vine. How his skin raised when my fingers dug into his back, trying to steady myself. How he made me feel wanted—needed, even.
Part of me reasoned this was all for show.
We had to keep up the act that we’d come here for some late-night sexy time, not for me to play scientist and uncover things I wasn’t ready to face.
Again, not my brightest plan. But heavens, was this sexy.
And the way Julian nipped and tugged at my lower lip, the way his tongue brushed mine before he took full control of the kiss—it drove me wild.
A gasp slipped out of me, followed by a helpless little groan I couldn’t swallow back.
Seriously, Booth and Bones had nothing on Julian and me in this moment.
But the ecstasy of the moment evaporated the second Cyrus unceremoniously walked in, wearing a suit and tie like he’d just stepped out of a board meeting.
“What the hell is going on here?” he asked, as if he didn’t already know. Surely Rafael had told him.
What I wanted to know was why he was here.
Julian turned toward him, half undressed, acting completely unbothered. “Hello, brother. How nice of you to drop in. Would you mind turning around so my wife can button her shirt back up?”
My cheeks blazed hotter than they ever had. I knew this made our lie more convincing, but seriously—how had this become my life?
Cyrus huffed before turning around. “You realize this is a lab, not a love den? I’m surprised at you, Nicolette. You know the strict sanitation rules that must be upheld at all times.”
“Don’t get onto her,” Julian snapped. “It was my idea. And there is nothing to worry about—the lab has not been tainted in any way. We saved the best part for her office.”
If I could have crawled under one of the benches, I would have. Instead, I buttoned my shirt and ran my fingers through my hair.
“Why is equipment being used, then? What exactly are you doing in here?” Cyrus did nothing to keep the suspicion out of his baritone voice that was haunting and lyrical just like Julian’s.
Oh crap. In the heat of the moment, I’d forgotten about the tests that were still running. He knows. I know he knows. Maybe he’s even in on it with the psycho who’s after me. Why else would he have come here?
“I wanted to see what my wife was working on since she talks about it so often and her work excites her.”
Oh, it excited me, all right. “So I ran some of the liver samples,” I added, trying to sound natural.
Cyrus said nothing and kept his back to us—thankfully not facing any of the equipment or samples we’d been using.
“What are you doing here?” Julian asked. He didn’t sound nearly suspicious enough for my liking. Did he trust Cyrus so much that he didn’t think this was odd? Wasn’t he furious that Rafael had let Cyrus disturb us?
Cyrus turned, looking almost bored, as always, yet his eyes flicked around the room—landing on the picnic basket, then my mom’s laptop. He didn’t say a word, but the way his jaw pulsed said everything. He had questions. Lots of them.
“I set up my phone to alert me to anyone accessing the lab after hours,” he said, his tone cool but edged with meaning. “I considered it prudent, given the current circumstances.”
“Very good of you, brother. You should have just called Rafael. I’m sorry you wasted a trip over,” Julian responded, clearly engaged in some private stalemate with Cyrus.
Did Julian question his motives? Or was this just how brothers behaved?
Cyrus stared at him so coldly, I felt the temperature in the room drop.
I held my breath; the tension was suffocating. And I had to wonder—if Cyrus turned out to be the enemy, would Julian still protect me?
“I did call him,” Cyrus sneered. “But I thought it best to come. Best to stop you from doing something we will all regret.” His words were directed at me.
Though his eyes were as blue as Julian’s, there was a deep-set darkness in them—something old, something calculating. Enough to make a shiver crawl down my spine.
Julian took my hand and tugged me to his side in a meaningful gesture. “Cyrus, I need you to trust me and my wife,” he said so tenderly I almost believed he actually saw me that way.
It was getting harder to tell truth from fiction.
Cyrus blew out a breath in disgust. “You’re only asking for trouble. But I’ll leave you to it. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.” He turned and strode out, slamming the door behind him.
I clung to Julian and swallowed hard. “Do you think he knows?” I whispered.
“No. At least not everything.” Julian refused to take Cyrus’s warning for what I feared it was. “It’s about the research of my blood. Not yours,” he tried to assure me.
I wasn’t so sure. I was beginning to think it was all about my blood. Maybe it always had been.