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luscious cinnamon of his skin. Lucen’s distinctive pheromone smell was like a drug. The tension drained from my muscles, and my nerves sizzled with his body heat. I didn’t need sleep. I needed him. Now. So what if it was false comfort? I wanted to feel the safety of his body on mine.
    I also wanted to forget I was in the middle of Gryphon Headquarters, getting hot and wet while pressed against a satyr. The so-called enemy. Fuck my life. There was no way Tom or any other Gryphons watching were going to forget this happy reunion for one second. The ruse I’d maintained—the distance I supposedly kept from the satyrs—was now worth salamander spit.
    Cheeks flaming, I pulled away from Lucen, begging my brain to find a way to salvage this uncomfortable moment.
    If such a way existed, however, it didn’t matter because Lucen didn’t let me go.
    â€œUm, you’re crushing me?” I whispered into his neck.
    His blue-green eyes contained none of the mischievous humor that had originally drawn me to him. They were hard as stones. “Better me than a car or a fury addict.”
    â€œBut the end result might be the same. Flattened Jess. Not pretty.” My body betrayed me to him though. I’d dropped my bag and put my hands on his waist to push him away, but my fingers curled around his shirt. They wanted to tear it off, expose more of the skin that drove me wild, and Lucen definitely knew it. I swallowed. “I have a job here. Need to be professional.”
    â€œI hate your job.” He practically growled the words, and yeah, no kidding. It was the wrong argument to use on him.
    Still, he loosened his grip enough that I could finally turn around and discover that yes, in fact, most of the lobby was staring at us. My only saving grace was the early hour. It was mostly empty, and none of the inhabitants, besides Tom, were Gryphons. My witnesses were only the security guards and a couple people in business suits going through the metal detectors.
    Tom’s face revealed nothing, but I could sense his surprise. “Jessica, you seem to have neglected to mention just how close you are to the satyrs.”
    I winced. I was going to kill Lucen, who had to have realized what coming here would mean. Well, maybe sleep with him first, then kill him. At least maim him a touch. If I were truly mean, I’d withhold sex, but we both knew I’d be the one to cave first, so that was out.
    I realized Tom was waiting for a response, and I had to stop thinking about tying Lucen to his bed and doing unspeakable things to punish him. “Uh, this isn’t what it looks like?”
    Lucen’s muscles twitched behind me. He must have repressed a laugh. “Actually this is exactly what it looks like. Jess is one of us. You can put your uniform on her and call her a consultant, but she will always be one of us because you made her one of us.”
    Tom didn’t flinch. “It’s Lucen, correct? We made Jessica into a warrior capable of fighting your kind. What she is is a human with enhanced magical abilities, but that’s a discussion of magical properties I’d rather have with one of your own who’s an expert in the topic. Not a bartender.”
    This time Lucen did laugh. “I don’t think there’s anything you could contribute to the discussion, Agent Kassin, that I couldn’t handle. Although I’m not sure the reverse is true. But that’s beside the point. I’m here to take Jess home before you can do anything else to almost get her killed.”
    I should have known when I’d told Lucen what happened that this would be his reaction. I simply hadn’t expected him to show up at Gryphon Headquarters so early in the morning when all good little preds were tucked in bed.
    Exerting a bit more force, I extricated myself from his tight grip. “If it’s all the same,” I said to Tom, “I was about to ask if my next move