Otherworld Secrets, page 2
His hand tightened around mine. “I’d ask if you got done early, but I know that never happens. Was it work you could bring home?”
I nodded.
“Excellent timing. Nita goes for her nap after we get back home.”
“Giving me a quiet hour to work?”
He met my smile with one of his own. “Not exactly what I had in mind, but you can certainly try to work during it. I’d be rather disappointed if you managed, though.”
I laughed. I was tempted to let the job conversation wait until after sex. Four months pregnant meant I was into my favorite stage of the process, where I’m past the morning sickness, far from waddling, and enjoying the surge of hormones that make sex even better than usual, which is saying a lot.
It helps that I have a partner who very enthusiastically takes advantage of my libido upswing. Having a three-year-old, though, means scant private time. If I got the chance for an hour alone with my husband, I really did not want to spend it having a discussion that might turn into a fight. Sadly, I wouldn’t be able to push this conversation out of my mind enough to focus on sex.
As we were walking back to the house, I told Karl that we needed to talk first. Then I put Nita down for her nap, which is easier than one might think. She actually embraces the rest time, even reminding us if we forget it. She can feel her batteries running low and wants the recharge.
When I came out of her room, Karl had made tea.
“I came home early because Joel called,” I said as I settled onto the sofa.
Karl was at the bar, getting a water from the fridge. At my words, he stiffened, just a little. He uncapped a Perrier, his back still to me.
“I was going to tell you,” he said.
“I should hope so.”
“I planned to do it after dinner,” he said as he turned to meet my eyes. “Last night, we were preoccupied with Nita bumping her head, and this morning I didn’t want to hit you with it as you were heading to work.”
“Okay. I’d still rather not have heard it from my brother, but let’s move on. You liked the security work, Karl. Liked it a hell of a lot more than sales. Designing and debugging security systems is right up your alley.”
He’d been standing in front of the bar, listening. Now he came over and sat in the chair across from me. He fingered the bottle and stared out the back window, and as I watched him, turned away from me to hide his expression.
At home, Karl doesn’t dull his edges—he just keeps them covered. Working as a salesman, though, doesn’t just dull those edges—it smashes them and leaves him a little bit broken. It was killing me to watch it happen.
Worse, I had to feel it happen. As a chaos half-demon, I get a direct line to other people’s chaos. My powers may have weakened along with my hunger, but when my husband is struggling, I feel every twitch and roil of it.
I got to my feet and walked to the patio doors and out onto the back deck. Karl followed, leaving the door open so we could hear Nita’s bell. We refuse to put a lock on our bedroom door for privacy, so we put a bell over hers. We tell her it’s her princess bell, so we know when the princess is awake and her loyal servants can be ready.
I waited until he was outside. Then I turned to face him. “Tell me what I can do to make you quit sales.”
“Hope . . .”
“I know this isn’t about me. It’s about you, and what you want for your family, for your kids. You want to be able to tell them what you do for a living and have them be proud of you. But you know what, Karl? You being miserable in a job isn’t going to make them proud.”
“It isn’t about them being proud of me. It’s about having something to tell them. I don’t want my children to grow up with lies. The sales job is a temporary measure while I figure out what I want.”
“How about the security work that you just quit?”
He eased back. “I had a reason.”
“You researched the Anatolian Hoard, saw the Eye of Pldans, and knew if you designed the plans to secure it, you’d be tempted to breach them yourself. To steal it.”
He looked up sharply.
“What?” I said. “I’m your wife. I hope I could figure out at least one plausible reason why you quit after being given that specific job. I looked up the Hoard. It contains the Eye of Pldans. A jeweled amulet with a diamond center. In the human world, they say it’s cursed. But in the supernatural world, it’s believed to convey the power of fire to anyone with demon blood. In other words, for a half-demon, it adds a bonus power. That means that while it’s valuable to humans, it’s even more valuable on the supernatural black market.”
He was quiet for a minute. Then he said, “I put out a few feelers to see if anyone was looking to buy it. I told myself that was part of the research. A security system must protect against the supernatural powers of potential thieves.”
“Yes, and you can’t steal it even if you wanted to. It’s historically significant. That violates your agreement with Clayton.”
“True, but the buyer I uncovered isn’t a supernatural. He’s a Turkish national who plans to return it to his government, the rightful owners.”
“Meaning you could get the thrill plus the payday of a heist, and even Clay would admit it wasn’t a bad thing.”
“Not really my priority.”
“But still, win-win, right?”
“Except for the part where I betray my brother-in-law’s trust. And betray my own decision to retire, a mere six months after making it.”
I lowered myself into a deck chair. “I just want you to be happy, Karl.”
“I am.”
I met his gaze. “Chaos half-demon, remember? I can tell when you’re unsettled.”
“Unsettled, yes. Not unhappy. Am I as happy as I was three months ago, when you told me you were pregnant again? No. Am I happier than I was before I met you? Absolutely. The worst days since you came into my life are better than the best days that came before it, Hope.” He paused. “Except for when I was shot in the head while you were kidnapped by your psycho ex. That wins for worst day ever.”
I laughed in spite of myself.
He continued. “But other than that, I’m much happier now. Also, being shot in the head makes a man rethink his life. I didn’t want to die and have you lie to our child about what her father did for a living. Perhaps that shouldn’t have crossed my mind. But it did. It still does. I want to be able to look our children in the eye when I answer that question.”
“Getting a legit job doesn’t mean you need to stop being a thief.”
“Try to have it all?” He shook his head. “I spent fifty years thinking only of myself. I’ve had enough of that to last a lifetime. I’m only struggling a little because this is a period of transition. And it’s not as if I plan to give up every bit of adventure in my life and settle into a desk job. I have Pack missions, and I have interracial council investigations with you.”
He pulled another chair over to sit in front of me. “I’ll feed my own chaos cravings with those, and I’ll find a better position, and everything will be fine.” He leaned back in his seat. “By the way, the answer is four.”
“To what question?”
“How many kids I want. I know we keep going back and forth. Three, maybe four, no, three . . .”
“So we’re done talking about the security job?”
“You want me happy. I’ve picked a topic that makes me much happier.” He rose, picked me up, and put me on the railing, his hands on my hips as he moved closer. “You’ve said it’s up to me, and I keep waffling, which is highly uncharacteristic. But I’ve never felt it should be my choice. Yes, I know, you’ve said you don’t care, but you’re still the one who has to go through a nine-month pregnancy and childbirth. Yet I have decided that since you’ve given me the choice, and I believe I’ve proven that I’ll take on my share of the postpartum responsibilities . . .”
“More than your share.”
“Then if you are giving me the option, I need to be honest and say four. I would like four children.” His hands slid under my skirt and over my hips. “Yes?”
“I said it was your choice.”
“I’d still like to hear you say it.” He tugged my panties down and I lifted my hips to help.
“Yes, Karl, I’d like four kids, too. You realize you can’t start on number three now, right?”
He chuckled. “I can practice.”
“Uh-huh. You like that, don’t you? Particularly when I’m already knocked up.”
His nose wrinkled. “I wouldn’t put it that way.”
“Knocked up? Oh, hell, yeah.” I leaned back a little on the railing. “You like having kids. You like working on making kids. But you also really like this part.”
I eased my dress up over the bump it concealed. His hands slid up to that, fingers running over it as a smug smile played on his lips.
I chuckled. “You like that, and you like it even more when it’s big enough that everyone can see what you’ve done.”
“That would be positively Paleolithic of me.”
“Yep.”
His fingers dropped back to my legs and eased down my inner thighs, but his gaze stayed fixed on that bump, the smile growing, just a little.
“Very pleased with yourself,” I said, arching back as he slid a finger into me.
“Never. Any man can make babies. Most, anyway.”
“True.”
“Of course . . .” Another finger, working expertly, as I closed my eyes and moaned. “If I was overly pleased with myself, I would have good cause.”
“Would you?”
“Impregnating a woman is no great accomplishment. However . . .”
He paused here for more wonderful finger-work. I responded with more appreciative moaning. With his free hand, he undid the buttons on the front of my dress. His hand roamed up my stomach, pausing at my belly, and then continued to my bra, flicking open the front clasp.
“However . . .” he continued. “A brilliant and beautiful woman who agrees to have my babies . . .” He cupped my breast with his free hand and teased one nipple. “Who, furthermore, agrees to have as many as I want . . .” His lips came toward mine. “That is, I believe, cause for me to be very pleased with myself.”
He kissed me and I wrapped my hands around his neck and returned it. Then I pulled back, my hands dropping to undo his belt.
“That’s . . . not entirely true,” I said.
“No?”
I opened his button, pulled down the zipper, and reached inside. “I wouldn’t say I’m willing to have your babies. I believe the word”—I moved my lips to his ear and whispered—“is eager. Very, very eager.”
He let out a growl, grabbed my hips, and pushed into me.
THREE
A week passed, and I was once again editing my intern’s latest piece when my phone rang. I heard Joel’s voice, there was a moment of déjà vu, and I was so distracted by it that when he said, “Someone stole the Eye of Pldans,” the first words out of my mouth were, “Karl didn’t . . .” Luckily, I caught myself in time and finished with, “. . . work on that project.”
“Um, yeah, sis. That’s what we discussed last week. Baby brain?”
“No, I thought we talked about the Anatolian Hoard last week.”
“Right. Well, the Eye is the crown jewel of the Hoard, so to speak. I’m calling to see if he can help me figure out what went wrong. He has a knack for this, and I’m . . .” His voice lowered. “I’m in trouble, Hope.”
“The client isn’t holding you responsible, is he?”
“She. The necklace is insured, of course, and we don’t owe anything except a refund, but it’s a black mark on the firm, and considering we only branched into security work a year ago, it’s a huge blow to our credibility. I don’t want Karl to get the jewel back or anything . . .”
He trailed off, as if hoping this was exactly what I’d suggest. My family isn’t stupid. They’d never asked a single question about Karl’s “import-export business.” My other brother investigated Karl’s finances, but only to make sure he actually had money and wasn’t a gold digger. As for Karl’s former occupation? My entire family was completely uninterested. The messed-up baby had found her feet at last—a career, a loving husband, now children. I’m happy, so details don’t matter.
I doubt my family suspects the truth about Karl’s past. They just think it might not be . . . squeaky-clean.
“Retrieving stolen goods really isn’t Karl’s forte,” I said, which is absolutely true.
“Can he look at the plans, then? Show me where we went wrong?”
I suspected Joel’s real goal was to get Karl back on that team. See how fast you figured that out? We need you, Karl. No one else can do this. Which would be great, if Karl were the kind of guy who needed his ego pumped with flattery.
“You know, he does have this amazing piece of technology called a cell phone,” I said. “Better yet, he’s going to be at your office later, because he, you know, works for you. You can talk to him about this directly, Joel. Really. He doesn’t bite.”
“He doesn’t listen, either. Not to me. He just humors me because I’m signing his paychecks.”
“You’re his boss. You need to establish dominance.”
“You’re laughing at me right now, aren’t you?”
“Never,” I said, biting my cheek.
“Yeah, yeah. I have about as much chance of ‘establishing dominance’ with Karl as I do of winning an argument with Mom. I know my limits. Just talk to him, okay?”
I sighed and agreed.
That evening, we were on the back deck again, this time watching Nita run through a makeshift obstacle course Karl had set up for her.
“No,” Karl said when I told him about Joel’s request.
“Okay.”
“And . . .” he prompted.
I shrugged. “Okay.”
“You’re not going to argue?”
“Would it help?”
He shook his head.
“Then no, I’m not going to argue. I’ve made my point as strongly as I can, and you’ve made yours. Pushing veers dangerously close to nagging. You’re an adult. I can try to make you happy, but ultimately, I can’t force it on you.”
His lips twitched in a smile. “You can always try, though possibly not in the way you’re suggesting.”
I sipped my tea. “I will . . . after Nita goes to bed.”
He chuckled and settled into his chair. He didn’t ask if I was serious. Withholding sex because I wasn’t happy with him fit my definition of the old adage about cutting off your nose to spite your face.
We sat for a few minutes, watching Nita wear herself out for bedtime. Then he said, “It means a lot to Joel, doesn’t it?”
I didn’t answer. He knew it already.
Karl shifted forward. “I would like to help, Hope, but I don’t . . . I know your family suspects I have a shady history. They look past it for your sake. But there’s a limit. Showing Joel exactly how thieves circumvented his security passes that limit. It raises questions that I’d rather not raise.”
“Okay.”
He shifted again. “He doesn’t need me to look at those plans. He can hire an expert. He just wants to woo me back to security work.”
“Okay.”
“If you really want me to . . .”
“Nope, not falling in that trap. You make up your own mind.”
“Then the answer is no.”
“Okay.”
He sighed and slumped back in his seat to brood some more on the matter.
The next afternoon, I got another call. This one was from Paige, leader of the interracial council.
“Hey,” I said as I answered. “I was just going to call you. Hold on.” I took my phone out onto the office balcony. “There, privacy. I was going to see if you had any missions for me. Preferably the type custom-made for a chaos demon. I’d like to get some credits logged before I’m too pregnant to be chasing down leads and bad guys.”
“I . . . might,” she said. “But right now . . .”
“You have something else in mind. Something important and troubling.”
A strained chuckle. “I didn’t think your power worked over the phone.”
“It doesn’t. I can just tell this is a call you’d rather not make. What’s up?”
“The Eye of Pldans.”
I cursed under my breath. “Karl didn’t do it.”
“A very valuable artifact with a supernatural history has been stolen in Philadelphia. That would have me wondering already, Hope. But apparently the company guarding it is owned by your brother. And it’s the company Karl has been working for . . . in the security design division.”
“Right. And the fact that my brother’s firm is responsible for the necklace means Karl sure as hell wouldn’t steal it.”
She didn’t respond to that. Paige and her husband run a law and private investigation firm dedicated to helping supernaturals in need. She’s never going to understand Karl, and she’s given up trying.
“Put it another way,” I said. “What if I owned that company? Would Karl steal the necklace then?”
“No, of course not.”
“Betraying my brother would hurt me. Yes, Karl did work in Joel’s security unit. Yes, he was given the job of designing security for the Anatolian Hoard. But as soon as he found out what it was, he went back to sales, because he’s determined to go straight and didn’t want to be tempted.”
