The Runaway Cat (Book 2 Cloverleah Pack Series) (3 page)

Chapter Three

Fucking phone was Diablo’s first thought as he jerked awake.  He took a second to remind himself where he was, smiling fondly at the sleeping wolf beside him.  His cock twitched but the phone beeped again.  Cursing under his breath Diablo carefully slipped from Griff’s arms
and off the bed, fumbling on the floor looking for his pants.  Finding his phone, he peered at the single text message he had received.

Code Red

Diablo stared at it in horror.  No bloody way.  His mark was supposed to be away for three days on business and Diablo’s handler knew that Diablo was slipping off the radar for some much needed down time.  Something must have gone wrong and Diablo had to get his ass back to work, like now. He stole another look at Griff who was still sleeping peacefully and all of a sudden Diablo had had enough.  He was sick of having to jump every time his bloody phone went and there was no way he wanted to leave Griff with an unexplained mating mark and an absent mate.

Noticing a door on the side of the room,
Diablo opened it quickly to find a large bathroom.  Carefully closing the door behind him he flicked on the light and went and sat on the edge of a really big tub.  He stared at the message again before hitting the options menu on the screen.  Tapping ‘Dial’ he held the phone to his ear waiting for his handler, Dick Corbin to pick up on the other end.

“What the fuck, why aren’t you on the road Diablo?”  Diablo’s call had obviously woken Dick up.  Tough.

Keeping his voice low so as not to wake Griff, Diablo snarled, “I am not coming back so don’t bother contacting me about this again.”

“What do you mean, not coming back?  You are two weeks away from finishing the longest and most expensive fucking sting in this office’s history and you just decide you’re not coming back?”

“Exactly.”  Diablo’s tone was firm and Dick seemed to realize it because he quickly changed tact.

“What’s going on with you Diablo?  Come on, you can tell me.” 

Diablo shuddered at the sound of his pompous handler trying to be all buddy-buddy on the phone.  Dick Corbin was a bigot who made his opinion of Diablo’s sexual orientation very clear more than once.  Diablo knew that being one of the few openly gay men at his field office meant he often got the shit assignments, including the one he was on.  In Dick’s limited opinion gay’s weren’t capable of finding love, or sticking with one person longer than five minutes. Being human Dick wouldn’t understand anything about mates, or the Fates or anything that was so important to a shifter.

“I have a personal situation…” he started to say.

“You don’t have a personal life Diablo.” Dick snapped.  So much for trying to be friendly.

“Well I do now and I am not coming back.  You don’t need me on this job anymore. You have all of the intel you need to put
this guy away for fucking life.”

Dick sighed.  Diablo’s refusal confused him, but then he thought about his own position and knew he had to get the man back in place for the next two weeks at least.

“Look Diablo.  The warrants are being prepared as we speak.  Two weeks tops.  If you don’t show up now then the mark could get wind something is up and scarper.  You don’t want two years worth of work going down the drain just because of a situation you can’t put on hold for two weeks, surely?  If he takes off it could take us years to find him again.”

Diablo sighed down the phone because damn it, Dick made sense.  If his mark disappeared he would probably head offshore and even if the agency found him again they probably wouldn’t be able to touch him.
He thought about Griff sleeping totally unaware of what was going on.  He knew he could find the man again easily enough, but whether or not he was going to get a pleasant reception from Griff when Diablo did come back was a different story.  Still, it was only for two weeks, hopefully Griff would understand eventually. 

Hating himself for what he was about to do, Diablo snarled down the phone. “Two weeks, not a minute more.  Then I am gone, this phone is smashed and I swear you will never find me.  Not a minute more.  I am filing my resignation with the Agency as soon as the office opens
in the morning. Do you understand?”

In his grubby bed miles and miles away Dick sent a word of thanks to any powers on high, “Yeah, Diablo, I get it.  You have my word.  Two weeks and then you are finished, for good.  Now get on the road, your lover boy is looking for you.”

Diablo snapped his phone shut and stared at the floor for a moment.  Fuck what a mess.  He thought about his human mark, a slimy piece of trash that Diablo had been pretending to be a lover to for two years.  The thought of having to touch the man again made him shudder.  Squaring his shoulders, Diablo stood up and softly padded through the bathroom to the bedroom. 

Finding his clothes he quickly got dressed before kneeling down to find Griff’
s pants, looking for his wallet.  Pulling out the man’s driver’s license he snapped a quick picture of it with his phone, then after a quick debate with himself, he snapped a picture of the sleeping man on the bed.  Both pictures looked really dark on the phone but Diablo knew he could enhance them so they were usable once he got back to his base.

Taking one long last look at his mate, Diablo slipped quietly out the door, down the stairs and out onto the street.  Calling a cab he headed for the nearest airport.  He would have to leave his bike at Claude’s car park and pray it was there when he got back.  Maybe Griff could get it for him?  But Diablo knew as he
was driven off into the dawn light that his bike was the least of his problems.

/~/~/~/

The sun was fully up by the time Griff opened his eyes.  He rolled onto his back, the dark wooden beams on the white ceiling reminding him of where he was.  Lifting his head up, he scanned the room quickly checking that he was alone.  Yep the little cat had scarpered.  Griff grinned.  That was the nature of a hook up.  Just get your rocks off and no long drawn goodbyes.  Hmm shame really, Griff thought; I wouldn’t have minded another go at that one.  He stretched out feeling a twinge in his muscles that indicated he had been ridden hard and ridden well. All in all, a good night. 

Sitting up, he scooted across the bed to sit with his feet on the floor.  He rolled his neck muscles
and felt a sharp twinge where Diablo had bitten him.  He ran one hand over the wound and smirked.  The bite had been deep and Griff knew he had scab marks all through it. His grin got wider. The cat certainly had a set of teeth on him.  Griff didn’t mind.  He was a shifter and it would heal in the next day or so and in the meantime it would give Griff something to remind himself of the encounter.  That and his sore ass.

Thinking about Diablo Griff became aware of a quiet litany in his head.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Diablo. What the
heck?  Griff checked around the room again, but no he was definitely alone.  He focused on the voice in his head again and tried to reply.

Diablo?

Oh shit, the mate mind connection.  Totally forgot about that.

Diablo.  Where are you and what are you doing in my head?

Oh shit Griff I am so sorry.

Then Griff could see a whole stack of different images in his head.  A replay of what they had done the night before and in particular the fact that Diablo had bitten him as he had climaxed deep inside him.

You CLAIMED me as a MATE and then you LEFT? 

Griff was roaring
through the mind connection and he knew Diablo could feel it. He sniffed at the skin on his arms and his chest.  He could smell Diablo on his skin and he groaned as his cock immediately stood to attention.  The cat had a unique smell of apricots and spice and it hit Griff’s nose like an instant aphrodisiac. Diablo was Griff’s mate, Griff knew it now, but he had been too drunk the night before to pay any attention to the signals.

On his plane, Diablo closed his eyes as a barrage of emotions came from his mate, so many miles away.  Anger, confusion, arousal and hurt.  Mostly hurt.  He had to try and make this right.

Griff, Griff please I am so sorry.  Got a code red.  I rang my handler and told him no, Griff but he said I had to go.  Two weeks he said.  Just two weeks more and then I am finished.  I promise.  I will be back and I want exactly what you want.  What we talked about at the bar. Please trust me.  I didn’t mean to hurt you, honestly I didn’t.

Diablo could feel Griff’s anger slowly ebbing away although the hurt remained.

What do you mean finished?  How soon before you flock off on another job? 

Griff’s voice was calm
in Diablo’s head now and Diablo felt another pang of shame hit him.  Without realizing it from their first conversation Griff had made it plain what he expected with his mate - togetherness and Diablo had just slipped out at dawn like any other casual hookup. Now he was figuring that Diablo’s absence for work was going to be a continual thing and Diablo knew that was not what Griff wanted in a mate. He could make him feel better about that at least.

I mean I am finished Griff.  I faxed in my resignation to the agency this morning before I got on this bloody plane. Once my two weeks are up… I am yours if you
’ll have me.

Sitting on the bed in Claude’s room Griff sighed and rubbed his head. Then he ran his fingers over Diablo’s bite and gave another little smile to himself.  He could do two weeks if it meant he could have forever with that
handsome cat.

Okay, but you do realize the first thing I am going
to do when I see you is punch you in the face, repeatedly.

On the plane Diablo smiled for the first time since he left the bedroom.  Griff didn’t like the situation but he had accepted it for now and that gave Diablo a sense of peace he didn’t realize he needed.

I deserve it, I know.  In my defense can I suggest you were just so overwhelmingly amazing that I really couldn’t stop myself?

Crawling now. 
I like it. One punch, maybe.

I’ll give you the one, if you just let me know you do want me to come back and stay this time.

For some reason it was really important for Diablo to know that he did have something permanent to come back to.  He held his breath as he waited for Griff to reply. It was a lot to ask someone who he barely knew and Griff had been drunk during their encounter.  Shit Griff might not even remember what Diablo looked like.  He saw the stewardess heading down the aisle getting people prepared for landing.  Diablo felt his gut tighten as the full impact of what he was going to have to do for the next two weeks hit him.  He tried to rein in his thoughts because there were some things he did that he was not proud of and he didn’t want to share them with Griff until he could speak with him in person.  Then he felt Griff’s words sink into his brain.

Yeah my little pussy cat.  I want you to come back and stay.  I’ll be waiting for you.
But you had better believe this is the last time you are doing this to me.

I know, and t
hank you, you have no idea how much that means right now.

Where are you headed?

Baton Rouge, we are just landing now.

Okay, I will leave your mind in peace. 
You are FBI so I figure you know how to find me when you are done. Stay safe kitty cat.

You too Griff.

On the plane Diablo felt Griff slip from his mind.  Now all he had to do was get his head in the game, play his damn role for just two more weeks and then he was going home to Griff.  And if anyone got in his way he was going to shoot them.

Back at Claude’s Griff smiled even though his heart ached.  He had gotten brief glimpses of what Diablo had to do while they were chatting and it wasn’t something that Griff really wanted to think about too seriously. But he had felt a lot of genuine emotion too.  Diablo hadn’t wanted to leave and he obviously did not want to play the undercover role he had to do.  But the man had a job to do and Griff understood that much at least.

Thinking of work, he had a job as well.  Griff got dressed quickly, not bothering to shower.  He wanted to smell of Diablo just a little bit longer. He found his wallet and flicking it open, he sniffed.  Yep, his cat knew how to find him.  Snagging the card key for the room from the floor where they had left it, Griff strolled out of the room and down the stairs of the now empty club.   He spotted Claude over by the bar talking to a delivery man. Claude waved him over when he saw him.

“Hey Griff, did you have a good night.”  Claude had a huge grin on his
handsome face. The man really loved to gossip.

“It had
its moments.”  Griff would give him that at least.  He handed Claude the key.  “Kane wanted me to drop this off for him.  He and Shawn left a little early and…well you know how those two are.”

“Yep, kinda makes me jealous.  By the way what happened to the man you were with.  Did he slip out early or something?”

“He had some stuff to do apparently.  Why?”

Claude frowned for a moment.  “Oh nothing really except his bike is in the yard out the back.  I just wondered how long it is going to be there.  Not that it is in the way or anything.”

Griff thought quickly and grinned.  That little cat would come back one way or the other.