Free Betrayals (Cainsville Book 4) by Kelley Armstrong Page B

up, waiting for a response. Too deeply asleep, and there’d be no reaction, which was a red light. But as he teased Liv’s inner thighs, she sighed in sleep, her legs parting, and that was a green. Well, a yellow. Proceed with caution, because if she didn’t wake, it meant she needed sleep more than sex. He eased his fingers up, stroking until she shifted more, and he slid his fingers into her and she sighed again, deeper now, snuggling back against him. Still asleep, but having very pleasant dreams and—
    A yowl cut through the night.
    Ricky stopped, and Liv made a noise in her sleep, clearly not pleased at the interruption to her dream. He pushed upright, peering around the dim room, his eyes adjusted enough to make out everything.
    “TC?” he whispered.
    The cat usually slept on the foot of Liv’s bed. Even if things got raucous, he’d only glower at them and move farther from the epicenter of the disruption. The yowl came again, through the open window, distant, with a plaintive note.
    TC had been inside when they went to bed. Ricky always got the impression he liked to stick close to Liv while she slept, watching over her.
    The yowl came again.
    “Lousy timing, cat,” Ricky muttered. He leaned over and planted a kiss on Liv’s shoulder, and then carefully slid from bed.
    TC was not out front. Nor was he waiting at the rear door. Ricky checked anyway, twice, and then stood on the front porch, shivering in only his jeans as he surveyed the empty street. The yowl came again, muffled. TC was inside somewhere.
    The cat had gone missing once before. He’d been trapped in the basement of the Carew house. Purposely trapped there, Tristan putting him in that basement so he could get into Liv’s apartment undisturbed.
    Which meant Ricky needed to get back to Liv, and they’d find the cat together. Yet when he reached the stairwell, TC yowled again, right on the other side of the wall.
    Ricky walked to that apartment door and rapped. He wasn’t surprised when no one answered. They’d never met one of Liv’s neighbors. They’d only catch glimpses and hear voices and occasionally soft music.
    When Ricky rapped again, TC yowled, and he reached for the knob. The door was unlocked. He eased it open, leaning in to call a hello, and—
    A blast of ice-cold air hit him. Arctic cold.
    A tinkling sounded, like icicles falling and shattering, and he pushed open the door. The blast of cold hit again, fresh andpure cold, like plunging into icy water, exhilarating and terrifying and—
    A wizened hand yanked the door shut.
    “What do you think you’re doing, Mr. Gallagher?” Grace crossed her arms. “You’d better have a good excuse, poking around my building.”
    “TC’s in there.”
    “Huh?”
    “Liv’s cat—”
    “I know who TC is. Stupidest name ever. If that damned beast ran off, I can promise you he’s not in there.”
    “I heard him yowling.”
    “Unless he’s learned to pick locks, he’s not in that apartment.”
    “It isn’t locked.”
    She jangled the handle. “Yes, it is.”
    “Look, I don’t care what’s in there. Just bring TC out. I won’t even peek.”
    “Peek at what? There’s nothing inside but dusty old furniture.” He sighed. “Fine, Grace. Just let the cat out. I can’t sleep with him yowling.”
    Her wrinkled face puckered. “What yowling?”
    “Damn it, Grace. Just—”
    A meow cut him short. TC came trotting from the stairwell. He saw Ricky and gave another meow, sounding exasperated now, as if to say,
There you are
. He walked over and planted himself in front of Ricky. Then he looked at the stairwell and meowed again.
    “Someone’s telling you to get back to bed,” Grace said.
    “He was in there. I heard him.” Ricky turned to the apartment door.
    Grace reached up and took hold of his chin. He let her tilt his face down to hers as she straightened to her full five feet and squinted up into his eyes.
    “You got in after dinner last night,” she said.
    “Right. You