Free Hear Me When the Sun Goes Down by Lisa Olsen Page A

voice slid over me as I passed by.  Unable to resist, and leaned up to steal another kiss. 
    “Good night, Rob.  I hope you sleep well.”
    “Not bloody likely,” he growled, pulling the door shut behind him.
     
    * * *
     
    I climbed into bed feeling much better about my chances with Rob.  Somehow we’d find a way to make it work.  He was right, it was stupid to get hot and heavy in the suite I shared with Jakob, but soon we’d find a way to have some alone time together, and that would have to be enough. 
    Just before I fell into the deep, coma-like sleep that claimed me each day, I felt a light touch at my hair.  Thinking at first it was Rob’s hand, I froze when I realized it wasn’t his scent at all. 
    It was Jakob’s. 
    Had he changed his mind about me sharing his bed?  Keeping very still, as only a vampire can, I waited to see what he would do.  Jakob didn’t do more than stroke my hair, and once my cheek, right where the new scar was.  It felt like a very long time before he finally left, and only then did I let out the breath I’d been holding the entire time.  The question kept circling round and around in my mind as I slipped off to sleep – how long would Jakob be content with that simple touch?

Chapter Seven
     
    There was no sign of Jakob in the suite the next morning.  Thankfully, my hormones were in check enough that I could greet Rob with a simple smile instead of tearing off his clothes with my teeth.  Though I did indulge myself for a few moments with that fantasy once it popped into my head.  What did I say about hormones?  It didn’t take much for them to kick into overdrive, and I deliberately tried to keep him at arm’s length, knowing we were both dangerously short on control whenever we were alone and within touching range.
    Luckily, I didn’t have time to dwell on it overmuch as my duties reasserted themselves with a vengeance.  Felix called to say he’d lined up a meeting with both Faust and Erlendur later in the night, and Jennike had expressed an interest in touring the west coast sometime in the future.  Cool beans.  Having my gums scraped sounded like more fun than rolling out the red carpet for her, but I instructed Felix to set it up, and delay for as long as possible.  There were still too many unknowns about what was going on back in my neck of the woods.
    Speaking of which, I took a call from Marcus, who had less than encouraging news about the erupting violence back home.  It had grown from belligerence to random acts of aggression that started to look not so random.  There were rumors that Byrne was behind them, but it was hard to pin down.  Nobody was talking. 
    Marcus surprised me by being much more focused on personal concerns.  “I’m thinking maybe I should get Maggie out of town, for a while,” he suggested.
    “It’s actually that bad?  She’s not a target, is she?  The Order has nothing against her, and I can’t think the rabble rousers would pay her much mind.”
    “I’m more worried about her getting hurt in the crossfire.  The last time we met at the Hart there was an altercation on the street outside.”
    “What kind of an altercation?”
    “The kind where a car bomb tore apart Frost’s SUV.”
    “There was a car bombing and you didn’t lead with that story?” I demanded.
    “I told you it was getting more dangerous here.  No one was hurt, but I’m afraid the SUV will never be the same again.” 
    “Holy smokes, what did the cops say?  I’m thinking this made the evening news, right?”  Why was this the first I was hearing about it?  I vaguely remembered Bishop mentioning something about unrest, but car bombs?  Did Felix know about this?
    “Don’t worry, we were able to do some damage control and spin it as regular gang violence, but like I said, they’re getting bolder.”
    “Cripes, at this rate I’m not going to have anything to come home to.”  Once the word got out about Jakob’s treatment of the