“Mate papers?”

He halted at the door and turned, his look deadly. “Confidentiality agreement. You knew what I meant. Don’t f**k with me, brother.”

Fury leaned his hip against the side of the desk. “Tell your female I said hello. We’ll be sure to invite her to dinner too, with you.”

“Fuck you.” Darkness stormed out and slammed the door.

His keen hearing didn’t miss the sound of more laughter from the male. His hands fisted and he wanted to hit something.

Chapter Nineteen

Kat knew when she was being avoided. Darkness definitely stayed away from his apartment as much as possible. An officer had been posted outside in the hallway. She’d been instructed to stay inside or a New Species would stop her.

Boredom was a terrible thing. She flipped channels and almost threw the remote at the television. Nothing was on that she wanted to watch or that could distract her. For the past three days Darkness had left early, stayed away and only came home late at night. They had sex but it involved handcuffs. He kept her facing away from him, restrained so she couldn’t touch him. She couldn’t say it hadn’t been fantastic, just controlled and a bit cold. He didn’t want to talk, just went right to sleep afterward. He would hug the edge of the bed, his back to her.

The door opened and she turned her head, surprised to see him while it was still daylight. She hit the mute button and stood. “Hi.”

He slammed the door. “Hello. I need to change my uniform. It’s unusually hot today and I sweat while on patrol.” He strode across the living room toward the bedroom.

Her temper boiled. “I’m done.”

He swung around, pausing. “Excuse me?”

“That’s the most you’ve said to me since the morning after you brought me here. You’re gone all the time. I’m losing my mind.”

“You wanted to live with me.” His mouth tensed into a grimace. “I work long hours.”

She closed her eyes and counted to ten. He was gone when they opened. Kat stormed into the bedroom and caught him stripping out of his uniform. A fresh one lay across the bed.

“I want to be escorted to the gates. I’m going to need some money to get home. You didn’t let me grab my purse.”

“You’re not leaving.” He sat on the bed, removing his boots. “We’re still working on getting Robert Mason taken care of.”

“What does that mean?”

“Justice decided to go through proper channels since it’s the FBI. We don’t like to make enemies and we need to stay on good terms with them. We’ve been assured they are investigating him and he’s been suspended for the time being. They took his passport away too, preventing him from leaving the States.”

“I’m no longer in danger then. Even you can see that. I’m going home.”

He rose to his full height. “You can’t.”

“I can. I only came here to spend time with you. That’s not happening.”

He frowned. “Mason could still be a danger to you.”

“While he’s under investigation? He’s an ass**le but not a complete moron. I told you he’s not going to kill me. I bet the other agents he sent to Homeland are fine too, right?”

His lack of response was a good enough answer. He’d have smugly informed her if something had happened to the other agents just to prove his point. Silence spoke volumes.

“I want access to a phone then. I’ll call Missy and have her come get me.”

He made a point of staring at her stomach. “It hasn’t been five days.” He looked into her eyes then. “You aren’t leaving until you take that test and it comes back negative.”

“Fine.” She tried to be reasonable. “Understood. Will you escort me to guest housing or should I ask the guy in the hallway?”

He removed his boots, stood and unfastened his pants. “Your cottage was assigned to someone else. We have visitors. You’ll stay here.”

“Find me another cottage then.”

He removed the pants and put on the clean pair. “There is no guest housing available. This is it.”

Kat wanted to call him a liar but with the way he’d been acting, he seemed as if he wanted to be rid of her. It also could explain his foul mood. He was stuck with her. “Great. Wonderful.” She spun away, marching back into the living room. Two minutes later Darkness exited the bedroom.

“I’ll see you later.”

“Right.” She refused to look at him. “Don’t bother waking me when you come in. I’ll sleep on the couch.”

“Why?” His tone came out gruff.

She glared at him then. “I’m done just being screwed by you.”

His nostrils flared and he advanced a step. “You wanted to share quarters with me.”

“That was before I knew the only interaction we’d have was you waking me up by snapping handcuffs on my wrists and f**king me. You don’t even talk during. I’d rather just skip it.”

“You enjoy it.”

“I also enjoy talking, spending time with someone and not being avoided. You don’t give a damn about my needs. You seem to be punishing me, Darkness. I’ve had enough. You get the bedroom and I’ll take the couch. Make sure you set up that appointment for me to get a blood test the day after tomorrow. I’m out of here the moment we’re in the clear.”

“I’m not punishing you.”