She straightened, the easy smile fading from her heart-shaped lips. "About what you were telling me before? The gates and stuff?"
I nodded, but before I could go any further, the buzzer went off and Harris made his way to the entry once more. Ren strolled through the door, and my breath caught. He looked like he'd just stepped out of the shower, hair damp and curling along his temples, face freshly shaven. A light, three-quarter sleeve thermal in charcoal gray clung to his broad shoulders and defined pecs. The black tactical pants fitted to his strong thighs.
God, he looked too good to be real, to be stalking toward where I sat, his stunning, emerald eyes fixed on me like I was the only person in the room.
"Wow," Val murmured under her breath.
I sat up straight, eyes widening as he advanced on me. I opened my mouth to say something—I don't know, a hello would've worked—but all the words died a quick and painless death. Ren clasped my cheeks in his hands and tilted my head back as he got right up on me, his legs spreading mine. His mouth was so close that we shared the same air.
"Uh," Val said, and she sounded so far away.
Ren kissed me, and there was nothing tentative about it, as if he didn't care that Val was sitting right next to us. He boldly parted my lips, and his tongue danced over mine as my grip on the edge of the table tightened. If I wasn't leaning against the wall, I probably would've fallen right over.
My lips tingled when he cut the hot kiss off, and I forced my eyes open. All I could see was green fringed behind black.
"Um. Wow. I think I just got pregnant watching that," Val said, breathless.
Ren chuckled. "I've been waiting all day for you to text or call me," he said, lowering his mouth to my ear. "I know you didn't forget about me."
Wincing, I drew back with my cheeks flushed bright red. I hadn't contacted him this morning, and it wasn't like I hadn't thought about doing it before everything went down with Tink, but I wasn't sure if he would've been cool with that. Like were we at that stage? I had no idea how many stages there were or at what level texting each other for no reason other than to say hi was acceptable and not an act of neediness. Now I kind of felt like a douche.
He pressed his lips just below my ear. "It's okay. You're out of practice, so I'll tell you how it is with me."
"Do tell," Val coaxed.
I shot her a dark look, but she ignored it as Ren placed his hands on either side of my legs. "I want to hear from you—whenever. Day. Night. Morning. After you get out of the shower, and especially any time you're naked." He winked, and I rolled my eyes. "And I have no problem with anyone knowing what you and I've got going on."
"Really? Never would've guessed that," I responded dryly.
I dared to take a peek at Val, and she was watching me expectantly. "So when did this happen?" she asked, moving her finger in a giant circle.
"Oh, it's been happening." Ren patted my leg as he straightened, folding his arms. The look on his face dared me to disagree.
So I did. Naturally. "Actually, we hung out yesterday."
"Wow," Val said. "I should bail on you more often."
Ren nodded. "I can agree with that."
I immediately thought of what happened the night we went to the club. I narrowed my eyes at him, and one side of his mouth curled up in a teasing grin.
"You two." Val shook her head, tsking under her breath. "You've been up to no good, knocking booty boots."
Warmth swept across my cheeks and down my neck. "Look, guys. There's some serious stuff going on—"
"Like what you two have been doing?" Val added, grinning when I groaned.
"No. Not that."
"Actually, I think what we got going on is pretty serious," Ren chimed in, and I wanted to bang my head on the wall.
Val pushed off the table, clapping her hands together as she twirled to face us. "I'm proud of you, Ivy." Then, completely shameless, she gave Ren a long, appraising look that was one step away from a visual molestation. "Really proud of you."
Thank God David decided to enter the room because I really had no idea where this conversation would go, and I didn't want to be there whenever it got to its pervy destination. I hopped off the table and stepped around Ren. "David, you got a minute?"
He stopped, shoulders tensing as he turned to us. "Do I want to have a minute?"
"Yes. Yes, you do."
Ren's hand landed on the small of my back. "What are you doing?" he asked in a low voice.
Glancing at him, I took a deep breath. "We need to talk to him."
"Ivy—"
David frowned, which wasn't entirely unusual. "Talk to me about what?"
"I found some stuff out this morning," I told Ren, willing him to understand. "We have to talk to him. Trust me."
A muscle ticked along his jaw as his gaze held mine. I could tell he wasn't at all happy about this, and when he looked away, flipping his eyes to the ceiling, I wondered if he was praying for patience. I wanted to tell him that I wasn't going to force him to talk about the Elite, but there was no way for me to bring that up without broadcasting it to the entire world.
"What in the hell is going on?" David demanded. "I don't have all day."
I took a deep breath. "Trust me."
His gaze shot back to mine, and another moment passed while I held my breath. Finally, Ren nodded. "Well, let's do this then."
Relieved that I wasn't going to have a major fight on my hands with him yet, I started toward David. "I think we should go into one of the rooms."
Val followed us, much to David's chagrin. "I didn't invite you to be a part of whatever the fuck is about to come out of their mouths."
She shrugged. "I'm inviting myself." She flopped down into one of the metal folding chairs as David closed the door behind us.
Ren eyed her with a measure of distrust. "Whatever is said in this room goes no further."
An elegant eyebrow rose as she met his gaze. "You're hot and obvious. A winning combination."
David looked half done with the conversation already. "Make this quick. I have to meet with a couple of potential new members that are being transferred here."
I glanced at Ren, but he'd taken up a silent stance in the corner of the room, arms folded over his chest, as still as a sentry. "There are ancients in the city, David."
"Oh, for fuck's sake—"
"Listen to me." I cut him off abruptly and in a way that would probably end with my butt getting written up. "There are. I've seen at least three of them, and they are planning to open the gate on Wednesday."
David's face darkened as he took a step toward me, and that's when I saw Ren move. Lightning fast, he leaped out of the corner and gripped David on the shoulder. I sensed no real threat from the sect leader, but Ren wasn't having it.
"She's not bullshitting you, man. I've seen them myself," Ren said. "They are here. They've been in a club downtown—Flux. And that place is most definitely catering to the fae. Not only that, but we've seen them talking to the police there."
Shrugging off the younger man's hand, David scanned the whole room with an annoyed gaze before landing on Ren. "First off, that's not a huge surprise. We've had situations before where the fae fed off humans who were police. And mostly importantly, I'm surprised you've actually seen a fae since you've been here, because boy, I'm pretty sure the only thing you've been concentrating on since you got here is how to get in that girl's pants."
"Oh my word," mumbled Val.
My jaw dropped, but it was the eerily calm smile that graced Ren's lips that concerned me greatly. "Now that's an unjust observation, David. I can multitask."
That statement wasn't helping things. "David, you need to listen to us. Those police officers didn't look like humans who were being fed on."
"They could've been compelled."
"Does that matter?" I shot back. "The ancients are planning to open the gate, and we know there are two in the city. But the one in Our Lady of Guadalupe Church isn't a functioning gate anymore. They can't get through that one."
Everyone stopped and stared at me.
"What?" Ren said softly.