Bound by Blood (Cauld Ane Series) (20 page)

Sam laughed. “If you were truly that affected about me hanging out with Cole, I’d know it, but you’re cute for saying it.”

Kade pulled her keys from her hand and dropped them on the table. “Cute?”

“What are you doing?” she asked.

He covered her mouth with his and lifted her to his height.

Ég vil að þú manst þetta þegar þú ert með honum
.

The words floated into her mind and then his thoughts, heavy with emotion, followed. Sam slid her hands into his hair and matched his passion to a dangerous level. The images flashing in her mind were lowering her guard. Snippets of what looked like individual frames to a movie flickered in her psyche. She and Kade were making love and her appearance was very different from what she saw in the mirror. She was beautiful.

Samantha quickly realized that if they didn’t stop, they’d never make it to work.

It was Kade who finally broke the kiss and groaned as he lowered her back to the ground. “That was different.”

“What
was
that?” Sam tried to catch her breath. “Is that how you see us? Me?”

“Aye. Does that scare you?”

“No. It’s sexy as hell.”

He laughed. “Well, you are. I don’t understand why you don’t believe me.”

“Because I’ve always been the geeky girl who hid behind her gorgeous best friend. Pepper’s the one who got the hot guys. Not me.”

“Och, love. You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.” He stroked her cheek. “Worlds apart from even Pepper.”

“Charmer.”

He kissed her nose. “I’m simply stating the truth.”

“Thank you.” She patted his chest. “Now, are you going to tell me what your little warning meant?”

“What warning?”

“Nice try. Your tone wasn’t one of endearment.”

“I just want you to be careful,” he said. “That’s all. We should probably get going. I have a meeting in less than an hour.”

Sam let him escape…for now.

“What are you scheming?”

“Me?” she said innocently. “Nothing. I was just thinking I’d continue where I left off in the lab.” She wrapped her scarf around her neck. “I noticed something strange in the samples yesterday.”

“What do you mean, strange?” Kade asked.

Sam leaned against the back of the couch. “You know how you have the vials numbered?”

“Yes.”

“The notes from Angus state that they’re all from women within the same race, but not family, correct?”

“Aye.”

“But the blood for one of the women is really different than the others.”

Kade frowned. “How?”

“I suppose the easiest way to describe the inconsistency is that it doesn’t have the power to fight off a few of the viruses the other samples can. The immunity isn’t quite as…complete.”

He cocked his head. “Why are you sitting behind a microscope, love?”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“The way you simplify everything. You’d be an incredible comfort to a parent who can’t understand the medical verbiage.”

“I have a hard enough time talking to people, let alone a parent whose child is sick. No thank you.”

“You talk to me without a problem,” he pointed out.

She wrinkled her nose. “Yeah, still trying to figure out how that works.”

“Because you knew me the moment you met me.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Still, you have a gift.”

“Because I sound simple?”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I was trying to say,” he droned.

Sam grinned. “I can’t take any credit for it. You can thank Dr. Bean. She was this hippie dippy professor who forced us to take every medical finding and break it down in layman’s terms. I always thought it was a waste of time, since I knew my destiny was for the lab, but she insisted, and now I have a tough time using the proper terminology.”

“Well, I like it.”

Sam rolled her eyes. “That’s because we’re in the honeymoon stage of our relationship. I can’t do anything wrong just yet.”

“That
is
true.” She narrowed her eyes and Kade laughed as he reached out and pulled her close. “What I meant to say is that even when we’ve been together for fifty years, you still won’t ever do anything wrong.”

“Good save, honey.”

He leaned down and kissed her. “I love you.”

“I love you too. Can we go to work now?”

“One more kiss.”

She obliged.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

SAM LET HERSELF into her office and gasped. The room felt like a sauna. The thermostat on the wall had been set to the highest setting, thirty degrees Celsius. She adjusted it to a more comfortable temperature and quickly hung up her coat.

A knock and then, “Sam?” had her turning to find Fiona in her doorway.

“Hi, Fiona.”

Fiona stepped back with a hiss. “Why is it so bloody hot in there?”

Sam shrugged. “I don’t know. The heat was turned way up, but I don’t know why.”

“Hmm. We should probably tell Kade.”

“No, don’t bug him. He’s slammed right now. It was probably the cleaning crew. I’ll just leave a note for them.” Sam stepped into the hallway to cool down. “Did you need me for something?”

Fiona smiled. “Yes. Kade closes the lab whenever there’s a fifth Friday in a month, which means tomorrow you have the day off.”

“I do?”

“Yep, and since Kade and Angus are going to be busy prepping for the shareholders’ meeting, I was wondering if you’d like to go shopping.”

Sam rubbed her hands together. “Ooh, a day without men…and shopping to boot. Yes, please.”

Fiona frowned. “We’ll still have a man with us.”

“Alasdair doesn’t count.”

“I won’t tell him you said that.”

“Probably a good idea.”

Fiona waved and headed to the elevator. “I’ll pick you up around ten.”

“Perfect.” Sam stepped back into her office, still uncomfortably warm.

* * *

Sam had been in the lab, bent over her microscope for close to an hour, when she heard the swish of the lab doors and turned to find Kade walking toward her.

She grinned. “Hi, honey.”

“Hi yourself. I thought I’d come and tell you I have lunch ready in my office.”

“Okay. Do you want to see what I was talking about this morning?”

He nodded. “Please.”

She put her sample away and then removed her protective clothing. Leading him to the computer, she pulled up her findings. “See, here’s the one from the sample you gave me at the beginning.” She pulled up the pictures that provided a side-by-side comparison. “And this is one of the refrigerated samples.”

“What’s the number on the refrigerated sample?”

“Three-two-nine-six,” Sam said.

“And the other?”

“That’s the one with the compromised immunity. Four-eight-seven-two,” she read.

“Shite,” Kade hissed as he stared at the screen.

She laid her hand on his chest and frowned up at him. “What’s wrong?”

“The sample with the weakened immunity is Fiona’s,” he whispered.

“Really?” She focused back on her findings. “Could it be a mistake? Maybe the blood was taken wrong.”

“Angus drew it, so we can be sure he made sure it’s right.”

“We’ll figure this out, honey. I promise.” She shut off her computer and faced Kade again. “I’m going to need more information though, okay? Particularly symptoms.”

“Aye. We can talk about it on our way home tomorrow.”

“I feel your fear, Kade. What’s going on?”

“Not here.”

“Okay. Let’s go to your office. I’m starved.” Sam hung up her lab coat and then made her way with him to the elevator.

Once inside the elevator, Sam linked her fingers with his and waited for his emotions to calm. He took a deep breath and lifted her hand to his lips. “Thank you.”

She smiled.

The elevator arrived at his floor and although Kade dropped Sam’s hand, he kept his connection with her by placing his hand on her back. She led him past Anna’s desk and into his office and then turned to face him. “Tell me.”

“I don’t know what to tell you, Sam, other than we’ve had several women die suddenly and the only thing we know is that it has something to do with temperature. We are all affected by heat, however, our women have a lower threshold. Fiona’s the worst hit. If the heat rises to just below seventeen degrees, she’ll pass out, among other things. Normally, we’re able to handle twenty degrees, but she’s not.”

Sam did a quick calculation in her head. “Sixty-eight degrees Fahrenheit. That’s not particularly warm.”

“Aye.”

“So, if Fiona’s blood is the immune-deficient one, who do the other samples belong to?” He raised an eyebrow and Sam crossed her arms. “You don’t have to tell me, you know. I could find out by just touching you.”

“That might be easier.”

“Just tell me.”

Kade slipped his hands into his pockets and faced the window. “Payton and Shannon.”

“Shannon
Fraser
? She’s Cauld Ane?” Samantha groaned. “Of course she is. No wonder she felt like she was made for you! She literally was.”

Kade shook his head. “Don’t do that, sweetheart. Even if I hadn’t found you, it would have never been her. And she’s gone. Forever.”

“There’s comfort in that, I suppose,” she retorted.

He held his hand out to her. “Come here.”

She closed the distance between them. “Sorry. I’m just tired.”

“I know you are.” He kissed her forehead. “I can also feel your headache. You’re grumpy when you’re in pain.”

“Okay, don’t think you know me that well.
Everyone’s
grumpy when they’re in pain.”

“Point taken.”

Sam smiled. “Are you going to tell me what you said this morning?”

“I said a lot of things this morning.”

She stepped back and crossed her arms. “Start talkin’.”

He studied her for several seconds and then shook his head. “I simply reminded you that you should be thinking of me when you’re out tonight.”

Samantha snorted. “You are a ridiculous man.”

He advanced on her. “Do you need another reminder?”

She grinned. “I certainly wouldn’t turn one down.”

He pulled her close and kissed her until she could barely breathe. She broke the kiss and dropped her head onto his shoulder. “Wow.”

“So?”

She stared up at him. “Of course I’ll be thinking of you, honey. I would have been even if you hadn’t played the slide show in my head.” She tapped his face gently. “Now I’ll just be wanting a little something more.”

“You could always cancel.”

“Nah, I’ll just make Cole kiss me if it gets too bad.” A low growl sounded in Kade’s throat and Samantha laughed. “Serves you right.”

“If he touches you, Samantha, I’ll know about it.”

“Of course you will, because I’ll tell you.” Samantha slid her hands around his waist. “Cole’s a friend, sweetheart. Nothing more.”

“Just make sure it stays that way.”

“It will. Besides, your sister wants to go shopping tomorrow, so it won’t be a late night.”

“Good. Let’s eat.” He pulled her to the table. “Chef’s prepared something glorious, I’m sure.”

* * *

Samantha checked her appearance in the bedroom mirror and felt satisfied with her choice of apparel. She wore jeans and a black long-sleeved tee under her 49ers football jersey. She finished off the ensemble with her favorite Nikes and pulled her hair into a ponytail high on her head. She and Cole would be watching a game between the ’Niners and the Lions, so the competition was on.

Despite her arguments, Kade had insisted, and she’d reluctantly agreed, to allow Alasdair to drive her to the bar rather than have Cole pick her up. She saw the logic to a certain degree, Kade not wanting his enemies to know exactly where she lived, but even though she tried to point out that Cole wasn’t an enemy, Kade wouldn’t hear it.

She’d promised to see Kade before she left, so she locked up her apartment and made her way to his door. He opened it before she had a chance to knock.

“Hi,” she said.

“Hi.” He leaned down and kissed her and then pulled her inside. “You’re not wearing that, are you?”

Sam frowned. “Yes. Why? What’s wrong with it?”

“You’re too bloody adorable is what’s wrong with it. You need to go home and change into some kind of a sack.”

Samantha laughed. “I could always wear what I wore for our first dinner.”

“Absolutely not.” Kade sighed. “I should come with you.”

“You’re funny.” Samantha stroked his cheek. “Stop worrying. I’m going out with a friend. It’s no big deal.”

“And if I said I was going out with Shannon? Would you have an issue with that?”