Renegade (Ministry of Paranormal Research & Defence) by Andrew Chapman Page B

unsteadily. After a moment she climbed to her feet and tottered towards the bathroom.
    My ego waved a tiny—but triumphant—flag. I, a mere human, had made a werewolf walk like that. Who's the man?
    And I fell asleep.
     
    Marie shook me awake.
    “Come on stud, come join me,” she said.
    Yeah, she was looking fresher and better, but I still felt like someone had been hitting me repeatedly with a bag of bowling balls.
    I rolled over and managed to get to my feet. Yeah, I'm the man. I am the man. Right now I felt like the old man, but hey, I'll take it.
    Marie led me into the bathroom where the big sunken tub was filled with hot, soapy water. It looked like the most inviting thing on Earth.
    Don't look at me like that. Guys can enjoy taking a bath. Especially when it's with a woman.
    I sank gratefully into the water, feeling my muscles relax and the stiffness leave my back.
    “Oh, that feels good,” I said.
    Marie pushed my knees open and sat down between them, leaning against my chest.
    “Yes,” she said with a contented sigh. “Yes it does. A perfect end to a perfect day.”
     
    I groaned my way awake. The bath had been fantastic, falling into bed with the love of my life had been the true crown of the evening. Then the phone rang. It was the one in my room but with the door open it was loud enough to wake me.
    I lay there, debating whether to answer. Then it stopped. Ah well, if it was important they would—
    The phone next to the bed started to ring. I groaned louder as I reached across to answer it. Marie turned over and cuddled against my back.
    “ Hello?” I said.
    “ Mr. Henderson?”
    “ Speaking.”
    “ Sorry to disturb you at this hour, sir, but this is James at the front desk. There is a gentleman here who insisted I contact you. He said to tell you that he's from the Ministry and he needs to talk to you face to face.”
    I suppressed another groan. The bloody Ministry and their bloody timing never did get any better.
    “Okay, tell him I'll be right down.”
    “ Yes sir, I'll tell him. And sorry again for disturbing you.”
    I hung up the phone and turned to Marie.
    “Come back to sleep,” she said. “Leave the little bastard standing there.”
    Of course, Marie had heard both sides of the conversation.
    “I wish I could, puppy. It's got to be important to disturb us like this.”
    “ Okay,” she said. “I'll wait for you.”
    I shook my head, yawning hugely.
    “Get dressed. We may have to leave in a hurry. You always take so long to get ready.”
    She blew a raspberry at me so I dived under the covers to tickle her. She gave a shriek and squirmed against me. The tickling quickly led to kissing.
    “Stay, love,” she said, covering my face in tiny kisses. “Forget the Ministry man and stay here, just you, me, and the kiss monster.”
    “ I'll be right back,” I said. “Get dressed.”
    “ And what if we're not going anywhere? What if he's just here with a message?”
    “ Then I get all the fun of undressing you again.”
    She made interested noises, snuggling close and kissing me repeatedly.
    “I gotta go, love. Stuffed shirt waiting.”
    She reluctantly allowed me to climb out of bed.
    “Their timing's off,” she said as she watched me dress.
    “ Yep. Could have waited a few days.”
    “ No, I meant that if they really wanted to piss us off they should have called a few hours ago.”
    I laughed at that and kissed the tip of her nose. Once I was fully dressed I started hunting for my shoes.
    “You getting up?”
    “ Yeah, running all the way,” she said, still firmly ensconced in the bed.
    I'd located my shoes and stood up to pull on my shoulder holster. I drew my trusty SIG and eased the slide back to check the round in the chamber before replacing it.
    “You don't think there's going to be trouble, do you?”
    “ Naw,” I said. “But if this wanker is coming here for anything less than life or death I want to be ready to kneecap the bastard.”
    I stood and stared at