Ewen leaned across the table and kissed him, and Lamont completely forgot what he was going to say.
“You’re trouble,” he said when Ewen sat back in his seat again.
“You like it.”
“I really do.”
By the time they finished their wine, the restaurant was nearly empty. Lamont went to the desk to pay the check while Ewen excused himself to use the restroom. Lamont was humming quietly, already thinking of the fun they would be having whenthey got back to the hotel. The sexual tension had been building all evening, and Lamont was looking forward to seeing how loud he could make Ewen moan before they thought about sleeping.
He was just tucking his credit card away when the screech of an angered fox rang through their bond. Lamont moved without thinking, his hound surging forward as he burst through the bathroom door, slamming it shut behind him.
There were three men dressed in black tactical gear, and they had Ewen pinned against the far wall. One held his arms, another had a cloth moving toward his mate’s handsome face -fucking chloroform- while the third was reaching for zip ties.
Ewen was fighting hard. His animal side was giving him faster reflexes, but not much in the way of strength. His knee connected with one attacker’s groin, making the man grunt, but the one with the chloroform was getting closer, even as Ewen was leaning back and tossing his head from side to side.
Lamont’s hound roared with fury as Lamont grabbed the nearest attacker - the one with the zip ties - and threw him bodily into the tile wall. The man hit with a sickening crack and slumped, unconscious. The second man released Ewen’s arms and spun around, pulling out his gun. Lamont was faster. He caught the man’s wrist and twisted it until a crack of a wrist bone breaking filled the air. The gun clattered to the floor as the man attached to that wrist screamed.
The third man - the one with the chloroform - chucked the cloth to one side and drew a knife. He lunged at Lamont, clearly hoping to catch him unprepared. Lamont sidestepped and caught the man’s arm, using the man’s own momentum to slam him face-first into the sink. Blood sprayed as the operative’s nose shattered and he sank to the floor.
The whole thing took maybe fifteen seconds, but to Lamont it felt like an hour. Ewen sagged against the wall, breathing hard, his fox showing through his eyes. Lamont pulled him close, checking for injuries while his hound’s snarls rumbled through his chest.
“Are you okay?” Lamont demanded, but it was hardly the time for polite chitchat. He was pissed off with a capitalP.
“Yeah. Yes.” Ewen’s hands fisted in Lamont’s jacket lapel. “They came out of nowhere. I didn’t even hear them come in. I was washing my hands and then…”
“I know. I felt it.” Lamont pressed his forehead to Ewen’s, forcing his hound to calm enough that he could think. “We need to leave. Now.”
The operative with the broken wrist was fumbling for something with his other hand, likely for a backup weapon or communication device. Lamont kicked the man in the head, and that took care of that problem.
“Are you thinking this is Arcturus?” Ewen asked, still panting, but his voice was steadier now.
“It has to be.” Lamont pulled out his phone, already dialing Redford. “They must have tracked us somehow.”
The call connected on the second ring. “Stone.”
“Three Arcturus operatives just tried to grab Ewen in a Berlin restaurant restroom,” Lamont said curtly. “They’re all down, none of them are dead, but we need a cleanup crew and someone to take these bastards, because they’re not coming with us.”
Redford cursed. “Location?”
Lamont gave him the restaurant name and address. “We’re behind a locked door with the assailants, but there might be more outside.”
“Stay put. I’ll send a team. They’ll be there in the next ten minutes. They’ll be gargoyles dressed in local authority uniforms. You’re not the only being that can translocate.” Redford’s tone dropped to a growl. “And if anyone else tries to get through that door before my people get there, invite the assholes in and just add their bodies to the pile I’m sure you already have.”
“You can bet I will.”
Lamont ended the call and turned back to Ewen, who was staring at the three unconscious men with an expression somewhere between shock and fury.
“They were going to take me again,” Ewen said quietly. “Again. Why do they keep doing that? They had chloroform and fucking zip ties, the same as last time.”
“They’re not taking you anywhere.” Lamont positioned himself between Ewen and the door, his hound on full alert.
“How did they know where we were?” Ewen asked. “We’ve been careful. No social media, no credit cards in my name…”
“I used my card for dinner.” Lamont’s jaw tightened. “They must be monitoring financial databases, flagging any transactions near you.”
“That’s…that’s not legal and how the hell did they get here so fast? You were paying for the meal when I was taking a piss. Flagging a transaction is one thing, but they’d have to have already been in the area.”
“Since when has Arcturus cared about legal?” Lamont checked his phone. Eight minutes until Redford’s team arrived. “As for how they found us…we’ll leave that for Redford to find that out. In the meantime, I need you to stay behind me. If anything happens…”