Underground

33

Joel's phone rang early the next morning and it was Krash inviting him for a trip on his yacht. How do I know? That's what the note left on his pillow said when I woke up after falling back to sleep. It also ordered me to stay in the house and not to step foot outside. So here I was currently sitting on the edge of the bed staring at the note he left me, pissed off. I picked up my phone and dialed his number which he answered on the first ring.

"Mrs. Young."

"Is it also a thing to command your Airen because let me tell you something, Mr. Young, you are about five minutes from tasting my foot for the next month," I growled into the phone.

"I'm glad to hear you are feeling better, sweetheart." Bastard! "Krash was just asking about you."

"You can tell him to suck a hard—"

There was shuffling and then Joel's hushed tone, "Really, baby? Is insulting people the only thing that mouth is good for?"

I rolled my eyes, "It does more than insult. It's also used fluently in the ways of sarcasm!"

"I might have to put it to better use then," he said and I could hear the smirk in his voice. I blushed, curling up into a ball on the bed and looking outside the window. "Any news?" I asked softly.

"Yeah. He definitely still has the four people we are looking for but its more complicated than that," Joel sighed. "The only time we will be able to even look inside his mansion is at his little party in two days. I might have to send for Jonathan and the others after all." So much for privacy. I mentally punched myself for thinking that way. We are on a mission not vacation.

As if he read my thoughts, Joel's voice dropped down to a husky whisper and said, "Don't worry. I will make sure you are throughly fucked before they arrive."

I shot up in a sitting position, blushing furiously. "Joel!"

He chuckled and I heard talking in the background. "I will be home shortly, Mrs. Young. Behave yourself," he said sternly.

"I'll think about it."

He growled which made me smile. "You better hope I'm in a better mood when I get back," he warned and I pressed my thighs together. Hell I would misbehave on purpose if the end result were his hands on me. He needed to hurry back.

•••

"We will be there tomorrow morning," Cherine told me over the phone as I heated up the lunch Joel left for me. My guess was that Joel must have called right after he hung up the phone with me and Cherine immediately called me minutes after. Apparently Nicholas has been in Madrid for the past month and that's why I haven't seen him. Carmen and Elizabeth had a confrontation the other day and Lena is still planning a wedding. I bit my lip.
"Cherine...what's an Airen?"

There was silence for a second. "Did Joel say that to you?"

"Yeah."

Cherine sighed and I took my food out the microwave, walking over to the couch in the livingroom. "An Airen is a Chinese and Japanese word that our people turned into the term used for our mates. Airen means Soulmate, perfect love, sweetheart, lover...the list goes on," she explained. "But mainly it's the strongest claim an Assassin can make on a woman. It's permanent."

I put my fork down and I looked at my phone in disbelief. "He...he called me his Airen," I whispered.

"He said it to us before and he's dead serious. You don't call just anyone your Airen, Justine," Cherine chuckled. "He's never even called Lena that and for an Assassin no one comes before his Airen so she's pretty much assed out."