Bonedust

hair making a halo around his face. He watched Urban with the smallest of smiles on his lips; an angelic smile that made Urban’s heart do a jazz beat in his chest. “Well it’s hard to keep real food with no refrigerator and nothing to cook on. So looks like we’re stuck with crackers and dried meat. Speaking of which, hand me the bag, would you?”
    Urban snatched the half-eaten baggie of meat jerky and waved it just out of reach. “I’m usually not picky, but I really want real food. You know. Steaks, seared on either side and juicy in the middle? I can freaking smell them sizzling, Gabe, and it’s killing me.” He groaned, fished a stick of jerky out of the bag for himself, then tossed it to Gabriel. “Goddess, I wish we had a grill.”
    The man stuck a piece in his mouth and chewed thoughtfully. “What about going to a restaurant? We have enough from the Suit purse to eat like kings for the night if we wanted.”
    “You know how much a couple of steaks are gonna cost at a place like that?” But it got Urban thinking anyway—thinking and salivating at the idea of biting into a piece of grilled meat, savoring the flavors dancing on his tongue. He rubbed his fingers across the slight stubble on his chin, stretching out his legs in front of him. “What about a campfire?”
    “Like, at the back of the motel?” Gabriel snickered. “I’m sure that’s on the blacklist, Urban. Too much of a fire hazard. What if the wind picked up and carried the flame over to the building. We’d be shit outta luck then.”
    “No, I meant that we could go camping. You, me, and Pandora. In the wilderness.” Urban grinned at Gabe’s dubious look. “No really. Build a bonfire—away from trees, don’t look at me like that, you tree hugger—and cook a couple of steaks medium rare over the flames. We could even sing campfire songs. It could be an experience.”
    “Sounds dangerous.”
    “We live for danger. C’mon, Gabe-babe, we’re a couple of guys being hunted by a crazy vamp king. What if we all died tomorrow? We’d never eat another steak again. I’m telling you: If Jeremie wanted to find you, he’d be here. Easy as that. I really don’t think he’s gonna parade up to us, drain me dry, and steal you away while we’re cuddling in a sleeping bag. Besides, we have Pandora. She’d kick his bony vamp ass.”
    “Jeremie would kill your hound without a second thought,” Gabriel muttered, ripping a hunk off his meat stick before pausing mid-chew. His dark eyes met Urban’s and a smile played at the corner of his lips despite his previous frown. “Did you say cuddling in a sleeping bag?”
    “We could buy one. A big one.” Urban waggled an eyebrow. “C’mon Gabe, you know you wanna. Just…think about the steak. The juiiiices. C’mon, please don’t leave me hanging. You’ll be just as safe out there as you are in here. I’ll protect you.”
    Gabriel gave a soft groan and rolled onto his back. “Urban…” He glanced back down.
    Urban gave him his best puppy-dog eyes. His lip wibbled a little. “Please?”
    Another groan. “Fine. Okay? Fine. We’ll go camping. One night. And if I feel freaked, we pack up and come home, no questions asked. It better be a damn good steak, that’s all I have to say.”
    “Great!” Urban rocked forwards and leapt nimbly to his feet. Pandora surged to hers as well with a bark, her green eyes sparkling in a way that made Urban wonder if she knew what was going on and was excited about it too. “Let’s head back to that clearing where we found the gem thief. We can build a fire pit with rocks from the cave and wood from the forest. We’ll stop at the store and pick up supplies on the way there.”
    Gabriel nodded and sat up, the mattress squeaking underneath him. “Lemme take a shower first.”
    “But I like the way you smell.” Urban shot him a smirk, then chuckled as Gabe’s face turned two shades of pink. Adorable. “Really. You smell good, just you. And I like it. So let’s go. Let’s not think about it; let’s just do it.” He reached out a hand, wiggling his fingertips at the other man.
    Gabriel pressed his eyes shut, took a deep breath in, then placed his hand in Urban’s waiting palm. Urban’s fingers curled around Gabriel’s and he gave him a warm smile. “It’ll be worth it. Trust me.”
    They tied Pandora outside the store front and went in together while the dirgehound pouted. “I’ll pick out the food. You go find an awesome sleeping