“Actually my mood has nothing to do with Morgan, for a change.” Lor rubbed the back of his neck as Elias and Roxie sat down. “King Indric found out about Gerrod and sent three of his private guards to ‘escort’ Jillian to Bilarri. Just like that,” he snapped his fingers, “I’m out one sixth of my team.”
Roxie leaned closer and whispered, “Who is King Indric?”
Before Elias could reply, Lor provided the explanation. “He’s one of four regional kings on Bilarri. His sister was the war bride who gave birth to Gerrod, which makes her Jillian’s grandmother. King Indric never knew who captured his sister. She claimed that she never learned his name.”
“Why would she lie? Was she protecting her captor?” Roxie made it sound like the worst sort of betrayal.
Elias shook his head. “She was protecting her people. The hostilities between Bilarri and Rodymia had deescalated at that point. The war continues to this day, but there hasn’t been a full-blown battle in years. She knew if Indric found out that Pern Keire had been her captor, Indric would rally all of Bilarri on her behalf. Hundreds, maybe thousands, would have lost their lives over something that couldn’t be changed.”
“Is that going to happen now? Will King Indric call his forces to war now that he knows who abused his sister?”
“It’s doubtful,” Lor told her. “Pern is dead, as is King Indric’s sister. King Indric was simply protecting his progeny.”
“And of course Odintar went with her,” Blayne grumbled. “So we’ve lost our best healer.”
“Enough about our problems.” Lor waved away the gloom and managed to smile. “What can we do for you?”
Roxie looked exhausted and was obviously still on edge, so Elias dove right to the heart of the matter. “When you scanned Roxie, did you sense any latent abilities?”
“I was focused on the language infusion. What you’re requesting requires a more invasive scan.” He looked at Roxie as he said, “The scan won’t harm you, but it might be uncomfortable.”
“It’s important.” She produced a wan smile. “I’m not afraid of a little pain.”
The comment sent a jolt of pity through Elias. She’d dealt with way too much pain in her young life. He wanted to surround her, protect her from anything that might hurt her again. Starting with Lor. Elias knew the scan was necessary, but he didn’t want any of the Mystics near Roxie, physically or metaphysically.
“I’m going to go see if our mates are finished with training.” Blayne smiled at Roxie again. “It was nice meeting you. Hope the scan reveals what you want it to show.”
After Blayne left, Lor persisted, “Are you sure you want to do this? You seem hesitant?”
“I’m just tired.” Her weary tone reinforced her claim. “It’s been a really long day.”
“All right. Then close your eyes and try not to resist me.” Lor bowed his head and silence descended.
Much to Elias’ surprise, Roxie reached over and took his hand as she closed her eyes. This wasn’t the first time she’d turned to him for support and it pleased him immensely. Protecting her was his primary focus and earning her trust would be an integral part of his success.
But it wasn’t professional responsibility that sped his pulse each time his fingers encountered her skin. Roxie attracted him, intrigued him. He wanted to be near her. Hell, he wanted to be inside her, surrounded by her heat as he caressed her entire body with his.
He brushed the back of her hand with his thumb and her fingers tensed against his. She squirmed in her chair, her features tight with concentration and uncertainty. He didn’t speak, didn’t want to distract her, but he wanted her to remember she wasn’t alone.
The silence lengthened and her discomfort became more apparent. He covered their joined hands with his other hand and gave her a little squeeze. He desperately wanted to pull her into his lap and wrap both arms around her, but he drove back the impulse through sheer force of will.
“Almost done,” Lor told her. “Take a deep breath. Now another.”
She leaned closer, resting her head against the side of his shoulder. He couldn’t wrap his arm around her because she still clutched his right hand, so he settled for caressing her forearm with his left hand. Her light, clean scent filled his nose, making him hungry for another taste of her mouth. Kissing her had been an impulse, an unwise impulse apparently. He’d thought of little else since their mouths separated. She’d responded far more enthusiastically than he’d thought she would, which fueled his already errant imagination.
Her hand tightened around his and a ragged hiss escaped her lips. Elias looked at Lor, ready to make him back off, but the Mystic raised his head.
“I sense no latent abilities of any kind.” He waited for Roxie to open her eyes before he added, “She has trace amounts of Mystic energy, as all hybrids do, but not all hybrids can manipulate magic. I hope this isn’t too much of a disappointment.”
“Actually I’m relieved.” She might have been able to convince Lor with her sincere-looking smile, but Elias didn’t miss how quickly she glanced away. “Let’s get going.” She pulled her hand out from between his and stood. “Thanks for your help.”
Elias hurried after her, knowing she wasn’t nearly as calm as she appeared.
“What does this mean?” she asked as soon as they were alone in the hallway. Not that anyone was ever really alone in the Bunker. Every square foot of the complex was under continual surveillance. Except for the living quarters. With his hand on the small of her back, he led her back in that direction.
“I’m not sure what it means. Either Pern’s hypothesis was wrong or there’s something unique about your DNA that prevented the conversion.”
“Either way, I’m dead.” Her voice sounded flat, hopeless.
He stopped and spun her toward him. “Not a chance. We will protect you. I will protect you.”
“I know you mean it, but protecting me is certainly not Morgan’s priority. I’m a means to an end, an acceptable loss applied toward the greater good.”
It was hard to argue with her when everything she said was true. Morgan had been particularly ruthless where Roxie was concerned. “Nothing is going to happen to you.”
After twisting out of his hold, she walked even faster. “You don’t know that. No one does.” She led him straight to the freight elevators without missing a turn. Obviously, she’d been paying more attention to her surroundings than he’d thought. Like most doors in the secure levels, the elevator required a palm scan to access, so knowing where things were didn’t help her all that much. Still, he was impressed by her ongoing attempts to control the situation. Most civilians would have given up long before now.
“Even outside, the signal sucks,” he warned as the elevator took them topside. “We’ll be lucky if we can get a call to connect.”
“How do you guys communicate with the outside world? What about Ontariese? Can ‘ET phone home’?”
“We’re playing cat and mouse with the Shadow Assassins. We don’t want them to know where we are any more than they want us to find them. The Mystics can communicate with other planets, but for the moment they’re limiting their transmissions to absolute emergencies. Same with our transmissions. Every call we place, be it cell phone, satellite uplink, or two-way radio, runs the risk of revealing our location.”
“Is that your way of talking me out of this?”
They stepped out into the purple twilight as she dug her cell phone out of her pocket. “Not at all. I’m just warning you that you might have to be content with texts.”
She held the phone up, likely looking for a signal. “Two bars. I’ll give it a go.” She activated the call and raised the phone to her ear. “Hey, Tess, can you hear… Yeah I know the connection sucks… I’m fine, I promise… I know, but… I’ll explain everything… Damn.” She looked at the screen. “It’s gone.” She glanced at him and asked, “Will a text go through?”
“Go ahead and enter it. If the phone finds a stray signal, it usually s
ends the message.”
She quickly entered several messages then returned the phone to her pocket. “Hopefully she heard me well enough to know I’m still alive.”
“She’ll see you tomorrow and you can explain… Well, you can’t tell her much more than our cover story, but at least she won’t be worried anymore.”
She was quiet and brooding as he took her back to his quarters. He’d hoped talking with one of her friends, though extremely briefly, would lighten her mood. The opposite seemed to have happened. He scanned open the door and she hurried inside.
“Are the corridors monitored?” she asked.
He fought back a smile, impressed by her instincts. “They are, but what made you ask?”
“Your demeanor changes whenever we’re in the hallways. You tense up and your speech becomes more formal.”
“Really?”
“But this room isn’t monitored. You’re relaxed here, more yourself.”
He let the smile for when the impulse came again. “After a few short days, you know me well enough to spot the real me?”
“Nothing about these days has been short.” She moved away from the door but didn’t return to the sitting area. It was as if she wasn’t sure where she wanted to go or what she wanted to do. “I feel like I’ve been locked up for months, not days, and you’ve been assessing me the entire time.”
“I’m sorry about that. It’s never fun to be under the microscope.” Her agitation was palpable. She was like a cat brushing against his legs, begging to be petted, reassured. Who was he trying to fool? Her need for comfort was real, but he’d been fighting the urge to touch her since the first moment he saw her in a helpless heap on the floor of her shop.
“It’s your job.” She heaved a weary sigh and strolled toward the workstation, which also took her closer to his bed. He doubted that the maneuver was intentional, but his body hardened all the same. “I know your interest isn’t personal.”
“Then you don’t know me as well as you think you do.”
Her gaze shot to his and lingered for a long, tense moment. She nervously licked her lips then looked away. “I don’t think I can deal with the holding cell right now. Would you please ask Morgan to assign me my own room?”
“I know what she’ll say.” She dragged her gaze back to his and arched her brow. “It’s the holding cell or here. I’m not allowed to let you out of my sight.”
“She can’t lock me inside a room with an actual bed?”
“Security protocols don’t work that way. Living quarters are tuned to the occupant. The doors lock automatically, but the occupant needs to be able to come and go as they please.” It wasn’t an outright lie, more like an exaggeration. Security routines would have to be reprogrammed, but Morgan could make it happen. The details didn’t matter. Roxie needed to trust him and they didn’t have time to build that trust through more conventional means.
Roxie looked at the bed then her anxious gaze swept the room. “You don’t even have a couch. Am I supposed to curl up in one of the chairs?”
“No. You’re supposed to curl up in my arms and trust that I won’t do more than protect you. We’ll be posing as lovers. You need to stop flinching away from my touch.”
“I don’t flinch away from your touch.”
He closed the distance between them in less than a second and framed her face with his hands. She immediately drew back so he let her go, despite the very real urge to tighten his grip. “You do.”
“I don’t mean to.” She brought her hands together in front of her, creating an obstacle between them.
“I know, but that doesn’t change your instinctive reaction.”
She crossed her arms over her chest, looking lost and alone. “And you think sleeping with you will change instincts developed over decades?”
“The more I touch you, the more comfortable you’ll become with being touched.” He stepped closer, not quite recapturing the ground he’d lost. “As long as you enjoy the way I touch you.”
Her lips trembled as she asked, “Did Morgan tell you to seduce me?”
He lightly grasped one of her wrists, easing her arm down. “I don’t think any power on Earth could keep me from seducing you. You fascinate me. And you’re not indifferent. I’ve seen the way you look at me.”
“You’re an attractive man. Of course, I’ve looked at you. That doesn’t mean I’m ready to surrender.” Despite her objection, she lowered her other arm, though she kept her hands at her sides.
He didn’t rush her, just let the tension build. As long as she didn’t push him away, he could be as patient as she needed him to be. “This isn’t a battle, darlin’. We’re not at war.”
“Well, it isn’t a romance either. I’m your assignment.”
She was already more than that. He’d accepted that this connection had nothing to do with his assignment, but Roxie wasn’t ready to hear it. “Then think of it as a negotiation. I’ll never take more than I’m offered, but you can’t blame me for needing to ask.” He placed his hand on her waist and waited for her to accept or reject the featherlight touch.
Again, she didn’t pull away. “I don’t want to have sex tonight. My emotions are too…tangled.”
He slid his hand to the small of her back and slowly drew her toward him. “I never said anything about having sex. I know you’re confused and I would never take advantage of you like that.”
“Then what are you proposing?”
“I just want to touch you, kiss you, comfort you. The rest can wait until you’re ready for more.”
Roxie chuckled, her hardened nipples inadvertently teasing his chest. Damn his confidence. She usually hated arrogant men. So why was Elias the exception? He definitely qualified as arrogant, and still she was drawn to him. “You’re presuming I’ll eventually be ready to have sex with you.”
Rather than argue with her, he pulled her firmly against his chest then grasped the back of her neck with his other hand. He covered her mouth with his and staked his claim with overt purpose. She gasped and tensed, her hands clutching his upper arms.
She was just about to push him away and demand that he return her to the holding cell when he eased back and let her breathe. He didn’t release her entirely though. His lips caressed hers, sliding and pressing as his tongue teased. Gradually she relaxed into his embrace and tilted her head to a better angle. His long fingers splayed against the back of her head, holding her still while his tongue sank deeper. He pushed his taste into her mouth as their breaths mingled. She felt dizzy, almost drunk with the sudden rush of desire.
“Share my bed.” He whispered the words against her parted lips then kissed her deeply again.
“I don’t want—”
He cut her off with another kiss. “I know and we won’t. I just want to touch you, feel you arch against me and gasp my name.”
“Gasp your name while you’re doing what exactly?” She turned her head when he tried to kiss her again. “This is a negotiation, remember. I want the terms spelled out.”
With a sexy chuckle, he nipped the side of her neck. Hot tingles erupted deep in her body and she squirmed against him. “I agree not to pressure you for sex tonight if you’ll allow me to touch your naked body in any way I want.”
“With your hands?” she persisted.
He looked up and grinned. “I’m good with my hands, but I’m even better with my mouth.”
She groaned at the thought then shivered. “Which is why your mouth will not wander below my waist.”
He closed his eyes for a moment then growled. “Ah, honey, you’re heartless.”
“No, heartless would be pretending I don’t want this at all.”
His thick lashes lifted and his hazel eyes stared into hers. “When we do this for real—and we will—you’ll be as desperate for me as I am for you.”
Her body was there already, but he was right. Her mind was filled with uncertainly and her emotions were raw. If they made love tonight, she’d never be sure if she�
�d wanted him or just wanted an escape from the worst day of her life.
He stepped back and undressed with frantic speed as she fiddled with the drawstring on her pants. He tugged off his boots and socks then peeled his shirt off over his head, leaving him bare to the waist. She watched him as she kicked her sandals aside, captivated by the stark symmetry of his amazing body. Even through his clothes it had been obvious he was in good shape, but her imagination hadn’t done him justice. Every muscle was highly defined, sculpted to human perfection.
“Do you need some help?” He’d been about to unfasten his pants when he asked the question.
She shook her head. “I’m just enjoying the view.”
He chuckled and stripped away his pants, leaving only tan boxer-briefs. He flexed his arms and struck a body builder pose. She laughed then looked away. “Your turn,” he urged.
She wasn’t ashamed of her body, exactly. She’d just never been with someone who looked like Elias. Her legs were long, her hips narrow, and her breasts were small. Did he like skinny women or did he prefer someone shaped like Morgan? Most men liked curves on a woman. Maybe she should—
His warm fingers brushed the side of her face, drawing her gaze back to his. “I want to see your tattoos.”
The heat in his gaze combined with his encouraging smile and her apprehension melted. She pulled her shirt off and tossed it aside. He had the drawstring untied and her pants halfway to her knees before she disentangled her arms from the sleeves. She wasn’t wearing anything under the borrowed uniform even though her original clothing had been returned to her freshly laundered and neatly folded.
“Well, this is a naughty surprise.” His gaze dropped as he cupped one of her breasts.
“I wanted to keep my clothes clean for when I’m released.”
“It wasn’t a criticism. I think clothes as a whole are overrated.” He pulled her lower body against his as he bent to her breasts, forcing her to arch her back. His lips fastened on to one nipple and she gasped as he drew her deeply into his mouth.
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