Dark Operative_A Glimmer of Hope

by I. T. Lucas

  She cupped his cheeks and brought his face down for a kiss. “I’m never going to dump you. You’re mine, so you’d better get used to the idea. I’m the only Sharon you’ll ever date.”

  “I can live with that.”

  Her mouth gaped. “Really? That’s what you have to say in response?”

  Robert was confused. “What was I supposed to say?”

  “How about that I am yours? Or that you want to tattoo your name on my ass?”

  “I don’t want to sound presumptuous.”

  Sharon rolled her eyes. “This is not our first date. You can tell me what you really think.”

  His mouth suddenly feeling dry, Robert lifted the bottle of Snake’s Venom and took a long gulp. If he told her how he really felt she would get up and leave. Or maybe not. She’d been pretty blunt about her feelings.

  “You sure you’re ready for it? Because what I feel is pretty damn scary.

  Nodding eagerly, she beckoned with her hand. “Give it to me, baby.”

  “I feel like I’m capable of killing any man you show interest in. So if you don’t want to be responsible for anyone’s untimely death, please ignore all other males.”

  She sighed. “Oh, that’s so sweet.”

  Her reaction was not what he’d expected. Instead of being appalled by his murderous inclinations, she thought them sweet? Something was wrong with the girl.

  He shook his head. “You’re strange.”

  By the grin spreading across her face, she’d taken it as a compliment. “I know. I wouldn’t go as far as killing anyone you dared ogle, but I could think of a nasty thing or two I would like to do to them.” She pointed a finger at him. “Some girls might not mind their men’s eyes straying, but if I catch you staring at another woman for more than a couple of seconds, you’ll be in big trouble, mister.”

  “Come here.” He lifted her and deposited her in his lap. “You have nothing to worry about. I have eyes only for you.”

  Chapter 43: Sharon

  Finally, Robert was admitting his feelings. It wasn’t as good as him telling her he loved her, but it was progress.

  “Let’s go to the bedroom,” she whispered in his ear, and wrapped her arms around his neck in anticipation of what was coming next.

  Robert lifted her up as if she weighed nothing, which was unfortunately not so. She could lose fifteen or twenty pounds, five of which, at least, she’d gained because of him insisting on feeding her.

  He cooked her dinner every time she came over, claiming he did it primarily for Julian and himself, but she knew it was Robert’s way of showing her he cared. The table was always set up for a romantic dinner for two. Julian never ate with them, notoriously disappearing into his room within a few minutes of her arrival. His excuses were quite lame, either that he’d already eaten, or that he was taking a plate to his room to eat while watching a sports game.

  It was weird that the hunky young doctor never went out or had a girl over himself. And it was also strange that Robert never took her out on a date. His excuses ranged from claiming that restaurant food was unhealthy, to him wanting her all for himself, and to his newfound love of cooking.

  It might have been all a load of bull crap to cover up for some financial trouble he was in, but Sharon couldn’t care less.

  The guy was cooking for her. What was not to love about that?

  Holding her up with one hand, Robert flung the comforter aside before lowering her to the bed and quickly covering her up. It was so sweet of him to remember she hated being cold. Not that Sharon really suffered from a particular sensitivity to it, but she preferred to get undressed under the blanket and didn’t want to admit the real reason.

  “Thank you.”

  “What for?” he asked.

  “Remembering that I don’t like being cold.”

  He looked puzzled, as he often did when she thanked him or complimented him on something. Robert either didn’t think small things like that deserved her appreciation, or he wasn’t used to compliments.

  If there was one thing Sharon knew about relationships in general and men in particular, it was that taking the good for granted and only reacting to the bad was a sure way to get less of the former and more of the latter. She wasn’t going to make this mistake with her most important relationship to date.

  Robert was a keeper.

  “I remember everything you tell me about what you like or don’t like. I want you to be comfortable, and I want you to be happy. I’m not always sure what is the best way to go about it, but the least I can do is listen.”

  Definitely a keeper.

  “That’s one of the many things I love about you, baby.”

  Seeing the dumbstruck expression on his face, Sharon realized how what she’d said could be interpreted. Was Robert one of those guys who ran at the mention of the word love?

  Did she love him, though?

  It was a bit too early to tell, especially since Sharon had never been in love and didn’t know what it should feel like.

  Let’s see.

  Handsome? Check.

  Smart? Check.

  Has a good job? Check.

  Is hard working? Check.

  I like being with him, in bed and outside of it? Check.

  Can I imagine having babies with him? Check.

  If that wasn’t love, she didn’t know what else was.

  Robert still looked like a fish out of water. He opened his mouth to say something then closed it and frowned.

  Her lips twitching with stifled laughter, Sharon asked, “Are you shocked?”

  He rubbed his hand over his jaw. “I’m not sure. Should I be?”

  She shrugged. “Not really. There is a lot to love about you, Robert. I knew that even before you took me to bed and showed me what great sex is like. Loving you is easy.”

  Robert plopped down on the bed as if suffering a fainting spell.

  Sharon giggled. “Should I bring the smelling salts?”

  “What?”

  “You look pale.”

  Not amused at all, he pinned her with a hard stare. “Please don’t joke about a thing like that. I’m a tough guy, and I can take a lot of beating, but I don’t think I can take you telling me you love me and not mean it.”

  Wow. She must’ve hit a nerve.

  It was one of the few times in her life Sharon was rendered momentarily speechless. Dropping the comforter, she got up to her knees and embraced Robert.

  “I would never joke about a thing like that. I meant every word. I’ve never been in love before, so I can’t say this is for sure it, but what I feel for you is a hundred times more than I ever felt for any other guy.” She chuckled. “I even thought that I would like to make babies with you, and I never thought about making babies before.”

  Robert let his head drop on her shoulder. “We need to talk,” he mumbled in her ear.

  Oh boy. So he was one of those guys who ran off when the word love was uttered, and she’d scared him away.

  “Why?” she asked in a small voice.

  “There are things you don’t know about me, and if things are getting serious between us, I can’t keep hiding them from you.”

  The big guy was trembling in her arms. What could be so horrible that it scared him so?

  Did he suffer from PTSD?

  Asking him straight up if he did might offend him, but she could go about it in a roundabout way. “I don’t care about your military past. I know soldiers are sometimes forced to do things that leave them feeling guilty. If that’s what is bothering you, I want you to know that I understand and accept whatever you had to do. But if you feel so horrible about it, maybe you should talk to a therapist. They can’t reveal anything you tell them, so I think the army will be fine with you talking to one.”

  He shook his head. “That’s not it, or rather it’s only a small part.”

  Crap. She’d have to ask straight up. “Do you have nightmares about your time in the service?”

  “It’s not
that either.”

  What else?

  There was one more possibility. Potentially the worst one.

  Sharon dropped her arms and moved back on the bed, distancing herself from Robert. “You’re married.”

  That would explain why he never wanted to take her out, or why he was strapped for cash. If he was living with Julian, he was probably separated from his wife but was still paying the bills.

  Her heart sinking, Sharon tried to convince herself that it wasn’t the end of the world, not if Robert had already left his wife before meeting her.

  She wasn’t a home wrecker.

  He lifted his head. “What? No, I’m not married, and I’ve never been married.”

  “You have a bunch of illegitimate children.”

  “Where do you come up with this nonsense? No, I don’t have any children.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “At least not any that I know of.”

  Sharon rolled her eyes. “What am I to think when a guy gets all pale and tells me there is stuff about him I should know? The most common things are wife and children, the other thing is a drug addiction, which I know you don’t have, or a gambling problem. Do you have a huge gambling debt or something? Is that why you never take me out? Because you have no money?”

  Robert snorted. “I wish it was something as mundane as that.”

  Now he was scaring her. What could be worse than that?

  “Do you have aids?”

  “No. Will you stop asking ridiculous questions and let me talk?”

  “I’m sorry. I’m too scared of what you’re going to say. That’s why I’m trying to guess.”

  “It’s nothing bad. At least I don’t think it is.”

  Well, that was a relief. “Okay, I’m going to shut it and listen.”

  “Let me pour you a drink. You might need it.”

  Way to alleviate her fears. A revelation that required a drink couldn’t be good news.

  Chapter 44: Robert

  As Robert poured a glass of wine for Sharon, he debated whether he was doing the right thing. By telling her the truth, he was disobeying Kian’s orders and taking a considerable risk. If this was discovered, it could have dire consequences for him.

  Could he trust Sharon to keep this a secret?

  As a detective in training, she was accustomed to confidentiality and was aware of its importance. Eva, who knew her well, trusted her, which was another point in her favor.

  Except, Sharon was a young woman and as such easily excitable. She could change her mind about him the next day or the next week or the next month, and he would be in worse position than he’d been after leaving the Brotherhood. At least then he had Carol’s support and the clan’s gratitude. If Sharon left him and revealed what he’d told her, the loss would be catastrophic. Kian would lock him up and throw away the key, or put him in stasis like he’d done with the other Doomers the Guardians had captured.

  Not executing them was a mercy, but only to an extent. Stasis was death, just not permanent.

  Robert rubbed the back of his neck. Did immortals dream while in stasis?

  He’d read that some humans dreamt while in a coma. But stasis seemed like an even deeper state than a coma. His guess was that there was no brain activity other than the minimum required to keep the body’s systems from shutting down completely.

  Perhaps he could ask Julian about that. Except, his questions about the Doomers resting down in the keep’s catacombs might raise suspicions as to his intent. Not a complication he needed.

  With the wine in one hand and another bottle of Snake’s Venom in the other, Robert walked back into his bedroom to find Sharon in exactly the same position he’d left her.

  She looked up at him with worried eyes. “Perhaps we should have this talk in the living room?”

  He shook his head while closing the door behind him. It was better for Julian to assume that they were getting busy in the bedroom so he would put his noise-canceling headphones on.

  Handing Sharon the wine glass, Robert sat next to her on the bed. “You know all those science fiction shows and those about paranormal stuff that you like to watch?”

  She lifted a brow. “What about them?”

  “Not all of it is fiction.”

  “Well duh, I know that. Paranormal phenomena are real, and I’m sure we are not the only intelligent living beings in the universe. Believing that is as absurd as believing that earth is a flat disk. Just because we can’t see them or communicate with them doesn’t mean they don’t exist.”

  As he’d expected, Sharon had an open mind.

  “There is more to it than just inexplicable phenomena and alien life on other planets.” He looked into her eyes as he continued. “A divergent humanoid species has lived among humans since the beginning of history. In fact, according to legend, this divergent species created humanity, or rather jump-started its evolution.”

  “You mean the God myth? The one about creating Adam and Eve?”

  “Gods. Plural. Did you ever read about the Sumerian gods?”

  If she had, Sharon was much better informed than he’d been up until recently. History lessons hadn’t been part of his education in the Doomer camp. It seemed that Lord Navuh preferred his warriors as ignorant as possible even about their own origins.

  Most of what Robert now knew about immortal history, he’d learned from Carol, like the fact that the Doomers and the clan had shared ancestry. He hadn’t known that. There were rumors, of course, most of them so misleading and absurd that they were most likely planted on purpose to further confuse the soldiers and keep them from asking questions.

  She shook her head. “I’ve read a little about the Egyptian pantheon, but I’m more familiar with the Greeks and the Romans.” She tilted her head. “Is this what you wanted to talk to me about, or are you stalling?”

  “I’m not stalling. I’m providing background.”

  “About mythology?”

  Perhaps it was the wrong place to start. “Have you noticed anything strange about Eva?”

  Sharon regarded him as if he had a screw loose. “Talk about a random subject change. But yeah, I’ve noticed a lot of strange things about my boss.”

  “Like what?”

  Sharon took a few sips of her wine and then put the glass on the nightstand. “She looks like she is in her late twenties but talks and behaves like she is in her fifties. She is secretive, but that is probably because of what she does for a living. She used to disappear for days without telling us where she was going, and it wasn’t on any jobs we knew of. But after she’d met Bhathian, she’d stopped doing that. There are many other little things. She’s just odd.”

  “In all the years you’ve known her, did she change at all?”

  Sharon waved a hand. “She must have damn good genes. Not even one wrinkle. And that body, you’d think she exercised every day to maintain that figure, but she doesn't. I don’t know how anyone can eat the junk she eats and not gain weight. I’m green with envy.”

  Robert was taken aback. “Why would you envy her? You have a beautiful body.”

  Sharon patted his knee. “You’re sweet. But please don’t lie to me just to make me feel good. I could lose a few pounds.”

  Robert shook his head. Human females were obsessed with being thin. It hadn’t always been like that. There had been times when voluptuousness was appreciated. With her slight feminine padding, Sharon would have not even qualified as such.

  But that wasn’t what this conversation was about. He needed to steer her back to the subject of Eva’s ageless appearance.

  “Would you say that Eva looks exactly the same today as she did when you first met her?”

  Sharon nodded. “Except, she is happier now that she has Bhathian and is expecting a baby.”

  He’d been building up to this moment, but now that it was time for the punchline, Robert lost his nerve. Lifting the beer, he gulped the rest of it and then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Eva didn’t change at all during
all the years you’ve known her because she is immortal. And the reason she often sounds and behaves like a grandmother is that she is probably older than yours.”

  Sharon snorted. “Good one, Robert. But you need to work on the delivery. A joke is not funny if it takes more than a minute to set up.”

  He took in a deep breath. “I’m not joking. Eva, Bhathian, Nathalie, Amanda, and everyone else Bhathian introduced you to, are all immortal. I’m one too.”

  Reaching for the wine glass, Sharon picked it up, threw the rest of the liquid down her throat, and then put the glass back down.

  “I knew you were too good to be true. Delusional much?”

  It wasn’t going the way he’d thought it would. Sharon didn’t believe him.

  “If I showed you proof, would you believe me then?”

  “What proof?”

  “Kiss me, and I’ll show you.”

  He’d planned on getting to the part about fangs and venom last, letting her absorb all the possible benefits of immortality before scaring her with his vampiric transformation, but this was the best proof he could provide.

  She grinned. “I knew it was a drawn-out joke. Okay, I’ll play along.”

  Up until now, he’d always controlled the kissing, not letting Sharon’s tongue pass his lips. She was in for one hell of a surprise.

  Used to Robert’s mild dominance, Sharon didn’t expect him to retract his tongue from her mouth and invite hers to follow. A long moment passed before she’d responded, but when she did, it was with gusto.

  Climbing onto his lap, she plastered herself against his chest and kissed him while grinding her bottom into his groin.

  His glands and fangs’ response was predictably quick, and Robert braced for the moment Sharon would discover that.

  “Ouch.” She pulled away as her tongue scraped against one of his fangs. Focused on her injury, Sharon didn’t look at him as she touched a finger to the bleeding spot and lifted it up to look at it. “I think you should see the dentist. You must have a chipped tooth.”

  “Look at me, Sharon,” he slurred.