Tempting the Fire

by Sydney Croft

  Or maybe it was just the fact that she was a very different person than she’d been before she committed to Creed. He’d awakened a lot of things in her, and unfortunately, some of what he’d awakened were sappy emotions she’d buried long ago.

  Creed set her on a bed, and immediately, medical staff swarmed. She swatted at them, not in the mood to be poked and prodded by dozens of people. “Get away from me!”

  “Annika,” Creed said gently, with a squeeze of her hand, “let them check you out.”

  “Fine,” she grumbled, “but I only want Dr. Davies.” Hopefully, since Davies was new, Creed didn’t know that she was a gynecologist. Annika planned to tell Creed she was pregnant, but only after the doctor confirmed that everything was okay.

  Davies ordered Creed out, and he kissed Annika on the forehead before he left. “I’ll be right outside the door. When I come back in, I want to know everything that happened in the jungle.” His palm gently cupped her cheek. “God, Annika, I was so scared. Don’t ever do that again.”

  “I promise I will never again get knocked unconscious and flown to the Amazon, where my plane gets shot down and I have to bail at four hundred feet before taking out a camp full of Itor agents and chupacabras,” she said solemnly, and he just shook his head and left.

  Dr. Davies made Annika change into a hospital johnny, and then she performed a brief general exam before concentrating on the cut on Annika’s head. “What happened here?” she asked as she cleaned the wound.

  Annika looked down at her lap. “My ability failed.” It was so humiliating. She’d now lost pretty much everything. Her job, control over her emotions, the ability that had been a part of her since birth. She’d rather lose an arm.

  “It’s possible that it’ll return as soon as you are no longer pregnant. But I’ll be honest with you, the likelihood of it returning as strong, or at all, decreases with every passing day.”

  Tears welled in Annika’s eyes, and she kept her gaze in her lap. This pregnancy was costing her so much, and very likely, she could lose Creed too. He’d said he didn’t want a kid with her. Didn’t want to risk it.

  And Annika … she’d screw that kid up in so many ways. She didn’t know how to play or nurture—she’d killed her goldfish.

  The doctor smoothed a bandage on Annika’s head. “Feet in stirrups. I want to do a pelvic exam—just a precaution. Have you decided what you want to do?”

  Gut twisting, Annika put her feet in the metal cups at the end of the bed. “As in, do I want to have this baby or not?”

  “Yes. If you want to terminate, it has to be done soon.”

  Oh, God. Annika hadn’t even gotten that far in her thoughts about the pregnancy. Though it made sense that Davies would ask—Annika had been furious and distraught at learning she was pregnant and might lose her powers … which she had.

  Annika stared up at the ceiling while Davies put her fingers in places only Creed had been, and when she was done, she snapped off her gloves and took Annika’s hand.

  “It’s a simple procedure. TAG medical staff recently shared their method of psychic purging, which rids an agent of all foreign bodies. You’ll spend about sixty seconds with Dr. Graves, and your period will start right away. It’s very quick and easy.”

  Easy. Should it be easy? Something inside her screamed at what the doctor was saying. Which was weird, because she’d always been ruthless, heartless, cold. Bad shit happened in the world, and that was that. No use in whining about it or letting it get to you.

  But somehow this was different.

  Hormones. Had to be hormones. Because normally Annika’s heart was a frozen stone that had thawed just enough to let in Creed and Dev. Could she let in a baby too? Could she live without her powers? After all, the lack of her electrical ability was what had landed her here. How could she be effective as an ACRO agent without it? Sure, her combat skills couldn’t be topped, but when you were going up against people with superpowers, fighting skills sometimes didn’t amount to jack shit. She’d never go on a mission again. She’d be putting herself and others at risk.

  But then, having special powers didn’t make you invincible either. They hadn’t saved Akbar. A sob built in her throat at how he’d given his life for her. In an instant, he was gone. Just like any of them could be. Even Creed.

  The thought of Creed being killed struck her like a punch to the gut. She couldn’t lose him, but she also couldn’t lose any part of him, including the life he’d planted in her belly.

  “No,” she rasped. “I can’t do it.” She couldn’t even think about doing it.

  Dr. Davies smiled kindly. “We’ll make sure you and your baby get the best of care.”

  What was she getting herself and some poor kid into? Tears streamed down her face as the door opened and the doctor let herself out. Creed, followed by Dev, entered, both rushing to her like she was bleeding instead of crying.

  “What is it?” Creed grabbed one hand, and Dev took the other.

  “I’m just tired.” She sniffed, and Dev handed her a tissue. “It’s been a long couple of days.”

  “What happened, Annika?” Dev asked, and she knew he was talking about the fiasco that had gotten her on the plane in the first place.

  “Gabe was being an idiot. He was hiding in the cargo section. I guess he figured he was ready for a mission.”

  Dev’s brown eyes turned muddy with anger, and his voice went very, very flat and cold. “And?”

  “And I tried to stop him. We got into a scuffle, and I hit my head and was knocked out.”

  Creed made a low, dangerous sound that would have had her shivering with appreciation in any other circumstance. He was such an easygoing guy that he rarely got worked up, but when he did, it was something to behold. “I’m going to kill him, Devlin.”

  “No,” Dev snapped. “You won’t. Because I am.”

  Annika rubbed her temples. “He didn’t mean to hurt me. It was an accident—”

  “It was an accident that happened because he was being impulsive and irresponsible,” Dev said. “Because of him, you ended up in a situation you shouldn’t have been in.”

  “True.” She sighed. “But don’t be too hard on him. He probably feels guilty about Akbar, and what he saw … Dev, he’s been punished. Besides, he stopped me from doing something really stupid that could have gotten me badly hurt.” God, she was going soft.

  Dev cursed. “Yeah. Okay. I’ll think about it.”

  “And I want that bitch who murdered Akbar,” she said softly. “I want to spend days making her fry.” And if her powers never returned … well, in lieu of Chutes and Ladders, her CIA parents had taught her all kinds of Fun with Car Batteries.

  Yep, she’d be a great mom.

  “We’ll get her, Annika. I swear.” Dev checked his watch. “I gotta go see Stryker and Marlena. You sure you’re okay?”

  “Yeah. Go.”

  Dev left, but Creed was still pacing the room, worry etched on his face. Shadows framed his nearly black eyes, and the tattoo on the right side of his face stood out starkly against his pale skin. Fierce, possessive need clawed at her. Her arms were way too empty.

  In a tangle of sheets and hospital gown, she struggled to her knees on the bed and threw her arms around him. “I’m sorry I worried you.”

  Creed caught her in a huge bear hug. “No, I’m sorry, Annika. I’m so sorry. I should have told you sooner …”

  She frowned. “Told me what sooner?”

  The long pause that followed froze her breath in her lungs. Finally, just as they began to burn with the held breath, he blurted out, “I know you’re pregnant. And if you’d known that I knew, maybe you wouldn’t have taken chances with yourself by trying to stop Gabe or in the jungle.”

  Holy shit. “You knew? How?” she asked against his chest, ignoring the poke of his ACRO badge in her cheek.

  “Kat.”

  Of course. She should have known that meddling ghost would figure it out and spill everything to Creed. Fuck.
How long had he known? she wondered … and suspicion stirred.

  “You told Dev, didn’t you?” She pushed away from Creed, saw the truth in his eyes. “That’s why he took me off all my duties. It wasn’t because I mouthed off.”

  “Well, you did piss him off—”

  “Creed …” Her warning tone made him sigh.

  “Yes, that’s why.” He sank down next to her on the bed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know what else to do. I didn’t want to tell you I knew because I thought you needed to be the one to come to me.”

  “You would have been pissed if I told Dev and not you,” she shot back.

  “Yeah. I know.” He squeezed her hand. “I’m sorry. I freaked. I didn’t want to pressure you, and I didn’t know who else to go to. Guess I know why you always went to him before.”

  “Creed, I—”

  He cut her off with a shake of his head. “Why didn’t you tell me?” He didn’t sound mad, just … sad.

  “Because …” She looked down at her bare feet, now dangling off the edge of the bed. “I didn’t know how you’d react. I tried to talk to you about it.” Her eyes began to sting again as she thought back to their argument. “But you didn’t want to. You said you didn’t want kids with me.”

  He lifted her chin with a finger and turned her face to meet his. “I’m so sorry for that, Annika. I didn’t mean it. Not like you think. It didn’t have anything to do with your ability to raise a kid.”

  “I thought … I thought I would lose you if you knew I was pregnant.”

  “Oh, Jesus.” He folded her into his arms and held her so tight she had to struggle to breathe.

  “Creed,” she gasped and he loosened his grip. “Creed, what’s wrong?”

  “You wouldn’t have lost me,” he whispered into her hair.

  “Good, because I told Davies I wouldn’t terminate the pregnancy.”

  Creed’s expression was a strange mix of joy and panic, and she swallowed against the dryness in her throat. “We’ll deal with this, Annika. We will.”

  “I know. I freaked out for a couple of days. I’m still freaked. What if I’m a sucky mom—” She broke off, because the word mom just wasn’t in her vocabulary, and even though she’d made the decision to keep the baby, she still didn’t think she could handle it.

  She was such a selfish piece of shit.

  Creed took a deep breath, but his voice cracked when he spoke. “You won’t be a sucky mom.”

  “Creed? What’s wrong?”

  “I’m happy, baby. I am. But … Damn, I’m scared.”

  “Me too.”

  He shook his head. “Not of being a parent. I can do that. I want to do that.”

  “Then what’s the problem?” She couldn’t believe she was the one trying to convince him that everything was going to be okay.

  “Oz.”

  She blinked. “Oz? Oz is the problem? He’s dead!” She growled low in her chest. That bastard had been the bane of her existence for years, and even in death he couldn’t leave her the fuck alone.

  Several seconds ticked by before he finally spoke. “I didn’t want to tell you this. It’s why I talked to Dev first …”

  “Spill, Creed.”

  Creed raked his hands through his hair. “It’s about one of his visions. He had it right after I told him we were together. Fuck.” He gripped fistfuls of his hair as though he was trying to keep his head on.

  Gently, she peeled his hands away. “Tell me.”

  “He said if you got pregnant, one of us could die.”

  “Seriously?” Annika laughed. Like, a deep down belly laugh. “Creed, come on. You believed that bullshit?”

  His cheeks colored, turning his face markings dusky maroon. “He’s never wrong.”

  “He’s wrong all the time! He’s always misinterpreting shit. Remember that time he freaked out because he’d seen Dev bleeding and stumbling around crunched cars on a highway? He was sure Dev had been in an accident. Turned out Dev had come upon the accident and got himself all bloody trying to help people. He was perfectly fine.”

  “But what if Oz is right this time?” Creed asked.

  She rolled her eyes. “He’s not. Need another example? The dickhead kissed me once. Didn’t mean anything—he hated me and I hated him, and we’d been fighting about Dev.” Annika had gone to a local bar to drag out an agent who was causing trouble, and she found Oz in the middle of it. He and Dev were broken up, and Oz was blowing through town with no intention of visiting Dev. Which was fine by Annika. But he’d started mouthing off, and she’d done the same, and the next thing she knew he had her backed up against the wall with his mouth on hers. “He was trying to teach me a lesson or hurt me or something—he said it would be the only real kiss I’d ever get. And look how wrong he was.”

  “He was being an ass,” Creed growled. “That wasn’t a vision.”

  “I don’t care. My point is, he’s an ass who isn’t always right. He could have told you those things about pregnancy and dying because he hated me.”

  “He wouldn’t have lied to me.”

  “Why? Because he’s your brother?” She shook her head. “Come on, Creed. That’s the best reason to lie to you. To protect you. He lied to you for years when he failed to mention you were brothers.”

  For a long time he was silent, and then he smiled. She knew he wasn’t convinced, but she recognized his attempt to agree to disagree and get past the discussion. Good, because he was a little blind when it came to Oz.

  “You could be right,” he said, in that I-don’t-believe-a-word-I’m-saying tone.

  “I am right. And I’m certainly not going to let some hokey Oz prediction change my mind about anything.” She raised her chin stubbornly. “I got screwy for a while, but once I make up my mind, it’s done.”

  “Don’t I know that,” he muttered, and then he cupped her cheek and frowned at the bandage on her head. “You left something out about how you got that. I know Gabe couldn’t have managed to make you bleed.”

  Humiliation crawled over her skin. “My power failed. The surprise of it caught me off guard, and I lost my balance—”

  “Your power is gone?”

  “Yes.” So embarrassing. “The doctor said that’s normal for pregnancies in people like us. But I don’t need it to kick Gabe’s ass,” she added quickly. “If I hadn’t been so surprised, I could’ve taken him.”

  “I know you could.”

  That was one of the reasons she loved him so much. He was always willing to humor her. She sighed. “So what now?”

  He grinned, but she could still see a spark of worry in his eyes as he said, “I guess we’re having a baby.”

  AFTER THE DOCTOR FELT COMFORTABLE RELEASING ANI FROM the hospital, Creed took her home in her Jeep. He’d waited around the hospital room all day, watching her sleep, talking to the doctors about various tests she needed to have because of the baby. Dev stopped by frequently during those hours as well.

  By the time Creed hit the driveway, he didn’t want to think about anything, didn’t want to talk … well, dirty talk would be fine.

  And so he went around to Ani’s side and lifted her out and carried her into the house.

  “I can walk, you know,” she complained.

  “Yeah, I know, but I need to get you to bed as soon as possible.”

  “I’m not on bed rest.”

  “Fuck resting, I want you naked in bed with me,” he growled as he raced up the stairs to the loft, where the bed was. Ani had moved in with him a few months ago and ever since then they’d been talking about getting a bigger place. But there was something about the house—the loft bed—that neither of them was ready to give up.

  But now …

  He dumped her unceremoniously on the feather bed and landed on top of her. No kid gloves for Ani—she would hate that, especially from him. Although really, he’d braced himself on his arms so the only thing touching her was his cock, solid as steel through his BDUs.

  He needed to taste he
r—before anything else. It was his favorite way to drive her up-the-wall insane.

  Okay, one of many of his favorite ways. And so he slid down her body quickly, preparing to make quick work of her pants.

  “Creed, wait.”

  Yeah, not the words he wanted to hear. And not words he ever heard from Ani at times like this—she’d never choose talk over sex. He lifted his head. “What is it, baby?”

  “Suppose …” She swallowed hard. “I’ve lost my powers because of the pregnancy. And suppose …”

  “You’re thinking it’s only your powers that make us good together in bed?”

  If she didn’t look so serious and sad, he probably would’ve been angry at her for doubting that—for doubting them.

  “What’s between us has nothing to do with special abilities, Ani. Trust me. And besides, your powers might be gone, but don’t doubt the power of the hormones they’ve been replaced with.”

  “How do you know so much about pregnancy?” She narrowed her eyes at him.

  Instead of answering, he slid her pants off. Her thong came next, and his tongue, with its piercing, found her core with a vengeance.

  She came as soon as he thrust it inside of her, cursing, clutching at him, her fingers only catching the fabric of his shirt as he held her hips firmly in his grasp. He continued his assault of pure pleasure, not letting up, his tongue flicking her now-engorged clit, until Annika was seriously calling out his name in vain.

  But in a good way.

  “Creed … don’t stop … fuck me again … with … your tongue.”

  He had no intention of stopping, ever. Because stopping sex meant he would have to think again, about the pregnancy, Oz’s prediction … death.

  For right now, pleasure would override everything. He actually found himself humping the bed as Ani came again, the friction on his cock, from his pants and the mattress, was delicious, and he had to get inside of her, like now.

  As if she knew, she was pulling and pushing at him, and this time he let her, flipped to his back as she frantically tore at his clothes.

  Her breasts were bigger—slightly swollen, nipples darker. Gorgeous.