The Anomaly Trilogy Boxed Set

by Hackett, Anna

  Even when she’d been a gibbering mess, he’d seen something in her she still couldn’t see.

  The machine beeped and he turned to check the screen. “How do you feel?”

  A feeling of lethargy washed over her. “Tired.”

  “That’s normal.”

  Everything started to drift away. She felt like she was floating. She felt wonderful. There was only her and Gage and nothing else. “You are so cute.”

  He froze. “Most men don’t really want to be cute.”

  “Oh, you have a handsome face. Raw-boned, masculine. Serious and studious.” Some distant part of her brain warned her to shut up, but her mouth kept moving. “And those big brown eyes. I love them.”

  “Sounds like a puppy.”

  “But puppies aren’t sexy. Don’t make me want to lick them all over.”

  His hand clenched on hers, something dark burning in his eyes. “Cate.”

  She was about to respond, ask him if he’d kiss her, but pain twisted through her head. She jerked.

  “Cate?” His tone was urgent now. He leaned over her.

  “I don’t…” she heard her voice slur.

  Then images poured into her head like a tsunami. Her back arched, the terrifying pictures burning into her retinas.

  She heard someone shouting. Words she didn’t understand.

  “Nein. Nein!”

  Everything went mercifully black.

  Chapter Seven

  Gage tore the cap and electrodes off Cate and pulled her into his arms. His heart was thumping so hard he expected his ribs to break.

  Her seizure had stopped and she was now still and limp.

  “Cate? Come on, wake up.” He ran a hand over her face, willing her eyes to open, and checked her pulse. It was a little erratic but strong. He let out a rough breath. He knew his reaction was nothing like what a doctor’s should be. He was reacting like a man and at the moment with her lifeless in his arms, it was all he could manage. “Please.”

  Her eyelids fluttered and then big, unfocused eyes stared up at him. “Gage?”

  He smoothed his thumbs over her cheeks, his chest relaxing. “You scared the hell out of me.”

  “What happened?”

  “You don’t remember?”

  She shook her head.

  “You started talking. Words just spilling out of you. In German.”

  With a frown, she moved to sit up. He helped her but kept her in the circle of his arms.

  “I don’t speak German,” she said.

  What the hell? “You’re sure?”

  “Positive. My grandmother was German. She used to sing to me as a child but it never stuck.”

  He scraped a hand over his jaw. “I need to analyze the results we collected.” Once he found his equilibrium.

  “If we need to do it again—”

  “No.” His response was instant. He wasn’t putting her through that again.

  A small hand pressed to his chest. “Gage, we might need to.”

  “No.” Some part of him knew she was right, but right now he couldn’t even entertain the idea.

  “Let me down. I’m okay now.”

  He helped her off the bed and once she had her balance he let her go.

  But when she stumbled, he grabbed her again. He swung her into his arms. She felt so damn right there. “You need to rest.”

  “I don’t want to go back to my room.” She shook her head. “Those four walls are closing in on me.”

  And he didn’t want to leave her alone right now.

  He didn’t think too much about his decision. He just walked out of the lab, outside and down the short path to his cottage. It was made of the same gleaming red wood as the medical center. He never locked the door and just nudged it open and took her inside.

  “This is where you live?” She looked around, acute interest on her face.

  He set her on the sofa. “Yeah.” Straightening, he tried to see the place through her eyes. The furniture was simple, comfortable. The suede sofa was wide, and he had a flat-panel TV on the wall. A table and chairs near the small kitchen looked about as tidy as the desk in his office. Damn, he really needed to clean up. “Would you like a drink? Some water?”

  “Water would be good.”

  When he returned from the kitchen, she’d curled her legs under her and was reaching for a framed photo on the shelf behind the couch. Gage sank into the armchair across from her.

  She held the frame up. “This is your brother?”

  “Yeah.” Gage set the glass down beside her.

  “You look so alike.” She traced one finger over the image.

  “We were only fifteen months apart. He was the sporty one, always carried more muscle than me. I was the studious brother.”

  “You still miss him.”

  “Every day.” Every day Gage imagined what he could have done differently to help Theo. Wished he’d never joined the Anomaly Program.

  “I always wanted a sibling, but my parents didn’t want to risk another child. One soul stealer they could help, two or more they thought would be too much of a risk.” She curled in on herself and set the picture down. “In the end, it didn’t help.”

  “You haven’t spoken with them since you got here. I know Ellie offered to call them.”

  “I can’t.” A harsh whisper. “I know Mara told them I…survived. But how do I tell them all the things I did? They worked so hard to make sure I didn’t kill.”

  “Give it time.” Time would help her more than any treatment he could devise. It was just the hardest treatment to swallow.

  She shook herself. “Where are your parents?”

  “My mother died not long after Theo.” Of a broken heart, Gage always thought, although the official diagnosis was heart failure. “My father remarried a few years later, has a new young family. They live in Perth. We trade cards at Christmas.” And they never spoke of Theo. Gage cleared his throat. “How are you feeling? Headache? Any nausea?”

  “A little tired and achy, but I’m fine.” She took a sip of water. “What do you do for fun, Doc?”

  He scratched the back of his neck, uncertain where she was headed. “I spend time in the lab—”

  “I said fun, not work.”

  “I enjoy my work.”

  “I did too, but that didn’t mean I wanted to be in the classroom all the time.” Her eyes clouded for a second before she shook it off. “What do you do when you aren’t staring down a microscope?”

  “Cal and I get together for a beer.” Jesus, this was harder than it should be. He’d never felt anything lacking, he loved being in the lab.

  She shook her head. “I find it hard to believe anyone can be friends with Callahan. But the way he is with Mara….”

  “Yeah, it’s nice to see. He’s a good man. He’s been through a lot but he still puts the wellbeing of anomalies ahead of himself.” Gage didn’t tell her Cal had almost lost his life rescuing Cate from Leven.

  “You’ve known each other a long time.”

  “Over a decade.” God, had it been that long? Sometimes it felt like forever, other times the memories of the experiments he’d conducted for the CIA were so clear. The pain, the suffering, the blood. “We worked together at the CIA.”

  A frown creased her brow. “You’re Australian. How’d you end up working for the CIA?”

  “Because I’m the best at what I do.” He’d been courted by governments around the world after his early anomaly research. “They offered me the chance to work with anomalies.”

  “Helping them?”

  He clamped his hands on the armrests. He’d always known he’d have to eventually spill the dark secrets he carried. “No. I didn’t always help them. I conducted tests, experiments. I caused people pain, was driven by my desire to succeed where others hadn’t. It didn’t matter that they’d volunteered or received a paycheck. I did terrible things to them in the name of science.” He stared deep into her wide blue eyes. “Not exactly the boy scout you believed
me to be. I failed my brother, I failed a lot of anomalies before my sanity returned. I escaped with Cal and I’ve been here since.” Trying to make amends. Finding ways to help.

  She was silent. Just watching him with eyes he could drown in.

  “Why aren’t you shocked? Horrified?” He was no better than Leven’s scientists who’d poked and prodded her.

  She shifted, her fingers plucking at the suede sofa. “The last few months I’ve learned to judge people by their actions…and their eyes. You can tell if someone likes to hurt you by their eyes.” She stood and walked toward him.

  Gage swallowed, watching as she kneeled by his chair. She pressed her hands to his thighs and her touch burned through his shorts.

  “Your eyes are kind, patient and intelligent.”

  He felt his muscles tensing under her fingers. She was so close now he smelled the fresh scent of her. Simple soap and pure woman.

  “You’re smart and friendly to everyone but underneath you’re lonely.”

  He froze. How did she see through him like glass?

  “You hide in your work. I think you’re afraid to risk caring for anyone again. Losing Theo broke your heart and sent you down a path you regret.”

  He closed his eyes. This was supposed to be about her struggles, her conflicts. He wanted to push her away and escape. Get far, far away from the far-too-perceptive Cate Hartmann.

  “I’m lonely too, Gage.” Her voice was close.

  He opened his eyes and saw she’d risen up so their faces were an inch apart, her slim legs pushing against his.

  “Except when I’m with you.” She slithered into his lap. “Be with me?”

  His hands dug into the armrests. Somewhere he had to find the strength to push her away. “I don’t want to take—”

  She shook her head, trailing a hand down his face. “You aren’t taking advantage. The only time I seem to know exactly what I want is when you’re close to me.”

  His control snapped.

  He grabbed her, yanking her forward. His mouth captured hers in a wild kiss. Everything he’d been holding back since she’d landed in his life burst out.

  As he ravaged her mouth, using tongue and teeth, his hands tore at her clothes. A whisper in the back of his mind told him to slow down, give her romance and gentleness, to take it easy.

  But she was tearing at him with equal passion and he couldn’t slow down. He needed her too much. He ripped her shirt over her head and made short work of the skirt. Her bra followed and then he was palming her breasts, caressing the svelte curves and hard nipples.

  He lifted her up, pressing his lips to the valley between her breasts. Everything about her was like it had been designed for him alone. He tasted one nipple, laving it and enjoying her cries. He switched to the other.

  Carefully he touched the bandage on her side and the smooth skin around it.

  “It’s fine. Barely hurts.” She dragged his hands back to her breasts.

  He needed her now. Needed to claim her, make her his.

  He tore her tiny panties away. Yes. This was what had haunted his sleep of late. Her naked body above him, all slender limbs and smooth skin.

  Fumbling, he flicked open his shorts. He couldn’t take the time to shed his clothes or carry her to his bed. He needed her here, now.

  “Yes, yes.” She chanted the word.

  As he bucked upward, he forced her body down. One hard thrust and he was seated inside her.

  They froze there for a second. Her blue eyes were wide and clear as glass. He thought he could see all the way to her soul.

  Then they were moving. A rhythm designed for a man and woman in desperate need of each other. She plunged up and down, her back arched.

  Gage gripped her thighs, his fingers digging into her skin, his hips rearing up, lodging himself deeper inside her. Pleasure rode him hard. He slid closer to a jagged edge, one he’d soon slip over, leaving him shattered.

  He held on, wanted the ride to last forever.

  ***

  Cate was mindless with pleasure.

  God, Gage filled her up. Her hands slid inside his shirt and pressed hard against firm muscles. Pleasure was a hot charge in her belly, electricity along her limbs.

  One of his big hands slid down her torso, dipped into her belly button, then lower. He rolled a finger over her clit and her entire body jerked against his hand. Her lips parted and her gaze collided with his.

  He worked her hard, his finger rolling, pinching, driving her higher and higher. She strained against him, all the muscles in her body winding tight. She hadn’t felt this good in so long and she never wanted it to end.

  Another clever flick and she flew upward, diving headfirst into blissful oblivion.

  Then he pulled her down, his body slamming into hers in an unforgiving rhythm. When she exploded again, she felt him go with her, groaning out his release.

  She slumped forward against his chest, his arms coming around her. Their chests rose and fell against each other. It was a long while before she felt him move. He lifted her into his arms and she stirred, curling deeper into his warmth.

  She pressed her lips to his shoulder. She loved being surrounded by him. Safe and protected.

  When he set her down on a rumpled bed, she stretched out, loved the scent of him in the sheets. The rest of the room was a mess—closest doors ajar, clothes on the floor, the nightstand crowded with science magazines.

  “You clearly save your organization for the lab, Dr. Walker.”

  Color filled his cheeks. “I wasn’t expecting company.” His gaze drifted over her, then he tensed. “I didn’t use any protection. I’m sorry, I have regular check-ups and—”

  “It’s okay.” She felt heat in her cheeks. “You know I’m clean and my system’s been out-of-whack since…well, anyway, I think we’re fine.”

  He nodded, opened the nightstand drawer and pulled out a box of condoms. Then he started stripping off his clothes. Shirt. Shorts. Underwear.

  Finally she got to see that rangy body of his in all its glory.

  She licked her lips. “How does a scientist keep in such good shape?”

  He stalked toward the bed. “I have a treadmill and weights in the room next door. I try and workout every day. Regular exercise is good for your health and wellbeing.”

  She smiled. “I appreciate your dedication.” She came up on her knees, eyeing his ridged stomach and the heavy erection curving upward toward it. She reached out.

  He shook his head and pushed her back down. “I’m in charge.”

  A tiny thrill skittered down her spine. Seeing the affable, patient doctor with a commanding edge in his eyes excited her.

  “Grip the headboard.”

  She lifted her arms up and curled her hands around the rungs on the wooden headboard. “Take everything you want.”

  A part of her was surprised by her boldness. Sex had always been nice, but usually something done in the dark after a date. She’d never been a bold exhibitionist, but she wanted Gage to see her. Wanted to let those warm brown eyes worship her.

  He kneeled on the bed, his gaze tracing over her in a slow exploration. “Spread your legs.”

  She did as he asked.

  “Are you wet for me, Cate?”

  God, she’d never expected him to be like this. There was so much more to Gage Walker and she loved it, wanted more. She nodded.

  “Show me.” He pressed his palms to the sheets, just outside her knees. “Touch yourself for me.”

  Hesitant at first, she pressed her fingers between the thighs. Seeing the lash of desire on his face gave her confidence. She ran a finger along her folds, caressed her clit.

  He made a growling sound and grabbed her hand. He brought her fingers to his mouth and licked off the juices. He growled again. “Delicious. And I want more.”

  Cate’s entire body trembled. She was so on edge, turned on so much she thought she might come just from watching him.

  Rough hands gripped her thighs, pushing he
r knees high to expose her to him. Without warning, he leaned down and set his mouth on her.

  She reared up. The intense pleasure was shocking. She wasn’t sure she’d survive it. Survive him. “Too much.”

  “Not enough.”

  His tongue stabbed into her and she couldn’t hold on any longer. She flung her arms back as the torrent of pleasure poured through her.

  He reared up, grabbed a condom and then he was on her, driving into her, hard and deep. He hammered into her and moments later he groaned, his fingers digging into her hips as he came. He collapsed beside her, his chest on the bed and his lower body still on her.

  Cate was wrecked. Utterly and completely. She’d never felt this good. Her chest was heaving as she tried to calm her breathing, slow her racing pulse.

  Gage moved, curling around her and pulling her back tight against his front. One strong arm held her hard against him, like he’d never let her go.

  “Thank you,” she whispered.

  His arm tightened, a hand sliding over her belly. “For what? Because believe me, that was for my pleasure as well.”

  She smiled, rubbing against him. “For not treating me like glass. Not treating me like something injured.”

  She felt his mouth press against her hair, one strong hand sliding down her thigh. He lifted her leg over his and she felt his hardening cock rub against her bottom.

  She gave a hiccupping laugh. “Gage?”

  “Hang on.” A rustling behind her as he changed the condom. “Again.”

  He slid inside her and her eyes glazed over. Desire was a hot, insistent fire inside her. Then there was just him. “Again.”

  As he thrust inside her, claiming her, Cate realized she’d never say no to this man.

  She’d willing give him anything he asked of her, even her battered soul.

  Chapter Eight

  Cate woke alone.

  She stretched, arching her sore body. She had stubble scrapes and tingles in places that had never ached before. She smiled against a pillow that smelled like Gage.

  She would never have guessed Gage Walker to be such a forceful, demanding lover. He was perfect.