Warrior Reborn

by KH LeMoyne

  Not yet.

  His mouth slid lower, worshiping, tasting. It seemed so long since he’d experienced her body. Yet the memory was still so vivid. Mine. The woman. Her love. Her passionate response. All his, only his.

  Almost reaching his goal, just a breath shy of parting those curls for a taste, she surprised him. Pushing hard on his shoulder, she flipped him over with a tight grasp of her thighs, straddling his abdomen with a wicked smile, her damp, moist heat a temptation against his erection.

  She leaned down, those luscious nipples grazing his chest, her back bowed, the white globes of her ass raised high like a cat stretching.

  “Baby, if you wanted control—

  All thought stopped as the wet, warmth of her mouth covered him and gave a gentle suck. “Jeez, Briet—”

  On instinct, he lifted his hips and offered more of himself as his fingers wrapped in her hair. Her tongue, the playful glint in her eyes, the motion of that beautiful mouth—his total undoing. He watched her lick and tease, his cock disappearing into her mouth. Threatening to blow any second if she didn’t stop, he withdrew from her warmth. As much as he enjoyed her attention, he wanted to be hilt-deep inside of her when they both came.

  “Briet.” His tug on her hair stopped her motion. “I want you.”

  She’d released him from her mouth, but her hand held him tight, her thumb teasing at a sensitive spot just beneath the crest of his head. Sucking in air, he barely managed to wrestle back control. His pull grew tighter on her hair, not wanting to hurt her, but needing clarity since he wasn’t sure he could get the words out.

  “I don’t have any protection here,” she whispered against his flesh.

  He pulled again, control finally conquered. “I don’t care, just come up here.”

  Not the time he would have chosen to have this conversation, but not a bad time for it either. As she released her precious grip on him, he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her up his body until she lay nose to nose on top of him. If he moved his hips, even slightly, he would penetrate the moist heat between her thighs and breech her entrance. His arm tightened around the back of her waist as he cupped the side of her face to stroke her cheek and looked into her eyes. “Don’t you want to have a baby with me?”

  He expected to wait. To have to coax her to tell him what he already knew. He’d expected to exert more effort getting her to talk to him than they would actually expend during sex.

  Instead, she met his question with a look of resolve. “I do. I also know you’ll be a wonderful father.” She gripped her hand over his as he blinked at the vehemence in her voice. “I’m willing to take as much time as it takes to convince you of that. I’ll help you every step of the way, but you don’t need to do this now just because we’ve missed each other for so long. We can take all the time we need to work this out.” She gave her head a shake. The wave of burnished gold above her right brow bounced with her emphatic tone. “Though I’m not giving up on a future with our children.”

  How he loved this woman. Her guard, usually so high was steeled to take him on, defending him at the same time she attempted to save him from himself. He nodded but didn’t let her go, shifting that marginal inch so she could feel him start to enter her. “You’re right. I do want you. Very badly. Now.”

  He moved her face closer and sucked her lower lip between his teeth, his eyes still staring into hers. “But I had already come to terms with wanting us to have a child before I stepped in the shower with you.”

  “Jason.”

  “I want you.” He penetrated an inch more, cataloging the signs of her desire as her lips parted, her pupils dilated, and her hips shifted with his action. “Now and a hundred years from now. I want to work by your side and I want to see you carrying my children. But—” He withdrew from her folds, torturing both of them. He needed the words. Her ability to open up to him, to challenge him, more important than the solace he would find in her body. “Tell me again. Because I love that you trust me enough.”

  She sighed as she pressed her lips to his. “You’re mine. Forever.” She pulled back searching his face. “I want your children, but I need you with all the essence of my soul.” She clenched her thighs about his and moved her body to recapture the intimacy he’d removed.

  He stroked a hand over her cheek. “Are you sure, Briet? Because if you are, I’ll give this everything I’ve got. I just need you with me.”

  “I’m positive.” She touched her forehead to his. “Now, quit being a tease.”

  His chuckle was smothered with her kiss. He gripped her hips and plunged deep. Home. His aching flesh thickened inside her, goaded by the sweet grip of her muscles. He moved, her delicate moans echoing to his soul with each stroke. Yet it still wasn’t enough.

  With a quick twist, he flipped them again, pressing her into the mattress, angling deeper for her pleasure. Her legs wrapped tighter around him. Driving into her with possession, determined to mark in her memory the bite of fever she marked in his, he let loose his need. Her moans vibrated along his skin.

  He pressed his lips to the curve between her neck and shoulder. She clenched about him, her legs, her channel, and her hands holding him to her as he plunged again.

  Not far enough. Not close enough. But the closest he’d ever know to heaven. He coached his rhythm to feed her desire. Her fingernails dug into his back with her rising cries, signaling his success. With a shift of his body, he picked up the speed and sucked the lobe of her ear between his lips, then nipped a pattern along her neck. When her body started to shatter around him, he bit gently on her tender flesh, feeling her orgasm surge higher, pulling him with her as he came with a white, hot blast of pleasure. The wave, the rush, so intense, so prolonged, he clasped her to him, wanting to fuse their bodies the way his heart and purpose had become inextricably tied to hers.

  He lay there for minutes, crushing her, too content to want to move. Reluctant to give up the moment, he rolled to the side, keeping her with him. Sweat, first hot, now cool, wicked the warmth from their bodies. He pulled the edge of the cover over them. A subtle shift, but he managed to stayed embedded inside her and clasp her leg that lay, now lax, over his hip. “I love you, Briet.”

  “You sure?” She smiled teasingly. “I might need more convincing.”

  “Really? You need more?” He kissed her nose, his cock twitching inside her as if in response to her words. Her sultry chuckle against his chest stoked the embers, rejuvenating his muscles. “The way I see it, you’re not taking me seriously.”

  Her tongue tickled a spot and then kissed away the tiny itch. He pushed back the hair beside her ear and whispered against her cheek. “If you require more convincing, I’ll need a few minutes but just to remind you, I’m available for the next eighty or so years.”

  “Good to know.” She didn’t move from her spot against his chest but intertwined her fingers with his.

  “Briet, promise me something.”

  She tensed and he placed her hand over his chest, stroking over her fingers as he focused on her expression. Her mouth red from his kisses, her whiskey eyes sated, the light blush of pleasure still dusted over her cheekbones. It was hard to keep focus with such a delectable image.

  “What?” The word was a throaty seductive whisper.

  Not resisting, he sipped from her lips and pulled back. “When you get pregnant, I want us to come back here until you have the baby.”

  Her eyes widened in surprise. He quickly covered her mouth with two fingers before she could speak. “I’ve been beside you for days. The coma—you nearly died in my arms. Twice. I don’t want to go through that again. I can’t lose you. I know you’ll be safe here. Promise me.”

  She kissed his fingers to coerce him to move them. “Sounds like this is all for me—I get you, safety, a child. You give up your lifestyle, your job, your success, and what do you get? What will make you happy?”

  “Aside from you?” He shook his head in an attempt to dislodge the incredible euphoria of holding
her protected in his arms and pressed a kiss to her lips again. “Success for me was money and recognition. I’ve had both. However, dealing with your people, handling special gifts, surviving in totally different circumstances—it has given me a new perspective. I’ve felt more revitalized these last few days than I have in years.” He watched her eyes for a response. She was busy following every word—no judgment—just listening. “I need different challenges, different rewards than my job can provide. I have more to offer than my old life can absorb.”

  “Trust me enough to tell me,” she whispered and pressed a kiss to his jaw.

  He smiled as she sent his words back to him. Trust was a two way street and he trusted her more than just to make sure he didn’t fuck up as a father. He twined his fingers with hers. “I want to keep working with you after we find a way to stem the threat from Salvatore. We make a good team. Between us, maybe we can get in front of his plans. Maybe we can help Grimm tackle the virus that killed your parents’ generation. Or whatever else we’re needed to do. Because I get the feeling there’s never a shortage of work around here.”

  “You want to work on research for our people?” Her shock dissipated into a slow, easy smile.

  “Our child will be one of our people.” Jason smoothed a hand over her hip to her abdomen. “I’m not about to let that bastard, or anything else endanger its life. Or Marcus’s. Or any other child born to this race.”

  Briet blinked. He lifted his thumb to wipe at the moisture pooling over her bottom lid. It was almost frightening to see the hope and happiness in her eyes. He planned to get really used to enjoying it.

  “We make a great team.” Her hands stroked along his jaw bringing his face to hers for a tender kiss.

  Reluctantly, he pulled back. “I know the contributions you’ve made on all the trials you’ve worked with. You seem to prefer being away from here. Will working here, together, be enough for you?”

  Her eyes searched his face and he held his breath, though he saw only conviction in the set of her lips and the openness of her gaze. “I never minded being here. I just felt there was something out there for me. I felt frustrated not being able to contribute in a bigger way. Working with you fills the empty hole I’ve been searching to satisfy. I don’t care where we are.” She pursed her lips, then looked down and back. “Though I do need to finish my work with this trial.”

  “I wouldn’t ask you to walk away.” He stroked his thumb over her lips, reshaping them back to relaxed and smiling. “But I still need your promise.”

  “You’re big on the promising thing.”

  “I know you’ll never break a promise to me. You’ll never let me down.”

  Her lashes lowered, then she gave him a smile that pulled not only the luscious corners of her mouth, but meddled in fine, gentle creases framing her eyes. “Yes, we’ll come back here if I get pregnant.”

  “If?” He tried for a tone of outrage but failed as she pressed her mouth against his shoulder to hold back her laugh. “I laid myself bare and you doubt my manhood. I think you deserve punishment.” His fingers danced lightly beneath her breasts and skirted over her stomach as she tried to retaliate against the tickles. When her hips shifted closer, her muscles squeezed slowly on his thickening erection. He was more than prepared to concede.

  “Execution of the plan needs more practice,” she whispered as her teeth grazed his nipple.

  “Ah—at your service, my lady,” he promised as he drew her closer.

  CHAPTER 32

  It had been six weeks since she’d lain helpless on the lab floor after her attack. Hard to believe. Briet glanced at the family lounge to gauge how many more children and their parents were waiting but the crowd was finally down to the last five for this time slot. Ten more patients and all the children would be finished with the injection of an inhibitor to counteract the DNA splice.

  “Dr. Hyden. It’s good to see you back. You’ve already been back more than two weeks and I haven’t had a chance to catch up with you,” Max Harris said from behind her. “Heard you had a hard time of it. Hope you’re feeling back to normal?”

  Briet gave Mario Sanchez a quick smile and pat on the shoulder, then turned to greet Max and accepted the hand he offered. His gaze lingered on her ring, but she spoke before he could comment. “Better than normal, actually. Thank you for asking. Have you come to see how the benchmarks are looking for the trial?”

  Two days had been set aside for routine testing in conjunction with this round of protocol administration. That Jason had managed so quickly to schedule this new appointment with all the patients was no easy feat, but a necessary strategy for keeping Salvatore off-guard.

  Briet caught a glimpse of Sagari’s smile over Max’s shoulder and fought an impulse to respond in kind.

  “I’ve come to see if I can pull Dr. Thurmont away for a few moments,” he said, canvassing the sea of people behind her.

  “Ah, I keep forgetting his change in status.” Though nothing made her happier than Dr. Sanyu stepping down and Ed Thurmont being offered the position to lead the trial during its final weeks.

  “Would be an easier job if he gave up some of his other participation on the team. Not realistic, given he picked up Dr. Arnault’s patient load. I’m lucky to get any of his time,” said Max as he continued to search for a sign of Thurmont.

  His tone and expression seemed sincere. A little fatigue was reflected on his face and he projected a good deal of distraction, but no shielded movements or hint of a covert agenda radiated from the man. According to Jason, Max was a decent person, just lacking in initiative. He followed orders. Ignored political inconsistencies when they arose, assuming a tunnel vision, heads-down focus on the business. The assessment matched her observations as well.

  “How are you dealing with the changes within Welson?” she asked, not unkindly. Having the top tiers of the company shift was never an easy transition.

  Max gave a quick shrug. “I was surprised to see Gault step down. Though, these days company executives are tied to incentives, not necessarily a company, so it’s really not that unusual.”

  “What do you think of David Auster?” She watched the look of light speculation cross Max’s face but he nodded with enthusiasm.

  “I’m surprised he was willing to come out of retirement. It’s lucky for us. He has a wealth of experience and with his resources and personal network, he can do a lot to move Welson in a positive direction. Have you met him?”

  Briet nodded. “At the reception a few months back. He’s a genuinely nice man. I was impressed. I’m glad to hear he’s heading up Welson.” He had been the only nice man she’d met at that horrid reception. Welson was very lucky.

  Max opened his mouth, but whatever he was going to say dissolved with the appearance of Thurmont, Jason, and Grimm. “So I can get some of your time, and yours as well, Jason? If you haven’t already stepped back in and handled the issues I was going to bring up to Ed.”

  “He’s run a list by me and eased my schedule a bit. I definitely owe you for that.” Thurmont nodded to Jason and clapped a hand on Grimm’s shoulder. “I have some relief for Dr. Arnault’s patient load. This is Dr. Evan Grimwald. He’s agreed to assist us through the end of the trials.” Thurmont gestured from Grimm to Jason’s boss. “Max Harris, one of our Welson Laboratory points-of-contact.”

  Max gave a quick glance to Jason, but shook Grimm’s hand without reservation. “Well, that was number two on my list. You are fast.”

  “It’s what you pay me for,” Jason responded. “Are you ready to meet now?”

  “Yes. Dr. Hyden, I guess congratulations are in order?” Max turned back with a pointed look at her hand.

  “Thank you, Max.”

  “I hope your husband knows how glad we are you recovered and the benefit you bring to the trial.”

  “He’s very aware of her importance,” said Jason as he stared at her with obvious affection.

  Max’s brow furrowed in momentary confusion. With a flick
er of insight and a look to Jason’s ring finger, understanding hit. His eyes widened as he glanced between them. “I see. Congratulations to you both.”

  Grimm gave her a quick look, but covered his expression as he rubbed at his jaw. Thurmont’s gaze flickered between her and Jason with a cross between a cough and a smile. She had already explained the situation to her team leader. Or more aptly put, she’d explained after Thurmont had walked in on Jason giving her a quick kiss one morning in the doctor’s lounge. She’d been more surprised at Thurmont’s lack of surprise.

  Either way, she and Jason agreed it would be better to be open about their relationship given the short duration of time remaining in the trials. They had enough supporters that being honest would provide them more coverage than hiding.

  Max, Thurmont, and Jason headed toward the elevators as Grimm moved closer.

  “Grimwald?” she asked with a raised brow.

  “It’s as original as Hyden.” He moved closer, his arms crossed over his chest and his head bent as if considering a conversation they might be having. To all concerned, they looked like business as usual. “What’s the schedule for Tsu?”

  She turned back around to catch Mia withdrawing blood from Brian Paulsen. Quan, Mia, and Sagari were all present, filling in as on-call personnel for the lab techs who had all conveniently come down with a stomach virus. At least Grimm had been considerate enough to produce minimal symptoms for illnesses.

  Training the three Guardians to take blood samples had been a little touch and go. After rounds of repetitious exercises, all leaving Ansgar’s arms looking like giant pincushions, they mastered the gentle art. They had also managed to oversee the delivery of the standard protocol, the inhibitor safely combined inside. Again, with Grimm’s help. No small feat.

  “Frank’s team is waiting for word that we’ve finished with all of the kids before they move in with Tsu for destruction of the plant. His people have also confirmed their completion of delivery of the inhibitor to the last trial group on their list.”