by Katie Allen
During their outings, she tried to sneak in some speech exercises, but he would just give her a knowing look and ignore her overtures. He was a completely different case than she was used to, since she’d never had a patient who had absolutely no interest in communicating. When she tried to teach him a couple of words in sign language, he stared at her impassively until she dropped her hands to her sides. A few days into her stay, she grabbed a pile of small notebooks and pens from the supply closet and started slipping them into his coat pockets and placing them on the table next to him. Benjy folded all of the sheets of paper into tiny origami animals that he snuck into her pockets and set around her place setting. When Darwin saw them, it started an origami-off, in which he and Benjy competed for best and most intricate pieces. Every surface in the lodge was covered in folded paper animals by the time Daphne gave up trying to get Benjy to write down his responses and plotted a new strategy to help him find his voice again.
In the meantime, the two of them explored the wilderness around the lodge. Benjy looked longingly at the cross-country skis in the storage room every time they headed out, but the snow was still too shallow for anything but walking. Daphne gradually adapted to the altitude and even joined Tom on a couple of his jogs.
Her secret favorite thing, though, were the nights.
Although Ari and Benjy never pushed things any further than cuddling, the three of them slept tucked close together each night. Sometimes, Daphne wondered how she would be able to sleep alone once she returned to her solitary bed in Denver. She would immediately cut off that train of thought, insisting to herself that she would be fine. She’d always been alone, and she’d always been fine.
If only sleeping with Ari and B didn’t feel so good.
* * *
“Where’s Claire?” Daphne asked at breakfast one morning, after she’d been at the lodge for over two weeks. A week earlier, she’d called Jan again and asked her to refer her patients to another speech-language pathologist, since she was going to be gone for an “indeterminate” amount of time.
With a grimace, Ed said, “Sick.”
“Again?” Lauren asked, frowning. “That’s the third time she’s missed meals this week. Are you sure it’s just the flu? The way it comes and goes, it doesn’t seem like...oh!” She covered her mouth again as her eyes got big.
“What?” Cal asked, looking down at her shocked face.
Lauren stared at Ed for several long moments before she swallowed visibly. “Um...congratulations?”
From the changing expressions on Ed’s face, Daphne could see when confusion turned to comprehension and then sheer terror. Without a word, he spun around and stormed to the exit, slamming the door behind him.
“What the fuck was that about?” Cal asked.
“Claire’s been sick on and off, in the morning...” Lauren widened her eyes, as if forcing her thoughts into Cal’s brain. His face stayed blank. “Oh for God’s sake, you thick-skulled dum-dum, she’s pregnant!”
The silence was so complete after the announcement that it felt as if all the air had been vacuumed out of the dining room.
“Whoa.” Darwin finally broke the silence. “Holy shit-balls.”
“Is that bad?” Daphne asked tentatively, confused by the heavy layer of gloom surrounding everyone.
Aristotle was staring at the ceiling, his jaw locked so tightly that it looked as if it would pop off his face at any moment. “Yes,” he finally gritted through his clenched teeth.
“No,” Lauren countered, although her expression was grim. “Not bad. It just makes things a little more...complicated. And I don’t even know for sure if she’s pregnant. She could just have the comes-and-goes flu. You know—the one that makes her moods all wacky and gives her bigger boobs. Yeah.”
“Her boobs are bigger?” Cal asked.
“Yep.”
“How the hell did you notice? I’m a guy, and I didn’t notice that shit.”
Lauren batted her lashes at Calvin. “That’s because you only have eyes for me and my boobs, buttercup.”
He rolled his eyes, but a matching smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “Still think it’s weird that you’re checking out Claire.”
“I wasn’t checking her out!” Lauren gave his chest a shove that didn’t even move him an inch. “I noticed, but not in a, like, sexy way or anything. Besides, you’d love it if we made out, you perv.”
“Do you two mind putting your flirting on hold for a few minutes?” Aristotle asked with false sweetness. “We should probably talk about, oh, I don’t know...maybe this fucking bomb that’s been dropped on us?”
He ended on a shout, making Daphne jump.
After a few seconds of tense silence, she worked up her nerve to ask, “I still don’t get why this is so bad—for all of you, I mean. I can see how an unexpected pregnancy could be...upsetting for the parents, but why are you guys so freaked out?”
“It’d be bad enough for any of us to get dragged back to the lab,” Darwin said, no teasing in his voice for once. “We’re adults and can defend ourselves, to a point. A baby though...fuck.”
Daphne was still confused. “Why would the lab people even want the baby? Your genes weren’t altered, were they? The baby wouldn’t inherit any superpowers.”
Shaking his head, Aristotle countered, “We don’t know that. They could’ve done anything to us. Fuck, we can’t even figure out what they did to erase our pre-lab memories.”
“Besides,” Lauren added, “I overheard a couple of the lab goons talking about how Dr. K would love to experiment on a baby. How creepy and wrong is that?”
Daphne felt her eyes grow wide. “Very. Who’s Dr. K?”
“She’s the lead scientist in charge of the project.” Aristotle’s jaw was locked so tightly that his words came out sounding strangled. “Amoral, soulless bitch.”
“Fucking amen,” Cal muttered, tightening his arms around Lauren until she gave a squeak.
Tom broke the next heavy silence. “We might as well eat. No reason to be hungry as well as worried.”
“Should we bring Ed and Claire some breakfast?” Daphne asked, putting a couple of sausages on her plate. Benjy stabbed one and stuffed the whole thing in his mouth. Frowning at him, she took a couple more sausages and grabbed her fork, prepared to defend her food with violence, if necessary.
“Let’s give them a while longer,” Darwin suggested. “That’s not a quick conversation.”
Keeping half an eye on the food thief to her left, Daphne ate as she thought. The quiet around the table was only broken by the clank of silverware on plates or by occasional requests to pass food.
“Will you kidnap an OB doctor?” Daphne finally asked, and everyone went still. As she looked around at the shocked faces, she shrugged. “I’m just asking because, if she is pregnant, Claire will have to go to a gazillion prenatal appointments. Plus, there’s the whole giving-birth thing. Unless you guys are going to act as midwives?”
“Fuck.” Cal’s head hit the table with a thunk.
Ari’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Daphne. “Know any good baby doctors in Denver? Fort Collins or Colorado Springs would work, too.”
Her jaw dropped and it was her turn to stare. “You want me to recommend someone for you to kidnap?”
“No.” He shrugged. “Maybe. Just looking at all the options.”
Benjy reached behind Daphne and smacked A on the back of the head.
“Exactly,” Lauren snapped, standing abruptly. “No more kidnapping. I don’t know why we actually have to say it, since I’d think it would be kind of a no-brainer to anyone who has even a hint of a moral code, but we should make it a rule. No kidnapping innocent people for their medical expertise!”
“I second that rule,” Darwin said, raising his hand as if they were sitting around a boardroom t
able.
“Third,” Tom chimed in.
“Motion passed.” Lauren gave a satisfied nod and sat.
“What—we go by fucking Robert’s Rules of Order now?” Ari scoffed. “I say it should be a rule that you can’t ban kidnapping without coming up with a better plan.”
“Maybe we should put this discussion on hold until Claire actually confirms she’s pregnant,” Tom suggested.
“Good idea,” Calvin muttered. “Just thinking about this shit is about to make my goddamn head explode.”
“I second that motion.” The corners of Lauren’s mouth vibrated, as if she were holding back a laugh.
“Fuck me,” Ari muttered.
* * *
Even after Daphne had helped Cal—the lucky one listed for breakfast cleanup on the chore chart—wash the last of the pans after breakfast, neither Claire nor Ed had reappeared.
“Do you think I should bring them some food now?” she asked, pulling out some plastic wrap to cover the untouched serving bowl of Tom’s dreaded oatmeal.
Cal gave her an affirmative shrug. “Sure, wouldn’t hurt.” He glanced over at what she was wrapping and flinched. “Just not that noxious shit. In fact, dump that.”
“Are you sure?” Daphne eyed the grayish mess that had congealed as it cooled, making it even less appetizing than it had been at the table.
“Completely fucking sure.” He took the bowl from her, making a face as he slopped it into the compost bucket. “The only thing worse than Tom’s oatmeal is Tom’s oatmeal leftovers. Here, take this shit out to the compost bin before he sees that we chucked it.”
Accepting the bucket, she held it out far away from her body by the handle. “Better chucking it than upchucking it, I guess.”
His lips pressed tightly together. “Damn it, Daph. You’re going to make me puke.”
She gave an inelegant snort of laughter and carried the bucket through the side kitchen door. After a few steps, she stopped, realizing that she didn’t actually know where the compost pile was. Someone else had always gotten compost-dumping duty before. She shivered in the sharp cold, looking around for a big pile of old food scraps.
When someone grabbed her free hand, she jumped, almost dropping the bucket. Benjy grinned and tugged her forward.
“You...ass!” she yelled, although much of the severity of her words was taken away by the laughter in her voice. “You scared the spit out of me.” Since neither of her hands was free, she had to settle for kicking some powdery snow at him. He just smirked and raised an eyebrow. “Ass,” she muttered again.
Ignoring her insults, he pulled her by the hand toward a stand of trees, where a large green bin squatted. He took the bucket from her, and she attempted to open the bin lid, fumbling a little on the bear-proof fastenings. She finally managed to open it, proving herself at least slightly smarter than the average bear. She held up the lid while Benjy dumped the scraps into the bin.
She let the lid close and eyed the bear-thwarting hardware. “Do you mind locking this? I’d hate to be responsible for a dramatic increase in bear obesity around here.”
Instead, he set the bucket on the ground before covering both of her hands with his. He guided her through each step until the bin was fully fastened. She tried to concentrate on the process so she’d remember how to do it herself the next time that she was sent out with food scraps, but it was really hard not to focus on Benjy. His hands were huge and warm around hers, and he’d rub his thumb against her palm at odd moments, making her breath catch.
Once the bin was locked, he just held her hands and looked at her. Her cheeks warmed until she was sure that her face was a truly unattractive scarlet.
“Um...so,” she stammered, looking everywhere but at Benjy’s eyes. Or at his broad chest. Or at his arms. Or at his crotch. “I think I have it now. The whole bear-proofing thing, I mean.”
When he just held her hands and his silence, she risked a glance at his face and felt a fresh wave of heat flood through her. Why did that little smirk make him so unreasonably attractive?
“Not to interrupt this moment brought to us by the Society for the Treatment of Stockholm Syndrome, but what the hell are you two doing?” Darwin’s voice made her jump and try to pull her hands free of Benjy’s grip. When he wouldn’t relinquish them, she looked at Darwin, trying to pretend as if they weren’t holding hands.
“Nothing,” she said quickly. “I mean, ah... B was showing me how to work the bear-proofing stuff. That’s all...um, all we were doing, I mean.”
Her face felt like it was on fire, and she cursed her tendency to blush.
Darwin didn’t help matters. He tilted his head, and a corner of his mouth quirked. “Uh-huh. Aren’t you cold, standing out here without a coat?”
“No.”
Hang on, had she just admitted that Benjy was keeping her warm, just by standing close to her and holding her hands? And smirking at her—she couldn’t leave out the smirking. She yanked her hands back, and B let her go that time. “Uh... I mean, of course I’m cold. Freezing, in fact. I’d better go...you know, inside.”
Without looking at either of the guys, she snatched up the compost bucket and hurried toward the lodge. Cutting through the kitchen to return the pail, she ducked through the door into the dining room before Cal could comment on her flaming cheeks. She grabbed her coat from a hook by the main doors and headed right back outside. Heat was still churning around inside her, and the interior of the lodge felt stifling.
Watching her feet as she picked her way across the snow-covered ground toward the trees, Daphne muttered under her breath, “You are so socially dumb, Daph. A hot guy holds your hands for practical reasons, and you freak. What is wrong with you?”
Huge, booted feet appeared in front of her, and she stumbled back with a shriek. “What the...? Benjy! Stop scaring me!”
His usual smirk was replaced by a full-out grin. Her heart and panties melted in unison.
She sighed, giving in and smiling back. “Do you mind if we walk? Everyone in the lodge is kind of gloomy right now, with the possible baby news and all.”
When he extended his hand, she hesitated a moment, remembering her overexcited reaction to the hand-holding from just a few short minutes ago. B kept his arm outstretched until her shoulders dropped and she took hold of his hand. If she was honest with herself, she didn’t even need finger-touching to act like an idiot. She did that perfectly well even without any physical stimulation.
Tugging gently on her hand, Benjy led her toward the line of trees. Once her heartbeat slowed enough for her to notice her surroundings, she let out a deep breath and relaxed. It was perfect, with the cold, crisp air and the sun reflecting off the snow. Even after two weeks of walks in the woods, the depth of the silence was almost scary after a lifetime of living in a city. She hadn’t realized how many everyday sounds she’d automatically tuned out until all that noise was gone.
Daphne glanced at Benjy’s profile. He turned his head to meet her gaze, and the corners of his mouth turned up in something a little sweeter than his usual smirk. Her stomach flipped in the best way—right before she tripped over the toe of her boot and fell face-first toward the frozen and hard-looking ground.
Before her nose could be flattened, B’s arm caught her around the middle and lifted her back to her feet with a speed and ease that provided even more proof that their lab stories were true.
“Thanks,” she gasped. His steel pole of an arm had driven out her air. Feeling that same arm still wrapped around her waist and his exhales on her neck did not help her lack-of-breath situation much either.
He didn’t move, except to pull her against him more tightly, until her back was wedged against his front. She didn’t know whether to be grateful for the layers of clothing that separated them or to curse them, and then his lips were on her neck, and she could
n’t think of anything.
Her limited, fairly lackluster history of kissing had not prepared her for this. Just the light brush of his lips below her ear made her skin prickle with heat and her bones turn as soft as gummy worms. She finally understood why people did such crazy things when they were in love—or even just in lust. B hadn’t even kissed her on the mouth, and she was already addicted to the bubbling excitement that spread through her body, making her toes scrunch in her boots and her fingers clutch at the forearm pressed against her belly.
With his free hand, Benjy stroked her hair away from her neck, freeing up more available kissing space. Tilting her head, Daphne closed her eyes and hoped for more, all thoughts of kidnapping, evil scientists and speech therapy gone.
He obliged her unspoken request, kissing a light line down the side of her throat and back up again to catch her earlobe in his teeth. That made her squeak with surprise at the nip of pain after the softness of his kisses, and then a rush of warmth ran from her ear to her center, forcing her to bite back a moan.
The world blurred as he spun her around to face him. When she saw the heat and intensity of his expression, she retreated a few feet until her back was pressed against the trunk of a tree. He advanced, one step forward for every one of her backward steps, until he’d trapped her between his body and the rough bark.
His head descended, and she held her breath, waiting. If soft, easy kisses on her neck had made her melt into a drippy puddle of lust, what would an actual, full-on, on-the-mouth, perhaps-even-with-tongue kiss do?
Chapter Seven
Daphne heard bells. That was one thing the songs and fairy tales got right.
She frowned. The bells didn’t really sound like something out of a magical fantasy.
When Benjy jerked up his head, his expression changing from desire to wariness, she knew she wasn’t imagining the noise. An alarm was sounding. It wasn’t very loud, but it was definitely some sort of siren.
As realization hit her, B grabbed her hand and took off running. She struggled to keep up with his inhuman pace as evergreen boughs smacked her in the face. When she raised her free arm to protect her head from the whipping branches, Daphne couldn’t see in front of her. She tripped, falling for the second time in less than five minutes.