He focused on her again, his eyes softening. How did he do that? “I miss family.”
Yeah. That.
Sharon cleared her throat, drawing their attention back to her. “I know you’re a Merc, and I’m sure that means a lot to you. But the Pure has a mission, an important one, and you could be a part of that. Neither of you has been infected, and that matters. We’re the only ones who can continue the human race.” She turned her gaze toward April. “Don’t you want to have more children?”
“No,” April blurted instantly, her body turning to lava and then ice. “God, no.” The room narrowed from the outside in, and her chest compressed with a sharp pain. “Never.” She tried to yank away from Damon. Her throat closed. She couldn’t breathe.
“April,” Damon said, his voice sharp.
She jerked.
“April.” The sharpness disappeared and was replaced by a low command. “Look at me.”
She swallowed, or tried to, and looked up at his face. Intense, brown eyes. Hard, sculpted features. Raw strength.
He leaned in, both of his hands grasping hers now. “Stay with me. Take a deep breath.” The order was said calmly, but it was an order nonetheless. One she instinctively obeyed. “Good,” he said. “Another, and let it out slower this time.”
She did as he said, and the buzzing between her ears slowly dissipated. The muscles in her chest and shoulders lost some of their tension.
“Better,” he said, leaning in and brushing a lock of hair away from her cheek.
The simple touch forced tears to her eyes. What had just happened? Vulnerability rammed through her, making her sway.
“You’re okay, baby.” He kept coming closer, his lips nearly to hers. “That was a good job. All you have to worry about right now is this minute. There are no obligations. Ever.” Then he brushed his mouth against hers in a touch so light it pulled all her focus away from fear and right onto him. “There you go.” His lips formed the words right on hers.
She sucked in air.
His smile felt good against her. “Well.” He leaned back, giving her space to breathe. “We just found the best cure ever for a panic attack.”
She could only stare at him. So many feelings bombarded her that she couldn’t actually feel anything. She was numb. In shock. But need? Yes. And intrigued.
Sharon coughed, and April jumped. She’d forgotten the other woman was even there.
Damon didn’t look away from April, and he certainly didn’t jump. The guy was more aware of his surroundings than anybody she’d ever met. “You okay now?” he asked.
Hell no. “Yes,” she murmured. “Sorry about that.”
He shook his head. “Nothing to be sorry about. You’ve been through unimaginable horrors. Panic and fear are normal. We’ll deal with them one at a time.”
She blinked. Deal with them? “We?”
His smile held more determination than amusement. “Yeah. We. It may take you a while to get settled into it, but you’re covered, April. I’m not letting anything happen to you. That’s a promise.”
Her lips twitched to say something, anything, but what were the right words? Then she looked guiltily over at all the kids playing on the floor. Not one of them was looking her way, and most seemed to be concentrating on different board games. She wasn’t doing a very good job of watching them.
Sharon pushed her chair back. “On that note, I should get back to the kids in the church. It’s about naptime.” She stood. “I’m sorry if I upset you, April. But please come to the dinner tonight and just get to know some of our members. We’re actually a pretty nice group.”
With armed guards at the entrance to the apartment building.
“We’ll try,” Damon answered for both of them, his focus remaining on April.
Sharon left quietly.
The kids laughed, and the warmth inside was nearly unbearable. But April could only concentrate on Damon. “I don’t know how to pretend,” she admitted. “It’s all too confusing.”
“Because you’re attracted to me?” he asked, one eyebrow rising.
She straightened. Had he just said that? Was it arrogance or just…honesty? “Yes.” She lifted her chin and forced herself to keep his gaze. “I am, and I’m getting confusing signals from, well, myself.”
He didn’t laugh at her. Didn’t even turn arrogant. “I’m attracted to you, too. So if you’re afraid of being embarrassed, of feeling something real while I’m just pretending, then stop being afraid. I think you’re beautiful, smart, and kind. Your tits are unreal, and I’ve wanted to take your mouth from the first time you got sassy with me. Hard and deep.”
She freed her hands and threw them up. “Who says that? I mean, who in real life actually says that?” A million years ago, she’d read awesome romance novels with something called alpha males, and it had been fun and intriguing. But this guy? He actually sounded like one. A real one.
“I do.” His gaze didn’t waver. Not even a tiny bit. “I’ve never been a game player, and since we’re at the tail-end of an apocalypse, I don’t have time for that crap.”
“This—you’re…nuts.” That’s all she had.
“Maybe.” Now he did smile. “But here it is. We have a job to do, and we’re gonna do it. While we’re flirting and touching, I’m feeling it as much as you are. It doesn’t have to go anywhere. There’s no pressure for you to do anything but just be in the moment. If we take it further—if you want to—then great. If not, we’ll have some fun and maybe save some lives.”
She shouldn’t ask. She really shouldn’t. “Do you want to take it further?” Her voice cracked.
He sobered, an intensity swelling from him. “Hell yes. To bed and then to bed again. But I ain’t lookin’ for ever after, April. Can’t.”
“Just here and now,” she murmured thoughtfully. Was it possible?
He nodded, looking like one of those tough-guy heroes from an action movie. “Think about it.”
Like she had a choice. She might not think about anything else. “Okay.”
“For now, let’s plan for our dinner date tonight. Something tells me it’s going to be interesting.”
That was probably an understatement. Big time.
7
I like these new guys—the Mercs. Hope I don’t have to kill them.
—Jax Mercury, Journal
Jax Mercury scrubbed his wet hair away from his face and settled into his chair in the war room, his gaze on a map of what used to be Los Angeles. His elbow rested on the cool surface of the conference table they’d found at a law office somewhere.
A whisper sounded by the door, and Damon Winter strode in, munching on what looked like fruitcake. A bandage peeked from his superficial wound. “Get the blood off after interrogating that gang member?” he asked, pulling out a chair at the elaborate table to sit. His voice gave nothing away.
Jax glanced sideways. “Yeah.” He took in the newest member of his team. The guy could definitely handle himself, but rumor had it he’d been a cop. Even though Jax had been a soldier with the US military, he’d never been a big fan of law enforcement. Of course, he’d been in a gang that had broken laws on a regular basis. Now, he was trying to create law and order. “That bother you?”
“Yeah.” Damon took the final bite, his dark eyes sober. “That bothers me.”
Jax tugged his fresh T-shirt into place. “Then don’t do it.”
Damon lifted a dark eyebrow. “I’ll do what needs to be done, but we shouldn’t like it.”
Ah. Jax nodded. “Agreed.” He tilted his head. “How’s your wound?”
“Just a scratch. Needed a Band-Aid. No big deal.”
“What were you just eating?” When was the last time Jax had eaten?
“Fruitcake,” Damon said. “Did you know it lasts forever? I mean, forty years from now, the fruitcake we have in storage will still be edible.”
That couldn’t be good. “Didn’t even know we had fruitcake,” Jax muttered.
“Scouts found
an old factory a day ago and brought as much as they could carry in the van.” Damon gave a mock shudder. “It really is as awful as I remember. But it’s food.”
Yeah. They couldn’t turn away sustenance. Not an ounce. “Why you here, Damon?”
“What did you find out?” Damon asked.
All right. The cop would get to his point in his own time. That was fine. This was a man Jax wanted on his team, so he’d play along. For a while. “I have the Twenty’s hierarchy, which is pretty damn loose, and I’ll make diagrams. Bottom line is that the president is using them to harass us as well as gather supplies and so on. They number about a hundred.”
Damon winced. “A hundred gang members who get points for killing us. Wonderful. What does Vanguard number?”
“About six hundred now that the Mercs have joined up,” Jax said. If they had. That still seemed to be up in the air. “Do you think you’re joining Vanguard?” He studied the cop’s face, looking for any clue as to what he was thinking.
Nope. No tells. Damon could probably play poker with the best of them.
Damon turned and studied the map of Los Angeles. “I’ll back whatever play Greyson makes.”
That was clear as glass. Perfectly, actually. Okay. Jax leaned back, his body relaxing. He liked a guy who played it straight. “What’s Grey thinking?”
“Dunno.” Damon crossed muscled arms. A small bandage peeked from beneath his T-shirt up high on his left bicep. “But I think we should stay.”
Jax went on alert. There was no question Greyson Storm relied on Damon’s council. “Why?”
Damon turned slowly, his gaze thoughtful. “For one thing, our entire territory burned down.”
Yeah, that did suck. But they could always build somewhere else. Probably. “And?” Jax prompted.
“You have a good group here. People forming connections and families. The Mercs need that as much as the rest.” Damon rolled his neck. “And you could use us. Your soldiers are good, but there’s strength in numbers, and our soldiers are phenomenal.”
“You think they’ll be part of Vanguard?” Jax asked, watching carefully.
Damon seemed to think it over. “Yeah, but you’ll need to phrase it differently. Have a Mercenary faction within Vanguard that’s responsible for security. For fighting. Maybe let some of your Vanguard soldiers, the best of the best, join up and train with the Mercs.”
Jax mulled it over. “I don’t really see a problem with that.” It was all semantics, and he’d never given a shit about that. “What else?” He didn’t have all day here.
“April and I were invited to dinner,” Damon said, his voice lowering just enough to be noticed.
Jax lifted his head. “You don’t think she’s up to it.”
“How the hell should I know?” Damon asked. “Not that it matters. She’s our way in, and I’ll cover her. Have you even taught her to fight?”
Jax shook his head. “Barely. She’s been busy with organizing the structure for the kids—when she wasn’t in mourning. I haven’t pushed. There’s something just so…”
“Delicate,” Damon said. “There’s something fragile and delicate about her.”
“I was there,” Jax said, a ball of fire burning through his chest. “When she buried her daughter. I was there.” His throat started to close, so he stopped talking. He wasn’t capable of pushing April Snyder to do anything she didn’t want, and that was a fact. She needed to be protected at all costs. His head lifted. “I’m allowing her on this mission, but that’s all it is. Remember that.”
For the first time, emotion filtered into Damon’s dark eyes. Amusement and something else. Warning? Yeah. That was a warning. “Mind your own business,” he said easily.
“April is my business,” Jax shot back. If the Merc thought he was going to have a good time and use April, he’d find a bullet instead. “Don’t forget it.”
Before Damon could retort, Lynne Harmony strode into the room, a ream of papers in her slender hands that she was reading as she moved. She wore a lightweight, white lab coat over a casual peach sundress, and the odd blue of her heart glowed slightly. “I’ve been reading the newest intel we got from Zach Barter, and I think we need to get into the Reno Bunker as soon as possible—as soon as Tace and Sami get home with information from the Century City Bunker. I may finally have some good news for you.” She looked up, and her stunning eyes focused. “Oh. Hi, Damon.”
A different heat—the good kind—filtered through Jax. His woman had her blond hair piled on top of her head in a messy but totally cool way, and her soft lips were pursed as she seemingly thought about a million things at once. “Come here,” he said.
She blinked. Once and then twice. A lovely pink filtered into her pale cheeks. “Jax.”
“Now.”
She faltered, rolled her eyes, and then moved toward him. “I thought we took care of the bossy part of you.”
When she was close enough, he grasped her arm and tugged her down onto his lap, as she no doubt knew he would. Considering she snuggled closer while keeping her papers safe from being crumpled, she didn’t seem to mind much.
He kissed her forehead. “Damon was just telling me that he and April were invited to dinner with the Pure tonight.”
Lynne stiffened just a little.
“Jax was just warning me off April,” Damon said easily.
Lynne twisted her head to look at Jax. “Why?”
Why? Because the woman had been through enough. “It’s a mission. Not a dating app,” Jax returned.
Damon sighed. “You’re the only one who can date?” His eyes dropped to Lynne’s chest before quickly lifting.
Jax didn’t take offense. Lynne had been injected with a cure for Scorpius that had turned her heart blue without curing anything. The organ glowed an aqua shade, as did the veins surrounding it. He didn’t mind people being curious, and he appreciated how quickly Damon had looked back up. “April isn’t in a state to date. She’s vulnerable, and we’ve already discussed that she’s fragile.”
Lynne snorted. “You’re such a moron.”
He tightened his hold on her, not liking the amusement that glowed darker in Damon’s eyes. “I’d appreciate if you kept the insults private, baby,” he murmured.
Lynne shrugged one slender shoulder against him, obviously unconcerned.
Damon, quite wisely, stood. “I’ll check in after this dinner.”
Jax nodded. “Do so. Also, we’re conducting a raid on a Twenty gang headquarters late tonight. We can’t let their attack go unanswered. Figured you had experience raiding gang and drug houses.”
Damon lost his smile. “More than I’d like. I’m definitely in.”
That’s what he’d figured. “I’ll have a plan by the time you check in,” Jax said, wrapping his fingers around Lynne’s ribcage. Was she losing weight? Sometimes, she got so busy with her research and trying to cure Scorpius that she forgot to eat. He hadn’t been paying close enough attention.
Damon left and shut the door behind him.
Jax partially turned Lynne. “I’m a moron?” he asked mildly.
Her smile brightened her entire face. “Sometimes.”
“When was the last time I spanked you?” he asked, enjoying the darkening of her blush.
Her eyes widened. “Last week during sex. It was pretty good, too.” She leaned over and pressed a kiss to his nose. “I’ll show you. Next time, I’ll spank you.”
Humor took him, and he couldn’t help the chuckle that rose from his chest. So much for intimidating the beautiful doctor. “I don’t think so.” He glanced at her papers. “What did Barter’s notes give you?” Zach Barter was the fuckwad who’d injected Lynne with the blue drug, and he was only still breathing while sitting in a cell because he had useful information.
She bit her lip, making Jax want to do the same. “There’s evidence that the Scorpius bacterium only survives on surfaces for six months. Then it dies and is no longer a threat.”
Jax straightened. “G
ood evidence?”
Her frown drew down her fine eyebrows. “I think so. I’ll need the records from the Reno Bunker to know for sure.”
The Century City Bunker they controlled had more computer records and weapons. Apparently, all of the Bunkers had a primary function, and the one in Reno was all about research. Jax started making plans. “I want to get the Mercs integrated a bit more, and then we’ll take that facility as soon as Tace and Sami return.” They were at the Century City Bunker looking for more intel on Reno before they could attack. It wouldn’t be easy. “We also need to find more explosives before launching the attack.”
She kissed his nose again. “Has Sami had any luck with the encrypted files?”
“No, but she doesn’t think the president has either. She says the encryption is the best of the best.” Jax grinned. If Sami couldn’t hack into the mysterious file the president had made Greyson Storm steal, then no way could anybody else. For a while anyway.
Lynne fluttered her eyelashes. “You’re so handsome.”
He couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “What do you want, Doc?”
She grinned. “Leave April and Damon alone. If there’s a chance for them, stay out of the way.”
There was no chance for them. April was barely functional, and Jax didn’t know Damon. “It’s not going to happen,” he muttered. “Stop getting hearts in your eyes and thinking everyone should hook up. Those two are way too different, and she’s too fragile.”
“Different?” Lynne’s lips twitched. “Not like us, huh? I mean, we’re so much alike.”
Okay. So they were opposites. Completely. “Damon is as dangerous as they come, no matter how mellow he seems,” Jax said. He knew a soldier, a predator when he met one. He liked the guy, too. “April has lost everything, and a strong wind could break her. She’s not up for a casual fling.”
“Maybe Damon isn’t either.” Lynne sighed. “I think they’d be good together. She’s sweet, and he seems like he deserves that. He’s tough and protective, and that woman needs to be safeguarded. I like them together.”
How intriguing that a scientist, one of the best in the world, would be so romantic. “You’re a sweetheart, Lynne Harmony.”
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