Bind (Manhattan Lux Book 1): Manhattan Lux (23 page)

“I agree. That is strange.”

“I think it’s just the truth.” Aiko shrugged. “I think it was a fishing expedition put on by a bunch of newbs. Hackers playing super villain. I think they picked a few targets and started messing around, making up their objectives as they went along. I think they were hoping to find something and then decide what to do with it. They’re a mess, but they’re smart, so we still don’t know who’s behind it yet, but they’re inexperienced, hence all the mistakes and general fucking weirdness.”

“So we’ll catch them,” Wyatt said. “We’ll keep on it and figure it out.”

Aiko chewed her thumb. “Maybe. I mean, I’m not giving up. But honestly Jack, the trails run pretty cold already. Kristie doesn’t know shit. Everything with her was via text, email, disposable cell phones. Daisy is in the wind. Even Bryce hasn’t heard from her. Conroy’s money is up in smoke, and I can’t find any hard trails for any of the cyber activity. Nothing tangible. These guys may be fuck-up newbs, but like I said, they’re still pretty good. And they won’t be newbs anymore. They’ll have practiced.”

“We’re also newbs,” Wyatt said. “At least we were at this. Two traitors in our midst, and we had no idea.”

“That was my fault,” said Jack with a sniff. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“Not just your fault,” said Wyatt, glancing down at his leg. “My house wasn’t in order, so I couldn’t lead this team like it needed to be led. That has to change. If we’re really going to do this, then as a group we’ve got to train, and learn how to work together as a team, flawlessly.”

Jack nodded. “We will,” he said. “First things first. You get better.”

“Working on it,” said Wyatt.

A
fter Aiko cracked more
amputee jokes, Mama Mimi started to get misty-eyed and this set her on a track of reminiscing. Wyatt’s childhood, dead father, Navy career, injury and everything and anything else she could think of that would bring the whole room to sniffles got covered. In detail.

She’d been staying with Jack while Wyatt was in the hospital, and he’d become very attached to the home-cooking she’d been spoiling him with. Now that Wyatt was on the mend, she was heading back to Connecticut. But first she’d promised to stock Jack’s freezer with a dozen meatloaves. Jack was anxious to have her get started.

So, finally, mercifully, it was time to go. They left.

Aiko left shortly after.

Bryce called. He’d sent flowers and promised stop by for a visit tomorrow, and Wyatt reassured him that he was fine and just wanted to rest.

Aaron, like the tech addict he was, sent a text saying he could get Wyatt a meeting with a prosthetics company whose engineers were on the cutting edge of the latest technology. Wyatt thanked him and said he’d be interested. If he could get a bionic leg out of this whole situation well hell, why not?

Evening fell, and the nurse brought him a dinner tray. Salisbury steak, canned green beans, a whole wheat rock masquerading as a roll, a fruit cup, and a tiny bottle of sparkling water. Wyatt ate grimly, the food turning to chalk in his mouth as he chewed, his gaze fixed unseeing to a crappy reality show on the room’s small television.

Where is she?

The one person he really wanted to see,
needed
to see, the person who’s reaction to this whole mess was most important to him, was notably absent.

Why hasn’t she come? Does she still want me? Does she still—?

He felt a tightness in his chest, heard the heart monitor quicken its beeps and glanced over as the nurse came in to check on him.

“Feeling okay?” she asked.

She took his wrist, felt for vitals, watched his eyes and then smiled gently. “A little anxious?” she asked. “It’s totally normal. This is a dramatic change in your life.”

“Yes.” Wyatt sighed, fell back against the bed and closed his eyes. “Yes that’s probably it. I’m…Well, I’m not sure—”

“I understand,” said the nurse softly. “Try to rest. I’ll see if I can find something that might help you relax.”

Wyatt inhaled. Worked on steadying his breathing. In. Out. Deep. Slow.

Lips pressed against his. Soft. Warm. Sweet.

He inhaled again. Deeper this time, and his senses were overwhelmed with her scent.

“Jun,” he breathed against her lips. “Kitten. It’s you.”

“It’s me, cowboy,” she said, without breaking contact, her smile curling against his mouth. “In the flesh.” She sank her hands into his hair, her fingers tightening in his curls. His Mom was right, he did need a haircut. Jinx’s tongue swept into his mouth, tangled with his in a kiss so deep it was more than a welcome back, it was a claiming.

That kiss went straight to his cock. Wyatt checked “working dick” off his list and wondered, as hard as he was right now, if it might just count to his overall limb total.

“Sorry I’m late,” she said when she broke the kiss. “I had a ton of neglected errands. The dogs were hungry and needed a walk. We had a mini-crisis at the club that needed handling, and….” she reached into a brown paper bag she’d set on Wyatt’s dinner table. “I stopped to get you this. Eat it quick, while the cool nurse is still on duty, because Nurse Ratched comes on in ten.” Jinx pulled a white styrofoam container from the bag and set it on Wyatt’s lap. He lifted the lid and nearly fainted.

“Oh my God. You angel.”

“Meatball sub and extra fries.”

“From that food truck we went to that one time?”

“Yeah Vinny’s Vittles. He asked about you by the way. Says to get well soon and he’ll hook you up with a free sub when you’re out.”

“Goals!” said Wyatt, diving into the sandwich. “Oh, mah, gah, you wonnervul woman, vis is tho wewishus.”

Jinx chuckled and handed him a napkin. “Don’t talk while you’re eating.”

“Yeth m’am.” Wyatt wiped his mouth and went back to chewing.

“So, cool nurse says you’ve been a bit mopey this afternoon. You okay?”

Wyatt swallowed. “You know all the nurses huh?”

“I’ve spent all week with them, I hope I know a few by now.”

“You have?”

“Your mom and I took turns during the day, but at night we made her go to Jack’s. Her back can’t handle the sofa in here.”

Wyatt stared at her, this beautiful creature. His girl, she’d been here all week. She’d hung out with his Mom, helped care for him, watched over him. It amazed him.
She
amazed him.

“I would’ve been here today, too,” she said, as she flew around the room, straightening his blanket, and moving the empty hospital dinner tray out of the way. “But I had a ton of work and things piling up and the mini-crisis I mentioned. Everybody told me to go. I argued, but they
insisted,
and I told them.” Jinx wagged her finger, irritated anew at the memory. “I
told
them you’re
exactly
the kind of obstinate, trouble-making patient to wake up at exactly the wrong damn time.” She threw her hands up in the air, clearly exasperated. “And you
did
! Carol, that’s cool nurse, she called me as soon as you woke and told me. I could
not
believe it.”

“I’m sorry,” Wyatt said, and took another bite of his sandwich. “It was welly inconthiderate of me to wake up.”

Jinx stopped flitting about the room, turned and broke into a broad smile. “It was,” she said. “I’ve been worried for you. You were so…” she stepped closer to him and her voice broke. “You…right before they took you into surgery…I know you were on all kinds of meds but you were still awake and you were trying to talk to me. Do you remember?” She moved the food carton to one side and sat on the edge of the bed.

Wyatt shook his head. “No babe, I don’t.”

“You just kept saying it. Over and over.”

“What?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Jinx said, avoiding the question. “That part’s over and I’m so glad. This is what I’m good at. This is the part I really know how to do.” She wiggled her fingers in the air and grinned.

“Sex?” Wyatt asked hopefully.

“No you brat. Physical therapy. I just want to get you home and get my hands on your muscles—”

“No argument from me there, sexy. I’ve got one in particular that is dying to get reacquainted.” Wyatt waggled his eyebrows at her, glanced down at his lap, and back up. Back down. Back up.

“Okay, I get it!” Jinx laughed. “You’re anxious to get home too. Which, by the way, don’t worry. We’ve got everything set up already at the house. Your mom was such a help with all that. She’s the best.”

“She is.” Wyatt nodded. “Where’d you set up? Bryce’s or that empty apartment next to you guys?”

“Our apartment,” Jinx said. “Yours and mine.”

“You moved me in with you?”

“Yeah. You got a problem with that?”

Wyatt tossed the half eaten sandwich into the Styrofoam box and reached for her hands. “No. But I’m
really
confused.”

“Why?”

“Well because I’m missing a few days here, and in my timeline, it feels like just a few seconds ago I was fucking you in the shower and telling you I loved you.”

“Yeah?”

“And you weren’t exactly on board with how fast things were moving at that time. Now you’re ready to move an invalid into your home.”

“
Our
home. Aiko’s moving out. She’s taking the empty condo. And you’re not an invalid, at least you won’t be for long. I plan to have you up and running in no time.”

“Babe.” Wyatt pulled on her wrists, drawing her closer to him, until he was able to press her hands against his chest. “This is a lot. This is life-changing, epic shit. This is going to be rough. I’ve got to re-learn how to move this body around and it’s gonna get ugly at times. You
do not
have to put yourself through it.”

Jinx’s eye lids fluttered and two tears rolled down her cheeks. Wyatt reached up and brushed one away with a thumb. “Yes I do,” she whispered, a fragile smile playing across her lips. “Wyatt when you collapsed. At Aaron’s….” She inhaled deeply, slowed her breathing, and began again. “I’ve just had a few days to do some thinking,” she said. “I know what I want now.”

“Jun,” he began, but she pressed a finger to his lips and cut him off.

“Say it again,” she said.

“What?”

“What you said to me in the shower. Those scary words I wasn’t ready for, say them again.”

Wyatt brushed the second tear from her other cheek, then leveled his gaze on hers. “I love you,” he whispered.

“Thank you,” she whispered back. “I love you too.”

“
W
hat a trip
, huh?” Wyatt said as he held his beer aloft and looked upon the happy sunburned faces of his friends. “What an adventure it’s been with you guys.” The friends held their drinks aloft in acknowledgment. Everyone was here—Jinx, Jack, Aiko, Aaron, Bryce, and even Malcolm was somewhere, probably silently lurking. No wait, there he was, fixing a drink behind the bar. Wyatt waved and Malcolm waved back, held up a glass tumbler full of amber liquid.

They were on Jack’s yacht in Hampton’s Bay, enjoying an incredible meal prepared by Leo Wallace, Jack’s fancy Scottish chef friend. It had been a perfect day. Lots of beer, laughing, sunshine and fun. Wyatt had even tried out his new swim leg prosthesis, and beat Aiko in an impromptu race back to the boat for snack time. He wasn’t entirely sure she hadn’t let him win. But he didn’t much care. It had been a good day.

“It all started,” Wyatt continued, “When I broke into Jack’s club, and….wait.” He held up a finger to silence the laughter. “I’d like the record to reflect that this break-in was at Jack’s request. There’s been some snide comments lately from, well I won’t say who—”

“I will!” Aiko raised her hand and pointed at herself. “It was me. The break-in was dumb and cost us a lot of time. Jack should’ve just talked to Jinx and everything would’ve been sorted much much sooner.”

“Hindsight,” Jack said, flicking condensation from his beer bottle at Aiko.

“Ew stop. Yeah okay hindsight. Whatever. I’m just glad we’re all really a team now and we don’t have to do that behind each other’s back shit anymore.”

“Right…” Wyatt said, “Teamwork. Teams are good. Moving on.” He took a sip of his beer, caught Jinx’s eye and flashed her a smile. “As I was saying, I broke in to Jack’s club and was promptly pepper sprayed, Tasered, hit in the head, and tied to a chair.”

“Woot! Go sis!”

“Then I fell in love.”

Jinx smiled and tipped her head to Wyatt. God that smile. It got him every time.

“Then we all fell into a bunch of shenanigans,” he said.

“Boo! Hiss!” Aaron raised his beer in agreement. “Fie on shenanigans I say!”

“Fie on shenanigans?” Bryce said staring at him. “Okay you are cut off. Nobody give him anymore beer.”

“Then,” Wyatt said, ignoring the banter. “As a direct result of said shenanigans, but more directly as a result of my own stubbornness and neglect, I hurt myself very badly, and I had my leg lopped off.”

“Boo! Hiss!” Aiko said. “Fie on leg lopping off I say!”

“Hey if I’m cut off, then she is too!” Aaron mumbled, sneering at Aiko fondly.

“Wyatt?” Jinx asked. “Is this going somewhere?”

“It is, my love—”. He started to continue, ready to get to the point, ready to whip out the square velvet box he had in his pocket and surprise the hell out of her…and then he remembered. The last time one of Jinx’s boyfriends had made a pretty speech at a table full of her friends, it had gone terribly horribly wrong. Of course, he had no intention of professing his love to Aiko, but still, the memory was a bad one, one he didn’t need to recreate in any fashion. He thought quickly, and came up with a new plan. “Nope,” he said grinning sheepishly. “I’ve lost it. No idea where that train was headed. Straight off the tracks.” Wyatt chugged his beer. “Guess I’m cut off too.”

“Okay let’s go watch the sunset then. Come on, cowboy, time to walk it off.” Jinx stood from the table, and laced her hand in Wyatt’s, pulling him away from the others towards a more secluded part of deck.

“I think it was all the fie-ing,” he said. “That word is very distracting.”

“Sure it is. Now I’m cutting
you
off. Jeez this crowd can’t hold its alcohol.”

He waited till they’d turned the corner, out of sight of the others, grabbed her hand, and led her to a smaller deck that had a great view of the sunset and the water.

The perfect spot.

“You’re not drunk at all!” she said.

“Not a bit.” He grinned. “I just wanted to ditch our audience and get you all to myself. Best way to do that is with a boring, sappy speech.”

“Very clever.” She reached up and tousled his hair, let her fingers linger on his cheek.

Wyatt caught her hand in his, pressed her palm to his lips and sighed happily. He was nervous, but it felt good, it was anticipation rooted in joy. He was anxious to get on with it, to move with her into the next chapter of their lives together. But first he had to do something. He had to confess. “I have something for you,” he said, digging into his pocket, smirking to himself when he heard her breath catch.

Wyatt held up his fist, turned her palm over flat and dropped a ring into her hand.

Jinx stared.

“Your SEAL ring? Um….”

“Let me explain,” he said.

“Please,” she said, raising an eyebrow. “Do.”

“I want no secrets between us,” he said. “This is the only secret I have from you.”

She raised the other eyebrow. “This?”

Wyatt nodded. “This is how I got out of your ropes.”

“This,” she said again. “You sliced your way out of my ropes with this ring?”

“Every time.”

“Well I’ll be damned.”

“There’s a hidden blade,” he said, pointing to one side of the ring. “Just here, and when you press over here,” he pointed again, “voila.” An edge popped out, shallow, hard to see, but she could tell even in the dying light that it looked just sharp enough to cut, if the person wearing it knew how to use it.

“Do all SEALs have secret knife-hiding rings?” she asked.

“No.”

“Would you tell me if they did?”

“No.” He shook his head. “But that’s not a secret of my own, that’s—”

“No I get it Wyatt. Really. Why did you tell me this? You didn’t need to tell me this.”

“Because I don’t want us to have anything between us going forward. No secrets or obstacles or—”

“We don’t, cowboy,” she said handing him back the ring. “It’s just you and me. Well, you and me and four little monsters, and my sister across the hall—”

“Jun,” he said, his tone so serious she stopped talking and lifted her gaze to his.

“What?” She asked sliding her arms up to drape around his neck.

“I love you,” he said. “More than you could possibly imagine. I loved you the minute I saw you with your finger on the trigger of that pepper spray, even though I knew you meant to do me harm. I loved you more when you Tasered me, and tied me up. I love you for taking care of me, for loving me back, even though I’m stubborn and damaged and—” he held a finger to her lips when she tried to protest. “I don’t mean damaged as in lopped off leg either. I mean the damage to my soul that kept me from making that choice to get it lopped off, the right choice, when I should’ve. If I’d had the courage to do what I needed, when I needed, you wouldn’t have had to spend so many months teaching me how to walk, how to run. How to stand tall.”

“Give yourself some credit wouldya, SEAL. You’re one stubborn man. You’ve done so much work. You’ve never given up. It’s been one hundred and ten percent every time I or your therapist have asked it. That’s all you.”

“That’s all us baby,” he said, cupping her face in his hands. “That’s all us.”

“Okay,” she smiled. “I’ll agree to that.”

“Agree to more,” Wyatt said, and his stomach roiled, like the fate of the world depended on these next few moments.

“Okay,” she whispered. “What am I agreeing to?”

Wyatt pulled her left hand from around his neck and slipped a ring on it. The fading sunlight caught the diamond, and shards of fiery light danced across Jinx’s features as she watched Wyatt sink to one knee.

She broke, tears falling in a torrent down her face, splashing on Wyatt’s hands, still clasped in hers as he posed there—solid, steady—on
one
knee.

“I love you Jun,” he said again. “Marry me?”

“Oh my God yes!” She said, laughing through tears, pulling at their clasped hands, trying to lift him back up.

“Really?”

“Yes, really, you big toddler! We’ve been living together, this can hardly be a surprise!”

“Oh, I dunno” Wyatt bounced up and lifted her off her feet, swung her around in a little circle and kissed her on the nose. “In my experience it could’ve gone another direction.”

“Like what?” she asked incredulous.

“You could’ve just said “thank you” and then what would I do? I mean Clyde suggested that if that happened—”

“Clyde?” she said. “Our dog?”

“Yeah, well all the guys agreed with him on this, though, so you can’t pin it on Clyde. But he was thinking that if you didn’t say yes, I could consider lopping off the other leg, and then you might come around. I mean, we all know how much you like rescue cases.”

“Oh my God!” She said, slapping at his shoulders. “What a rotten thing to say! You—”

He laughed, grabbed her wrists and kissed her. One, because she was sexy when she was annoyed with him and two, because he figured now was a good time to have engagement sex. Since she kissed him back, thrust her tongue down his throat and her newly be-ringed hand down the front of his pants, he was guessing she was into the idea of engagement sex too.

They’d been practicing the sex aspect of one-legged maneuvering since that first night he’d come home from the hospital. For a while this meant a lot of Jinx on top.

She’d brought home one of those Tantric Chairs and that had been fun too. But still it was Jinx on top, and as much as he loved that (and he did, God did he love that) Wyatt wanted to be on top this time. He wanted to be in charge. So he’d been practicing, on his own.

It was a fancy little feat of gymnastics that was more about balance under duress than anything else. At his gym, his trainer had him hold a hundred pound bag of sand while thrusting his hips back and forth. The gym rats had stared, but Wyatt didn’t care. This was therapy, goddamnit. He didn’t rest until he could keep it up for 20 minutes straight. His girl deserved at a
least
that much.

Jinx didn’t know about any of this of course. So when he rucked her skirt up to her waist and lifted her onto his hips she immediately gasped with concern. When he pushed her up against the outside wall of the boat and pawed off her panties, she stopped him for a moment between kisses and panting and the squeezing of pink bits.

“You really up for this?” she asked him, her voice raspy with lust.

Wyatt responded by pulling down the top of her dress, sucking one nipple into his mouth, and grinding his erection against her center.

“Carry on then,” she said, her breath hitching when his teeth grazed playfully.

He made quick work of the belt and zipper, let his pants fall inelegantly around his ankles, hitched her up just a little bit higher, a bit to the left, and then sank
home
. So slow. Every nerve in his body thrilling at the delicious connection of his flesh and hers—hot, tight and so very wet. He buried his face in her hair and pressed kisses to her neck as he focused on his balance. But after a minute, balance was automatic, and the focus was only on her.
His Jun.
The feel of her, the smell of her, the love of her.

She hooked her legs around him, and held on for her life, her body moving in rhythm with Wyatt’s, hips undulating in perfect time to his thrusts. Give and take, back and forth, in and out. Her hands fisted in his hair, and she drew his face up to hers, kissing him fiercely.

“This is us,” she whispered against his lips. Wyatt gripped her hips tighter, fingers digging into tender flesh, he plundered, slamming into her until her kisses turned to moans. “Yes,” she cried. “Just like that, just like that, Wyatt.”

“Jun,” he whispered as he felt her clench around him, felt her back arch and every muscle go rigid. He kissed her neck as she fell, eased the last whimpers of orgasm from her lips with more kisses and then fell after her. Giving it all,
everything
to her, he cried out, wrapped her in his arms and held on for dear life as he came, her name falling from his lips over and over.

“Baby,” she said, gathering his face in his hands. “Wyatt honey. Cowboy. That was amazing. You’re amazing.”

“We’re amazing babe,” he said. “This is us. Together. And it’s just the beginning.”