The Protectors Series Bundle (A superhero romance anthology) (28 page)

The way he saw it, he had nothing to lose. He might as well learn the players if he was going to be around a while. “She’s the one who healed me.” He nodded. “She looks like him a little—Reaper. They have the same coloring anyway. But he never mentioned his sister had powers.”

“Looks like there’s a lot your boss doesn’t tell you. Save us both the headache okay? Don’t mention his name around here to anyone except Cassie.”

He glanced down at the heaping plate of food. “Are you sure you won’t join me? I feel weird eating when you’re not.”

She rolled her eyes. “I already ate. Kind of ridiculous, you pretending to have manners. After all, you kill people like me. Or at the very least torture us.”

Garrett chewed on his biscuit, but it tasted like sandpaper. “My missions were always location and intel. I was a risk during interrogations because of my ability. If I’d known what they were doing, Symone, I would have done everything in my power to stop them.”

“Right now, Cassie, Seth, and Jansen are talking about what to do with you. Cassie’s convinced I can get the truth out of you. It’ll be easier on both of us if you just start talking.”

He started to sing the same broken record tune he’d sung before, and she put a hand up. “And don’t tell me you’re trying to protect me. I don’t believe you. I can’t believe you. Because not even a couple of days ago, you would have been willing to hand me over. Without thinking about me as a person. Wondering if I had anyone to love me.”

He smelled the salty tang of unshed tears, and his stomach rolled. She was right, he was a monster. How many deaths was he responsible for? But he needed her to believe him. “Symone, from the moment I got the mission, I knew I wasn’t going to turn you in. Maybe not actively, but I knew it deep down. I never believed you were what Reaper said. There was no way you could care so much about those kids, and that cat, and seem to want to do the right thing, and be what they said you were. It was always inevitable to me that I was going to let you go free.”

She shook her head and stalked to the windows that faced the front lawn. “You have to stop saying things like that. It’s way too complicated, and I can’t afford to believe you.”

He sighed. “I’m a Tracker. You’re right. But since meeting you, have I actually tried to ever hurt you?” He didn’t wait for a response and continued, “Think about it, Symone. You clearly don’t trust anybody for good reason. Your instincts are there to protect you. If you’d thought I was really there to hurt you, would you have let me kiss you? Would you have kissed me back? Think about it, Symone. You know I’m telling you the truth. Even better, you can touch me and see for yourself. I’m the same as you—caught up in Peter Reeser’s sick game.”

Symone stood abruptly. “That asshole made me into a monster. Your powers might be a gift from God, but I know how I came by mine, and I’d literally kill to get those years back.”

Garrett scrubbed at his fuzz cut. “Fuck, Symone. I’m sorry he hurt you and your merry band of outlaws. I’m sorry he’s playing some kind of sick weapons game. I’m sorry. But I had nothing to do with it. I’m trying to help you. I just need you to believe me.”

She crossed her arms over her chest, and his eyes lingered on her breasts. High and firm—he tried not to think about how they felt pressed into his chest. He reached out a hand. “You don’t believe me? Fine. Touch me. And this time hold on until you start to see the truth. I know what I’m risking by having you touch me. What do you have to lose? We’re on your turf, after all.”

She flinched and took two steps back. “Oh, hell no. I’m not touching you. Not after what happened the last time. Cassie warned me that there’s going to be a heightened arousal thing between us. I’m not looking to play with fire.”

Garrett clicked his jaw shut and spoke through clenched teeth. “It’s the only way you’ll know the truth. The only way you’ll trust me.” He needed her to believe him. Otherwise, he’d risked his life for nothing. Risked Michael’s life for nothing. Knowing what he knew about Reaper now, he knew he wouldn’t survive if he went after all the Trackers on his own. More importantly, Michael wouldn’t get out alive. Garrett needed Symone as an ally. But more than that, he just needed her.

Her voice was soft. “I know you think this is some kind of game. But every time I touch someone, I steal something from them. It’s involuntary, but it still happens. It’s a violation, and I promised I wouldn’t do to someone what was done to me, unless it’s a matter of life and death.

You might be some kind of masochist that gets off on the pain, but I’m no black leather dominatrix. I don’t get off on other people’s pain.”

He closed the distance between them with three strides. His body dwarfed hers, and her head only met his chin. “If you want to know the truth, no walls, no boundaries. Let go. Stop worrying about everything you shouldn’t do and just take my hand.”

Chapter Eleven

Symone stared at Garrett’s outstretched hand. Fear snaked its way through her body, causing her hands to shake. He wanted this to happen. Wanted her to touch him. If something went bad, it wasn’t her fault. She repeated that over and over again to herself. It didn’t stop the nerves. But also, she didn’t want to see that he was telling the truth. She wanted to hold her belief tight to her chest. She needed to live in a world where she understood the rules.

She knew what she was. Killer. Weapon. Monster. Those roles had been defined for her a long time ago. Touching him wasn’t going to change anything.

But what if it does? A tiny voice spoke up. What if I don’t have to be alone?

He was the first person in years she could touch without killing, and it scared the shit out of her. Even scarier, she wanted to touch him. Wanted to remember what it was like to have uncomplicated human touch. Needed to feel connected to someone again. Needed to feel connected to him. Was she a traitor? She knew what he was, but she still wanted him.

His hand was steady as his navy eyes focused on hers. “All you have to do is take my hand, Symone. Take my hand and take a close look. You won’t hurt me.” His eyes were so earnest and his voice so steady. As if he believed every word. He wasn’t doing this for some masochistic rush. He actually believed what he was saying.

Hands shaking, she pulled at the fingers of her glove with her left hand. She met his gaze. It didn’t waver from her face. She slid her right palm into his. The immediate shock jolted her body, and she planted her feet, braced for the onslaught. His jaw clicked shut, and she could see the muscles working. For one moment, then two. Slowly his face started to relax, and his eyes closed. He looked—peaceful. Totally blissed out.

“Symone, let go of the fear. You’re not going to hurt me. I promise.”

Yeah, piece of cake. Let go of the fear she’d worn as a second skin since she left home. That fear had kept her alive. Taught her to be self-sufficient and wary. Sighing, she closed her eyes and took deep steady breaths. In her mind’s eye, she stopped worrying about the contact and focused on how warm Garrett’s skin was. How his hand dwarfed hers. The sensations flowing over her were calm. She got peace, concern and something else she couldn’t quite discern. Like fondness. Mentally, she peeled another layer back then the images started.

Like a video, she watched in snippets of reverse time of the latest memories he had. Her walking into this room, the heaven of Doc Trenery’s food, arriving at the compound. She mentally flicked through those to get to the memories before he broke into her house. When she accessed them, she tensed but didn’t let go. She beat back the fear and loathing that were her constant companions.

Garrett on the phone to someone named Rex. “Negative Rex, she is not a terrorist. Intel incorrect or incomplete. Target not a threat.”

“You have your orders. Bring her in.”

“I may have my orders, but I’m telling you, she’s just a girl. She volunteers and tries to help people. What does Reaper want with her?”

“It doesn’t matter what he wants from her. All you have to do is follow orders.”

“I’ll bring her in. But then I want some answers. Michael has nothing to do with this. Just leave him out of it.”

“We can do that. Just bring in the girl. Where is she now?”

“I last spotted her in the Mylands Warehouse district, near Smith-Collins Road. I followed her for a mile, but then lost her scent completely.”

Symone not only felt Garrett’s resistance to the command, the tugging away from what he’d known because it didn’t feel right to bring her in, but she also recognized the lie he’d told his commanding officer. She’d never been to that area of warehouse district. She could feel the strong protectiveness he felt towards her.

Another round of memories flooded her brain before she could examine Garrett’s feelings too closely. Him watching her, stalking her like she was his prey. The shock of his thoughts made her jerk, but he held steadfast onto her hand.

“Let it play out. I wasn’t some creepy peeping Tom,” he whispered.

She frowned, but as he closed his eyes again, her lids fluttered and followed suit. She saw him grab Alejandro by the throat and subdue him. So that’s what happened to the third one. He’d saved her life without her even knowing.

Abruptly the images changed to one of a boy, he couldn’t have been more than sixteen. He resembled Garrett with the strong chin, deep-set blue eyes, dark sooty lashes.

Like a flip book, she flicked through images of the boy as he got older. Canvassed through the memories like a movie of Garrett’s life. When he left for the Army. His training. His background in chemistry and the disease that loomed over him. That’s how Peter had found him. He was one of the soldiers originally meant for Symcore, until Gentech went under and Peter was forced to take his soldiers underground. Creating a private army. Garrett had thought he was saving the world.

She tried to focus on the surroundings, but they were unfamiliar. The same handsome boy laughing while he played football on the lawn with friends. His eyes danced with an easy smile. Even with the burgeoning muscles of a soon-to-be man, he still looked young. Unlike others his age, he wasn’t gangly and uncoordinated, but quick and agile. A natural born athlete. He reminded her of Alex and the other guys.

Garrett was telling the truth. He wasn’t trying to kill her, but others were. Others who wouldn’t care about her heart. Others who would do the job assigned. Until Cassie and the team neutralized the threat, none of them could live free. They were back in prison. Much better accommodations than their last prison, but a prison none the less.

The images flickered again, and heat pooled between her thighs. Garrett’s mind had shifted to her living room couch. Even though the ocular response was imagined, she still smelled cinnamon and saffron. That’s what she smelled like to him. Heat and need flooded her body as she swayed towards him. Eager to feel his hands on her once again.

His voice was low and husky when he spoke. “So now you believe me?”

She opened her mouth to speak, but her vocal cords wouldn’t cooperate, so she nodded. Trying to tug her hands free of his, she wanted to put distance between them, before she ended up on her back underneath him again. She might believe him, but that didn’t change anything. What was happening to them was purely thanks to Peter’s experiments and what he did to them. It wasn’t real.

But Garrett wouldn’t let go. His thumb traced a circular pattern on the back of her hand. “Do you feel that? The buzz flowing through my body?”

Drunkenly she nodded, lulled into a stupor by his voice.

“That’s what it feels like when you touch me. It doesn’t hurt. It’s more of a surprise. But when I stop fighting it, it’s like a high. Like the best kind of foreplay.”

Garrett’s strong hand pulled her to him. When she didn’t meet his gaze, he tucked a finger under her chin and lifted her face so she had no choice but to look at him.

“Now do you trust me? I’m not here to hurt you. I’m openly here to help.”

“I need you to answer a question for me. I saw you swing into my place, but how did you actually do it and avoid my security?”

“I repelled with a rope I tied to the antennae on your roof, then swung over to your open window. Couldn’t risk a booby-trapped fire escape.”

“How was I supposed to know you weren’t a deranged serial killer?”

“Simple. You would have been dead by the time I got into your place.”

That pricked her ire. “You’re the one who’s lucky to be alive. I’ve toppled bigger than you.”

He chuckled, the sound flowing over her like hot fudge over ice-cream. Nervously, she licked her lips. She knew she had to let go, but the slow circles with his thumb put her under a spell. “So what now?”

The timber of his voice changed growing huskier. “I want to see if you taste as good as I remember.”

Symone sucked in a breath as Garrett pulled her to him and his head lowered. His eyelids fluttered closed again, and she gave into the sensation. Unlike their first kiss, his lips were soft against hers, barely brushing. When she finally relaxed and exhaled, he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her flush against his body. They stood toe-to-toe, thigh-to-thigh, hip-to-hip, and lips-to-lips.

On a sigh, she parted her lips, and his tongue sought entrance, teasing her bottom lip ever so slightly. A shiver skipped down her spine. Tingles danced to the tips of every strand of hair on her body, making her ache and yearn for more of his touch. Her arms shaking, she looped them around his neck, her ungloved hand hesitating before it caressed the back of his neck.