The Recruit (Book Three) (13 page)

“I didn’t take
you for a tease, Selena.” He snapped.

She pressed her
lips together and gave him her own look of anger. “I said I was
sorry. But maybe you could take some responsibility for it as well.
It wasn’t me who came into the gun room and started talking dirty
and sticking my hand down your pants.”

“No, I guess it
wasn’t.” He scowled at her. “You have to be drunk to do that.”

“You asshole! I
should have known apologizing wouldn’t work. And for the record?
I’m not a damn tease. I was drunk and people make stupid mistakes
when they’re drunk.”

Her face was
bright red and he could see tears welling in her eyes as she gave
him another look of frustration. “I am sorry for – for leading you
on like that. But trust me – it won’t happen again.”

“Selena, wait –
“

He felt a wave
of guilt at the look of shame in her eyes and snagged her arm as
she moved away from him. She yanked it free and hurried out of the
gym.

“Fuck! You’re
such a goddam idiot, Reid!” He muttered.

* * *

“Chen? Are you
decent?” Andrew called through the curtain.

“Mostly.” Chen
replied softly.

Andrew peered
around the curtain and frowned. “You’re supposed to be dressed,
Chen.”

Chen stared
silently at him. He had pulled his briefs on, struggling to do it
one-handed as his anger and depression grew, and then had sat back
down on the bed.

“I’m
tired.”

“Nonsense.”
Andrew said cheerfully. “Here, put your pants on.”

He held the
pants out, frowning again when Chen didn’t move. “Come on, Chen.
We’ve got work to do.”

“Not today.”
Chen replied.

“Yes, today.”
Andrew said firmly.

Before he could
stop him, Andrew had knelt at his feet and quickly slid his pants
up to his knees. “There, stand up and do the rest.”

Scowling at
him, Chen stood and awkwardly caught his pants with his right hand.
He yanked them up and fumbled with the button and zipper, his face
growing progressively redder, as Andrew watched quietly.

When they were
buttoned, Andrew nodded. “Good. I’m going to help you with your
shirt only because it’s going to be a bit painful for you.”

He picked up
Chen’s t-shirt and smiled reassuringly when the sword instructor
flinched backwards. “I don’t bite, Chen.”

An image of
Andrew’s straight white teeth nibbling at his throat flooded
through Chen’s mind and he bit the inside of his cheek and stared
at the floor. Christ, he had to get a hold of himself. He didn’t
even know if the man was gay.

He is. You know
he is.

He cleared his
throat as Andrew tugged the shirt over his head. “Ready?” He
grinned at him and Chen nodded, shuddering a little at Andrew’s
warm touch as he gripped his arm just above the stump.

“Did that
hurt?”

“What?” Chen
said hoarsely. He tried to breathe shallowly. Andrew smelled
delicious and he was itching to touch the dark chest hair he could
see peeking out from above his shirt. For the first time since he
had woken up in the infirmary, he wasn’t thinking about the loss of
his hand, about what the vampire Samuel had taken from him, and he
unconsciously leaned a little closer as Andrew touched his chest
lightly.

“Chen?”

“Sorry, what?”
He cleared his throat as Andrew gave him an odd look.

“I asked if it
hurts when I touch your arm. You’re shaking a little.”

Chen shook his
head. “No, it doesn’t hurt.”

“Good.
Unfortunately, this probably will.” Andrew said sympathetically.
“Raise your arm, please.”

Chen turned his
head away and tried to lift his arm. It sent a bolt of pain into
the end of the stump and he made a soft gasp before lowering it. “I
can’t.”

“I know it
hurts but it’s a good exercise.” Andrew said softly. “Try
again.”

Gritting his
teeth, Chen lifted his arm and ignored the pain as Andrew gently
pulled his stump through the arm of the t-shirt. He helped him
struggle into the rest of the shirt and Chen was embarrassed to
realize he was sweating and shaking by the time they were done.

He flinched
back when Andrew reached out and casually smoothed his hair down
for him.

“Sorry, I’m
kind of touchy-feely.” Andrew grinned at him. “Comes with the
territory of being a physiotherapist.”

He led Chen out
into the main part of the infirmary. “Barb, we’ll be back in a
bit.”

“Sounds good.”
Barb smiled at them as she ducked past the curtain surrounding
Ryan’s bed.

“Where are we
going?” Chen asked.

“For a walk. I
thought you’d like to get out of the infirmary.” Andrew
replied.

“I don’t!” Chen
snapped.

“That’s too
bad, because we’re going anyway.” Andrew took his right arm in a
firm grip and led him toward the door. “It’ll be good for you.”

He ushered Chen
out into the hallway. There were a few recruits walking by and they
smiled nervously at Chen, their gazes shying away from his missing
hand.

Chen, his face
red, tried to jerk free of Andrew’s firm grip. “Let go of me. I
don’t feel like being gawked at and I’m tired and I – “

“Master!”
Hannah, Will by her side, hurried down the hall toward them. She
hugged Chen firmly before kissing him on the cheek.

“What are you
up to?”

“Nothing.” Chen
grunted as Will introduced himself to Andrew. “I’m going back to
the infirmary.”

“No, you’re
not.” Andrew argued. “You’re going for a walk.”

“No, I’m –
“

“Great! I’ll
come with you.” Hannah linked her arm with Chen’s and smiled at
Will. “I’ll see you back at the apartment, alright?”

Will nodded and
squeezed Chen’s shoulder. “I’ll talk to you later, Chen.”

He walked away
as Hannah grinned at Chen and Andrew. “Why don’t we go to your
apartment and I’ll make us all some tea. Douglas says tea makes
everything better and I’m starting to think he’s right.”

Andrew blinked
in surprise when Chen allowed Hannah to lead him down the hall. The
sword instructor obviously had a soft spot when it came to the
woman, and he moved quickly to Chen’s left side and listened
quietly as Hannah spoke.

“So, we started
training Henry this morning.”

“We?” Chen
raised his eyebrow at her.

“Alex, Paul and
I. I thought it would be better if we did more of a team effort
with him.” Hannah replied.

“Until Henry
picks up on Paul’s tendency to raise his sword too high.” Chen said
grumpily.

Hannah grinned.
“Paul knows he does that and he’s already cautioned Henry about it.
Don’t worry, master, we’ll try not to screw Henry up too badly
until you’re back.”

“What do you
think of Henry’s abilities?” Chen asked curiously.

Hannah
shrugged. “It’s his first time with one-on-one training so I think
it’s a little too soon to tell. I mean, he’s obviously got skill or
you wouldn’t have chosen him to continue but – I don’t know – he
seems a bit timid.”

“You were timid
once.”

“Yes, I suppose
I was.” Hannah stared down at the thin scars on her arms. “I got
over it quickly though.”

Chen didn’t
reply but a brief smile crossed his face as Hannah looked around
him at Andrew.

“So, what do
you think of our facility, Andrew?”

“It’s nice.”
Andrew replied politely.

She laughed.
“I’m imagining the New York facility is a little nicer. Are you
homesick for the city yet?”

“It’s
different.” Andrew grinned at her. “But there’s something to the
small city living that a man could get used to. Last night I sat
outside and stared up at the stars for nearly an hour. I don’t
think I’ve seen that many stars since I was a child and lived on my
grandfather’s farm.”

“Are you
originally from New York?” Hannah asked.

“No. I grew up
in a little town in Iowa and moved to New York when I was a
teenager.”

“That’s quite
the move. What prompted it?”

“Leeches
overtook our farm one night and murdered my parents and
grandparents.”

“I’m sorry.”
Hannah said quietly.

“Thank
you.”

“How did you
survive?” Chen asked abruptly.

Andrew made a
small, humorless chuckle. “My grandfather was big into war
re-enactments. He had a collection of various weapons and I used
one of the swords he had hanging in his study to kill the
leech.”

“Impressive.”
Hannah said solemnly.

Andrew shook
his head. “Lucky, that’s all.”

“Were you
bitten?” Chen asked.

Andrew nodded.
“I was. I had an uncle and an aunt who lived in New York and after
my parents died, they took me in. But it didn’t take long for the
vampires to find me. I didn’t know at the time that I smelled
differently, you know?”

Hannah nodded
as Andrew sighed softly. “I had a couple of close calls with the
leeches. I really thought that I was going crazy and, in fact, my
uncle had me put in a mental hospital for a few months. I had told
the police and anyone who would listen that vampires had killed my
parents and grandparents but they, of course, didn’t believe
me.”

“They put you
in a mental hospital?” Hannah gave him a horrified look.

“They did. It
saved my life actually. I couldn’t go out but the leeches couldn’t
get in either. There was a man in the hospital who knew about the
vampires. He’d been bitten himself and truthfully, he had actually
gone a little mad from it. Anyway, he knew about the facility in
New York. They had tried to recruit him but mentally he wasn’t
strong enough. When they released me from the hospital, I
immediately went to the facility.”

He rubbed
absentmindedly at his goatee. “I wasn’t strong enough to be a
recruit, I was just a scrawny, scared-shitless teenager, but they
put me in admin and after a few years, they approached me about
moving into the medical program. I became a physiotherapist and
worked mostly from the New York facility but I’ve visited a few of
the other bigger centres. Not often though. They don’t like to
release those of us who have been bitten and have no fighting
skills, into the general public.”

He grinned at
Hannah and Chen. “When they asked me to come here to work with
Chen, I said yes immediately. I figured it would be nice to get
back to my country roots for a while.”

They were at
Chen’s apartment and Hannah opened the door and flicked the lights
on. Andrew stared around curiously as Hannah led Chen to the couch.
He collapsed on it with a soft sigh and she smiled happily at him
before going into the kitchen.

Andrew studied
the swords hanging above the fireplace. They gleamed in the light
and he touched the handle of one lightly before moving to the
bookshelf. He studied the picture of Chen with a young, smiling
Asian woman before glancing back at Chen.

“Is this your
sister?”

Chen nodded.
“How did you know?”

“You look
alike.” Andrew smiled at him and Chen felt another one of those
small bites of lust go through his belly.

“What’s her
name?” Andrew asked.

“Amy.”

“She’s a
nurse.” Hannah said helpfully as she put the kettle on the small
stove.

Chen glared at
her and she gave him a deliberately innocent look before reaching
for the tea bags in the cupboard.

“Does she know
what happened?” Andrew sat down next to him on the couch, his lean
thigh touching his, and Chen shifted away.

“No.” He
muttered.

“You should
tell her.”

“Tell her what
exactly? That I got my arm chopped off by a vampire?” Chen
snorted.

“Well, it’s
more like your hand that got chopped off. But unless you’re
planning on never seeing your sister again, you’re going to have to
come up with something.” Andrew replied.

He studied Chen
carefully. “You could tell her you lost your hand rescuing a woman
from a burning building.”

“Or a kitten!”
Hannah piped up. “Chen loves kittens.”

Chen gaped at
her as Andrew laughed. “Nah, we need something more badass. I know
– you can tell her you lost your hand in a motorcycle
accident.”

“I don’t drive
a motorcycle.” Chen blinked at him.

“Really? I’m
surprised by that. I could picture you dressed in leather and
driving a motorcycle.” Andrew replied.

Hannah plopped
down in the armchair across from the couch. “Yeah, I could see
that. But I think we need to work a kitten in there somewhere.
Maybe he swerved to avoid a kitten on the road?”

“A whole pack
of orphaned kittens!” Andrew leaned forward eagerly. “And even
though his hand was torn off, he still managed to gather them up
and take them to the animal rescue before they were smushed on the
road by a nerd in a mini-van. He’s badass but tender hearted.”

“No one gets
between the master and his pack of kittens.” Hannah said
solemnly.

“One,” Chen
said through gritted teeth, “it’s called a litter of kittens, not a
pack, and two – my affection for cats was meant to be a
secret
, Hannah.”

She gave him
another innocent look. “Was it? My bad.”

She bounced up
from the chair and headed to the kitchen as Andrew grinned at him.
“I knew you were a cat lover the moment I met you, Chen.”

“You did not.”
Chen snapped. “And I am not telling my sister I lost my hand
rescuing a litter of kittens. That’s ridiculous.”

“Don’t worry,”
Andrew replied as he took his cup of tea from Hannah with a small
nod of thanks, “I’m sure we’ll be able to come up with something
more inventive.”

Hannah laughed
softly as Chen scowled and stared into his cup of tea. Weirdly,
Hannah’s and Andrew’s joking and their casual attitude about the
loss of his hand was making him feel a little better. It shouldn’t
have been. There was nothing funny about it, but for the first time
in days he could feel the cloud of depression lifting a little. It
was kind of nice, he mused inwardly, to not have others feeling
sorry for him.