Chapter Twenty-Four
Braxton
L auren and Ashley are on the porch talking. Lauren’s bundled in one of her oversized sweaters, the steam from her coffee rising like tiny clouds around her. These past few weeks have had a dreamlike quality. We spend a good part of each day together and some apart. It’s a healthy balance I hope we always maintain.
And the nights? I’ll get my ass kicked if I let my mind wander there now. But each has been full of passion, laughter, and exploring levels of intimacy I never thought possible. I’ve spent a good deal of time in the past imagining what life with Lauren would be like. The reality is better.
Ashley goes inside the house. Lauren stays and watches us train, but I can feel her mind elsewhere. We don’t share the chemical bond the soldiers did when they reverted from silverware to human form, probably because, as far as anyone can tell, I’m not part silverware. There’s no trace of metal in my blood .
What Lauren and I share is natural but with a few enhancements—like telepathy. She has a theory that some of the animals used to make the initial super soldier concoction might have telepathic abilities within their species. So far, not a single one of us has volunteered to test if we can communicate with an octopus or a sea cucumber so that theory currently remains untested.
That’s Lauren, though, always thinking, analyzing, working through something in her head. Sometimes, I envy that sharp focus of hers, but right now?
Right now, I want her in the moment with me.
I finish my sparring session and slap Jack on the back, thanking him for not destroying me, even though I was distracted. He gets it.
Lauren’s looking at her phone when I head toward her and doesn’t notice me crossing the lawn. I leap onto the porch, clearing the railing, and stealthily land near her.
Her head jerks up, but she smiles. “Show-off. Want to try that again, the normal way?”
“That’s not what you said last night.” I grin.
We share a heated, intimate look. “I do appreciate your new talents.”
My response is a deep kiss with tongue action that makes her writhe beneath me when done to lower regions of her body. When I raise my head, her cheeks are rosy, and her eyes are shining. “That one?” I ask huskily.
She breathlessly answers, “That’s one of them. ”
I kiss the tip of her nose. “Come train with us.”
“No.” Her answer is firm.
I tilt my head to one side. “Not all training is sparring. Come on. You should work on honing your abilities.”
She shakes her head. “The only abilities I care about honing are the ones I use in the lab.”
Part of me understands her reluctance to embrace that being with me has changed her and not only on an emotional level. Just because she doesn’t want to acknowledge that she’s faster and stronger than the average human, it doesn’t change the truth.
It also won’t help her if we’re ever caught unaware. She needs to be able to protect herself, and that means learning how to control her new abilities. So, although I wish I could let her sit back and watch, neither of us has the luxury of denial.
Danger is circling.
Her eyes widen slightly, a warning. “Braxton—”
Before she can finish, I scoop her up, coffee cup and all. She lets out a surprised shriek that quickly turns into laughter, twisting in my arms like she’s halfheartedly trying to get free.
“Put me down!” she says, but she’s smiling, her coffee sloshing precariously close to the edge of her mug.
“Not until you agree to train,” I say, my grin widening as I carry her down the steps and onto a grassy patch far enough away from the others to have a little privacy .
“I swear, Braxton, if I spill this on me—”
“You’ll what?” I tease, lowering her to the ground. She’s laughing now, a sound that makes my chest feel lighter no matter how heavy the rest of the world gets.
She plants her hands on her hips, still clutching the mug, and glares at me. “You’re impossible.”
“And you’re stubborn, but I love you anyway,” I say, stepping closer.
Her glare dissolves into a smile, and the way she looks at me—like I’m the best part of her day—makes every other thought in my head vanish.
“And I love you despite your caveman tactics.”
“Despite or more because of?”
That gains me another laugh. “I’d admit it’s kind of hot, but I’m afraid you’d start carrying me everywhere if I do.”
I grin. “I wouldn’t mind, but I’m already turned on enough just by being near you. I’d never get anything done.”
She wrinkles her nose and I love that we can now share naughty images with each other. The one she just sent me is of the two of us naked against the outside of her cabin-lab. I’m standing, legs spread, hands in her hair, with my cock deep in her throat. “Later,” I promise in a guttural tone.
I send her back an image of me turning her around, lifting her off the ground and fucking her from behind.
“Are you sure you want to train out here?” she asks huskily.
Oh, she’s good. Of course I’d rather race her to anywhere private and lose myself in the wonder of her. Unfortunately, I also want her to be able to survive an attack if one is ever launched upon us. “I don’t, but I do.” I step back, gesturing toward the trees at the edge of the clearing. “Camouflage. You’re getting better, but we’ve never practiced under pressure.”
“Pressure?” she repeats, raising an eyebrow.
“You hide. I’ll hunt you.”
She snorts. “What if we just skip to the part where you find me?”
I hold her gaze. “The chase always makes the catch more fun.”
Her eyes dilate and I know I’ve won. She sets her coffee down on the grass, pulling her sweater tighter around her. “Fine. But if I win and elude you...”
“You can have me do whatever you want.” I wink. “But that’s a prize you’ve already won.”
With a laugh, she rolls her eyes and I love how lighthearted and confident she’s become. I can’t help grinning as she steps away, heading toward the trees.
She takes a moment to focus, and I can see the change in her body—how her outline seems to shimmer and blur until she disappears entirely into her surroundings. It’s seamless, better than I expected. A wave of pride washes over me.
But my chest tightens, too, because I don’t want there to be a real danger that necessitates her having to hide. Although my business partner has agreed to help us, organizing an event capable of pulling in the people we need will take time. Until then we train and wait. I push those thoughts aside and close my eyes, letting my other senses guide me.
I can feel her. Not just her presence, but her amusement. You’re cheating, Braxton.
I smirk, sending back a thought of my own. Sorry, not sorry.
But she’s right. I pull back and use a thermal sensor to hunt for her. The more I search and don’t find her, the better I feel. I take out another gadget designed to sense movement. Nothing.
Satisfied, I close my eyes and use our bond to locate her. She startles when I appear on the thick tree branch beside her. I quickly pull her into my arms and hop down, taking her with me. “Found you,” I say, grinning.
She groans against my chest but laughs. “You cheated again, didn’t you?”
“Or, hear me out, I’m honing my skills as well. If anything ever happens, I want to able to find you.”
She wraps her arms around my neck and there’s such strength in her. “Then we should practice the reverse, because if anything ever happens, I want to be able to find you too.”
She knows I’m hiding something.
Her smile softens. “I do,” she says quietly.
I brush a strand of hair away from her face. Our minds meld together, soft and familiar, but I maintain the wall. I don’t want to block her out, but the things I’m planning—the risks I’m willing to take to keep her safe—aren’t something I want her to carry.
She leans back slightly. “Promise me something,” she says just above a whisper.
I swallow hard. She has both my heart and my loyalty. If she asks me about the plan, I’ll tell her everything, but I don’t want to. “Anything.”
Her eyes darken. “You’re a good man, Braxton and I understand that you believe it’s better for me to not know the details of your plans. I don’t agree with that decision, but I understand it. I’ll accept that you want to protect me, if you accept that I feel the same when it comes to you. Going after Inkwell, however you do it, has the potential of being a violent and ugly experience that will change you. Promise you won’t hide any scars you gain—physically or mentally. No matter how ugly they are. I want to be right there, helping you heal.”
I inhale audibly then pull her closer, pressing my lips to her forehead. “Babe, I love you more than I know how to express.”
Then show me , she whispers in my mind.
I do. I take her right back to the first time I met her, then walk her through all the times I worried for her, celebrated her, and yearned for more with her.
Her eyes fill with tears then she walks me through how my support, even when she took it for granted, gave her the strength to continue on days when she wondered how she would. She shows me how she let me into her heart, little by little, until she now cannot imagine her life without me in it.
How that scares her, but also has brought her back to life.
I hug her to me and tell us both that, no matter what’s coming, we will get through it—together.