chapter 2
Nathan settled against the leather seat in the SUV, his gaze on the side entrance to the ballroom as rain smashed down on the windshield. Even though he’d expected some kind of reaction, the slam to the gut upon touching Audrey again had stolen his breath away. For a few moments he was a lovesick kid again who had hopes for a future with the girl beyond his dreams. After the song had ended, he’d had to walk away to pull himself together. Now, waiting outside for her, he settled himself.
He felt nothing.
She hadn’t answered his direct question about the baby and had instead spun away from him. That time he’d let her go.
But the second he had her alone, she was going to tell him the truth.
Cold and purposeful, he’d follow his mission parameters and get the information he needed from Audrey. First, he’d find his kid. Less than a week ago, he and his brothers had found Audrey’s mother’s video diary where the woman claimed Audrey was pregnant with Nate’s child. It had been recorded five years ago, before he’d escaped from the military group that had created him.
He’d instantly set out to find Audrey. After a week of following her, he knew the kid didn’t live with her. Had she actually given birth and left a child to the monsters who’d created Nate? That couldn’t be possible.
The nearly desperate hope that filled him at the thought of a child ached somewhere deep in his gut, making a mockery of his lack of feelings. So badly, he wanted a kid. Wanted his brothers to have kids. Matt and Shane had found love, and they should be able to have families. Real ones like they’d all seen on television so long ago.
They could create families and have what they’d never experienced as kids. Could be part of something good, and maybe have their bloodlines live on. Sure, they’d been created by monsters, but if they created something good, couldn’t that balance out their past?
Maybe someday that good would outshine all the bad they’d done.
But he wondered, since he hadn’t seen a child this past week, had the video been wrong? Was there ever a child? If so, how could Audrey not tell him?
Yeah, he wasn’t exactly a good guy, considering the missions he’d taken. He knew dozens of ways to kill somebody. But he’d let Audrey in, and she should’ve known he’d love a child. He would’ve protected that child with everything he was. A surprising loss flooded him, at both her lack of trust and the idea that maybe no kid existed. All he needed was the truth from Audrey either way. Once that was confirmed, Nate would gain her cooperation in obtaining access to the computer codes that would save his brothers’ lives.
Rain continued beating down on the windshield, the darkness swirling around outside. Of course, his senses were enhanced, and his vision rivaled a wild animal’s. In fact, he heard Audrey’s heels clicking toward the door right before she pushed it open. A slight hitch slowed her gait, and he wondered again how she’d hurt her leg.
Not that he cared. He couldn’t care—not again. His brothers came first, and saving them was his only mission. Probably his last mission.
Yet when Audrey stepped out into the deluge, he instantly slipped out of the SUV and hurried to open the passenger side door, his large hand protecting her head from the rain. After she’d settled her legs into his front seat, he shut the door, senses tuned in to their surroundings. So far, nobody had followed her out.
Good.
Stretching back inside the vehicle, he paused. “Give me your phone.”
She started and swung toward him. “I didn’t bring one tonight.”
He measured her breathing with his ears and listened for her steady heartbeat. She was telling the truth. “Why not?”
She shrugged. “GPS. Why make it easy for them?”
What in the world was she talking about? “Who?”
“Doesn’t matter.” She squinted out at the pouring rain. “Are we staying here?”
“No.” He maneuvered into traffic and quickly drove away from the ballroom.
The vehicle filled with her scent of gardenias and woman. He’d seen her naked, he’d tasted her freshly washed skin, and he knew without a doubt that the scent was all her. No perfumes… all female. Once again, the sweetness threatened to drop him to his knees.
He’d loved her. Completely.
“Put on your seat belt,” he said quietly, making a left turn.
“Yours isn’t on.”
Of course his wasn’t on. If something happened, he needed access to his weapon and the availability to jump out of the car already firing. Yet the safest course for Audrey was to be belted in. “Now, Audrey.”
From his peripheral vision, he could see her blink. Could almost feel her mind spinning as she decided whether to defy or humor him.
She hesitated one second too long.
Pulling to the side of the quiet street, he reached over her and grasped the belt. His forearm brushed her breasts, and his groin flared to life. A quick click of the buckle, and he drove the car back onto the road.
“Become a take-charge bully, have you?” she muttered, crossing her legs.
He cut a look at her that felt hard. “Yes. You might want to remember that.” He’d been trained by the best in the world at intimidation.
So when she rolled her stunning blue eyes, he stilled. The woman knew how well he’d been trained, and she understood some of his heightened abilities. After she’d betrayed him, how could she not fear him? At least a little?
She cleared her throat. “Where are we going?”
“Somewhere to talk.” He turned down a side street, heading for a motel across the Washington Bridge.
“We can talk here,” she said, glancing at her watch. “It’s late, and I have work tomorrow.”
He gave a short nod. “How did you escape the men watching you?”
She lifted a creamy shoulder. “I just went out the back door. They weren’t expecting the move because I haven’t done anything unpredictable for the two weeks they’ve been tailing me.”
Smart. Uncomfortably so. “Have you been planning something unpredictable?” he asked.
“No, but a girl likes to keep all options open.”
Was she as calm as she appeared? Tuning in his senses, the ones beyond normal, he took note of her increased heart rate and rapid breathing. Though she looked calm, her body was rioting. Not as in control as she seemed, but he appreciated her nearly bored fa?ade. His Audrey had grown up in the last five years. “I prefer you alone and contained when we speak,” he said. Yeah, he meant to sound threatening.
Her sigh echoed with irritation. “Listen, Nate—”
“No. We’ll talk in a few minutes.”
“Fine.” She turned to watch the streetlights brighten and then dim outside the car, effectively ignoring him.
Several minutes later, he turned into a dive of a motel, parking by the last room on the bottom floor. Audrey reached for her door, and he stopped her with a hand on her arm. “Stay in the vehicle.” Jumping out, he shut his door and listened through the storm.
No close-by heartbeats, no sense of danger. Good.
Crossing in front of the car, he opened her door and held out a hand to assist her.
She glanced at his hand and gingerly slid her palm against his. A shiver wandered up her arm, and she stepped out of the car. Tentatively. Waiting for a moment, she tested her balance in those heels on the cracked concrete and released his hand.
“What’s wrong with your leg?” he asked.
“Nothing.” She hunched her bare shoulders against the rain, and he herded her toward the doorway to room 112.
Unlocking it, he stepped inside, holding out a hand for her to wait. A quick smell and listen proved nobody had been in the room. “Come in.”
He ushered her inside and shut the door. Ratty orange shag carpet covered the floors, and a maroon flowered bedspread covered the king-sized bed. Two dented chairs perched next to a particleboard table. The television was circa 1980 and the prints on the walls were of dogs playing golf. Not poker… golf.
Audrey glanced around the room and at the bed before turning toward him. “It smells like death in here.”
“Not even close.” The room stank like smoke and sweat, not death. He’d been around enough death to know the difference. “Have a seat.”
She swallowed and glanced at the rickety chairs but didn’t move. “Okay.”
“You won’t need a tetanus shot,” he said. “Probably.” The woman was clearly used to much finer things. He glanced down at her form. The black dress hugged her body, revealing the tops of her incredible breasts. The heels elongated her legs in a way that made him want them wrapped around his hips. She’d tossed her dark hair up on her head, revealing a slender and vulnerable neck. High cheekbones, full mouth, and eyes that defied description as merely blue, Audrey had grown even more beautiful in the five years since he’d last touched her.
But he’d never really known her, now, had he?
“Sit.” He pulled out a chair for her and dropped into the remaining one, hoping it held his weight. “Now talk.”
She gingerly slid onto the chair, eyeing the dented table. Her gaze rose to meet his. “There’s no child, Nate. I’m sorry.”
The words cut into his heart like a spike. He studied her face, her breathing, her movements, eye flickers, and changes in skin temperature to ensure he received the truth. “Were you pregnant?”
“Yes.”
His gut heaved. He didn’t need to ask the next question as to whose kid it was. Audrey had been a virgin when they’d gotten together. “What happened?”
“Miscarriage.” Her voice remained calm, but a flash of pain lightened her eyes. “Eight weeks in, and I miscarried. It’s common and not a reflection of your ability to have more children.”
Sorrow wanted to choke him, so he numbed his feelings. “Did you know?”
“Know what?”
“That you were pregnant when we broke up?”
“No.” She tapped pink nails on the table. “I found out a week later.”
He eyed her closely. No signs of lying, and the truth ripped through him with painful blades. A kid. A real kid. “Were you going to tell me?”
“Yes.” She lifted a shoulder. “I was trying to figure out a way to get to you without my mother knowing, and the world exploded. You disappeared, I lost the baby, and I thought that was the end of things. I always wanted you to find freedom, and you finally had a chance.”
He leaned toward her. “Why didn’t you leave?”
Her gaze dropped to her hands. “I didn’t have anywhere else to go.”
A lie. Or rather, an evasion. She wasn’t telling him something. “This is the time that you tell me everything Audrey. No secrets.”
Her head jerked up, challenge firming her chin. “Or what?”
He lifted an eyebrow. Good question. “You know I can make you talk.”
She smiled, unveiling a dimple he remembered well in her left cheek. “I know you’re trained, Nate. But I also know that you don’t torture women to get information. I’m not exactly scared here.”
He reached for her hand, flattening it under his. Fire lanced up his arm, settling through his body. One touch. All it took was one touch for his body to light on fire. Yet he kept his voice calm and his face expressionless. “Who said anything about torture?”
She swallowed, a flush sliding from her chest up and over her face. “Get real.”
He didn’t speak, just kept his gaze on hers. Knowing and hard. The way she met his stare impressed him, but he wouldn’t let her win the little contest of wills. Time was running short, and he required her cooperation.
She gave in first with a little huff. “Fine. What do you want?”
His gaze unwillingly shot to the bed before focusing back on her. “Information.”
“About what?” A little frown settled between her arched eyebrows.
“Everything. Where’s the commander, where’s the headquarters, where’s your mother, and more importantly, how do we defuse the chips?”
“What chips?” she asked.
Fury rushed through him so quickly his ears tingled. He grabbed her arms and hauled her up, stepping into her space and staring her down. “Don’t ever play dumb with me, Audrey. I promise you won’t like the result.”
Sparks burst in her eyes, and she shoved him two-handed in the chest.
He didn’t move.
“I’ve never played dumb, and I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Her hands remained on his chest, nails curling into his pecs.
The idea she couldn’t help him was unthinkable, and he gripped her tighter. “The chips near our spines. Where’s the computer to defuse them, and who has the damn codes?” Only stubborn will kept him from shaking her.
She blinked and bit her lip. “I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You’re lying.” She had to be.
She shook her head, pursing her lips. Soft, kissable lips he still tasted in his dreams. Far too tempting for any man to ignore. “I’m telling the truth.”
The denial cut him deep, and he struggled to maintain clarity. The woman stood so close—touching him. Her nails bit into his skin, sending electrical zaps through his body. His mind shut down. He yanked her closer, and his mouth took hers.
* * *
Anger and desperation hinted on his kiss as he took her mouth. No finesse, no cajoling, just a furious taking.
Even so, she kissed him back, losing herself in his storm, her hands flattening across his hard chest. She’d missed him. Missed this. The feeling of being swept up, of being everything. His passion made her feel alive. Although the kiss was full of fury, her body ignited for the first time in five long years.
His tongue swept inside her mouth, tasting her, taking everything. One broad hand slipped to the small of her back, pressing her against a rock-hard erection full of demand.
Her cleft swelled, and her knees trembled. A cramp started in her bad leg, and she ignored it, caught up in the moment.
With a low growl, his free hand tugged down the top of her dress. Wrenching his lips free, he nipped her earlobe, wandering lower, taking one nipple into his mouth. Electricity shot from her breast to her *. She bit her lip to stop from crying out.
Her legs gave out.
He swept her up, her legs straddling him, and pressed her against the wall.
This couldn’t happen. She stilled, her hands sliding through his thick hair. “I wondered if you’d grow it out.” Was this her voice? Husky and needy?
He scraped her nipple with sharp teeth.
Need zinged through her body to settle between her legs. She gasped. Nate had always been beyond gentle with her, and she’d wondered at the primal male she knew lived within him. But in their short time together, he’d treated her as something fragile and delicate.
Now the real Nate was unleashed.
At sensing the real man, her heart thumped. For so long, she’d wondered about him. Very few people in the world were allowed to see who he really was, and for the first time, she was on the inside. Where she’d always wanted to belong.
With a soft pop, he released her nipple to glance up. Even behind the contacts, those eyes darkened, glittering with hunger. His nostrils flared as he exhaled. As he regained control.
That cut jaw hardened. “Now tell me about the chips.”
Vulnerability competed with the desire raging inside her. Her skirt had pooled up, and her legs were spread, his erection pressing against her panties. The top of the dress remained down, revealing her breasts. “Put me down, and we’ll talk.”
“Oh, we’ll talk now.” His hands clenched on her buttocks.
She began to struggle and only succeeded in brushing her breasts against his chest and her sex against his cock. Lust caught her breath in her throat. “Now, Nate.”
“No.” Determination lived in every line in his chiseled face. “This is a perfect position for you to tell me everything.”
She couldn’t physically take him, and she knew it. A punch to his eyes would result in an irritated smile from him—and she wasn’t armed. She tried to harden her expression, but her leg cramped, and she winced.
His gaze narrowed. “What’s wrong?”
She wanted to lie, but it was really starting to hurt. “Leg cramp.”
He glanced down at her left leg and stilled. “What the f*ck?” Moving quickly, he pivoted and deposited her on the bed, sliding the dress up farther. “What happened to you?”
She sighed and reached down to rub the area right above her knee. “My leg broke in several places and needed a few surgeries to repair.”
“How?” he asked, his voice hoarse.
She’d give anything to be able to lie, but Nate was a human lie detector. “The day you escaped the military organization, I was at the facility.”
“No.” He shook his head and released her, stepping back. “I made sure you were off base when we blew it apart.”
She nodded. “I started bleeding and went to the infirmary.” They had the best medical facilities in the world, and she had hoped they’d be able to save the baby.
He coughed, going pale. “So I did this?”
“No.” She shook her head. “The ceiling collapsed, and debris trapped me. You were right in that I wasn’t supposed to be there.”
He paled further. “D-did I kill the baby?”
“No.” She swallowed, tears pricking the backs of her eyes. “I promise. You didn’t.” She’d done everything possible to protect the baby, but what if the stress and fear about the military organization had caused the miscarriage? Logically, she knew better. But emotion, not logic, kept her up at night anyway. She couldn’t forgive herself, and there was no doubt Nate would ever forgive her. His world had to be black and white, and she had understood that from the beginning.
He rubbed his chin, his shoulders relaxing. “All right.”
She wiped her nose. “I’d already seen an ultrasound, and the baby was gone. I promise, the explosion didn’t harm the baby. It was already too late.” Nate would never be able to live with having caused the miscarriage. “I’m sorry.”
He ran a hand through his thick hair, looking more out of sorts than she’d ever seen him. “Promise me.”
She nodded, her gaze meeting his. “I give you my word.”
He blinked and dropped to his haunches. Wide hands settled on her knees. Dark sorrow and determination angled his features. “I don’t want any more hurt between us, Audrey. I’m sorry about the baby, but I need to save my brothers.”
“I understand.” She’d been trying to save both him and his brothers since the beginning. “But the best thing for you is to stay hidden from the commander. He’s looking for you.”
Nate scowled. “I don’t have a choice, and you know it. Tell me about the chips.”
What in the heck was he talking about? “Again, I don’t know about any chips.” She placed her hands over his.
He frowned and studied her for several tension-filled moments. Then he closed his eyes on a strong exhale. “You really don’t.”
“No. What chips?”
His shoulders slumped. “The ones planted near our spines that are set to detonate in less than three weeks.”
“Detonate?” Fear prickled her skin. “How did this happen?”
“During routine surgeries, the doctors implanted the devices near our spine.” He rubbed his chin.
She gasped. “My mother had a part in this?”
“Yes.” He stood and pushed away from the bed. “If we don’t find the computer program and right codes, the chips will detonate, and we’ll all be killed.”