Whatever happened to Nash after that night, it left him maimed.
It drives a spike of fear through me, even as my heart squeezes.
Fix him, my lioness whispers.
But I can't.
Just like I couldn't go back. There's more than one life that hangs in the mix, and that life is more important than mine or his. At least to me, it is.
Around us the birds continue singing their celebration, oblivious to the two predators who invade their territory. My house looks lonely far below past a slope of wildflowers dancing in the wind.
I fix my gaze on it to keep from looking at Nash. "How'd you find me?"
"Started searching as soon as I got out. My friends helped."
I stiffen. How long has he been out? How much did his friends uncover?
"Don't worry," he soothes. "They'll keep your location secret. They only told me."
This doesn't reassure me. I can't afford for Nash to be a part of my life. There's too much at stake.
Of course, my rash lioness is just fine with Nash turning up. She's purring. I take a moment to sense his animal and a queasiness returns.
"Your lion is upset."
"My lion is a sick fuck."
I force myself to look at him, to search his haunted eyes. "They hurt you."
"Yes. But I was fucked up before I went to them."
"Why'd you come, Nash?"
Pain flickers over his face, dark with a storm I can't decipher. "How could I not? I marked you. You belong to me." He fists a hand in my curls and tugs my head to the side to find the place where his teeth scored my skin. When he lowers his mouth and traces the barely visibly mark with his tongue, I shiver. My pussy clenches as if affirming his ownership over me.
"Why'd you run from me, Denali?"
I hear hurt in his voice-or is it warning? Will there be punishment? Shockingly, the thought excites me. I push the image of him tying me to the bed and asserting his ownership over my body again and again from my mind. "Are you afraid of me? Can you tell I-" he breaks off, eyes shuttering.
"I thought you were dead."
"You thought you were seeing a ghost?"
I shake my head. He continues to trail the tip of his tongue over my skin, tracing the column of my neck, flicking my earlobe. Memories of what he can do with his tongue between my legs crowd the rational thoughts from my mind.
His body presses against mine, long and muscular and oh so right.
"I should have died. I feel half-dead most of the time since I got out."
"But... you cooperated." I swallowed. "I heard you volunteered to the program."
I'll never forget the day the men in suits showed up at my grandfather's place. First they were slick-talkers. Trying to tell me I'd been chosen for a special study. My grandfather and aunt stood in front of me. Said no way they were taking me.
They drew guns, asked me to come or they'd kill my family. My grandfather and aunt screamed for me to shift and run. They weren't going to give me up.
And now they're dead.
Rage mixes with pain in Nash's expression. His nostrils flare, jaw flexes. "I did cooperate. Hell, I volunteered for the damn study. Until I figured out what they were doing."
"Master race," I mutter and his eyes blaze lion bright. His grip in my hair tightens.
When I wince, he immediately releases me, stepping back. "You escaped not long after I claimed you."
There it is. But I don't hear any accusation in his tone.
Still, guilt swims over me. "I saw my chance and took it."
"Good. I'm glad. It made things… easier, knowing you got out of that hellhole." The wind picks up. I shiver, and he shifts to block me from the chill. I don't think he does it consciously, but his care warms me from head to toe.
Nash
DENALI'S GONE pale and my lion's snarling, wanting to fix whatever's broken here. Except how does a ruined lion fix anything?
"I'm sorry-I wasn't in any position to go back for you." Her fingers bunch and twist.
My brows shoot up. Jesus. Is that what she's upset about? She's suffered survivor guilt all this time?
Fuck, I know more than a little bit about that. My flashbacks aren't only from Data-X. They're from Afghanistan, too.
I can't stop myself from snatching her shoulders and pulling her into me until we're nose to nose. "You think I would've wanted that?" I don't mean to sound so harsh, but I need her to understand this. Need to help her release the guilt. "Never. I never wanted you near that place. You getting free was the only goddamn comfort I had in there. Understand?"
She blinks up at me, her chocolate brown eyes glinting with gold and caramel in the light. She's pierced her nose since I saw her last. A tiny gold hoop loops through one nostril. It's fucking perfect on her. Her hair is back to its natural brown, too. When I met her, she'd bleached the tight curls a tawny gold.
Her throat moves as she swallows. "I'm sorry."
I force myself to release her. "No, I'm glad you got out. And I understand why you stayed in hiding."
For a brief moment she stiffens, and my lion knows something's off again, but I have no idea what. She changes the subject. "I heard the lab burned down. Did you…?"
"Yeah. That's when I got out." I confirm. "And I helped burn the second lab, too. Bombed both places to the ground. Dr. Smyth is dead."
"Good," she says fiercely. Our gazes meet and for once, we're on the same page. Both of us burning for revenge.
She clears her throat and looks down at her neatly trimmed fingernails. "I ran out of habit. Years of looking over my shoulder. Afraid someone would hunt me down and drag me back to that place. I guess... I saw you and panicked."
Thank fuck.