Elijah: Wyatt?
Elijah: Wyatt?!
Wyatt: Linc says you should have asked him if you wanted Shepherd’s credentials but since you didn’t he can tell you that he was Special Forces in the Marines like Linc and Jackson but then he left to work for a private military contractor.
Those words echoed in his head. Shep had said as much in the kitchen just now, but Elijah didn’t know what that meant, even though he’d heard them referenced in movies before.
Elijah:What the fuck is a private military contractor? You can just have private armies? Who has private armies?
Wyatt: Fascist dictators?
Elijah huffed, glaring at his phone.
Elijah: Are you asking me? What did he do for this private military contractor?
Elijah: Wyatt?
The texts stopped, leaving Elijah feeling like a sword dangled over his head.
There was a soft knock at the door and then Shep was taking up the entire entrance, his face once more inscrutable. “If you wanted to know about my background, rabbit, you could have just asked me.”
Elijah sucked in a surprised breath, before firing off one last text to Wyatt.
Elijah: Traitor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
“What if you lied?” Elijah asked, tossing his phone onto the mattress.
Shep stepped inside, closing the door and crossing to the bed. He didn’t sit, just gazed down at Elijah. “Why would I lie?”
Elijah pulled a face. “Because you’re secretly a bad guy?”
Shep tilted his head. “Do you think I’m a bad guy?”
“I think you’re a stranger, despite what we just did in the kitchen. I think you’re fantastic at hiding who you are. I think you make me feel—” He snapped his mouth shut, realizing he was talking too much.
“Feel what?” he asked, his voice sliding over Elijah like silk.
“Nothing.”
Shep dropped to his knees in front of Elijah, gripping his wrists gently and pulling him into a sitting position. “Tell me what you were going to say and I’ll tell you whatever you want to know. I’ll even give Linc permission to show you my personnel file if you want to fact check me.”
Elijah stiffened, licking his bottom lip. He wasn’t sure he could say it, not with Shep so close.
“I know you want to hide, rabbit, but I won’t let you. Just say it.”
All the blood in Elijah’s brain ran south. “Exposed.” The word fell from his lips without thought.
“I make you feel exposed,” Shep repeated, gazing deep into Elijah’s eyes like he was trying to read the truth in them. “And that scares you?”
Elijah could feel the blood rushing in his ears. Did it? “I don’t know.”
“You don’t look scared.”
Elijah’s heart knocked around inside his chest. “Do you want me to look scared?”
He seemed to contemplate his answer, which probably should scare Elijah, but it didn’t. Shep didn’t. He just intrigued him. He’d never done this before… this dance, this strange ritual of circling each other, feeling each other out like they were both unsure how they fit.
Finally, Shep said, “I told you what I want.” His thumbs caressed the tender skin on the inside of Elijah’s wrists, making it hard to concentrate on his words.
