Nora shuddered and leaned into him.
The situation sucked, but the rightness of the moment dug deep into Deke’s gut and took hold. If they were such opposites, why did it feel so damn good just to sit and hold her?
Chapter Four
After a useless day of trying to penetrate Scorpius’s protein shell, Nora had left her nanoparticle experiments to do their thing. Hopefully there would be results within sixteen hours.
For now, she stood outside Deacan’s apartment door, not moving. Her knees wobbled. Agreeing to dinner had been a mistake. A huge-ass, what was she thinking, larger-than-life. . . mistake. She knew better. God, did she know better.
Yet when he’d asked, her heart had leaped. A hard thud against her rib cage—one she hadn’t felt in eight years. The previous night, as Zach had battled the fever, she’d actually slept curled up into Deacan’s side, feeling safe. Deke had awoken her around dawn with the good news that Zach’s fever had passed. She’d waited for a while to talk to Zach, and the second he made a lame joke, she’d known. He would be all right, and more than willing to donate blood and get his brain scanned for a closer look at Scorpius.
So she’d returned to the lab to double her efforts to beat the crap out of Scorpius. The nanostructured materials so far hadn’t worked, but she’d only tried silver and titania. She’d try ceria next.
Now, after a full day in the lab and a quick shower in her temporary apartment, she hovered like a weenie outside Deke’s place.
If she went inside, she knew exactly where the night would end. Where she wanted it to end—satisfying her curiosity about their past. Had it been as good as she remembered?
She lifted her hand to knock, but the door opened before she made contact.
“I gave you long enough to change your mind.” Deacan grasped her arm to lead her into cool air.
She’d forgotten. The way he had of taking charge, of touching, of instantly enfolding her into his space. Even in his early twenties, he’d ruled the atmosphere around him. Now, in his thirties, seasoned and somehow calm, he still made air adjust to him.
Some things never changed.
She stumbled by him and shoved a bottle of wine into his stomach. “I bought red.”
He lifted one eyebrow and shut the door, accepting the bottle and releasing her arm. “Thank you.”
She swallowed and nodded, her gaze darting around a sprawling room decorated with masculine leather furniture. The room even smelled like him. Spicy and male.
He grasped her chin and lifted her face. “Nora, take a breath.”
She tried to appear calm and meet his gaze, but her heart thundered in her ears. “I’m fine.”
He blinked, his thumb brushing across her chin. “I won’t hurt you, baby.”
She frowned and tilted her head to the side, allowing his fingers to remain on her skin. “I’m not afraid of you.”
He sighed and released her to run a hand through his thick hair. “Sure you are, and I don’t blame you.” He turned toward a spacious kitchen decorated with dark granite and stainless steel appliances.
Heat rushed into her lungs, and she grabbed his arm. Hard and sculpted, his muscles moved beneath her palm.
But he didn’t turn back, and his shoulders remained stiff.
What was he thinking? She kept hold and walked around to face him. “Deacan?”
His gaze met hers, green and dark. “I remember how it was, and so do you. I’ve changed, but I don’t expect you to believe just my words.”
She shook her head, her mind fuzzing. “You’re confusing me. I was never afraid of you.” Afraidforhim, sure. Definitely. But not one minute of their time together had she spent thinking he’d hurt her. Ever.
His brows drew together. “I punched the walls. A lot. I was so fucking angry. All the time.”
She nodded, her heart hurting in a way it hadn’t in so long. “I know. But you never hit me, and I never thought you would.” There were times she thought he’d break his hand, but not once,not once, had she feared for herself. He’d been so young and angry. “You’ve never been a man who’d harm a woman, Deacan.”
Even at their worst, when she’d yelled at him, he’d never yelled back. Had never even raised his voice to her. He’d needed her, and she’d run like the scared kid she’d been. Although they’d both changed during the ensuing years, he was still a soldier, whether he knew it or not, and she was still a scientist with a healthy suspicion of the government.
Were they on opposite sides? Especially since Scorpius could be eventually weaponized? She wouldn’t allow any government, even her own, to have that kind of power.
