“It’s different than I expected. Your place, I mean.”
It was odd he’d never been inside her apartment, considering they worked together every day. “In what way?” Defensiveness rose in her.
He eyed the row of decorative glass bottles along the worn kitchen countertop. “I don’t know. I figured there would be a wall of weapons and a sparring dummy in the center of the room.”
“The sparring dummy is under the bed,” she shot back.
“All right.” He moved then, closer to her, and she fought the urge to sit back down. “I think it’s time you and I had a little talk.”
“About what?” She rubbed her chest and then made herself stop.
Heat swelled from him. “I’m tired of you trying to prove yourself all the time. Nobody else would’ve gone out on a scouting mission after being hit with a bullet.”
“In the vest,” she countered, not liking the direction of the discussion. “It wasn’t like I’d been shot. In fact, Jax was shot badly enough that he had to be stitched up, and he went on the scouting mission.” Why the hell was she explaining herself to him?
“Jax had a through and through. You were hit center mass and have serious contusions.” Determination, the hard and male kind, darkened Tace’s eyes.
Sami rolled her eyes, finally fed up with his over-the-top male attitude. “Listen, Tace. You’ve been edging toward being an ass the last few weeks, and then we made the mistake of having a quickie. This caveman routine you’ve got going on has to end.”
“Was that all it was? Just a quickie?” A muscle ticked in his strong jaw.
She opened her mouth to agree and pretty much lie, but the glint in his eye stopped her. Tace was becoming a master at discerning lies. Sure, the night meant something to her, but that didn’t matter right now. It couldn’t. “Let it go.”
“I can’t.” His gaze hardened, and he stepped forward to manacle her upper arms. “I know I should, but I can’t.”
The strength in his hold stole her breath away. She lifted up on her toes, heart galloping. “Let go.”
“I don’t want to.” Frustration curled his lip. “Believe me, letting go would be an out I’d take in an instant. But here’s the rub, Samantha. Nothing in me, not one little atom or molecule, wants to let go. Fuck. You’re in my head all the time, in my chest, in my damn skin. I breathe you, damn it.”
Her breath heated and caught, her entire body flaring alive. Maybe for the first time . . . sensing danger and something more. Something she couldn’t quite identify, and that intrigued her in ways she’d never admit. “What about all your other women?” It was the only thing she could think to say.
“They were all relegated to the past from the first time I touched you.” Tace leaned in, overtaking her space. “We weren’t anything anyway, and that’s the way they all wanted it.”
“Was that the way you wanted it?” What was happening? This was crazy.Theywere crazy.
“It was the way everything had to be. Nothing serious and nothing with emotion.” His grip tightened, holding her too easily in place.
“And now?” Her voice wavered, but she forced the words out.
His eyes darkened, and his lids lowered to half-mast. “Enough emotion we should both be scared shitless. I don’t know what’s happening, Sami. I really don’t. But you’re at the center of me, and I’m not sure it’s healthy or right.”
Scorpius. The bacteria that created sociopaths. Sami swallowed. “Are you turning dark?”
He barked out a laugh, his breath heating her face. “I’ve been dark since the first day of recovery. I don’t know what this is. I can’t explain or analyze it.”
“Okay.” Her rational mind tried to take over even as her nipples hardened to sharp points. “You’re still in the recuperation phase of Scorpius. The return of emotion now is probably normal for you with your genetic makeup. Everyone reacts differently to the bacteria.”
“I’ve been attracted to you since the first day we met—right after I joined Vanguard and Jax decided he wanted a medic at headquarters.” Tace released one of her arms and smoothed her hair back from her face. “I walked into that first meeting, and I swear, my heart just stopped.”
“Yeah, but—”
“That was before I was infected, Sami. Way before. I was still me then.” His head dipped toward hers. “The old me, that is.”
“But you never said a thing.” She was quickly becoming overwhelmed by him, and her body rioted for more.
His jaw clenched. “Of course not. Jax and Vanguard need us to be clearheaded and focused. Plus, you kept kicking my ass.”
She lifted her head. “And now?”
