Noni blinked, her gaze hazy but her body calm. The man knew how to give a phenomenal orgasm. Denver bracketed her from behind, gently holding her, his erection a firm line against her butt. “Denver—”
“No. You’ve had a hell of a night. Sleep and we’ll talk tomorrow.” His voice was firm and rough . . . need in every syllable. Sometimes he was such an asshole.
“You did this before,” she mumbled. “Kept yourself apart and distant. Have you ever let anybody in?”
“Just you,” he said quietly.
But that wasn’t true. Not really. Everything inside her wanted to understand him. Wanted to really know him, even if it hurt unbearably when he left. “You promised me your story. The true one,” she said, her gaze on the dark of the room.
“Now?” he asked.
Snow fell outside the window, and the wind howled through the night. Intimacy cocooned them, and she snuggled closer into his heat. “Yes. Then I’ll go to sleep.”
He sighed, his hand flattened over her abdomen. “I was a test-tube baby created in a lab by a psychopath named Dr. Madison, as were Heath and Ryker. She experimented and tried to make humans with extra abilities.”
Noni snorted. “Denver. Come on.” She wanted his real story. Not a make-believe one. “Yeah, right. You’re bionic.”
“No. Through a bunch of gene splicing I’ve never figured out, I have stronger senses, reflexes, and strength than the average person. Much stronger. As do Ryker and Heath.”
She’d read a journal article about genetic manipulation while in a dentist’s waiting room a while back. “Really?” she whispered.
“It’s true.” His voice didn’t waver. “I wish to hell it wasn’t, but it is. She and some ex-military guy created supersoldiers in a lab from donated genetic material. You’ve noticed my reflexes and senses. They’re amplified. Genetically.”
That was true. How crazy? Genetic manipulation? It wasn’t that farfetched to consider these days. But what about the experiments? “How many kids did they create?”
“I don’t know. Most they kept and trained to fight and kill, but she let the three of us go and then put us back together when we were adolescents at a home.”
How was this possible? Noni shook her head. “Why?”
“To study us. The bitch used us all as experiments. Jory, from the phone the other day, was one of the soldiers she kept and trained. He and his other brothers all escaped years ago, but she’s hunting us all.” Denver’s body stiffened.
Noni reached out and placed her hand over his, waiting until he relaxed behind her.
He continued. “I was supposedly taken by one of the soldiers, and she found me in Denver when I was eight.”
So that was how he’d gotten the odd name. “And?” she prompted.
“I was with a guy who acted like my uncle for a while, but even then I knew we weren’t really related. He apparently wanted to hurt Madison by taking me. The guy is probably dead now, and I don’t care.”
How was any of this possible? Noni patted his hand. “How did his taking you hurt Madison?”
Denver shuddered. “I’m not sure. She always said I was special, and I’ve always been afraid she did something really weird with my genes. Like she incorporated animal genes or something with mine when she was splicing and dicing. If anybody could, it’d be her.” He sounded almost bewildered.
Noni snuggled closer into him, trying to offer comfort. He just sounded so . . . lost. But he needed to get it out. To share his pain. “What then?”
“I ended up with Ryker and Heath at the home, and we bonded just like she thought we would,” Denver said.
“I’m so sorry she manipulated you.”
He pulled her closer, wrapping all around her. “The home sucked. Ned wasn’t the only monster in our childhood. The good ole sheriff liked to show up and use his nightstick as well. He and Dr. Madison were together and I guess still are—now they’re searching for us together. I already told you about us killing Cobb’s brother, and that’s why he’s after us.”
“So it’s all about revenge.” What a horrible legacy.
“Dr. Madison wants more than revenge. She wants us to train for her and, ah, donate genetic material for more supersoldiers.”
That was incredibly screwed up. No wonder Denver was so closed off all the time. Her heart and the hurt from his leaving her started to unfold. To release. It was a miracle he could show kindness at all. “Is your childhood why you don’t like to talk much?”
He shrugged. “The fake uncle punched me every time I opened my mouth, so I stopped opening it.”
