And he was aroused.Again.
But the purple shadows beneath her eyes told him she needed to rest, and if there was one thing stronger than his need to take her, it was his need to take care of her. “You need torest.”
Audra yawned, stretching her arms overhead, and the sheet fell to her waist revealing her glorious breasts. “I’m not sleepyanymore.”
Diggs’ mouth went dry. She’d thought him strong? She was certainly testing hiswillpower.
Before his body could overtake his mind, Diggs pressed her shoulders firmly into the mattress and pulled the sheet up, covering her gorgeous form.“Your body needs sleep toheal.”
“What about you? Don’t you need sleep?” She lifted up onto her elbow casting him a saucygrin.
“Not as much as you do.” Diggs resolutely gave her his back and went in search of his pants. “I’ll be back. If I’m going to help you, I need to catch the team up. And tomorrow, after you’ve rested, you’re going to show us the video fromJeremy.”
Storm clouds formed behind her eyes, but she said, “Okay. Can you check on Trigger forme?”
“Of course. He’ll be my first stop.” Diggs yanked on his pants and a T-shirt. “If you need me, there’s a phone on the bed stand. Press the pound key and it will buzz me down in thelab.”
“Okay,” Audra said in a sleepytone.
He paused at the door, turning to look at her one last time. She lay with her hand on the pillow next to her face, eyes shut and lips curled in a contented smile. Diggs scrubbed a hand down his face and left, muttering to himself. With her in his room he’d never get any sleepagain.
He took the stairs slowly, mentally shifting gears from the siren in his bed to the mission ahead. He trusted Audra’s instincts, and they all thought Jeremy’s classified profile had seemed odd. It wouldn’t take him long to get more details on his death, and he intended to dig until he could find any hint of a clue that they mightneed.
And then there was the video message Jeremy had sent Audra. She’d been looking at the message through the eyes of a brokenhearted sister, but he and his team could see things not visible to the untrainedeye.
By the time he reached the lab his emotions had returned to near normal. Dr. Averton was standing in the main lab, the large exam table in the middle of the room covered in crumpled bloodstainedpaper.
“Where’sTrigger?”
She jumped and spun, obviously startled, her hands landing on the bench behind her. Her large sapphire eyes were wide and bright. “You scaredme.”
Diggs paused at the door as he felt a tingle of apprehension work its way down his spine. “Where’s Trigger?” he askedagain.
Melissa sucked in a deep breath and began ripping the dirty paper from the exam table, balling it up into a wad in her hands. “He’s over there. He’s going to be fine.” Her tone didn’t sound fine, and Diggs noticed she was avoiding his gaze. She went to the trash can in the corner, keeping her face angled just out ofsight.
Diggs stepped farther into the room, catching a glimpse of Trigger and his bandaged leg. He was crouching in the corner, teeth bared in Diggs’ direction. “He doesn’t lookfine.”
The damn dog was staring at Diggs like he was ready to rip out his throat. Diggs took a cautious step forward and Trigger’s lips curled back along hiscanines.
“Look, I did what I had to do. He’s going tolive.”
Diggs froze on the spot, craning his head as slowly as possible in the direction of the doctor. She was standing at the far counter with her head lowered and her fists clenched on thetabletop.
“What exactly did you have to do?” Diggs kept his tone gentle even while his insidesrolled.
She lifted her head and stared at the wall, her normally perfectly straight hair hanging in a mess around her shoulders. “He was going to die, Diggs. Is that what you wanted?” She spun, facing him with defiance and . . .guilt.
Reality hit him like a bolt of lightning. “You gave him theserum?”
“I had to! He had massive internalbleeding.”
“You gave him the serum,” Diggs repeated quietly, unable to believe what he was hearing. They’d all suffered severe side effects, learning to cope with countless migraines and unexpected seizures. “Quantum is in a freaking coma from that shit. Dawson is dead. Whatever made you think that was a good idea?” He shoved his finger in the direction of the dog half cowering half growling in the corner. There’s no telling what kind of reaction he was having to the changes inside his body. Diggs can’t even remember his first month after he’d entered theexperiment.
“I couldn’t let anyone else die.” Melissa lowered her chin and stared at the floor. “It’s because of Dawson and Quantum that I gave him the serum.” As if coming to some internal conclusion she lifted her gaze. “No one else is going to die because I couldn’t save them. I don’t care what I have todo.”
In that moment, Diggs both hated and respected the doctor. She had to make life and death decisions that he’d never want to make, but the thought of anyone or anything else going through what he and his team had had to go through with Project Mayhem turned his stomach just thesame.
“Stop looking at me likethat.”
