Forcing himself to drag in a ragged breath and not let his fear fuel his anger and lead him to do something he would regret, he gave a sharp nod at Rose. “You didn't mean any harm.”
“Really?” Rose looked at him with tentative hope, and he knew then and there that she’d cemented her place in their weird and dysfunctional family, because he knew she knew how strong their bonds were and didn't want to put Steel in a position where he had to choose sides.
They all knew which side Steel would choose and it was hers, but she didn't want that anyway.
“You're not going to try to kill her?” Steel asked skeptically.
With an irritated huff, Dragon stormed further into the room and flopped down into one of the armchairs. “You know I was never going to really try to kill her.”
“Uh, I did not know that,” Rose piped up, making the guys snicker in amusement, and Dragon couldn’t remember the last time things had felt this light in their home. Rose wasn't just good for Steel, she was good for all of them.
“Cover up now, little ladybug,” Steel growled, seemingly just remembering she was topless now that he deemed there to be no threat to her life. “I’d really love not to have to rip out all of their eyes.”
“Relax, they’ve seen it all before, several times, and Lion was just?—”
With another growl, Steel snatched Rose off her feet, crushing his mouth to hers to silence her before she could remind him that Lion had just been touching her breasts.
Laughing, the tattoo artist pressed her shirt—one of Steel’s—into the other man’s hands, and Steel managed to drag his lips from hers long enough to pull the shirt over her head. When she ground against the bulge in his pants, Steel appeared to remember they had an audience and set her down on her feet, guiding her arms through the sleeves with a gentleness none of them were used to witnessing.
Both were breathing hard, and unable to resist holding her in his arms, Steel sat back down, tugging Rose into his lap and wrapping his arms around her with a possessive glare at the rest of them.
As they all took their seats, Dragon fought against the direction his thoughts wanted to take. Imagining what it would be like to have Cassandra there, sitting on his lap, his arms around her, his intentions clear. She was his and everyone else should back off.
But she wasn't there.
He’d made his choice, and he had to live with the consequences.
“What did this person tell Cassandra?” Steel asked, protectiveness sharp in his dark eyes. The other guys all liked Cassandra and viewed her as a sort of younger sister.
“Apparently, she told her that Dr. Gardner doesn’t just want us back because he created us, he wants to find out how we survived his experimental drugs when nobody else has. He has an antidote,” he told the others, who all gasped in shock.
Rose ran a soothing hand over Steel’s arms, which were banded around her. “What does that mean exactly? Can my brother undo what he did? Turn you back into who you werebefore? Would you even want that? Good or bad, this is who you are now.”
Would he go back if he could?
Part of him would say yes, that the man he had been before was a better one than the man he was now. The other part knew even if he lost his enhanced sense of smell, it wouldn't undo the horrors they’d lived through those three years Dr. Gardner kept them captive.
“I wouldn't go back,” Steel was the first to say it, and one by one the guys nodded their ascent. Rose was right, for good or bad, this was who they were now.
“Might not be an option anyway,” he informed them. “According to Cassandra, this woman told her that Dr. Gardner plans on injecting us with the antidote, studying us, then reinjecting us with the same drugs as last time to try to figure out how we were able to adapt and thrive. This woman doesn’t think we’d survive.”
A small whimper escaped Rose’s lips, and she pulled Steel’s arms tighter around her, not liking the idea of losing him.
“Not going anywhere, little ladybug,” Steel said, but anger danced in his gaze. “We need to find out more about this woman. We need to know who she is, how she knows about us, how she’s connected to Dr. Gardner, and how she managed to figure out that Cassandra was a good way to get to us. Dragon, you need to go to Cassandra, see if you can pull more details from her.”
Perfect.
That was exactly what he wanted to hear.
Maybe he wasn't strong enough to go to her on his own, but now he had the perfect excuse.
January 4th
11:34 A.M.
All morning, Cassandra had felt out of sorts.
What annoyed her the most was not knowing whether it was because she’d been accosted by a stranger or the phone call to Dragon.
