But what can I do?
“Chase, no?—”
Maverick gets up off the cot. He looks at me, looks at Chase, then glares at the agent.
“I’m supposed to be next.”
What?
The dick in shades seems just as confused as I am. Is Maverick volunteering to go before Chase?
“The bitch who took my blood. She said I was going next. You want to ask her? Or do you want to keep the Doctor waiting?”
Holy shit. He… he is. I know Maverick. I know it when he bluffs; he did that in East Jersey before I could tell the difference. Now… he’s buying Chase a little time—and we all know it.
The agent isn’t about to question it. I think he must be more afraid of the Doctor than Elissa because he just nods, grabs Maverick’s arm, and drags the cop out of the cell.
The moment the door slams shut, Chase is moving. His arms are wrapped around me, pulling me toward him, squeezing me close.
“What did they do to you? Are you okay? Tell me you’re okay. God, I love you so fucking much. You have to be okay.”
He’s careful not to use any name right now. I don’t know why that stands out to me, but as he holds me close, his arms a possessive brand around my back, I hear everything he wants to say… and that I want to hear.
What did they do to me? He doesn’t need to know exactly, and I can’t tell him. Not exactly. It’ll hurt Chase even more to hear how I was tortured, especially since I’m?—
I’m—
I press my head against his chest and whisper one word: “Baby.”
That’s what Chase used to call Hallie. And that’s the same pet name she had for him. Xandra used to tell me it would make her barf, and…
And that was Xandra.
I’m not Xandra.
I pull back, tilting my head up so that I can stare into Chase’s stunned yet hopeful face. Fuck. He’s fragile. He’s so damnfragile, and I did this to him. He wants to believe I said what he thinks I said, and it’ll shatter him if he’s wrong.
And I know in an instant that this man would’ve waited an eternity to be my baby again.
“Baby,” I say, firmer this time. Then, going up on my tiptoes, I lift my hand, threading my fingers through his hair, and kiss him with everything I have.
Chase groans into my mouth.
“Is it you?” he asks before diving in again, kissing me so deeply, it’s like he’s touching the back of my throat with his tongue. He retreats just enough to rest his forehead against mine, eyes searching my face for some sign that I’m who he is looking for. “Hallie, baby… tell me it’s you.”
I nod. That’s the most I can get out right now.
“I want to believe it. Fuck. If it’s true… okay.” He straightens, though he doesn’t release me. “When we were twenty, we got caught fucking in my bedroom when we thought no one was home. You were so embarrassed, you swore you’d never tell anyone. Not even Xandra. Who caught us?”
I think back. It’s not as easy as it should be—and that’s worrisome—but, with a flash, I see Rory’s face twisted in a mixture of amusement and horror.
I don’t know if I want to laugh or cry at the memory. “You ass. You’re trying to trick me. It wasn’t your bedroom. It was mine. Rory popped his head in to ask me a question, yelled ‘dude’ when he saw you on top of his little sister, and I pushed you off of me.”
Chase stops breathing for a moment. “I bruised my ass on your floor. The next time I saw Rory, he gave me a box of condoms and a ‘do not disturb’ sign.”
“He did? I didn’t know that.”
“Because you pretended it didn’t happen. You even made me wait two weeks before we had sex again, you were so embarrassed.”
