Rogue Alliance (49 page)

             
“I reserved a
room with two beds for a reason,
”
she said, rolling towards him.

             
Leaning up on one elbow, his bare chest still hot from the shower, he reached out and caressed her brow, then ran his finger down the side of her cheek.

             
“We’ve had a lon
g day, a long week, a long life,” he said,
“
I don’t think either of us want to sleep alone tonight. I won’t do anything that you don’t want me to, Shyla. I just want to hold on to someone as I go to sleep.”

             
The thought of being so close to him, sleeping with him, made her heart quicken.
             
“Someone, huh?” She teased, grasping for one last attempt at humor because she was quickly loosing her footing as he caressed her skin.

             
He gave a tired smile.

             
“Not just someone. You.”

             
The way he was looking into her rathe
r than at her, made her feel
vulnerable.
             
“Fine,” she said turning
away and reaching for the light, “b
ut I hope you don’t snore, or else I’ll put a pillow over your face.”

             
Before she could flip the switch on her lamp, he softly grabbed her arm and turned her back toward him.

             
“Don’t turn it off,
” he said,
“
not yet. I want to look at you.”

             
No wise cracks came to mind. No curt dismissals or funny quips were at the tip of her tongue. She was speechless as his soft green gaze roamed over her face. When he reached around and gently t
ugged her hair tie loose,
she let him. She felt the weight of her hair as it fell around her face but her eyes never left his. She’d never imagined that she would feel so amazing in the presence of a man, so alive and sensual, yet so safe.

             
Unable to resist, she mimicked his movements and reached up to touch his face. His jaw was rough with fresh stubble and his skin was still warm from the shower.

She thought that he might kiss her but he didn’t. Instead, he reached across her and turned off the light before pulling her tight against his c
hest. He held her snug and
she felt his muscles slowly relax and his breath grow shallow. She wasn’t sure if she felt relieved or frustrated. Now that he was asleep, she realized how much she had wanted him to kiss her.

             
Her thoughts were scattered and her body was still resp
onding to his, but there he was,
sleeping. Ugh, she wanted to slap him. But he had been right; they had both had a long week. It took close to thirty minutes, but she finally felt herself given in to the fatigue and the comfort of his embrace.

             
She was disorient
ated
ed when she opened her eyes and didn’t recognize where she was right away. It was dark and she was in unfamiliar territory.
Brennan’s arms pulled her close.

             
“Shh, its okay. You’re okay,” he whispered.

             
She glanced at the clock on the bedside table.
Two-seventeen in the morning. S
till a long time before dawn.

             
“You were having a bad dream,” he said.

             
“I’m sorry. Did I wake you?”

             
“No. I’ve been awake for awhile.”

             
She turned toward him. There was a sobering intensity to his tone and a tension in his body that alerted her.

             
“Is it your mother?
” she asked, “a
re you worried about her?”

             
Brennan
was on his back staring up at the dark ceiling.

             
“No. I mean, yes,” he sighed, “I am worried about her, but that’s not why I can’t sleep. I…”

             
Shyla held her breath as she waited for him to finish his sentence.

             
“I’m dying Shyla.”

             
Her heart stopped beating.

             
“What?” she said in a breathless gasp.

             
“I’m dying. I only have maybe four to six months left to live.”

             
He said it with such calm, such conviction. She wondered why he wasn’t screaming at the top of his lungs like she wanted to do.
Shyla
sat up and stared down
at him in the dark.

             
“No. Don’t say that, Brennan. It’s not funny.”

             
He turned toward her and she could barely make out the soft look in his eyes.

             
“It’s the truth.
One of the men who were
behind the scenes at the institute called me a while back and told me that they not only modified my body to rely on blood infusions, but to rely on their specific cocktail of infusions. Apparently, my body requires a special protein in order to synthesize the infusions or else I begin to…well, to die.”

             
She knew he was speaking the truth. Hadn’t she seen it in the way he seemed so tired, so worn out? Chalking it up to stress, she’d ignored it, but now she couldn’t deny the truth.

             
“No, no, no,” s
he was shaking her head. It was the only thing she could do. There was no way to process or accept the horror of what she was hearing. How could this be happening to her? First Carmen, now Brennan. How could they leave her?

             
“We can get help. There are doctors who can fix this.”

             
“I can’t go looking for help, Shyla. If anyone found out who I am, what I am, they would lock me up forever. I’d be another guinea pig, in another hospital. I can’t do that.”

             
“But you have to,” Shyla said, desperate,
“y
ou just found your mother. It would kill her if you lef
t again. And I…I…I can’t…”

             
S
he couldn’t go on. She bent down and pressed her cheek to his chest, giving into the tears.
Brennan
wrapped his arms around her and held on while she let it all go.

             
When her crying ebbed
,
there was still so much emotion
, but
no words which would fill the void. She moved over him and brushed her lips over his. They were soft and ready for her. He opened his mouth and lightly explored hers with slow, luscious flicks of his tongue. A flush rushed over her skin. Everything came alive inside of her body all at once.

             
“I want you, Brennan. I want you to touch me and don’t stop touching me until I say stop.”

             
In one swift move, Brennan ran his strong hands into her hair, cupped her head an
d rolled her to her back. H
e was over her, plundering her mouth with a kiss so hungry that she almost f
eared he would devour her. S
he kept up with his avarice and met him with equal passion, wrapping her legs around his waist and bringing him as tight against her as possible.

             
He kissed
her face, her neck
,
and down to her breasts. She pulled her shirt over her head and let him feast on her body, delighting in the new sensations.

             
“I’ve wanted you from the very beginning Shyla. It nearly drove me crazy to think of you with Victor.”

             
“Shh,” she said, grasping his head and forcin
g him to look her in the eyes,
“I’m right here, right now. That’s all that matters.”

             
“I can’t wait anymore,” h
e said. His voice was raspy with passion.

             
She reached down and pulled off her sweats and panties.

             
“I don’t want you to wait.”

             
He
sat back on his heels while she pulled off her remaining clothes. She lay there naked before him, waiting. He looked her up and down and she didn’t feel dirty. She felt beautiful.
Although he had said
he couldn’t wait, he took his time. First
, he kissed her bare ankles and,
torturously slow
ly,
trailed his way up her thighs. Her muscles quivered under the texture of his soft, pliant lips. As he teased her with his tongue, she wanted to scream and beg for release as the tension within her built to levels she had never before experienced.

             
“Please, Brennan,” she pleaded
, but
he didn’t stop. He kept loving her body until finally her muscles quaked and shivered in its climactic release. Before her body recovered he lifted himself up over her and looked into her face. Completely undone, she lifted her chin and met his gaze. She knew he was waiting for her to invite him in. With a lift of her hips, she brought him with her over the next wave.

FIFTY-THREE

             
On the long drive home, she let him do most of the talking. Since he first saw his mother, the memories of his past which had been locked away for so many years where coming forth so fast that he could hardly keep up. She listened knowing that the best way for him to process the onslaught of information was to talk it out.

             
It was tough to stay focused. Though she was interested in hearing about his past, especially since they were new even to him, she couldn’t stop thinking about the night before. What did all of it mean?

             
She’d never felt like this about a man before and now that she did, it felt like he was already slipping away. She couldn’t hand
le that. She had to find Carmen and wasn’t about to let go of the idea of finding a doctor who could help Brennan; s
he had to find help
for him a
nd she had to hang on to them both. Victor was no longer a priority. He was on the backburner until she could get a grip on the rest of those loose ends.

             
There were so many ingenious physicians in Los Angeles. She didn’t know them personally, but she knew exactly who would. Quentin Solero. He would not only know exactly who she could turn to, but he would be able to ensure confidentiality as well. She was as concerned about Brennan’s privacy and safety as he was.

             
“Where are you right now?” Brennan’s voice broke into her thoughts.

             
She shook her head and reined in her wandering internal dialogue.

             
“Oh, nowhere. So, how did your mom take it when you said goodbye this morning?”

             
He kept his gaze on the road.

             
“She cried,” he said,
“b
ut I promised her that I’d be back as soon as I could. It was the only way that she would let me go.”

             
“Y
ou lied to her?”

             
He gave her a look that said she should be ashamed of herself for thinking such a thing. It worked.

             
“No, I didn’t lie to her. I am going to go back for her. I just have to take care of a few things first. I’m not going to leave her there.”

             
“Well, it’s not like you can take her to live with you in your little apartment above Victor’s shop,” she said.

             
“That’s why I said that I have to take care of some things first.”

             
“Ugh,
”
Shyla sighed in exasperation, “
it’s like pulling teeth to get you to elaborate sometimes.”

             
Brennan flashed a winning smile.

             
“You’re cute when you’re annoyed. Look, I’m not exactly sure how all this is going to pan out, but my plan is to get her out of that place within the next two weeks. I’m not sure where she and I will go, but it really doesn’t even matter. If I’ve only got a few months, then I’m going to spend it with her. She deserves that. I deserve that.”

             
It felt like Shyla’s
heart had plummeted to her stomach.

             
“So that’s it, you’re just going to take off? What about Victor?”