The Enemy Within (Daughters of the People Series Book 3) (24 page)

“Oh, please. You
think I don’t recognize the signs?” India dropped her hands and shot a
withering glare at him. “Besides, she as good as told me she loved you not five
minutes ago. It was just a matter of time before you broke her will.”

“You have a
really warped vision of love.”

Bobby shook his
head and turned his attention back to Indigo. She should’ve woken already, if
she really had submitted to him. Hope blossomed in his chest. Did she really
love him? He took a shaky breath, brushed her hair back, and tried it out in
his mind.

Indigo loves me
.

That sounded
stupid, like a kid reciting a Sunday School verse, but he didn’t care. Indigo
loved him and she’d submitted, and she would never leave him again. He leaned
down and pressed a tender kiss to her lips, pulling back when India hooted out
a laugh.

“She’s not
Sleeping Beauty, you oaf.”

“Shut up,” he
said, though he couldn’t keep his lips from twitching into a smile. “You’re
bleeding.”

“Yeah, flesh
wound,” India said with a shrug. “I would say thanks for saving me, but she was
shooting a Keltec. Can’t hit the side of a barn with that thing if you’re not
up close and personal.”

“She didn’t want
to kill you.”

India snorted.
“Could’ve fooled me.”

Bobby gave her a
flat look. “She had a duty to protect the Oracle.”

India returned
his stare with one of her own. “I have a duty to protect the People, too.”

“How is killing
an innocent woman protecting the People?”

“Figure it out,
Bobby. You’re not dumb.” She rolled her shoulders and winced before raising her
arm to look at the bleeding gash bisecting it. “Doesn’t matter anymore. Now
that I’ve bungled this mission, the guard on the Oracle will double and we’ll
never get another chance at her.”

“I don’t want to
know,” he said in a hard voice. “But if you ever make Indigo choose between
doing the right thing and saving your hide again, I’ll come after you myself.”

“It’s not the
first time it’s happened. Can’t promise it won’t be the last.”

“Try.”

India grinned.
“You know, I kinda like you.”

“Yeah, I can tell.
Next time, leave my ribs alone.”

“Next time,
don’t pissed me off.” She slapped his shoulder, then pushed herself into a
stand. “She’s coming ‘round. Let’s get her downstairs so the two of you can
make goo-goo eyes at each other in private.”

Bobby stared up
at her, nonplussed. “You go down there, you’ll get arrested.”

“Hunh. Doubt it.
I’m too slippery for that.” She hefted him up. “I haven’t forgiven you for
taking her heart.”

“Get over it.”

She looked away,
tapped her fingers against her thigh. “She was mine first.”

“For cripes’
sake, she’s not a damn toy.”

“I know,” she
said softly, and grabbed his arm when he made to bend. “I’ll get her. You’ll
puncture a lung or something if you try to lift her.”

India leaned
down and pulled Indigo up. When she was halfway to standing, Bobby grabbed an
arm and draped it over his shoulder while India took the other one.

“Bobby?” Indigo
said in a slurred voice. “What happened?”

“You passed
out,” he said. “Can you walk?”

“Think so.” She
peered at him owlishly before turning her gaze on her twin. “Did you kill her?”

“No, now stop
talking and start walking,” India said. “I need to leave soon.”

“Probably too
late,” Indigo said, and she sagged to one side. “Sorry. Still a little dizzy. One
of the nurses called Rebecca.”

India cursed
under her breath and leaned forward to look at Bobby. “I’ll help you as far as
the elevator and then I gotta go.”

They hobbled out
into the hallway at a slow pace and made it only a few feet before Rebecca
stepped into their path, her bare feet silent on the floor.

Bobby took one
look at his mother’s set expression and sighed. “Get out now, India,” he
murmured.

She carefully
pulled Indigo’s arm over her head and stepped back away from them. A booted
footstep rang against the floor behind them. Bobby glanced over his shoulder. His
gut clenched when he saw Margaret blocking the hallway to their rear.

“Get her out of
here.” India met his gaze calmly. “If I don’t make it, tell her I love her.
Tell her…”

“You can tell
her yourself,” he said. “They won’t kill you.”

She barked out a
harsh laugh. “For what I’ve done, I deserve to die.”

He shook his
head, but it was too late. She’d already pivoted around on quick feet and made
a running charge at his sister. Indigo tried to pull away from him and he
gripped her harder.

“Forget it,
Indi,” he said and began hauling her down the hallway toward his mother,
ignoring the twinge in his ribs. “You’re not helping her this time.”

“She’s my
sister.”

Her voice held a
kind of hopelessness that ate at him. Damn India for doing that to her.

When they
reached his mom, he said, “Make sure Margaret doesn’t kill her.”

“Oh, we don’t
want her dead,” Rebecca assured him. “She’s too valuable for that.”

A shiver of
dread ran down his spine. “You’re not talking about her being Indigo’s sister,
are you?”

“No, dear.” She
patted his arm. “But I’ll keep that in mind.”

“You do that.”

Indigo shifted
in his embrace, her eyes fixed on India and Margaret’s fight. Bobby followed
her gaze. Moira had joined Margaret, and though India was holding her own, she
wouldn’t be able to keep it up forever, especially if Rebecca entered the fray.

Indigo didn’t
need to see her sister being beaten into submission.

“Come on, love.”
He pressed gently against her waist until she turned with him. They leaned on each
other as they walked down the hallway. The sounds of the fight receded behind
them, the thuds of blows and grunts fading until the elevator doors closed them
off completely.

* * *

By three p.m.
the next day, Indigo had had more than enough of other people. The night
before, they’d waited an eternity before Rebecca came in with news. Margaret
and Moira had subdued India and turned her over to the local police on charges
of kidnapping and attempted murder. After Rebecca left, Indigo had allowed
Bobby to coax her into the narrow hospital bed where he’d held her until the
sun crested the horizon. She’d done her best not to disgrace herself by crying
all over him.

When Dr.
Phillips released Bobby, they’d gone straight to his parents’ house and eaten
lunch with his family, his mother and father, his sisters, Charlotte’s family,
and even Dani’s new beau, Dave, who Bobby had scowled at until Rebecca sent
them out to the basketball court behind the house to settle their differences.

Indigo had
worried the entire time about Bobby’s ribs, but apparently the two men hadn’t
played basketball or fought either one. They’d come back in looking less
hostile, if not exactly friendly. It was a start, a foundation to what she
hoped would become a lifelong friendship.

She and he had
finally managed to sneak away half an hour before. Indigo opened the door to
their apartment and heaved a sigh. It was good to be home.

Bobby came in
behind her and closed the door before wrapping his arms around her. “Alone at
last.”

Indigo turned in
his embrace and rested her head against the broad plane of his chest. It had
been so long since they’d been here together. A lifetime seemed to’ve passed
since then. “What shall we do?”

“I have ideas,
lots and lots of ideas.” He nuzzled her hair, bent to nip at her ear. “Days
worth, maybe. Let’s lock the door and work our way through them one at a time.”

“Mmm.” She tilted
her head to one side, giving him better access as he moved from her ear to her
throat. Pleasure rippled through her at each touch of his mouth until a
throbbing ache settled between her thighs. She untucked his shirt and ran her
hands gently along the firm skin at his waist, mindful of the tender bruises
lingering there, and reveled in the way his breath hitched with every stroke of
her fingers. “It’s the middle of the day.”

“So? We’re
adults. Who’s gonna stop us?”

“How are your
ribs?”

“Still a little
twingey.”

She dropped her
head to his chest. “Maybe we shouldn’t do anything.”

“Oh, we’re gonna
do something all right.” He wrapped her ponytail around his hand, tugged her
head back until their eyes met, and said in a soft, low voice, “I need you,
Indi.”

“Bobby,” she
whispered, and stood on tiptoe to press her lips to his. “Make love to me.”

She led him into
their bedroom where they undressed each other and fell into the bed, skin
brushing against warm skin, their mouths locked in a desperate, needy kiss. When
Bobby slid into her, she gasped and arched against him, and they moved
together, letting passion build slowly until it overwhelmed them in a soundless
wave that swept them into sweet release.

Afterward, Bobby
rolled onto his side and pulled her to him. She rested her head on his bicep
and slid a leg over his to keep him close, half afraid he’d slip away from her
again.

“I love you,”
she said. “So much.”

He leaned back
and caught her gaze with his. “Yeah?”

“I do.” She
snuggled into him and let his heat warm her, as it always had. “I’m mortal
now.”

His arms
tightened around her. “That’s what India said. Didn’t believe her, though.”

“You talked to
her?”

“While you were
out.” He ran his chin over the top of her head, pressed a kiss there. “She was
worried about you and none too happy we’d mated.”

“I know. Will
you ever forgive her, do you think?” She sighed, regret filling her. Playing the
what might’ve been
game would do no good, but the possibilities roiled
through her mind anyway. The what-ifs stretched from her childhood right up
through India taking her rage out on Bobby and the Oracle. “I won’t blame you
if you can’t.”

“I’m not important
here, sweetheart. She’s your sister. If you can forgive her, I’ll support
that.”

“This is why I
love you,” she said and laughed when he reared back, disbelief written across
his face.

“You love me
because of your sister? That’s kinda kinky.”

She curled her
fingers into his chest, careful not to scratch. “Stop it. I meant, I love you
because you understand, because you love me enough to want me to work it out
with her.”

“Is that all?”

She smiled at
the humor in his voice. “No. You’re the best man I’ve ever known.”

“Hunh. I’ve done
a lot of things you don’t know about.”

His words from
the first time they’d made love drifted through her mind, all the things he’d
done in the Army, and with it came the guilt. She’d pushed him into doing that
through her own inability to deal with his young heart, through her own fear of
his love. “I know enough to tell you it doesn’t matter. We’ve both done things
we regret.”

“I don’t want
you to regret anything.” He bent to take her lips with his in a tender touch
that brought an ache to her heart. “Not a thing.”

He slid his hand
down her back and cupped her bottom, pulling her up until her hips pressed
against his erection.

Her breath
caught in her chest and the heat of desire throbbed through her. “Already?”

“I’m pretty sure
always,” he said with a laugh.

“What about
when…?” She bit her tongue to hold the question back. “No, never mind.”

He propped up on
his elbow above her, his other hand a gentle caress on her hip. “What?”

“When you were
in the Army.” She shook her head slightly. “I don’t think I want to know.”

“You mean, how
did I get through nine years without having sex,” he said flatly. “I tried not
to.”

She flinched
away. “I told you I didn’t want to know.”

“You need to
hear this.” His hand tightened on her hip. “I tried to have sex with other
women after I took your mark, tried to love somebody else, and it never took,
not once. You’ve had my heart since the first time I saw you.”

“Oh, Bobby.”
Tears pricked at her eyes and she sniffed them back. Of all the things she’d
ever done in her life, this is the one she’d do over if she could. “I’m so
sorry for the way I treated you then, for running out on you and breaking your
heart.”

“Don’t be. You
were right the first time. I was too young.” He rolled onto his back, taking
her with him. “But now you’re here and it’s enough.”

She straddled him
and rested her hands on his lean stomach. “Tell me you love me.”

“I do, baby. I
love you.” He squeezed her hips as his eyes went soft. “With all my heart until
the day I die.”