Cheating Time (27 page)

"And you know this how?" Thorne asked.

I glared at him. "Because loyalty is innate
within Jayden. It's as much a part of him as his eye color."

"Loyalty to you, not our president… I
assume," Thorne said.

I knew better than to be baited into a
discussion about Barone so I ignored what he'd said. What he'd
implied.

"He's as dedicated to his commitment to keep
me safe and alive as anyone ever has been for anyone or anything,"
I said.

"Oh… he's dedicated to you all right. In
fact, I'd go so far as to say he's smitten with the beautiful girl
sitting in front of me. I'm not sure I can blame him. I barely know
you, and I'm already infatuated with you. I can't imagine what it
would be like if I'd had a lifetime to get to know you," Thorne
said, looking down at his hands.

When he did, the shadow of his thick, full
lashes fanned across his cheeks and made him even lovelier than
before.

"Knowing Barone… there's probably a
MicroPharm pheromone that is released when we're near that mimics
attraction. He's ruthless when he wants something, and if I
remember correctly, you said he'd insisted we be married. Like I
said, he gets what he wants even if he has to introduce artificial
pheromones that make us think we're attracted to each other," I
said, chuckling and voicing my hypothesis on the instant attraction
we'd felt for each other.

With eyes bulging, Thorne stared at me. "Oh
my God! I hadn't thought of that. It would explain why I'm so
attracted to you. I mean, I've never felt like this with anyone
before. I'll bet you're right."

His absolute relief was a knock to my ego.
It was as if he'd finally—thankfully—figured out why he was so
fascinated by someone like me.

He's probably into the
whisper-thin model types.

"Yeah… I can see why the pheromone theory
would take a weight off your shoulders. I mean, no man in his right
mind would be caught dead with me," I said sarcastically, standing
and planning to leave his damn tent and take my chances searching
for Jayden.

Before I could take the first step, he
grabbed the top of my arm and pulled me into him. It felt a lot
like being held by Jayden, and I missed him all the more.

"I-I didn't mean anything by it. The thought
just hadn't occurred to me, and you know as well as I do that the
theory is solid," Thorne said, looking down at my lips.

He watched them for a long time before
leaning down and kissing them. I was so shocked that I couldn't do
anything but stand still and wait for him to finish his experiment
because I knew as well as I knew my name that he was testing some
theories, assuming I'd soon jump on board with his
experimentation.

I'm not.

This kiss was nice, and I had to admit it
made my stomach flip and flop, but it was nothing compared to the
way Jayden made my stomach quiver like thousands of butterflies had
been released and my chest burn with unconditional love. A week
ago, I'd have sworn I hated him, and if Thorne had kissed me then,
I'd have climbed on board the Thorne Express and never gotten
off.

The problem was Jayden had kissed me. Jayden
had slept next to me. I couldn't pretend Jayden didn't excite me
when he so clearly did.
Artificial pheromones
or not.

Finally, Thorne pulled back and said, "I'm
assuming this is better for me than it is for you, and just so you
know… there's nothing about knowing it that won't sting later."

This time he was the one that was being
self-deprecating, and for me, his inability to see himself as the
beautiful man he just happened to be was one of his most endearing
qualities. He may have looked like a god, but he in no way
considered himself… loveable.

"Thorne, have you spent much time with your
parents?" I asked, hoping his response would help me understand
where his lack of confidence came from.

"Carles, my parents are researchers who've
spent more of my life away from me and at their labs than at home
with Rorie and me. Why do you ask? What does that have to do with
you not enjoying kissing me when it does all kinds of unexpected
things to me?" he asked.

"No reason. I was just curious," I
murmured.

Thorne was still too close for comfort when
he reached up and stroked the side of my face and tucked my hair
behind my ear. "You're tired and need your rest… though I'd love
nothing more than to stand here breathing you in. I'm convinced
it's comparable to getting high. The way you excite me and calm me
at the same time… i-it's got to be as addictive as any drug known
to man," he hummed.

I tucked my chin into my chest. "You barely
know me."

"That's what makes you all the more
alluring. You forget I've been with you for the last three days,
which means St. Romaine barely has anything on me when it comes to
longevity, loyalty, and devotion," Thorne said with a smile and a
wink.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm sure I was a lot to
handle for those three days."

"I'm not complaining. Now, as your doctor,
I'm ordering you back to bed. This time, I expect you to stay
there. Rest is what you need now more than anything," Thorne
ordered while waving me toward my cot.

Suddenly, the giant air mattress looked like
heaven on earth. My aching muscles were still suffering the
aftereffects of the poison, which meant the MicroPharm would be
working overtime, pumping medication into my system in order to
manage the pain.

I didn't argue. I strolled back to my bed,
climbed in, and rolled over so I could watch Thorne, who looked
like he was about to go back to studying.

"Thorne…" I said low so I wouldn't wake
Rorie.

He glanced up from whatever he was writing
and said, "Yes, Carles."

"You can call me Carlie," I said.

He smiled. "Carles is your real name, and I
love it."

"Most people think it's some version of
Charles. They refuse to give it two syllables. You and Rorie are
the only people outside of my family who know how to pronounce
it."

"Like I said… I love it. It's the name I'll
call you forever," Thorne said as if he were making a majestic
pronouncement.

He made me smile.

"Is that all you wanted to tell me?"

I shook my head. "No, I wanted to tell you
thank you for looking after me. I know I was in pretty bad shape
when I got here, and I'm sure Mom was doing whatever she could from
afar, but I wouldn't have made it without you. I-I just wanted you
to know I'm grateful."

Thorne offered me a lopsided grin and said,
"I'm not sure how to explain this to you in a way that won't make
me sound a little unstable or won't make you hate me. The minute I
scanned your chip and found out who you were… my head told me to
let you go. I've resented my entire life the way our parents
betrothed us. I've been the male version of a slut as I made the
most of my bachelorhood. I'd convinced myself that you were going
to be a two-headed monster I hated."

My brows wrinkled. I was trying to decide if
I was shocked or hurt.

"The point is it didn't matter what my head
screamed. As soon as I saw your face, my heart raced hysterically
and took control of my every action. It was almost as if
self-preservation took over. If you died, there was some part of me
that would die, too. There would never be another woman in the
world for me. It was then I realized I'd never been with a walking,
talking woman who made me feel as alive as you—despite your
comatose status—who'd ever made my heart skip a beat. I needed to
see you up, awake, and moving around. Tonight, I saw that you are
everything I'd hoped," he said sweetly.

I closed my eyes and shook my head.

"What?" He asked.

"Nothing. I just don't know what to do with
you. You're so brutally honest. I've never had to deal with anyone
like you. In my house, we keep secrets. Not because we don't love
each other. It seems that we do so
because
we love each other so much. I know my
parents love me, but I didn't even know I'd been promised to you
until you told me. In fact, I've learned a lot of things in the
last week.

"Don't get me wrong. I'm not angry with my
parents. I believe they thought they were protecting me… or they
thought they'd be able to change my future before I'd actually have
to marry you. I don't know. I just know I've never known anyone who
is so open and honest," I said right before a giant yawn escaped,
and I closed my eyes.

"I am what you see, Carles. Nothing more.
Nothing less. I'm not sure the same can be said for your Surrogate
Soldier," Thorne said.

My eyes flew open, and Thorne stared at me
pointedly. He wanted me to ask questions. I didn't. I was afraid I
might find out Thorne was right, that Jayden was working with
Barone to keep my family under the president's thumb.

When Thorne realized I wasn't going to be
baited, he looked back down at his notebook and began writing
again.

I wanted to hop from my cot and go find
Jayden. I wanted to make him tell me everything he knew. I wanted
the lies to stop and the truth to be splayed out and ready for me
to accept.

I lay there knowing Jayden was more
secretive than Mom, Dad, and Gran combined. He'd never tell me
anything he'd not been authorized to disclose. Everything about
that hurt. Until Thorne reminded me otherwise, I'd convinced myself
that Jayden was more Procreate than Surrogate.

Jayden is a Surrogate
Soldier above anything else,
I thought as I drifted off
to sleep.

I wasn't sure how long I'd been asleep
before I awakened to a hand covering my mouth.

Before I could jerk around or groan loudly
or take a bite of the hand, Jayden whispered in my ear, "It's me,
Carlie. Meet me outside so we can talk."

His movements were so quick, graceful, and
sinuous that he was up and out of the tent before I knew it.
Looking around as if I were afraid to get caught, I saw that Rorie
was still asleep. Only now I noticed she had a purple stuffed bear
tucked under her chin and squeezed into her chest like it was her
lifeline.

Thorne was passed out on his desk. His
notebook was under his cheek and the computer's timed-out glyphics
twisted and twirled above his head, lighting up the entire
tent.

Ignoring my need to stretch and yawn loudly,
I slipped on the slippers next to my cot and left the tent. Jayden
was waiting. As soon as I let the flap close behind me, he had my
hand in his and was leading me toward the camp's more isolated
periphery.

There, he pulled me into his chest and held
me like I was the thing most precious to him. Everything about him
told me he needed to hug me, needed me to hug him back, so I
did.

"I thought I'd lost you," he said in my ear.
"I knew it was bad when Gran overrode the secret identities your
mom had loaded in our MicroPharms and reentered our real names.
Then he turned off the block your mother had on the two of us. When
he did that, he put us back on the map. Because you were dying, it
instantly alerted MediTech. We were all fortunate the weather was
good and they could reach you quickly."

I was just as quiet as him when I asked,
"Where are Gran and Tawney? Why didn't you stay with them?"

Jayden kissed my head. "Your dad has trained
me my entire life to guard you. He ordered me to stay with you no
matter what. They wouldn't let me get on that damn MediChopper, so
I traveled night and day until I made it to you. I won't leave you
again. No matter what," he swore.

"Jayden, I'm better off here than they are
out there by themselves. Seriously, you saw the two of them
dragging their way through the forest," I complained.

"Gran is more resilient than you give him
credit for. The second you got into trouble, he took matters into
his own hands. He gave you an extra shot of the venom antibody
after realizing the MicroPharm wasn't working well enough. He asked
me if I knew the last time your MicroPharm had been refilled, as if
I'd been the one living with you for the last six months."

"Mom refilled it the day before we left. I-I
think it had been working overtime. Pumping adrenaline through me
so I could go farther and stay up longer and do more," I
explained.

Jayden nodded as if they'd figured that
out.

"Without asking me if it was okay, he
accessed your mom's MicroPharm controlling device, and the rest is
history."

"So you think they're fine?" I asked.

"I think Gran was on a mission to get Tawney
to the next safe house. He will not rest until he does just that.
When I make contact with your Dad, I'll see if he's heard
anything."

I cringed. "I messaged Mom and Dad a few
hours ago. They've not heard from them."