Courage (Mark of Nexus) (21 page)

“Serious?” I repeated as a breeze blew in off the pond, tousling my hair.

“You know.” The blue in Wallace’s eyes sparked, lit with suppressed emphasis. “About
us
.”

“Oh.”

His face fell. “You’re not?”

“N-No, of course I am. I just…” What could I say to match what he’d just said and done? The man had bared his soul to me, dark and fragile as it was, and I had no response. Parroting his speech felt so insincere, but I didn’t have anything to give him.
Except this…

I leaned in, took his face in my hands, and kissed him. Slow, at first—trying to convey the feelings I didn’t have the words for. As my eyes fluttered shut, I poured myself into the moment. Moisture beaded beneath my lashes, and I pressed as close as our bodies would allow.

God, I love this man.

My heart beat a pulse between us and stirred the silence. This was how things were supposed to be. No rules or outsiders or biochemical threats. Just the two of us, enjoying each other’s company. Young and recklessly in love.

Wallace rose to his knees without breaking the kiss, inverting the angle until I had to look up at him. His hands smoothed across my back pockets, and as soon we parted for air, they were at my hips, easing me onto the blankets.
Gently.

“I just didn’t know how to say it,” I finished, struggling to keep my breath even as we tilted.

“You said it better than me.”

My palms hit the downy fabric before my back. I scooted to make room for him, and the truck’s blanketed ridges pressed grooves into my spine. Instant friction.

His eyes took on a preternatural glint as he crawled the length of my body, covering me in shadow. He straddled my hips and leaned in to whisper, “Wanna say it again?”

I swallowed hard.

What would’ve seemed like a patient expression any other time looked wicked in the moonlight. I knew he’d rather walk through fire than hurt me again—and I trusted him—but the moment he dipped his head and caught my jacket zipper between his teeth, I realized I was in for a different kind of trouble.

With a smirk twisting his lips, he dragged the tab down the front of my chest, his jaw grazing places he’d deemed his to torment.

My breath hitched in my throat.

He nudged the sides of my jacket apart and proceeded to trail warm, breathy kisses up my stomach—through my shirt. My skin sweltered beneath the cotton, tense and awake with sensation, but he didn’t seem to mind. It could’ve been a lazy Saturday morning, for all he cared. He didn’t even—

Wait. Was that a chuckle?

Fine. Let’s see how you like this, empath.

I rubbed against him, grabbed the hard-packed muscle between his neck and shoulder, and squeezed. It was a trick I’d learned a few months ago. Mr. Oh-So-Careful liked a little pain with his pleasure. My trembling fingers dug in, my knuckles turned white, and—lo and behold—his arousal shot fire through my veins.

Wallace blew out a breath as if I’d sucker-punched him, and it was my turn to smirk. The Mark of Nexus was done shielding him. He lifted his head, and warm breath tickled the side of my face, more labored than I’d realized. Had he just been trying to pace himself? “Rena…”

We shared a glance. Now that we’d announced our intentions, there were two options at this crossroads. Take a chilled dip in the pond or…revisit some boundaries. One meant disappointment, but the other meant bruises and guilt. “Sorry. Should I—?”

“Stop?” His glowing gaze scanned my face. “No.”

In my peripheral vision, his hands clenched the comforter, and three words escaped my lips before I could stop them. “Then, screw it.”

My arms wound around his neck, and I crushed my mouth to his. He might not have been able to touch me, but I could sure as hell touch him. We weren’t going to sit on the bench all season.

His response was immediate, and I felt it strain against me—heavy and rock hard. He pressed closer, grinding against my jeans, as he murmured praise against my lips. “Baby…love you.”

“Love you, too,” I rasped, releasing my hold. My fingers trailed the front of his chest and pushed his shirt up to follow the dips in his abdomen. Rough denim brushed my fingertips at the end, and I made quick work of the button. All it took was a zip, and he was out—more than a throbbing handful between us.

He stiffened, a gasp caught in his throat, but I beat him to the chase.

“Wow.” Slick warmth emanated from my grasp as I started slow and built in intensity, his needs becoming my own.

Wallace groaned and moved to my neck, breathing hard and moaning something that almost resembled my name. My clouded mind couldn’t quite decipher his emotions. Pleasure, sure, and pride. But there was something else. Something heavy.

I was vaguely aware of his mouth on me, branding my skin. “So good…you’re so good…”

He didn’t know the half of it. His arousal fed my own through the Nexus, and I dug my heels against the truck’s ridges. A familiar pressure built. I sucked in a deep breath.

Minutes passed in a heady blur before I felt him pulsate against me, brimming with desire. He grasped my shoulder and came with a shuddering cry—ruining my shirt, but making my night. Who cared about a few more bruises?

Besides, I wasn’t far behind. I slowed with a pain-driven hiss and let both of our bodies come down from the high. Flustered and in the dark, Wallace was more human than he’d ever been. And sexy. Breathtaking…

“Sorry,” he panted, and ripped his hand away. “I-I didn’t mean…baby, you…”

No, no, no.
We just made progress. We weren’t going down this road again. Why couldn’t I pull his powers for occasions like this? Use some kind of counter strength?

I started to reply, but the notion stopped me. Why
couldn’t
I?

My hand fell back as he rolled to the side, getting himself resituated. Would he let me pull his powers again? Right here? It was worth a shot. I mean, he probably wouldn’t get mad…

I cut my gaze to him and concentrated on our bond. It wasn’t hard to do. After what had just happened, the Nexus fluxed with so much energy I could almost see it. Cerulean blue arcing in wait between us.

His brow pinched as he turned to study me, his chin tilted to the side. It took him a few seconds to process the sensation, his gaze darting between me and some unknown point to the right, but his lips finally twitched upward. “Are you pulling?”

“Maybe,” I admitted, with a shy grin. I felt stupid now that he’d called me out on it.

He lifted his shoulders. “Take some. I don’t care.”

“Seriously?”

And just like that, it hit me. The transfer hadn’t been a struggle like the first two times. In fact, it was more like he’d trusted me with his PIN number. I’d been given access to everything that was his without so much as a blink.

A familiar hue spread between us, visual evidence of the Nexus at work. I was so excited I couldn’t wait. I grabbed Wallace’s collar and jerked his mouth to mine. It wasn’t as easy as the time I’d shoved him through my door, but it worked. Maybe his powers had been equally yoked between us this time.

He seemed hesitant at first, bound by his usual aversion to touching me, but then something amazing happened. Whether it was the blue tracing our forms or a hopeful experiment, I didn’t know—but he touched my cheek. Then he kissed me again, threaded his fingers through my hair, and cupped my jaw.

We both froze.

The hope he’d found almost a month ago, when presented with Corynn’s ability, resurfaced tenfold. Back then, it had been a mix of shock and relief, knowing there was someone out there he could be normal around. But now? Pure awe lit his face. I had
never
seen him so happy, not even a few minutes ago. “How long can you keep this up?”

“I-I don’t know.” Last time, I only had about ten minutes before I passed out from the exertion. What if we could make it last longer? Or use it more frequently? Could my Augari abilit—

“Can I hold you?” he asked in a rush, pushing himself up with determined eyes. “Like, a full-on hug?”

I scrambled to my feet. “Are you kidding?”

The wind whipped around us, thrumming with supernatural power. He drew a deep breath, and for the first time, Wallace Blake truly took me in his arms.

Comfort, the likes of which I had never known, wrapped around me. I pressed my face against him, and he held me—squeezed even. And it didn’t hurt. Not a freakin’ bit. I could’ve cried.

And he could’ve, too. I felt the tremor in his body, but I didn’t dare look up. The moment was too surreal, too beautiful to waste. Any minute now, I’d go limp in his arms.

“Does it hurt?” he asked, in a guarded whisper.

I shook my head. Was this really happening? It felt like, with this kind of breakthrough, a million different things were suddenly possible. We could touch each other. Hold each other, test more boundaries together. Hell, we could even revisit the topic of sex, somewhere down the line. And then what? Could Wallace get me pregnant? What kind of baby would a Dynari and an Augari have? It could be the start of a completely new race, for all we knew.

“This is…” He swallowed and buried his face in my hair. “I’ve wanted to hold you since the day I met you.”

His hands shook as they slid down my back, memorizing each and every curve. Heat trailed his fingertips, and I pressed even closer.

“Don't wake up, don't wake up…” he muttered under his breath.

“Baby, this isn't a dream.” I looked up at him through a film of tears. “This is normal.”  

I awoke to a breeze, muffled music, and a sliver of gold taunting the horizon.

“Ugh.” My back hurt like a bitch. How did I end up outside? I started to move my arm and froze.

Rena lay tucked into my side, her hair splayed across my chest.
Please tell me we didn’t fall asleep…
I looked up at the lightened sky, heard the hum of steady traffic on the road, and felt my blood run cold.
No!
What had I done?

Her skin held an unnatural pallor, and her head was tilted at an odd angle. “Rena…” I wanted to shake her, but I was afraid to even breathe in her direction. She looked so small and fragile and—oh God. “Rena!”

She flinched and let out a growl. “Mmph…”

Morning air crashed into my gasping lungs, and the music came to an abrupt stop. “Are you okay? Look at me, Rena. If you’re okay, say something.”

Her lashes fluttered, and I barely caught the whites of her eyes. “Lemme sleep, Gabby.”

Thank God.

Oblivious to my moment of panic, she rolled over, stretched her legs, and kicked the side of my truck—out. It crunched and jerked half the body off kilter.

Her eyes cracked open. “W-Wha was that?”

“My truck,” I muttered in disbelief. “You…broke my truck.”

That
explained how she’d survived the night. A thread of my strength must’ve stayed with her somehow.
No wonder she can’t wake up…

“Didn’t drive your truck,” Rena mumbled, as she struggled to sit up. “And why are we outside?”

“We spent the night together.” I shifted behind her, finally noticing the faint blue light between us. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep, but your body—it must’ve held on to some of my power. Just enough to keep you safe. I mean, you are okay, aren’t you?”

“Yeah.” She pressed her palms against her eyes. “Just tired.”

“Using it always taxes you,” I reminded her. “Your body isn’t made for this kind of power. And you kept it up all night, after I…”
Returned the favor.

“Ugh.”

I leaned back, trying to process the sudden shift in our world. The Nexus, mixed with her Augari abilities, had granted us a few hours of peace. No holding my breath around her. No praying I wouldn’t break everything I touched. It felt like a cruel dream, the kind you settle into right before the alarm goes off.

“Aww, crap,” Rena groaned and pulled away from me. “I really did break your truck, didn’t I? I’m so sorry, baby. I’ll pay for this.”

I shook my head. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Don’t worry about it? It looks like we got into an accident from the
wrong side
.”

“It’s fine.” I got up, jumped over the edge, and forced the truck to buckle in on itself. “Honestly, compared to what I could’ve lost last night, this is nothing. I’ll take it to the shop.”

“Are you sure?”

I ran my hand over the scuffed black paint and suppressed a manly whimper. “Yes.”

“If you say so.” She stood and pulled her arms through the sleeves of her jacket. Once zipped, it hid the love stains on her shirt—making it seem like the whole thing never happened. But it
did
happen, and I planned on replaying the memory every chance I got. Along with the one we made afterward…

A muffled ringtone sounded again, even louder than before. “Oh, yeah. That rang earlier.”

Rena reached inside her pocket and rolled her eyes. A second later, she had the phone at her ear. “Sorry, Gabby. I lost track of time last night and…”

A few seconds ticked by, and her brow strained. “What do you mean ‘he’s gone’? He was sick last night. Did you check the campus clinic?” She paused. “What about the hospitals?”

I raised an eyebrow as I walked around back and held my hand up.

“Josh did? Well, that’s a shocker. Why don’t you try his folks?” She walked to the edge of the truck and hopped down, using me for balance. “Them too, huh? Well, that’s…yeah, okay. We’ll be right there.”

“Everything okay?”

She waved the question off. “Aiden texted and said he was sick last night. But when Josh got home from his LAN sleepover, Aiden was gone. That’s weird, right? He wouldn’t just wander off. Now neither of them can get a hold of him, and nobody seems to know where he is.”

Her panic began to simmer in my veins, and I knew I’d better produce some kind of solution. “Okay, let’s take a second to think about this. Where does he usually go on Saturdays? The library?”

“Gabby just checked there, and she sounded really upset.”

“Any chance he decided to go home for the weekend?” I asked. “Maybe he’s on his way there, but didn’t tell his parents. It could be a surprise or something.”

Rena shook her head and staggered past me. “He would’ve left a note.”

Ah, crap. Time to pull my strength back.

“Who’s to say he didn’t?” I hurried ahead to open her door. “Gabby and Josh aren’t exactly observant types.”

“You’re right. We should check there first.” She paused before getting in, the blue light flickering out around her form. “Can you…sense him at all?”

I narrowed my eyes. Not at her, but at the overwhelming mass of emotions clawing my brain. I was so used to blocking them out, zeroing in on someone who wasn’t close—in any sense of the word—seemed damn near impossible.

And that told me he wasn’t on campus.

Still, I shook my head. I didn’t want to alarm her for no reason. Maybe if I really concentrated, I could get some kind of distant read on him. It wasn’t like we were strangers or anything. So, I said, “Not yet.”

We got in the truck, and I wound my way through campus. Four minutes later, we let ourselves into Aiden’s room, where Josh and Gabby stood waiting.

“What the hell is he doing here?” Gabby sneered in my direction and shot Rena a look.

Oops.

“I just…” Rena looked between us, near frantic at the slip. “D-Does it matter? We need to focus on Aiden now.”

“Obviously, he’s been abducted,” Gabby said, crossing her arms. “We need to call the cops or the National Guard or somethin’. Our boy doesn’t just walk off and not tell anybody.”

Someone
was more worried than she cared to let on.

Josh rubbed his arm and looked around the room. “Hey, maybe we should ask the RA. Maybe Aiden said somethin' to him on his way out.”

“Or maybe he'll know who to call,” Gabby added, grabbing Josh's sleeve as she marched to the door. “You guys coming?”

I spared a look at Rena and shook my head. “We're going to look around here. Couldn't hurt to have a fresh pair of eyes, you know?”

She grunted, and they disappeared into the suite. My suite. How was it I'd never been in here?

“I can't believe we forgot,” Rena said, lifting each folder on his desk as if it were evidence. “Now that Gabby knows, it's only a matter of time before everyone finds out.”

“Tell her to cram it for a couple of weeks.”

“Yeah, like that'll work.”

“Well, do what you have to. We can't afford to have ERA back on our trail.” I sighed. While the others were gone, I lifted both beds, both dressers, and everything else that wasn't nailed down. If there was any indication in this room of why Aiden had left, we couldn’t find it

Rena leaned against his desk. “On one hand, it feels like we're overacting; but on the other, it feels like we're not doing enough. Where can we go from here?”

“We could always…” I trailed off.

A familiar wad of green stood out in his wastebasket, but I wasn't sure what possessed me to dig it out. The color prickled something in my brain, something important. I tore the paper in my haste to get it flat and hissed a curse between my teeth.
Shit. I should've known.

Several realizations hit me at that moment, and I didn't like any of them. One, Aiden was on his way to Cleveland. Two, he'd torn the address off ERA’s clinic flyer. And three—
damn it
—we’d never make it there in time.

I moved the paper and found her staring.

“He didn't,” Rena mumbled, more to herself than me. “He couldn’t have. Why would he…?”

My stomach bottomed out. How could I put this? “Remember how he was upset last night?”

“Yeah.” Her brows pinched together. “It was right before he went back to the dorms because he was sick. Right after we…”

A surge of panic shot through our bond, and I knew she’d fit the same pieces together I had.

“Do you…?” She swallowed. “Do you think he heard us?”

“He must have.”

“Everything?” Her voice cracked

“He
must
have,” I repeated, shaking the flyer. “Why else would he take the address?”

She grasped for the side of his desk and sank to the floor. “No. If Aiden knows, then why would he go there? That’s so stupid.”

“I have a guess.” I crumpled the paper up and tossed it into the bin. “But you probably don't want to hear it.”

“What?” She looked up, all doll eyes and innocence. “Do you think Faye got to him?”

I shook my head and crouched to meet her at eye level, hating to burst the bubble she'd been living in. “Baby, I think
you
got to him.”

“Me?” Her lips curled on one side. “What'd I do?”

Ah, man. This was going to kill the whole I-didn't-crush-you-in-our-sleep buzz. We were so close, closer than we'd ever been before, and this would distract her indefinitely. Not that I didn't care about Aiden, because—despite his hostility toward me—I did. I just didn't want to tell my girlfriend some other guy had feelings for her.

Too bad I didn't have a choice.

“You know he likes you, right?”

“Huh?”

“Aiden likes you. A lot. Whenever you're around, he practically worships your presence. And whenever I get close, that clashes with jealousy and resentment. So, now that he knows what I am—what you are—he's run off to ERA.”

Blank face, blank stare. “The experiments.”

I nodded, carefully rubbing a hand over her shoulder. “He probably thinks they'll give him something he lacks. Power, attention—I don't know. And how do you think they'll react? An opportunity to take one of our own, someone you're close wi—”

“Damn it!” she yelled, punching the side of the desk with a loud
thud
. “We gotta get out of here.”

I bristled and let go. Her emotions had just spiked off the charts, and I'd been the one to cause her outrage. Again. “You think we shou—”

The door handle twisted, and Gabby poked her head in. “What's goin' on in here?”

Rena rose to her feet, still a little shaky, but she waved her off. “Nothing. We gotta go.”

“Me too,” Gabby said, holding her phone up. “Mavey just called, and he wants me to meet him. Says it's urgent. But I
really
need to talk to you, Ree. Like yesterday.”

God, now we had to worry about Gabby getting abducted, too? What if we were wrong about Aiden going voluntarily? Maverick could've taken him.

Rena ran a hand through her hair and regarded her roommate with little patience. “Right now?”

Gabby shook her head. “It’ll have to be when we get back. In the meantime, Josh is gonna canvas the perimeter. We're all going to keep our phones on, and if anyone hears anything, they'll call. Got it?”

I nodded and caught the other two making similar gestures out of the corner of my eye.

“And this.” Gabby ran her hand down the air between Rena and me, pursing her lips. “You're both all kinds of messed up.”

Right. She didn't know the half of it.