Chapter 13

The whole way to my apartment, Grant cradles me against him. The wind and the rain whip at us, but I feel warm and safe in his arms. My instincts, which I thought were vicious and precise, fail me. They sing out to me that he’s safe, that he’s mine. Like me, they’re having trouble seeing the bad behind the brown eyes that look at me like I’m his everything.

“Was it easier this time?” Grant asks as we touch down on the little terrace that leads into the patio door of my ground-level apartment.

I know he’s talking about the building—being inside it, watching it fall, but I can’t help but think about last night (or maybe tonight 1.0) when we landed on his (not his) balcony. Then, enchantment shone in my eyes. I wanted him. It felt like everything in my life had been leading me to him. I felt the most delicate kind of lust, a blushing hint about feelings to come.

Now all I feel is suspicion and foreboding.

“Tonight was harder.”

He nods, pulling me in closer to his chest. For a moment, I close my eyes and enjoy this moment. When I pull away, I’m going to start on my task of uncovering just who he really is and how I can take him and Zagreus Hart down. So, for now, I want to just feel his warmth and imagine what could have been.

I step back.

“I never did thank you for saving me. Again.”

“Well, we’ll see how much you want to thank me when I send you the bill.” He laughs to himself. “Although, I guess I can’t really charge you for yesterday’s save since that one didn’t really take.”

I press my lips together, reminding myself that he’s a part of a giant corporation that’s (allegedly) polluting the environment. He is not the goofy dork he appears to be.

“Yeah, I guess it didn’t.”

“If we’re going to make a habit out of this, I can offer you a punch card. I’ll stamp it every time I save you. Tenth one is free.”

I cock an eyebrow.

“And just where do you plan on keeping a stamper?” I ask, eyeballing his tighter than tight spandex outfit.

He blushes, then clears his throat.

“You’ll have to wait until the third date to figure that one out.”

Despite myself, I laugh. I laugh and he looks at me like he’s seeing the sun rise for the first time. God, he’s good.

“So, if you’re not charging me for all the saving, what is it that you do for a living?”

Grant shuffles uncomfortably, avoiding my eyes.

“Just a regular, old boring job. I don’t really want to talk about it.”

Right. Add it to the list of things he doesn’t want to talk about. Can’t talk about his job, can’t talk about how he got his powers, what’s next?

Unless… unless they’re not separate topics of conversation. With all the experimenting and technology at Hart Link Incorporated, I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s how he got his powers. Maybe he was part of a test for Research and Development. There is, according to my earlier research, a whole canon of fictional heroes (and villains) who got their powers through their own initiative.

“I don’t know if I believe you have a regular old boring job. You were out flying around pretty late looking for danger if you have a nine-to-five in the morning…”

He smiles. “If that was a Dolly reference, then you truly are after my own heart.”

It wasn’t.

“It wasn’t. I was asking about your job.”

“Oh, well…” He trails off.

This is the part where I should jump in and take the conversation in a different direction. He tried and I shut it down, now all that’s left is discomfort and a flagrant disregard for social etiquette.

Except I know better.

Discomfort is the seed for innumerable confessions. People don’t do well with silences. Even people who know they need to keep their mouth shut can’t seem to help themselves when the silence grows into its own entity. Bigger and bigger the awkward pause becomes until it presses on their chest, sending word vomit out into the ears of anyone listening.

And so, I wait.

“I, uh, work at a tech firm,” he says finally.

Bingo.

“Oh,” I say casually, like I didn’t just get the confirmation that I needed to proceed with taking down his whole world. “Any particular department?”

“I, uh.” He clears his throat. “I’m all over.”

Hmm.From what I know about Hart Link Incorporated, it’s particularly departmentalized. The fledgeling blueprints I acquired indicated they were mostly even on separate floors. He must be quite high up to have access to different departments.

“Working on anything interesting?”

“I’d really rather not talk about work.”

“What would you like to talk about then?”

Grant sighs. Like, an actual sigh. “Us. You. About how I haven’t stopped thinking about you since last night. Or tonight? This is going to get confusing, isn’t it?”

From the way my heart skips when he says that, I’d wager it already has.

“You’ve never heard of playing hard to get, have you?” I tease.

“Literally did not even cross my mind.” He looks mildly surprised. Then, his eyes darken. “Maybe I might’ve before I knew what you tasted like or how you sound when you come, but now. Nope. Not a chance. I’d never consider playing coy if it meant I’d lose a single second with you.”

He’s back to holding me. His fingers lace together across the small of my back. Without meaning to, I shift so that I’m flush up against him. I sink into his touch like I’m being pulled to towards him. And he’s being pulled towards me. His stiff erection rubs against my center, making both of us moan.

Seriously? What is it about him? Just even the whisper of his cock makes me wet and squirming for him. There is nothing more that I want than to peel that spandex off him and lick him until he’s begging me to climb on top of him.

Well, almost nothing. I want the truth. I want to win even more. I want to find out what he and his dirty company are up to and make them pay.

He shifts and his cock rubs against me some more. Okay, maybe the two are tied.

“I need to go in and sleep.” If I stay out here any longer, who knows what I’ll do.

Grant takes in a rasping breath and tries to run his fingers through his hair. He swears when he’s foiled by whatever magic hair gel he uses.

“Do you want me to come in? Just for sleep. I promise.”

Ugh. I do. I want him to come in and give me so many orgasms that I fall asleep on his tongue.

“No. You’d better not.”

He nods and leans forward to kiss the top of my head.

“I’ll wait out here until you fall asleep. Just in case you need me.”

I look up at him, recognizing my mistake immediately. I didn’t know it was possible for some tech CEO to be such an amazing actor. The way he looks at me like I’m the most precious thing in the world shatters me completely every time.

“How will you know when I’m asleep?”

He smiles weakly. “I’ll know.”

I leave him with that, his words echoing in my head as I climb into my bed. I don’t know how, but I can feel him outside, pacing and looking towards my bedroom window. When I finally fall asleep, I am positive that he’s still out there.

Somehow, I just know too.