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“You tryin’ to make me blush, Baby Girl?”
Dragging her lips across mine, she speaks so softly that I almost miss what she says.
“Would that be so bad?” As she slides her hands back down to my shoulders, the vulnerability in her voice is devastating. If I do anything to help her, I want to do this… make her see how incredible she truly is.
“Nah, that would be really fucking cool. Ain’t much out there that can make me blush anymore, not with all I’ve seen.” My hand slides from the back of her head to cup her jaw so I can bring her closer to me. “I can tell you this though, I think I’m addicted to your kisses. Mind giving me some more?” She snorts out her laughter, and I don’t know why, but it makes me fucking ecstatic. This is probably as real as she’s ever been in her life and I’m the lucky asshole who gets to witness it.
Fuck yeah.
Our privileged moment is cut short by the ringing of my phone. Not gonna lie, I’m tempted to just let it ring, but when I remember that Bash was waiting on Glitch to give him information about the dick who found Athena, I concede.
“I’m sorry, but I need to at least see who it is.” Athena tries to roll off me but that shit ain’t gonna fly. “Uh-uh, you’re staying put, Baby Girl. Ain’t nothin’ in this world that’s gonna take you off my lap.” Like a little sloth, she hangs on to me while I reach up and grab the phone from the coffee table.
My spine goes instantly rigid when I see the name flashing on the screen. Here we fucking go.
“Yeah?” Original greeting, I know. Don’t fucking care.
“Bear, man. Listen to me. Are you with your woman right now?” I don’t fucking like the urgency in his voice. Not a fucking bit.
“Yeah, what’s goin’ on?” My eyes lock with Athena’s and the relaxed, carefree woman from earlier when our tongues were tangled and our breaths mingled is gone in an instant. She’s scared and I can’t deny I’ve got a sudden weight pressing against my chest.
“She’s chipped, man. I don’t fucking know where, but she’s got a chip somewhere under her skin. Glitch said to look on her arm or maybe somewhere she can’t reach. He—what the fuck?”
Bash’s voice trails off right before what sounds suspiciously like a phone falling to the floor thunders against my eardrum.
“We’re on our way. Do not fucking move.” What the fuck?
“Mac? Where the fuck do you suppose I’d go?” I swear that woman lives for the adrenaline rush. Probably misses being an EMT.
“Right. Well, still. Don’t go anywhere, we need to take that chip out and I’m the only one trained to do it.” I raise a skeptical brow even though she can’t see me.
“You’re trained in taking out chips?”
“Well, no, but I can deal with… you know, blood and sh—stuff. Also, I called dibs and Psycho’s staying home. See ya soon.” In the background, I hear Bash telling her to give him back his phone then the line goes dead.
“What’s going on? What did they mean byI have a chip?”
“You heard that, huh?”
Biting her bottom lip, all swollen and dark pink from our kissing, she nods as an answer to my question. I’m trying really fucking hard not to lose my shit right now because on a scale of one to Psycho, she needs a Bear… calm and collected but deadly when all other options fail. The advantage of having a best friend who consistently loses his shit when it comes to his wife is that I can see what works and what blows up in his face. Spoiler alert: nine times out of ten his overprotective bullshit blows up in his face. Then again, as he likes to remind me all the fucking time, he got his girl.
“Please tell me, Bear. I may not have a lot of experience in the outside world but one thing I know is danger, and trust me, I can handle it. What I can’t handle is the unexpected. So, just tell me and we’ll deal with it.” She’s right. There’s nothing worse than keeping secrets for the sake of protection. All it does is leave us vulnerable.
“Okay. From what I understand, The Firm put an electronic chip under your skin so they can track you. In case you ran.” At my words, she nods, then tries, again, to get off my lap. “Hey, wait. I’m being straight up with you, now don’t go puttin’ up walls for me. All right?”
Our eyes meet and in the seconds it takes her to nod, I edge just a little closer to the Psycho scale. I mean, when all else fails… locking her up while I kill those motherfuckers suddenly sounds like a great fucking plan.
“Yeah, sorry. Okay, so, the solution is simple. Take it out.” I blink up at her and revel in the absolute force of nature you have to be to find the strength to escape a sex trafficking organization then, without an ounce of fear, be ready to mutilate your body to keep them at bay.
“Yes. Mac was an EMT so she’s gonna do this nice and clean, okay? Do you mind if I look around before they get here? Try and see if I can find it?” The only reason I notice her entire body go absolutely still with my words is because I’m staring straight at her. Years of being around abuse survivors have taught me to wait it out. Give them their own time to work through the million and one scenarios they’re cooking up in their minds.
And I do just that. Wait. Watch. Be the support she needs.
“I…” Her gaze shoots to the left then the right before coming home to mine, and it’s as our eyes are locked that she reveals a somber side to her past. “My body isn’t pretty, Bear.”
I’m about to argue but the subtle shake of her head tells me she needs to say it all right now or we’ll lose this moment of truth. So I close my mouth and listen.
“It’s not. It’s full of scars and stuff. I’d understand if you didn’t want me anymore.” Again, I’m about to tell her that nothing in this world could keep me from wanting her, but I lock my jaw and let her finish. “Hetold me that no one would ever want anything to do with me because I’m broken.”