Page 8 of A Mate For Matrix (Cyborg Protection Unit #1)
Chapter Six
J ana hummed under her breath as she washed her hair. She sighed with pure enjoyment. There was nothing better in the world than a nice hot shower, and she could easily live in it. She rinsed the last of the conditioner from her hair and reached for the water handle.
THUMP.
Jana froze, droplets running down her back.
Another thump, softer this time, made its way to her.
It was a sound she recognized. The kitchen screen door always caught before closing all the way, and when it did close, it made that slight thumping noise which could be heard throughout the house.
She shut off the water and snagged a towel from the rack
Holding onto the wall for support, Jana carefully stepped out of the old bathtub. She wrapped the towel around herself—barely—and cursed her optimism at the time of purchase.
She really should’ve splurged on the bigger towel instead of thinking she would lose enough weight to fit into the cheaper, smaller one.
She froze, her foot hovering, when the familiar loose board that ran down the hall moved before her foot touched it.
That wasn’t caused by Linguine or the kittens.
That was caused by something much larger.
Her lips tightened in fury. If Mr. Marker had decided to pull his creepy landlord routine again, she was going to brain him.
She snatched the wooden bath brush from its hook like a warrior reclaiming her ancestral blade. Mr. Marker was about to meet his match.
Jana cursed as she tucked the towel between her breasts.
When she’d taken her clothes off earlier, she had left them and her clean clothes in the bedroom down the hall.
Gripping the handle of the brush, she carefully opened the door.
Sure enough, she could see the shadow of someone in her living room.
She ignored the water dripping down her body. Goosebumps prickled her skin as she crept toward the noise at the end of the hallway.
She was almost to the end when she heard a deep, husky voice shout something in a language she didn’t understand.
She stepped into the room, righteous fury tightening every muscle—then stopped dead.
Because there was a giant, armed man in black standing in her living room… with a kitten chewing on his leg.
Her eyes widened with shock. She had been expecting Mr. Marker… not this-this… whatever he was!
She momentarily forgot about being underdressed for company when he turned to face her.
“Who the hell are you?” she squeaked.
She flushed, fear rising inside her as the danger of the situation sank in.
Alone.
Remote woods.
Unknown man.
Towel.
Jana didn’t stop to think as the words flashed like sight words through her mind.
The moment his gaze locked on her bare legs, her survival instinct kicked in. Her swing was fast and fueled by adrenaline. The brush cracked like a baseball bat against his temple. She winced as the impact reverberated down her arm. The wooden handle broke.
His eyes widened, then crossed, and he dropped like a redwood.
Jana stumbled backwards. Only when he didn’t move did she release the breath she was holding. Her hand trembled as she pointed the broken scrub brush at him in triumph.
“Oh, yeah! Break into my house and see what happens! Who's your momma now, punk? No one messes with Jana Dixon!” she exclaimed, bouncing on her feet like a prizefighter before having to grip the towel when it started to loosen. “Oh, shit! Okay, Jana, call the police and get dressed. Call first, dress second. Where’s my phone? Where’s my phone?
” she muttered desperately, trying to remember where she had left it.
“It is in the kitchen. There is no need to notify your local security officers. Matrix is an agent with the CPU,” the voice said calmly.
Her gaze snapped to Linguine. “I… you… you talk?” she squeaked, towel gripped like a lifeline.
Linguine nodded.
The brush clattered beside the prone man. Her throat moved up and down as she tried to speak. Her eyes remained locked on Linguine. She could have sworn the voice came from him, but that was impossible.
“I… I beg your pardon?” Jana whispered, staring at Linguine. “Did you… Did you just… talk?”
K-Nine stood and stretched, completely unbothered by her existential unraveling. He shook his massive frame before taking a step closer to the man on the floor. Jana watched as the wolf-dog bent and touched his nose to the growing lump on the man’s temple.
“That is going to hurt when he wakes up,” Linguine muttered before releasing a deep sigh and sitting down. “This is Matrix. I am K-Nine. We are agents with the Cyborg Protection Unit.”
“You can… talk,” she said again, still staring like her brain had left the building. “You…. Dogs can’t talk. I mean, not like people talk….” Her voice faded, and she reached up to grip the towel again with both hands.
“I am a genetically enhanced member of the Protection Unit. All members of the unit are cybernetically enhanced to work in pairs. We hunt down and apprehend or eliminate dangers to all worlds under our protection. The governing forces of Zion created the CPU within their military ranks. They believe that such teams are necessary until the Confederation Council is stable. In our team, I am the one who was enhanced the most,” K-Nine explained.
“Oh,” Jana mumbled, staring stupidly at him before glancing down at the man on the floor again. “You can talk,” she repeated inanely.
“Matrix finds you attractive,” K-Nine said with what could only be called amusement. “You should dress before he wakes.”
Jana nodded and took a step backwards. She started to turn before she paused, her worried gaze quickly scanning the living room.
As if they could sense her distress, the three kittens suddenly appeared and darted down the hallway toward her bedroom.
Jana glanced at K-Nine again with an expression of uncertainty.
“I’ll be right back,” she said hoarsely, lifting her hand and extending her index finger to direct him to stay put.
“We will be here,” K-Nine promised, lying down next to Matrix. “I do not believe he will wake before you return.”
“Probably not. I did hit him pretty hard. I’ll… I’ll be right back,” Jana repeated with a distracted nod before turning and hurrying down the hallway to her bedroom.
K-Nine watched in amusement as Jana disappeared. He turned his head to gaze down at Matrix’s still form again. His system was finally back online. With a flick of his ear, he turned off the embedded beacon.
“Yes, you hit him pretty hard, in more ways than one,” K-Nine chuckled.
He watched Matrix, covered in potting soil and unconscious on the floor, and nodded in satisfaction. Matrix was going to love it here.
His systems had rebooted just when Matrix had appeared. There had been an instant of disorientation before everything clicked. Still, K-Nine had not missed the increased respiration or the scent of Matrix’s reaction to Jana.
A grin pulled at the corner of his mouth, revealing his sharp teeth. K-Nine would have the family he had always dreamed of and knew that Matrix secretly wanted, too. Plus, he had promised Sennara that he would find a life mate for Matrix, and he would not break his promise to her.
Matrix and he had only discussed family units once. It was shortly after they’d started working together. Matrix had bluntly explained why he thought it was best for CPU agents not to have families.
“The situation was different for my parents, since my mother could serve with my father on the same ship. This is too dangerous,” Matrix had declared with a wave of his hand.
“No female wants a life mate who is always gone, or who might never return from a mission. Besides, having a life mate could make us weak. There are those out there who would use a life mate against us. No, my friend, we are destined to be alone, except between assignments when we visit the Spaceports.”
K-Nine was tired of the Spaceports.
No more Spaceports. We have a family now. And if Matrix has a problem with that, well… he’ll just have to get over it, K-Nine thought.
There were others in the CPU that had a life mate, contrary to what Matrix had said. Matrix would have to accept Jana and the kittens, because as far as K-Nine was concerned, they were already his family.