Page 3 of Covert Affections (Shadow Agents/PSI-Ops #5)

Chapter Three

Jesse

“You pull doctor-sitting duty again or, worse yet, perimeter sweeping?” asked Nick as they began walking down the long hallway, nearly shoulder-to-shoulder.

Jesse shook his head, blinking a few times to clear the spots he was seeing from the harsh lighting. “No. I’m off that now.”

“Ah, you’re finally on Samuel’s good side this week. Got it,” said Nick with a deep laugh. He and Nick walked down the hall, their footsteps echoing loudly. “Took you long enough.”

Nick and Jesse were the same height, coming in a few inches over six feet, but where Jesse had lean muscle, Nick had slightly more bulk. While Jesse’s hair was medium blond, Nick’s was dark, nearly black.

“Samuel can kiss my ass,” Jesse muttered, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

His dislike of Samuel Eyres was entirely mutual, and he couldn’t wait to put some distance between himself and the other man.

To hell with the fact the man was his supervisor.

Jesse was thankful to be off rotations that kept him under Samuel’s watchful eye and was really looking forward to his vacation days.

“Anyway, I’ve got some vacation time built up.

I plan to hit the open road on my bike and go where the wind takes me for some much-needed rest and relaxation. ”

Another memory flashed through Jesse’s mind.

He was in the same black fatigues as before, but this time, he was sparring with Samuel, of all men, in a training room he didn’t recognize.

That wasn’t even the strangest part of it all.

Jesse and Samuel were laughing together like brothers-in-arms, or like best buddies.

A stark contrast to the hostility that existed between them now.

Jesse stumbled slightly over nothing more than the memory, which he was fast suspecting was really a hallucination brought on by the serum.

Because there was no fucking time in his past when he’d ever laughed with Samuel.

The man’s very presence left Jesse’s shifter side unstable and on the edge of a murderous rampage.

“Is this a kitty cat thing?” asked Nick with a smirk, drawing Jesse from his moment of confusion.

Jesse glanced harder at him. “Is what a kitty thing?”

“You and Samuel always being at each other’s throats,” stated Nick, lifting a hand, letting his claws emerge while making a scratching gesture. “You know, a catfight?”

“Bite me, asshole,” Jesse grunted and scratched his injection site. “Me not liking Samuel has nothing to do with us both being cat-shifters.”

“I don’t know. Sounds like the makings of a catfight to me.” Nick kept making scratching motions.

“Know that I’m entertaining ramming that hand up your ass,” warned Jesse.

“Oh, I know. And I’m pretty sure you should show him more respect,” Nick said, pushing open the set of double doors that led to the other wing of the building.

“I get he rubs you the wrong way, but he is in a position of power here. Constantly pushing back against his orders isn’t winning you any points with the people upstairs. ”

That was true, yet Jesse couldn’t seem to stop himself when it came to Samuel. The man had a natural ability to piss him off. Jesse couldn’t remember when it had started. It just always seemed to be there—the constant irritation that happened whenever he was near the man.

The temperature changed noticeably now that they were out of the medical wing. Jesse had no idea why they kept the temperature so low in that area, but they did. It really sucked during biannual physicals when he was required to disrobe and wear a hospital gown, but nothing else.

“He’s an alpha and our supervisor and can make your life hell if he wants,” Nick added, like he was saying anything Jesse didn’t already know. He let his claws retract. “You’d do well to remember that.”

“Whatever. I don’t care.” Jesse and Samuel had a long history of getting on one another’s nerves.

Jesse wasn’t even sure what, if anything, had even started their ongoing feud.

He just knew it existed. Part of the tension stemmed from Jesse’s inherent alpha tendencies and his dislike for authority.

Both of which meant he and Samuel naturally butted heads.

The rest probably came from the fact that Samuel was a dickhead.

More than once, the pair had ended up in knockdown drag-out fights, needing to be separated by others.

“Still feels like a cat thing to me,” said Nick with a snort as they continued down the hallway.

Jesse narrowed his gaze, less because he was annoyed with his friend and more because the lighting still hurt his eyes. “You’re about to feel my foot up your ass.”

“You’re really set on getting to stick something up my butt. First my hand, now your foot. Kinky,” returned Nick with a waggle of his brow.

Jesse rolled his eyes.

“Seriously though,” said Nick, walking taller. “Either take a time-out or plan a cage match. Let me know first. I’ll sell tickets and take bets. In one corner, we have Samuel-the-alpha-in-charge, and in the other, we have Jesse-never-met-an-alpha-who-didn’t-annoy-him.”

“Sure, set it up,” said Jesse, only partially kidding. “I can take him.”

“Can you really? He’s the guy in charge for a reason, Jesse. Even I’m smart enough to take a knee when he demands it,” Nick said, his gaze serious.

“I’ll never take a fucking knee for him,” Jesse growled. “And let’s be honest. All Samuel has to do to get you to take a knee is bring out a needle. I heard you blubbering over getting an injection.”

“All right, it will be your funeral, man,” stated Nick with a shake of his head. “Whatever your beef is with him needs to stop. If you ask me, he’s been pretty patient with you since you got here, considering you’ve been anything but easy to deal with when it comes to him.”

“What are you talking about?” demanded Jesse, even though he already knew. He understood his reactions to Samuel were visceral and unnatural. He just didn’t know why. Whatever the reason, it seemed to be getting worse, not better.

“Denial. Yeah. That will work,” said Nick with a laugh before shaking his head.

“I still don’t understand why the people in charge thought it was a good idea to put you two at the same facility again .

Last time it happened went so well. And by that, I mean, you two nearly brought the building down around us with one of your epic fights. ”

It was true. Jesse and Samuel had gotten into a pretty impressive fight over a decade ago.

It ended after they’d knocked two different cinder block walls down, and a mass of guards swarmed in to tear them apart.

They’d not been assigned to the same facility since then—until now.

When Jesse had first arrived here, he and Samuel stayed out of each other’s way, but that had changed.

“When I want your opinion, I’ll ask for it. ”

Nick didn’t seem phased by the brush-off.

“Well, consider this free advice from a friend. He’s also your direct supervisor and can stick you back on doctor babysitting duty in a heartbeat.

That is boring as fuck. Last time I got stuck with it, I entertained killing one of the white-lab coat-assholes just to have something to do. ”

Jesse peered at his friend. “I don’t know how you fuck, but when I do it, it’s anything but boring.”