Page 29 of Midnight’s Captive (Stroke of Midnight #2)
Taryn moved slowly, savoring the moment, remembering where she was and who she was with. Every cell in her body screamed for her to rub against him again and again, until they combusted. She took that as a good sign, but after last night, she still wanted to take it slow.
Okay, maybe just a little slower.
Her nails scraped lightly over the back of his neck. Once, twice, they passed over a small lump, just below the base of his skull.
Ash stiffened.
Attuned to his reactions, Taryn stopped and removed her hand.
“Did I hurt you?” She wanted to be as careful with him as he’d been with her, both last night and just now. Not many men would have taken last night’s freakout so well. The last Jack never had.
“Phantom pain.” His words were so soft she wouldn’t have heard them if they weren’t pressed so close together.
She knew all about phantom pain. Some nights she swore she felt the breaks in her old, biological arm. Nothing but phantom pain. Memories of the limb she’d been born with.
But what would cause that pain on his neck?
It took her a second. “Your port?”
He nodded. Swallowed hard. “They sealed it up the night they caught me.”
“The Tremaines?”
“Tremaine Security, yeah. Standard protocol, they said.” The words came out a sneer.
“I thought standard protocol was to kill any hackers they caught.” All the years she’d been at the bar, she’d heard stories about missing hackers, dead hackers. Rumors of deals gone bad. Whispers of what happened when hackers went up against a big corporation.
She was fiercely glad that Ash hadn’t ended up dead.
He shrugged. “Guess it depends on the company. Depends on the hacker, too. The good ones they keep alive. I was the best.”
No arrogance accompanied his words. No bragging. Just a pure statement of fact.
It was on the tip of her tongue to ask why he’d been captured if he was the best, but she didn’t have it in her to be that cruel right now. To completely and utterly ruin this bond that was growing between them.
“What happened?” She kept her voice soft.
He pressed his forehead against hers, breaking eye contact.
She didn’t care. The skin-to-skin contact felt more intimate. Like they existed in their own little bubble.
Although he didn’t answer right away, the silence between them wasn’t awkward. Being this close to someone else, this comfortable with someone, was completely new to her. She liked it.
“I don’t know,” he admitted on an exhale. “The information was good. The hack was... unstoppable. But the pieces never quite clicked.”
“And you got out but Hope didn’t?” He’d told her the story before, when she hadn’t wanted to listen.
“Yeah.” He pushed away from her suddenly. “It was all my fucking fault. I shouldn’t have trusted the info. I shouldn’t have let her come with me.”
Taryn recalled the picture he’d shown her. The sparkling eyes and mischievous smile. “You were just telling me you knew teenage girls. Do you really think you could have stopped her?”
Ash shoved his hands into his hair. “Yes. No. Fuck, probably not.” He laughed. “She was stubborn.”
“Like her brother.” Taryn stepped closer slowly, not wanting to spook him. She cupped his chin in the palms of her hands.
He took a quick breath, as if she’d punched him or tweaked a raw nerve. “She wanted to be just like me.”
“You’re a good brother, Ash.” She pressed a finger to his lips when he started to protest. “You looked out for her. You still are. I’m betting a lot of people would have abandoned her when she got hurt. You didn’t. She’s lucky to have you.”
He met her gaze. “Thanks. No one’s ever said that before.”
Raw emotion gleamed in his eyes. Some of it might have been residual desire from their kiss, but if Taryn had to guess, she’d say it was driven by the painful reminders of his past.
“You should, ah, go.” She spoke softly, ignoring the disappointment that caught in her throat.
“I’m sorry,” he said gruffly. “I didn’t mean to kill the mood.”
“I guess it was your turn,” she joked.
He turned his head and kissed her palm. “Thank you,” he said again.