She rolled her eyes at his bossiness as she hesitantly tasted the chili. She’d grown up with the food. Versions of it were a street staple in the areas around CommTECH. It was considered too lower class for most of the residents in the Territories, but to her the food meant home. And this one was good. She groaned her delight, closing her eyes at the bite of rich pepper and cumin, savoring the heavy amount of garlic.
When she opened her eyes, everyone was staring at her, and she felt her cheeks heat.
“Good chili, huh?” Striker sounded hoarse.
“Better than meal replacement bars.”
He snorted his agreement. “Eating dirt is better than meal replacement bars.”
He reached for his fork, and his arm brushed against hers, making her whole body tingle. He was far too close. Their shoulders rubbed, their thighs pressed together—it was intensely distracting, and she couldn’t afford to be distracted in a room full of strangers.
She shuffled her chair away from him and relaxed. For a second. Because, without hesitating in his conversation with the man facing them, he grabbed the seat of her chair and yanked her back—even closer than before. She scowled up at him and wondered how he’d like a bowl of steaming hot chili in his lap. As though reading her mind, he grinned at her. Infuriating man. He was amusing himself. Again. She’d never met someone with his sense of humor, and she wondered if she’d ever get the jokes.
“You need to watch that one,” a man across the table said. “She’s plotting your demise.”
Friday turned her frown on the blond stranger.
His eyes crinkled with amusement. “I take it back. She’s plotting against all of us.”
There was nothing to say to that—he was completely right.
When they were finished, the men cleared the table, and she expected them to disappear, going back to whatever they did in their cave. Instead, they helped themselves to mugs of coffee and sat back down. All eyes on her.
She elbowed Striker and whispered, “What have I done now?”
“Nothin’ Chère, unless you count those wicked thoughts you’ve been having about the two of us.” Of course he made it sound like her wicked thoughts were sexual instead of her trying to come up with ways to maim him.
“I don’t like being the center of attention.” It made her want to run, but seeing as she didn’t know where she was, or where she’d run to, there wasn’t much point.
“Don’t panic. We just got some things we need to tell you.”
That was not reassuring. And it didn’t ease her mind any that the people gathered were serious and intense. There weren’t any smiles. No teasing looks. Shoulders were tense. Eyes were dark. Whatever they were going to tell her, she wasn’t going to like.
“It’s about our deal, bébé.” He toyed with her hair. “It’s about what I expect you to do to pay off your debt.”
And just like that, she felt the color drain from her face. She swayed, her mind going places she really didn’t want it to go. Her fingers clenched tightly together in her lap and her mouth was suddenly dry. Striker’s eye sparkled as he leaned into her. He whispered against her ear, “You’re thinking about sex again. Bébé, you got to get your mind out of the gutter. This has nothing to do with that. If that happens, it will just be between me and you.”
“Okay.” She didn’t believe a word of it. Not when there was obviously something going on that she didn’t understand. She swallowed hard as he sat back in his chair, giving her an indulgent smile that said he found her amusing.
Striker shared a look with Mace, then took a deep breath. “We need a scientist.” He ran a hand over his face. “We want you to work in the lab with Doc during your year here.”
Okay, she wasn’t expecting that. “But…I thought you wanted my body.”
He threw back his head, his laughter echoing through the cave, and her cheeks burned. Well, this was humiliating. Apparently, wanting her was a laughing matter. She couldn’t believe she had an audience for this.
When he’d calmed down, Striker ran his knuckles down one of her burning cheeks. “I do want your body. But I also want your mind. Your body was never part of our bargain. I just couldn’t tell you what the bargain was, exactly, out there in the world.”
She glanced at the men, who were amused by her exchange with their leader. They weren’t anything like the men she was used to, and she didn’t quite know how to deal with them without feeling foolish.
“What do you want my mind to do?” She tried to sound as detached and professional as possible.
“Before I answer that, I gotta tell you a story.” He leaned forward and placed his elbows on the table. “Do you know where you are?”
The question threw her. “Mexico? The Southern Coalition? Your base of operations?”
He shook his head slowly, his eye on her. “I told you earlier, we still need to get through the EMP barrier into the Southern Coalition.”
As his words penetrated, it became hard to breathe. “You can’t mean…”