Red Zone (Red Zone 1)

He couldn’t help but grin at her indignation, while fighting the urge to pull her close and hold her tight, until his heart stopped racing. “Bébé, that agreement was for sex.”

“Same thing.”

“If you think kissing is the same as sex, then I need to spend some time educating you. It will be my pleasure.” He cupped her cheek. “You scared me.”

She nuzzled his palm for a second before lifting her head. “Why?”

“You’ve been comatose for the past fifteen minutes.”

“Oh.” She frowned and then shook her head. “I didn’t realize. I have no idea what to tell you. I don’t think that’s ever happened before.”

“Is it the Interferan-X?”

That damn poison was a time bomb ticking away inside her. Who knew what kind of problems it could cause.

“No. I think it was shock.” She trailed a fingertip under his mutated eye. “You’re part snake. It’s a lot to take in.”

“I get that. It scared the hell out of me when I woke up. Come here, bébé, let me hold you until my heart stops racing.”

He gave her his best puppy dog look.

She huffed out a sigh but climbed into his lap. “You use that charm of yours to get your own way far too often.”

“You sayin’ I’m irresistible?” He grinned at her.

“You’re something all right.” She snuggled in closer to him, relaxing in his arms.

He nuzzled at the spot behind her ear that fascinated him, while his team laughed. They thought he was joking, teasing her, seducing her. But he wasn’t. He needed to hold her, to reassure himself she was okay. “Don’t blank out on me again.” It was a foolish order to give, but he couldn’t stop himself.

“How am I supposed to do that? It’s not like it’s something I can control. Maybe I should get out of your lap? You seem calm now.”

He tightened his hold. “You changed your mind about touching me, now you know about the snake?” He was joking around, but still found himself holding his breath for her answer.

She rolled her eyes dramatically. It was cute. “Don’t be stupid. And I never decided to touch you in the first place. You blackmailed me into it.”

“Bébé, I didn’t blackmail you for your body. I did it for that big brain of yours. But, having your sweet body would be a nice side benefit.”

“Striker!” She smacked his chest. “Let me go. I have questions.”

“Chère, that ain’t no surprise. You always have questions. Ask away. But how about you ask them from right where you are? That way if you check out again, I can kiss you until you check back in.”

She relaxed back into him. Obviously, she was just as eager to break their contact as he was. “That is not an appropriate way to deal with a person who’s in shock.”

“As entertaining as this dynamic is,” Mace cut in, “we have some things we need to deal with.”

“He’s right.” He kissed Friday gently. “You okay??

??

She softened and nodded, her focus on his yellow eye. “Does the changed iris affect your vision? Is it the reason you can see in the dark? How did it happen? Is that why you’re hiding out? Have you been seen by a doctor?”

“And she’s back again.” He relaxed into his chair but kept an arm around her waist to keep her close. “Doc? You want to take it from here?”

“Sure. We can’t see anyone in the medical profession because we don’t want word to get out about us.”

Jeremiah, the ex-army chaplain, interrupted, “They’d lock us up and turn us into experiments. Not a great reward for a bunch of soldiers who died for their country. None of us are keen on being dissected in the name of science.”

The fact Friday didn’t even try to argue against Jeremiah’s logic was telling. She knew, just as much as the rest of them, that their secrets would get them killed.