Elite Metal-ARE-epub (21 page)

Steele added, “And we also want them to put as little protection on the kids as possible. Anything that makes it easier to get them back, right?” He raised his eyebrows at Cammie until she finally nodded.

The fierce look in her eye when talking about protecting her siblings should not have turned him on. It shouldn’t have. He liked submissive women. Truly. But something about her staring Steele down, who was a big mother fucker. Hottest thing he’d seen in years.

“And Chrome?” Poppy prompted and waited on him to focus on her. “Under no circumstances are you to engage the enemy alone. None. Unless they infiltrate her home at night, which they won’t do because it’s not their style. You are to call in for back up as soon as you know something’s taking place. Is that understood?”

He nodded but remained silent.

“Impersonating a bobble head isn’t good enough,” Steele interjected. “I want the words out of your mouth that this directive won’t be ignored. I know you. I want the words.”

Chrome stared him down, wondering why it was so important he do this mission on his own. Whatever the reason, he needed to follow through with it. But covering his ass with Steele wouldn’t hurt a thing. What he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him. “As soon as I know what’s going on I’ll give you a call and we’ll proceed from there. Is that good enough, yee commander of all things Elite?”

“Like gold,” he smirked.

“Excuse me, gentlemen and ladies. I have extraction orders to make. We’ll try to have the whole team here and briefed before you have to take down Korovin, but that’s a mighty tall order.” Poppy left the room to pull in the rest of the two teams, which make Chrome want to whoop and vomit. He stuck with broody silence instead since it was kind of his thing.

“We don’t have two full teams anymore.” He said it to the room in general but then focused on Steele. “How’s that going to work on missions? Who’s taking orders from whom? Assuming we get to the jarheads in time?”

“They’ll get to them in time. I may not like them but they’re definitely efficient if nothing else.”

Chrome ran his hand over the back of his head where the knot still hurt. “Efficient. Is that what you’d call it?” Cammie came up to him and he pulled her into a hug. Her sigh made his cock twitch. From a hug. Pathetic.

Steele shrugged. “Call it whatever you want. If they get everyone here before Red Wolf finds them then I’ll call them saints. As for teams, we’ll only have one team out at a time if we can at all help it. Depending on what the mission is will determine who goes. Two leaders. They’ll take orders from each of us equally. As long as you don’t feel the need to have a pissing match over any of them?”

“No need. I already know I’d win.”

Steele smirked and cast a glance at Alayna who rolled her eyes. “Care to place a bet on that?”

* * * * *

Several hours later, after getting outfitted with firepower, Chrome left with Cammie. Poppy’s mysterious minions were working on more information about Korovin’s whereabouts and that of the kids, so for now all he could do was protect Cammie…and wait.

Patience.

Not really one of his virtues.

Steele’d told him to make sure Cammie couldn’t see where they were.

He couldn’t bear blindfolding her. Binding her. Not unless a bed big enough to handle them both stood at the ready. Instead of covering her head so the compound location stayed secure he had her head in his lap. Protecting the location of the Elite stronghold was his only goal. Totally. Him playing with her hair?

To keep her calm. Of course.

“Sorry you have to be down there. I know it’s not…ideal,” he mumbled.

She snuggled his leg and his cock swelled beneath his zipper. He wondered if she even realized she did since she was so exhausted. “I don’t mind. I don’t want to know where Elite is. I don’t want another reason to have to leave my life behind.”

As he petted her, his rhythm stuttered for a second, but then he continued touching her. He couldn’t not touch her. So odd.

Before he thought better of it he confessed, “No matter if you do or do not know where Elite is located you can’t go back to your old life. Not even after we get your kids back. It’s not possible because it’s not safe for you. Or them. Not ever, Cammie. The people who want your involvement? Bad doesn’t begin to cover it. And if we get one of them, or even two of them, there’s always another asshole to take their place.” He clamped his teeth together, wondering if he’d said too much.

She was silent for so long he wondered if she’d fallen asleep, or maybe he hadn’t said it out loud. But she finally responded.

“That’s the first time someone’s been completely honest with me. What I can expect. I think I already knew the answer but I’d been afraid to ask what was going to happen to us. Hearing it. It’s not as terrifying as I thought it would be. We’ll be together right? That’s all that matters.”

Chrome clutched her hair in his fist.

Together
.

The kids. Her and the kids.

He knew that.

No question.

Her and the kids.

But…the possibility of
more
with her intoxicated him.

Her hand on his thigh gripped his jeans and her soft groan made his cock surge. He ground his teeth together and focused on her. Last thing she needed was him coming onto her.

And by that he meant hitting the shoulder, throwing the vehicle in park and fucking taking her right there on the side of the road.

Focus.

“You’re a fighter. You’ll survive and you’ll be successful no matter what you decide to do next. It’s like a do over button and you get to write the script. Be anyone you want to be. Pursue anything you’ve dreamed about. It’s an opportunity, Cam. Use it.”

“Cam.” He couldn’t see her smile in the dark but he heard it. “My dad used to call me that. Hadn’t realized how much I’d missed it.” Her yawn made her even more adorable. “I’m tired.” She stiffened and Chrome went on high alert, rubbing her arm. His head was on a swivel.

“What is it?”

“T&T. I bet they’re tired. Cold. Hurt maybe.” Her voice caught on the last word and he had no idea how to comfort her since some or all of those things could be absolutely accurate.

“We’ll get them back. We will and we’ll castrate the bastards that thought swiping innocent kids was the means to any end. We’ll get them back. You have my promise.”

“Do you keep your promises?” Her voice was quiet. Scared. “No matter what?”

“Always, baby girl. Always.”

They road in silence after that toward Highland Park, an upscale district north of Dallas. But it wasn’t awkward to be with her. He didn’t do relationships. They were complicated.

Emotions? Gag.

Talking about feelings and shit? Oh. Hell. No.

Silence normally suited him fine, but with Cam? He wanted to hear her talk. “Can I ask you a question?” Not wanting to wake her if she slept, he asked it quietly.

“Sure. As long as I can ask you one in return.”

“Uhh…I guess.” He really wanted to say,
Oh fuck no, never mind
. Good thing he went with his second response.

“Then ask away. I’m ready and I’m thankful for the distraction.”

He glanced down at her profile, her cheek on his thigh. “You could sit up if you wanted to. We’re on the highway now, no need to be down there if you’d be more comfortable sitting up.” He hated to offer, but knew he needed to.

She shifted against him and moved her head around to stare at him. “Can I stay here? I’m comfortable. And you’re warm.”

His first mistake was looking down at her. Her eyes would brighten ever so often with the lights coming in from the streetlamps on the highway.

Second mistake was reaching up and brushing his knuckles on her cheek.

She smiled again, biting her lip.

Third mistake?

Pulling her lip free and brushing it with his thumb. “Why do you bite your lip?”

“Is that your question?”

Chrome smiled despite how fucking horny he was. “No, that’s not the question.”

“Then I guess that one’s going to have to wait for another day.”

He touched her cheek again. “By the book I see, Ms. Rule Follower.”

“Always have been. The good girl.”

Chrome’s cock would not be ignored at the concept of having his
own
good girl next to him, curled up and happy in his nearness.

Time passed. “So. Your question?”

Chrome shifted in his seat, trying to alleviate some of the pressure on his dick. He couldn’t remember a time where he’d been hornier. “Right. Sorry. Uhh…your siblings. You adopted them a few years back.”

“I did.”

“Why? I’m assuming you were already their legal guardian when your parents passed. And adoption can be very expensive from what I hear.”

“It can be expensive, especially if you don’t know what you’re doing. Thankfully I do know. And them being mine, even if it was just on a piece of paper to make it legal meant a whole hell of a lot. “

“You say, ‘my kids’. Do you really believe that? That they’re yours or is it just a figure of speech?”

“That’s a complicated answer.”

“We have lots of time to kill. I’d really like to know.” And he did.
Well shit on a shingle.

Cammie wiggled against him, tucking her hand beneath her chin. “Their names are Teresa and Thomas. Twins. You know that much right?”

He nodded.

“They’re mine. And not in just they’re my siblings. But mine. My parents had them for me.”

His brow drew down and he stared at the road before them, “I don’t understand.”

“When I was twenty I was diagnosed with Leukemia. It was bad and just got worse. I’ll spare you all the crappy details. But needless to say I’d tried everything. Radiation. Chemo. Herbal meds. Yoga. Acupuncture. Prayers. Cursing. Everything. Nothing helped. Not for long at least.”

Chrome remained silent.

“I needed a bone marrow transplant. Desperately. But no match. So my parents, unbeknownst to me, decided to try to get pregnant again.”

“You lost me. What good would that do? Especially with one sick child.”

“The probability of having another child with the same blood and bone marrow type are much higher than just finding a random match. Not that they’re much higher, but higher is higher when you’re dying. And if the new baby was a match, stem cells could be harvested at birth and hopefully used instead of a full marrow transplant which is more risky.”

“Wow. So they got pregnant with twins?”

“With some help yes. I was twenty-two by that point. So my mom was forty something. Forty-six I think. They’d had a rough time getting pregnant with me. The second go round even more trouble. So they started fertility treatments. They got pregnant the first month. And not just one baby but two.”

Chrome couldn’t help but be blown away at what her parents went through to save her. He had no idea how that would be. Love like that. “So did the stem cells work? Well wait. Was one of them a match?”

She nodded against his leg. “Both actually. Perfect matches.”

“Then…stem cells?”

“No unfortunately. It just wasn’t enough to get the cancer out of my body. So I had a bone marrow transplant with bone marrow from both of them. I thank God for them every day. And my parents for doing something like that to save me. So I feel like they really are my kids. They saved me. Literally. I was wrecked when Mom and Dad died. Devastated. But I had to keep going for T&T. Had to. Not an option to cower in a ball and give up. So I’m going to fight for them just like my parents fought for me. I’ll never stop fighting. Never.”

Her vehemence was one of the biggest aphrodisiacs he’d ever witnessed. And he did feel it. It settled heavy in his groin as she shifted against him, trying to get comfortable again.

God she was so beautiful. Most amazingly lovely person he’s ever laid eyes on.

“…their names.” She commented.

“Uhh…what about them?”

“I asked if you knew the significance of their names?”

“Thomas and Teresa. I don’t think so. Biblical?”

She laughed softly. “No. Literary. Well, and cinematic now.”

“Huh?”

“My mom was a complete bibliophile. She loved books. Loved isn’t even a strong enough word. So she read prolifically. And the year the kids were born she’d just read the book
Maze Runner
. Loved it. She couldn’t help herself. She loved the names of the lead hero and heroine. And my Dad adored her so they decided that was the names they would go with if they had a boy and a girl. So Teresa and Thomas.”

“Sounds like your parents were amazing. I’m sorry you lost them.”

“Me too. They were amazing. Drunk driver. Awful day that one. Awful. And the kids were barely a year old then. Very hard time. But things got better. And they’ve been great. Until ten days ago.” She paused, half sat up and looked at the clock before laying back down. “One thirty in the morning. So eleven days. Eleven. Oh, God.”

A slight tremor shimmied through her torso and Chrome knew he needed to distract her. “You had a question for me?”

“What?” she asked without much emotion behind it.

He gently squeezed her arm and held her hand. Man did it feel natural to do so. Nothing awkward or strange. Just…awesome.

“Tit for tat. I asked a question so it’s your turn. Anything you like.”

“Are you close to your family?”

Of all the questions he thought she’d ask that was probably at the bottom of a very long list.

“Nope.” He didn’t say anything and had no intention of expounding on his shitty childhood.

“That’s it. Nope?”

Distraction was good for her so he decided to give her the basic facts. It was better than her being sad and thinking about the kids. “Dad took off when I was probably five. Mom lasted another couple years but then life got in the way of her being a mother. So I went in the system.
Too old to be adoptable,
I heard several case workers discuss one day. Can’t believe I still remember that. Wasn’t great. But I made it through. Joined the Marines fresh out of high school. When I was put back in the civilian world I looked them both up. Had a few contacts in the state department that helped me track them down when I was still active duty. Both dead. Hard lives. So I’m probably glad it didn’t work out between us.”