Repercussion: The Clandestine Saga Book 3 (21 page)

Cadence seemed to be considering his words. "I've heard of colonies, or something, like retirement villages. Have they always had those?"

              He smiled at her, visions of Boca Raton coming to mind. "That works for some people. Others stay active. I don't know. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to disturb you. I was just thinking... there are probably thousands of Guardians who would have gladly taken his place, you know? But Elliott, he was planning on living forever. And now.... I'm sorry, Cadence. I know I don't have to tell you."

She met his eyes for a second, before pulling hers away, staring at the street below them, and after a long moment of hesitation she said, "Hey, how about you get down off of that ledge before you pull an Evelyn McHale, huh?"

              "I'm not going to jump," he assured her. "I'm probably not even going to fall," he added sarcastically.

              "Probably not, but I really don't want to carry you around in a mason jar for the next six months while your body decides how to solve the Rubik's Cube formerly known as the Guardian Leader. Come on," she insisted, patting him on the arm, and literally grabbing his thigh to spin him around.

"Well, now I might fall," he muttered complying before she did something even more drastic. He turned around and placed his feet on the roof, though technically he was still sitting on the ledge. It seemed like enough for her. He couldn't help but notice how very close she was standing to him. She smelled like lavender body wash and even in a simple T-shirt and jeans she was gorgeous.

              "I know you wouldn't have come up here if you wanted to be bothered, but I just wanted to run a few things by you and make sure you were okay," she said quietly.

              He nodded, curious as to what exactly she had been up to. "How's Jamie?" he asked, knowing he was in the worst shape of anyone.

"He's doing all right," she assured him. "Cale's closing now, so he should be out of surgery in the next few minutes. Looks like he'll be able to heal himself now that the bullets are out."

"Good," he nodded, happy to hear it. He noticed her hand was just a fraction of an inch away from his on the ledge now, and he couldn't help but slip his over to cover hers. It had taken him quite some time in the shower to remove the visible bloodstains; he knew not all of the stains had been washed away. Somehow, placing his hand on top of hers, without an objection, seemed to make the blemish lessen.

              Cadence tightened her grip on his hand as she continued to explain. "Meaghan's sleeping, and Christian should be released soon. But he is asking for you. I'm not sure what he wants to talk to you about, but when you get a chance, you might check in."

              "Sounds like you've been busy," he smiled. Why hadn't he realized she would take over? It made perfect sense, now, that she would. He had thought she might be too upset to function. He had clearly underestimated her again.

"Just trying to help," she shrugged. "I guess I thought if I kept my mind busy, I wouldn't have to think about... him."

              He reached over and brushed a stray lock of hair back, lightly touching her cheek. She didn't jerk away. "I really appreciate your help," he said, just above a whisper. "I'm sorry I checked out. I just needed to stop listening to the excess voices in my head."

              She was leaning in to him now, having moved her hand, the one he was holding, to his thigh. "You don't have to apologize to me, Aaron. What you did was perfectly acceptable. You need to grieve him in your own way. God knows you need a break now and again, too."

He smirked. "Yeah, I'll just go on a vacation," he replied, looking away from her eyes for a moment.

              "Why not?" she asked. She stepped in front of him, between his knees, still holding his hand, only an inch or two between them. "You have got to start taking better care of yourself," she cautioned. "You spend so much time looking out for everyone else, and you never think about your own health. Let's go get these two assholes, and then you should... go to the beach or something."

              He let go of her hand but only to pull her in even closer, his hands wrapping around her waist. Though he was very interested in what she had to say, the proximity was becoming intoxicating, and he was having a very hard time concentrating on anything, except for her exquisite neck. "The beach sounds nice," he admitted, fully aware that there would be absolutely no way he could ever take a relaxing vacation to the beach and still be the Guardian Leader. He moved closer to her, breathing her in, and her body shivered just a bit. His lips were hovering in the crook of her neck, and she began to lean in, as if she wanted him to kiss her. "Are you coming with me?" he asked, just a whisper.

              She was biting her lips and her eyes were closed. "Mmm hmm," she moaned in agreement, her body pressed up fully against him now.

              He felt her hands slip under his shirt, as he nuzzled her ear. "What about Cale?" he whispered into her earlobe.

Cadence turned her head slightly so that her cheek was pressed against his. She opened her mouth to answer, but her voice caught at first. She slowly ran her hands across his rippled stomach muscles, and exhaled sharply. He nipped her ear with his teeth, and she tossed her head back, her knees weakening. His left hand cupped her face, his lips finally making contact with the sensitive skin beneath her left ear. She moaned again and he ran his thumb across her bottom lip before moving his hand back to her neck and lightly pressing her into his kiss. As the pressure became more prevalent, she fought breathlessly to answer his question saying, "I don't think it's gonna work out."

              That was all he needed to hear. He caught her mouth with his, plunging his tongue in as she pressed herself into him. His hand became tangled in her hair as the kiss deepened. He needed to taste her, to smell her, to envelop her. After a few minutes, she pulled back, gasping for air, but then came back to him, her hunger just as intense. He slid his hands down her back, continuing to pull her in further, and she moaned again, pressing against him, her hands now on his thighs.

              After several moments of wild abandon, she began to slow things down, pulling away a bit, placing her hands on his chest, and finally taking a step back. "Aaron," she exhaled, "I think... I... Jamie's out of surgery," she finally managed to get out.

He kissed her one last time before releasing her. "Okay," he said, thoughtfully placing his hands on the wall behind him and taking a deep breath.

              She ran her hand through her hair, and absently pulled at her shirt. "I'm just going to go check on him," she assured him.

              "That's a good idea," he agreed.

              "Okay," she said, still catching her breath. She took a step back towards the door, but didn't turn, not yet. "Oh," she said pointing a finger in the air, as if she had just remembered, "Hannah got us rooms at the Plaza Hotel. She said they're not much, but it's close by and that was about all that was available on short notice."

              He just stared at her, thinking about how incredibly beautiful she was, and how he better figure out how not to mess everything up this time.

She continued, walking backwards towards the door. "So, uhm, she has your key."

              "Okay," he replied, watching her place her hand on the door.

              "And don't forget about Christian," she reminded him.

              "Okay."

"Oh, shoot," she groaned, "and Eliza's here."

              "Got it," he replied.

"I'm going now," she smiled as she pulled the door open.

"Think I'm gonna wait here for a few minutes."

              "Okay," she said stifling a giggle as she disappeared inside.

              He shook his head and rubbed his face with both hands. "Well, looks like you might have gotten your wish," he said to the sky. "As long as I can figure out how to keep from screwing it up." Elliott had said he'd manage to get them back together if it was the last thing he did. Maybe it was. Aaron would find a way to keep her; this time, he was willing to do whatever it took, no matter how drastic the measures, in order to give Cadence everything that she deserved.

***

              Walking down the hallway in her search for Cale, Cadence literally ran into Eliza stepping off of the elevator. "Hey!" the San Fran leader exclaimed, steadying herself on too-high heels. "Watch it, Cadence. Jeeze!"

"Sorry," Cadence muttered, completely unaware whether or not it was truly her fault. "Have you seen Cale?" she asked, in too much of a rush to really care if she had pissed Eliza off.

"No, but by the looks of your neck, you have," Eliza remarked.

"Never mind, there he is," Cadence said dismissively, spying the doctor near the reception area, and absently rubbing at her neck.

              "Hey, where's Aaron?" Eliza shot after her.

Cadence ignored her, rushing to catch up with Cale instead. "How's Jamie?" she asked, tugging on his arm so that he would turn around.

He was writing on a chart and only glanced up at her for a second before answering. "He's going to be fine," he assured her, smiling. "Should be able to go home in a day or two."

              "Thank God," she whispered. "Can I talk to you for a minute, in private?" she asked, her hand still placed conspicuously on her neck, unsure of exactly what Eliza was referring to, but thinking it must be pretty noticeable.

"Sure," he said, putting the chart on the counter, and leading her into an empty exam room nearby. "How are you?"

Cadence could hear the genuine concern in his voice, and it made her extremely uncomfortable. She shook her head, unsure exactly how to answer. She thought for a moment before saying, "It's going to take some time--a long time--to even begin to move on from this."

              He sat down on the edge of the examining table, and she stepped forward, but not too close. "I'm so sorry," he said, staring at the floor. "If only those helicopters would have left when I gave the order. If we had gotten there earlier..."

              "There are lots of things that could have gone differently, and Elliott would still be here, but the bottom line is he's gone, and there's nothing we can do about that. But I wanted to thank you for everything you've done. You've been incredible tonight. You saved Jamie's life, you led us to Camilla, you got the rest of the team out safely. Cale, I can't tell you how much we appreciate everything you and your team have done."

              The verbiage wasn't lost on him, and he looked up at her. "We?" he asked.

              Cadence crossed her arms. "I'm so sorry. There's no easy way for me to say this, Cale, but... I love him."

              "He loves you, too, by the looks of it," he remarked, his voice full of disappointment, with a tint of anger.

              She placed her hand on her neck again. "Listen, I could say some canned bullshit about how I know you'll meet someone, but of course you will--you're hot as hell, one of the kindest people I've ever met, and you're a doctor. The bottom line is, you deserve to be with someone who loves you with her whole heart. And as much as I wanted to do that, I couldn't."

              "I see," he said, folding his arms across his chest and returning his gaze to the floor.

              Cadence was carefully choosing her next response when there was a loud crash from the reception area. The sound of metal and the rippling noise of what sounded like thousands of pieces of paper fluttering to the floor made them both jump up and head out the door.

"You can't remove me!" Eliza was screaming at Aaron, who was calmly standing a few feet away from her. A twisted metal filing cabinet lay on its side behind him, papers strewn about the reception area, some still floating down from the ceiling. Apparently, she had thrown it at him and missed. The frightened middle-aged human woman behind the desk was cowering in the corner, trying to get as far away from Eliza as possible.

              She continued her rant, pushing a stack of files off of the desk onto the floor. "When I'm done with you, you won't even be the Leader any more!" she screamed.

              Cadence ran into the small waiting area, Cale behind her, a look of disgust on his face at seeing the mess she was making. Aaron gestured for both of them to stay back. "She's tearing up my office!" Cale exclaimed.

              Aaron nodded. "I know. She's going to put everything back though, just as soon as she's done."

"The hell I am!" she spat. She looked around, as if she was trying to decide what she should tear up next.

              "Yes, you will, because otherwise, not only am I removing you from your position, I'll reassign you to some place you'll find revolting, like Somalia, or Slovakia. And I'll make sure to take back all of the clothes and other personal items you've been purchasing on your company account," Aaron explained, his voice as calm as ever.

              She looked as if she were about to burst into tears. "I hate you!" she screamed, crossing her arms, as if necessary to keep from knocking anything else over.

"Thank God," he remarked, turning to walk down the hallway towards the patients' rooms.