Under His Guard (20 page)

“Really?” He breathed in wonder. He pushed onto his side, once more tangling long limbs with mine.

“You've got no idea what you do to me. And I love it.” I ran my fingertips along the hollow of Leon's cheek. He glowed with my praise. “There's not a single dirty speck on your spirit, angel.”

He hummed, lowering his face to my neck.

I drew my hand down his back to grasp his ass in a firm hold. There was one more thing we had to cover before heading off to la-la land. “You're not to fuck anyone but me ever again.”

That might not have been the smartest move. Leon reeled up and snapped, “As long as we're throwin' out edicts, same goes for you.”

“Won't be a problem.”

“For me, either.”

“Good.”

“Bien.”
He resettled himself with me as the cushion for his body.

“And you let me take care of your every need from now on,” I tacked on just as Leon relaxed.

“And if I say I'm fully capable of takin' care of myself?”

I snagged his chin and kissed his lips. “You'll let me do it anyway because you love me and you're a generous person.”

“Hmph.”
In a shy whisper, he said, “I wanna take care of you, too.”

“Oh, you will.”

“D'ac.”

Duck
meant
okay. Good.

“Tell me you love me again,” I whispered against his ear, thrilling when little chills rose on his skin.

“
Je t'aime. Je t'aime.
” Each time he said the words that joined us together, he kissed me with soft pecks. “I love you,
cher
.”

With the covers drawn over us, I hugged him tightly.

“Am I allowed to sleep now,
monsieur
?” he asked with a large yawn and a twinkle in his eyes.

I suddenly felt bad about haranguing him. Not enough to stop from adding, “Only with me. Every night. In my arms.”

W
hen I woke up, Leon was right where he was supposed to be, safely nestled against me. I must've slept for a long time, because bright sunbeams slanted into the room. I watched him for a while, measuring his breaths, his little snuffles. Pushing the hair from his face, I kissed him every so often, trying not to wake him. Everything was so new and fragile; I took the time to appreciate him in my arms.

Finally easing out of bed, I had a thorough cleanup. After checking on Leon one last time, I headed downstairs. The smell of food cooking hastened my steps.

Nathaniel manned a frying pan over the fireplace. I took a seat at the long wooden table next to Cannon, who watched his man with the usual unwavering attention.

Liz pushed a cup of coffee at me. “Good afternoon, sunshine.”

I blew across the piping-hot black liquid and tried to dial back my smile. Cannon inched away from me on the bench so he could get a good look at me, then nodded with a grin of his own.

Nathaniel and Linc did the cooking, serving up plates of fish and some kind of creamy, grainy mush. During the next ten minutes, the only sounds heard were grunts of approval, forks scraping plates, and coffee being gulped and refilled.

It was only when Cannon got up to clear the table and Nathaniel joined him across the room that I felt all eyes turn to me.

“He's good. Leon's fine. He's sleeping.”

Liz folded her hands on the table. “How good? And I'm not talking about the sex this time.”

“We need to know if he's solid in his head, Darke. Or should we put him on…?” Linc left his thought unfinished.

“We talked. I may have bribed him with my own life-and-death scenario if he ever succeeded in hurting himself.” I leaned back and folded my arms across my chest. “He doesn't need to be on a suicide watch.”

“You're sure?” Nathaniel asked.

“Yes. But that doesn't mean he's not all fucked up in his head about this shit, you know?”

“I think we're all a little fucked up in the head about what might happen to him, man.” When Cannon's gaze pierced mine, the dark brown of his irises glistened before he closed his eyes. “Seeing that, seeing him like that last night…” He clasped his hand over his mouth.

“I know.” My voice was rough.

Cannon looked up, weaving his fingers through Nathaniel's. “My lover, Alejandro, was caught and killed by the Company five years ago. He…” Cannon chewed on his upper lip, letting his head fall back. “They hanged him in front of a huge crowd in Epsilon. Made a whole event out of it. I was there.”

“Jesus Christ.” Liz reached out to grab his free hand. She pressed it to her face. “I never knew. All those trips to Epsilon?”

“I went to see him. No one knew. I only ever told Blondie.” He searched his husband's face before putting an arm around him. “I've been there, Darke, so if you need to talk, come find me.”

I walked to him and clasped his hand. “I appreciate that. And I'm sorry for your loss.”

Cannon peeked over at Nathaniel before lifting his palm to kiss the heart of it. “Jesus. Yeah. I'm sorry I brought that up.”

“Don't be. I only wish you hadn't gone through that.” Nathaniel kissed him on his mouth, earning a red blush Liz cackled over.

“Okay, uh, so…” Cannon stuttered.

“I told Leon I love him.” I filled in the gap before I even realized my mouth was moving.

“No shit?” He wheeled back toward me.

A grin stole across my face. “No shit.” Then I laughed, and damn, that felt good for a change.

Their voices swelled as everyone began talking over one another. I couldn't make out the specifics, but the message was clear: the usual ribbing mixed with a healthy dose of pure happiness.

When everyone settled down, Linc asked, “So, Darke. You want the good news or the bad news?”

“The bad.”

Elbowing my ribs, Liz said, “Always did peg you for a morbid SOB, when you're not being all lovey-dovey and shit.”

“Nice. Your man lets you kiss him with that mouth?”

She waggled her eyebrows in Linc's direction. “That's not all he lets me do with it.”

Linc flushed pink from his neck to his hairline and cleared his throat. “The bad news is Raine's not so mysteriously missing.”

“Surprise, surprise,” Cannon muttered.

“Who's on it?”

“Darwin went out with Bas and Farrow,” Nathaniel reported. With the sun shining in behind him in this stone cavern kitchen, his blond hair glowed and the earring at the peak of his ear picked up the light.

“Is it safe for them?”

“Let's face it. It's not exactly safe for any of us.” Cannon scratched irritably at the stubble shading his jawline.

“So we wait. What's the good news?”

Nathaniel rummaged in his pack, retrieving a bigger D-P than the handheld devices we carried. He set it up in the middle of the table, the one-dimensional tablet going 3-D and upright at the scan of his thumb.

“We watched this earlier. The Voice put together a little promo of his own following yesterday's events.”

“Does anyone else think the Voice is a lame name?” Liz leaned one elbow on the table while Nathaniel fiddled with his fancy gear.

“Here, here.” Cannon winked.

“Really. He
or
she—we don't know for sure—could at least have put a little spin on it when
the Voice
started to get popular. I mean—”

“Lizbeth?” Blondie smoothly cut in.

“What?”

“I'm tryin' to work here.” He scrolled back through the incoming data and the day's notification history.

“You know, that's the same thing I tell your brother when I'm—”

Linc hauled her onto his lap and clamped a hand over her mouth.

“It's on.”

Everyone became serious as the Voice began his broadcast.

“The CEO tried to drive the Revolutionary leaders out into the open today by forcing them to do something that went against their honor. He grows impatient. The fact is CEO Cutler is the one killing us, not the rebel angels of mercy.”

“I think this Voice has a hard-on for us,” Cannon said in a wry tone.

“The fact
is
his ploy backfired. Here are the scenes from all around the world. The aftermath of Cutler's threats.”

The triple-sided screen burst into vibrant life with events I watched in openmouthed wonder.

Shehu and his warriors along with a hundreds-strong battalion of Omega Corps infiltrated the Omega Quad. Executives, soldiers, medical officers stood down. We saw similar action take place in Territories across the world, the names of Kappa in Central Europa, Sigma in the Southern Americas, and Zeta in the Siberian frozen land running across the bottom of the D-P monitor as they fell to the rebel army.

I blinked at the screen, unsure if what I was seeing was real.

The best part came next and—holy hell—I jumped off my seat and plastered my face to the D-P to get a closer look because retaliation of this magnitude was sweet.

“The Company's getting shut down, shut out, locked up. You, the citizens and Reformed Corps combined with the Revolutionaries and Freelanders, are standing up! Pushing back! Changing our world!”

Triumph on this massive scale was so much more effective than the invasive Plague Cutler was ready to unleash. Citizens all over the world, on every continent, throughout all the lands, were shown celebrating. Not running scared, not hiding in their gray government houses, not hunched over and shuffling along to their next workhorse assignment. Then the scene zoomed out to show six squares, each from a different Territory. In every one, all at once, red ribbons lifted to the sky. They flew on the wind like the raised voices we listened to:
Live in Freedom! Love at Will!

“I'll be goddamned.” I plunked into my chair and shook my head, overcome by emotion. “How many Territories are left?”

“Eight,” Liz answered.

“And Cutler?” I asked as Nathaniel turned off the D-P.

“On the run, in a hole—who knows?” Cannon tapped his fingers restlessly on the table.

“I don't think Father was ever here. It's not his scene.” Linc pushed back from the table. “Not enough amenities.”

“Or a big enough population to brainwash,” his twin added with a twist of his lips.

“So Denver sent us on a wild-goose chase with Raine as well as Cutler.”

Placing both palms on the arms of his chair, Linc met my stare. “And he'll get his comeuppance, too.”

“Darke?” Leon's throaty voice called from up above.

I hit my feet before my coffee cup clattered to the table. Smirks were plastered on every single puss in the room.

I pointed my finger at them. “We stay put today.” That was another one of my edicts.

“Aye-aye, Captain.” Cannon saluted. Wiseass.

“Good to have you back in the saddle.” Nathaniel sucked in his cheeks to stifle his grin.

“That's what Leon said.” Liz just couldn't help herself.

“One last thing.” I turned at the threshold. “What'd you do with the rope?”

“How do you think I started the fire?” Nathaniel gestured behind him to the big open hearth.

Although I'd made plans to use that hanging rope to hog-tie Raine, burning it was good enough.

“Go check on your man,” Linc commanded, placing a covered plate in my hand.

Leon was fresh from a shower, alert, clear-eyed. After I set the tray down beside the bed, I couldn't resist sampling his pouty lips. “How are you feeling?”

He winced as he sat down on the bed. “A little sore.”

“Aw, shit. I'm sorry. I was too rough.” I kneeled in front of him.

“Nah. I like it. I like knowin' you were in me, all the way.”

My cock plumped up. I swallowed thickly. My eyes strayed from the slow lick of his lips to the discolored purple skin encircling his throat. “How's your neck?”

“S'okay. Remind me to use a gun next time. Less hang time.” He gently fingered the bruises.

“Jesus, Leon. That is not funny.”

“I know. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you like dat.” He urged me up to the bed next to him.

“Don't. Don't say sorry again. I've got to tell you what happened yesterday.” Getting up to retrieve the food platter, I tried to distract myself from his growing apprehension.

“It's bad.”

“It's not good, that's for sure.” Guilt spread its ugly disease through me. “Here.” I handed him the plate and a fork. “Maybe you should eat something first.”

He tucked in with a hearty appetite that pleased me. Nathaniel's breakfast disappeared in a matter of minutes, leaving me with nothing but the truth to tell and no way left to stall. A frown burrowed into my forehead as I faced him.

“G'on. I can take it.”

I settled beside him. “The coordinates Raine gave us led to a field hospital on the Corps base. We had to kill a lot of people.”

“The enemy.”

“I don't think there are any enemies anymore. Just Cutler and…Raine.” My lips curled in disgust.

“He's still missing?”

“Yeah, but not for long. When we find him, I'm gonna—” I stopped myself. The need for revenge and retribution cranked up my rage.

“He din't do anything wrong.”

“The hell you say.”

“Nothin' worse than what I did.” He dropped his head.

I tilted his chin right back up, high in the air, where it belonged. “Bullshit. He used you, and I need to know why. What he did was practically murder, knowingly giving you a fake antidote. What you did? That was misguided and goddamn stupid and…At least you were trying to save others, not kill them.” I grasped his chin harder. “Not that I condone that shit. You are not to try anything like that ever again.”

“I know,” he whispered.

I released him to burrow my face in his hair. “The people yesterday, they were…like you. Not military, not the enemy. Civilians infected with a new, even more rapid strain of the Plague.”

When Leon pushed me away, I wasn't surprised. As I replayed what we'd seen and what we'd done—my voice subsiding into a gruff, hoarse tone—his eyes grew as big as the dinner plate I'd brought to him, then as empty as it was after he cleared it.

He folded his arms around his chest and sat away from me. “Why did you revive me?”

“I don't know how you can even ask that question.”

His chin notched higher. “If you can kill them, why not let me do it to myself?”

“It's not the same thing. It was ugly, Leon. What Cutler did to those people and what we had to do. But there was no choice. They were about to be sent into Omega. They were going to die in a matter of hours, only after they spread the infection.” He remained silent and I forged on. “You…you cannot kill yourself. I won't let you.”

He gave a derisive snort.

I grabbed his face. “You have to live.”

His laugh was harsh. “Just 'cause you say so?”

“That's right.”

“I'm not sure you're strong enough.” Suddenly his stony face shifted into such utter sadness, it overwhelmed me. I let his face go to bring him to me. He didn't resist.

“I assure you, I am.” I cupped the back of his head. “You are, too. You know you are. Only a powerful man could pull that shit you did yesterday. The broadcast? Standing up against what Cutler did to you? You are a hero, Leon. And I need you to be heroic for me.”

He pressed his face against my shirt.
“Couillon.”

“Cursing me again?”

“Crazy fool.”

“Crazy in love.” We reclined together. “What happened yesterday was not done lightly.”

“If it comes down to me?”

Even though I assured him it wouldn't, I had a sick feeling that was CEO Cutler's plan from the start.