Page 14 of Sworn to Lead

Jacob turned his head and chuckled, likely at the notion of doing something he shouldn’t with Silver as a backup. “That was his way of saying yes.”

“Awesome. You like to go fast?”

Jacob tilted his head back and let out a squeal that could only be described as pure delight.

Neo mussed his brother’s hair, a genuine smile crashing over his face. “I think that was a hell yeah.”

“Let’s do it, then.” Silver took off, weaving through the crowd right out the automatic sliding glass doors. Her breath hitched until the sound of Jacob’s laughter riding over the other noise in the airport hit her square in the chest. Parts of this move might take work. Might be out of her comfort zone, but what they were getting in return far exceeded the growing pains. Jacob was getting a family. Four brothers who would have his best interests at heart. Joker followed them at a slower pace, pulling one of the bags behind him.

“Don’t worry.” Neo placed his hand on the middle of her back, and the urge to lean into the comfort of his touch caught her off guard. “He’s in good hands. We’ll meet them out there.”

She glanced up at him. “At least let me take the bag, then.”

“Not a chance.” The way he whispered the words almost intimately made a shiver of pleasure skate down her spine.

Neo started to walk, but she reached out and grabbed his forearm. The one painted with poppies and the tribute to his friend. She half expected him to pull away, but he didn’t. “I wasn’t sure if I made the right decision to come here. Not really.” Heat began prickling her cheeks, but she continued to meet his unwavering gaze. “Until now.”

“It took a big leap of faith to come here with a man you’d just met. I won’t betray the trust you’ve so freely given. Won’t give you a reason to regret that decision. And I’m happy as hell you decided to come with us.” He bent down and pressed his lips to the top of her head. His chest rose as he inhaled like he was cataloging the scent of her hair. Their close proximity had all her nerve endings firing at once, making her dizzy and breathless. Making her want more than she should.

Chapter Nine

Neo opened his eyes and listened for what had woken him. His bedroom was still encased in darkness, and the neon blue numbers on the digital clock read two o’clock in the morning. They were at his apartment in Virginia. His friends, all but Joker, had overstayed their welcome, hanging out with Jacob on the couch, shooting the shit while he helped Brynn unpack and hook up his brother’s medical equipment. At midnight, Jacob was still thoroughly wired, but he could see the exhaustion weighing on Brynn and had kicked his buddies out.

The mattress was quiet beneath him as he sat up and slipped out from beneath his blanket. A low moan echoed through the dark. His breath stalled before his heart started racing. Calm and deadly was his usual MO, but now there were two people he cared about under his roof. He flung open his door and burst into the hallway. It took him only a moment to realize the sound was crying. Jacob’s room was first, but that’s not where the noise came from, so he bypassed it and walked straight to Brynn’s room. He opened the door without knocking, too concerned for privacy, and flipped the bedside lamp on.

“Brynn, what’s wrong?”

She sobbed again and circled into a tight ball, squeezing the stuffed seahorse he’d given her like a vise. The sheets were a tangled mess on the floor, and despite the air conditioning, a sheen of sweat coated her pale skin.

He rounded the bed and crouched down. “Hey, it’s Neo. You’re having a bad dream. Brynn?” He shook her lightly when she didn’t respond. Tears were trickling down her cheeks, and he was close enough now to see she was trembling. He swore and grabbed the sheet and blanket off the floor, tucking it around her.

“No. Stop hurting me.”

Neo froze, his insides crackling into ice. This wasn’t a bad dream, but a nightmare. And by her visceral reaction, she was reliving something she’d been through. He never took pleasure in killing, but her cries made him want to destroy whoever had hurt her. The pleas torn from her lips were excruciating, each like a sickening, physical blow.

“Brynn.” He tried rousing her again, but she just recoiled. Going against everything he had learned, he climbed into the bed behind her and pulled her against him. “It’s Neo. I’ve got you,” he whispered in her ear. “You’re in my apartment. Jacob’s in the room next to you. I won’t let anything touch you.”

She stilled before turning over and scrambling into his arms, her face pressed against his bare chest. He automatically wrapped around her, a leg over her outer thigh and his arms around her back and tucked beneath her waist.

“It’s you.” She hiccupped and went boneless against him. “You, not him. Safe when you have me,” she murmured, voice thick with sleep. On some internal level, Brynn trusted him to keep her safe. Tension built and expanded in his chest until it fractured and burst, filling him with blinding warmth and a satisfaction that he’d only experienced at the end of a successful mission.

Serving his country was no longer his only objective. Keeping Brynn and his little brother safe was a new kind of mission. Protecting them from a faceless enemy wasn’t ideal, though. Brynn would have to open up to him about her past trauma and share if the presence of a threat was still possible. For the next three hours, Brynn slept, snuggling so close she was nearly wedged beneath him. Her soft breaths played against his skin while the lavender scent of her hair enveloped him. He’d never slept with a woman overnight before. Not once in his thirty-two years on this Earth had he experienced the contentment that came with holding someone special close. No-strings-attached sex was all he ever allowed himself. He’d never had an example of a healthy relationship growing up. He didn’t want to drag someone into his dysfunction or, just as bad, let someone get close who was just like his mother. Now that he’d had Brynn tucked against him, he wasn’t sure he could go back to sleeping alone.

At five o’clock, he snuck out of her bedroom and stripped off his sleep pants, trading them for shorts. He needed to clear his head with the sweat of a long run. As he passed Jacob’s room, the sound of laughter stopped him. He knocked, then opened the door. His brother was wide awake in his bed, glancing around at the new surroundings. On a whim, Neo crossed the room to Jacob.

“What’s going on in here?” he teased. “Brynn did say you were a night owl, but you seemed to be sleeping pretty well last night.” He was rewarded with a brilliant smile. One that turned Jacob’s eyes more of a golden green.

He chuckled, his whole body heaving with the motion. Jacob’s body might be small, but his joy was infectious, and his spirit was larger than life. For the first time, he was thankful for his mother. Despite her hatred of him, one that ran so deep she refused to tell him about his brother, she was the reason he had Jacob in his life. “Wanna run with me?” He wanted time with his brother, and he’d witnessed how Jacob had been in his glory, racing through the parking lot with Silver. He moved his head so fast that Neo burst out laughing. “Okay, then.” It took him longer to change and dress Jacob than it did Brynn, but he figured he’d get the hang of things with time. He buckled Jacob into his chair and left a note for Brynn on the kitchen table. The guys would meet them at noon at the first house they were touring. They could run downtown, grab some bagels and coffee, and jog back within an hour. Brynn might even be asleep when they returned. It had been a late night for both of them, but he was used to catching sleep at odd hours and going without for days.

They took the elevator down to the first floor and stepped outside the building. The early morning air was still cool, and dew beaded over the grass, making it sparkle beneath the bright light. His shoes slapped against the pavement, and he gripped the handlebars of the wheelchair. The air got warmer as they continued to run. After a mile, Neo slowed to a brisk walk to check on Jacob. He hadn’t heard a peep out of him since the run began. He stepped out in front of the chair, and his heart swelled when Jacob’s jubilant grin came into view. He was just enjoying the ride.

Exactly an hour later, they arrived back at the apartment. He was drenched in sweat and much clearer-headed than he’d been that morning when Brynn’s warm body had been cuddled into him. When they entered the apartment, the shower was running. The image of Brynn’s body slicked with water, her dark hair dripping down her bare back, rushed into his head before he could stop it. Heat spiked low in his gut, and his cock flexed against the thin material of his running shorts. The last thing he needed was for Brynn to leave the shower to find him standing half-mast in the small hallway. Especially if she remembered how he held her throughout the night.

So much for wishful thinking. The handle on the bathroom door opened, and Brynn stepped out, wrapped in a conservative white robe. He was intimately aware of the body beneath the terry cloth material—soft, luscious, and a perfect fit against him.

“Hey, sleepyhead.” His voice was far too gritty to mistake the desire coating his words.

“Good morning.” She glanced down at the floor. “You two have good timing. I’ll make your scrambled eggs, Jacob, then we can do your breathing treatments before you start your house hunting.” She wrapped her arms around her waist.

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