Page 29 of Unchained

He chuckled. “I don’t doubt you can. But you’ve taken care of me so much already.” He pulled out an alcohol wipe and ripped open the foil. She stiffened as he dabbed it on her wound. “That sting?”

Her lips wriggled. “Yeah, a bit.” Keeping her gaze on the scenery around them, she took in the sweeping mountains. Dirt covered the desert, but the air wasn’t as warm as she’d expected. The sun touched her cheeks, and she let its healing rays clear her mind as she closed her eyes.

Brooks pulled the wipe away, and then a cool ointment touched her skin. She cracked open her eyes and studied his features. Perfectly straight nose, high cheekbones, thick, dark lashes, and finger-length hair, which was a tousled mess on his head. He filled out the black T-shirt, stretching the seams. His eyes lifted to hers. Deep baby blues danced with playfulness. “If you’re done checking me out, I’ll bandage you.”

She pulled her lips into a frown, but a smile soon tugged at the muscles. “You’re awfully full of yourself.”

“Nah. I just know interest when I see it.” He opened a bandage then placed his palm on her jaw as he steadied her.

Her nerves jumped. His hand had done a lot of damage to a lot of people. Yet his touch was delicate. The callus on the pad of his thumb caught the corner of her mouth as he smoothed the area.

The walls of her lungs stuck together, making breathing difficult. Did she deny the fact that he was interesting?

No, Cam. In the great words of Shakespeare, “The lady doth protest too much.” “It’s hard not to be interested, you know.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Because I was a lab rat and you’re not sure what I’ll do next?” His mouth twitched, but a shadow crossed his face.

She closed her hand around his forearm. “No. I’m not afraid of you.” The last part slipped over her tongue like butter on a hot skillet. If anyone needed to hear those words, it was Brooks. She moved her lip between her teeth. Careful words evaded her. “You’re a bit enigmatic. And I admire your strength.”

He peeled off the adhesive cover on the bandage and stuck it to her chin. “The strength is all thanks to Axalantheum.”

Hearing the drug’s name on his lips reminded her of seeing him in the hospital bed. So alone. So hardened, defensive, and scared. “That’s not the kind of strength I’m talking about.” She swept her thumb over his brawny flesh. A muscle in his forearm jumped beneath her touch, as if he expected an injection. “Anyone else in your position would have gone insane.”

He blinked, drew in a breath, and let it sigh through his lips. He tilted his head to the soaring sky above them. Not a cloud covered the blue backdrop. The temperature had picked up several degrees since earlier as the afternoon sun climbed higher in the sky. “You know, I never thought I’d be a free man again.” He lifted his shoulder. “Guess I’m not yet.”

“Why do you say that?”

His eyes turned to slate. “Because I won’t be free as long as they’re alive.” He crumpled up the bandage wrappers and tucked them into the medical kit before zipping the case. “Question is, how the fuck did they find me?”

She tapped her thumbs on the warm metal hood of her car. “I wondered the same. It’s possible they saw my car. I’m sure they went to my house. I don’t think they can track my cell phone—”

“Shit!” Brooks turned away from her, his hand scrubbing the back of his neck. “Shit, shit, shit!” He kicked a stone and it skittered into a cactus.

Cam jumped from the hood. “What’s the matter?”

Brooks held both hands in his hair, tugging the strands as if he wanted to rip them out by their roots. “They fucking tracked me. Like I’m a goddamn piece of property.”

Cam reached out for the car to stop her body from slumping down. Every breath kicked up a dust storm in her mouth, the dryness so overpowering she couldn’t summon even a drop of saliva. He couldn’t mean they’d tracked his person. No. No way.

He ran his fingers over the back of his neck as though he were a feral cat with fleas.

Cam bit her fingers fiercely into his bicep. “Brooks! Tell me what—”

He seized her shoulders. “You need to get it out.”

She shook her head. Alarm made her movement slow. “What are you talking about?”

“They put a microchip inside me when I arrived at the lab. I—fuck, I can’t believe I didn’t think of it. I need you to remove it.” He brought his hand to the back of his head again.

Frost pulled the skin on her back into goosebumps. He couldn’t be serious. A microchip? She’d heard of people microchipping their pets, but surely Brooks was wrong. Maybe he’d had a bad nightmare and—

She met his wild, terrified stare. She couldn’t doubt him. She’d check for the chip. Hopefully he was wrong. If he wasn’t, they didn’t have time to waste.

“I’ll do it.” He went to her nurse’s bag and yanked out a pair of sharp scissors.

She pressed a firm hand on his, stopping him. “Sit down,” she said, her voice steady.

He took her vacated spot on the hood. She ran her fingers over his flesh, poking and kneading the spot he’d indicated. “I’ll need to make an incision—”

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