Page 31 of He is… Creed: Part Three

“Intimacy,” I say without hesitation. “I’m not sure simply spending time with him, being close to him, isn’t a trigger.”

“The process as we know it hasn’t shifted, but Creed is far more advanced than most of the GTECHs. It’s possible his body has evolved, and perhaps now the process doesn’t require the blood exchange. Maybe a few sexual encounters will do the job.”

That isn’t the answer I wanted. No sex, no lifelong bonding—there has to be an in-between. Maybe a condom but…this idea dismisses my body’s reaction to just being close to him.

Katie tucks her hands in her lab coat. “It could simply be that you’re ovulating. If you are, it’s quite possible this is simply your body responding to your mate—a natural need to reproduce.”

I study her a moment and read the room. “You don’t believe that ovulation thing for a minute. I windwalked and survived.”

“With Creed,” she says. “There is a physical bond there that, in theory, might have offered some protection.”

“Katie,” I press. “Shoot straight with me. Tell me what I need to know, not what you think will make me feel better.”

“You’ve bore the mark for two years—which I still can’t believe you kept from me, but nevertheless—Mother Nature has a way of finishing what it begins. And as I said, Creed may well have evolved in ways the others have not. There’s no denying he has skills with the wind that the other GTECHs do not. Of course, I have no idea why. He refuses to give blood. I think he’s afraid we’ll find out he’s a monster like Julian.”

“Because he’s X2 like Julian,” I say.

“Yes,” Katie agrees. “But if he didn’t turn aggressive and join the Zodius movement while he was undercover, enough time has passed that he’s not going to. And if he’d let me take his blood, maybe we’d find out he isn’t X2. Maybe the test was an error. Or maybe he has something that offsets the X2 violence. I can help him get answers if he lets me. He won’t.”

Creed doesn’t do anything he doesn’t want to do—except bond with me. I don’t want it forced on him. I’ve never liked that premise. Marriage is a choice. This is not, it seems. “If seeing each other again has somehow bypassed the blood bond, can it be stopped if we stay away from each other?”

Katie’s brow furrows. “If you don’t love him—”

“I do,” I say. “But that’s exactly why I can’t force myself on him. It’s complicated. Too complicated to get into right now.”

She considers me a moment. “If you like, tomorrow we can sit and talk. I’m here if you need me.”

“Thank you,” I say. “I’m really glad I found you again, Katie.”

“As for stopping the process, I don’t know, Addie. There’s clearly a strong, natural pull between you two. And for the record, I know he loves you, too. I can see it in his fretting over you.”

Jensen moans and rolls over, bringing another question to mind. “Why does Maddox have the healing sickness and Jensen does not?”

“I wish I knew,” Katie replies fretfully. “The more developed the GTECHs’ evolvement, the more enhanced the healing sickness. And the worse their vitamin C deficiencies as well. A good portion of the men now have to inject themselves daily with high doses of C.”

“Creed?”

“Yes. A larger dose than any of the others.”

The mark on my neck tingles, and I murmur, “Creed,” a moment before he appears in the doorway, filling it with his broad shoulders and dominant presence. Dominant. Everything about the man dominates my senses. His hair tied back, his face brushed with a light shadow of masculine stubble. He steals my breath, and while I should be angry with him for being such a jerk earlier, I’m too relieved he’s back safely to stir up the battle. There are things to say, things to understand between us, and now we have the chance. Now we’re together.

“Did you get the bullets?” I ask anxiously.

“Not only did we get them,” he says, “we put them to good use on the Zodius soldiers who’d camped out near our entrance. They’re gone. We sent them home to Julian with their tails tucked between their legs.”

“If I never see another one of those bullets in one of our men, it will be too soon,” Katie declares, rolling her chair so that she brings us both into view. “I was just going to find Addie a place to get some rest. We took some blood and hope to have some answers tomorrow.” She hesitates and then, “It would help to have a sample from you too, Creed.”

Seconds tick by, his jaw set in a hard line, his expression indecipherable, before he says, “Where do you want me?”

You can almost hear Katie’s jaw hit the ground before she jumps up to offer her chair to him, and in the process, she casts me a discreet wink. “Let me get supplies,” Katie says. “I’ll be right back.”

Obviously, Katie believes Creed’s agreement to give blood is meaningful and related to me, though I don’t know exactly why. And I can’t think right now anyway. Creed enters the room, nearing me, and my stomach flutters with his overwhelming presence.

He claims the chair, his eyes locking with mine. “How are they?”

“Maddox has been horribly sick, but it seems to have passed.”

“How are you?” he asks gently.

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