Page 11 of Breaking Into Love

Chapter Seven

I must have dozed. Actually, it appeared Webb and I both had. Tor had slipped away at some point, leaving us to snuggle in the bed. I managed to unwrap Webb’s arm from my waist and slide out. He rumbled a little but settled back down without waking.

I reached for Tor’s shirt again and slipped it back on. I’d need to use the personal cleansing unit soon, but honestly, I enjoyed the smells that lingered in the air and on my skin. It was sex and Webb and Tor. It lit up my olfactory senses and made me feel infinitely alive.

I padded out of the room on bare feet and headed down the hallway. The door to the control room was open, and Tor, wearing only his trunks again, sat behind a bank of monitors, his gaze scanning over the data. I knew he was aware of my presence when he lifted his hand and waved his fingers at me to come to him.

“What are you doing?” I asked as I reached his side.

He turned his head, and his lips tipped up as he took in the sight of me. Perhaps, he enjoyed my disheveled appearance and the fact I was once again wearing his shirt.

“Sleep well?”

“I did, thanks. Webb’s still sleeping,” I replied.

“He was restless last night.” Tor said and rolled his shoulders, making me wonder if Tor had slept either. He tumbled me onto his lap, and I gasped at the suddenness of it. “Thank you for forgiving him.”

I eased up from my ungraceful sprawl until I sat sideways across his thighs. “He’s very…alpha.”

Tor grinned. “That he is.”

“What about you? Does he always take the more…aggressive role in the bedroom?”

Tor smiled again. “Webb likes to give orders. No, that’s not accurate. He needs to. He needs to be in control.”

I wasn’t sure if he’d share with me, but I couldn’t stop myself from asking anyway. “Why?”

“You’ll find out eventually,” he murmured, and though I highly doubted it, I chose not to argue. “Webb didn’t have the best of childhoods. His mom was kidnapped while they were visiting his grandparents.”

“Holy Nova,” I whispered.

“His dad did everything he could to find her, but she was taken into the Fifth Quadrant, and once you’re taken in there, it’s far too easy to become lost. In essence, Webb lost both his parents when she was taken. He was shuffled all over, from one family member to another, while his dad searched. Some wanted him. Some didn’t. Thing is…Webb had no control over it. It didn’t matter what he wanted. Now, he likes to have control. I’m good with that.”

He loved Webb. He might not have said the words, but what he’d shared spoke volumes. It also told me why they always took on the cases no one else wanted, why they risked their lives to go after victims others had written off. Webb’s father had spent his life searching for the mother Webb had lost. Webb had learned at his father’s heels.

My heart ached for the boy he’d been, and I understood so much more about the man he was. It also gave me greater insight into Tor. It took a special man to put the needs of others before his own.

“What about you? What was your childhood like?”

“Six sisters,” he said, grinning again. “All married and giving my parents more grandchildren than they know what to do with.”

“Do you see them?”

“When I get the chance,” Tor assured me. “My mom likes to fuss over Webb. I swear he had hair before he met my family.”

I grinned. “Six sisters would be a lot to take.”

“You should know Webb and I read about your background when we were told to pick you up. I’m sorry you lost your parents in the influenza epidemic.”

“I was one of the lucky ones, actually,” I admitted. “There were three of us, all born on the same day, Emma, Soph and me. Soph and I lost both of ours. Emma lost her mom. Her dad, Lieutenant Certze took over the care of all of us. Believe me when I say I wanted for nothing as a child.”

“So what made you pick intelligence?” he asked.

“I never had the infatuation with Enforcers the way Emma and Soph did.”

Tor snorted, and I smacked him on the shoulder.

“They wanted to be Enforcers from the time we were little girls. I was the one with my head always in a book. Lieutenant Certze would give me puzzles to figure out. I think I caught him by surprise with how quickly I’d complete them. He started giving me more and more complicated ones. One day, I was given some tests. Command wanted to take me for training, but he wouldn’t let them. He said I’d stay with Emma and Soph, and any training I needed he would be happy to oversee. I knew then I was slated for intelligence.”

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