Page 72 of Guarded from Treachery

“I’m clean,” I reply. “The doctor ran all sorts of tests when I was trying to figure out… And it’s been a long time. Well over a year.”

“So am I. We all get tested. And—” He blushes. “It’s been more than a year for me, too. But still. I should have used something.”

My fingers trace along the scar by his ribcage. “It’s okay if you don’t. I’ve never… with anyone before. But with you? I liked it.”

“Oh.” A smile curves his lips. “Okay. And I’ve never been with someone like this before, either.”

My heart swells as joy blossoms inside me.

“Do you need anything?” Matt asks. “Are you hungry? Thirsty? I’ll get up in a second to clean up. And then I can get you anything you want.”

“This is perfect.” And it is. Not that I don’t want to do the rest of Matt’s date, but lying here like this, still joined, is the best feeling I can remember.

“Okay.” Matt hugs me closer. “Right here works for me.”

But eventually he has to get up so we don’t make a mess. Once we’re both cleaned up, he helps me into the new robe and settles me onto his lap. As I trace the little scar again, I ask, “How did this happen? If you don’t mind me asking?”

He hesitates. A shadow moves across his face. But then he says, “It was from an explosion. On one of our ops. I can’t give you the details, but we ended up trapped in a building rigged with explosives. Dante and Erik were there, and some of the other guys in my battalion. Nolan. Enzo. Tyler. And Jeff.”

“You don’t have to talk about it. It’s okay.”

“No, it’s fine.” Matt kisses my forehead. “I want you to know. We were trying to figure out the safest way out. But all the options were risky—we’d end up exposing ourselves or chance setting off a bomb. Jeff was one of our HAZMAT guys, and he thought he could disarm one of the bombs blocking our exit. Nolan was our captain, and he didn’t like the idea, but he trusted Jeff to try.”

A sick feeling fills my stomach. “And?”

“The bomb went off. Jeff was injured so badly, he couldn’t be saved. Tyler, another of my teammates, lost part of his leg. And Erik suffered a traumatic brain injury. He lost some of his vision. That’s why he left the Army.”

“Oh.” My chest aches for Matt having to see that, and for Erik, who’s become a close friend. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Matt brushes my hair behind my ear. “Well. It’s not okay. Obviously. But I’ve come to accept it. I separated from the Army after that, once my contract was up. So did Dante. It was hard being there without Jeff and Tyler and Erik. But I ended up here. So I can’t be unhappy about that.”

“Well.” I trace the blade and twin arrows on his chest. “I’m really glad you’re here, too.”

His gaze softens. “So am I.”

We stare at each other for a minute or an hour, our eyes sharing things we have yet to express. And I feel myself falling for him even more than I was already.

Not just falling. I think I’m already there.

Finally, Matt breaks the loaded silence hanging between us. “I should get the food heated up. You must be starving.” Then he touches my bump. “And little Eagle is probably hungry, too.”

I grin at him. “Dove might like to eat.”

He grins back. “Are you ever going to find out for certain, or do you want to be surprised?”

“Surprised, I think. But maybe we should take bets.”

“Maybe.” Matt lifts me off his lap and sets me onto the couch. Then he gets up and walks towards the kitchen area, his bare butt on full display. Which ismorethan okay with me. “I’m still putting my money on Eagle, though.”

Giggling, I reply, “I’m still saying Dove.”

“I guess we’ll see.” Matt glances over his shoulder with a teasing smile. “But don’t be mad when it turns out I’m right. When I was a kid, I always had these feelings, like when we were going to have a snow day. Or if we?—”

But he’s interrupted by a shrill tone sounding from his phone. Not an incoming text or phone call, but like an alarm of some kind.

Matt stops mid-step. His shoulders rise. Then he makes an about-face and heads back to the couch, where his phone is vibrating on the coffee table beside it. “Sorry, Isles. I have to check this.”

My pulse skitters at his solemn expression.

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