Page 66 of Coerced

He stopped walking and relaxed his arms, and I slid down his chest until we were face to face. I slid my fingers into the hair at the base of his neck as his hands locked together at the back of my thighs.

“Should I say sorry?” he asked.

“To me, or to Rome?”

“Do I need to apologize to you?” His eyebrows drew together. “Did I offend you or hurt your feelings by patting your, uh, backside?”

“I was startled, but no,” I admitted, and my cheeks burned. “No one’s ever—”

“You think I don’t know that?” The good side of his mouth quirked up.

“What about apologizing to Rome?”

“He started it!” he grumbled. Then his deep voice dropped and his whole face softened. “But I’d do it for you, angel.”

Loving this boy was so easy. Sure, dealing with his brokenness was exhausting and filled each day with stretched nerves and near tragedies, but loving him was as easy as breathing.

How he could trust enough to lovemecontinued to shock the healer in me. He shouldn’t be able to do it. After what he’d endured, and for as long as he had, he should still be hidden behind a self-protective wall. Instead, he’d stepped out from behind it months ago to tell me he liked me, knowing he risked humiliation or rejection.

What raw courage that must have taken.

“Well?” he demanded. “Should I apologize to him or not?”

“Oh, why bother? You won’t mean it.”

When I smiled, his eyes dropped to my mouth. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who wasveryaware that we’d finally started kissing.

“Can the others still see us?” I whispered.

“Who cares?”

Then his lips were on mine and, yeah, who cared?

#

Kerry

Since we were all kitted up for backpacking, Rome suggested we hike some famous trail that ran from Maine to Georgia. He said we could drive back to the mountains in a coupla hours and hike as far south as we needed or wanted to go. There were towns along the way to restock, few to no hikers would be this far north at this time of year, and there was no risk of running into human police.

Hiking in the snow wasn’t anyone’s idea of a good time, but we wanted to stay as far from people as possible. Sure, they couldn’t see our power or Diabolical creatures in their true forms, but they would notice a battle going on around them.Well, probably. They could be oblivious, not to mention fragile.

So, even though I wasn’t sure I liked him too much, I decided to take Rome’s advice. He had years more experience and formal training. Plus, Clem trusted him, so I decided I could, too.

For now, at least.

18. Wrecking Crew

Rome Aalders

When we stopped for lunch the first full day of hiking, I asked Kerry if his team had ever trained together as a fighting unit. I wasn’t trying to steal his limelight, especially not in front of his friends on their first mission, but I could think of any number of scenarios that could happen during this wilderness trek. It would be best if they were prepared for a fight.

As we ate, Jax told me about their adventures to date, starting back in October with a harpy and her gremlin horde. He described the battle with the Hellhounds, and I nodded. That was the attack I would have planned, too.

“Kerry wants to have us all practice together, but we haven’t had a chance to establish anything yet,” Jax said.

“It’s mainly me,” Kerry admitted. “I don’t know much about working with a team. Too used to being my own wrecking crew.”

I wasn’t keen on spending one-on-one time with him, but we sat down together that first evening and talked about the others’ roles. How it was important to recognize everyone played a part and how knowing everyone’s full abilities could be the difference between life and death.

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