Page 7 of Playing with Fire

I almost laughed. He'd nearly died, and he was worried about my security. As if I cared about anything but the pulse beneath my fingers, the warmth of his breath against my chest, the way he fit against me like he was made to be there. Physical things could always be replaced, but the thought of Leo's eyes never looking at me again, of his voice never saying my name… That was a loss I couldn't contemplate.

"We'll rebuild it," I said, my fingers still tangled in his hair. "Better. Stronger. And you're coming home with me tonight."

It wasn't a request or a suggestion. It was a statement of fact, because I couldn't bear the thought of him anywhere I couldn't see him, couldn't touch him, couldn't protect him. The fear that had gripped me when I saw his message was still there, coiled like a snake around my spine, whispering that even now he wasn't safe. That someone could take him from me at any moment.

Leo pulled back just enough to look up at me. "If I'm not safe in a compound full of armed mercenaries..."

"You're not winning this argument. Someone just tried to burn you alive. You really think I'm letting you out of my sight?" The words came out harsher than intended, but I couldn't soften them. I needed him to realize how serious I was.

"He’s got a point," Xion said, taking a long drag of his cigarette. "Whole compound's compromised. Ain't safe till we know what we're dealing with."

I nodded a brief greeting to my triplet brother, who nodded back.

Leo's fingers tightened on my jacket. "But my computers, my models..." His voice cracked, and something in my chest cracked with it. "Everything's gone."

"And you're alive." My hands tightened on his shoulders. "That's all that matters. The rest is just stuff. We'll replace it."

I'd buy him a thousand computers, a million anime figures, anything to ease the loss I saw in his eyes. I'd give him the world if he asked for it. Or burn it down. Whichever he preferred.

Through the smoke, I could see other Junkyard Dogs starting to gather their shell-shocked neighbors, organizing sleeping arrangements and spare clothes. The compound taking care of its own. But they couldn't protect Leo the way I could. No one understood the precise nature of this threat like I did. No one else would go to the lengths I would to keep him safe.

"Get whatever survived," I said. "We're leaving in five."

Leo opened his mouth like he might argue again, then closed it. Smart boy. He knew me well enough to recognize when I wouldn't be moved. Instead, he clutched his laptop bag closer and looked toward the burning wreckage of his home.

"I need to check on Wattson," he said quietly.

"Doc's crashing with us," Xion said, lighting a fresh cigarette from the butt of his old one. "Already got Boone setting up the spare bedroom. Ain't letting our medic sleep in his truck."

Something in Leo's shoulders relaxed at that. Of course he'd been worried about his roommate. Leo worried about everyone except himself. It was one of the many things that made him so different from me, so necessary to my life. Where I saw tools and assets, he saw people. Where I calculated survival odds, he felt empathy. He was my moral compass even when he didn't know it, the voice in the back of my head asking what Leo would think of my choices.

"Five minutes," I reminded him, letting my hands fall from his shoulders. The loss of contact felt wrong. "Get what you need. Nothing that can't be replaced."

He nodded and moved toward the wreckage, where Boone was coordinating the firefighting effort. I watched him go, the fire painting his skin in shades of gold. His shirt hung loose on his frame, making him look younger and more vulnerable than his twenty-six years.

"You're so fucking obvious it hurts," Xion said, blowing smoke into the night air. "Just kiss him already."

"Shut up, Ten."

"Make me, X." He grinned around his cigarette, using the nickname I hated. "But seriously, you show up here like the fucking cavalry, manhandle him like he's your property, and think nobody notices?"

I turned to face my brother, letting some of the darkness show in my eyes. The mask I wore for Leo slipped, revealing the predator beneath. "Someone tried to kill him."

"Yeah, and you're taking it real personal for someone who's just a friend." He held up his hands as I growled. "Hey, I get it. You think I don't remember what it was like with Boone? Wanting something so bad you can't think straight, but being too scared to mess it up?"

"I'm not scared of anything." The lie tasted bitter on my tongue. I was scared of losing Leo. Scared of him seeing the monster beneath my carefully constructed facade. Scared that if he knew what I really was, what I was really capable of, he'd run. And I wasn't sure I'd be able to let him.

Xion's laugh was rough and knowing. "Right. That's why you're literally forcing him to come home with you instead of just asking him out like a normal person."

"I'm not forcing him to do shit," I pointed out. "It's not like he doesn't want to."

I'd seen the way he looked at me when he thought I wasn't watching. The way his pupils dilated when I used that specific tone of voice. The way his breathing changed when I stood too close. Leo wanted me sexually, a reality I'd come to terms with months ago. I recognized his desire with the same clinical detachment I'd use to analyze any other emotional response. His wanting wasn't a problem. I could work with it, channel it, use it to bind him closer. The fact that I couldn't reciprocate that specific hunger didn't matter. If I had to, I could fake it if it’d keep him close to me. I’d fuck him if I had to, if that was what it took to keep him close. I certainly wasn’t going to allow anyone else to do it. If Leo needed something—anything—I wanted him to get it from me. That included his orgasms. I just had to figure out how to rectify that with my own needs, something I hadn’t quite managed yet.

Xion took a long drag of his cigarette, looking at me like I was the dumbest thing he'd seen since that guy who tried to steal catalytic converters from the compound last month. "Right. Because 'you're coming with me' sounds real fucking optional."

"He needs somewhere safe to stay."

"Uh huh." Xion flicked ash into the darkness. "And your bedroom is the only safe place in three counties. Not like we got a whole compound of armed mercs or nothing."

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