The Vanishing Girl (17 page)

Reluctantly Caden nodded. “I see your point. I still think the government has a logical explanation for their actions, but I’ll keep a more open mind about Adrian.”

It wasn’t the response I wanted, but I’d take it.

After dinner that
evening, I spent two hours sparring with Caden, just as I had most nights since I arrived. Now that I was also practicing my shot with him, our evenings were spent training together.

Tonight we’d sacrificed working on my aim for an extended amount of close combat training. I had spent most of tonight’s practice honing my form and noticing the subtle physical cues of my opponent.

But now we were wrapping up with a match. I threw first my right then my left fist at Caden. When he blocked those, I retreated. He followed me, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet.

From the way his body dipped and his muscles tensed, I could tell he was about to throw a punch of his own. I used my left arm to block the blow before it could land and threw an underhand punch to his gut. As he caught his breath I swiped his legs from underneath him. His body smacked the mat, and I heard the rest of the air in his lungs whoosh out.

I was finally getting good at this.

He struggled to get up, so rather than push him back down, I straddled him. “I finally got you just where I want you.” I flashed him a wicked smile, thinking about all the naughty things we did the last time I’d straddled him.

He wheezed, still catching his breath. “Have I ever told you … I kind of have a thing for girls in blue foam helmets?”

The edges of my mouth curled up and I gave him a quick kiss. I pushed myself to my feet and helped Caden to his.

“Great job princess,” he said as he stood up.

“Thanks
—
I learned from the best,” I said as I took off my helmet.

“No really. You beat me at sparring, and I have five years of training under my belt. You beat a trained opponent.”

Now I was listening.

“Do you know what that means?” he asked, his gaze intense.

“Um, … I get a naked hug?”

He smiled at my comment, but his expression didn’t change. “You can hold your own during a mission. You don’t have to rely on anyone else to get you out of a sticky situation.”

His words sunk in. I could defend myself. I still had a lot to learn, but I allowed myself to feel some momentary satisfaction.

My mood quickly turned grim. The facility had equipped me to forcefully handle threats. They had created and enabled a monster.

The problem with monsters was that they couldn’t be trusted.

We put away
the equipment and walked out of the gym holding hands. My heart fluttered from the skin on skin contact, which only made me want more of Caden.

“So,” I said casually, “I was thinking we could visit the lake
—
you know, to celebrate the fact that I’m a lethal weapon.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Trying to collect on that naked hug?”

“Stop reading me like a book.” The simple truth was that I just wanted to spend as much time as I could with him.

He laughed and pulled me to him. “I think someone likes me.”

My heart pounded quickly in my chest. Unfortunately for the both of us, it was so much more than that.

Chapter 26

When we arrived
at the lake, the stars twinkled brightly above us. Caden dropped the backpack he’d brought with him and pulled out a blanket and a thermos.

“Hot chocolate,” he said, passing the container to me.

I set down the flashlight I held to take the thermos from him. “I think I just fell in love with you all over again,” I said. The moment the words were out, I froze.

Caden’s head shot up, and his sharp gaze focused on me. “What did you just say?”

I shook my head, glad that he couldn’t see the flush creeping up my cheeks. Seconds ticked by, and all I could hear were the sounds of distant crickets and frogs.

Pine needles snapped as Caden came over to me. The moon and the dim glow of the flashlight were all that illuminated his face as he took my hand. “Please,” he said, squeezing it.

Adrenaline surged through me and my pulse spiked. I felt like a trapped animal. Survival was what I was good at
—
blending in, fleeing, fighting, and flirting my way out of trouble.

But I wasn’t good at this. Not by a long shot. My feelings for Caden felt like just another secret that, once revealed, could then be used against me.

I gazed up at him. Even in the dim light his eyes shined. He’d peeled away all the layers he wore around others
—
for me. I could do the same for him.

“I love you.” I whispered the words, and again they were followed by that same unnerving silence.

His eyes moved between mine. “Say it again.”

“I love you.” I shifted my weight, but I didn’t look away. Those three simple words made me feel both vulnerable and powerful.

A smile lit up his entire face, and those endearing dimples pressed into his cheeks. “I love you too,” he said, his voice light. As if it were simple.

And then he leaned in and kissed me. Caden’s lips were the only thing soft about him, but even they lost their softness as the kiss turned from something sweet to something more demanding.

His hands found my waist and they tightened before gliding up my ribcage, pushing my shirt up with it. He tugged the piece of clothing over my head, barely dropping it before he reached a hand around my torso and unsnapped my bra.

Caden broke off the kiss long enough to pick me up and gently place me on the blanket. He tugged his own shirt off, and in the pale moonlight the hard planes of his chest were cast in shades of blue.

His body pressed into me as he lowered himself. I closed my eyes briefly to relish the sensation of his chest coming into contact with mine. My hands skimmed up along his abs. Unlike my smooth skin, his had dips and rises where his scars and muscles stretched his skin taut.

He watched me as I memorized the feel of him, the moonlight reflecting off of his eyes. “We’re so fucking screwed,” he said, shaking his head. His voice was low and hushed.

I paused briefly, my eyes moving away from his defined pecs to his face. “I know,” I whispered. And I did know. Sooner or later something would happen to one of us; the whole thing would unravel. And if this was what love felt like, then I couldn’t even begin to imagine what loss felt like.

My hands trailed lower, until my fingers hit the edges of his jeans. I unhooked the button and unzipped them, tugging them off of him. There was desperation to my movements. Loving Caden and knowing that I could lose him any day made me eager to close the distance between us.

Caden caught my hands and kissed them before letting them go so he could stand up. He slid off both his pants and his boxer briefs before he knelt in front of me.

He unzipped my pants and slid them off slowly. Then he cocked his head. “Is someone wearing my favorite pair of panties?” he asked, his dimples appearing.

I glanced down at the G-string I wore and raised my eyebrows as the realization hit me. They were the pair I’d shoved in my backpack the day he caught me.

“You remembered what they looked like?”

Caden lifted his gaze long enough to give me a heated look. “As if I could forget.” He snapped the strap of them. “I’ve had fantasies about seeing you in these since then.”

I smothered a smile. “It’s scary how good your memory and eyesight are when it comes to things that interest you.”

A wicked smile spread across his face, but all he said was, “These are definitely staying on.”

“Only if you ask politely,” I said.

He leaned forward and kissed me while his fingers brushed aside the thin material and dipped inside me. “
Please
,” he said as my breath caught.

My my muscles tensed at the sensation of being stroked from the inside. “Oh, God,
yes
,” I replied against his mouth. I’d agree to just about anything so long as he kept that up.

And then his thumb got involved in the action.

Something awfully close to a whimper came out of me as he stroked my clit. My stomach tightened at the waves of pleasure. “Jesus Caden, have a little mercy.”

He kissed the area where my jaw met my ear. “I think I want to hear you beg some more.”

Ha
—
don’t mess with a sexed-up woman. “I’m only going to say this once,” I breathed, “and then I go into death-slayer mode: get the condom on and please finish what you’ve started.”

Caden laughed against my skin, not at all bothered by the threat in my voice.

“Fine, princess. Your wish is my command.”

His skin was gone for the barest of moments
—
just long enough for him to grab and put on the condom I knew he’d packed
—
and then he lay back on top of me.

Caden lifted a leg and slid in slowly, allowing my body to adjust to him. And then just as tantalizingly slow, he pulled almost all the way out before sliding deep into me.

Now I really did whimper. And damn him, he wore the smug smile of a guy who knew just how good he was.

He readjusted himself so that he was propped up by his elbows. He watched me as he increased his tempo. “I love you,” he said, his face serious.

My eyelids fluttered. “I love you too.” Funny how those words got easier to say the more I voiced them.

“I don’t think I’m ever going to get tired of hearing that.”

“You better not,” I said, my words breathy as Caden moved in and out of me faster and faster.

I heard him chuckle against my skin.

The rhythm built up on itself and I clutched him tighter. My body shook and I cried out as my orgasm rippled through me.

His thrusts got harder and deeper until he stilled for the barest of moments. I watched his eyelids close and his perfect lips part, and then he came, his mouth curving up into a smile as he forced his eyes open.

After he finished, he lowered himself until he lay on me, his expression lazy. “If this is your idea of a naked hug, then I think I’m going to have to let you win more at sparring, princess.”

Caden had rolled
onto his back and pulled me up against him, where I laid my head on his chest. His fingers skimmed along the exposed skin of my back, tracing all those places he’d kissed just minutes ago. I breathed in the smell of pine, trying to hold onto this moment.

I let my own fingers trail over his bronze skin, feeling the puckered lines and shallow craters that made up his scars.

“Tell me something no one knows about you,” I whispered. I wanted to know this man a bit more
—
the only guy who’d ever managed to get under my skin and find his way into my heart.

I felt his chest rise and fall as he swallowed. “Are you sure you want to know that kind of secret?” he asked.

His response made me pause. Finally I said, “Yes.”

The fingers at my back moved faster, agitated. “My father was an intelligence analyst at the time of the program’s inception,” Caden said, “and my mother was a stay-at-home mom.”

I had no idea where this story was going, but it was the first time he’d spoken about his family, so I listened intently.

“My father had done a couple tours of duty, and he felt very strongly about serving his country. So when Dane Richards
—
a soldier he fought alongside with
—
told him about the Prometheus Project and its aims, he agreed to participate in any way he could.”

Caden’s voice had a bitter edge to it. “My parents had three children before me
—
all girls
—
and this was my father’s chance to have a prized son. A son that would follow in his father’s footsteps by serving his country.”

I was more surprised that Caden had three older female siblings than I was his conception. “All my parents knew was that I’d be created with the ideal qualities of a soldier. But they didn’t know about the teleportation.” Now the anger in his voice was unmistakable.

“So I grew up under my parents’ care, my father instilling in me all those qualities that he prized so much. Honor. Courage. Duty. Sacrifice. And I worshipped the ground he walked on.” Caden’s voice wavered.

“When I was thirteen, I hit puberty. My voice began to change, I grew in size and height
—
you know, normal stuff. Except one night several months after my birthday, right after I fell asleep, I disappeared. It took me a few trips to realize exactly what was happening to me. But once I figured out that I was teleporting, I told my father.”

I could see Caden’s neck working. “He didn’t believe me.” He laughed humorlessly. “I realize now that was so much better than him knowing the truth.”

He pulled me in close. “A couple months after I acquired the ability, I teleported to some guy’s farm.”

Caden’s face darkened. “I don’t know where I teleported to, but I found myself in a place where a man defends his family and property with his gun.

“The owner of this farm saw my silhouette, and he began screaming at me. I knew I was in trouble when I heard the pitch of his angry voice. Quick to violence
—
that’s what the sound told me.

“Sure enough he pulled out his shot gun, and I ran. I realize now the man must’ve seen that as a sign of my guilt. There was no warning shot. The guy aimed and fired.” My eyes widened.

“Most of the pellets missed, but some caught me on the side of the torso.” I knew the scars he was talking about
—
I’d touched them seconds ago
—
and I ran my hand over them again.

“When I returned to my bedroom, I woke up screaming. My parents ran into my room, shocked to see me lying in a pool of blood. I was rushed to the hospital, and my wounds were treated.”

“But you weren’t spliced?” I asked, interrupting him.

His fingers paused on my back. I couldn’t tell if he was surprised I knew about splicing, or if he simply forgot for a moment that I was here.

“No, I wasn’t,” he finally said.

He resumed tracing my back and picked up where his story left off. “Only once they saw my impossible injury, did my parents believe I could teleport. There was no other explanation other than teleportation
—
had I been shot in the house, they would’ve heard the gun go off, and if I’d been shot somewhere else, there would’ve been a trail of blood leading to my bed.”

Caden paused, and I thought he’d finished telling the story until he began speaking again. “As soon as my parents realized I was different, my father called up Dane. I didn’t hear the call
—
I was cooped up in a hospital bed
—
but I saw his face. He looked at me as though I were a stranger.”

Again Caden swallowed. “My dad has a black-and-white worldview. One where there are only truths and lies, people are either good or evil, and actions are either right or wrong. If you’re not one, you’re the other.

“There was no longer room for me in that belief set; I fell somewhere in between those extremes. I knew from his face that things between us would never be the same again.

“That was the last day I saw my family. Once I was discharged from the hospital, it was Dane and Debbie who picked me up.

“I haven’t seen or spoken to my father since. I’ve exchanged emails with my sisters and I’ve talked to my mother a handful of times over the phone.” The project allowed Caden to contact his loved ones; I tried to not feel bitter about that.

“But,” he continued, “my family’s made it clear that I belong to the government, not them.”

We were quiet for a long time afterwards. I traced his lips, the action making a dimple appear. “Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me,” I said softly.

His arms tightened around me. “God I’m so glad you didn’t say you were sorry,” he said. “I don’t think I could’ve handled pity.”

I squeezed him and kissed the hollow where his shoulder muscles met his neck. “I don’t pity you. I pity your father. He gave up his chance to see the kind of man you’d become.”

Next to my face Caden’s throat worked. The lightness of the evening was gone. For Caden, it had been replaced by the reminder of his father.

For me, it illustrated just how far down the rabbit hole Caden had fallen. Now I understood why Caden in particular held on so tightly to the idea that the project had altruistic aims. This facility was his family
—
they’d been the ones there for him when his biological family wasn’t.

The realization left a sour taste in my mouth. I would eventually expose the Prometheus Project for what it was, or die trying. And when that happened, it would force Caden’s hand. He’d have to pick his family
—
the facility
—
or me.

I knew how this would play out. I’d lose. It was a dichotomy after all, an either-or situation. And just as Caden didn’t fit into the ones his father created, I’m not sure he’d want to fit into mine.