Joan Undone

Chapter 29

"Aren't you curious what he wanted?"

Justus shrugs and motions for me to get up on a table that is set up with first-aid supplies and begins disinfecting the wound, his hands warm on my arm. "Not my first priority."

"We came to an agreement. An alliance!"

"Be still while I stitch this. It's too late to put you in the incubus to heal the wound. It's set."

"Come on. I know you're excited."

He looks up, and damn if my stomach doesn't flip at the intensity in his gaze. "I trust your decision, and I'm glad that you and my dad are working together. He's a good man. But my loyalty is to you, and always will be."

Alison jumps off the exam table beside me and awkwardly clears her throat. "Hey there, Nic. Your lady's back, with a shiny new scar to show off."

Justus turns away, and the warmth between us is gone. Like it should be.

"What happened with Rob and the trucks he was loading?" I ask Nic, ignoring the guilt that has made its home in my gut.

"They abandoned the trucks at a rest stop outside of Seattle," Nic says. "They were empty."

"What the hell?"

"Sun's hypothesis is that Crew's disturbances today were for our benefit," Nic says. "Another layer of distraction so you could break Jo out of the clinic."

Remembering Crew's broken expression last night, I know Sun is right.

"So I can relax for a minute?"

The wariness in Nic's eyes recedes. "Yeah, baby, you can."

I wince at Nic's endearment, but he's busy helping me off the table, so hopefully he doesn't notice. I let him lead me to the bunks, which are almost all full. But my favorite spot, the bottom bunk beneath Harriet's, is open. I don't even bother to change my clothes before sliding beneath the sheets.

Nic looks down at me, and I hold the sheet up so he can crawl in. "Keep me warm?"

Nic looks back toward the door, as if he might say no, but then he climbs in beside me. I curl on my side, and he tucks me in close to him. He buries his face in my hair and breathes in.

"You scared the holy hell out of me. Alison said you might have gotten hurt, then you disappeared, and it was seven minutes till you texted Harriet. Seven minutes!"

"Nic?"

"Hmm?"

"Shh."

And I breathe Nic in, too, because he is here, like he always is. His smell relaxes something tense inside me, and I can finally fall asleep.

~ ~ ~

Nic's still beside me when I wake up. Not wanting to disturb him, I try to crawl over him, but his hands grip my waist when I'm straddling him.

"Best dream ever."

"Creep."

He pulls me down for a kiss.

"I haven't brushed my teeth yet!"

"Don't care."

Oh God, this. The warmth that slides down my body, the yearning that Nic sparks everywhere he touches.

"Oh barf," Alison moans from two bunks over, which is pretty rich coming from her, given the show she and Tupac gave Harriet when they were roommates.

"Seriously, guys, no one can sleep with those slurping sounds you're making," Elizabeth says, her voice muffled from beneath a pillow and decidedly un-queenly.