Impulse, стр. 76
Just as the door opens to reveal Bedlam on the other side, Zamara cups the back of my bandaged head and plants a kiss on my lips. I gasp at the contact, and she takes the opportunity to stick her tongue in. The boss’s daughter is growing bolder. Or has she always been this way but has been holding back? I’m not entirely sure. She pulls away and pins Bedlam with a hard stare, leaving me looking at her, then at him in dumbstruck silence.
“You better treat her right,” she says, barely contained threat in her words. “Know that I’m always watching. The moment you mess up, I will be here to take her from you.”
The declaration, although flattering, falls on me like a shit ton of bricks. Staring at Zamara in that moment, standing straight with shoulders squared, I catch a glimpse of the future Boss of Terra One. She has the makings of a powerful and scary woman. The silence in the room is fraught with tension so thick I can see it in the air like a haze. It’s almost as if sparks are flying between Zamara and Bedlam. And here I am in bed unable to do or say anything. Call me useless as lines are drawn, declarations of war made. When did I suddenly become the prize? If I ever thought my life was crazy before, something tells me it’s about to get even crazier moving forward.
After giving me a wink, Zamara strides out of the room. Bedlam steps out of the way, but he never takes his eye off her. It’s as if he’s expecting her to pounce at any moment. I breathe a welcome sigh of relief the second the door closes. That girl may still be the death of me. Then I realize I’m alone with the guy I think I’m in love with. My chest tightens, and the heart monitor’s beeping jumps. It’s as if all the oxygen has left the room.
Bedlam is by my side immediately, worry in that often-serious stare of his. “Are you all right?” he asks. “Do you need a doctor?”
Not waiting for a response, he hurries to the door. I take a deep breath and say, “Bedlam, stop.” And he does, but he doesn’t turn around. I take a couple more steadying breaths until the beeping normalizes somewhat. “I’m fine.”
As if all the stress has caught up with him, he touches his forehead to the door. The strong lines of his shoulders slump as he breathes in and out. I watch him for the longest time, unable to think of the right thing to say until there’s only really one thing to say.
“Bedlam,” I whisper. The mere sound of his name comforts me. It’s odd. I’m not exactly sure how it happened. He doesn’t move from his position, so I gather my courage and say, “Bedlam, I think… I think I’m in love with you.”
In a whirl of motion that renders me dizzy, Bedlam is away from the door and gathering me in his arms. The instant my face buries against his chest and his eucalyptus scent surrounds me, I know I meant what I said. It may have sounded unsure, but there’s no mistaking how right being in his arms feels.
“I….” He pauses, choking on the rest of his words. I glide my hand to where I can feel his rapid heartbeat. If he were hooked up to the machine I am, it would be going crazy. Beeping madly. A small smile spreads across my lips, and I snuggle deeper into him. “When they told me about the stupid plan—”
I interrupt him by placing two fingers on his lips. Keeping one arm around me, he reaches up and adjusts the bandages on his face, freeing his lips. Then he takes my hand and plants the same kiss that Zamara did on my palm. Only this time, a powerful electric shock travels from the point of contact and reinvigorates my body, banishing all the aches and pains—the remnants of what I’ve been through. I shiver so hard Bedlam actually gathers the sheets around me, thinking I’m cold. I’m too happy to stop him as he nudges me to the other end of the bed and he climbs in. Once he’s flat on his back, he gathers me to him until I’m almost on top of him.
“Is this all right?” he asks against the top of my head. “Are you in any pain?”
I shake my head, rubbing my cheek on his chest. “Even if I am, I won’t tell you.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m too comfortable.”
His soft chuckle reaches into the deepest part of me, soothing, comforting. Better than any balm. I can’t ask for anything more. I sigh and allow myself to be lulled into sleep by the steady rhythm of his breathing.
“I would have gotten you out of there,” he says as my eyelids get heavier with each blink.
“I know,” I mumble.
With one hand gently rubbing up and down my arm, he uses his free hand to entwine our fingers together on top of his chest. The gauze covering him scratches my skin, reminding me of all the secrets he keeps underneath. Maybe now he’ll want to tell me about them, and in return, I will tell him about mine. We have time.
I fall asleep to the whispered words of “I love you” and the beginning of a beautiful dream.
Epilogue
Six months later….
TWO GUYS of average weight and height—easily forgettable and not worth a double take—climbed the retractable steps of a makeshift studio built out of a semi like they were soldiers about to enter a battlefield. One tucked his thumbs beneath his suspenders, eyes on the ground. The other tilted his fedora farther to the left, a pimped-out smirk