Madison

She saw it happen behind his eyes. The sudden decision to speak. He was taking her humor as a sign that Madison wanted to have a discussion about what had happened.

Please say something.

There was nothing she liked less than an uncomfortable, awkward situation. Which is exactly what they were in right now.

She wasn’t upset about having slept with him. Wasn’t mad, angry, frustrated, or disappointed. The sex had been good.

Damn good, actually. Probably the best you’ve ever had, be honest.

Okay, so it had been better than good. Mind-blowing, was perhaps another way to put it. It wasn’t the sex that was bothering her. It was him. Kean himself. She couldn’t figure him out.

Did he actually care for her? It seemed that way. She recalled the way he’d come flying to her side during their fight with the Institute guards. His reaction hadn’t been borne out of duty or any sense of requirement. No, it had been borne of fear. Fear for her safety and well-being. His eyes had blazed with protectiveness when he’d first reached her side.

But when she’d told him she was going to drive the ATV, he’d recognized the logic and let her go. He was protective, but not overprotective, willing to let her do what was necessary, to continue being her. That was a rare character trait, not something a lot of men had. Madison was well aware of that after…recent events.

All in all, she was completely and thoroughly confused. She’d heard his brothers taunting him about falling in love the night before. She had listened to them describe his actions, and it had made her wonder if perhaps he was feeling the same with her? Maddy just didn’t know.

But if they were to speak, to talk it all over, to put everything out in the open, she could finally discover how he felt, and to vocalize how she felt. Clearly they could discuss whatever was happening, and without any miscommunication. It would be ideal.

“What are you feeling for dinner?”

So much for putting everything out into the open.

You could still do it. Bring it up. Just ask. Talk to him. I know it sounds crazy, but you can do it.

“Don’t judge me, but a burger with bacon, mustard not ketchup, extra pickle, and no tomato.” She paused, thinking. “Oh, and regular fries doused in vinegar.”

Smooth. Very adult of you.

Okay, so maybe she wasn’t as confident in her skills as a part of her seemed to think. There would be time later to address things with Kean. To figure out if what they felt between each other was something stronger and long lasting, or just a fleeting bedroom romp.

With more time I’ll have had a longer chance to evaluate on just how I feel about this as well. I’ll have a better idea if I truly do care for him.

Yeah. That made sense. She was going to go with that route.

“What about you?” she asked, adjusting her clothing until it sat comfortably on her body.

“Actually, that sounds delicious,” he said, his brown eyes evaluating her. “Except for mustard. Replace that with ketchup like a real person, and we’ve got a deal.”

The relief in his voice was palpable as she went along with his topic change and didn’t call him out. Kean was just as happy not to talk about the goings-on between them as she was.

“I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that,” she tossed over her shoulder, walking toward the door.

“Say what? That anyone who prefers mustard over ketchup is crazy?”

“Exactly.”

Kean snorted.

“Come on, slowpoke,” she urged. “Let’s go. Can you make contact with the others from here?”

The shifter shook his head slightly at her sudden question. “What?”

“Your brothers. Can you call them in, tell them to meet us here?”

He frowned. “Um, yeah, sure, I guess. But why?”

“Because we need to start formulating our plan on busting Raven out of that facility?” she asked, as if the answer should have been obvious.

Kean barked a laugh.

“What?”

“We’re not going in there after him,” he told her. “It won’t work.”

Madison frowned as he finally walked over to the door and started putting on his boots. “What the hell do you mean it won’t work?” she asked, ire building at his casual dismissal of the idea.

“Literally just that. It won’t work,” he said. “I’m not being hasty,” he said as she turned to face him square on, her hands moving to her hips as she prepared to tell him they weren’t going to just abandon Raven. “I’ve thought about this.”

“You have?” she asked skeptically.

“Absolutely.” He pulled open the door and gestured her through. “My brothers and I, we’re good at a lot of things. We could assault that place, sure. But we’d never succeed.”

“Admitting defeat already?” she taunted.

“No, being smart and tactical,” he returned, his tone indicating he didn’t appreciate her jab. “Look, we could go after them, the five of us. We’d take them by surprise, and a lot of their men would go down. There’s no questioning that. My brothers are really, really good at that sort of thing.” He shrugged as she slipped past him outside.

“So it can’t be done?”

She walked over to the SUV and unlocked it, sliding into the driver’s seat as he got in next to her.

“Not by us,” he confirmed. “To get in there, you need subtlety. Finesse. Quick thinking and the ability to adapt on the fly. Not our specialty,” he admitted. “That’s your job.”

Madison considered his words. “You have given this some thought.”

“I told you I would help you get your agent back,” he said as they pulled out of the parking lot. “I meant it when I said that.”

“I’m sorry,” she said, chagrined at the muted reprimand.

“It’s fine. You’ll just need someone skilled at stealth and that sort of thing. Someone who complements you.”

Madison nodded, following the logic. “Who is the best of you at that?”

Kean thought for a moment. “Probably Gavin. He’s always skulking about, very un-shifter like. But he still won’t make it work.”

“He won’t?” Madison was beginning to feel like a broken record with the constant questions.

“No. Just because he’s the best of us at it, doesn’t mean he still isn’t going to be like a bull in a china shop. He might be a little lighter on his toes, and make it down the first aisle, but he’s still going to end up smashing something, which will hit something else, and then before you know it row after row of product is all toppling over into each other like a chain reaction.”

Madison actually turned her head away from the road to regard Kean. “You have thought about this, haven’t you?” she asked.

Kean laughed. “Maybe just a bit.” Then he slammed his hand off his forehead. “I’m such an idiot!”

“What?” she asked, taking her foot off the gas, looking around to see what was wrong.

“I’ve been going about this all wrong,” he said with a laugh. “I think, Maddy, I think I have an idea on how to make this work.”

“That’s awesome!” she exclaimed. “But I’m still in the dark.”

“We have someone who is exactly what you need,” he explained. “The only thing is, she’s not a shifter.”

“She? You mean Mila?” she asked, understanding flooding through her.

“Yes!” he crowed. “It’s perfect, actually. You’re the suave, smooth-talker, the one skilled at espionage and such. She’s a trained fighter, good in a tricky situation, that sort of thing, but also has done some stealth missions.” He laughed. “You should ask her about the way she first came across me and my brothers. That was one hell of a stealth mission. Taking us out of a prison deep in shifter territory while the rest of the base around us was mobilizing to go to war.”

“She’s all that?” Madison asked, surprised. “I had thought she was just another Institute lackey.”

Kean shook his head. “Apparently she was the head of their strike team based out of that facility. A pretty bad-ass chick according to Pierce, though how much of that is just him bragging about his mate, I’m not sure.” He seemed pensive for a moment. “Though she did display some pretty slick moves in helping us escape the Institute after we got captured. So maybe it’s not all exaggeration. Anyway,” he continued, “she’s the person for the job.”

“Just the two of us?” Madison’s lower lip curled under as she thought about it. “That’s…not a lot of firepower.”

“Nah, that’s where me and my brothers come in handy,” Kean said, a cold, unpleasant smile on his face. “It’ll be up to us to wreak enough havoc to bring the guards down upon us, while you sneak in undetected and get Raven out of there.”

She glanced over at him as his voice dropped several octaves, all the warmth flowing out of it.

“Are you okay with that?” she asked, not sure what had caused the mood swing.

“I accept it,” he said quietly. “But I don’t really find that I like the idea. Oh sure, beating up some Institute thugs is fun, and I’m game. But I’m going to have to do that and make sure Kassian and Maximus don’t do anything stupid.”

“Like what?” she asked nervously.

“Like kill someone.”