***
Kean leapt from bed as the morning light washed over him.
“Today is going to be a good day,” he told himself, falling to the floor and waking himself up with a quick set of fifty push-ups.
Then he did fifty low-and-slow squats, to bring his legs into the equation. Five minutes of stretching followed, and by the time he had done all that, he was wide awake, feeling great, and ready to face the day.
He moved quietly out of his room and to the kitchen, hoping not to disturb anyone.
“Hi.”
Kean jumped in surprise as Madison greeted him.
“Did you even go to sleep?” he asked in disbelief. She was in the exact same spot as the night before.
“I’m not a robot,” she replied. “I passed out not long after you. It’s not my fault you sleep in.”
Kean looked over at the clock. “Pretty sure that first number is a six. When it’s a six, you can’t really accuse anyone of sleeping in.”
“I can when it starts with a five when I wake up.”
Kean just growled at her and fixed himself a bowl of cereal with milk. The colorful little O-shaped bits tasted delightful, even if they were just pure sugar. He honestly didn’t care. If something was good, he ate it.
“Those look good, can I have some?” she asked.
“Help yourself,” he replied between mouthfuls.
Madison gave him one of her patented glares, but she refused to move, instead turning back to the computer.
“Are you like this with everyone?” he asked, getting up and making her a bowl as well. Maybe food would un-cranky her, he thought.
She sighed suddenly and sat back from the computer. “I need to focus, Kean. Which means you need to focus. We have a mission.”
He stared at her. “Seriously? It’s quarter after six in the morning and you’re still on about focusing on the mission?”
“Of course,” she snapped.
“Cool. Um, what am I supposed to focus on? Who was taken? Raven, cool, what kind of person is she? What was she doing? Why might she have been taken? Who might have taken her? Where might they have taken her? What’s on the USB stick that would tell you? Why is it taking you so long to read it all?”
Madison stared at him.
“I can see in the dark, Madison,” he ground out. “But only when there’s something to see. Right now you’ve got me in a pitch-black room, with all the walls, floors and ceiling painted black as well. There is literally nothing to see unless you trust me some more.”
Her thin, slightly arched eyebrows narrowed as he spoke.
“I don’t trust easily,” was her only response.
Kean sighed.
“Okay, have fun working on your computer,” he replied, done arguing for the moment.
“Thank you,” she said, and bent back to her work, typing away.
Kean just ignored her, finishing his bowl of cereal. Still hungry, he dumped some more cereal in, and then tilted the milk jug over to coat it liberally in milk.
“FUCK!”
He jumped. The jug jumped. Milk splashed all over the cereal, the table, and him. Kean sat still, belatedly remembering to put the jug upright before it emptied everywhere.
“This had better be good,” he rumbled angrily, his temper rising as the cold milk soaked through his clothing.
Madison glanced over at him. “Oh, Kean. Damn, I’m sorry. Was that because of me?”
His forehead wrinkled as his eyebrows rose. “No, I just had a random seizure at the same moment you yelled loudly for no reason. Said seizure was definitely the reason for covering myself in milk, a pastime which I admittedly do enjoy, although I was not prepared for it this morning.” He frowned. “It’s a little cold.”
Her eyes focused on his chest, and he saw mirth blossom on her face. “Yes, I can tell it’s a little cold,” she giggled.
Kean almost snapped at her, but the genuine tone to her laughter stopped him. He didn’t want to ruin a good laugh. Those were key to life, and he encouraged them as often as he could.
“Yeah, enjoying the sight?” he teased. “I promise you, shrinkage is a real thing, not something to make fun of.”
Madison’s jaw dropped open at the blatant sexual comment, but she was still smiling. Kean could feel his hard nipples pressing through the drenched cotton of his shirt.
“Sorry,” she said. “I honestly didn’t mean to. I’m just stressed.”
He pulled his shirt off and used it to mop up some of the milk, ignoring the way Madison’s voice died in her throat as he did. He also tried to ignore the answering reaction from between his legs at the idea that she might be enjoying looking at him shirtless.
“I know,” he said as he dropped the shirt and moved behind her, his hands finding her shoulders and gently squeezing.
“What are you doing?” she asked, trying to brush him off.
This time Kean didn’t stop. He continued to press his fingers into her shoulders and neck, finding the tense spots and slowly working away at them, trying to release the muscles as best he could.
“Kean, listen,” Madison tried again, but he just hushed her down.
“Relax,” he told her. “I’m being good.”
She fell into silence, her head slowly drooping forward as he continued to work on her. The touch of her skin under him was driving him nuts. He wanted nothing more than to work his way down her back, across her sides and everywhere else, exploring every inch of her body, touching it with his fingers. Or his lips. Yes, he could do that too. That would be nice.
Madison sighed and seemed to melt at last, her shoulders slumping away as she at last let him truly work on her. Kean purposely kept a tight grasp on himself, ensuring that he didn’t do a single thing to make her think he was trying to seduce her.
Not that he wouldn’t mind. Her porcelain skin was slowly turning a soft rosy color as he worked on it. Idly he wondered if the rest of her would do the same.
“There’s a stupid timer on it,” she complained quietly.
“A timer on what?” he asked, moving his hands to her neck, gently working the muscles on either side of her spine there as well.
Madison shivered and inhaled somewhat sharply, though she didn’t tell him to stop.
“The data,” she replied after a long pause. “Raven put a time-lock on it. It won’t even let me try to access it for another twenty-five hours.”
He frowned. “Why would she not make it accessible until tomorrow?”
“Raven is a guy,” Madison said absently as he dug his thumb in gently to a particularly tense area.
“Oh, my apologies,” he said.
“I just hope he’s okay,” she said, and suddenly Kean understood.
Madison was worried about her family. One of her agents, the team that she worked with, had gone missing, presumably at the hands of some Institute goons. They weren’t shifters, like him and his brothers, who the Institute would want to keep alive. No, they were just pesky humans. Kean hadn’t even thought of that. He’d just assumed that this Raven person was alive but being held captive somewhere. Now he realized it was just as likely that they were dead in a ditch somewhere. And Madison had no idea.
“I’m here to help you,” he told her. “But you have to let me in a bit more.”
She started to speak, but he gently pressed a finger to her lips, silencing her. Kean wasn’t done speaking.
“Not yet,” he said, reaching forward to take her hand, careful not to push his fingers between hers. He didn’t want to scare her off. “Come on,” he said, making it clear that it wasn’t an option.
Madison hesitated, but he tugged on her once more and she came along, rising from the chair as he pulled her gently toward the door.
“Where are we going?” she protested as he pushed her boots toward her.
“You said you can’t access the data till tomorrow, right?”
“Right,” she said warily.
“That means for the rest of today, you’re mine.”
“I’m yours?”
He simply arched an eyebrow. “Yes. So right now we’re going to do something else relaxing, which includes getting you out of this place,” he said.
“Kean, I need to work at this,” she protested.
“Madison,” he told her sternly. “There is nothing more you can do. You said so yourself. It’s time-locked until tomorrow morning.”
There was no reply, so he nudged her boots once more. Relenting, she put them on and followed him outside.
“Where are we going?”
“For a walk,” he announced, taking her hand without thinking and guiding her toward one of the trails.