Chapter 2

Dalton

With a lot of convincing to get the medics to allow me to be there, here I was, sitting in the back of an ambulance with who I suspected was Hussy, the cyber ghost I’d set Brycen to tracking in his spare time over the last year.

Her name: Devolin Payton Taylor. At least that’s what the ID in her bag said when I managed to sneak a look at it after the paramedics had located it. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’d faked her own identity, seeing as she seemed hell-bent on remaining anonymous.

Leaning forward onto my knees, I peered at the woman splayed out onto the gurney before me. Out cold.

Morgan had told me that Hussy looked panicked when she first opened the door to the woman. Then she’d collapsed and Theo had called 911. Morgan rushed to get me a cold cloth, and I’d been left with an unconscious woman. Her head rested in my lap, as I tried to decipher what her few short words meant, and why she’d chosen now to show herself.

Devolin whimpered in her sleep, causing me to reach out and grab the hand closest to me. Her very tiny, dainty, exceptionally soft hand.

My eyes trailed up from her digits, her arm, her shoulder, the delicate neck that held a thrumming but steady pulse, to her face. Her license said she had green eyes, but I wondered if they’d shimmer like emeralds, taper closer to the hazel side of things, or would be bright like aquamarines. Beyond that, her lips were full, dark pink, almost rosy, reminding me of bubble gum. A fleeting curiosity of if she’d taste as such washed over me, but I shrugged it off. It was her hair that had me begging to set it free and run my fingers through it. It was a deep auburn, with streaks of darker reddish hues mixed in. Her skin was pale, but I knew, with the small line of freckles over the bridge of her cute nose, that her complexion wasn’t that much darker when she wasn’t ill, as she seemed to be now.

What the fuck is the matter with you? Scolding myself internally for waxing poetic about an unconscious woman, one I’d had a past with, yet had never met before. I bowed my head, trying to devise a plan of action, now that I had bullied my way into being by her side.

Devolin

I woke up in what looked like the back of an ambulance, my hand clutched in a firm and warm grasp.

Allowing my head to drop sideways, I found myself looking at Dalton, who sat beside me. His head was bent forward. He was leaning onto his knees, one of them bouncing out of what I surmised was anxiety. I can only imagine what went through his, Theo’s, and Morgan’s heads when here I had shown up out of nowhere, and then before I could explain anything, I pulled a Sleeping Beauty maneuver on their asses. That thought had me rolling my eyes, cringing internally.

Dalton had yet to notice that I’d woken up, so I took the opportunity for a more thorough perusal of the unguarded man before me while I had it.

His dark brown, almost black hair was due for a cut, slightly falling over his eyes. I wondered how it would feel between my fingers if I were to brush it away. Dalton had a chiseled jaw with a slight square shape, full lips, strong and masculine features that guaranteed him to look mean one minute, yet soft when the time called. His nose had a slight bend to it, most likely from combat, as with the small scar on the side of his right cheek, by his hairline. I could only assume since I’d been unable to access most but not all of his service records. He looked infinitely better in person than in any of the photos I’d dug up. Trust me, I’d searched those babies out, if only to indulge in my insane obsession over a man I’ve never met, but had spoken with once.

Damn!

Dalton must have sensed that I was conscious for his head shot up and his steel grey eyes connected with mine. “You’re awake.” The silk of his voice ran over me, goosebumps exploding on my skin, making me withdraw my hand from his so I wouldn’t give myself, or my reaction to him, away.

Double damn! Wait; was that my voice? Embarrassment filled me as a grin broke over his face, solidifying the fact that I had spoken aloud. But that look though… Had I felt anywhere close to one-hundred-percent, that look on his face would have melted my panties. I’m sure of it.

As it was, my mouth had gone dry, my tongue feeling as if it had tripled in size. “Uh.”

“If you’re going to look, I’d rather you be doing it while I can watch.” His grin transformed into a smile.

My mouth opened for a rebuttal to his bold statement, then closed because words evaded me.

Light danced in the man’s eyes. “The jig is up, Huss.” His words were filled with pride. “Or should I say Devolin Payton Taylor?”

“How’d?” He patted my hand then twined his fingers through mine, setting off another set of goosebumps, but I knew how he found out. “You went through my stuff.”

He followed his curt nod with, “How are you feeling?”

I tried to pry my hand from his like before, but he didn’t give this time. “Where’s my bag? I—I need to show you something.”

“I asked you a question, Devolin.”

I pulled at my hand again. Stuck. “Just let me—”

Instead of the gentle tone he’d led with, this time, his words brokered no argument. All alpha-like. “Don’t. Brush. Me. Off, Devolin.”

“But—” My words ceased halfway out of my mouth as his lips formed a thin line in warning, his hand squeezing mine as an added measure.

I tried to lift my head, but collapsed back onto the stretcher’s pillow as the nausea and dizziness, that had been absent since my waking, set in again. For the first time today, I started to really worry. This was all too reminiscent. Closing my eyes, I begged. Please don’t let it be back. I can’t deal with this right now.

“What is it?”

My eyes snapped open. The paramedics had to have given me drugs or something. It could be the only reason why I couldn’t keep my thoughts to myself.

Dalton leaned closer, the squeeze on my hand a gentle one. “What’s back? What’s the matter? Come on, Dev, talk to me.”

He couldn’t know. I didn’t want him to know. I was there simply because I felt responsible in warning him, to keep him and his team at NSI safe. I should have known that exploring my connection with Dalton couldn’t lead to… And what was it that I wanted it to lead to? A happily ever after? I snorted at the thought then averted his questing gaze by turning my head to look up at the ambulance’s ceiling. No, there would be none of that romance book nonsense for me. If I was having a relapse of some kind, this solidified why I had to push him away. I was best off making sure he had what he needed for that case of his; then disappearing from his life like I’d done the first go around.

Impatience clearly showing, Dalton groaned, “Devolin.”

I closed my eyes, soaking in the warmth growing inside me, all due to the sound of his voice. Trying to breathe away my nausea, I silently prayed he’d say my name again. “You smell good. Like soap, mint, and man,” I whispered.

“Devolin.” He sounded humored.

I chose to ignore him, until I felt his other hand cupping my cheek. Then I couldn’t.

Before I could react, deflect, possibly shove my foot in my mouth further, “Sir, we’re at the hospital,” came from one of the medics at the front of the vehicle. “We need you to clear out.” The back door to the ambulance opened with the other attendant standing there.

“Wait!” I cried out as Dalton began to back out of the rig. “My bag!”

“What is it with you and that bag?” the man grumbled, and then lifted the messenger satchel to show me that it had been with us all along.

“Take it. There are things on the thumb drives that you need to see.” The medics proceeded to unload my stretcher from the rig as Dalton stood at my side. “It’s about the Wentworth case.”

His body stiffened, eyes narrowing on me. “How do you know about that?” he clipped.

I wasn’t about to apologize for doing what was right, even if he made me feel like a scolded child just then.

Showing my stubbornness, I jutted my chin up and said, “It doesn’t matter. You need to do it right away.” I’d be damned if something happened to him, or a member of his team, when I’d been the one to put them in this mess, all thanks to a personal connection.

“Fine. I’ll get Brycen to meet me here, then you can show us what you’ve got when the doctor gives you the all clear.”

“No!” Being around him was the last thing I needed. Hell, if working together on that one mission had caused me to lose my head about him, I feared what working with him and his team in person would do. “Just take it. Take the laptops and the thumb drives, too. There’s more stuff on those. Brycen will know what to do with it. You won’t need me. Just leave me my wallet. It’s all I need that’s in there.”

The man got right in my face, anger, or was it exasperation, emanating from him. It caused me to jerk back into the stretcher’s cushions. “You’re not getting away from me this time, Devolin,” he snapped, his nostrils flaring.

“That’s not—”

“You two can do this later,” the driver stated. “Miss Taylor, we need to get you back to your room and checked out.”

“What?”

Ignoring Dalton’s outburst, the medics wheeled me toward the hospital entrance.