Someone claimed to have grown up on a ranch beside a family with triplets that she swore looked like younger versions of them. Someone else claimed that forty years ago, they’d seen a UFO crash nearby, and when they got to the site, there had been little kids climbing out of it. Stories like that were endless. People claimed to have seen something suspicious in a cornfield, out of their window while going through Death Valley, and while flying in an airplane.
Scrubbing my cheek, I picked up my can of Dr Pepper and took a sip before focusing on the search results on my screen. I’d left off on page four of… I didn’t even know how many.
The sound of creaking in the kitchen had me leaning over to the side to take a look.
Someone was awake.
The Defender was sitting there, hand in the air, head still propped against the pillow stuffed behind him. He spread his fingers wide before forming a fist. He was blinking slowly, the white-and-pink blanket that had been on him before pooled at his waist.
There’s no reason to be nervous. There’s no reason to be nervous.
But I was still fucking nervous.
I shut my computer and got up. “Are you okay?” I called out.
The superbeing didn’t look away. His attention was fixed on his fingers, turning them one way and then the other before sliding his gaze toward me, his expression groggy. And… grumpy?
I almost tripped.
Because I hadn’t imagined it the other night. His eyes weren’t just kind of purple; they were a pure, royal purple. Indigo maybe. In that moment, they weren’t violet like I’d thought. There was a dot of black for a pupil, but that was it. They weren’t glowing, but they were still incredible.
And the man with the most beautiful eyes I’d ever seen, settled into the most handsome face I had also ever laid eyes on, looked in my direction, blearily.
Was he out of it? Stopping right in front of the chair, I picked up the glass of water I’d refilled for him earlier and crouched.
“Are you okay?” I asked again. “You good? You… got here a few days ago,” I reminded him, watching his face carefully, trying to see his eyes. Maybe he had a concussion?
Was that possible? He couldn’t have brain damage, could he? I’d been too worried about his back to think about his head.
I didn’t think I imagined the fact that, at the sound of my voice, he blinked once and something in those crazy-colored eyes seemed to focus, to snap into place, and suddenly, I knew he was finally seeing me.
And just as quickly as I processed that, the most ferocious fucking scowl formed over that gorgeous face while I crouched there. I almost wanted to look over my shoulder to make sure there wasn’t some kind of demon behind me, but there wasn’t.
What the hell was with that expression?
There wasn’t anything on my face; I’d just seen it during my video call. Did he really not remember what happened? Had he been in so much pain?
“You asked to stay here. You said not to call anyone.” My voice came out high and shaky because I was fucking nervous.
His eyelids dropped to a sliver, and the scowl on his mouth got even deeper. His nostrils flared. My skin… why was my skin buzzing? Why did he look about ready to fucking kill someone? Was he breathing harder too?
“I didn’t kidnap you or anything, swear.” I was starting to ramble. His lip curled back just enough for me to see his canine exposed. I’m Gracie, formed on the tip of my tongue, but I changed my mind and swallowed it down. The less information, the better. Right. That was another rule I’d followed my whole life.
He growled.
I suddenly wished I had a knife on me. Not that that would stop him, or much less slow him down, but it wouldn’t make me feel so helpless when he was sitting there staring at me like I’d smashed his headlights. I swallowed hard as that pink mouth went flat and my skin tingled even more.
He was definitely breathing harder.
And he was mad at whatever he had to be mad at. It couldn’t be me. I hadn’t done shit.
The Defender’s nostrils flared again, and that gaze flicked back to a spot behind my head before he closed his eyes, so, so tight that lines formed at the corners of them. He swallowed hard. That broad chest rose and fell once, and the muscles at his cheeks flexed like he was gritting his teeth.
“You good?” I asked slowly, concerned.
He couldn’t really think I’d kidnapped him, could he? I wasn’t that dumb. I didn’t think anybody would be dumb enough to try and kidnap someone who could bat a 50 caliber round away like it was a gnat.
On the other hand, people ate laundry detergent, so…
Another shaky breath later, he spread his fingers wide again just as he opened his eyes too, that pissed-off expression still on his features.
The Defender stared at me. Hard.
I started to open my mouth again to ask if he was okay, but I shut it right back.
Those dark purple eyes moved over my face as his mouth went flat, and after a long, long glare that made my heart start beating fast, he finally flicked one of his fingers toward the glass of water I was holding.
Okay…
My hand shook as I held it out toward him.
He didn’t take it, but those eyes settled back on me heavily with what seemed an awful lot like contempt for some reason. Or maybe he was just mad at the situation and I was the lucky motherfucker to have to be around him while he calmed down? I’d never pictured myself meeting a member of the Trinity, and I sure as hell hadn’t imagined getting glared at by one of them.
It made me gulp.
Cupping my hand under his chin, I raised it and brought the glass to those pink lips. But this time, instead of the small trickle I poured so he wouldn’t choke, his throat bobbed, ready, and he drank greedily. The whole glass was gone in two big chugs.
“Want more?”
The Defender grunted, his gaze lingering on me in a way that made me even more nervous.
Could he read my mind?
I went and refilled the glass, thought about it, and grabbed the fruit salad I’d cut up that morning, keeping my mind blank the whole time. Back at his side, I held the cup as he chugged down that one too. Then I offered up the bowl.
He was still glaring.
All righty then. I speared a piece of reddish fruit with a fork and held it up to his mouth, my hand still trembling. Bright white teeth bit into the watermelon. The Defender chewed slowly, almost thoughtfully, his gaze staying where it was the entire time before briefly flicking back to the bowl. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw his fingers flex then straighten, over and over again.
I speared another piece and held it out. He took it and chewed that slowly too, eventually eating another five before whispering out an “Enough” that sounded absolutely grouchy and rough, like I was inconveniencing him or something.
I set the bowl aside and tried to be reasonable, like he was a normal stranger who needed my help and not one of the most well-known people on the planet who could also smash me like a bug when he was at his best.
Fuck me.
“So… do you… need to pee? Go number two? Want to eat something that’s not fruit or soup?” I offered, wanting to ask him if he pooped or not but figuring with that glare, this wasn’t the right moment.
Chances were, there was no perfect moment to ask him about his poo.
The man I’d watched stop a moving train made a sniffing sound and literally said one word. “Chicken.”