Mercury Striking (The Scorpius Syndrome #1)(74)

She blinked. “We, ah, didn’t use protection last night.”

He stopped breathing. Holy fuck. He’d totally forgotten in the urgency of the night. In fact, he wasn’t even sure they had more condoms. “Um, are you—”

She sighed. “Cycle-wise, I’m probably just fine. But we both got lost, and that can’t happen again.”

“Agreed.” He’d cut off his head before bringing a kid into this world. “I’m sorry.”

She shrugged. “We’re safe, Jax. I know that I’m just the one here. In your bed.”

He lifted his chin. She thought she was interchangeable? Man, she really didn’t understand what had happened to him last night. He might not be able to put it into words, but he figured she was a helluva lot smarter than he was and could work it out. “You’re just the one here?” he repeated.

She closed her eyes, snuggling farther into the covers. “It could have been anyone,” she murmured.

He barked out a laugh, loud enough that her eyelids flew open. “No, Lynne.” If he had time, he’d get back into bed and make her eat those words. Something to look forward to doing later. “There’s only you. From day one, the second you marched into my camp, there’s only been you.” Hell. It was her before he even knew of her. He turned on his heel and left the room, rather enjoying the surprise on her pretty face.

Or was that panic?

Lynne finished bandaging Raze’s ripped rib cage as he sat like a statue in the headquarters infirmary with full morning sun streaming inside. The bleached gloves made her skin ache, but she didn’t complain. “That’s better. Next time you get cut, you get it cleaned and bandaged right away.” She bit her lip. “You can’t afford an infection, Raze.” Sitting back, she met his dark gaze. His eyes were so blue they appeared to glow. “Got it?”

He reached for the ripped T-shirt next to him on the bench. “Thanks.”

“Sure.” She squinted to better study the striations of the bruise beneath his eye. “Looks like you took the butt of a gun to the face.”

“Foot. One of the Twenty members had some training.” Raze slid off the bench.

Lynne stepped back. Her stomach rumbled from the overcooked oats she and Sami had eaten for breakfast hours ago. She’d been feeling off all day, and she needed coffee. Something warm before she finished here and returned to her documents. She shivered. “I’d suggest ice, but we don’t have any.”

“You okay?” Raze asked.

Lynne blinked. “Um, yeah.” Had the super-silent soldier just asked about her well-being? “What does Raze stand for, anyway?” she blurted out.

He grinned, and a shocking dimple appeared in his left cheek for the briefest of moments. “Razor.” Turning on a combat boot, he started for the door.

Interesting. Lynne turned to the last patient, a thirtysomething man with a perfectly shaped brown goatee.

He held up a hand. “Don’t fucking come near me. I want Tace.”

She faltered. Man. She’d forgotten. For the entire morning, her head had been filled with Jax Mercury, and she’d forgotten her freaky blue heart. “Okay. Tace will be with you in a minute.”

“You shouldn’t be here,” the guy spat out, stepping toward her. “Blue-hearted whore.”

Without even a wisp of sound, Raze suddenly stood between Lynne and the man. “Go inner territory to the main hospital,” Raze said, looking down. Way down.

“I need a bandage,” the guy whined, stepping back.

“Too bad. Go. To. The. Hospital.” Raze’s back filled Lynne’s vision, but if his face looked half as scary as his low voice sounded, she’d be running.

The guy stomped off, shoulders down, anger in his wake.

Raze turned. “You good?”

“Fine.” Her voice shook, and she cleared her throat. “Thanks.”

“Welcome.” Raze turned and left.

Tace glanced up from across the room. “You have a friend.”

And several enemies. Lynne forced a grin and moved to clean up the cluttered counter. “Raze does talk my ear off.”

Tace frowned and then his face cleared. “Funny.” He finished stitching a soldier’s arm and slapped on a bandage. “Stay out of firefights, Buck.”

The soldier nodded, dressed, and hustled from the room.

“I made a joke, too,” Tace muttered.

“It was funny.” Lynne threw bandages in the garbage and turned to view the medic. “You feeling, well, anything?”

He shrugged. “Not really. Is the president really a Ripper?”

Lynne gaped. “Jax told you?”

“We had a meeting this morning—Jax and his inner lieutenants. With Wyatt gone, that just left Sami, Raze, and me. Looks like Raze is part of the inner circle now. Besides Jax, he’s the only one who really knows his way around weapons.” Tace shrugged. “Jax told us the entire story about the president and about your finding another lab called Myriad.”

Lynne’s chin rose. She would’ve liked to have been at the meeting, considering her ass was on the line. Her chest ached. “What did Jax decide?”

“He hasn’t decided about the president, I don’t think, but he’s going to lead a mission to Myriad for the records tomorrow morning, which gives us today to plan as well as recuperate a little bit.” Tace stood and winced. “You strong enough to shove a shoulder back into place?”