Page 131 of Claim Me
"Now isn’t a good time for us to talk about all of this, but I need to ask you to give me some time. I have to think everything through, okay?"
Even though he still hasn’t given me any clear sign of hope, it’s better than ‘I’ll send you back to prison if you try anything like that again.’
"Okay, I’ll wait. But let me say one thing… that kiss… I have nothing to compare it to, because I’ve never kissed anyone else, but I doubt anything could come close. It was heaven."
Blue turns away from me abruptly and walks over to the window, standing with his back to me. Did I say too much again? After a moment of silence, he speaks in a very muted voice.
"It was my first kiss too, even if it might be hard to believe at forty-two, I really never—…" He cuts himself off. His phone starts ringing.
In the meantime I’m gaping in shock, since I didn’t expect he had never… how’s that possible? Could that mean that Blue, similarly to me, istotallyinexperienced? I swallow with difficulty, feeling a strange warmth inside.
How shocking… and wonderful?
Blue glances at the screen and answers the call.
"I’m sorry to bother you again, Detective, but there’s been another attack. This time I don’t suspect Ferro. If I had to guess, NFH might have people inside the military and know about the project I developed for them. The guy looks like a hired gun."
I could eavesdrop on the conversation, alpha hearing would let me, but I don’t want to focus on that. The only thing I care about right now is for Blue to come back to me and touch me again with his gentle hand…
He talks to the detective for a while. From what I can gather, the elevators have started working again and the police are heading up.
At the same time, I begin to feel the first signs of the fighting mode wearing off. When Blue ends the call and turns back to me, I say,
"There’s a problem. In about fifteen minutes, I’m going to crash from the adrenaline after fighting mode."
"I assumed that might happen. You should go up to the penthouse and lie down."
"Blue, I can’t leave you without protection, not in a situation like this."
"I’m done for today as well. I’ll go up to the penthouse with you."
I let out a breath of relief. "Good, because I wouldn’t feel good knowing you’re down here without any security."
He looks down at the floor as if there’s something interesting there, then says,
"I appreciate how seriously you take my protection."
"I take it seriously because it needs to be taken seriously. The threat against you is very real and very dangerous."
Something like bitterness, maybe even pain, flickers across Blue’s face.
"As I said, this is the kind of life I live. I’m aware it might end brutally sooner or later, but in a way, I’ve prepared for it, and I don’t intend to go down without a fight."
"What… do you mean?"
He slowly walks up to me and brings the tips of his fingers close to my eyes.
"Do you see those thin white lines at the ends?"
Sure enough, just beneath his neatly trimmed nails there’s a faint line.
"What is that?"
"If someone gets to me, I won’t give up my life without taking theirs too."
"I don’t understand."
"I can extend artificial claws through those slits. Each one can deliver a dose of poison that works almost instantly…"
