Page 89 of The ARC Unit: Breach

“And somehow you thought that would make you look reasonable?”

“No.”

Wolf reached down and folded the webbing once, slower than usual. The black strap disappeared back against his belt, but the click of the hardware closing sounded different now.

Ugly.

“You told me that I don’t get to decide what happens to your body,” he said.

“I remember.”

“You were right.”

The room stayed quiet.

There was no softness in his voice and no attempt to move closer. If anything, he looked more controlled than before, which somehow made the admission heavier. I looked at my wrists.

“You don’t get points for figuring it out after leaving marks.”

“I know.”

“And don’t use the fucking mission as an excuse.”

“I’m not.”

I searched his eyes, waiting for the part where he explained why his anger made it acceptable.

It did not come.

My shoulder ached while the skin around my wrists still stung, but the memory that kept returning belonged to his hand at my nape. The fact that thinking about that pressure sent another warm shiver through me made me want to throw something.

I picked up the cover-up from where it had slid down my arms and pulled it closed. Wolf watched the movement without letting his eyes drop.

“We’re done,” I said.

I moved toward the door and Wolf stepped aside before I reached him. It was the first time since I had arrived at ARC that he had made room for me without forcing me to ask for it.

I hated that I noticed that too.

◆

Bear knew something was wrong before I said anything. I made it halfway down the stairs with my right arm held a little too close to my body before he looked up from the operations table and frowned.

Raven was still working through the party audio. Hawk had changed out of his field jacket and was cleaning one of his optics at the far end. Viper stood beside a monitor with a plate lookup open in front of him. Jackal had returned to the couch and was eating chips out of a bag that definitely did not belong to him.

Nobody spoke when I reached the floor and that alone told me Wolf had not come down behind me yet.

Bear set his mug aside. “What happened to your arm?”

“Nothing.”

He looked at the way I was holding it.

“Try again.”

“I pulled it.”

Bear came around the table, his expression calm enough that refusing him would have required more energy than I had.