With a groan, he hit the steps, still cradling her.
She struggled out of his arms. “Your shirt’s on fire.” She slapped at him.
At that moment, he didn’t care. His vision was blurry, his hearing was off, and pain was an all-over throb. He didn’t care about any of it. They were alive, maybe a bit singed, but nothing a medscope couldn’t fix.
Xenia’s face was streaked with black, her eyes were red and watering, and her hair had been ripped free of its tie. It fell around her face in a tangled mess.
He’d never seen anything more beautiful.
“Axton, focus.” She shook him a little. “What’s my name?”
“I don’t remember. Do I know you?”
She gave him a light smack on his arm. “I think you’re fine.”
“I know who you are. Xenia Alexander. The most beautiful CenSec I’ve ever seen.”
Now she cupped his face. “You’re covered in soot and charred skin. You need a medscope.”
He plucked at the burned ruins of his shirt. There wasn’t much left to cover his back and chest. And what was there—he touched a raw burn on his chest and winced—was stuck to his skin. “You have to help me heal this. If my private physician sees it—” Axton shuddered. “The man is evil.”
“Come on.” She held out a hand. “I’ll get you home and healed. Right after I call in a CenSec team to put out the fire downstairs and do a sweep of the building for any more traps.”
Xenia pressed a palm to the lock beside the door. Her eyes glowed neon green as she interfaced with it. Seconds later, it gave a beep and opened.
They stepped back into the warehouse.
She slid an arm under his shoulder. “Let’s go.”
He didn’t need any help, but he leaned on her anyway. He liked the feel of her too much. “We smell like smoke.”
“Yeah, we need to get cleaned up and get that medscope on you.”
“I have one at home.” The slim devices were expensive and could heal any small-to-medium-sized wounds.
“Great.” She glanced up at him. Her eyes back to their regular cobalt blue. “And we need to get that Sync charged.”
“Yes.” Creator, he’d almost forgotten about the map.
Xenia cleared her throat. “Then I plan to let you get me naked and show me those fun, dirty things you promised me.” She sent him a smile that was somehow shy and wicked at the same time.
Axton stumbled, his mind going blank.
Then all kinds of images flared to brilliant life in his head. “Come on.” He grabbed her hand. “Transport. Now.”
Wow.Axton’s house was amazing.
Xenia pulled the transport to a stop and stared up at the three-story home, not far from the Capitol Building. It looked like cubes of synth-glass stacked on top of each other. They were coated with something so you couldn’t see in, but she bet you got a good view of the city from the inside.
She lived in the Centax Security Compound, and while her apartment wasn’t small, it was nothing like this.
He led her up to the door. She eyed the raw, red burn on his back and winced.
“Did the team make it to the warehouse?” he asked.
“Yes.” She’d called Xander and arranged a CenSec team. “He’ll let me know if they find anything. He told me my priority was seeing you get to a medscope.”
Axton pressed his palm to the bio-lock on the polished metal front door. “I have a couple of other priorities.”
