Ruthless Game

CHAPTER 6

Kane took a deep breath and went into the room. Rose was dressed in a long shirt she’d found in the closet and was trying to clean up the floor. He could hear her softly weeping, and it nearly broke his heart. “Rose. Come here, sweetheart. This isn’t the end of the world. The baby’s going to be fine.” He injected as much firm belief as possible into his tone as he reached down to lift her to her feet.

Rose leaned into him, trembling, her arms sliding around his waist. “I’m so scared, Kane.”

“I know. But we’re in this together, and we make a great team. You were smart and provided all the right books for us. You’ve read them and I’ve skimmed them. Shouldn’t you be in bed?”

Still clinging to him, she lifted her head and met his eyes, a small, wan smile on her face. “According to the books, once my water breaks, I have to deliver, and it should speed up the procedure. Staying on my feet as long as possible should help cut down the time. I don’t want to be doing this one moment longer than I have to.”

“I’ll get the floor and then while you’re resting in between—um—you know—I’ll make something to keep the baby warm once he’s born.”

Rose didn’t let go of his solid strength. There was something about Kane, something steady and absolute and calming. He wouldn’t desert her. Her mouth was dry, her heart pounding, and she’d never been so scared in her life, but she wasn’t alone.

At first, she had to admit, she had idiot girl feelings, not wanting to look like an elephant in front of him and certainly not wanting him to see her in such a vulnerable messy situation. Okay, maybe she still did have a little of that vanity, but it was only a tiny impractical part of her; the rest of her was so happy he was with her she wanted to weep forever. “I don’t want the baby to die, Kane,” she admitted in a low voice. “Do you think I aggravated the situation by climbing on the chair?”

His fingers were soothing on the nape of her neck. It seemed every time he touched her, he brought her calm. She could fall in love with him for that alone.

“Of course not. I think you’ve been having the real thing all along, and we’re just getting to the good part. We’ll do this, Rose. You have to believe that.”

She looked up at him. Looked into his eyes, searching for—yes—there it was. This man would stand with her no matter how bad it got. She let out her breath, relaxing just a little. “I believe in you, Kane.”

“All right, let’s get this room prepared. We’ll need towels and water and especially something to keep the baby warm. Are you always so organized?” He took the old T-shirt she was using to clean the floor and crouched low to finish the job, sending her a little grin over his shoulder.

That grin made her stomach flutter. A slow, answering smile touched her mouth. “I really am glad you’re with me,” she said and had to turn away from those beautiful eyes. He was far too good-looking to ever really look at a woman like her—if the doctor hadn’t paired them.

He wrapped a hand around her bare calf, preventing her from moving away. He rubbed gently over her calf, down to the elegant rose tattoo circling her ankle and back up her calf. “What is it, Rose? Why look so sad? We’re about to have a baby.”

She closed her eyes briefly, savoring his words, the sound of his voice. What man would react like that? She’d trapped him, taken his honor, and yet he still treated her as if she mattered, as if she was someone special to him when he should despise her. She opened her mouth to tell him, but a swelling pain went from front to back, increasing in strength, holding her in its grip. She dropped one hand to his shoulder to steady herself and breathed through it, trying to imagine surfing a large wave.

Kane’s hand on her calf anchored her and kept her centered as she did her slow, even breathing. When the contraction eased, she took a deep breath and let it out and looked down at the man she was counting on to see her through this. He looked calm and steady. Her stomach settled and her heart took up a rhythmic beat.

Kane stood up, leaned down to brush a kiss on top of her head, and went out to collect the things they would need. How the hell had this happened? Rose should be safe in a hospital. He was no medic. He could sew up his own battle wounds, but this? He shook his head. This was one of those do-or-die situations, and he had no real choice. The baby was coming, and it was up to him to see Rose through it.

When she looked at him with her amazing dark eyes and told him she believed in him, he was a total goner. If he hadn’t been wrapped around her little finger before, he certainly was now. He had to make this happen, and make it as non-traumatic as possible—for both of them. He prepared the room as quickly as possible, bringing in the birthing kit with sanitized instruments as well as towels and blankets. He boiled water to sterilize it just to be safe, and then set about making a small incubator.

Rose had two more strong contractions while he was constructing the small, crude incubator, really just a box with a blanket protecting the sides and bottom, and a soft light to keep the temperature constant. Rose walked around the house with him for most of the night, stopping to breathe when the contractions came. They came more frequently and were of longer duration. Kane began to really pay attention to how long each lasted. At first he didn’t say much, just wrapped his fingers around her calf and breathed with her, but she was tiring, and the contractions reached a point where she could no longer stand. At times he traced the rose petals on her ankle, until he was familiar with each one of them.

He helped her onto the bed, where they’d laid one of the two plastic-backed sheets from the birthing kit, and arranged her in a semi-sitting position, trying to mimic the drawings in the book. Her breathing changed significantly, and after two contractions nearly on top of each other, obviously very strong, she looked up at him with wide, frightened eyes.

“I don’t know if I can do this anymore, Kane.”

He knew she was ashamed of the admission. Rose had remained stoic, which he was grateful for, but now she was on the edge of panic.

Kane pushed aside his own attack of nerves and brushed the damp hair from her face. “Remember what the book said, sweetheart. You must be in transition. This is the most difficult phase, but it won’t last long. You have to change your breathing to stay on top of the—er ...”

“Contractions,” she snapped. “Say it. Contractions. It isn’t a dirty word.”

Definitely transition. The book mentioned a woman in that particular stage might consider doing harm to her man. He should have searched the bed for weapons. He nodded his head and forced the word out. “Contractions. Of course. My mind went blank there for a moment.”

“I’m sorry.” She let her breath out; her eyes went wide, her gaze clinging to his.

He took the initiative this time, breathing in short “push out” breaths. She matched his breathing, never once looking away from him. The moment the contraction was over, he wiped her face with a cool cloth. “You’re doing great, Rose. You’re very close now.” He hoped he wasn’t full of bullshit and that his guesswork was right. He sent up a silent prayer, not that he was a praying man all that often, but certainly enough that it should count for something.

She never once screamed or cursed at him. She breathed with him, staring straight into his eyes until sometimes he thought he might be drowning in the intimacy of the moment. He hadn’t realized just how intimate something other than sex with a woman could truly be, but he actually felt closer to her than ever before. He couldn’t ever imagine forgetting these shared moments and knew, no matter the outcome, he would always treasure the way they shared faith in each other. He had thought it would be a terrible ordeal, but as bad as it was, there was something raw and beautiful about it.

She closed her eyes and lay back, looking as if she’d fallen asleep. Dawn was creeping into the room, and faint streaks of light illuminated her face. She looked exhausted but peaceful. He frowned and reached to feel her pulse. She was actually asleep. What the hell had happened to the contractions? He scrubbed his hand over his face, trying to clear the cobwebs. He felt drained himself. If he was tired, she had to be ten times more so, but to go to sleep?

He massaged the back of his neck, trying to think. Where the hell had he tossed the book? In the long hours of labor, he couldn’t remember where he’d put it. Be logical, Kane, he admonished himself. Transition, the book had said, and then what? Pushing came next. They were close. He took another deep breath and washed his hands one more time before pulling on sterile gloves. He very carefully laid out the various items from the kit, hoping when the time came, he’d know what to do.

As far as he was concerned, all that mattered was that Rose and the baby came through it alive. Damn Whitney and his games. Rose had been frightened to trust his team, and now she was stuck in a hideout, enemies watching them, and about to deliver their child. Her eyes flew open and she gasped.

“Help me to the bathroom, Kane.”

He almost did, but then he remembered what he’d read about pushing. “That’s the baby, Rose,” he said matter-of-factly. He flashed an encouraging smile. “We’re about to meet our child. You just have to help him a little more, and then he’ll be in your arms.”

“There’s so much pressure.”

“He wants out,” Kane said, keeping his voice very calm. Inside he felt every muscle tighten up, but he refused to panic. Rose needed him, and if he never had the chance to do another thing for her, he would do this.

He pulled the two chairs he had brought into the room for her to set her feet on. He wanted as much gravity as possible to help. “I know it’s uncomfortable to move, sweetheart, but this will help deliver him faster and make it easier for you to push.”

She clutched at his sleeve as he moved her into position, her eyes frightened. “I can feel her coming.” Her terrified eyes met his. “Kane.”

Just his name. That whisper. Her voice said it all. Complete trust, and how the hell had he earned that from her? Fear. Overwhelming when she’d faced down a monster like Whitney and another like Carlson.

Kane didn’t know how either of them got through the next twenty minutes. He would tell her to push, and she would bear down and try to direct her breathing down as the books had told her, but he was a little worried with the amount of blood and fluids. He should have expected it, but it was still frightening to know there was no doctor available if something went wrong.

His heart began to pound in awe as the baby’s head appeared, a thick thatch of blue black hair like his mother’s.

“I see him, Rose. He’s covered in hair.” The head disappeared again, and he waited while Rose panted. One quick flick of his eyes and he could tell she was exhausted, but he knew her now, knew she wouldn’t stop until their child was safe.

He felt pride in her, enormous respect, but most of all, a growing love he couldn’t stop. It didn’t matter that she didn’t feel the same way about him; this experience together changed his life forever.

“She’s coming,” Rose said.

“You can do this, sweetheart. Let’s get him out.”

He felt a little like a catcher at a ball game, reaching to help ease the small head out of the tight opening. “Wait, honey. Let me clean his mouth and nose.”

She panted, straining silently until he nodded, and with one more push, the baby slipped into his waiting hands. His heart stood still. Tears burned in his eyes and throat. “We have a son, Rose.” Damn, he was small. He practically fit in his hand, but he had all the right parts, and if his lungs were anything to go by, he was healthy. His little fingers curled into fists and he scrunched up his face at the indignity of being brought out into the cool air.

“Is she okay?” Rose asked, her voice portraying her anxiety.

“Look, honey,” Kane held the baby up for her to see. “I was right all along. We’ve got a son.” He placed the baby gently on her stomach. “Do you have him?” He hated to let go, but he had to deal with the cord and placenta.

Rose’s hands settled around the baby as Kane clamped off the cord and then, taking a quick breath and sending up a silent prayer, cut the lifeline between mother and child. He waited for the next contraction to help Rose push the placenta out. She was bleeding quite a bit, enough to worry him. He didn’t know what was normal and what wasn’t. She hadn’t torn. The baby was small.

He cleaned the baby as best he could and wrapped him tightly in a warm blanket. Rose had brought baby clothes, diapers, and blankets. Once again, he couldn’t help but be thankful for the way she had prepared for the birth. Rose was obviously exhausted, but she took the baby readily and held him while he washed her carefully, trying to be as sterile as possible, and replaced the plastic-backed sheet with a clean one. He added one of the large pads that had come with the birthing kit, before pulling up the covers over her shivering body.

“He’s so little, Kane.” Rose sounded awed.

“Are you crying?” He felt a little like crying himself every time he looked at the two of them. His Rose. His child. The baby looked so right in her arms.

Rose reached out and tracked down his face with gentle fingers, a small, enigmatic smile on her soft mouth. Her fingertips traced the path of tears he hadn’t even realized were on his face. He was completely overwhelmed with the sheer wonderment of the moment. Creating an actual life from their bodies seemed too big a miracle to him, now that he actually saw the evidence of their union.

Rose smiled at him, brushing away her own tears. “I’m very happy,” she murmured. “I was worried. He’s early, and yet he looks so amazing and perfect.”

“I’ve been thinking about that, Rose. I think the only thing we can do right now is to keep him as warm as possible and feed him as often as he’ll eat. Is he trying to eat yet?”

“I’m not very good at this,” she admitted. “And I don’t think he’s getting much.”

Kane moved around the bed to help her. He took the baby, cradling him protectively, while she tried to get herself into a more comfortable position. The baby felt featherlight to him. He looked down into the little scrunched-up face, and his heart expanded, his breath exploding out of lungs. His son. He’d never thought to hold his child in his arms.

“You’re a little miracle,” he whispered to the boy. “Look at this, Rose. He has fingernails. They’re so tiny you can barely notice them.” He inserted one finger into the tiny fist in order to inspect the little hands more closely.

He looked down at Rose, and their eyes met. Time seemed to stand still as they smiled at each other. He felt a little lost in happiness. It wasn’t a natural state of mind for him. He’d never thought much about being happy. He just was. He had a family, made on the streets of Chicago, but nevertheless a solid family. He loved each of his brothers and sisters and was fiercely loyal to them as they were to him, but this ... Rose. The baby. Something like this could bring a man to his knees. He didn’t want to lose her once they were back in the real world, but he had no idea how to make her stay with him. His own parents hadn’t wanted him.

“He’s beautiful, isn’t he?” Rose asked, her voice almost shy.

“Because he looks like you,” Kane agreed. “Are you strong enough to try to feed him?”

“The book said I should try right away.”

She didn’t sound too sure. Kane handed her the baby and reached behind her to adjust the pillows for her. He should have been a gentleman and given her a little space, but he couldn’t tear his eyes from the sight of her. Was there anything more beautiful? He doubted it. She cradled the baby to her, looking down at him with such love in her expression, Kane felt the welling of intense emotion all over again.

She swallowed hard and looked at him. “I want you to know, Kane, I wanted him. Never once, not one single time, did I ever contemplate an abortion. When I suspected I was pregnant, I was apprehensive because I was afraid for him, but not because I didn’t want him.”

He stroked tendrils of her hair away from her damp face. “I wanted him too, Rose. I will admit I didn’t like the way he was conceived, but I wanted you to have my baby. I know you think my attraction to you is all about Whitney pairing us together, but he can’t make me feel admiration and respect for you. He can’t control my other emotions through physical chemistry.”

“Thank you for that, Kane.” She nuzzled the baby’s mouth with her nipple.

They both held their breath while he rooted around unsuccessfully for a few minutes. Rose was patient, but he could see she was afraid he wasn’t going to take the offering. Without warning he latched on, and both of them let out a loud sigh of relief and then looked at each other and laughed softly.

“I have no idea how to be a mother, but I’m going to try, Kane,” she promised him.

“I have no doubts you’ll make a great mother, honey,” he said sincerely. “I wasn’t exactly raised with parents, but I had a few pointers from a couple of people. Between the two of us, we’ll figure it out.” Everything inside him went still, waiting for her reaction to his declaration.

Rose looked up at him, searching his face. “I don’t want you to stay with us because you think you’re supposed to, Kane. I might not look it, but I’m tough. And I’m capable of protecting him from Whitney once we get out of here.”

“I think you should know, Rose, for future reference, I rarely do anything because I’m supposed to do it. But I don’t want you to answer under false pretenses. I’m a soldier. Those in my GhostWalker unit are men and women I grew up with. We’re family and we trust one another. I know they’re coming for us. If you stand with me, they stand with you. They’ll protect you and our son just as I will.”

Her gaze shifted from his. “You worked for Whitney.”

“I was assigned to Whitney before anyone knew about the breeding program. He was already in trouble, hiding out, although he could use any military base in the world, and he was still considered to be of immense value. After the testimony of several of us, an investigation into his activities was launched. They can’t ignore what’s happening, and it’s driven him farther underground. Don’t get me wrong, he still has powerful supporters who believe in his work.”

Rose kept her eyes on the baby, her expression blank. Kane wanted to make certain she knew what she was getting into either way. He’d forced her once to do something no woman should have to do with a stranger, and he damn well was going to give her every choice he could. He wanted to make certain he disclosed everything to her.

“Sadly, there is another risk to any GhostWalker, both male and female. Now that some of us have children, I think that risk will grow, especially to the children. There’s a contingency in the White House, someone who wants us all dead. It’s no picnic I’m offering you, but those we can trust have banded together, and we look out for one another. We’re also preparing places we can defend with numerous escape routes. We’re pooling our resources to become powerful enough to stop both Whitney and the group who would like to see us all dead.”

“So you’re saying you will stay with the military in your present GhostWalker unit?”

“Yes.”

“What happens when they transfer you somewhere else?”

“Because we opted for the experiments, our contracts with the military are a bit different than normal. Without our agreement, they can’t break us up or assign us to anyone else. We try to go where we’re needed when they ask, but we have options.”

The baby appeared to have fallen asleep. She handed him back to Kane. “I don’t want him getting cold, and I’m suddenly so tired I can barely keep my arms up to hold him.”

Kane cradled his son close. “Rose, you have to know a few things about me. If you stay with me, I want a commitment. I want marriage, your word that you’ll stay and we’ll work things out. I’m not an easy man to live with, I know that. Jaimie and Rhianna tell me I’m bossy.”

She frowned at him. “Jaimie and Rhianna?”

“My sisters—of sorts. I told you about Jaimie. She’s married to Mack. Eloped.” He scowled, furious all over again that Mack and Jaimie had run off behind his back. “Rhianna’s off somewhere hush-hush, and none of us has any idea at the moment where, which will earn her a few harsh lectures when she returns home.”

A slow smile crept into her eyes. “Kane, you really are silly sometimes. You’re the kindest, most gentle man I’ve ever met. You’re not at all like you think you are.”

He knew his horror showed on his face. “Rose, you can’t think that.”

“Why not? It’s the truth.”

“Nothing could be further from the truth. I kill people, and it doesn’t keep me up at night. If another man tried to touch you in front of me, I sure as hell wouldn’t stand there smiling at him.”

Rose studied his face as he once again looked down at their son. His expression had gone from shock and horror to something very close to tenderness and love. “I wouldn’t want you to smile if another man was touching me, Kane. What are we going to call him? I don’t exactly have family names I want to give him.”

“Any ideas?”

“I thought when he was born I’d think of something, but my mind is a blank. I did put a baby name book in the pantry along with all the what-to-expect books.” She turned her head more closely into the pillows. She’d never been so exhausted in her life. She wanted to stay awake and watch him with the baby, but she couldn’t seem to keep her eyes open. “I’m tired, Kane.”

“I know, sweetheart. Let me put the baby down and check to make certain you’re not bleeding too much, and then I’ll let you go to sleep.”

She loved the sound of his voice, especially when he called her sweetheart. She could almost believe they were a normal couple thrilled to have their first child together, instead of two strangers brought together by a madman. “I’m sorry you have to do all this.”

“I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”

He sounded so sincere. That was one of the things she loved most about Kane—his honesty. He meant the things he said to people, even when they weren’t nice things. He often got the most endearing expression on his face when he looked at her, as if she confused him and he didn’t quite know what to make of her.

“You really are an exceptional man, Kane.” She couldn’t stop the words from slipping out. He was exceptional.

He bent and brushed a kiss down her face to the side of her mouth. “You clearly don’t know very many men, Rose.” He kissed her again, this time on her temple. “Which is perfectly okay with me. You did a great job, honey. Our son is beautiful. Thank God he looks like you.”

Her lashes fluttered while she tried to calm her wildly beating heart. She couldn’t let herself fall for him. She’d committed to being with him, but she didn’t want her heart involved. Hearts could break, and she was strong on her own. She had to be to survive. She knew nothing at all about relationships or family. She might be able to figure out parenting, but mostly she thought in terms of protecting her child, rather than raising him. Real feelings for Kane would be a complication. She was already infatuated with him. She told herself it was because he was the first good man she’d ever met, but she had a sneaking suspicion it was a lot more complicated than that—and maybe already too late.

“I think he looks like you,” she said. “My hair, but the rest is all you.”

“I look like a little old man?”

Her heart fluttered again at his gentle teasing. His fingers brushed at the strands of hair falling around her face, and she absorbed his touch as if starved for it—and maybe she was. She had never been cuddled or held in her life. Kane had changed all that when he’d made love to her. He hadn’t forced sex. He’d been so gentle, every touch bringing pleasure—more than physical pleasure. The contact had touched more than her body, and now she craved those small touches. She could tell he was hesitant about too much contact with her, but she wished he’d just lie down beside her and hold her in his arms.

“He doesn’t look like an old man.”

Kane laughed softly at Rose’s admonishment as he nuzzled the baby’s head. A little reluctantly, he put him in the little cubicle he’d made to keep him warm. Rose hadn’t once brought up the fact that Whitney had experimented on both of the boy’s parents, and now he carried their DNA. Whitney had altered their DNA, and there was no telling what kinds of gifts or curses the child carried. Sometimes the psychic gifts were so strong that the person needed another person—an anchor—to be able to filter out the distressing disturbances around them.

He touched the child with gentle fingers, feeling almost overwhelmed with love. How could such a little stranger steal his heart in a matter of moments? Did all parents feel this way about their child? Was it because he’d helped to bring the boy into the world right in the midst of danger? He could barely believe that he and Rose had actually created this little human being together.

He slowly undid the blanket to look down at his son’s tiny form. He was born early, yet he was fully formed and already showing signs of body strength in his physical form. He knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that his son was one of the supersoldiers Whitney was trying to create. When the child opened his sleepy eyes and looked at him, there was intelligence there. Granted, Kane had no experience with children, let alone new babies, but his gut rarely lied to him, and he had a strong feeling about the boy.

He sighed as he wrapped the boy tightly. “We won’t let him get his hands on you, son,” he promised softly. He very gently laid his hand on the boy’s head. “Your mother and I wanted you. Whatever else happens, know you were wanted by both of us.”

He felt Rose’s gaze fixed on him and turned to look into her dark eyes. Everything inside him stilled. She smiled at him, and his stomach did a slow somersault. “You’re supposed to be asleep.”

“I know.”

It was her tone of voice—soft and dreamy, almost a caress—that got to him. She looked at him as if he were her entire world. He wanted to be, but he knew she just didn’t have any experience. A man like him, without a clue of home and family, a man born to fight wars, had no right being with a woman like Rose. He wanted to be the man in her mind, that fantasy, but he wasn’t. If she committed to him, if she married him, it was forever. He wouldn’t be walking away, and neither would she. She’d had enough of being imprisoned. Was life with him going to be anything else but a prison?

He had no answers, and he turned away, shaking his head. He drew the chair to the end of the bed and slowly lifted the sheets to check her. Small blood clots worried him a bit, but he had no idea what to do. She rubbed her stomach as the book told her to do, massaging to help everything go back in place, but her efforts were weak. He changed the pad again and helped her shift enough to allow him to change the sterile pad beneath her as well. He tried to be impersonal in his touch, but his body refused to listen to his brain.

Right now, he was with her. He could help her, and he could allow himself to believe both Rose and the boy were his. He was a cynical man, a man who felt at home with a gun in his hands, yet looking at her made him dream of other things. He wanted to be the man in her life, her hero, the man who stood for her. The man she always gazed at with that look in her eyes.

He covered her and stood up, stretching. “Rose. I don’t want to go behind your back in this, but I have to leave a sign for Mack and my unit to find us. We can’t fight everyone. I can take out the two watching us, but that will tip off Whitney immediately, and we don’t know how he’s tracking you. Are you certain you removed the tracking chip in your hip?”

She nodded without opening her eyes. Kane sighed and started to turn away, but suddenly the image on her ankle registered. “Rose, you have a tattoo on your ankle. You didn’t have that when we were together. When did you get it?” He lifted the covers once more to inspect the artwork on her ankle.

The tattoo was small, a single red rose with the stem winding around her ankle. Small thorns adorned the stem with three leaves. It was a pretty tattoo, but not something he expected of her.

“Before we escaped”—her voice was drowsy—“Whitney sent in a tattoo artist for each of us, and he put a flower on our ankles. Mari was the only one who didn’t get one; she hadn’t come back yet. Everyone else has one.”

Kane closed his eyes briefly, cursing under his breath. All the women who escaped were in danger. Whitney had an alternative method of tracking them. He had, at some point, determined anyone escaping might remove the chip from their hip, so he’d devised a backup. Something about that very detailed rose caught Kane’s attention, but it hadn’t really registered until now. The rose petals were layers, and in two places the petals were actually raised slightly. He had stroked caresses over those soft petals half the night and knew the feel of them intimately.

Whitney had found a way to weave a signal into the tattoo. It probably used satellite, which explained the hit-or-miss tracking at times, depending on where she was. Eventually, Whitney would always be able to find her. He examined the petals carefully. The two closest to the center, slightly raised, were the most suspect. When he passed his thumb over the petals, he felt tiny protrusions, almost like Braille dots. What exactly had Whitney done?

Rose stirred, suddenly alarmed. “What did he do? I like my rose tattoo. It was the only thing Whitney ever did that didn’t turn my stomach. Is something wrong with the tattoo?”

“I think it transmits to a satellite. I just have to figure out how. I wish Jaimie or Javier were here. They’re both very good with electronics.”

“I should have known.” Rose sounded disgusted. “Why did I ever think Whitney would do something special for us?”

“Because you and the others needed to believe you mattered to him as a human being. Whitney was the only parent figure you had. He shaped your lives. You all lived for his approval. He raised you. Every child seeks the approval and love of a parent. Whitney was all you had.”

Rose carefully turned over, wincing a little as she did so. “What about you? Did your parents approve of you?”

“Hardly.” He didn’t go into detail. What was the point? His youth had been spent on the streets, in alleys and creeping into Mack’s basement to sleep, his body covered in bruises when his father had managed to catch him, which was rare. He’d grown into a big kid, and a mean one. Eventually his father feared him. His mother simply didn’t care. Her only worry had been where her next fix was coming from. Mack was his family, Mack and the others.

“They weren’t very smart parents then. How am I going to get the tattoo off?”

She didn’t sound sorry for herself, and he could tell she really loved the tattoo and hated giving it up. The symbol represented who she was.

“I doubt we’re going to have to actually remove the rose. We have to figure out how to stop it from transmitting.” He stroked over the tiny little bumps. “I think the transmitter is here, in these two petals. I don’t know if it’s planted under your skin or in the actual ink somehow. I just am not savvy enough about this kind of thing.”

“Will you have to cut it out?” There was both apprehension and determination in her voice. Rose was no shrinking violet.

“No way. We’ll get it out of there.”

“If we can’t, you’ll have to take the baby and go, Kane.”

Once again his eyes met hers. She was serious. He could read the absolute resolve in her expression. If it took separation from her to keep the baby out of Whitney’s hands, she was prepared to sacrifice that as well.

He shook his head. “We’ll stay together and see this through. My understanding of the way Whitney pairs his women with a man is, they have to be able to complement each other in a combat situation. Your skills and mine should fit together and make us nearly invincible.”

“But he didn’t choose you for me.” Rose avoided his eyes, a blush stealing up her neck to her cheeks. “I chose you.”

“Did you think your choice would have really mattered to him, Rose?” he said gently. “He asked for me to be assigned temporarily to him. I went to the compound believing there was an outside threat to the facility. He dangled me in front of you like a carrot because we fit together. You took the bait. If my gifts weren’t compatible with your gifts, he would never have allowed us to be paired. In the end with him, it’s all about being a soldier. A pair should be able to be dropped into enemy territory alone, get the mission done, and get out. Our child should make the perfect soldier. If he didn’t think that would happen, he would never have paired me with you.” He looked at her for a long time. “You have a choice though, sweetheart. You don’t have to stay with me.”

She swallowed hard. “And you have no choice. That’s my fault.”

He shook his head. “You don’t get me at all, honey. I don’t ever do anything I don’t want to do. It was my choice. Once the program was explained to me and Whitney told me you had asked for me, I could have turned the program down.” How could he explain he’d seen her dozens of times and couldn’t stand the thought of any man forcing her to have sex? “I thought about it a long time before I agreed.

He explained I would always want you physically. I didn’t go into the program blind.”

She frowned at him. “You knew what it would mean for you? The rest of your life you would always want me? And you still did it?”

“Yes. So stop feeling guilty. I had a choice; you didn’t. But you do now, Rose.” It had to be said, no matter how painful he found it to remind her.

She rubbed her fingers back and forth nervously along the hem of the blanket. “Actually, no, I don’t. Not anymore. I asked Whitney to pair me with you after you left me that night.”

Anger flashed through him. “You did what?” He glanced at the baby and lowered his voice. “Damn it, Rose, you didn’t.”

She lifted her chin at him. “I wasn’t going to condemn you to hell and not go with you.”

He studied her defiant expression; all the while he was melting inside. Rose had chosen him to father her child, but she refused to leave him out in the cold. She had insisted she share his fate. She had courage, raw courage, to condemn herself to share a life with a man she barely knew. “You’re insane, sweetheart, but I can’t help admiring you for it.”

He turned away from her briefly, hiding his expression before abruptly turning back, taking her face between his hands and thoroughly kissing her. Just as abruptly he let her go and stood straight. “I’ve got some things to do. You sleep while you can.”

He closed the door to the bedroom behind him, feeling as though for the first time in his life, he was complete.