08-23-2020, 10:11 PM
The indistinct sketch of a smile was the only response offered to her cold words, and Natalie was left to contemplate her options. She might refuse to go; in fact the hardness of her stare and tilt of her chin almost promised it. Yet Jay still stood at her side, and she was uncertain if he might misconstrue danger if she did, for men pushed to their edges did not always make sane choices. There was no logical reason for her to recoil, or not one that did not make things difficult; the vehicle passed security checks to a military base after all. Instead, she resolved to make the bastard wait. She looked away from him.
Scion already departed around them, and for the first time Natalie considered the cause of his disinterest. The intrigue pulled, though she did not wish it to. It seemed clear then that their collection from Mexico had been an incidental boon to something larger, and perhaps not even confined to the question of a new Dominance’s Patron. He had not mentioned the school, though he must have been aware of its destruction. Investigation had not been among her priorities at the time, but she recalled the strange children now with unease. She thought of Laurie then too. The things she had seen. The documents that had been left with her.
“He didn’t come for us. We were just caught up in something else.” The low words were to neither Jay or Jensen in particular. Warning was on the tip of her tongue, but it would be a waste of her breath. She pulled her thoughts away. Refused to get tangled in it.
She disliked goodbyes. Kept them quick and heartless, usually -- and all the sharper when she felt such reluctance as she did now. She’d heard Jay, but she was not sure she believed him. The listlessness of his resignation tied knots in her stomach, for she suspected he wouldn’t fight against the next current to sweep him up, wherever it took him. She’d leaned heavily on every available advantage to find him last time, but since then Natalie hadn’t exactly courted the Custody’s favour, let alone Brandon’s. If Jay was interred in the Facility’s tomb once more, he’d be beyond her reach. The prospect cut too close to the bone. History, repeated. She knew what his silence would do to her.
But she wouldn’t let him make promises he couldn’t keep, either.
The Custody official had instructed Jay onward, but he had not moved. She met the gaze he turned down on her. “Aren’t you going to say something saccharine so I can roll my eyes?” she asked drily. The smirk was faint. Truth was, she didn't want to hear words she would only doubt, but neither did she want to be the one to break away first. A brow rose. “Anything?” She meant it as a cruel tease. His glib tongue was not usually so quiet, and if he had every right as to why, it did not spare him the lash of her humour. Only something in the word itself was like a thumbprint on her heart; enough that the mystery of it passed for a moment like confusion behind her pale eyes.
She'd meant to be like steel, as much for her own sake as his, but it softened something in her that made it infinitely more difficult to move away. She searched his eyes a moment before there was a glimmer of something in her own, emotion raw, the bare curve of a vexed smile. “--sake, Jay,” she breathed. Cayli had once accused expletives of sounding amusing in Natalie’s crisp accent. She’d meant to say fuck, but it almost sounded like light in the low way she’d murmured it as she reached to tip his chin down. She pressed up on her toes to meet his lips like a wave caressed up to a sandy shore. It made no difference to her ardency that they were not alone. She had thought to protect him, once, from making her affection obvious to those who might use it against them. It didn't seem to matter now though, and she was in the mood to give a belligerent finger to a world caged with duty’s bars.
Scion already departed around them, and for the first time Natalie considered the cause of his disinterest. The intrigue pulled, though she did not wish it to. It seemed clear then that their collection from Mexico had been an incidental boon to something larger, and perhaps not even confined to the question of a new Dominance’s Patron. He had not mentioned the school, though he must have been aware of its destruction. Investigation had not been among her priorities at the time, but she recalled the strange children now with unease. She thought of Laurie then too. The things she had seen. The documents that had been left with her.
“He didn’t come for us. We were just caught up in something else.” The low words were to neither Jay or Jensen in particular. Warning was on the tip of her tongue, but it would be a waste of her breath. She pulled her thoughts away. Refused to get tangled in it.
She disliked goodbyes. Kept them quick and heartless, usually -- and all the sharper when she felt such reluctance as she did now. She’d heard Jay, but she was not sure she believed him. The listlessness of his resignation tied knots in her stomach, for she suspected he wouldn’t fight against the next current to sweep him up, wherever it took him. She’d leaned heavily on every available advantage to find him last time, but since then Natalie hadn’t exactly courted the Custody’s favour, let alone Brandon’s. If Jay was interred in the Facility’s tomb once more, he’d be beyond her reach. The prospect cut too close to the bone. History, repeated. She knew what his silence would do to her.
But she wouldn’t let him make promises he couldn’t keep, either.
The Custody official had instructed Jay onward, but he had not moved. She met the gaze he turned down on her. “Aren’t you going to say something saccharine so I can roll my eyes?” she asked drily. The smirk was faint. Truth was, she didn't want to hear words she would only doubt, but neither did she want to be the one to break away first. A brow rose. “Anything?” She meant it as a cruel tease. His glib tongue was not usually so quiet, and if he had every right as to why, it did not spare him the lash of her humour. Only something in the word itself was like a thumbprint on her heart; enough that the mystery of it passed for a moment like confusion behind her pale eyes.
She'd meant to be like steel, as much for her own sake as his, but it softened something in her that made it infinitely more difficult to move away. She searched his eyes a moment before there was a glimmer of something in her own, emotion raw, the bare curve of a vexed smile. “--sake, Jay,” she breathed. Cayli had once accused expletives of sounding amusing in Natalie’s crisp accent. She’d meant to say fuck, but it almost sounded like light in the low way she’d murmured it as she reached to tip his chin down. She pressed up on her toes to meet his lips like a wave caressed up to a sandy shore. It made no difference to her ardency that they were not alone. She had thought to protect him, once, from making her affection obvious to those who might use it against them. It didn't seem to matter now though, and she was in the mood to give a belligerent finger to a world caged with duty’s bars.