Zero's Heart - Mina Carter Page 0,26

through her body, her abused nervous system flaring to life. She hissed and gritted her teeth to ride the wave out.

Zero stood next to her, his large hand enveloping hers and his expression concerned. But his eyes were slightly unfocused for a few seconds before they snapped back, and he looked at her.

“I need to do a full scan,” he told her, letting go of her hand. “We need to see what kind of damage we’re looking at and then treat you.”

As he stepped away, she reached out and grabbed his hand.

“There’s no need,” she told him desperately.

The last thing she wanted was to appear weak in front of him. And yeah… Well, what guy would want to stick around for a crippled woman? Once he knew, she wouldn’t see him for dust… or worse, she’d see the same kind of pity in his eyes she saw in every medic and doctor when they figured out what had happened to her.

“It’s fine. I read the manual.” He patted her hand in reassurance. “The scans are perfectly safe. I promise.”

As much as she tried to keep him with her, he easily disengaged his hand and stepped away. Sighing, she dropped her head back and closed her eyes. The familiar hum of the scanner filled the air.

“You…” Surprise colored Zero’s deep voice. “You have implants?”

She opened her eyes to stare at the ceiling squares above. “Yup. All tank operators do. Sixteen implants with a full neural net to interface with our suits.”

“Uh-huh. I can see them. The technology is crude.” His voice rang with disgust. “Fucking assholes shouldn’t have messed with things they didn’t understand.”

Anger rose. “Fuck off, my implants are…” were “cutting edge. And what would you know about it anyway?” she demanded.

A metal hand appeared in her field of vision, and the fingers wiggled.

“Wanna rephrase that?”

She hissed. Asshole. “Okay, they were cutting edge for humanity. I’m assuming your fancy-dancy alien technology is far better.”

He grumbled in the back of his throat. “It wouldn’t damage the host like this for sure. Shit, your right leg is toast. I’m surprised it didn’t cook the limb. Your left leg isn’t much better.”

“Yeah… I know. They said my next mission would be my last.” She closed her eyes, refusing to allow the tears to stream down her cheeks. He knew now. Knew the damage was permanent. After the stim wore off, she probably wouldn’t walk again.

“What?” he demanded. “You knew this would happen? And you still got into the suit?”

She jumped at the anger in his tone, opening her eyes to find him looming over her. “Why the fuck would you do that?”

Eris had never seen Zero angry before, not even when they’d been facing down the worst of the worst special forces troops trying to kill them. If anything, he’d just seemed slightly amused at the bullets slicing through the air around them and dispatched any that got into his sights with lethal efficiency. But now that calm, joking man was gone and in his place was a towering tsunami of fury.

She looked away, unable to meet his eyes. A large hand slammed into the exam bed by her head.

“For fuck’s sake, woman, look at me!” he ordered, his voice little more than a snarl. He didn’t move, looming half over her as she lay on the bed, his blue eyes cutting like lasers when she lifted hers.

His anger made her shiver, but only a little. Even though he was killing mad, the tiny veins in his temple pulsing, she wasn’t scared of him. Far from it. Instead, she was aware of every inch of him. Every hard plane of muscle, the strength in his corded arms as he leaned over her. The full, kissable softness of his lips as he glared down at her.

All she wanted to do was sit up and press her lips against his. Divert his attention. As soon as the thought crossed her mind, her body moved to suit thought to action.

The feel of her lips pressing against his surprised Zero and stopped his tirade instantly. The fury still surged through him, but the instant he registered the softness of her lips, it changed, flipping and burning faster than the Sprite. Growling, he slid his hand into the hair at the back of her head and crushed her mouth beneath his.

She gasped, and he took advantage, parting her lips with his in a savage kiss before thrusting his tongue within. She didn’t stop him, a soft sound of