Valor, Variant - 2: A Dark Genetic Manipulation Romance, page 10
Becky went into the bathroom that was connected to her bedroom, and washed her face. Then she opened one of the new toothbrushes and brushed her teeth. As she pulled on her clothes, she thought about the fact that she had no other clothes with her at all, nor did Skylar. The teeshirt she’d slept in was Two’s. He’d loaned it to her, and other than that all they had were the clothes on their backs. She was either going to have to go buy new clothes or go get some of her own. Since she was on a limited budget, going to get some of their own clothes was obviously her preferred choice.
Becky walked into the living room, and smiled at both Valor and Skylar when they turned to her with their own grins in place. She retrieved her purse from the kitchen table and took her brush out of it, then stood in the kitchen brushing the tangles out of her hair before pulling it back in a ponytail.
“That’s so familiar to me,” Valor said.
Becky finished securing her hair, and turned to look at him.
Valor was standing up, quietly watching her.
“I’m not surprised. You’ve watched me brush my hair more times than I could count.”
Valor didn’t respond, just kept watching her.
“And you called Skylar ‘punkin’-butt’. You used to call her that before I had her, before we’d even decided on a name.”
Valor swallowed visibly and looked back at Skylar before returning his gaze to Becky. “Just came to me,” he said. “Thought it fit.”
Becky nodded, then forced herself to pull back from the emotions so much. “Okay, you guys ready?” Becky asked, picking up her purse.
“I am!” Skylar shouted, sliding off the couch and jumping up and down excitedly.
“Me, too,” Valor said. “You won’t need your purse. We don’t pay to eat in the cafeteria.”
“I might need it, you never know,” she said. “You know me, I take my purse everywhere!” she said laughing. Then she realized what she’d said. She met his gaze and he wasn’t laughing. He was just watching her sadly.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I know you don’t know me. I didn’t think about what I was saying.”
“It’s okay. Neither one of us can help where we stand now, nor are we responsible for it. All we can do is try to get through it,” Valor said.
Becky nodded slowly. “Agreed. Are you ready?” she asked, a little more subdued.
“Yeah, let’s head over there,” Valor said. He stood at the front door, waiting for Skylar and Becky to precede him through it. “You have keys?” he asked.
“Yes, Two gave them to me,” she answered.
Valor nodded as he locked her front door, then pulled it closed and fell into step with them.
“It’s the first building up there,” he said pointing, “on the left on the other side of the park.”
“Ducks! I want to pet the ducks!” Skylar insisted.
“I’m not sure they’ll let you pet them,” Becky said.
“We could feed them, though,” Valor offered.
“We can? What do they eat?” Skylar asked, clinging to her mother’s hand and bouncing along beside her as she looked up at Valor.
“I’ve seen people feeding them bread. We can get some from the cafeteria, or the supply store. They’ve got some groceries in there so I’m sure they must have bread,” Valor answered.
Becky walked along, not really engaging Valor in conversation, and her excitement seemed to have died down a bit.
“You okay?” Valor asked.
Becky immediately pasted on a forced smile. “Oh, yeah. I’m good.”
Valor canted his head to the side just a bit as he considered her. “No, you’re not.”
Becky had been watching where they were going, but she turned to look at Valor. “Yes, I am.”
Valor tapped the side of his nose. “I can detect lies. One of the things I picked up from the boosted DNA I was gifted,” he said, putting sarcasm on the word gifted. “And I can sense your emotions. You’re… sad? Disappointed? What happened between when you were brushing your hair and now?” he asked.
“Nothing, I’m fine,” Becky said.
Valor took two large steps forward, then turned in front of her, cutting her off as he stepped directly into her path. He looked down at her as she came to a sudden stop to keep from running into him. “Don’t lie to me. I don’t like it.”
Becky looked up at Valor. This was not the time or the place to bring up anything other than them getting acquainted. She wasn’t ready to go there, and she knew he certainly wasn’t. He didn’t have a clue who she was.
“I understand that your senses are heightened. That’s fine, I can deal with that. But I won’t have you using it to make me tell you things I’m not ready to tell you yet. This isn’t the time for all that, and even if it was I don’t want to go into certain things at the moment,” Becky said.
Valor canted his head toward his other shoulder and watched her closely.
Becky watched his nostrils flare as he took in her scent again.
“Why not?” he asked.
“Because I have a right to my privacy. They’re my emotions. If I don’t want to share them, I shouldn’t have to,” Becky said.
“I’ll try to remember that,” Valor said, but he made no effort to move from her path.
Becky stood there, facing him, waiting for him to move.
“Tell me what happened to change your mood?” he pressed.
“I’m sure we’ll have a lot of mood changes. Things are very different,” she said, trying to play it off.
“Rebecca,” he said warningly.
One side of her mouth curved up. “You always called me Rebecca when you were serious or when we were arguing. You even called me Rebecca last night when I was in your home.”
Valor shrugged. “I don’t know how I knew your name was Rebecca. I just knew.”
Becky nodded, and looked off toward the cafeteria. She glanced down to Skylar whose hand she still held in hers, before she looked back into Valor’s eyes.
“Tell me,” he said.
Becky shook her head.
Valor took a step closer to her and looked down at her. “Please,” he asked.
Becky stared straight ahead, directly at the top of his chest. “Doesn’t matter. We’re getting reacquainted, starting fresh, right?”
“It does matter,” Valor said. “Tell me.”
Becky sighed, but she didn’t look up to meet his gaze. “You said all we can do is try to get through it. I don’t want to try to get through it. This is my life, you are my husband — whether you remember it or not — I’m not planning on getting through it. I’m planning on making the best of it and making it work. You may just want to get through it, but I want so much more.”
Valor raised a hand and cupped her jaw and cheek. “I don’t know who or what we used to be. All I know is that I’ve about lost my mind over the last months with dreams of you. And now you’re here. I don’t know if you’ll fall in love with the male I am now, or wish you’d never learned of my existence. But I do know that I’ll never let you go. I can’t. So, whatever this is, whatever it does or doesn’t grow to be, I’m not letting you go. I’m not getting through this. I’m immersed in this — whatever it is. And you are immersed with me. This is not a hardship for me. It’s got me unnerved. It’s got me on edge because I have no clue of what I'm doing. I was trained to fight — to kill. Not be gentle and caring. I hope that I can be what you need as I am, because I’ll never be who I was. I just hope that this life is something you can learn to live with. But regardless, it’s not something I’m just getting through. Alright?” he asked.
Becky looked up at him about halfway through his explanation. “Alright,” she agreed.
“Don’t lie to me, Becky. No matter how minute you think it is, I’ll sense it. And I won’t lie to you. We’ll find our way,” Valor said. “If you don’t want to tell me something just say that. I’ll try to give you the privacy of your own emotions, even if I can smell them.”
“Okay,” she answered, looking up into his eyes.
Valor found himself needing to kiss her. A voice inside him whispered ‘mine’ as he lowered his head and pressed his lips to hers. He kissed her tentatively at first, pulling back to see what her reaction was before leaning in to kiss her again.
Becky leaned into Valor and kissed him as her hand looped around the back of his neck. As their first kiss ended, she stayed where she was, leaning against him with her eyes closed.
Then she started grinning.
“What’s the smile for?” he asked.
“I thought I’d already lived our last first kiss,” she said, opening her eyes to look at him.
Valor smiled. “I have a feeling we might have a lot of new firsts coming at us.”
“Can we go eat now?” Skylar asked. “I’m tired of standing here,” she grumbled.
Valor smiled at Becky once more before reaching toward Skylar and lifting her into his arms. “Come on, punkin’-butt. I’ll carry you.”
“I don’t have a punkin’ on my butt,” Skylar said, twisting in his arms to try to see her own butt.
“You could, you don’t know,” he teased. He smiled down at Becky when she looked up at him, grinning because he was teasing with Skylar.
Valor held Skylar on his right hip and held Becky’s hand in his left as they finished their walk to the cafeteria. He let go of Becky’s hand and pulled the door open, then stood back to let her walk in first. As she stepped inside and looked around, several nearby males stopped what they were doing and turned to look at her. Any new female garnered attention…
Valor stepped up behind her, still holding Skylar, and realized Becky had come to a stop because so many openly gawked at her. He quickly placed his left arm around her neck from behind, gripping her right shoulder as he pulled her against him, glaring at them. Some turned away, but a few kept looking. “Mine!” he snarled, showing his sharp incisors.
His snarled warning made Becky jump and look over her shoulder at him. Her breath caught at the sight of his fangs and she simply stared at him with her mouth hanging open in surprise.
Valor stared down each of the last males that finally looked away, then he turned his attention to Becky. He slowly, deliberately pulled his lips together to cover his teeth, and waited for her to say something.
“What?” he finally asked very quietly.
“You’re so hot,” she said, completely turned on from the little sliver of apprehension that coursed through her at his snarled warning, and then seeing his fangs and his claim of her to all who dared to look at her.
Valor grinned at Becky. “Yeah?” he asked.
“Yeah,” she said.
Valor moved his arm from her neck and chest and placed it around her waist as he escorted her over to the serving line. “Here,” he said, “let Mama hold you while I get our food.”
“Okay,” Skylar said, letting her mother take her from her father’s arms.
They waited patiently as the line moved forward until it was their turn to order.
“Valor,” a male said from the other side of the serving line, “you got company.”
Valor gave a sharp nod.
“Hi,” Becky said.
“Hello. I’m Chef.”
“I’m Becky.”
“I’m Skylar,” Skylar piped up, adding to the introductions.
“You visiting long?” Chef asked, trying to make polite conversation.
Becky looked up at Valor who was busy adding plates to the two trays he’d placed on the row of metallic bars — tray runners — mounted to accommodate the serving trays as they were pushed along the length of the buffet.
“She’s not leaving,” Valor answered, his voice hard.
“Oh, you moving in?” Chef asked, holding out a cookie for Skylar.
“Of course, she is,” Valor answered. “She’s my wife.”
Chef’s eyebrows raised in surprise, and the few males that stood nearby turned and looked at Valor with shock on their faces.
“What?” he asked, his voice clearly showing his irritation. “And this is my daughter, too! Why does everyone seem so shocked?”
“First family to join one of us here,” Chef said. “That I'm aware of anyway. You’re a lucky male.”
Valor watched Chef while he spoke to them, then looked at Becky and Skylar. “Yes, I am,” he finally agreed.
Once their trays were so loaded down there was no chance of Becky carrying her own, she followed Valor to a table he chose near the far wall. “This is where we usually sit when we eat in here,” Valor explained, as he placed both trays on the table.
“This is fine,” Becky said, looking around at all the people filling the other tables, and coming and going as they started their morning.
“You sit and I’ll go get drinks. What do you want?” he asked.
“Coffee for me, juice for Skylar.”
“I’ll be back,” Valor said and turned away.
Valor went to what looked like a drink station with iced down bottles of different beverages, as well as several coffee pots with cream and sugar. He filled two coffee cups, put cream and sugar in one, left the other black and grabbed a bottle of apple juice. As he started back toward her, Becky watched as a female, tall and muscular with a very short haircut, intercepted him.
Valor stood speaking with the woman for a few minutes before turning and walking toward them.
The woman stood where she was and unabashedly looked Becky’s way. They locked eyes, with Becky refusing to back down before the woman barked out a laugh and walked away.
Valor took his seat next to Becky and placed their drinks on the table, then took the top off Skylar’s apple juice and put it closer to her plate so she could reach it.
“You smell angry,” Valor said as he pulled one of his plates closer and started eating without even giving her a passing glance.
“I told you not to be analyzing my every emotion,” Becky answered.
Valor took another bite and looked at her as he chewed. “Why are you angry?”
“I’m not angry. Who was that woman?” she asked, looking in the direction he’d been standing when he’d spoken with the woman.
Valor grinned at her. “Jealous?” he asked.
“Should I be?” she countered. “Or are you going to try to tell me that you haven’t been with another woman all this time?” she asked, her voice snippy with her face wearing an expression to match.
Valor continued calmly eating. “I haven’t slept with Athena,” he answered, both answering her question, and evading the main subject all together.
“Athena?” Becky asked.
“She’s like us. People that changed us took her squad into captivity, too. Decided to make assassins out of them. As far as we know they’re the only female team, but we may find more as we discover and follow more leads,” Valor explained. Then he looked at her plate. “Eat your food, Becky. You need to keep your strength up.”
Becky’s brows came down over her eyes. “Why do I need to keep my strength up?” she asked.
Valor stopped chewing despite the fact that he’d just shoveled a mouthful in. “I don’t know. It’s just what we always said. Gotta stay strong, even if you don’t want to.”
Becky looked off toward where the woman had been standing then down at her plate.
“Never been with her, Becky. She was asking what had Scorn all out of sorts last night. Guess she ran into him after he left the house,” Valor said.
“Am I going to run into any that you’ve been with?” she asked, her voice pitched low and intentionally controlled so her emotions didn’t get the better of her.
Valor swallowed. “I don’t know. But it’s not like you're thinking. If they’re here, it’s from when we were in captivity, not since.”
Becky picked at her food with her fork. She tried to understand what Valor had just told her but she didn’t, not at all. She looked up at him to ask for clarification, but he was still watching her.
“Don’t. Don’t ask, you don’t want to know. Just know if any are here they don’t want to see me any more than I want to see them.”
Becky hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded.
“Since I’ve been out, and had a choice, I haven’t pursued or spent time with any female. Just didn’t have it in me to do so. Didn’t feel right. I don’t remember you, but I knew I didn’t want to be near anyone except the woman in my head.”
“Okay,” Becky said. “I couldn’t have blamed you anyway, you don’t remember me or our vows. I just wanted to know what to expect.”
“Won’t have to expect anything.”
Becky nodded and reached over, cutting up Skylar’s pancake since she was finishing off her scrambled eggs and knew she’d set in on the pancake next.
Chapter 10
After breakfast Valor walked them over to the supply house, where Becky managed to find a pair of jeans and a teeshirt that fit. She also found a few pairs of panties, and a couple of pairs of socks, but there was nothing for Skylar.
“I’m going to have to go home and get some clothes for us, Valor.”
“No,” he said simply, refusing to hear what she was saying.
“What do you mean no? Skylar has to have clothes. You can’t expect her to wear the same thing every day.”
“We’ll order some. They’ll be here tomorrow if we order by noon,” he said.
“That makes no sense when I can just go home and get the clothes we already have,” Becky said.
Valor stubbornly shook his head.
“I can’t afford to replace everything we have, Valor. Our clothes, our memories, Skylar’s toys, everything we have is back in our apartment. There’s no reason I can’t go back and get it,” Becky insisted.
“You’re not going to get the clothes you just found?” he asked, indicating the items she held.
“No, I’m not.”
“You don’t have to buy them. You just sign for them. I’ll sign for them,” he said, reaching for the clothes.
“No! That’s not right. I haven’t been through the things you have. The foundation that you all work for shouldn’t have to support me and Skylar. We have all the things we need at home. I bought them for us. I don’t understand why I can’t go back home!” Becky said.
