Disclaimer—See Chapter One
A/N: I now have 9 chapters written so far! Still no idea how long this one will be yet! :) I know some of you are about to kill me for all the angst, so a little bit will be revealed for you in this chapter! But not everything! I hope you enjoy it, thank you!!!
Things Best Known—Chapter Four
Brennan stepped through the doorway, closing the door and leaning against it. He didn't say a word, just raised his eyebrows in a motion that spoke volumes to Shalimar's pounding heart. His eyes flickered from her to the book she had dropped to the floor. She flushed and hastily dropped her eyes. His chuckle drew her gaze sharply forward again.
"Just can't stay away from me, can you?"
Her eyes flashed, and she looked for something handy to throw at his smug face. Nothing was within reach but the book. Oh well, better than nothing. She bent down, grasped it, and flung it at him. It hit him with a satisfying thud square in the chest.
His brows arched higher. "Temper, temper." He bent down and retrieved the book that had fallen at his feet, smile fading as he noticed for the first time which book he held in his hands.
She watched his expression. "Too late, I already read it." She spoke softly. "You couldn't tell me you were reconnecting with an old flame?"
He sighed heavily, glancing over his shoulder to the door before stepping further into the room. His footsteps were confident in the quiet of the room. "I promise, Shal, I can explain everything."
"Don't bother," Her tone was icy, dripping with sarcasm. "I get it."
"Damn it, Shal." Brennan shook his head in frustration, tossing the book onto the bed. "Make up your mind, already, would you? First you won't leave me alone, and now you suddenly don't want to know?!"
"I don't want to hear your excuses." She glared at him, arms tightly crossed. "I've seen enough."
"I thought you knew me better than that." He spoke in a quiet, pensive tone.
"So did I." She hissed, angry. "You made a fool of me, Brennan." She turned her back to him.
"You think so? Then apparently I was more effective than I realized, if even you believe it. And I thought you knew me."
"I do now, and I'll never trust you again!"
He caught her arm and spun her around to face him. She was surprised to see hurt and frustration reflected in his brown eyes. She hadn't actually meant what she'd said. She'd just struck out, wanting him to know how hurt she was and that he was responsible. Her wounded heart had pushed her to say more than she really believed.
"Bren, I—"
His hold was gentle, but his expression was almost desperate. "Please don't ever say that again. Don't say you can't trust me."
"Then tell me the truth!" Her breath came in a gasp. "You want me to trust you, Brennan? I do, despite everything, I do." Her arms rose up to grip his forearms. "But I want to be trusted too, by you. What are you keeping from me?"
He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them and stared at her. "Fine. I'll tell you. Although the Dominion will not be happy." His gaze held hers. "You should have guessed, Shalimar. I'm on a case."
She had thought of that. But she had to be sure. "But the book," She protested in a dry whisper.
"She is an old friend, true," He nodded briefly, "But I'm not here to reconnect. It's part of a tactic to find a mutant. A rogue mutant who is very powerful and far too dangerous for his own good. The Dominion thinks he is a threat to their existence. I was…asked to help because of my connection to Allie, and because of her connection to him." His brown eyes softened, and he reached up a lean finger to tenderly touch her cheek. "Don't you know by now that you're all I think about?" He cupped her chin with a warm hand, and a small smile tipped his lips. "Please trust me, Shal."
Her eyes searched his. "I do." She whispered the words around the lump in her throat, closing her eyes as confusion swept over her. "But why all the secrecy? Why didn't you just tell me?"
He hesitated, eyes darkening momentarily. "Lexa's contact insisted on this mission being done in secret. They, ah, they threatened to make my life miserable if I involved the rest of you."
Shalimar's eyes opened at his vague response, seeing his purposely neutral expression. There was something more going on, but she decided to let it go for now. She nodded, and the relief was evident in his eyes.
"I couldn't say no to this mission, Shal. There's—there's too much at stake. I knew it meant risking your trust, but I didn't count on you actually being present when I played my part with Allie. It was frustrating—" His smile seemed directed at himself more than anything else, "Very frustrating. Especially when I had to walk away from you, knowing you had seen, well, what you saw. He took both her hands in his. "I'm sorry, Shal. I never wanted you to get hurt."
His words surrounded her, warming her heart. She tapped her chin, sitting down on the bed, watching him with a moody glint in her eyes as her gaze dropped to his lips. "Did you enjoy it?"
His eyes narrowed as he sank down next to her. "Enjoy what?"
"You know!"
One brow lifted. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
But when she looked at him, she saw his eyes grow warm. Encouraged, she affected a pout. "I think you're just stalling for time. Did you enjoy kissing her?"
He tipped his head to the side, pursing his lips, looking for all the world like he was seriously considering the question.
"Brennan!"
He broke down and laughed, capturing her hand as she swatted at his chest, catching her off guard when he pulled her up against him. He shook his head as brown eyes met brown eyes. "No Shal, I didn't enjoy it. It was strictly business. In fact, it was rather tedious actually."
"Oh come on!" Her eyes gleamed back at him. "You did enjoy it."
All teasing gone, Brennan leaned forward, capturing her hands again in his own. "Seriously, Shal," His voice was low and firm. "I didn't. How could I when all I could think about was you?" He lifted her hand to place a gentle kiss at her wrist, and her breath caught in her throat at the contact. His gaze came back to hers, and she saw only sincerity there as he went on. "Why do you think I'm here now? When I realized you'd seen me with Allie, I knew what you would think." Pain showed in his eyes. "I'm sorry."
She watched him steadily, searching his face, seeing the truth she so desperately wanted to see.
His gaze rested patiently on her face as she studied him. "Well?" He finally asked, tone gentle. "Go ahead and ask."
She shook her head. "No, it's not necessary."
"Yeah it is." He reached up and brushed a finger against her cheek. "Allie did come to this room. We talked, and we kissed." His eyes met hers without flinching. "But then I escorted her back to her own room. Her own room, Shal. Nothing happened."
She swallowed and looked at him, believing.
He saw her trust, and pulled her into his arms. He held her close, burying his face in her hair. "I thought I could do this, Shal, I thought I could keep up the pretense and send you home. But the thought of risking losing you," He broke off, staring over her shoulder. "I couldn't accept that risk, no matter what the Dominion thinks."
She clung to him, pushing her nose into his broad shoulder. "I believe you, Brennan. But I still have questions about what you're doing here."
"Yeah, I figured you might." He smiled wryly. "There's a lot I don't know either. Lexa's contact wasn't exactly forthcoming. I was just told I needed to win Allie's trust again and get her to confide in me. I thought it would be easy. But I didn't count on you being in the wrong place at the wrong time."
She pulled back to protest, but the words died on her lips. The look of pure tenderness on his face took her breath away. She blinked—and his smiled broadened.
"I'm not always in the wrong place," She smiled back.
"You can say that again." His soft words floated around her, and his gaze was fixed on her lips. "Right now, for example," His arms tightened around her as he pressed a soft kiss to the side of her face, "I'd say you're in exactly the right place." A second kiss was bestowed upon her nose and then his warm lips met hers. For one brief moment, everything else faded away and nothing else existed but the two of them. When he drew back, they were both breathless. "Now that," he grinned back at her, "I did enjoy."
"Shut up, Brennan," She whispered, smirking as she pulled his head back down to hers, "Shut up and kiss me."
Brennan willingly complied, and for several minutes, the room was quiet. Finally, he pulled her back with him as he stretched out on the bed. She curled up next to his side, cheek pressed against his chest, arm resting across his stomach. His arm circled around her as the other hand lightly stroked up and down her arm, shivering as her fingers began drawing light circles against his skin. He sighed, brushing a kiss against her hair. It was a relief having her know about Allie, having her here in his arms. Now he just had to find a way to get rid of her.