Jasoon

The electric buzz of the broken neon sign outside flickered rhythmically against the exposed brick walls, bathing the room in a sickly red every three seconds. It smelled of dampness, of cheap motor oil, and the stale smoke from cigarettes the novices nervously smoked downstairs.

Ghost entered the small space separated by the thick military curtain, his sanctuary and yours. He closed the heavy fabric behind him, blocking the noise of Rex and Spider's raucous laughter from the main room. The silence here was different; it was thick, private.

He shed his tactical jacket in one fluid motion, revealing the tense muscles of his arms beneath a tight black t-shirt, stained with something that definitely wasn't grease. His dark eyes, the ones that seemed to absorb light, immediately scanned you where you were curled up on the sunken couch they sometimes shared. He missed nothing: the way you breathed, the tension in your shoulders, the small new bruise on your arm courtesy of Jackie's shifting humor that morning.

Ghost clenched his jaw, a barely perceptible movement, before letting out a heavy sigh through his nose. He moved toward you with that predator's silent step that made the floor not even creak under his military boots. He sank into the free space beside you, invading your personal space with his body heat and his scent of gunpowder and acid rain.

With a familiarity that would terrify anyone outside that curtain, he stretched out a leg and nudged, almost playfully, your foot with his boot, trying to provoke you.

"Move, Cricket. You're hogging the whole damn space," he murmured, his voice a low, gravelly rumble, devoid of real malice.

He pulled out a crumpled cigarette from his pocket but didn't light it. He just rolled it between his fingers, stained with dried blood, while watching you from the corner of his eye, that dark gaze fixed on your profile.

"Jackie's been asking about you," he said after a moment, his tone dropping to something more serious, almost dangerous. "Wants to send you to the south sector tomorrow for an 'errand'." He leaned a little closer to you, his shoulder brushing yours, his voice lowering to a conspiratorial whisper. "I told him to fuck off... diplomatically. You're not going anywhere without me."

He fell still, waiting for your reaction, with that usual mix of feigned indifference and an obsessive protectiveness he could barely disguise.

The icy night wind lashed the rooftop, but you could barely move. You were glued to the ledge, thermal binoculars pressed to your eyes, scanning for any sign of movement in the apartment block across the way. Tension had your muscles locked tight; failing a surveillance job meant trouble with Jackie, and trouble with Jackie meant pain.

Ghost had been silent for the past hour, patrolling the rear perimeter. Or at least, that's what you thought.

You didn't even hear his military boots approach. The first thing you noticed was his heat, a solid wall of body temperature radiating right behind your back, blocking the wind. Before you could turn, you felt the hot, damp puff of his breath hit the exposed skin between your scarf and your hairline.

Ghost lowered his head and, with absolute audacity, dragged his nose along the sensitive curve of your neck, inhaling your scent deeply, his dry lips grazing your skin in a kiss that wasn't a kiss, but a mark of ownership.

You jolted violently, the fright shooting down your spine like an electric shock. You tried to turn, instinctively throwing an elbow back to push him away, but it was like hitting a brick wall.

He didn't even flinch.

With terrifying speed, his large, heavy arm snaked around your waist, trapping your midsection and pulling you back until your back collided with his hard, armored chest. He pinned you against him with insulting ease, trapping you in a cage of muscle and the scent of tobacco and danger.

"Easy..." he whispered directly into your ear, his voice so low it vibrated in your chest, sending shivers that had nothing to do with the cold.

He didn't let go. On the contrary, he tightened his grip on your stomach, his large fingers sinking possessively into your clothes, as he buried his face in the hollow of your neck again, drinking in your scent as if it were oxygen.

"You're too tense, Cricket. You'll miss the shot if you keep shaking like that," he murmured against your skin, his lips brushing your earlobe while his free hand moved to correct your weapon's position on the railing, though his eyes weren't on the target, but closed as he enjoyed having you trapped. "Breathe. Follow the motion with your hips, not your shoulders... Like this."

He nudged your hip subtly with his own, an obscenely intimate move for a marksmanship lesson, letting you feel the hardness of his body and the holstered pistol at his hip pressing against you.

"Now... tell me what you see. And don't you dare stammer."

Ghost kicked the emergency exit door of the movie theater shut behind you, blocking the distant sirens and acid rain. His breathing was heavy, a ragged sound that betrayed his own injuries, probably a broken rib, but he didn't complain. His left arm held you firmly around the shoulders, bearing almost all your weight as you limped down the carpeted hallway.

"Here... sit," he grunted low, lowering you with near-reverent care into one of the threadbare velvet seats in the very back row, away from the few curious glances.

He sank into the seat beside you with a sigh that seemed to empty his lungs, letting his head fall back for a second. The flickering light from the screen illuminated his profile: a nasty cut above his eyebrow and blood on his cheek that wasn't his.

His dark eyes dropped to the armrest between you two. Someone had left a half-eaten bucket of popcorn and a large cup of watered-down soda. In his world, food wasn't wasted. Ghost took the cup, took a sip to make sure it was safe, then found your mouth with the straw, guiding it gently between your dry lips.

"Drink," he ordered softly, and as you did, he took a handful of popcorn. With a painful, domestic naturalness, he brought his large, calloused hand to your mouth, feeding you one piece at a time, his fingers brushing your lips. Then, he ate from the same hand when you offered, his teeth grazing your fingertips—maybe by accident, maybe on purpose.

As he chewed, his hands didn't stay still. He began undoing the buckles on your vest and lifting the hem of your stained shirt, ignoring any modesty. He needed to see the damage.

"Shit, Cricket..." he whispered, his voice tinged with real anguish at the dark bruise blooming across your ribs. He pulled a crumpled roll of bandages from his own tactical pocket. With hands that knew how to kill, he cleaned the area with a little spit and the cloth of his own shirt before starting to bandage you with extreme care. "Told you to duck... I told you."

He adjusted the bandage, then let his large, warm hand rest on your bare skin, right over your stomach, as if he needed to feel that you were still whole. He looked into your eyes, exhaustion etched in the shadows under them, but his gaze was intense, locked on you.

"We're not making it to the warehouse. Not like this, and I'm not dragging you fifty more blocks," he said, leaning in until his forehead almost touched yours. "There's a shitty motel two blocks over. The owner owes me a favor. We're staying the night there."

He paused, his thumb absently stroking your skin over the bandage.

"Just one bed, hot water, and no one shooting at us for a few hours. Can you walk a little further for me?"

The dull thump of the music vibrated from the other side of the heavy military curtain, mixing with Rex's hoarse shouts and the wild laughter of the rest of the gang. The whole warehouse stank of gunpowder, cold sweat, and the cheap gasoline used to scrub blood off the floor. But here, in Ghost's hidden corner, the air changed. It became dense, electric, almost suffocating. That tension only existed when the two of them hid from the world. Ghost was leaning against the bare brick wall, his tactical jacket open over his tight black t-shirt. He pulled a crumpled cigarette from his inside pocket. His knuckles were busted, covered in dried blood that clearly wasn't his. The smoke rose slowly as his eyes — brown so dark they seemed black — ran over you from head to toe with that cold precision of someone who's killed for less. He exhaled the smoke through his nose and peeled himself away from the wall without a sound. His steps were so silent they seemed impossible for a man his size. He stopped in front of you. The toes of his military boots touched yours. —I told you not to leave the perimeter —he murmured, voice deep and low, almost a hoarse growl—. Jackie's using you as bait, Cricket. And you keep playing brave. He raised one large, fingerless-gloved hand, and with a brutal gentleness, brushed a strand of hair from your face. His fingers slowly traveled down your cheek, then your neck, stopping right where your pulse beats. He inhaled deeply, stealing your scent as if it were oxygen. He stubbed the cigarette out against the wall without looking at it. His stocky body cornered you against the sunken couch, blocking any exit. The curtain was still closed. No one could see you. No one could hear you. Only him. His eyes dropped to your lips for a second before locking back onto yours. Jaw tight. Breathing heavy. —Are you hurt? —he asked, dry, demanding. Then, lower, almost pleading: —Take off your jacket. Now. I want to see if you're in one piece. His fingers stopped an inch from your zipper, waiting… but his look said that if you didn't do it, he would.