What if he was right and there was no way to deactivate the chip? "We have to do something. If we can't reach it, then why not just take it out? Maybe when the bullet damaged the chip, it actually deactivated it?"

"Maybe." He settled against her.

She wrapped her legs around him and played with his silky hair. Her heart hurt. "Have hope."

"I'd rather have you." Keeping his gaze, he levered back, and thrust inside her with one strong stroke.

Electric sparks flashed through her, burning her, taking over. She arched against him, gasping out air, her mind fuzzing. "I like it when you do that."

"I know." His hand flattened across her b.u.t.t, and he lifted her off the bed, allowing him to go deeper. "You like this, too."

A ripple started inside her, and his chest hitched.

"That works for you," she murmured, smiling.

"Yes." He slowly pulled out and shoved back in.

Lights flashed behind her eyes. "I wish we had forever," she said, too much emotion rushing through her to hold back.

"Me, too." He slowly slid out and then back in, taking his time, desire flushing a dark red through his chiseled face. "Do you believe in love at first sight?"

She shook her head on the pillow. "Don't say it." G.o.d, don't do that to her. Not if he thought he was leaving.

He nodded and began to increase the speed of his thrusts. "Just promise you won't forget me."

She heard the plea behind the words and for the tiniest of moments could see the wounded geek behind the soldier's physique. "You matter, Jory Dean. I promise. I'll never forget you."

His eyes darkened, and his jaw firmed. "Then I have to say it so you have the words. So you'll keep them."

Tears filled her eyes, even with the devastating desire consuming her. "Okay," she whispered. Her hands unclenched in an effort to soothe him, to rub the pain out of him.

"I love you, Piper. All of you. The smart, the sweet, the lost. Everything you are and whoever you'll eventually become." His face softened in the way only a truly hard man could, and only for her. "You gave me a smile when I was in a cage, and you gave me a kiss when we were running through the woods. Now you're giving me you, and you're a gift I hadn't realized existed."

Her entire chest ached. One tear rolled down her cheek. When he gave the words, he found ones she'd never imagined. "Jory-"

"If I could, I'd spend every second of every day keeping you safe and warm. Totally loved without one concern." Still connected inside her, still pulsing, he breathed deep and leaned down to kiss her tear away. "Baby. I'll always love you."

"I want that." Her heart shattered. She tightened her hold as more tears fell. "The forever, and the safety, and the warmth." She wrapped her legs around him and held on with all her strength. Then she levered back and gave him the words. "I love you, Jory Dean. The tough, the sweet, and definitely the geek."

His lips twitched.

"Don't leave me," she whispered, her very soul in the plea.

He closed his eyes, and a tear actually rolled out.

She gasped. Jory Dean didn't cry. No way. Her hand shaking, she reached up to feel the wetness.

His eyes opened, full determination, full Jory. Then he slid out of her and back in. "Hold on, baby."

Her mind registered that he wouldn't lie to her, and he hadn't. He hadn't made the promise he couldn't keep. More tears slid down her cheeks.

"No more crying." He angled differently and hit her c.l.i.t.

That quickly, her body went from sorrow to full-out pa.s.sion. Hot, dangerous, so out of control she could barely breathe. Every sensation heightened with a desperate emotion, a fear that this was all they'd have. "Jory," she moaned.

"All yours." Holding her tighter, as if he'd never let her go, he pounded faster. Harder, deeper, more intense... he took her over.

She matched his pace, her nails denting his skin. He lifted her higher off the bed, holding her, going deep enough he'd be there forever, like she'd promised.

Heat uncoiled inside her, sparks igniting every nerve she had. She caught her breath, holding on, trying to fall over. Even so, the explosion shook her so thoroughly she opened her mouth to scream. No sound emerged, all energy concentrated in the waves detonating through her.

The room flashed white and hot. She shut her eyes, bombarded by waves. By feelings too intense to identify or separate-love, hunger, fear, sadness, hope. Ripples shook her body, pounded against her core, and threw her into a second o.r.g.a.s.m more powerful than the first.

She rode the wild, holding on, knowing he'd keep her safe. A small sigh escaped her as her body finally relaxed.

Jory stiffened, held tight, fully captured inside her as he came. Grinding against her, he dropped his head to the crook of her neck. When his body relaxed, his lips moved silently on her jugular in the shape of one word.

Love.

CHAPTER.

25.

JORY QUIETLY SHUT the bedroom door and shook out his freshly showered hair. Piper slept peacefully in the bed, and he figured she could use more rest.

Wandering through the house, he let the sense of home finally relax him. He'd loved this place when they'd had it built. Now, with Piper ensconced in his bed, it really did feel like home.

For now-while he still breathed. Holding information back from his brothers didn't set well, and as soon as he figured out their chips he'd need to come clean. He reached the hidden panel near the fireplace and shoved it open to punch in the key code. His fake birthday. Even though he'd been gone two years, they hadn't changed it.

They'd trusted he wouldn't break and betray them.

His head lifted at the thought. His heart hitched and hard. Yeah. He'd never betray them.

A door slid open, and he quickly strode down a stairway to the hidden control room.

Finding all three of his brothers waiting wasn't much of a surprise. They'd showered and grabbed faded jeans and shirts. Just like his. But the hospital bed over to the side and fully stocked medicine cabinet caught him up short.

Matt nodded from one of many leather chairs. "You doing okay?"

"Yeah." The familiarity of his older brother taking stock felt f.u.c.king great. "You?"

"Getting there. We're ready to take out chips. The second you have the algorithm figured out."

Time to get to work, then. Those codes changed every thirty seconds, and he had to figure out how to manipulate the numbers. Jory grabbed the damaged computer tower and carried it over to the wide table holding a myriad of computers, hoping to h.e.l.l the hard drive was all right. "Let's see how badly the PROTECT soldier broke this puppy." Then he told them about Dr. Madison being taken.

Shane cleared his throat. "Did she ever confirm she'd shot you?"

"She didn't shoot me." Jory reached under the table, plugged the tower into a large monitor, and then opened a drawer to fetch a power cord. His mind focused absolutely on the matter at hand and shoved all other distractions away, even while carrying on the conversation. "Piper's mom shot me." If he could just get the tower to take power, he'd be thrilled.

Matt coughed. "Excuse me?"

Okay. All plugged in. Jory pressed the power b.u.t.ton on the tower and held his breath.

"Jory?" Nate asked, his Southern drawl breaking wide open. "Rachel shot you?"

"Yes." They had more important things to think about.

Dead silence pounded around the room. The hair on the back of Jory's neck rose, and he glanced up, truly perplexed. "What?"

Matt stared at him with no expression, while Nate frowned in his about to be p.i.s.sed look.

Shane glanced at the two other brothers and then back to Jory before snorting. "Is Rachel psychic?"

"No." The monitor came on, and the tower hummed. Good. A sound, any sound, was good. Then he tried to focus again. Why was Shane trying to break the tension? s.h.i.t. Why was there tension?

Silence reigned for precious seconds. Then the tension dissipated in the room. Oh. He'd already moved on from the shooting and perhaps should've given his brothers a chance to process the information. Computers. So much easier than people.

"Why would Rachel be psychic?" he asked.

"Maybe she shot you to keep you from defiling her daughter in the future?" Shane chuckled. "One bad experience in bed, and a woman might never try again. Are you any good in bed?"

Jory sighed, his lips twitching with the need to smile. "You're an a.s.s."

"Does that mean no?" Nate asked, amus.e.m.e.nt curving his mouth and the anger fleeing his eyes. "We could find you a how to book."

Jory rolled his eyes. "I liked you better cranky." Love had certainly given Nate a sense of humor. Shane had always been a smart-a.s.s, so nothing new there. But d.a.m.n, it was good being with his brothers again.

"Jory?" Matt asked, all business. "Care to explain?"

The hum increased in pitch, and he patted the tower with a bit of strength. "The entire situation with Piper was a setup, and the commander blackmailed Rachel into shooting me. The PROTECT people had me, apparently." He leaned down to listen better, his mind working calculations of the computer program.

The tower connected with the display, and a blue glow slowly emerged. Then widened. Finally, a cursor came up.

Shane cleared his throat. "So Rachel meant to kill you?"

"Not exactly. Apparently she's a good shot, and she did what she could not to kill me." Jory rolled a chair closer and dropped into it, his fingers already flying across the keyboard. The program came up.

Matt shook his head. "Wait a minute. If the PROTECT people had you, and boy, are we going to explore that issue later after we figure out the chips, then how did the commander get to you?"

"Rachel was wearing a camera. Funny thing is, once he saw it was me, he sent in troops to recover my body. Probably saved my life." Jory leaned back, cracked his knuckles, and started typing again. "I get Rachel having to shoot me-we all do. The commander is a master at blackmail, and the woman did what she had to do. We're all good now."

Matt growled. "Are you sure?"

"Yep." Code flashed across the screen.

Matt sighed. "I had such high plans for revenge and destruction."

"Me, too," Shane said sadly. "We can't destroy Rachel."

"No. I kinda like her," Nate lamented. "Plus, haven't you two wanted to shoot Jory at one time or the other?"

Jory chuckled and kept typing. "I don't think she enjoyed it much, but I'm sure she'll give you details." The program followed his instructions. "f.u.c.kin' Eureka." Yes. He typed faster, his brain calculating more rapidly than his fingers ever could.

Matt was instantly behind him, hand on shoulder. "So much for revenge. Let's work on life. You got it?"

"h.e.l.l, yeah." Warmth, true and full, bloomed in Jory's chest. "The bullet failed to do any damage when the tower was shot." His memory clicked into place, and he automatically started typing in the program adjustments he'd watched Piper create. "Give me about an hour, and I'll have the codes by employing the alterations Piper wrote into the main program. We wouldn't be close if she hadn't had that access and an amazing brain. Who's taking out the chips?"

"Laney. She was a doctor." Matt's voice wavered just enough for Jory to notice. "I can't believe we're this close."

Without missing a key, Jory nodded. "I'll get you safe, Mattie. I swear to G.o.d you'll live through this. All of you."

The hand clenched. "We'll all make it," Matt said.

Jory kept his body relaxed as he added another line of code. "I might not, and I want you guys to know that it's okay. I'm prepared." There wasn't time for him to go into details or spend precious moments being angry with fate or holding on to regrets. "Thank you for being my brothers."

Silence ticked through the room for about two seconds.

Matt spun him around-hard.

"Hey-" Jory's fingers slipped from the keyboard, while his mind remained busy. So when Matt hauled him from the chair and put him against the wall, he didn't protest.

"What do you mean, you're prepared?" Matt levered in close, emotion riding his low voice.

Jory glanced to the side for Shane's help, but Shane had stood, his face harder than Matt's. Nate stood next to Shane, his chin down, tension all but falling off him. And they'd been having such a fun moment with his being shot and all.

"Jory?" Shane asked.

Jory exhaled. He hadn't wanted to go into this until his brothers' chips were removed, but apparently there would be no typing until they had this f.u.c.king discussion. "A bullet nicked my chip, sending it off-line. There's no way to reach it."

Matt stepped back. "Bulls.h.i.t." His voice remained calm, but emotion seethed under the surface.

Jory had always seen beneath the surface-any surface. From day one, he'd seen the cost to Matt of being the oldest and of taking responsibility for the brothers. "I wouldn't lie to you." He grabbed Matt's powerful shoulders. "I'm all right. The commander had scientists try for months to reach the chip, and n.o.body came close. The thing is off-line, and it's going to stay that way."

Nate stepped up next to Matt. "So there's a possibility the chip has been rendered useless?"

"There's a possibility." Jory released his oldest brother. "Although it's doubtful."