Wyatt, I’m okay, let her go. His first thought was to save her ass from his friend, who would be tempted to blow her head off, seeing him go down.

Wyatt’s got to be close, she continued. I’ll fade into the swamp and watch over you until he comes for you. Please listen to me this time. You can’t follow me. You can’t tempt me. I know you don’t want to hurt me, but eventually you would. I can’t take that kind of hurt. I just can’t.

She smoothed back his too-long hair. He had a lot of it, thick and unruly. He never took the time for haircuts and right then he was glad. Her fingers tunneled deep, felt good on his scalp as she stroked caresses through his hair, almost as if she were helpless to do anything else.

I wish my voice would work on you, Trap, so you could forget all about me. I’ve never had anything good in my life. Nothing at all. I wouldn’t know the first thing about making you happy, and I refuse to be taken care of. I have to feel like an equal, and I don’t know how to give anything back to you. She bent over him and brushed kisses over his mouth.

His heart stuttered. He might be unable to move, but his brain worked, and she was giving him more of herself than she realized.

Very reluctantly she lifted her head and dashed at her face with her fingers, as if brushing away tears. You remember what I said, Trap. All of it. I will protect myself. I didn’t inject you with very much toxin, any more than these two idiots. At least I hope not. I was… disturbed. And just so you feel better about what I do, I don’t kill them. And I watch over them until they get on their feet. I just move my boat and then lie low until they’re safe. None of them ever learn their lesson. They aren’t very good men.

He knew that. It did make him feel better that she watched over her victims to ensure nothing happened to them until they were back up and functioning again. Still, he wasn’t going to let her have this one ever again. He was already breaking down the properties in his body, analyzing every reaction he had. He needed to get to his lab fast. Very fast, before the toxin disappeared.

Cayenne brushed another kiss over his mouth and stood, her eyes moving over his face, and this time he knew for certain there were tears shimmering in her eyes. He hated that she was close to crying. That she thought it was over between them. That he’d just give her up because she could inject toxin with a bite. He was highly intelligent. He had been certain all along that she could paralyze. He was also absolutely positive that if she wanted to, she could kill with a bite. Pepper, Wyatt’s wife, could. Clearly Whitney had performed experiments in the hopes of coming up with the perfect assassin. A little thing like that wasn’t going to deter him.

His eyes followed Cayenne as she removed wallets, took out the cash and shoved the wallets back in pockets. She crouched over the Comeaux brothers, whispering softly. He found, just as the first time he’d ever met her, and then in the bar, that her voice definitely had a compulsion buried in it. Beautiful, perfectly pitched tones. Sensual. Her voice slipped into a man’s mind and took control.

Trap wasn’t entirely immune, but he had strong barriers. He was psychic as well, and he worked at creating barriers in his mind. His filters, like those of the others experimented on, had been removed in order to allow their psychic abilities to expand. Without filters, they were wide open to all kinds of assault.

Peter Whitney had begun his experiments on children, little girls he’d taken from orphanages, throwaways he called them. The first team of GhostWalkers had the most problems. With each group, Whitney had learned, and he’d continued to try for the perfect soldier. Team Four had the benefit of the doctor correcting his mistakes, but they still needed to build those shields to help with the continual assault on their brains.

“You won’t remember me. Or that you still had cash. You drank a lot tonight and when you wake fully, you’ll just feel very, very drunk,” she whispered to the Comeaux brothers. “You won’t remember that Trap or Wyatt were here either.”

With one last remorseful glance, she looked at Trap. Then she stepped into the water and onto her boat. He couldn’t turn his head to watch her go. He listened for the sound of the engine as it moved away from him.

Footsteps. Wyatt was there immediately, crouching beside him, reaching down to take his pulse. “Well, now, bro. That didn’ go so well for you, did it? I thought that woman was goin’ to strip you nekkid and have her wicked way with you or I would have moseyed on over sooner.”

Shut up. You’re enjoying this.

Wyatt laughed and reached down, shoulder to Trap’s belly. His eyes weren’t laughing. He heaved him up and started back in the direction of his boat. “I’ve already alerted the boys. They’re waiting on the pier to greet you and welcome you home.”

You would do that. You couldn’t just keep this between us?

“Hell no. And by that, I mean hell no.” Wyatt moved easily, as if Trap didn’t weigh anything. “The great Trap Dawkins bested by a little bitty woman. She took you down so fast, so easily. It was a thing of beauty. I did record it, just so the others could see it.”

This toxin is going to wear off and then I’m going to shoot you.

“Yeah, but in the meantime, I get to tell everyone about this. I think the other teams ought to know as well. They all revere you. This is going to show them you’re human just like the rest of us.”

Take me to the lab and draw blood. I’m going to find a vaccine. Or an antidote. I want it in my bloodstream so the next time she thinks she has me at her mercy, she’s going to get a surprise.

Wyatt put him carefully in the bottom of the boat and studied him. “I’m thinking we need to make this more comfortable for you.” He reached down and crossed Trap’s arms over his chest and stepped back in the rocking boat to survey his handiwork. “Much better. The boys are goin’ to think you look like Sleepin’ Beauty. Maybe Malichai or Mordichai will give you a little kiss.”

Stop amusing yourself and get me to the lab. I need the toxins to be concentrated in my body so I can figure out a way to counteract this. And if any of them kisses me, just let them know I’m going to be injecting them with something very unpleasant while they sleep.

Wyatt threw back his head, laughing, as he started the boat. I trust your woman is going to watch over the Comeaux brothers. If an alligator got to them, they’d probably poison the poor creatures.