Dante had planned to start the Telepath’s Resonance Link tonight and deal with Harry tomorrow. But sohow Gwen had ended up becoming suspicious, and now the confrontation he had wanted to avoid was staring him right in the face.
“Tell what happened first. Why are you so on edge?”
Gwen’s expression softened by a fraction, though she clearly did not want it to. “I know you want to protect . I wouldn’t even be alive right now if it weren’t for that—”
He moved closer and placed his palm against her cheek, feeling the warmth of her skin. She leaned into the touch despite the obvious discontent. Her lips curved into a small smile that she seed to think she was hiding.
“You’d have found a way through Norman. You’re stronger than you give yourself credit for.”
The universe would actively help her as it wouldn’t allow the only Spider-Totem here to stay on the dark side by arranging coincidences and alliances like gravity. If he hadn’t arrived to flip the script, Felicia, Silvija, Psylocke, Emma, and even Natasha would’ve tead up with her to defeat Norman. Not to ntion Gwen herself would’ve rebelled against Norman.
“I don’t like secrets,” Gwen said, gently steering the conversation back before he could distract her with more intimacy. “I don’t want them coming between us, okay?”
“But protecting your heart is also my job as a boyfriend.”
“You don’t have to coddle to this level,” she grumbled. “I’m a grown-ass adult, Dante. I can handle the truth. Please… let know what you’re protecting from.”
He brushed his thumb over her cheek, making her smile against her wish. “By tomorrow night, this will stop mattering. But once I tell you, your life will be changed forever.”
She pushed his hand away and touched her chest, as if she could physically hold in the anxiety. “If I don’t know now, it’ll bother for the rest of my life. I get stuck on little things.”
“My girlfriend is silly and stupid.”
She smiled cheekily. “You wanted . Now deal with it.”
He smiled back at her, then his expression turned serious. “I’m going to ask one more ti. Are you sure you want this?”
“I am.” She nodded with the kind of determination that had always defined Spider-Totems, the sa resolve that sent her swinging between buildings to fight criminals. “Shoot it at . I can take it.”
He extended his hand, palm up, the way a gentleman would offer when requesting a dance. It looked ridiculous given that he was still shirtless, but he didn’t care about the optics. What mattered was the gesture itself.
Gwen looked at his hand, confused, but she placed hers in it anyway. “Where are we going with this?”
He began walking toward the door, bringing her along with him. “I don’t actually know. I just felt like holding hands with my girlfriend.”
From what he knew, initiating gentle touch like handholding during or after disagreents helped shift the nervous system from a defensive state toward a cooperative one. Gwen was still stressed, which could be felt through her elevated pulse. She needed so grounding to stop worrying.
Her posture eased fractionally, but she kept staring down at their linked hands as they walked. “Do you know handholding activates the body’s oxytocin system?”
“Which reinforces feelings of trust, safety, and closeness between partners,” he replied with a faint smile. “In fact, holding a partner’s hand can reduce activity in brain regions linked to threat perception. It also lowers stress levels. There are a lot of benefits to this one small, wonderful gesture.”
She chuckled softly and bumped her shoulder against his arm. “I never thought anyone would out-nerd on my own turf. Kudos, boyfriend.”
“Mine isn’t earned like yours.”
She brushed her shoulder against his. “I don’t know what you an by that. Don’t tell it’s a ploy to distract ?”
“Oops, you caught .”
He stepped into the elevator and gently tugged her into his embrace. She could have avoided it as her reflexes were sharp enough to dodge a bullet, let alone an embrace, but she allowed it to happen. She let him wrap his arms around her and press her head against his chest.
“Hugs can also make you feel calr,” she murmured. “I feel less stressed already.”
“I’m sorry if I made you feel like I was dictating your life,” he said, resting his chin against the top of her head. “That wasn’t my intention. I just didn’t want you to go through the pain of discovering... certain things. Norman already filled your emotional damage quota of 2008.”
In the silence that followed, he could feel her breathing slowly and the way her body gradually uncoiled against his. He didn’t want her to feel any pain from discovering Harry’s change. In the process, he had made her feel like she was being coddled and treated like a child.
“I should be the one apologizing,” she whispered. “I ruined your training session with Laura.”
“We were pretty much done anyway.” He stroked a hand down her blonde hair and rested it on her back. “How about you join the training tomorrow morning? Felicia, Jean, and Psylocke will be there too.”
Speaking of which, he had promised Jean that he would join her for morning jogging, but he hadn’t been able to make it. If he missed another day, she would start calling him a liar.
The elevator doors opened on the second floor. He reluctantly released her, though he kept her hand in his as he led her down the hallway and then back into his room.
“I’m going to take a shower. You wanna join?”
Her face turned red in an instant. “Don’t casually ask to get naked with you!”
He shook his head, amused. Laura would have said yes without hesitation. In fact, Laura would have taken the initiative to join him. Gwen’s boundaries were firr, for now at least.
‘I’ll have to prepare the best genes for her.’
He gestured toward the television. “You can watch sothing. I heard JJJ did a segnt roasting Ghost Spider for the mall incident. Maybe check that out.”
Gwen’s expression darkened. “One day I’m going to web that misinformation-spreader’s mouth live on television.”
Her dislike for the editor-in-chief of the Daily Bugle ran deep enough to override her usual composure.
She kicked off her shoes and tucked her legs beneath her on the couch. Rather than reaching for the remote, she pulled out her phone and started scrolling endlessly on social dia. So things never changed, no matter which universe he was in.
“Boyfriend,” she said without looking up, her thumb still moving in that endless, hypnotic swipe. “Enjoying the view or just stalling for ti?”
He chuckled. “My girlfriend is stupidly gorgeous.”
She rolled her eyes, but the corner of her mouth curled upward. “I’m researching the best way to poison a man who withholds information. Did you know that the average kitchen contains at least four substances that could incapacitate soone without killing them?”
“My girlfriend is so kind and generous. I’d have trapped myself in a dark basent if I was in your shoes.”
She stared at him. “Na one person who is capable of trapping you.”
“My wife Death, and there are plenty more. Don’t think I’m invincible because I can do so stuff.” He shook his head. “I’m not strong.”
Being on par with a cosmic entity was the bare minimum to be strong in this universe. Everyone below was just cannon fodders in comparison.
“I didn’t know I needed an existential crisis on Friday, but thanks anyway.” She put her on the couch and stretched her arms over her head. “I’ll try to train seriously after these finals. Can’t let you fight alone, can I?”
“You’ll have to put in insane effort. Anyway, wait a little longer for your answers. I’m not going anywhere until I get dinner.”
“Fine,” she muttered, not looking up. “But if you try to sleep after, I’m dumping ice water on your head.”
“Kinky.”
Gwen threw a pillow at his face for that comnt.
***
Emma Frost stood by the window of her luxurious European suite, arms loosely crossed as she watched the city below go about its night rhythm. Cars crawled like slow-moving lights, passing pedestrians bundled against the chill hurried along sidewalks. It all felt strangely distant, like she was observing another world through glass.
“Blanche, delay my flight to tomorrow.”
Her business had been handled last night, but she still wasn’t ready to leave.
“As you wish, my lady.” Blanche’s voice ca from behind. The maid had been with her long enough to know when not to ask questions. “Shall I reschedule the eting with the board as well?”
“Everything. Push it all back.”
She saw Blanche nod in the reflection. The maid flashed through the room using her mutant power, arranging everything to make Emma’s night as comfortable as possible.
Once the door clicked shut, Emma turned away from the window and sank down onto the edge of the king-sized bed. She covered her face with both hands. She knew what she wanted. She knew what Dante wanted. Their desires clashed so intensely that there wasn’t a single chance of agreent. She had spent the previous night telling herself that, but her body hadn’t received the mo. Her chest still ached when she thought of him.
‘Should I ask Jean to mind-wipe these feelings?’
A quick telepathic excision would set her free. She would walk back into her life as Emma Frost without this ridiculous vulnerability lodged in her chest like a dagger.
She looked up at the ceiling. “I’m being silly.”
Beneath the pain, there was a strange, quiet happiness that she couldn’t entirely dismiss. She had sincerely fallen in love with soone. After everything, she had discovered that her heart was still capable of affection. What she thought to be impossible had happened.
“Why in such agony, Lady Frost?”
Emma slowly turned her head. By the bookshelf, half-hidden in the shadows, a man casually flipped through a leather-bound book. His long, flowing white hair fitted his elegant black aristocratic dress with a high collar. His ears were sharply pointed like an elf, far too detailed and lifelike to be re prosthetics.
Her telepathic defenses, which should have alard her the mont anyone crossed the threshold of her suite, had registered nothing. That alone told her this aristocratic man wasn’t normal. Her doubts were confird when she probed him with telepathy and found incredible resistance.
“Who are you?”
The man closed the book he had been holding and turned around. Deep wrinkles frad sharp, intelligent eyes that seed to pierce straight through her.
“Count Vlad Dracula, the Ruler of all Vampires,” he introduced himself with a natural haughtiness, his smooth voice carrying the faint accent of old Eastern European nobility. “Lady Frost, forgive the unannounced visit. I dislike formal invitations.”
User Comments
0 comments from readers