by Pearl Tate
One of the superior officers looks Desin up and down before his eyes shift to Tyler, and he demands, “Check her out here and clear her for service.” His hard eyes shift to me when he states, “We’ll deal with you shortly, Miss Fisher.”
The ominous way he looks at me, leaves no doubt I’m in hot water. I bet by the time this is all over, I’ll be wishing I was dead under that pile of containers. As I start to shake in shock and now fear, I ignore Tyler as he leans over me, tilting my chin up with a gloved finger to shine a light in my eyes.
Sure, I know that I should have already considered and weighed all the consequences of my actions, but I was so sure that I’d get away with it. I mean … never did it cross my mind that a couple pieces of equipment would come crashing—over and over, I might add—into the stack of containers I wanted to get access into. What the hell?
Honestly, the worst that I could imagine was them having a “general idea” that the container was accessed. Then they’d have to go back and review the cameras. But I’d been told there was a finite period of time during which footage was kept before it would be purged from the records. The idea that they’d be able to positively identify me is almost laughable. Plus … they wouldn’t know why I was here or what I’d hoped to accomplish. Especially so long after the fact. Maybe I can pass the sample to Desin for him to get it out of here and all this won’t be totally wasted?
When I glance up at Desin and Payak, still talking to the superior officers just out of earshot, my view is obstructed by a beautiful woman who’s walking quickly toward Tyler and me. “Oh, honey. Are you alright?” She crouches down in front of me, and based on the nondescript military garb she’s wearing, I assume she’s probably a shrink sent to evaluate me.
“Yeah. I think so.” My gaze flicks to Tyler who’s now moving a thermometer away from my body and reading the temperature display. Rubbing my head, I flex my back, twitching my arms and feeling all my stiff, sore muscles. I think a lot of that is just from climbing up and then shimmying around the edge to get the lid open.
The dark-haired woman purses her lips as she tilts her head to the side. “Can I see your hands?” She reaches out, holding her palms up for me and waiting.
Uh. I forgot about them. When I settle my hands into her cool, dry clasp, I see they don’t look very good. Bruising has formed along my fingers where the container’s lid slammed down on them. She flips my hands over slowly, and the abrasions on my palms are seeping blood from the scrapes. When she rubs her fingers over the blood, I try to jerk back, but her grip tightens even as she holds them out to Tyler.
“You should get these cleaned up.” Looking into her perfect face, my eyes lock with hers, and I watch silver flecks swirl in the light blue iris of her eyes. Weird. As beautiful as she is, there’s something about her that’s odd. Time seems to stand still as she ignores Tyler even when she releases me, and his efficient, gloved hands take over.
It isn’t until a stinging pain brings me back to the present that I realize I’m staring. Blinking rapidly to adjust my focus, I watch her move away, walking across the smooth concrete floor like she’s floating over it. Desin gives her a strange look as he and one of the superior officers head my way, but none of them stop to talk to her as she continues off, bypassing Payak and Cam, who appear to be in a heated discussion.
What does amaze me is that it looks like Teresa is leaving! She’s ahead of the strange woman and turns a corner, only glancing back briefly at me with a tiny wave. What the hell?
Although it gives me hope that she’s off the hook, it still doesn’t mean I’m out of hot water. From the serious expressions on both Desin and the officer’s faces –Officer Mulligan from the looks of his name badge— I might not be so lucky. “Jade Fisher, I’m releasing you into the custody of Desin Brubaker, but before we do, I’d like to take a statement from you.” Pulling out an official looking, smaller tablet than the one I normally use for inventory, he looks at Tyler pointedly. “Are you finished?”
“Sir, yes sir. All readings are normal, and her only abrasions appear to be on her hands. They’ve been cleaned and lightly bandaged.” Flexing my fingers, I realize he’s placed a thin film over the cuts that flex as my fingers test their movement.
Not bad. One of them is starting to seep through, but considering how bad it could have been, I’m lucky that’s all that’s being bandaged right now. They could be bundling my body up in a body bag.
Looking up, I see Tyler taking off. He didn’t mess around. Mulligan is still fingering his device, clearly entering pertinent information before he looks down at me. “Can you stand then?”
Oh, right. Desin holds out a hand, and I gratefully grab ahold to pull myself up, thankful for the help since my entire body feels like it’s throbbing. I don’t know why I feel so sore. That kind of excitement really takes a lot out of you!
“Sir, yes sir.” I mumble weakly as I salute. This is so embarrassing in front of a man that I’m so attracted to. What in the world can he be thinking as he watches me with that soft smile? I’m glad he finds this humorous, because it’s anything but. My voice is trembling with just those brief words to a superior.
Clenching his jaw, Officer Mulligan gives me a hard look as he peruses me up and down. I’m used to the men in the service trying to intimidate me by their height and size, so I lift my chin, mimicking the hard set of his mouth while I fall into a relaxed posture. It’s no great feat to be taller than me since I’m only five three when I’m standing up completely straight.
“You understand you’ve violated the terms of your agreement of service by entering a location on base that is posted with notices as off limits for your rank?” When I nod, he raises his eyebrows.
Duh. “Sir, yes sir.” It’s easy to fall into complacency at a base like this. Yeah, it’s super-secret and out in the middle of nowhere, but once you’re here, the atmosphere is relaxed. During the time I’ve been here, I’ve yet to see anyone answer to anyone but their direct supervisor the way I am now. This doesn’t bode well for me.
Maybe the reason I’ve never seen this guy around is because he’s that far up above me and isn’t here regularly? Or he only stops in occasionally? I’m actually surprised I haven’t seen Greg, my direct supervisor yet. Certainly, if Cameron heard about Teresa, Greg’s heard about this too?
“I’m releasing you into Desin Brubaker’s custody. He’ll be resuming responsibility for you and your actions from this moment on. Does that make sense to you?”
My eyes shift to Desin who’s smiling—yes, smiling. Who is this guy? How did he manage to pull this off? Am I even in the military any longer? If I am, just how high is his clearance?
CHAPTER ELEVEN
- Jade
I’m still trying to think back to what Teresa told me was outlined on Payak and Desin’s intake form when she set them up in housing. I realize I’m still staring at Desin when Mulligan clears his throat loudly, pulling my attention back to him. “Understood and acknowledged?”
I’m sure my expression is as shocked as I feel, but I manage to get out a weak, “Sir, yes sir.”
Mulligan doesn’t wait for any further clarification or agreement. He spins on his heel and takes off, leaving me standing in shock in the middle of the aisle. As I slowly look around, I realize that Cameron and Payak are just turning the corner to leave, and Tyler’s nowhere to be seen. We’re alone, but I know now isn’t the right time to start asking questions. I want to get the hell out of Dodge as fast as I can.
“Now what?” I look up at Desin, and he appears a little lost too as he glances around like I was doing a moment before.
“Do you trust me?” Desin’s voice is low and earnest. I can’t help but break into nervous giggles, failing utterly at stopping them for a moment, despite Desin’s look as he stares at me like I’m a strange bug under a microscope. But what choice do I have? I have to trust him.
Placing my hands on my lower back, I straighten up. My tummy muscles feel so sore—along with m
y back. “Of course. I mean, I don’t know what kind of agreement you managed with Mr. Personality who just left, but I was getting court-martialed. Or worse—booted.”
“Booted?” I blink slowly at Desin. Really? Talk about a culture gap. He has to be from a foreign country with that kind of miscommunication, but that doesn’t make much sense? How would he have any kind of say or pull in our military if he wasn’t even from here?
Everything about this situation is strange. I feel like I’m in the Twilight zone. “When I said ‘booted,’ I meant thrown out of the service. It’s slang. Where did you say you’re from?”
Desin’s face changes from understanding to a sexy smirk that has me squeezing my legs together and reminding myself how inappropriate the timing is. There’s just something about him that makes my libido scream because now all I can think about are those lips on me. On my lips … and other places.
“I didn’t say before, but I do think it’s time to show you.” Tilting my head, I pop my hip to the side as I put my hands on my waist, wincing slightly and reminding myself again to not move too fast.
Desin begins walking toward the row of containers closest to us instead of toward the door. There’s not much space between the rows and most average men could squeeze through sideways, fixing and securing tie downs as needed. I can practically walk normally in the one foot space, but Desin’s large body looks mammoth as he moves into the narrow channel, looking back at me.
We’re easily half a dozen container rows away from where I originally scaled to the top, but I can’t help the ominous foreboding that settles over me as we walk between the two high racks. I think I felt better high above them than I do down here with both sides looming over me. Especially after seeing that they aren’t impenetrable, and they can be knocked down. Rather easily, in fact.
I’ll probably never know exactly what happened to cause the wreckage and destroy the crates scattered across the floor farther down the aisle. None of it makes any sense. They couldn’t have known we were up there? And yet what are the odds that they’d have that kind of equipment failure and accident while we were? It’s the damnedest thing!
When I run into Desin’s back, I realize I’m not paying attention. The zing of attraction that seems to shock me every time we touch, bounces me back slightly. He turns to peer down at me in the dim lighting between the racks. “I …” A funny look crosses his face.
I poke him, hitting hard stomach muscles. There’s like no extra fat on this man. Incredible. “What?” Did he just want to get me in here to make out? I mean, a part of me is all into that, but we probably should get out of here before someone comes back and I end up arrested for the stunt I pulled. Or tries to dump another stack of crates on my head. Either way, the sooner I’m out of this “restricted” area, the better.
“It’s just … this is harder than I thought it’d be. I thought … you know what?”
Shaking my head slightly, I laugh lightly, breathing out, “No. What?”
Reaching out to me, he grasps my shoulders, pulling me toward him as he says, “I’ll just have to show you.”
Mm, now this is the stuff of fantasies. A hot guy has just taken me between the racks in a forbidden warehouse to “show me something.” As his arms tighten around me, a foreboding thought sends a shiver down my spine. What if he intends to kill me? What if this was all an elaborate way to get me alone and kill me?
Relaxing, I turned my cheek against his chest, deciding my initial poke was spot on. Just as I remember from being pressed against him in the bathroom, he’s as hard as a rock … all the way down. I look up, glancing at the container in the dim light next to us, but things are changing—all around us.
The world around is lit up by swirling colors, illuminating the space and making it abundantly clear we’re not in the warehouse any longer. My mouth opens, gaping as my heartbeat speeds up, and I bring up my arms to tighten them around him. Desin’s my only constant as I notice I’m not even feeling a floor beneath my sneakers anymore.
What the fuck? Is this some kind of newfangled travel machine the military has? Despite the swirling colors, I don’t feel any breeze or other reason to explain why it’s so crazy around me.
It isn’t until the lights taper off and our surroundings become almost foggy that I realize Desin’s arms have loosened. Mine haven’t though! I’m still gripping him like my life depends on it. What if it does?
When my hands don’t let go, Desin steps closer, and the vibrating awareness between us feels as though it’s kicked up a notch. I don’t only feel it where we touch. It’s everywhere. Never before I felt this … horny.
That’s what this is. My nipples have hardened to the point of pain, and as I step back from him, without releasing his forearms, I realize I can feel the pulse of my heartbeat between my legs. Woah!
But that’s not the most important thing. “Where are we?” We were crammed together with towering crates over our head, and now we have a hazy fog surrounding us as far as I can see.
My eyes catch on the furniture behind me. A chair … and a bed are the only things in this … place. Desin steps to the right, pulling me along easily behind him as he leads me over to the bed covered with white linens and a blanket. One pillow sits at the head, and as he sinks into the surface of the mattress, I notice the top indents by a few inches. It’s plush.
Following him down, I test the surface. There’s a serious memory foam topper on this baby. Without thinking, I drop onto my back, letting out a sigh of relief.
I feel totally exhausted. I could sleep for days, but then I remember that Desin hasn’t answered my question yet. Looking over at him sitting next to me, I reach up and pat his cheek. “I know I should be mad at you, but I’m just so thankful you’ve taken care of things and saved my ass back there. But seriously, what is this place?”
Pulling myself up, I feel my stomach muscles strain, although they already feel quite a bit better. Desin shifts on the bed next to me, giving me an uncomfortable look, before a huge smile spreads over his face. “Well, technically, we’re no longer on Earth. Where we are … what we’re experiencing right now, is another dimension. Until now, I couldn’t share it with you. I suspected—”
“What do you mean this isn’t Earth? Did one of those crates bonk you on the head?” My mind sticks on his first statement. I hear him alright, but at the same time, I can’t believe he isn’t exaggerating. Bouncing slightly on the plush mattress, I look down at my feet. The floor is a plain brown. Maybe a hardwood?
So, we aren’t in the warehouse any longer? I can’t help thinking this must be a trick. Sure, the floor doesn’t appear to be concrete, but once you get more than ten to twenty feet away from the bed, our surroundings all appear to be a gray, soupy fog.
“I mean, I’m not from Earth, and this …” Desin waves his hand around, “… isn’t your Earth. It’s my dimension that only I can access no matter where I am in the universe. I’m Sinth. A Sinth Guardian who has come to Earth looking for one of our Squad … like a team member? Co-worker?”
Nodding seriously, I try to determine when he plans to yell “gotcha” because it has to be coming. I mean, he can’t be serious, right? I continue looking at him, nodding as I straighten and fold my hands in my lap. But he appears to be waiting for me to say something. I smile slightly, giving him my best patronizing look, the one I usually reserve for my “I don’t think this is going to work out” speech. “So, just to make sure we’re on the same page, you aren’t from Earth?”
“No.” Desin’s answer is short as he leans back, dropping his weight onto his hands so our faces are only a foot apart. His height puts him above me, and my eyes scan his face. His hair is black, but his skin does have a gray cast I had never noticed before.
Desin raises his black eyebrows as he blinks, looking down at me just as seriously as I’m looking at him. “And we aren’t on Earth now? How does that work?” I ask him.
I’m totally confused. We didn’t travel anywhere. We wer
e just in the warehouse in the swirling lights? What am I missing?
Desin wraps my folded hands in his. “This is another dimension, and as a Sinth, we can access our dimension from anywhere.”
As I watch his lips move, I can feel myself becoming distracted. Why does he have to be so … attractive? I want to ask a million questions, but right now the only thing going through my mind is how delicious he looks. “So, is this where you bring all the girls you like?”
Desin throws back his head and laughs, and I’m charmed by how just that small movement and the sound of his laugh seems to reverberate through me and heighten all my senses. What’s going on with my body? I shouldn’t be feeling like this.
Just being here is breaking rules that I’ve carefully constructed for my dates with men. Stay in public places. Never go to their place—certainly not a bedroom—mine or theirs. It just ends up getting uncomfortable when I tell them no.
I can’t count the number of times guys have acted all put out and bent out of shape when I do the brush off at the door at the end of a date. As if a meal entitles you to a blow job. You wouldn’t believe the hard times I’ve been given—not once—but literally dozens of times.
“What’s so funny?” I enjoy watching him, but as he continues to laugh, I can’t help feeling like there’s something I’m missing.
“You.” Desin drops back all the way next to me on the bed’s surface, kicking off his shoes, pulling himself farther up the mattress, and crossing his legs. Patting the bed on either side of him, he states, “This is my dimension. Each Sinth has their own dimension. I know in the past, we’ve had shared dimensions with our families, but since we’re all clones now in our society, no one shares a dimension with anyone else. It’s impossible.”
As he speaks, I just become more and more confused, but now I’m stuck on the whole cloning thing. “You’re a clone?”
