Gifted Connections: Book 3

by SM Olivier

  As I began to drift down from my euphoria he flipped me onto my back and began to drive into me with a roughness he had never exhibited with me before. It was slightly painful but it felt amazing at the same time. I was surprised to feel the pressure within begin to build again.

  “Noah,” I gasped.

  “Wanna give me another love?” he asked as he gently nipped my shoulder.

  “Yes,” I cried out as his movements increased in speed and intensity.

  I felt him tense and he groaned as I felt his warmth spill in me. I reached another peak. This time it was more intense and mind blowing than the first time. I grabbed a pillow and screamed into it, conscious of the fact that we may not be alone soon.

  “I love you,” he sighed in satisfaction as he collapsed beside me and pulled me into his arms.

  I looked up at him with a bemused expression. “Did you just confess your love for me?” I teased him.

  A rare moment of seriousness entered his eyes. Then they became guarded before a lopsided grin slipped over his mouth. His joking, laid back, devil-may-care mask slipped back into place. “If I did?”

  I straddled his hips once more and grasped his face so he was forced to look me in the eyes. “I love you, too, but I wanted to make sure it wasn’t just the sex talking.”

  “We made love,” he insisted as the mask disappeared once more. “You know I don’t have a past I’m proud of where women are concerned, but I’ve never told any of them I loved them before or after sex. With you it’s different. I love you.” he said earnestly.

  I smiled at him and kissed him softly on the lips. “I love you, too.”

  A few months ago, I would have never thought I could be this happy with one guy let alone six. I knew I was fortunate and blessed to have them as my connections.

  We decided to take two vehicles into the city. I wished we could have brought my Jeep so I could practice driving it but it wasn’t practical. We wouldn’t be able to fit as many people or gifts in it. Driving into the city for my first time on the road probably wasn’t the wisest either.

  “Should we have done like a secret Santa for Christmas?” Dawn asked in exasperation as she looked down at her list. “You know we just have to go shopping for the kids and the person’s name we pulled from the hat.”

  “That would have been a great idea before we left the base,” Rachel said with a slight frown as she looked down at her phone.

  From my position, I could see that she had logged onto her online banking. I knew we were making more money than I could ever dream of, but I also knew she had an online shopping addiction.

  “We can always get really large stocking for everyone that isn’t immediate family or significant others and just buy stocking stuffers for everyone else,” I suggested.

  “That’s an amazing idea!” Rachel gushed. “That would make things so much easier.”

  I grinned as I looked at my own list. I never imagined I would have to go shopping for more than Ella, and now I had a shopping list of over twenty people.

  “What about a Christmas tree and decorations?” Dawn said glumly. “None of the apartments will have the room for it.”

  “My Dad said, by the end of next week, people should be able to move into the other unutilized spaces,” Victoria said confidently. “He’s sending in truckloads of furniture.”

  “Is that his payment for us harboring you?” Rachel said with a bit of sarcasm.

  Victoria face fell.

  “Rachel Moore,” I admonished her before I turned to look at Victoria. “Ignore her. She’s just bitter that she has to live in the dorms. She forgets a father’s love, that he would do anything to ensure their child is safe, no matter what they have to do.”

  It was Rachel’s turn to frown. “Your right. I’m sorry, Victoria. It just bites that we’ve been trying to change our living conditions since we moved here, and all it takes is one powerful man to come in and things finally change.”

  Victoria shrugged as she looked out the window. “It’s okay. I know what you mean. That’s why I’ve been acting out. I knew no matter what I did or said, my Dad could make it all go away. I glued my teacher to the chair and got away with it.”

  We all burst out with shock laughter. “You’re kidding me?!” Rachel howled.

  Victoria had a wry grin on her face. “No. Bobby and I tagged the school, too, and nothing happened either.”

  “Remind me to keep you away from Jax,” I joked.

  “Which one’s he?” Victoria looked at me with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

  “Oh no,” I shook my head emphatically. “I’m not falling for it.”

  “I’ll introduce you later,” Rachel whispered loudly with a wink.

  I was so grateful to see the gates looming ahead. By the time we returned, the sun was going down. Black Friday shopping was pure madness. Never again! I told that to Jemmy and Rachel, and they had laughed at me, but I meant it. I was really happy with some of the deals I found, but the crowds and the pure greediness were too much for me.

  I almost backed out on grocery shopping but I knew I couldn’t. I knew Drake wouldn’t have minded doing the shopping, but it wasn’t fair to expect them to, not with four boys in tow compared to our three girls. The girls loved shopping, but I knew Alex and Patrick had their limits. They could only take so much before they started to complain.

  “Snacks at your place?” Dawn asked hopefully as she flashed her ID at the gate guard.

  I wanted to tell her another time but Victoria and Rachel looked at me earnestly, too. If Jemmy, Nadia, and Ella were here, they would be chiming in as well.

  “Sure,” I said with a shrug. “Maybe Drake’s isn’t busy,” I said with a wicked smile.

  We parked our vehicles in the parking garage, and I was surprised to see Gavin, Sam, and Ford waiting on us. “I explained our dilemma to Ford, and he secured us a space to store our gifts.” Dawn grinned from the driver’s seat.

  “You’re amazing!” Rachel squealed.

  “Plus, they’re here to help us put it away,” Dawn smiled smugly.

  “They better not peek,” I laughed, glad for the help.

  The elevator doors opened once more and Jaxson, Troy, and Jace stepped off the lift. “Who told them?” I groaned. I knew some of the gifts I got weren’t going to be easy to keep hidden.

  I jumped out of the SUV and held out my hands. “Step no farther,” I insisted. “You can’t see anything yet!”

  “How about we give you the wagons, and you put the stuff in there we can see?” Jace asked with a smirk.

  I nodded satisfied with his compromise. I grabbed one of the wagons and kissed his cheek. “Always so smart,” I teased him.

  “So, I’ve been told,” Jace grinned at me.

  Jaxson started to creep towards the vehicle.

  “Take one step closer and…and I’ll have you running around this parking garage meowing like the curious cat you are,” I warned him.

  He turned with a mock frown. “You would−” He was cut off midsentence as he began to running around the garage meowing loudly.

  I smiled at the laughter surrounding me. I compelled him to stop just as quickly as I compelled him to start. “Believe me now?”

  He turned with a feigned look of hurt. “That’s not very nice. You promised no compelling us against our will.”

  I raised my brow at him and put my hands on my hips. “I distinctly recall Noah screaming in the shower the other day because a spider was in there with him.”

  Of all the things Noah could be afraid off, I was shocked to find it was spiders. He screamed like a little girl when he saw them. I loved finding more things out about my connections, so I was even amused by that one.

  Jaxson tried to hide a smile behind his hand. “Who said it was me?” he tried to look innocent.

  Tried to.

  “It was singing the itsy-bitsy spider,” I said dryly.

  Everyone began to laugh in surprise and amusement.

  J
emmy hollered with laughter. “You’re kidding me? Why am I just now finding out about this? Why wasn’t it filmed?”

  Jaxson looked over at her and mouthed something to her that I was unable to see. Jemmy covered her mouth and tears sprang to her eyes.

  I rolled my eyes. I hadn’t noticed at the time, but maybe he had been recording it. Noah was going to kill him…again. “So, the moral of the story is, I’m not using it maliciously or forcefully. Now stay right there so we can load up the wagons with what you can see. I’m hungry!”

  “Drake has food waiting for you all,” Troy stated with a grin as he kissed my cheek.

  I grinned up at him. “How am I not surprised?”

  “We also get to test out the new theater room tonight. Everyone’s eagerly waiting for you guys,” Jace added.

  “Theater room?” I asked in surprise.

  “Senator Bowen had it set up today,” Jace explained as he looked over at Victoria. “I hear you are somewhat of a movie buff. He wanted to make sure you were settling in nicely.”

  Victoria smiled widely, although I’m certain I saw a shadow cross her face. “I want to be a director one day,” then she grimaced. “At least I wanted to be.”

  Jace frowned slightly. “You still can. Just because you found out you’re gifted, doesn’t mean it can stop you from pursuing your dreams.”

  Victoria had been a roller coaster of emotions today. She had been happy, bitter, morose, angry, and every other volatile emotion. I knew she was still felt guilt for her mother’s death. She was upset her father had thrust her into this situation. She was still struggling with her ‘curse.’ She still didn’t see it as a gift.

  “Yeah, right,” she said sullenly. “I’ll get all the education and experience I need hidden in a mountain in the middle of nowhere.”

  “This is only temporary,” I told her resolutely.

  Chapter 21

  We were in the “war room” two weeks after our mission at the labs, and I was sitting between Jace and Remy. The screen was down and the overhead projector was on. I could tell that whatever Will was briefing us on was of monumental importance. He kept looking at me nervously and then back at his notes.

  “As most of you know, we have been looking for Dr. Hazel Cornwall,” Will stated gravely as a picture of a woman popped up on the screen.

  I gasped. There was no mistaken who the woman was. The woman was petite and as tall, if not slightly shorter, than me. She was a bit smaller up top but age could have done that to her. She had short, dark, curly hair with grey streaks in it. Her eyes were sad, empty, lifeless but they were the same exact shade of green as my own. I knew she had to be in her early to mid-sixties, but other than the deep lines around her mouth and eyes she had aged well, considering.

  “We finally found the facility she was put in, but we were days late. She was signed out of the facility by her−” Will pushed the button and the slide changed. “Daughter.”

  I felt the air leave from my lungs. Again, the resemblance was uncanny. Only this woman looked like she could be my sister and not my mother. I couldn’t believe a woman that small could carry five children and have no visual physical side effects to it. What struck me the most in the pictures were her looking so healthy and well-put together. She didn’t look like the high, weary teenager I had seen in Horatio’s vision.

  My shock was soon replaced by anger. Who knew how long she had been healthy and clean. She had five children out there. Two she had given up for adoption, Bridgette and Kade, two she had abandoned to ex-boyfriends, Micah and Alex, and then me. I had been taken away by CPS. Did she even look for us? Did she even care that she left Micah and Alex to people who couldn’t care less about them?

  I never entertained the idea of her being alive. She had been an addict for at least twelve years. I had thought she would have overdosed somewhere in that time period, especially since she never returned for Alex or Micah.

  I clenched my teeth and balled up my fist. Remy reached over and took my hand in his and placed it under the table. Jace looked over at me and frowned. I quickly realized my barriers were down, so I raised them once more.

  Will must have been talking for sometime now, but I hadn’t heard a word he said. “Blake?” he asked expectantly.

  He asked if you would be capable of doing the mission, Remy gently prodded silently in my head.

  I nodded. I didn’t even hear the mission or it’s details, but I’m sure the guys would fill me in.

  “Great,” Will looked at me with concern. “You’ll all be leaving tomorrow morning. Pack for cold weather.”

  “So, like last month?” Marcus asked dryly. “But with more snow?”

  Paul chuckled. “Not quite. We have secured a base for you in the vicinity where they were last seen. It’s part of a resort with cabins, so you’ll be staying there while pinpointing their exact location.”

  “Two weeks before Christmas?” Jemmy asked with a frown.

  “Better wrap it up quickly,” Will said with a sympathetic smile. “And try to keep it top secret while you’re surrounded by civilians.”

  “Why would we be surrounded by civilians?” Terrance asked in confusion.

  “It’s a ski resort,” Drake said in surprise as he tapped away at his laptop.

  A few of the operatives cheered. “So, skiing is permissible?” Ford asked.

  “That would be up to your team leads,” Paul stated. “Some of the planning phases will not require all of your involvement. But keep in mind, I don’t want you out of commission because you decided to take unnecessary risks.”

  “We’ll be sending you with some of the techs, too. This will be their first time in the field, and we expect you all to return, safely,” Will added.

  “You’re dismissed for the day and expected to meet back here at 0600,” Paul informed us.

  I mechanically got up and gathered my bags to leave the room. The guys were all hovering around me with concern. “Blake?” Will called softly.

  I turned and walked towards him. “If you’re not up to it, no one will blame you,” Will said without preamble.

  “She’s been out there all this time and she didn’t even look for them,” I shook my head resolutely. “I can understand when it comes to me, Bridgette, or Kade; she thought we were in good hands, but not Alex and Micah. I need to see her. I need to ask her why the drugs were more important than her own children.”

  “They weren’t,” Mr. Moore said quietly. I hadn’t even noticed him sitting at the desk in the corner, sitting behind a computer. He took off his glasses and sat it on the desk.

  I had never gotten the chance to ask him how and when he knew my mother after he got out of the hospital wing. I hadn’t wanted to interrupt his time with his children either. They needed to reacquaint themselves with each other and I didn’t want to intrude.

  “Your uncle and I grew up together. We were best friends, even. We lived at each other’s houses. I was also our parent’s first attempts at the experiment. Both of our mothers had fertility issues. They were ecstatic that their experiment worked with me. When we were six and already starting to show signs of the gift, our parents were…avaricious. They wanted to try it again,” Mr. Moore explained with a deep sigh. “They didn’t understand that people shouldn’t be experiments. They didn’t even have all the data on what could possibly happen to us. They gave birth to two more children. You’re mother Miranda and my younger brother Todd.

  “Todd was a normal child until he started preschool. Than he started having night terrors. Terrifying night terrors. My sweet little brother turned into a…scared, traumatized four-year-old overnight. My parents had their hands full with him. Mom quit her research to stay home with him all the time.

  Hazel wanted another child a couple years after your mother was born. They still didn’t see or hear about the failures in their experiments. Your Aunt was about five years old when your mom and dad, along with my parents, finally started hearing about the other children in their progra
m having difficulties when their gifts came in.

  “They started to suspect my brother was troubled because his gifts gave him insight into people’s dreams. Things another gifted child or adolescent might understand in stride, but a toddler wouldn’t be able to differentiate fact from fiction yet. He wasn’t ready for the gift. A lot of other children were having the same side effects.

  “He was permanently hospitalized where he spent the next four years of his life until he finally died trying to escape from one of his night terrors in the middle of the night. My mother was traumatized but she jumped back into her work.

  “They were so busy trying to right their wrongs but it was too late. Your uncle and I were watching Miranda and Brenda all the time—well, your uncle was, but I was there to keep him company.

  “Miranda and Brenda were playing in the back yard. Brenda wanted a toy your mother had. Miranda didn’t want to give it to her. Brenda got angry. The earth shook and Brenda was making the trees sway. She didn’t know what to do and she panicked and ran. The earth shook hard, hail began to fall, she didn’t know how to control her gift. She fell into a hole she had created. By the time EMTs came it was too late. They had to respond to all the other calls and our parents couldn’t be reached.

  “Miranda blamed herself. Your grandmother stopped talking, stopped caring, she gave up living. Your grandfather pretty much worked himself to death. Miranda started to act out. She craved the attention. Eventually, she found the wrong crowd. She started to drink and do drugs to numb the pain.

  “CPS finally stepped in and she was taken away. Your grandmother wasn’t able to take care of her children. Your uncle tried. He had kept their situation controlled for many years. When they were taken away, they were separated. Your uncle finally escaped out of his fifth foster home. No one wanted a teen, even a well-behaved teen.

  “Your mother was another story. She acted out the moment they separated them. She found a life on the streets. Your uncle went in search for her, found her, but by then it was too late.

  “He and I got back in touch again. He agonized over her behavior but knew his Randy was still in here. We lost touch many times over the years after that, but he did let me know a lot of things about the whole situation.