by Sarah Carter
Claire grins, “You know me so well.”
“If you wouldn’t mind finishing eating,” Mr. Paulson says. “We’d like to get started.”
“Yeah,” Claire replies, taking a bite. She chews and swallows. “I can eat fast.” And five minutes later, she’s done. “All gone, is everyone ready?”
Dr. Galliger nods. “Yes, let’s go get you set up.” He stands and gestures toward the door.
Everyone gets up and they leave the room. Damien takes Claire’s hand into his, which makes her smile. They meander through the hallways and come upon a large, white room. There are four exam tables against the walls. The rest of the space is taken up by computers.
“Please sit,” Dr. Rollins says, pointing to a table.
Walking over, Claire hops up on it. “So, what weird test are we doing first?”
“We’re going to add the additional electrodes now,” Dr. Rollins says. “Master Damien may want to leave. You have to take your shirt off.”
She pulls her shirt forward. “Eh, I have a bra on.” Claire casually lifts her shirt off. Damien’s eyes get huge. “What? You’ve seen me in a bikini.”
“True,” Damien says. “But it just seems different.”
“Stand there as a council member then, not the guy I’m dating,” Claire instructs with a smirk.
“Okay,” Damien laughs.
Dr. Rollins walks over to Claire. “Alright, we need to apply the patches to your chest, back, and two on your temples.”
“Awesome,” Claire sighs.
Mr. Paulson opens a cupboard, takes a few things out and puts them on a tray. He walks over and sets it down next to Claire. “These won’t hurt or anything. They’re just different than the ones you have on already.”
“Do you have to take these off?” Claire asks, holding her arm up.
“No, they monitor your basics,” Mr. Paulson answers. “These monitor everything on a molecular level.”
“Interesting,” Claire whispers under her breath.
Damien crosses his arms. “So, will it tell you when her heart races because she’s looking at me?”
“No, it monitors me rolling my eyes at comments like that,” Claire retorts.
He gives her his winning smile and Claire sticks her tongue out. Damien laughs. “So mature.”
“I know,” Claire sighs.
“Okay. Here we go,” Mr. Paulson says, as he starts to stick the pads on her chest. “There will be four here and six on your back.”
“Nothing on my feet?” Claire chirps with a grin.
“No,” Mr. Paulson chuckles. “These monitor the whole body. It’ll read everything you do.”
Claire’s eyebrows go up. “Everything?”
“Yes,” Dr. Rollins replies. “We need to know exactly how your body reacts to things.”
Turning her attention to Damien, Claire says, “Well, that means you definitely aren’t touching me. I don’t need them to know what we’re doing.”
“They can handle it,” Damien retorts. “Anyway, they need to monitor what happens in all activities. You can’t shy away from anything right now.”
“I can keep my hands off of you,” Claire declares.
A mischievous smile crosses Damien’s face. “You sure about that?”
“I don’t know,” Claire exhales. “I guess I could try. It may be tough.”
“You’ve wanted to put your hands all over me from day one,” Damien states.
“Damien,” Claire exclaims. “There are other people here.”
He shrugs. “They work for the council. They can’t repeat anything.”
“Still,” Claire squeals. “Put it in a text or something.”
“You don’t have your phone right now. Hard to text you that way.”
“Whatever,” Claire giggles. She looks at the doctors. “There’s no excuse for him.”
Dr. Galliger smiles. “We’ve known Master Damien for a long time. We knew that already.”
“Hey,” Damien laughs. “Show some respect.”
“Don’t listen to him,” Claire whispers.
There are light chuckles from around the room. Mr. Paulson places six pads on her back and then says, “Okay, the last two are for your temples.” He walks around. “These will monitor your wave lengths.”
“Will you know what I’m thinking?”
“No. That would be a gross invasion of privacy,” Mr. Paulson replies.
“But…we have the technology to do that?”
Mr. Paulson smiles. “We have a lot of new technology. These will only be able to sense your mood. Don’t worry. The results will only be accessible to Dr. Galliger, Dr. Rollins, and me.”
“And me,” Damien chirps.
“No, Master Blakely. Your father, yes. You, no. She has the right to her privacy, especially since you have an intimate relationship.”
“Bummer.”
Claire rolls her eyes. “You’ll just have to trust me that I’ll tell you how I feel. Anyway, there would be no mystery to our relationship.”
“I just want to know you better.”
“The feelings are mutual. We have a lot to learn about each other,” she whispers, giving him a gentle look. Damien smirks.
“Alright,” Dr. Rollins interrupts, going to a computer. “We’re going to turn these on now. They’ll be on for 24 hours a day. We’ll put you through a lot of different things to see how your body reacts. Now, one of the first ones I’d like to start with is how you react to males.”
Winking at Damien, Claire says, “I think there’s someone here who can help.”
“I don’t want you pushing or pulling any energy,” Dr. Rollins states. “We’ll keep that for another time. The first tests are going to be by touch alone.”
“You can put your shirt back on,” Mr. Paulson says.
Damien snaps his fingers. “No touching with the shirt off?”
“No,” Dr. Rollins says. “That will be for another time.”
A huge grin passes over Damien’s face. “Sounds good—as long as I’m the only one she’s experimenting with. I’ll have all the others executed.”
“Oh, such a territorial boyfriend,” Claire laughs.
His eyes move over to her. “Boyfriend?”
Claire’s cheeks light on fire. “You know what I meant.”
“I think you’re right. Yes, I’m going to be very protective of you. I don’t want there to be other guys’ hands on you unless you’re sparring. Well, I’m not trying to tell you what to do, but I would prefer to be the only one touching you.”
Gesturing with her finger for him to come to her, Claire says, “Come here.”
Damien walks over. “What?”
She grabs ahold of his shirt and whispers, “No one is going to touch me but you.” With that, Claire pulls him down and kisses him. Damien eagerly returns the affection.
“Okay, we jumped ahead a few tests, but just continue to kiss each other,” Dr. Rollins says.
They both start laughing and pull away. “You want us to make out in front of you?”
“Well…I guess that’s one way to put it. Just kiss until we tell you to stop.”
“This has become awkward,” Claire murmurs, pulling him close again.
Breathing against her lips, Damien whispers, “Kind of kinky, too.”
A second later, his lips touch hers, soft and sweet. Kissing Damien isn’t like anything that Claire has experienced before. He lights up every nerve in her body. Damien steps closer to her, pulling her tight against his body.
The rest of the world disappears for Claire. All she can sense is Damien: the touch of his lips on hers, the heat from his body, the alluring scent that’s only his and the tickling feeling of his fingers against her skin. It makes everything in Claire melt away.
“Okay,” Dr. Rollins says. “You can stop.”
Damien and Claire don’t.
“Um, Master Damien?”
With a growl, Damien pulls away. “I say we continue on with that tes
ting.”
“No, we’re going to go back. Just touch Claire affectionately. We need to see how her body reacts to everything.”
Damien runs his hands up her arms. He places them on the sides of her face, and then traces his right fingers along her jaw line. Claire’s chest tightens.
“Very good, very good,” Mr. Paulson says. “Your energy levels fluctuate dramatically.”
“Doesn’t everyone’s?” Claire asks.
“Not like yours,” Mr. Paulson replies. “Your energy levels run about 20% higher than the average Neturu. I wouldn’t be surprised your hormone levels are even higher.”
Getting a wicked grin on his face, Damien whispers, “I feel like I really need to test your limits and see where I can get those hormone levels.”
“Stop it,” Claire giggles, pushing him away.
Damien laughs with her, but pulls her into a hug. He kisses the top of her head.
Claire looks up at him. “Who knew when I walked out of that bathroom, we’d be here right now, sucking face while I’m hooked up to machines. Interesting turn of events, huh?”
“I don’t mind them.”
“Well,” Dr. Rollins sighs, “We’ll monitor you for the next few days. We’re going to study these readings very carefully.”
Claire looks at him. “Any more tests right now?”
“Yes, we need to draw some blood,” Dr. Rollins replies. She pulls out a syringe and Claire grimaces. “We only need a small sample.”
With a frown, Claire clenches her eyes shut as Dr. Rollins sticks her with the needle.
After a minute, Damien says, “See? It’s over. That wasn’t so bad.”
“Dr. Galliger, Mr. Paulson, and I are going to sit down and brainstorm about all the things that we want to test for. There will be physical tests and emotional tests,” Dr. Rollins explains. “So, I hope you’re up for some physical activity.”
“You have no idea,” Claire replies. “I train every day. I can feel that I’ve been lying in bed for a few days. I need to do something or I’ll go crazy.”
“There’s a training gym here,” Damien tells her. “You can use that.”
She rubs her hands together. “Most excellent.”
“Alright. You’re free to do what you want,” Dr. Galliger says. “I do want you to have a day of being normal before we start doing more in depth studies.”
“Okay,” Claire chirps. “Can I go see Alex?”
Dr. Rollins looks at Dr. Galliger. “I think that would be alright as long as you don’t touch him.”
“That sounds good to me,” Damien retorts.
“Damien,” Claire sternly whispers.
He winks at her in return.
“Go on,” Dr. Galliger says. “Just don’t touch him.”
Claire fights the urge to roll her eyes. “Got that already.”
Sticking out his hand, Damien sighs. “Come on, I’ll take you there.”
She takes his hand and hops down from the table. They make their way out of the room. “I’m kind of nervous about seeing him.”
“You can’t tell him what’s going on,” Damien states. “This is top-secret.”
“What can I say to him? He can’t know about me or us, so what can I talk about, the weather?”
“Do you even know where we are?”
Furrowing her eyebrows, Claire answers, “No, actually I don’t. Where are we?”
“Alaska.” Damien grins.
“Alaska?” Claire squeaks. “Why are we in Alaska?”
“This is our biggest and most technologically-advanced ship. It’s easier to hide up here.”
A little dumbfounded, Claire says, “Interesting.”
They come up to a door and Damien turns to her. “Here we are.”
With a nod, Claire whispers, “Okay. I can do this.”
“Want to give me a kiss before we go in there?” Damien asks with a mischievous grin.
“No, that’s awful,” Claire hisses. “Shut up in case he can hear you.”
Rolling his eyes, Damien says, “Soundproof doors baby. We could scream out here and he wouldn’t know.”
“Alright,” Claire exhales. “Let’s go inside.”
With that Damien grabs the door knob and swings the door open.
Chapter 10
Claire scans the room. They finally find Alex sitting on top of a bed. He looks up at her.
“Claire!” Alex jumps down from the bed and runs over to her.
Claire thrusts her hands out. “No—you can’t touch me!”
Alex stops. “Why not?”
“You just can’t, Alex. Trust me on this—you don’t want to touch me.”
He frowns. “I don’t care why I can’t. I want to.”
“Alex, seriously. You can’t touch me. We don’t know how you’ll react to me,” Claire declares. “Just keep away.”
“What’s wrong? What happened?” Alex snaps. “I woke up on this ship and they told me you were here. Are you hurt?”
“No. I woke up a little while before you,” Claire replies, “But I’m fine. It seems as though we both are.”
He glares at Damien. “What are we doing here, Master Damien?”
“That isn’t open for public knowledge,” Damien replies. “You and Claire are safe. That’s all that matters.”
“I think I’m allowed to know what happened to us,” Alex growls. “I am part of this.”
Damien nods. “You were completely drained of your energy. You had no organ failure or physical injuries.”
“And Claire? Why is she here?”
“That’s not up for discussion,” Damien retorts. “Sorry, Alex.”
Looking at Claire, Alex says, “We’ll discuss this later.”
“I can’t, Alex. I’m sorry,” Claire mutters. “It’s something I can’t openly talk about right now, maybe in the future.”
“I’m a guard member,” Alex seethes. “I’m held by a nondisclosure agreement.”
With a shake of his head, Damien says, “No, I’m sorry.”
Obviously furious, Alex snaps, “Well, I’m not sitting in this room anymore. You can’t hold me prisoner.”
“For right now, you have to stay within this wing,” Damien declares. “There’s a common room, which has a TV, a computer, and so on. You may use that.”
“What room are you in?” Alex asks Claire.
She shakes her head. “I have no idea. I kind of ran and I don’t know where I ended up.”
“What? What were you running from?”
“Oh, it was a misunderstanding,” Claire replies. “I’m fine. I actually took down an entire guard team. I was proud of myself. So was grandpa, I think, even if he didn’t show it, but you know that’s grandpa.”
“Kaleb is here?” Alex gasps. “Why?”
Damien puts his hand on Claire’s back. “He’s here to see Claire. The information was leaked to him.”
“Hey! He gets to touch you and I don’t?” Alex shouts. “What’s going on Claire?”
Damien pulls his hand away. “I know what’s going on. I know when not to touch her.”
“Then tell me when I can or can’t touch her, so I can do it, too,” Alex retorts.
Claire looks at Damien. “Can’t I hug him?”
“No. The doctors said no. I can’t let that happen until he’s monitored.”
“But you can do it?” Alex snaps.
Pointing at Claire’s temple, Damien states, “See these electrodes on her? Well, I have them implanted in me. All the council members do. If anything happens to us, a medical crew is informed right away. So, I’m being monitored right now.”
“Isn’t that a little creepy? You have no privacy.” Claire inquires in surprise.
“They don’t monitor my thoughts. Not every aspect of them are turned on all the time either, but I can guarantee they are now.”
“This is so annoying,” Alex growls. “I don’t like being kept in the dark.”
Damien crosses his arms. “My father
will be here in the morning. He’ll decide if you can find out or not.”
Alex’s eyebrows shoot up. “Your father is coming? Why?”
“This situation is that important,” Damien states. “I promise there’s a good reason. As soon as we can tell you, I’ll do it personally. Just trust us for right now.”
“Can I talk to Claire by myself?” Alex asks.
“Sure,” Damien replies. “But your room is bugged, so you’ll be heard anyway.”
Alex looks at him. “I meant away from you.”
Turning his gaze to Claire, Damien says, “Sure. I’ll be outside the door, baby.”
“Baby?” Alex growls.
“It’s just a sign of affection,” Claire interjects. “Relax.”
“When do you think you’ll be hungry again?” Damien asks Claire. “I want to set up a meal for all of us.”
She rubs her stomach, “Probably soon. That didn’t fill me up at all. I have a pretty high metabolism.”
“And she eats like crap,” Alex adds. “That doesn’t help anything.”
“So, something healthy,” Damien chuckles. “What do you like that has some nutritional value?”
“Claire likes stir-fry which isn’t that bad for you, but with no mushrooms or pea pods. She’ll whine until she’s blue in the face if those are in there,” Alex answers.
“Shut up.”
“Well, it’s true.” Alex laughs. “You’re incredibly picky about vegetables.”
“I’ll cook dinner then,” Damien states, with humor in his voice. “I make a killer stir-fry.”
“You cook?” both Alex and Claire say at once.
Damien nods. “Yes, I do. Very well, too.”
“Awesome,” Claire cheers. “I hate cooking!”
Snorting, Alex says, “Oh come on, you make a mean grilled cheese, if you don’t burn it.”
She turns to him. “Are you going to spill all my horrible traits?”
“Maybe,” Alex replies, looking at her.
“Nothing you say will deter me from liking her,” Damien interjects with a serious tone.
Alex narrows his eyes. “If you want to know her secrets, just listen to her talk in her sleep.”
“I have already. I sat with her for the last three days.”
“What did I say?” Claire gasps.
“I’ll tell you later,” Damien answers, with a huge grin on his face.
“Can I please talk to her now?” Alex asks.
