by Mandy Rosko
Regardless, Ethan still felt like he had some stuff he needed to get off of his back. "I know we've talked about this already, but I just want you to know that I'm going to be better, I'll make up for what I tried to do to you."
"It wasn't like you put me in a box or anything," Jamie said.
"No, but I was planning on doing it. If I'd woken up first and Allison hadn't been there, I would've shackled you, boxed you, and called the collectors to take you away."
"Would you have regretted it?" Jamie asked.
"Yes, but that doesn't matter. I still would have done it, and I know you said it was fine, and I know I'm the one who keeps bringing this up now, but I just—"
"Jamie kissed him, effectively shutting him up before he pulled back and looked him right in the eye. "Okay. If you really feel like there's something you need to do to wipe your slate clean, that's fine. I won't fight you on it anymore, but you need to know that this isn't about settling a score. There is no score for me. You already made up everything to me."
This was why Ethan loved this man so much, because he didn't hold things against people. "I hear everything you're saying, but I'm still going to go above and beyond to make sure you don't regret this."
"I uprooted your life, too, in case you forgot," Jamie said, poking him in his chest, getting a spot that wasn't still healing.
"In the best possible way, though," Ethan said.
He didn't often see Jamie blush, so it was worth it every single time.
"I do love you though, I really mean that," Jamie said.
The honesty in Jamie's voice sucked all the fight right out of him, and he didn't move when Jamie leaned in to kiss him again.
He just enjoyed the soft press of their lips, the teasing hint of tongue, and when it was over, Ethan was left wanting and aching.
And Jamie was grinning at him like he wanted something. "So, this whole thing of you trying to make something up to me, does that happen to involve pancakes in bed? Stacked high with extra syrup and blueberries?"
Ethan just stared at the man for a few seconds, blinked, and then snorted a laugh. "Is that seriously what's been going through your head?"
Jamie made a so-so face, shrugging again.
"Well, I don't know if they keep pancake mix around here, but I'll see what I can do," Ethan said.
"Awesome, because I swear I could have an orgasm if I got some pancakes soon."
Ethan laughed again. Never completely knowing what it was that made Jamie tick was fascinating.
"Come here!" Ethan said, grabbing the man's shoulders, and watching that split second of wide-eyed excitement overcome his face before Ethan put their mouths together.
He needed an hour. Just one more hour alone, so he could get Jamie out of his clothes and put his hands and mouth all over his warm skin. Then he was going to make his plans. An escape plan for Jamie in case this place really did turn out to be too good to be true, then pancakes, and then a plan to get his sister away from Head Office.
Chapter Fourteen
Jessica pulled at her chains, but not hard. She knew she wasn't going to break them. The metal was resistant to the amount of cold she could summon from her body, and they were spelled to keep her powers so small and insignificant that they were almost not even there. Almost. She'd already tried to weaken the metal, but it hadn't worked, and all she got for her trouble was a dozen or so men rushing into her cell and a needle in her neck.
She was sore all over her body when she woke up. She didn't even want to think about what they'd done to her while she'd slept. That was a nightmare for another time.
They fed her though, three times a day. She wondered why, but then came to a couple of conclusions on her own. Keeping her alive and healthy meant that someone, somewhere, had found a use for her, and she was going to be studied.
The only thing that really made her stay unbearable was the fact that her bed was so damned uncomfortable. It was just a metal cot that was bolted to the floor with a mattress on it, and using the word mattress was being incredibly generous. Every time she did manage to fall asleep, it was only for a few short hours at a time, thanks to the fact that she could feel the cold metal of the cot just beneath the mattress. The fact that the lights never turned off was a huge problem too.
Other than that, it wasn't like she was suffering from boredom. Not really. They gave her old magazines to read and a couple of romance novels that came from the discard bin at the library. She knew this because of the big DISCARD stamp that was on the side, and the library card was still inside of most of them.
She chose to leave the television turned off behind the protective shatter-proof glass on the wall. The only thing that aired were the programs made and approved by Head Office. Usually educational videos that were anywhere from ten to twenty minutes in length, that repeated themselves over and over again. They all had terrible acting from the latest D-list actors who were big on the current soap operas. Every story was about some curious paranormal who wandered through life, attempting to control their basic instincts or powers, depending on what they were.
Jessica had worked for these people long enough that she had all of the stories memorized without having to torture herself by watching them again.
They all ended the same way anyway. The paranormal was either killed because they couldn't control themselves, or they did the responsible thing and called themselves in, allowing the friendly collectors to deliver them to the smiling handlers.
The voice-over promised that respect and dignity were always maintained in these happy environments, and that the reward of doing the right thing and ensuring the safety of everyone was always the best thing for everyone.
For as long as Jessica had worked here, the only people to ever turn themselves in were the werewolves, or vampires who were so starved they were on the verge of turning feral.
Even those cases were few and far between, and once those poor souls realized that dignity and respect weren't maintained, it was already too late for them.
Jessica had known that her time would eventually come. She couldn't remain on the run forever, and eventually, one day, she would be found out, caught, and brought in.
And it was all because she had to defend her ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend. Jessica really could be such a sap sometimes.
But she was already planning her escape, and there was a small chance that it might even work, especially after she'd found out that Soren was assigned to her. He'd had a crush on her for as long as he'd worked in the company. He thought she didn't know about it, and for a while, she hadn't, until that one time when she'd needed to hack his computer.
The door to her cell opened. It was made up of metal, the kind that was resistant to the cold, even though she was now wearing the spelled shackles.
She smiled at the sight of Soren, who walked in next to a couple of handlers.
Jessica knew this drill. She got to her feet, allowing the handlers to put their hands all over her body, checking for places where she could have hidden anything that might be useful as a weapon. One of them took his good, sweet time checking her breasts, squeezing them as if he thought she could hide a weapon inside of them.
Jessica just stared at Soren. She even smiled a little at him. This was driving him crazy, and she knew it.
"That's enough," Soren said, and the handler yanked his hand away.
Soren had the sort of cute, forever young, boy-next-door type of face, but now he was glaring. There was nothing cute about him then.
"She's got nothing your hands can find. Get the scanner if you want a more thorough search."
Which was exactly what happened next.
The handlers waved the metal wands over her body until they were absolutely sure she didn't have anything on her that could be used against the good doctor.
If only they knew.
"All right, that's fine. Now get out," Soren said, sneering at the two men, though it didn't suit his face. Still, both of the handlers had to
obey him. He was their superior.
The handler that had been a little too touchy-feely with Jessica grinned and winked at her on his way out the door. He even made a little kissing motion with his mouth.
Jessica was going to have trouble with that one. Not exactly what she wanted.
When they were gone, and the door was shut and locked firmly behind them, Soren took a pen out of his side pocket, and he clicked it three times before returning it.
A scrambler. "You really think we're being spied on?" Jessica asked.
"Not us, not really, but a beautiful woman, all alone in her cell. I don't want to make you uncomfortable, but some of the guys have been making comments about putting a camera on you and watching you, and not for the safety of the building.
"So I've got a whole building of perverts to deal with. That's beautiful."
Soren winced, and he shook his head. "Not everyone is that way, but Jesus, because you were a Hunter, there are a lot of angry people who want to get back at you. They think you humiliated them by hiding in plain sight. Some of them want to stick you into the cages with the other paranormals you helped to bring in, and I doubt that would be pleasant for you either. You're lucky your brother wasn't caught, too."
"He won't be caught," Jessica said quickly. She hoped he wouldn't try coming for her.
She stared good and hard at Soren, pretending like she didn't understand the purpose for his visit. "Why are you in here? Aren't you going to stick me with something?"
That time when she'd bypassed the password on his computer, she hadn't even been targeting him. Any laptop in the building would've worked just fine so long as the owner had a class five clearance, which all of the observers did.
She'd had a conversation with Ethan over the phone, in the building, and they'd both been stupid and careless with their words. There was still a chance that the people in charge wouldn't have put together the colder than ice comment that Ethan had made to her as they spoke about potential dating prospects for each other. In the end, however, once the panic had worn off and they got onto private and secure channels, they'd both decided that it would be for the best if Jessica got onto the nearest computer with access, and deleted the file that said there had ever been a call.
She'd found a picture of herself on Soren's screensaver the second the machine had booted up.
It had shocked her. Shocked her so much that she'd wasted precious seconds staring at herself on his screen instead of deleting the metadata on the company's server.
It was a normal photo, and once she had a few seconds to spare, she would search for more.
That had been the only photo of her on the computer, but she still knew the significance of being the background image for the main screen. No one ever really did that unless it was for someone or something important. Pretty pictures, favorite movie stars, current crushes. Those were the main things that got put there.
In her search for more pictures, however, there were a couple of other things she'd found that were much more interesting than that, and for the moment, she'd put the image of herself, smiling for the camera, out of her mind.
"Aren't you going to answer my question?" Jessica asked.
Soren ran his hands through his light hair, ruining the ponytail it had been in. "Jessica, you're in a lot of trouble. I'll protect you for as long as I can, I'll make sure you stay comfortable. I even brought you those magazines from the lobby upstairs, and those books from the library, but there's only so much I can do for you."
"Bullshit, there's a lot you can do for me," she responded, and then got to her feet. She smiled at the man, kind of enjoying the slight panic in his eyes as he stepped away from her. She was in chains, but she was able to walk freely around her cell. The chains weren't bolted to the wall or anything.
"Jessica, I don't think you should come any closer," Soren said.
Jessica really looked at the man. He was handsome enough, around her age, and though he was taller, and had the sort of shoulders that weren't too broad or too slim, he was something of a mouse. Timid. She could do this, and she was going to do it.
"If you're really so worried about what I'm going to do, then call the handlers back in here. They'll deal with me."
Soren shook his head. His blue eyes were a little wide at her words. He looked even cuter when he was in the middle of panicking like this. "I don't want to call them in. They'll hurt you."
"And you're really worried about that, aren't you?" Jessica asked, and she let her fingertips touch Soren's white coat, grazing over it. She added just enough pressure so that he could feel the touch, but barely. His shiver told her that her teasing was working.
"What are you doing?" Soren asked. His voice was so damned small, he sounded almost scared of her, but she knew better. He wasn't scared. Just incredibly confused, and very likely aroused.
Jessica leaned in to him. He was only a little taller, so she didn't have to be on her toes.
Soren's eyes became half-lidded. He inhaled a deep, shaky breath when her mouth touched his, just the barest, faintest brush of lips. The pressure was the same as when she'd touched his chest, and she pulled away before he barely had a chance to feel that he'd been kissed at all.
Then she put her mouth to his ear, and whispered softly, but with enough venom to make him tense. "I know what you are. If you don't get me out of here, I'll make sure you're put into a cell next to me."
The End
Authors Note:
I hope you enjoyed Jamie and Ethan’s story as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you did, I would love it if you could take a moment of your time to leave a rating and review. That would make you one amazingly awesome reader!
To know when Jessica’s story will be available, and to get a free ebook, please join my mailing list, and for a full list of all available books, visit my website, Mandyrosko.com.
Again, thank you for reading. I’ll see you in Book 3, As Cold As Ice. You rock ;)
~Mandy
Please enjoy the first unedited chapter from:
As Cold As Ice
Coming soon!
They stopped putting other people into her cell when they realized something.
Either the people they put in with her were going to hurt her, or she was going to hurt them. A lot.
After the third inmate froze to death, they cut it out and left her alone.
Jessica Frost didn't exactly want to be alone. Solitary confinement was its own form of torture, she knew that, but none of the other prisoners would stop harassing her.
She told them. She warned them, even. No bracelets has been put on her wrists or ankles. The handlers weren't limiting her power like that, but it didn't matter, none of the other inmates believed her.
Or they'd just wanted to die.
Jessica knew how this worked. She knew why her power was being suppressed. It wasn't like it was difficult to figure out.
The handlers who kept her alive, sometimes fed, and barely clothed, were able to come and go without much of a problem thanks to the air vents that would seep in sleeping gas, knocking her right out whenever they wanted to come in and let the scientists do their tests.
Only then were the irons ever slapped on her.
She’d tried to block off the vents with ice, fairly sure that the room she was in wasn’t air tight otherwise, so there was no harm in trying it. That just got her door immediately busted in, and at least a half a dozen hunters jumped on her, slapping the shackles on her wrists before she could do more than give the first one frostbite.
Despite limiting her, they were still testing her. She knew that much. They were testing the limits to her powers. They wanted to know how far she would take it if another inmate attacked her, tried to slash at her face with dirty fingernails, or bite her, or choke her.
The first person Jessica had defended herself against left with ice all around his hands. The man had been wearing spelled shackles to keep his power under control, unlike her, and he couldn't attack her with wh
atever his gift was.
Hell, the second he'd seen her, his eyes had gone into such a manic rage that there wasn't time to warn him that she could hurt him a lot worse than he could hurt her if he tried anything.
So, she'd dodged the first punch, and then the second, but when the third landed, knocking her to the ground, and he tried to climb on top of her to give her more, her fingers locked around his wrists, and she let the cold come.
He'd screamed and screamed. Too much ice could feel hotter than fire. Someone had told her that once, and she believed it. Her brother Ethan certainly never liked it when she did more than act as an air conditioner during an overly hot summer.
She wondered how he was doing right now. He was a hunter, too, just like she used to be. Had he been caught and no one told her? Was he being locked up with other paranormals? Left alone to be attacked, just so that the people watching him could see if he had some hidden power or not?
She shuddered to think of it. Ethan had no power. He was human. Jessica was human too, but that wasn't the way a lot of people in government saw her. Well, whatever, Ethan was the classic definition of human, at any rate. A homosapien born without any extra gifts or powers.
He was so boringly normal that she hated him for it sometimes.
But they would still lock him up with the other people who weren't normal if they caught him.
If the other hunters caught him and brought him in, questioned him, and he said the wrong thin, even gave off a small hint that he'd known his sister was an illegal paranormal, then he could go to prison for that.
For the rest of his life. Jessica knew perfectly well that people in power didn't take kindly to being embarrassed, and having one hunter who turned out to be a paranormal, hiding right under their very noses was bad enough, but to have the possibility of two? Or even just the one while the other had been covering for her?
