“Katarina?” Jason asked again.
“Yes, I’m fine.” She smiled and took a deep breath. “Just a bit surprised that he showed up here,” she pulled the handkerchief from his pocket so he could clean the blood that dripped from his nose.
“I’m sure there’s a service elevator you can show us?” Jason asked the guard politely. “My father would disapprove of me walking through the lobby looking like this.”
“Of course, follow me.” The guard led them to the service elevator.
They followed in silence and when Jason led her into the presidential suite, he excused himself into the bathroom. She walked to one of the many windows and looked first at the water then toward the Washington Monument. It was less than two miles away so looked huge in its splendor.
“Your mother said you did exceptionally well at acting since you’ve been forced to live among humans for so long. She wasn’t bragging. You were amazing.”
“Thanks,” she looked over her shoulder and stared at him for a moment before looking out the window again.
“Father was worried that you wouldn’t be able to pull it off since you didn’t know about any of it, but your mother assured us you would be fine. She knows you well.”
“Yes.” She sighed looking down at the family crest etched onto her finger. “She does. Did I sound convincing?”
“Absolutely, very impressed,” he pulled his jacket off and tossed it over one of the chairs. “Did you want to get comfortable before we start going through our mission plan? Your bag is your bedroom.”
“Excuse me?” She looked at him with a raised brow.
“Your mother had your things brought over since we have the paparazzi coming in the morning to photograph us leaving to get breakfast.”
“Of course,” she said in a steady voice, the sound of her jaw snapping shut thankfully only audible to her ears. “Which is my room?”
“This way,” he guided her toward her room. “Did you want me to order room service now? It’ll probably be ready by the time you get done showering. They have a shrimp dish that you would like and some cheesecake. I was given a brief on your basic information earlier. Those would be to your liking, correct?”
“I’d like that, thank you.” She watched as he nodded and started to pull the door closed. “Jason?”
“Yes?”
“How long did you know about this? I mean, about us holding our unity ceremony tonight?”
“Just a couple of hours,” he shrugged. “But I’ve always known you were my lifemate, so I guess it didn’t really come as a surprise, even though its way earlier than the Elders planned.”
“Have you ever heard of such of a thing? I’m only eighteen. How are we gonna pull off being together a lifetime when human relationships typically only span a decade?”
“Typical relationships, yes, but there are some that have lasted well over fifty years. Your human step-grandparents are a perfect example of that. The recent development with our agents and the difficult situation you have been forced to live in caused the Elders to reconsider waiting. As the future first lady, the High Council decided it was best for us to engage in our relationship now. Better to alleviate any complications by having us together all along so we avoid smear campaigns and bad press.”
“Of course, that’s brilliant.” She opened her suitcase so she could use it to steady her balance. Did he say future first lady? She bit her lip and reached for the blue briefing booklet on top of her clothes. “I’ll just get comfortable and we can go over this,” she flipped through the pages.
“I’ll order dinner.” He closed the door behind him.
She locked the door then dropped onto the bed. What a night. She went over everything and shook her head. Had she really just met a guy that made her libido go haywire, found out he was her lifemate, completed her unity ceremony and broken Roger’s heart all within a thirty minute span?
Unbelievable as that all seemed, she had. And it had all been planned. The selection of one’s lifemate was done at birth to ensure they were perfectly matched in almost every way. The rites performed at the unity ceremony were ingrained in their psyche, so came easily to all despite it being earlier than expected. And the walk and the kiss had also been orchestrated, all so Roger could walk out and find them.
Roger, she sighed at the thought. He had chased after her for years to just fall short at the finish line. It was a disappointment not only for him, but for her as well. It had been her one and only chance to be with someone, but that had been snatched from her grasp without any forewarning. She hated that nothing in her life was under her control.
Focusing on this newest plan, she touched her lips. Pretend or not, that was one hell of a kiss. It definitely wasn’t your standard-issue acting kiss, which made her curious in more ways than one. She sighed again then made her way into the bathroom and started the shower.
She had worried that she would end up being the next Elizabeth Moore. Nothing, she thought, could be worse than falling in love with a human. So she had never imagined that it could be worse, and boy was it ever. Because falling in love with a human was one thing. Falling in love with your lifemate was another.
Intergalactic alien rule number two clearly stated that all emotional and physical contact with your lifemate was forbidden. She was sure that had she been raised on Or-Pisc in this would not have been a problem. They were never affectionate and probably didn’t even know what that meant. Lucky for her, she was a first generation Hybrid fully equipped to get herself into all sorts of trouble if she didn’t learn how to focus and channel her inner alien.
Chapter Three A Fuzzy Tree
“Why are you sitting like that?” Wyatt asked.
“Like what?” Jason looked up from his brief.
“Like that,” he pointed at Jason and Kat. “And what are you doing to her foot?”
“Ah, massaging it?” Jason looked at Kat when she pulled her foot from him and sat upright.
“Sorry,” she poured herself more lemonade. “It’s a force of habit.” She sighed. This was definitely not how she had planned her senior prom. Well, the prom had gone as well as could be expected. Being in her hotel room after she and Jason had departed the prom was definitely the last way she had pictured the night ending.
“You’ll get used to it.” Lauren laughed. “She’s always done stuff that makes us scratch our heads.”
“You have to keep in mind that Kat has been forced to live around humans her entire life,” David added. “So she does all kinds of strange stuff that you’ll learn to overlook.”
“I see,” Wyatt looked back at his brief. “But, he does not,” he looked at Jason.
“Right,” Jason said. “But it’s been an interesting week…”
“You guys act like you’ve never been around humans,” Ariel said. “Didn’t you interact with the humans at the high school you attended? And you’ve been at Georgetown for three years, so what’s up with your lack of inside information?”
“They went to an all-boys school and they hung out with each other,” Kat yawned then stretched. “There were five of them there, can you believe it? We get stuck all alone and they had five in the same class!”
“It was essential for our mission.” Wyatt said, as if he was defending the reason for having so many Hybrids together.
“It sucks that we can’t share,” Lauren said. “I would love to see what’s in store for you,” she tapped Wyatt’s shoulder as she walked by to grab a soda.
“You’re doing it again,” Wyatt said staring at them. “And there aren’t any humans around.”
Kat pulled her foot off Jason’s lap. She couldn’t believe she placed it there, yet again, after stretching. Not that it went without reason. Jason had spent the entire week at her house, and her mother pointed out that they were entirely too unfriendly toward each other. They were, after all, portraying a new and madly in love couple, so Brian and Vanessa found it odd that they never touched or displayed any affection towar
d each other.
So Jason had taken lessons from her mom. He watched how her parents sat together and how Brian always seemed to be touching Julianne in some way. Sadly for Kat, Jason was a quick study. Not that she was complaining. Jason could definitely make her heart rate go from zero to sixty in under a second when he gently caressed her or stroked her hair away from her face. And when they were at her house, he had definitely nailed being uber-affectionate, because people were suspicious when they weren’t. Of course, they weren’t at home at the moment, and they weren’t around humans either, so they had to quit it.
“So, do you guys have any questions about the mining operation?” Kat asked.
“How long have you guys been involved?” Jason asked.
“About a year now,” Ariel answered. “Everything was running smoothly until a new dealer moved in. He’s this annoying human that’s trying to make a name for himself, so we’ve been tracking him as a precaution. He made a move last week to take over our trading route, and in the process killed one of the humans we have on staff, so we’ve decided to eliminate him. We would have left him alone had he not overstepped his bounds.”
“You won’t mind me taking over communications, Lauren?” Jason asked.
“No way, I can’t wait to get in on the action. I’ve been weapons training for years and never get the opportunity.”
“It appears that you will have your chance,” Wyatt added. “The report states that this criminal had fifteen men aid in the theft of the gems, so that will require everyone to be on the defensive—”
“Not with Kat behind her scope,” David laughed. “She’s a one woman operation, so you might have to sit back and wait Lauren.”
“She and Katarina have been in the works on something,” Ariel said eyeing them. “I believe it is Katarina’s intention to sit back and allow Lauren the opportunity to take a few shots—”
“That would be a direct violation of our orders—” Kat started.
“Which I believe you would ignore given the opportunity,” Ariel interjected.
“Kit Kat!” Vanessa pounded on the door.
They all looked at each other, then scrambled to grab their drinks and paperwork. Lauren ripped all the paperwork from Kat’s hand, tossed it to David, then pulled Kat’s t-shirt over her head. Understanding, Kat unbuttoned her jeans and ran to the closet where her prom dress was hung, along with Jason’s tuxedo. Ariel tousled Kat’s hair while Lauren ripped Jason’s shirt off the hanger. Lauren helped Kat into it and secured three buttons. Ariel shoved everything back into the closet and slammed the door shut.
“What are you doing?” Wyatt whispered.
“Would you get your ass in the room,” Ariel whispered. “She has to look like she’s up here with only him,” she nodded toward Jason.
“Good, yeah, perfect,” Lauren smeared Kat’s lipstick with her thumb.
“Kit Kat! Open the door,” Vanessa called again, louder this time. Everyone ran into the bedroom. Kat waited until the bedroom door was shut before she pulled open the room door.
“Hey, Vanessa, what’s wrong?” Kat asked as she leaned against the door genuinely concerned.
“He’s such an asshole!” Vanessa pushed passed her and walked into the room. “He told me that I needed to go and wait in the room while he and the guys went on a beer run!” She opened a small bottle of vodka from the mini-bar and downed it. “So like an idiot I go to the room and I put this on! Don’t I look cute?” She cried. She wore a red satin teddy. Vanessa dropped onto the sofa and pulled her robe closed.
“You look beautiful,” Kat took a seat next to her and brushed Vanessa’s hair away from her face.
“Thank you,” tears streaked Vanessa’s face. She dropped her head against Kat’s shoulder and sobbed dramatically.
“So what happened?” Kat asked after a moment.
“He’s at a titty bar!” Vanessa stormed back to the mini-bar.
“Would you not drink that?” Kat followed behind her and pulled it from her hand. “And in his defense, you know the guys probably forced him to go—”
“I don’t give a shit!” She snatched the bottle from Kat’s hand and opened it. “Isn’t it bad enough that prom was messed up because Roger’s being such a douche about you and Jason—”
“Sweetie, you have your very own prom next year, so try not to get so worked up over this—”
“But its Pete’s!” Vanessa downed the bottle and tossed it over her shoulder as she walked back to the sofa. Pete Jansen was Vanessa’s on-again, off-again boyfriend. They had started dating Vanessa’s freshman year, so Kat had witnessed all of their ups and downs over the past three years. Out of all the boys Vanessa dated, Kat truly believed Vanessa loved Pete. “And when he leaves for UCLA I know it’s over, shit like that never works out.”
“If it’s meant to be—”
“Oh, blow it out your ass,” she sobbed into her hands. “I’m sorry, Kit Kat. I don’t mean to take it out on you.”
“It’s okay,” Kat sat beside her and pulled her into her arms. “I know. Did you want me to call him?”
“Would you?” Vanessa asked, her big blue, puppy dog eyes impossible to resist.
“Of course,” Kat stood and retrieved her cell phone.
“Oh my God!” Vanessa wiped her face, “Look at you.”
“What?” Kat looked down at herself.
“You were totally getting it on!”
“What did you think we were doing?” Kat asked. The blush that ignited on her cheeks a mystery to her.
“I don’t know.” Vanessa shrugged, “Going over one of Daddy’s legal briefs, or something just as equally nerdy.”
“Vanessa—”
“Oh, don’t Vanessa me. You may be gaga over that boy and you guys talk the talk. But after watching him this week, I figure you guys must have ingested some freak drug last Saturday that made you both horn dogs—”
“Vanessa!”
“Oh, hush. You and I both know that he’s stiff and unresponsive, I would probably get better loving from a corpse.”
“Vanessa!” Kat slapped her thigh then looked toward the bedroom door. “We are fine. And if you wanna get yourself laid tonight then you keep your lip zipped or I’ll call dad and tell him I came out to check on you and you were gone—”
“You wouldn’t,” she pouted.
“No.” She sighed. “I wouldn’t. But it would be nice to get back to bed, so hush up before Jason hears you.”
Kat dialed Pete’s number but it went straight to his voicemail. She sent Pete a text message. Vanessa cuddled up against her and Kat rested her chin on Vanessa’s head. When Jason pulled the bedroom door opened and emerged in boxers, Kat’s jaw fell open.
“Is everything okay?” Jason asked walking toward the sofa.
“I, um, Vanessa…” Kat blinked several times and tried to formulate a cohesive thought.
“Pete’s a dick,” Vanessa said looking up. “Whoa. Nice abs, and pecs, and arms, wow…” Kat shoved Vanessa when she continued to stare at him. Vanessa looked at her, snapped her jaw shut, and then laughed. “Sorry, Kit Kat,” Vanessa cleared her throat. “At least he’s good to look at, makes up for him being so stiff, ouch!” She rubbed her arm where Kat punched her, “Whoa, touchy, touchy.” She chuckled as she walked to the mini-bar.
Jason walked to the couch and took Vanessa’s now vacant seat, then pulled Kat onto his lap. She couldn’t help the wide-eyed stare she gave him and only closed her eyes because he kissed her cheek softly before adjusting her in his lap.
“So what did he do?” He looked at Vanessa.
“I don’t wanna talk about it,” Vanessa said with her back to them.
“Katarina?” He asked.
“Huh?” She looked up at him then bit her lip.
“What did he do?”
“Oh, yeah, right,” she shook her head. “He went out with the guys.”
“And that’s not okay?” He asked.
“No,” Kat nodded.
&
nbsp; “Vanessa!” Pete’s voiced carried through the door as he knocked on it.
“I’ll get it,” Jason lifted Kat off of his lap and placed her on the sofa. He pulled the door open.
“Hey, Jason,” Pete said. “Sorry, man, we’re obviously interrupting.” He said after giving Jason then Kat a good once over. “Vanessa, come on, let’s go—”
“I’m not going anywhere with you!” Vanessa threw the empty drink bottle at him.
“Baby, come on, I’ve been calling you for the past ten minutes—”
“Where did you want me to put my phone in this?” She pulled open her robe to reveal her very sexy lingerie.
“Whoa, nice,” Pete walked toward her.
“You stay the hell away from me!” Vanessa yelled.
“We’re just going to excuse ourselves,” Jason took Kat’s hand and pulled her toward the bedroom.
“Yeah, you’re interrupting so you better leave—” Vanessa started.
“Vanessa, would you get your shit and let’s go—”
“No, I’m staying right here with my sister—”
That was the last Kat heard before Jason shut the bedroom door behind them. He pulled her to the bed and they sat looking at each other for a long moment.
“Did she compare me to a corpse?” He asked.
“Yeah,” she shrugged.
“David about pissed himself when we heard it,” he added after a moment. “He was the one that suggested I go out there…after he stopped laughing…” He shifted on the mattress. “You said I was doing better.”
“You are. But you’ve spent your entire life fake-dating other Hybrids, so you never had to worry about affection and kissing. I mean, I only learned because my unusual circumstances forced me to get involved with a human. You’ve never been around humans and you can’t really learn how to be affectionate by fake-dating other Hybrids; it’s not the same…”
Sleeper Cells Page 4
