“If everything is to your liking, perhaps you could dress for dinner. We don’t have much time, and you are already far behind. You’ve been sleeping most of the day.”
I tried not to feel hurt by his response. “I’m sorry. Maybe you should post a copy of my work schedule on my wall instead of bringing me gifts and pictures of my dead mother.”
Morgan made a noise like a growl. “Two hundred and fifty people are depending on me, Lola. They have one last chance to get home. The Hunters know this, and they’ve stepped up their efforts. Two people died while you were sleeping. They were getting supplies for all of us and the Hunters shot them in the back at point blank range. They were executed while I went shopping.” He waved his hands around at the accumulated clothing and beauty supplies in the room. “I did it for you. I thought it would please you.”
I was so ashamed I could barely look at him. “I didn’t know about the Hunters, Morgan. I’m so sorry. I’m out of my element here, but I’m trying.”
To my great surprise, I felt the anger leave his body almost instantly. Like air leaving a balloon, he almost made a little pssst sound.
He stared at me with those dark, intense eyes. “I realize that, and I am trying to be patient. I have many natural attributes, Lola. Patience is not one of them.”
I gave him a coy look, wanting to tease him. “Natural attributes, huh? Is that what the kids call it these days?”
He shook his head at my audacity. “You’ll certainly find out if you keep flashing that lovely blue lingerie at me.”
I fluttered my eyelashes at him. “You noticed. And I thought you were just staring at my chest because you liked hitting me there with lightning bolts.”
His lips twisted into the barest hint of a smile. “That, too.”
#
After I did my hair and dressed tight black mini skirt, a blue satin blouse, and black Manolo Blahnik pumps, I felt much better. I had to give Morgan credit for the shoes. He’d scored a slam-dunk with those. I kept staring at them on the way to dinner. I tripped twice and nearly fell down the stairs, but it was so worth it. The shoes were gorgeous.
The great room also served as the cafeteria, with tables lined up against the walls. From the landing, high above the crowd, I felt like Evita Peron, waving to her minions. My blue satin blouse provided a much-needed pop of color. In front of me was nothing but a sea of tan, beige, and black.
Morgan was the exception. He wore whatever he wanted and looked good in it, too. Right now he had on charcoal grey trousers and a dark shirt. He could have been mistaken for a visiting European businessman, or maybe even a playboy prince. He sat alone, brooding. He did that a lot.
I paused, and waited. It didn’t take long for him to notice me on the landing. His head popped up and his gaze met mine. Instantly, I felt the connection between us, and a slow, sexy smile curved over his lips. As his eyes scanned my body, I knew he was imagining which underwear I’d chosen. I didn’t have to be a Channeller to figure that out. I walked down the staircase chest out, hips swaying, and made a beeline for Morgan’s table
“Are you hungry, Lola?”
I nodded and slid into my seat. “Famished.”
He got a tray for me, and piled it high with food. I gave him a grateful smile, and poked my fork at the food on the tray. It looked like meatloaf, but I couldn’t be certain, even after I tasted it.
“I am sorry I was short with you earlier. We expect great things from you. Our very lives may depend on it.”
It was hard to swallow the lump of congealed meat in my throat. I grabbed a glass of water and took a sip.
“I’ll do my best.”
Cliff came up to our table, halting our conversation. Still on crutches, he seemed much better than he had the last time I saw him.
“How’s your leg?” I asked.
“No worries. I have another.”
I giggled. “You’re pretty tough.”
He tugged on his black shirt. “That’s why I get to wear this.”
Morgan didn’t seem pleased with our interaction, or my giggling. “Cliff and Nadia are part of our Special Forces team.”
“A military unit?”
“No. We’re refugees, not soldiers, but the strongest have to care for the weak. Our Special Forces do all the tough jobs. Search and rescue, supply acquisition, safety and security.”
“Protection from the Hunters,” added Cliff.
I shivered, thinking about their red eyes and black ski masks. “Why do the Hunters want to hurt you?”
He was about to answer, when we heard yelling from the opposite side of the room. People cleared off a table as Nadia and a group of her fellow Special Forces colleagues came in carrying a body. We ran over to help.
“What happened?” asked Morgan.
“They shot Josh,” she said.
Every living thing emits energy. Although I’d felt it my whole life, I’d become much more sensitive in the last few days, enough to know that the man on the table had nothing. He was gone.
Nadia, covered in Josh’s blood, tried to explain. “We went on a run to get supplies. We did everything you told us to do. We varied our route, we each left at different times, and even met up at a secret location. I cannot understand how they found us.”
A heavily pregnant woman with long, dark hair screamed as she rushed into the room. She wore the standard beige jumpsuit, her stomach straining against the fabric. She looked even more pregnant than Maria, and my heart went out to her.
“No. Please. Not Josh.”
Morgan pulled her into his arms and held her away from the body. Josh had been shot in the head. It wasn’t pretty. Morgan cupped the woman’s cheeks in his hands and stared into her eyes.
“He wouldn’t want you to remember him like this, Amanda. Trust me.”
Amanda backed away, a wild look on her face. “Trust you? Josh had already served his time. He stayed because of you. He believed in you, Morgan Slade.”
Morgan reached for her arm. “You need to calm down. Think of your child.”
Amanda laughed, but it bordered on hysterical. “Or what? You’ll take her from me, too?”
Amanda doubled over, a howl of agony escaping from her lips. At first, I attributed it to pain over the loss of her husband, but then I realized her screams had been caused by something different. The gush of water from between her legs was my first clue.
Everyone stood around in shock, but not me. I’d been through this before with Maria. I grabbed some napkins from the table and wadded them up in my hands.
“Are you planning to clean up?” asked Cliff as I teetered on my heels. His eyes were very focused on the puddle of amniotic fluid on the floor of the cafeteria. He looked like he might throw up.
I scowled at him. “Of course not. I have to touch her to help her, but I don’t want to shock her.”
“You can’t. She’s a Neutralizer.”
I tossed the wadded up napkins onto the floor and took Amanda’s hand. I spoke in a soothing voice and it seemed to calm her instantly.
“It’s going to be okay. Breathe with me.”
Her eyes locked on mine as she held my hand in a vice grip. When the contraction ended, and I tried to pull away, she started to panic.
“No. Please. Stay with me.”
I gave her a reassuring smile. “I will. Don’t worry.”
She clung to me as the midwife came and we helped her back to her room. “Aren’t we going to the hospital?” I asked.
“It’s too dangerous,” said Amanda, panting. “The Hunters.”
“Oh, geeze. So we’re doing this au natural? Awesome.”
Maria would have lost it. She loved having as many drugs as possible during labor, but Amanda was a trooper. She did it completely on her own, and, a few hours later, I watched my namesake, Lolita, come into the world. A beautiful moment, but as she took her very first breath, all I could think about was a dead man who’d never know his daughter. And I kept remembering the expression on Morgan
’s face when Amanda had yelled at him.
I didn’t know anything about the history between Amanda and Morgan, but one thing was certain. Amanda blamed him for her husband’s death, and Morgan completely agreed with her.
#
Lolita proved to be enough of a distraction that Morgan let me have the evening off. Amanda lay unmoving on her bed, completely exhausted. Her mind and body had taken all they could for one day. She’d fallen into a deep and dreamless sleep. I was grateful Morgan hadn’t let her see Josh’s body. It would have haunted her nightmares. I knew it would haunt mine.
I took Lolita to an adjoining room, gave her a sponge bath, and admired her soft, dark curls. Afterwards, I swaddled her in a blanket, fed her a bottle, and rocked her to sleep.
“You look like you’ve done this before.”
Morgan stood in the doorway. He’d changed into a pair of faded jeans and a sweatshirt. He looked younger, and more vulnerable, too.
I had trouble tearing my eyes away from Lolita. There is nothing quite as fascinating as a newborn. They move slowly and gracefully, like they’re still in the fluid filled womb they just vacated.
I opened the blanket and she stretched, pointing her tiny toes. He laughed, touching them with his finger.
“Twelve perfect toes.”
The baby began to fuss, feeling the cold air on her skin, so I swaddled her tightly and started rocking her again. She fell back asleep in minutes.
“I’m suffering from major baby love. It happens every time I get too close to a newborn.”
“Amanda named her after you.”
I nodded. “And Lolita is a Neutralizer. I can’t hurt her.”
Morgan sat down in a chair next to me. “I will teach you how to control it, Lola. I’ll help you.”
“That would be great.” I gave him a steady look, thinking about Lolita’s father. “Who are the Hunters?”
Morgan sighed, rubbing his face with his hands. “I am not sure where to start.”
“The beginning would be good.”
Morgan had stubble on his jaw and dark circles under his eyes. I reached out to touch his cheek, and he leaned into my hand.
“As refugees, alone and adrift on a strange planet, and we were vulnerable, but valuable.”
“Why?”
“Nils have technical skills that are the envy of the galaxy. Neutralizers can restore calm and order.”
“What about Channellers?”
He gave me a crooked smile. “Channellers are the most valuable of all. You can create a hole through time and space, and you can also be used as an awesome and terrifying weapon. Entire cities have been leveled by a Channeller’s hands.”
“That’s horrible.” It kind of brought the whole idea of a blonde bombshell to a new level. I could be seen as a nuclear level threat in really cute heels.
He shrugged. “It is a fact. The Hunters are slave traders and mercenaries from a planet called Gittone. We are a commodity. Nothing more. And for them, a Channeller could mean untold wealth when traded on the right markets.”
“But I’m super powerful, right? So I’ll just zap them and make them go away.”
“Sadly, they have a genetic deformity that makes them nearly impervious to pain.”
“I can’t hurt them?”
Lolita began to fuss, sensing my distress. I put her on my shoulder and tapped her back.
“Not like you could a Nil or a human. You do have something in your favor, though, even against a Hunter. Channellers are usually excellent fighters,” he admitted grudgingly.
Lolita responded with a loud belch. I looked up at Morgan and laughed. “And excellent burpers, too.”
Although I tried to make light of what he’d told me, in truth, I felt terrified. The idea of the Hunters with their guns and their glowing red eyes was frightening enough. The extent my own power scared me even more.
#
The next morning I joined Morgan for a full day of training. I wore a pair of black spandex pants, a black sports bra, and a hot pink jacket. I stuck on the Manolo Blahnick’s, too. They were black. They matched. I found a pink ribbon, straightened my hair, and tied it back. I looked like one of the Pink Ladies from “Grease.” I couldn’t remember their names, but I was definitely the slutty one.
Morgan, dressed in business casual, was back to being his normal abrasive self. Gone was the guy who’d seemed warm and almost vulnerable. He gave me a pair of gloves with electrical wires coming out of the fingertips and hooked me up to a machine that looked like a mini Geiger counter.
“This is a Trifield 100XE Meter. It measures magnetic, electric, and radio waves all in one handy and portable unit. Blast away,” he said, once I had the gloves on. “Give me all you’ve got.”
Images of me burning down the compound flashed through my mind. I imagined myself as a blonde Godzilla in spandex, spewing fire from my fingertips. I shook my head.
“No way. You told me Channellers have destroyed cities with their hands. I could hurt someone.”
Morgan looked down his nose at me, a vision of complete and utter arrogance. “You are not one of those Channellers. You’re like a newborn baby Channeller. Lolita could probably take you at this point.”
I glared at him. “I zapped Nadia right off her feet and saved you all when the Hunters came.”
He shrugged. “You were running on adrenaline. I want to see what you can do under normal circumstances.”
I’d never really willed myself to zap before. When I’d shorted out the fuse box in my shop, it had kind of just happened. But I wasn’t about to let Morgan know. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and imagined electricity flowing out of my fingertips. The Trifield 100XE Meter whirred to life. I opened my eyes, hoping to see that I’d moved the needle to the dangerous red area, but I hadn’t. It barely wobbled into the yellow before going back to rest in the green.
“Newborn babe,” muttered Morgan.
I scowled. “That was my first try.”
This time I pictured Morgan’s snide little smile. The needle sailed straight past the yellow and into the orange zone.
“Better, but barely enough to turn on a light bulb. Try taking off your shoes.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Not this again. You’re obsessed with my feet.”
Morgan was not amused. “It helps some Channellers to ground themselves.”
I took off my shoes, planted my bare feet on the floor, and tried over and over again, but couldn’t get past the orange. My shoulders slumped with exhaustion, my head had started to ache, and Morgan was livid.
“You can’t do it,” he said. He looked like he wanted to throw the Trifield 100XE Meter straight into the wall. Or at my head. “You’re incapable. You were never trained as a child, and I think the ability is just….gone. The pathways in your brain never formed properly. I don’t know what to do.”
He shook his head in disgust. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Figure it out, Morgan.”
“I can’t. You’re…broken or something.”
I tried not to cry, but couldn’t help it. “That’s the meanest thing anyone has ever said to me.”
Morgan had the decency to look ashamed. Still attached to the Trifield 100XE Meter, my hands in the silly gloves, I gripped the sides of the chair. The machine made a whirring noise. It got to the far side of orange, but never hit red. I’d failed once again, and this time, it was something important. People counted on me, their very lives depended on it, and I couldn’t do it.
Morgan came to kneel next to my chair. “I’m sorry. That was not fair. I should never have yelled at you.”
He brushed a strand of hair behind my ear and wiped the tears from my face. An awkward gesture, but touching nonetheless, and it made me cry even harder. Thank goodness he’d bought me waterproof mascara, otherwise my face would have been a disaster.
“I couldn’t do it. I’m so sorry.”
He leaned forward and kissed my cheek. “Not your fault.”
I stared
at him. Something strange was happening. I’d felt it building up in my fingers as soon as he got close enough for me to feel his body heat, and increased as soon as he kissed me. His energy seemed to increase my energy, but I’d been too focused on the meter to realize it.
I decided to test a theory forming in my mind. If I added his energy to my energy, maybe it would be enough to push me into the red zone. I put my hands on his cheeks.
“I have an idea,” I said, and kissed him full on the mouth.
Shocked at first, he stayed very still and simply accepted my kiss. I could have been kissing a marble statue, although one which smelled really nice and had an unusually sensual mouth. I nibbled on that mouth, exploring it, coaxing him to respond.
Just when I thought it might be completely hopeless, something seemed to snap inside him and he started kissing me back. He groaned, opening his mouth to me, devouring me with his lips and tongue. His hands cupped my face, bringing me closer, allowing me better access.
Focused on his kiss, I didn’t notice at first that something had changed. A strange noise interrupted the quiet of the testing room. A noise I’d never heard before. The Trifield 100XE Meter had begun to emit an odd beeping sound. I pulled myself away from Morgan’s lips with great effort and stared at the machine. When I realized what had happened, I squealed in delight.
“Red. I hit red.”
I grinned and kissed him again, my hands on his cheeks. The gage on the machine immediately flew into the red zone and hovered there.
I got up and did a happy dance right in the testing room. Morgan joined me, kissing me again just to make sure it wasn’t a fluke. He pulled me close, flush against his deliciously hard and muscular body, and by the time he finished we nearly broke the Trifield 100XE Meter. The arrow flew to the furthest red point and an alarm went off. I laughed, throwing my arms around his neck as he lifted me off the ground.
“We did it,” I said, triumphantly. I kissed his forehead, his cheeks, and his mouth once again. Just for good measure.
Valentine Kisses: A Kiss to Last a Lifetime Page 4
