Fortress nodded with a broad smile. Even through his guarded emotions, I could sense a certain swell of pride directed towards us all and Robert in particular. “Excellent deduction, Paragon, and one that Ballista and I came to earlier this evening. The strange case of Hardware’s death only adds more fuel to the fire, so to speak.”
“Then we need to do something before another innocent dies,” I declared, planting my fists on my hips. “The exhibition’s attendance was small, so it should be easy to track down each person and narrow down the field of suspects. I bet if we mark off those with solid alibis or still in the hospital recovering, it’d be a very small list left.”
John nodded fiercely in agreement, the anger he felt for Hardware displacing itself on to this new, unknown menace, but Fortress raised a hand calmly. “While your eagerness is refreshing —”
“Translation: The boss has a better idea,” Ballista smirked, something that earned him another brief, stern look from his mentor.
“As I was about to say,” the detective said after clearing his throat, “gathering evidence and cross-referencing suspects is something we can do easily on our own.” He gestured to his partner and himself. “From what Paragon has told me, the three of you have had a trying day and the night shift, well, this is our natural element. On top of that, our killer has been following a definite pattern, with no more than one of these, well, deaths by intercourse per day. With Hardware recently deceased, there’s time for you all to recover your strength while we do the legwork.”
Ballista stretched his arms over his head. “Yay, another late night for us,” he scoffed. “You daytime heroes have it easy, you know that, right?”
“Ballista …” Fortress warned, not needing to finish for the young hero to shrug helplessly.
“Sorry, boss, but you know it’s true,” he smiled with disarming charm.
I found myself laughing despite myself. “Okay, I think we get the picture. I don’t know about you two, but I could use some sleep.” That was something of a lie, but a little white one. After making love with John, I felt reinvigorated, and while I knew some shuteye would be smart, I really didn’t need it. I could have gone on for hours more.
“I suppose it’s smart thinking,” John acknowledged. “Get what sleep you can before the real battle starts.” He glanced across the table at Robert after a fleeting look at me. “As I don’t exactly have a place to crash, even if Ohm insists they could just turn into a cocoon or a tent or whatever I needed, I don’t suppose you mind if I rest my head here, Bob?”
“I don’t mind at all,” Robert smiled graciously back. “In fact, I would have insisted you stay here at the manor. It isn’t as if I lack for space, and you must indulge yourself in one of Benedict’s masterfully cooked breakfasts in the morning.”
“Okay, well, I guess this is settled,” I nodded as I looked at Fortress and Ballista. “Good luck with the hunt. If an emergency comes up, though …”
“We won’t hesitate, Miracle,” the detective nodded. “At latest, we will reconvene here before noon tomorrow, if that is acceptable to you, Paragon?”
Robert nodded. “Indeed.” He hovered to the door. “John, if you’ll come with me, Benedict will see to your arrangements. Christine, well, you are already taken care of.”
A spark of Robert’s need for me came through, as well as an almost imperceptible nod from John of acceptance. Not that I need it so much, I had already come to terms with how I felt for both of them, but it was a good gesture regardless.
As the three of us entered the elevator, though, I could feel Fortress’s appraising eyes on me, as if he were analyzing every facial tic and gesture. Strangely, while I expected to feel hints of judgment through his emotional wall, there were odd flickers of approval instead.
26
Sleeping was something easier said than done, even if I hadn’t been in bed with Robert’s perfect body. Though the need to shut down and process the crazy day gnawed at the back of my mind, I couldn’t do it. Robert’s warmth soaked through me as I lay curled up next to him, one of his muscular arms around my shoulders as I draped an arm over his chest.
Even in the darkness of his bedroom, the curtains drawn shut, I knew he wasn’t asleep either. His heart was pensive but content as his sculpted chest rose and fell under my head, nestled against his shoulder. We had just snuggled and kissed as we got ready for bed and I knew he had as much on his mind as I did. That was without me telling him about what had passed between John and me.
While I had no guilt at all over what we had done last night, I knew I should tell him. More than that, Robert and I needed to talk about our own growing relationship, what yawned in the future, and the implications of my growing powers, at least as how I understood them. Biting my lower lip, I ran my fingers over the perfectly delineated muscles of his chest, resting my hand on his heart.
“Robert?” I asked softly, seeking out his eyes in the gloom.
“You can’t sleep either,” he murmured, more a statement of fact than a question.
I laughed a little. “No, not a wink.” Snuggling up a bit more against him, I let out a small sigh of contentment, almost deciding not to have this discussion at all, but I had to. “I want to talk to you about some things and, well, tomorrow we might not have the chance.”
“I wouldn’t doubt it.” His heard rustled against the silk pillowcase and I could feel his eyes on me now. “Fortress and Ballista will no doubt determine our culprit before we meet again, and then we will be fully occupied in stopping them for good. What is it you wish to talk about, Christine? You know you can tell me anything.”
I took in a deep breath. Well, might as well tear off the bandage, right? “You know that John and I have history, right?”
“Of course,” he said thoughtfully, his analytical side coming to the fore. “He was, after all, a major part of your Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation. With how you managed to influence him to turn to the right path, you must have been very close indeed.”
“Yes, that’s one way to put it.” I shifted, sitting up slowly in bed, one hand still on Robert’s broad shoulder. “If things had been even a little different, we would have been together. It was only because of, well, our ethics that we weren’t sleeping together from the moment we met.”
The sheets rustled as Robert sat up as well, his warmth suffusing me again as he warped an arm around me. “There is no shame in that, Christine. I only wish I had a story of lost love to share with yours. My … solitude in the past has made for few of those.”
I clasped his draping hand with both of mine. “Things are different now, with him back in my life. In our lives. The passion’s still there, Robert, and I won’t lie to you. Tonight, out on the beach, John and I made love.”
I might not have felt guilty about it, but I was still braced for an explosion. After all, Robert had attached himself to me, eager to have an equal in his life that he could love, and any indication he could lose that might drive him to, well, who knows what. Still, I held firm. I didn’t flinch even as I could feel his heart panic and his muscles tense.
“That doesn’t change anything between us, Robert,” I pledged, squeezing his hand. “I will always be here for you, and I will always keep you safe.”
His breath was hot on my neck as he leaned in closer, the action steady and rhythmic. “I am finding this hard to, well, process. I … I am not a selfish man. You know this, you’ve seen inside me, haven’t you?” He didn’t need to wait for my answer, he knew it already as he continued. “You, though, I want to be selfish with, even though I know you speak the truth. I don’t want to share you.”
I closed my eyes, turning into him to nuzzle his neck. “I know this may be hard to believe, I know. But John … he needs me too. He’s still broken, lost, ravaged by the darkness that could take him back at any moment. If I stay with him too, as I am staying with you, I can pull him back. I know I can.” The electric fire of my power danced up from my core, through my spine, and I
knew I could show Robert, open my heart up wide to let him see the need I had for both men. “Can I … show you?”
Confusion mixed with a surge of anticipation and trust in Robert’s soul. After a brief moment of thought, he whispered, “Yes, please.”
As I had with the homeless man and John, I let the power flow through me, connecting our two hearts as it surged through my palms into Robert’s hand. This time, though, it was purely voluntary, I felt totally in control as I opened the flower of my love and shared it with this man I held so dear. Though I know I could have peeled back the layers of his soul, as I had involuntarily with the others, I held that power back, focusing entirely on baring myself before Robert.
A faint green-gold light flickered in our twined hands, lighting up the room just a bit, as I let my feelings free. My love for these two men, the darkness I saw in each of their hearts, and my need to banish it back with my own light, that all came through the link. More than that, my suspicions about Dr. Blair and the origins of my powers, my growing wonder about my greater destiny, and the awe I held at every new step as my powers evolved flashed through into Robert. Every corner of my heart was laid bare for him at that moment.
And then it was gone. The light pulsed once and faded. As my senses came back to me and the link closed, I couldn’t tell if a minute had passed or an hour, only that it was still night outside. For a long moment, we rested against one another, and I could feel his emotions spiraling, trying to fully comprehend the influx he had just experienced.
“This … this is how you see the world now,” he finally murmured, awe in his voice as he started to understand. “You can sense all that in each and every one of us, all the time?”
I laughed a little and kissed his hand. “I can filter it some, pull back the eye to focus on something smaller, but yes. With you, with John, all the time, I can see it all. Every joy, every fear, every bit of emotion.”
“I underestimated you again, my love,” he said with a slow nod. “You are so much stronger than I could have imagined.” His chest expanded against me as he drew in a deep breath. “I must admit that even now, I cannot fully comprehend the depth, the expanse of your heart. Maybe I do not understand the common man or woman as much as I thought I did, sitting at the pinnacle of the world and looking down.”
I adjusted myself, grabbing both of his shoulders as I let his hand free so I could pull myself into his silk-sheeted lap. “Honey, you can’t let yourself feel that way. Yes, your perspective is different, way different, but in the end, you’re still human, and you have the same hopes and fears as most people do. Trust me, I know.” He let out a short chuckle, and some of the warmth in his soul crept back up through the confusion. “Look, there will always be things you don’t grasp, just like there are things John doesn’t and I don’t. Hell, I bet there are things even Mr. Super Detective Fortress doesn’t grasp. It’s okay.”
“I believe you, Christine.” Robert’s arms came around my waist as I leaned into him, my own arm going around his neck in a hug. “If anyone would know these things, it would be you.” There was a long pause, and I could practically hear that wonderfully brilliant brain at work. “While I cannot deny there is a part of me that wishes you could be mine and mine alone, what you have shown me, both your own love and the need that John has of that love …” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I look to the future, the best future not only for myself but for the entire world. That includes John’s future and most of all, yours.”
Robert fought with his words for a moment, a rare thing for how well-spoken he was. “What I mean to say is that the best possible future I can see for all of us is one where you are here for both of us. You are truly a miracle, Christine, and I would be the vilest supervillain on the planet if I denied that miracle to another who needed it.”
I felt myself tearing up, not in any kind of sadness but out of sheer joy at the love I felt from Robert like my own heart reflected back. More than that, I could see the love in him for the world as well, the selfless champion I knew was always inside him. What other man could have all Robert’s power, all his fabulous wealth, and yet wish to give it all to those in need?
“Is something wrong, Christine?” his deep voice rumbled, a hand sliding up my back until he could thumb at one of my tears. “You’re crying.”
Without another word, I spun deftly on his lap, and in a turn of my startling speed, I moved from sitting on him to straddling his hips as I kissed him with all my love and passion. A moment later his hand was roaming through my mane of hair, and his lips were pressing fiercely into our embrace.
I pulled back from our kiss, eyes still glistening as a smile beamed on my lips. Touching foreheads, I whispered softly, “I’m happy, you big goof, and more than that, I love you.”
My smile was contagious, spreading across Robert’s lips, something I could tell even in the darkness. “And I love you, Christine, and I could not be prouder to have you in my life.”
I kissed him on the nose before pushing him playfully down into the bed. I don’t know if he was playing along, was caught by surprise, or whether the bond I had formed with John had made me that much stronger, but he fell back down flat with a bit of a chuckle as I grinned down at him.
“Dear, you haven’t seen anything yet!”
27
While we didn’t sleep much, we slept enough. Between Robert’s understanding and the constant pulse of peace I felt over my link with John, I was soothed enough to finally rest. Their love was sustaining, and my dreams were pleasant and restful. Now, if we could only track down the murderous villain still rampaging unknown across the city, things would be perfect.
There was no immediate news from Fortress and Ballista when we woke up other than a message that they had narrowed down the pack significantly. That left us free to get one last bit of respite before we would all have to hit the streets, a respite that had Benedict’s cooking written all over it.
It was no surprise to me that not only had a wardrobe full of clothes sized to me appeared some time since my first night in Robert’s bed, but John also showed up to breakfast in the same upstairs ‘nook’ as before dressed in crisp new slacks and a brand-new, form-hugging turtleneck. Ohm had somehow compressed what had to have been eighty pounds of liquid metal down into what was essentially a watch band on John’s wrist.
“So, Bob, you really talked this up,” the ex-Marine chuckled as he took a seat next to me at the little table, directly across from Robert. “This better be the best damn breakfast I’ve ever had.”
I laughed and smiled. “Trust me, John, Benedict’s cooking is almost better than sex.” I winked at him as I smoothed out my skirt. “Almost.”
John was about to say something, but he held his peace, glancing between Robert and me. There was renewed desire, a hint of arousal as he remembered last night, and a bit of caution tempering his actions. Robert seemed to catch it as well, eyeing me sidelong.
I cleared my throat and held out a hand to each of them, palms upward. “Let’s clear the air, guys. John, I talked to Robert about this last night and, well, I already spoke to you about him.”
That sense of caution grew, only tempered by a faint sense of relief as John took my hand cautiously. “As my head is still attached to my body, I’m guessing it went well.” He tilted his head at the shimmering grey wristband. “No, Ohm, I still don’t think we could take him. Calm your metal ass down.”
“I understand everything, John,” Robert said with open honesty as he more readily took my other hand. “Christine, as you would say, used her super heart powers to show me everything.”
That did it. Relief flooded over John, not so much for his own personal safety, but over the concerns he had for me. “Oh, well, that would do it.” He chuckled. “She’s done it to me twice, and I’m still trying to fully wrap my head around it, even though I’ve already got a voice in my head.”
“Well,” I smiled as I squeezed their hands, “before Benedict gets up here
and before anything else goes nuts, I wanted to try one last, uh, super heart thing.” Stormy blue and deep hazel eyes focused on me as I nodded. “If we’re going to do this right in a way that will work for us, and heck, the rest of the world, I think you both need insight into each other. This … sense I have of both of you, the window to your hearts or whatever, is only one way, but … I think I can bridge you together like this, if we all hold hands.” My emerald eyes flitted from one lover to the other. “If you’re both willing to try, anyway.”
“Go for it, Chris,” John nodded, while Robert answered by squeezing my hand.
“Okay, boys,” I nodded as I closed my eyes, letting the sparking power out of my depths. It coursed through my hands, warmth passing from flesh to flesh, and then, like a blazing river of fire in my veins, I made the connection.
At first, it hurt more than I could have realized. It wasn’t from any feeling of anguish or aspersions cast my way. No, it was all the pain, the negative emotions that still writhed in each of my lover’s inner essences that hurt me, tore at my heart and soul.
The chains of Robert’s cold loneliness lashed out at me even as his buried aloofness made me want to turn away from them both. Bitterness and rage, John’s fiery demons, roasted at my mind and charred my heart. To view each man in this light, to see the unvarnished darkness that was hidden within, was almost too much to bear.
But I did. I bore it with unwavering faith in their goodness. As their negative emotions rebounded and echoed off the other, that goodness flooded in to wash away the pain. Robert’s endless selflessness mixed with his love of mankind to melt his coldness, while John’s sense of duty and honor put out the reckless fires in him. Their shared heroism and love for me joined together to outshine the darkness, leaving nothing but warmth and light inside me, and I fell in love with them all over again.
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