Carnal Chemistry

by Katie Allen

  “Fine. We’ll forget the ‘lovey-dovey’ stuff. Just two totally professional coworkers, on the run from government agents in a stolen VW.”

  “Traded.”

  “Whatever.” It came out as a snap. She turned toward the window, refusing to let the stupid tears burning against the back of her eyes escape. Even though she didn’t have his super-duper powers, Lauren was positive she could feel him glancing at her.

  “You’re upset.”

  “I’m tired,” she said. “I’ve had a really long, really nutty day.”

  “Why don’t you get some sleep.”

  His reasonableness just made her crankier. “Fine. I will.” She jammed her eyes closed, as if she could instantly fall asleep just to spite him.

  “Fine.”

  * * *

  Lauren was positive she was too annoyed to sleep, especially with the early evening sun making the insides of her eyelids glow a dark red. When she opened her eyes to darkness, however, she realized she must have dozed for a few hours, at least. As she blinked the sleepiness away, she kept her head turned away from Calvin, more from embarrassment of her earlier emotional silliness than any lingering anger.

  “I’m sorry I hurt your feelings.”

  Obviously her possum act hadn’t worked. “It’s fine. I was just tired.”

  “I worry about the guys,” Cal said. “Darwin and Ed especially. They came to the lab after me, so I’ve known them since they were brand-new and totally fucking clueless about what was going to happen. I figured out right away that they’re different than me...nicer, I guess. Kinder.”

  Now she felt like the biggest, sulkiest, most selfish baby in the world.

  “You’re nice,” she said, and then winced. That was probably one of the lamest things she could’ve said.

  “Not really.”

  Turning to face him, Lauren protested, “You risked your own ass to save me from the two fake-NSA guys. That’s pretty nice.”

  Now Cal was the one who wouldn’t look at her. Instead, he concentrated on his driving, focusing much harder than she would think someone with his super-senses would have to focus.

  “I got you into this fucked-up situation in the first place. Right after you dropped me off, I just had this gut feeling that they knew about you, that you weren’t safe.”

  “How’d you know where I lived?” she asked curiously.

  He rubbed the top of his head, mussing his hair. “Ah...your employee file.”

  After a startled pause, she laughed. “Is that the hacker equivalent of looking me up on Facebook? You didn’t have a car, though. How’d you get to my place?”

  “I ran.”

  “You...ran? It’s, like, four miles. And you got there five minutes after I did...in my car.”

  He shrugged. “I don’t have to wait for stoplights. Plus, I run fast.”

  “Wow, I guess so.” She shook her head, getting back on track. “Anyway, I still say you’re nice. A non-nice guy would’ve just disappeared and left me to get kidnapped by government agents.”

  It was his turn to shrug. “E and D are different, though. I mean, take Ed. He loves animals, wouldn’t hurt a fly. At the lab, they...well, they expected him to hurt a lot more than flies.”

  Lauren didn’t say anything, just waited for him to continue.

  “And Darwin...he’s so fucking happy all the time. Even in the middle of a total shit storm, he finds something to joke about. If I could shield them from something, something that would’ve changed them, then I fucking did it. Better that shit falling on me than them.”

  This was so different, so much bigger than anything Lauren had experienced in her life so far. The horrors Cal had gone through made all her petty past worries and irritations shrink into nothingness. She could only be quiet and listen, not even sure if she was breathing.

  “I wanted to protect them, not just keep their hearts beating and their lungs breathing, but to let them stay... I don’t know.” He blew out an impatient breath. “Unbroken.”

  “Did you?” Lauren had to ask. “Keep them...them?”

  “Don’t know yet.” A passing car’s headlights revealed the grim lines of his face. “This isn’t over.”

  Silence fell, only broken by the rumble of the engine and the hum of the wheels on pavement.

  “Hungry?”

  The sudden change of subject, from intense to mundane, made Lauren blink. “Yes, now that you mention it. If I don’t get some food soon, I’m going to start eating my own arm.”

  That got a raised eyebrow and a partial smile. “We could do Subway instead of your body parts.”

  “Deal.” It was a relief to be talking about such simple things, especially since they were actually getting along again. “In fact, throw in a bathroom break with that meatball sub, and I’ll love you forever.”

  The partial smile turned into a full-on grin. “Didn’t realize you were so easy.”

  For some nerve-racking reason, Calvin’s happiness made her happy, and her return smile was huge. “More than you realize. I would’ve just taken the bathroom break and a couple beef jerky sticks from the gas station.”

  “Good to know,” he said, steering onto the exit ramp. “That might be breakfast.”

  Lauren accepted that with a shrug. She’d had worse breakfasts. “Not to be dumb, but where are we?”

  “Atlanta.”

  “Huh.” She looked around with interest. “This is my first time.”

  “We’ll have to come back sometime,” he said, pulling into the fast-food restaurant parking lot. “All you’re going to see is the inside of the Subway bathroom and a stretch of interstate.”

  “Speaking of that.” Lauren knew there’d been something niggling at the back of her mind. “Is it the smartest thing to take the interstate? I mean, won’t they be looking for us there?”

  “It’s the fastest,” Cal said. “Plus, there wasn’t a BOLO put out on the bus yet, so the owners must’ve accepted our trade—”

  Lauren groaned.

  “Or,” he continued, giving her a look, “they haven’t gotten home yet. Either way, no one’s reported this vehicle stolen, as far as I’m aware.”

  “Hang on,” she said. “How do you know it wasn’t reported stolen? Do you have a built-in scanner in your head?”

  “No.” Cal looked a little offended at the idea of being a walking two-way radio. “I turned this phone into a police scanner. I had the volume low so it wouldn’t wake you up.”

  “Oh. Don’t you think an in-head scanner would be handy, though?”

  He gave her a look and then climbed out of the bus, leaving the engine running. “I’ll suggest that if I’m ever taken back there.”

  “Wait!” Lauren called out as he slammed the door. She scrambled down, made sure her own door was unlocked before closing it, and hurried around the bus after him.

  “You’re leaving it running?” she hissed quietly when she finally caught up with Cal.

  “Afraid someone might steal it?” He gave her an amused look.

  “It’s been known to happen,” she shot back, following him into the restaurant.

  “If so, I’ll hear it. Besides, a car thief with any common sense will take one look at those exposed wires and leave it where it is.”

  “Because...” Lauren felt as if she should know the answer without being told, but she didn’t.

  “Because who knows what messed-up things the first thief did,” Calvin explained under his breath as they moved toward the bathrooms. “The new thief doesn’t want to be responsible for the bodies in the back when he’s stopped with a stolen car.”

  “Bodies?” The word was out before she could moderate the volume. Lauren checked to see who might have overheard, but the restaurant was quiet, and the few stragglers
were too far away to eavesdrop.

  “Maybe we should’ve searched the bus before stealing it.” With a wicked grin, Calvin ducked into the men’s room.

  “And he says Darwin is the funny one,” she muttered.

  Chapter Five

  “Want me to drive?” Lauren asked with her mouth full. Fast food had never tasted so good. She took bite after bite, hardly giving herself time to chew. Even watching Calvin fill the bus’s gas tank with the engine running hadn’t taken away her appetite, although it had frazzled her nerves. She’d waited in the VW while he’d run into the gas station, emerging less than a minute later with a plastic bag she was really hoping contained snacks.

  Cal shook his head, climbing back into the driver’s seat. “Something might happen.”

  “Think I can’t handle it?” she asked, more as a reflex than in actual pique.

  “You’re a fine driver,” he said. “I’m better.”

  She sighed. “I’d be offended, except you always have the superpowers trump card. Is there anything you’re not better at than me?”

  “Talking?” he said. “You’re really good at that.”

  “Gee, thanks.”

  “Haircutting?” Cal ran a hand over his head.

  “That’s slightly better, although I’m changing the topic now for the sake of my fragile ego,” Lauren said. “If you’re going to keep driving, shouldn’t you get some sleep? Or is the need to sleep a non-bionic thing?”

  “No, you’re right.” He pulled out of the gas station and headed back toward the interstate. “Let’s go another hour or so and then find a rest stop. I even remembered breakfast.”

  She took the plastic bag he held out and rummaged through, laughing as she held up multiple packages of beef jerky. “Breakfast of champions!”

  “Or those on the run.”

  “Is it wrong that I want to eat these right now?”

  He stared at her. “You just ate a sub, chips, and a bunch of cookies.”

  “So?” she said defensively. “Being a fugitive makes me hungry.”

  Refocusing on the road, he shrugged. “Feel free. And hand me one.”

  “Hah!” She laughed as she ripped open the packaging. “You ate more than I did. Who’s the piggy now?”

  “Hey, genetic modifications use up a lot of calories,” he said, grabbing the offered beef.

  Lauren just smirked and chewed her jerky.

  * * *

  It was closer to two hours later when Calvin finally pulled into a truck stop. Lauren had dozed off again but woke as the bus eased to a stop in a dark area away from the other vehicles.

  “You’re not going to keep it running all night, are you?” she asked groggily.

  “No,” he said, just as the engine went silent. “I’ll start it again after we get a few hours of sleep.”

  With a yawning nod, she grabbed her purse and climbed out, heading toward the small building housing the restrooms.

  “Wait.”

  Even though Cal’s voice wasn’t very loud, Lauren realized she’d automatically planted her feet in response to his order.

  She gave a huff of a laugh as he caught up with her. “You really should be teaching second grade.”

  He cocked a questioning eyebrow at her as they walked together to the restrooms.

  “You say it, and I obey,” she explained. “It’d be a handy classroom skill.”

  “Ha. You actually obeyed? I must’ve blinked and missed it.”

  Lauren just made a face at him as she went into the women’s room. It wasn’t the worst public bathroom she’d ever encountered, but it could’ve used a good scrubbing. There was toilet paper, though, and hot water and a mirror, although she really didn’t want to know what sort of hot mess she was at the moment. She still had on her work clothes, and her skirt and blouse were looking a little worse for wear. Her boots were just plain hurting.

  She did her best, brushing her teeth with a spare toothbrush she kept in her purse and washing all her accessible bits using water, dispenser soap and a handful of rough brown paper towels. Propping a booted foot on the edge of a toilet seat, she made an effort to clean her skinned knee, sucking in a breath at the sting of the water.

  “You okay?” Cal asked as he walked in.

  “Really?” She blew on her still-painful knee. “I invite you into one ladies’ room and you think you have a nationwide all-access pass?”

  Ignoring that, he squeezed into the stall with her. “Need help?”

  She shrugged, switching legs. “Not much to help with. I’m just trying to knock the worst of the gravel out of these scrapes.” Dabbing at her raw-looking knee with a wet tissue, she gritted her teeth as this one began burning as well.

  Cal took the tissue from her hand and did a quick clean that left her gasping.

  “There,” he said, dropping the tissue in the toilet and flushing. “Ready to head back?”

  Lauren carefully lowered her foot to the ground. “To our hippie-mobile? Sure.”

  She limped a little on the way back to their parking spot, but the soreness quickly eased. As it did, she began to think about the logistics of their sleeping quarters.

  “So.” She opened the side door. “What’s the plan?”

  “Besides moving the bodies?” Cal asked with the slightest smirk.

  “Besides that,” she agreed, looking at the stretch of green-and-orange shag carpet that covered the back of the van.

  “The plan is sleep, wake up, drive.” He slipped by Lauren into the bus and closed the few gaps in the curtains that covered all the back windows, before moving between the seats to lock both front doors. He pulled a fabric divider across the width of the interior behind the driver and passenger seats, separating them from the front of the bus and hiding them from anyone looking in the windshield.

  “So, sleep back here?”

  “With the sleeping bags we bought, it shouldn’t be too uncomfortable,” Cal said, pulling out the bedrolls. He shifted the rest of their purchases to the side to make room to unroll the sleeping bags parallel to each other. He’d taken off his suit jacket and tie hours earlier, but now he began to unbutton his shirt.

  We must have different ideas of uncomfortable. Lauren wasn’t about to bring the whole sexual-tension subject up if he wasn’t, though. She climbed into the back of the bus, pulling the door closed behind her. “Next time, you might want to steal a camper. One with a bathroom.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind. Lock that door.”

  Lauren did. “See? Obeying.”

  He just gave a snort, whether in amusement or disbelief, she wasn’t sure. With the door closed and the back windows covered, it was inky dark in the bus for a few seconds before Cal clicked on a flashlight and offered it to her. Trying very hard not to look at his bare chest, she took the light, holding it beneath her chin as she dug through one of the shopping bags. Most of what he’d bought her was cold-weather gear, and they were still south enough for it to be in the sixties at night, despite it being late November. There was no way she could sleep in any of her new fleece or flannel tops, especially wrapped in a sleeping bag. She pulled out one of Cal’s new T-shirts.

  “Mind if I...?” She held it up and then directed the flashlight toward Cal so she could see his affirmative shrug. Unfortunately for the knot of nerves and lust building in her stomach, she also saw that he had removed his pants and was now in just a pair of black boxer briefs.

  The next awkward moment popped up just seconds later. “Uh...would it be okay if I turned off the light for a minute to change?”

  “Knock yourself out.” He sounded amused as he slid into his sleeping bag, but Lauren didn’t care. She’d only kissed him a couple times, and the first time he saw her naked wasn’t going to be while she was struggling to get out of her cl
othes in the back of a VW bus.

  Clicking off the flashlight and sitting on the sleeping bag that did not contain a luscious, unnerving, too-hot-for-his-own-good man, she yanked off her boots and stripped her socks from her feet. Wiggling her bare toes against the cool fabric of the sleeping bag, Lauren sighed blissfully. She’d been dying to do that for hours, but she hadn’t wanted to take off her boots until she’d been sure she wouldn’t have to run for her life again. Although running for her life was still a possibility, she was too tired and her feet hurt too much at this point to care.

  Unzipping her skirt, she wiggled it off her hips, down her legs and over her feet. Her top pulled off over her head easily. She unhooked her bra but hesitated a moment before letting it fall, feeling shy even with the blanket of darkness covering them.

  Wearing just her panties, she groped around for her borrowed T-shirt.

  “A little to your right.” Cal’s voice, low and raspy, came out of the darkness.

  “Thanks,” she said, reaching right and feeling the soft cotton of the T-shirt.

  As her fingers closed around the fabric, realization struck. Sucking in a hard breath, she yanked the shirt to her chest, trying to hide behind her arms and the wad of fabric.

  “Asshole!” she yelped, attempting to straighten the T-shirt enough to pull it on without flashing her breasts again. The bastard had already seen enough. “Those eye enhancements—you can see in the fucking dark, can’t you?”

  “Not in full dark,” he corrected.

  Lauren wasn’t appeased. “In this light, though, with the little bit from the outside coming in, you saw—see me, don’t you?”

  There was a pause, and she imagined Cal shrugging. “A little, yeah.”

  “Ha!” she scoffed, finally finding the opening at the bottom of the T-shirt and yanking it over her head. “A little, my ass. You saw the whole thing, didn’t you?” She jammed her arms through the sleeves but still felt naked, as if he could see right through the shirt. Who knew, maybe X-ray vision was another one of his bionic-man powers.

  After another short silence, he spoke again. “Yeah. I saw you. I saw that you’re too fucking beautiful.”