Joshua dying. The very thought brought her back from the darkness of her own existence even though she continued to cry. Alexandria untwisted her hands from the soft shirt and tried to tunnel up underneath it. She had to touch his bare skin. Had to see how he was doing. The only way she could use her special power of assessing a person’s condition was with direct skin contact and she was frantic to touch him. Without her being here to change the Life Power within him, she had been terrified he would perish before she could be rescued. If she could be rescued. She had never told him about his condition and no one else knew either.
Finally, her struggle with the stupid shirt was successful and her hands contacted his warm supple skin. She felt Joshua’s swift intake of breath and the movement of his muscles under her tentative touch. Slowly, she smoothed her fingertips over his chest until she was above his heart. She concentrated on her unique Power and pushed it outward from her center. Letting the energy flow through her arms and out through her fingertips, she entered into his body.
Joshua groaned, his breath brushing against her ear. The sensation raised goose-bumps on her skin and made her body hum. She tried to ignore the wonderful distractions of Joshua being so close to her, his body wrapped around her, and his masculine scent surrounding her. Instead, she concentrated on the ebb and flow of his inner rhythms, his Life Force, his Life Power.
What she discovered worried her and wasn’t far off from what she had expected. She sniffled, turning her cheek into his chest listening to the beat of his heart. Yes, his Life Power was slightly off and extremely low. There was slight damage to the pathways the Power took within him and Alexandria could tell he had had another episode with controlling his abilities. He hadn’t used the more destructive bursts he was capable of in a long time, so things had evidently gotten severe while she had been gone. She had tried to steer him away from using the skill so she wouldn’t have to sneak around and find a way to adjust his energies. What a mess. She should have told him about his condition.
“Alexandria, I don’t have much Life Power but if it will help you.” Joshua murmured in her ear again. She gasped, yanking her hands away breaking the connection.
Had the beast deep inside her tried to get through and take his Power? The demanding evilness seemed to be repressed, less influential on her. Suppressed. Yes, she recalled what Joshua had risked his life for. To give her an injection to suppress the Wraith side of her. Alexandria started sobbing all over again. “I could have killed you, Josh. You should have let them destroy me.”
“Never!” Joshua’s gentleness as he cupped and tilted her face was contradictory to the harshness of his words. “I’ll never let them harm you. Anyone trying to hurt you will have to go through me first.” Alexandria believed him because she could see the intense expression on his face in the dim light of the medical nightlights.
Joshua’s look softened after a few seconds and he moved one of his hands to stroke through her hair again. Alexandria sighed, feeling the chaotic thoughts lift away as his hand worked its magic. “Alexandria, you’ll never harm me and no one will make me believe otherwise. Not Turin, not the dark part of you he put in there, and not anyone here in this complex. I have never and will never give up hope on you.”
A startled look crossed his features suddenly and then he smiled at her, a dimple making an appearance in his right cheek.
“You haven’t called me Josh in a long time.”
Alexandria tried to smile back, but the sobs hadn’t completely subsided, and now she had the hiccups. “Not…not since we were teenagers.” Her fingers twisted in his shirt again. She had the strong desire to touch his skin again. The heat of his body called to her. Not just to heal him, but to feel his warmth against her. Against her bare skin. The thought brought back images of earlier in the night when she had jumped him and then rubbed her body against his.
Blushing, she glanced up to see if he had caught her thoughts. Joshua’s dimple made another appearance and his eyes glittered with mischief. “Remembered something, did you?”
“I, um…” She didn’t know what to say. In many of her daydreams, she had wanted to jump him for years, but he had always held back from her. Ever the protector and friend, never the lover.
As if he had delved into her inner secrets, Joshua slid forward until his lips were a whisper away from hers. The hand which had been stroking her hair, slid along her jaw to tip her face up closer to his. “I know this is going to get both of us in trouble, but I just can’t help myself, Lexi.” He moved, closing the whisper of distance ever so slowly as if he was giving her a chance to back away. It wasn’t going to happen though. This was something she had wanted since forever.
The first touch of his lips was a gentle brush against hers. She closed her eyes savoring the contact, the firm caress, the brush of his fingers against her jaw. His breath mingled with hers. Letting go of Joshua’s shirt, Alexandria trailed her hands up his chest and over his shoulders. By the Ancients, the man was incredibly built. Every inch was hardened muscle and she wanted to touch every inch of him.
Alexandria had never felt anything like this. Her blood heated, her skin tingled, and her Life Power pulsed within her. She envisioned both of them surrounded by their sparkling, glowing Life Powers while the two energies swirled and spiraled around them, becoming one. Detecting Joshua’s energy ramp up with hers gave her some relief to his condition. At least he was strong enough to create the field around him without her actually having to use her skills to detect it. Perhaps he had improved.
Her medical thoughts were sidelined when Joshua became more demanding in his exploration of her mouth. He nipped at her lower lip and played along the seam of her lips with his tongue. She opened for him and was rewarded with the sensual play of his lips and tongue while his hands roamed along her back and hips. Her breath caught in her chest when Joshua deepened the kiss and slid his fingertips away from her hip, up her side, and over her ribs. He stopped right below her breasts, his thumbs brushing at the bottom curves.
Needing to touch him, Alexandria grabbed Joshua’s shirt, shoving it out of the way, and pushing her hands underneath the fabric again. The contact with his skin was incredible. She wanted more. She wanted all of her skin pressed to his. She could tell Joshua was just as caught up in the sensations, since his Life Power was escaping and sparkling around them. His energy wasn’t as strong as it should have been but gave her hope just the same by its presence.
The heat in her body pooled between her legs and when she would have let out a purr a strange screech escaped her. Aghast, she pushed back from him and slapped a hand over her mouth. In the depths of her mind, she heard the weak Wraith. Mmmmm. Life Power. The creature whispered to her distantly.
“Alexandria. What is it? Did I hurt you?” Joshua looked at her with concern. He was brushing his hands through her hair again as if to soothe her.
Lowering her hand, she whispered, “It’s the Wraith. I can still hear it.” Joshua’s expression said he was ready to attack something in her defense if needed. “It’s still suppressed deep inside of me. But for a moment, the Wraith must have picked up on your energy. This is too dangerous, Joshua.”
Alexandria tried to push away from him, but he wouldn’t have it. “Damn it, woman. You won’t hurt me and I won’t let the creature inside you hurt us.” She felt ecstatic for just a moment but then her heart dropped. He had said us and she had waited so long for him even to get close to opening up to the emotion she was sure he had for her. But now that he was opening to her for the first time, it just couldn’t be.
Blinking, she tried to keep the tears from falling. Dreams had become nightmares and now the dreams were within reach, but she would destroy them with nothing but a touch. Sighing she asked, “The suppression appears to be mostly working. Did Jenny say how often I need the injection?” She shivered just saying the word. Turin had scarred her for life on that subject.
Joshua sighed and paused for a moment. “Every night you’ll have to h
ave the suppressant. Warren has produced plenty, so there’s no issue of running out.”
Stunned, Alexandria just lay there with Joshua. Her thoughts spinning out of control. “Every night? I have to go through this every night?” Even she could hear her voice climb in octave, but she couldn’t help it. To go through the hell she had last night just to get to this point had been horrendous.
Joshua gathered her close, stroking his hands through her hair and over her back. She knew he was just trying to calm her and perhaps himself a bit too.
“Jenny said the initial suppression would be the worst. The following would be uncomfortable but nothing like last night.” He growled softly before continuing. “I’m here for you, Lexi and I won’t ever let you go again. Now try and get some rest.”
She had no doubt he meant what he said. He had been with her for centuries watching over her and he would fight to the death to protect her. Burrowing deeper into his embrace, she already felt safer from the world, but would he be safe from her. She didn’t know and only wanted to stay in his arms as long as possible. Closing her eyes, she let Joshua’s strong heartbeat against her ear and the stroke of his hands lull her to sleep for a few hours more.
****
“Wake up, Alexandria.” Joshua gently brushed his lips against her forehead. He watched her closely while she sleepily opened her eyes. He was relieved when her dark blues were revealed and not the black Wraith version in the overhead day lights. The lights had switched over a few minutes ago and he had grown concerned when the bright lights had not awakened her.
“Hi.” She groggily whispered, yawning hugely. She stretched and ran her hands up his arm until she could reach his hair. He felt her play with the strands.
“Hi back.” Joshua gifted her with one of his rare smiles. She was the only one who could bring them out of him so easily. “How are you feeling?”
Alexandria flexed her limbs testing her mobility. Joshua thought she already looked so much better. Her skin tone was not quite as pale and was beginning to glow with the golden tan he was used to. Biting at her lip, she mumbled, “Pretty good, considering.” Her stomach growled and she gave him a sideways glance. “Other than starving. I can’t remember the last time I ate.”
Anger suddenly burned hot in Joshua’s depths. He could just imagine she probably couldn’t remember, because knowing Turin, he probably had starved her. The awful man would pay one day. Joshua placed his hand on her stomach, spanning his fingers out across it and feeling the supple muscles tense under his touch. At least she hadn’t lost her strength. “Let’s remedy that. If you can do without me for a few moments, I’ll go get you something to eat. We still have the medical stock of food for the patients and Caleb keeps the supply filled.”
“Oh. Okay.” Alexandria seemed reluctant to let go of the strands of his hair she was playing with. She sighed dropping her hand and crossing her arms across her chest. Joshua didn’t want to leave her side any more than she appeared not to want to let him go.
He leaned forward and gave her a quick kiss. “I promise, I’ll only be a moment. While I’m gone, there’s a small restroom in the far corner of the cell so you can shower if you’re up to it. Jenny brought you a toothbrush, toothpaste, a brush, and some other toiletry items. Okay?”
Alexandria nodded pushing herself up into a sitting position. Joshua reached around her and easily picked her up with him when he stood up. She was so light and yet her small figure carried such strength. He just stood there for a moment holding her close against his body. If he could, he would never let go of her, but it just wasn’t to be at this point.
Setting her away from him, he turned and went over to the door. “Warren, I need to get something for Alexandria to eat.”
Warren instantly came over to the cell door and warily glanced over at Alexandria. Joshua felt his temper rise. “She’s fine, damn it. Let me the fuck out and stop being such a pussy.”
“Don’t be an ass, Joshua. I’m just making sure its Alexandria and not something else. All the work we’ve done, you want me to be careless and you lose her again?” Warren stepped over to the keypad and punched in the sequence to let Joshua out.
Once the door opened, Joshua stepped out. The sound of the door whisking closed behind him was aggravating because of the separation from Alexandria. “Fuck. You’re right.” He ran his hand through his hair and turned to look back at her. She gave him a tentative smile and then went into the bathroom. Once she was out of his site, he turned back to Warren. “Food?”
“Yeah. I just finished putting the extra breakfast items in the break room. Help yourself.” Warren pointed to the second door across the main room. “I’m in the middle of some of the genetic blood tests on Alexandria so I‘ll let you have at it while I finish up.”
“Thanks, man.” Joshua bee-lined it over to the break room. He dove into the refrigerator lifting lids on the extra trays to find something he thought Alexandria would like. Trying to be quick, he chose a tray with cottage cheese, strawberries, sausages, and French toast. He put the sausages and French toast in the microwave to reheat the items. Every second the microwave counted down seemed like forever to him. All he wanted was to get back to Alexandria and every moment away made his anxiety climb higher and his head throb.
As soon as the timer went off, he had the food back on the tray, grabbed a bottle of orange juice, and was out of the break room and back over to the cell in record time. The relief of seeing Alexandria sitting on the floor patiently waiting for him loosened the tightness in his chest. When she looked up and focused fully on him, he felt his entire world shift. She was his and there wasn’t anyone who was going to keep him away from her again.
The woman looked absolutely beautiful to him. She had showered and her skin still glowed from the cleaning. Her damp midnight black hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she shyly brushed a loose strand behind her ear. The tan scrubs hung loose on her small frame but she still looked regal perched on the bedding on the floor, her feet tucked up under her.
Joshua barely noticed when Warren opened the cell door for him because he was so entranced with Alexandria. He moved into the cell like a man in a trance. Shaking himself, he brought the tray in and squatted down on the floor and settled next to Alexandria. “It’s nothing fancy, but it’s all yours.”
Alexandria licked her lips and Joshua heard her stomach growl loudly again. He lifted the lid out of the way for her and handed her the utensils. She looked at the food as if she was afraid it was going to be taken from her. For a moment, she just sat there, but suddenly dove in with gusto. Joshua just sat there and watched her enjoy the food. Her eyes closed in ecstasy while she relished the food. He had never seen her eat so fast and was afraid she would make herself sick.
She made it about half way through the food and then lay back on the bedding holding her stomach. Joshua moved the tray out of the way and hovered over her. “Are you okay?” He brushed his hand across her forehead concerned she really had made herself sick.
Lying there, she rubbed her stomach and sighed, “I’m fine. Just haven’t had much food in a while. Now I’m just hungry for…” Her expression became uneasy and she shifted away from him. Joshua didn’t like the separation and drew her back near him. There was no way in hell she was going to push him away if the Wraith was bothering her again. She would just have to trust in his strength and her own in fighting her condition.
Before he could voice his thoughts, someone loudly cleared their throat outside the door. “Sorry to interrupt, dude, but Michael wants Alexandria brought to the planning room.” Joshua turned toward the newcomer and saw it was Ethan. Behind him stood Hunter and Raven. Not a good sign. All three of them looked uncomfortable and Joshua knew this was not just a calling for questioning of Alexandria.
Joshua stood up to his full height pulling Alexandria up with him. Once on his feet, he pushed her behind him so she was out of the sight of the other Warriors. “Spit it out, Ethan. I know there’s something more and
I’m not going to like it. Am I?”
Ethan cursed, “Hell, Joshua! What do want me to say? We all love Alexandria and its killing us to treat her this way. She’s like our sister, too. But she tried to kill Michael. The options have been taken away from us.”
Joshua’s fury soared when he heard Alexandria gasp behind him. He knew Ethan hadn’t been trying to be cruel but just the same Joshua was close to ripping someone’s head off. He knew the truth of what she had tried to do was causing Alexandria pain. His Life Power started to crank up. Just what he didn’t need was to have another episode. His hyperactive Power calmed though as soon as Alexandria touched him again. She had a knack for being the only one who could bring him back down.
At least until he saw what Ethan had in his hand. A Collar. A black crystal Collar which had been originally created by Turin to enslave the Warriors. However, they had escaped the Collars quite easily. Turin had underestimated them all and Joshua had hoped never to see another one in his long life. But here was another Collar and he knew it was meant for Alexandria.
“What the fuck, Ethan?” Joshua snarled.
Putting up his hands, Ethan tried to explain. “Look, dude, it wasn’t any of the Warriors’ ideas. The Elders brought the idea forward knowing we need Alexandria, especially for her physician skills, but she can’t be allowed to run loose without some kind of controls. Not with the beast inside of her.” Joshua could feel his blood pressure skyrocket. He couldn’t breathe with the images filling his mind of his Lexi in the damn Collar. He knew what it could do, the pain it could inflict, and the torture of their inner Sphinx.
Everyone must have seen the explosion coming. Alexandria had both of her hands tunneled under his shirt now, trying to calm him in her unique way. Ethan was trying to explain further with his rushed, “Fuckin’ listen to me, Joshua. Michael didn’t want this either. He threw Elder Chloe and the others out of the planning room after they showed up unannounced. He was so pissed his Power short circuited most of my computers so we’re half blind in what the Gate is doing. And right after I brought extra sensors on line. Fuckin’ yeah, we don’t want to do this. But look at her!”
Sphinx Transformed (The Sphinx Warriors Series Book 3) Page 7
